Polyploids generated by natural whole genome duplication have served as a dynamic force in vertebrate evolution. As evidence for evolution, polyploid organisms exist generally, however there have been no reports of polyploid organisms in mammals. In mice, polyploid embryos under normal culture conditions normally develop to the blastocyst stage. Nevertheless, most tetraploid embryos degenerate after implantation, indicating that whole genome duplication produces harmful effects on normal development in mice. Most previous research on polyploidy has mainly focused on tetraploid embryos. Analysis of various ploidy outcomes is important to comprehend the effects of polyploidization on embryo development. The purpose of this present study was to discover the extent of the polyploidization effect on implantation and development in post-implantation embryos. This paper describes for the first time an octaploid embryo implanted in mice despite hyper-polyploidization, and indicates that these mammalian embryos have the ability to implant, and even develop, despite the harmfulness of extreme whole genome duplication.

We analyzed retrospectively the relationship between coagulation profile, and either hepatic function or hemodynamics, in patients who had undergone a Fontan-type procedure, comparing them, first, with a control group of 12 patients without significant hemodynamic abnormality, and, second, with a group of 14 patients who had not undergone a Fontan procedure, but whose mean right atrial pressure exceeded 8 mmHg. Follow-up catheterization had been performed in all 30 patients submitted to the Fontan-type operation. Prothrombin time, and factor XIII, were significantly lower in those who had undergone the Fontan procedure than in the other groups. Those submitted to the Fontan operation also had lower levels of protein C than controls, and their levels of plasminogen were lower than the patients with high right atrial pressure. Both aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase were higher in those undergoing the Fontan procedure than in the other groups, while gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase in these patients was higher than in the control group. Mean right atrial pressure was highest in those under-going the Fontan procedure, while cardiac index was lowest. Prothrombin time was correlated to some extent with aspartate aminotransferase, mean right atrial pressure, and cardiac index. Protein C correlated with both aspartate aminotransferase and mean right atrial pressure, while factor XIII correlated with alanine aminotransferase, mean right atrial pressure, and cardiac index. Aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase, parameters of hepatic function, correlated significantly with mean right atrial pressure. In those who had undergone the Fontan procedure, decreased synthesis of pro-and anti-coagulant factors is a risk factor for both thrombosis and bleeding. Abnormal hemodynamics, in the absence of a right sided pumping chamber, may predispose to subclinical hepatic dysfunction, leading to selective disturbances of protein synthesis.

Thrombolysis was used in 13 procedures to treat eight patients with massive thrombosis of coronary aneurysms due to Kawasaki disease. The patients have now been followed for periods ranging from 2.5 years to 7.4 years subsequent to treatment. The procedures included intracoronary or intravenous infusion of urokinase and intravenous administration of tissue plasminogen activator. Thallium myocardial imaging, coronary arteriography and echocardiography were used for evaluation of the efficacy of the therapy and for follow-up studies. The latest time of treatment was 17 months after the onset of the disease. No new formation of massive thrombus was observed in any of the aneurysms. In five patients, eight of 13 procedures were judged to be successful. In the four patients with symptoms of myocardial ischemia, thrombolysis was undertaken immediately after the onset of symptoms. In the other patient, thrombolysis was attempted 36 days after the onset and produced remarkable improvement in the degree of ischemia. In the other four patients with no symptoms of ischemia, the therapy was undertaken when thrombus was detected in a coronary aneurysm. Aortocoronary bypass surgery was undertaken subsequent to the thrombolytic therapy in three patients, but proved satisfactory in only one patient. At follow-up, five patients have shown improvement in the degree of myocardial ischemia after treatment. Our results suggest that careful observation is needed to detect formations of thrombus in large coronary arteries for at least 1½ years after the onset of Kawasaki disease. Even if repeated thrombolytic therapy is required, it seems to be effective in checking the progression of ischemic heart disease.

On the assumption that the diameter of the reference vessel might determine the thickness of neointimal coverage of stents placed in the pulmonary arteries, we analyzed the angiograms of 28 lesions in 17 patients who underwent follow-up cardiac catheterization. Excluding 2 lesions where late stenosis was determined mainly by recoil of greater than 30%, we investigated the neointimal thickness of 26 lesions in 16 patients. Several factors that might contribute to late re-stenosis were also analyzed. Age and body weight at implantation ranged from 0.8 to 20 years, with a median of 6 years, and from 6.8 to 77.5 kg, with a median of 17.6 kg. Follow-up interval was from 6 to 15 months, with a median of 6 months.

There was a significant increase in diameter, as well as a reduction in pressure gradient, immediately after the implantation of stents. Although there was no significant difference between the achieved diameter and the diameter of the stent at follow-up, the diameter of the lesion at follow-up was significantly smaller than the diameter achieved by stenting. The increase in the pressure gradient at follow-up was slightly greater in 4 lesions where the late reduction in diameter was greater than 30% than in the 18 lesions where this was less than 30% (p = 0.05). The diameter of the reference vessel, and the diameter by stenting correlated with the late reduction in diameter. All lesions with diameter reduced greater than 30% had a reference diameter of less than 6.1 mm, and a diameter achieved by stenting of less than 6.5 mm. Late loss in luminal diameter directly correlated with the thickness of the neointimal coverage. In conclusion, close observation should be mandatory following implantation of stents in small pulmonary arteries.

We implanted either large or medium Palmaz stents, or a Palmaz Corinthian stent, in various stenotic vessels, such as the pulmonary arteries, pulmonary veins, aorta, or superior caval vein. Using angiograms, we measured the diameter of the stenotic vessel before or after the implantation, the minimal diameter of the lumen, the minimal diameter of the largest fully expanded balloon used to expand the stent, and the diameter immediately after withdrawal of the balloon.

The minimal diameter of the fully expanded balloon, and the minimal diameter of the lumen subsequent to expansion, were 8.2 ± 2.4, and 7.7 ± 2.3 mm, giving an absolute recoil of 0.5 ± 0.4 mm, and a proportional recoil of 7 ± 4%. There was no significant difference in either the absolute or proportional recoil for any of the stents, or for any of the different stenotic vessels. The proportional recoil correlated linearly with the minimal diameter of the lumen prior to the procedure, and with the ratio of the stenosis to the balloon, while the diameter of the stenotic vessels, the minimal diameter of the largest fully expanded balloon, the proportional stenosis prior to the procedure, and the ratio of the balloon to the diameter of the stenotic vessel, had no significant correlation with proportional recoil. The proportional recoil exceeded more than one-tenth when the minimal diameter of the lumen prior to the dilation was less than 3 mm, or the ratio of the balloon to the stenosis was greater than 3.0.

An absolute recoil of around 1 mm is common when a large or medium Palmaz, or a Palmaz Corinthian stent, is implanted in great vessels. Balloons with a diameter of approximately one-tenth greater than that of the adjacent vessel may be needed if the minimal diameter of the lumen is small prior to the procedure.

The single-electron device (SED), which has quantum dot(s), or island(s) in its core, enables the control of electron motion on the level of an elementary charge. The single-electron pump and turnstile are members of the SED family and enable single-electron transfer synchronized with the gate clock. They have the potential for extremely low error rates of electron transfer and are thus expected to be building-block devices for future information processing and electrical metrology. We have been pursuing the fabrication of Si-based SEDs using CMOS technology with the help of electron-beam lithography and have recently demonstrated a Si single-electron pump and turnstile. They are composed of one Si quantum dot and two tiny MOS gates and have dramatically increased the operation temperatures, which opens up the possibility of the practical use of the pump and turnstile.

Another path to realizing single-electron transfer, which we will discuss here, might be to use a localized state in the Si bandgap instead of quantum dots. The localized states could in principle be donor/acceptor levels or any other states created by crystalline imperfections. They are free from the problem of the critical size control of the quantum dots, which might lead to a new era of single-electronics in combination with the rapidly developing research field of “dopant engineering”.

The giant magnetostrictive films exhibit promising device applications for micro-machines and sensor systems due to high response velocity and huge stress created by the magnetostriction. We developed magnetostrictive bimorph-type Fe70Pd30 or Fe83Ga17 (positive magnetostriction)/Al/Ni(negative magnetostriction) thin films by magnetron sputtering. Magnetostriction of these films measured by a bending cantilever beam method has reached 250–300 ppm in the small magnetic field of 1.0 kOe and exhibits little hysteresis. Moreover, the magnetostrictive characteristics do not change under low alternating magnetic field. The magnetoelastic coefficient of these films is 25∼30 MPa, which is comparable to the coefficient of the PbTiO3-PbZrO3 system. These metallic sensor/actuator materials are useful for applications in magnetostrictive 2D- scanners and remote-interrogated tire sensors.

We investigated the mechanical effect of an abrasive in an abrasive-free-like (AFL) slurry using CMP evaluation and ζ potential evaluation. The amount of abrasive strongly influenced CMP performance. We found out the optimum amount of abrasive for optimal CMP performance. The ζ potential of the abrasive was positive, and those of the Cu and barrier metal were negative. We discussed a planarization model of the AFL slurry in detail based on the ζ potential results obtained.

We investigated formation processes of a porous anodic alumina film on a p-type silicon (Si) substrate using infrared absorption spectroscopy in the multiple internal reflection geometry (MIR-IRAS). We observed drastic IR spectral changes when porous anodic alumina film approached interfaces between an aluminum (Al) layer and a Si substrate. The intensity of the IR absorption peaks due to water (H2O) molecules and silicon oxides (SiO2) increased simultaneously with a spike of anodic current density. The IR spectral changes indicated that the penetration of electrolytes brought about inhomogeneous oxidation of a Si substrate surface. We observed that the arrangement of the SiO2 nanodots closely reflected that of pores of a porous anodic alumina film. IR absorption peaks due to porous anodic alumina finally disappeared. The formation of SiO2 nanodots on a Si substrate promoted penetration of electrolytes to peel the porous anodic alumina film off it.

In this paper, we analyze the effects of population aging on economic growth and the environment in a two-period overlapping generations model of growth, aging, and the environment. We show that aging may be beneficial to economic growth and the environment under perfect annuitisation, while possibly harmful under imperfect annuitisation. We also discuss the implications of our results for environmental policy in an aging economy.

Scanning Nonlinear Dielectric Microscopy (SNDM) is the method for observing ferroelectric polarization distribution, and now, its resolution has become to the sub-nanometer order, which is much higher than other scanning probe microscopy (SPM) methods for the same purpose. Up to now, we have studied high-density ferroelectric data storage using this microscopy. In this study, we have conducted fundamental experiments of nano-sized inverted domain formation in LiTaO3 single, and successfully formed inverted dot array with the density of 1.5 Tbit/inch2.

We have developed two types of devices for silicon-single-electronics; a single-electron transistor (SET) and a single-electron charge coupled device (CCD). Both devices were fabricated on SOI (silicon on insulator) wafers. For the SET fabrication, we used a novel method called pattern-dependent oxidation (PADOX), which exploits special phenomena that occur during thermal oxidation of a small silicon structure. The Si structures are converted into small Si SETs by consequence of stress-induced bandgap narrowing and quantum size effects. Since the size of the resultant Si island is about 10 nm, the SETs operate at relatively high temperatures. We have already developed several kinds of application of Si SETs by utilizing the special features of SETs. In addition, we have developed a single-electron CCD that enables us to manipulate a single electron without tunnel capacitors. The device utilizes small Si-wire MOSFETs connected in series, and an elementary charge can be transferred like in a CCD.