A compact and stable incidence-plane-rotating second harmonics detector.

We describe a compact and stable setup for detecting the optical second harmonics, in which the incident plane rotates with respect to the sample. The setup is composed of rotating Fresnel rhomb optics and a femtosecond ytterbium-doped fiber laser source operating at the repetition frequency of 10 MHz. The setup including the laser source occupies an area of 1 m2 and is stable so that the intensity fluctuation of the laser harmonics can be less than 0.2% for 4 h. We present the isotropic harmonic signal of a gold mirror of 0.5 pW and demonstrate the integrity and sensitivity of the setup. We also show the polarization-dependent six-fold pattern of the harmonics of a few-layer WSe2, from which we infer the degree of local-field effects. Finally, we describe the extensibility of the setup to investigate the samples in various conditions such as cryogenic, strained, ultrafast non-equilibrium, and high magnetic fields.

High repetition pump-and-probe photoemission spectroscopy based on a compact fiber laser system.

The paper describes a time-resolved photoemission (TRPES) apparatus equipped with a Yb-doped fiber laser system delivering 1.2-eV pump and 5.9-eV probe pulses at the repetition rate of 95 MHz. Time and energy resolutions are 11.3 meV and ∼310 fs, respectively, the latter is estimated by performing TRPES on a highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). The high repetition rate is suited for achieving high signal-to-noise ratio in TRPES spectra, thereby facilitating investigations of ultrafast electronic dynamics in the low pump fluence (p) region. TRPES of polycrystalline bismuth (Bi) at p as low as 30 nJ/mm2 is demonstrated. The laser source is compact and is docked to an existing TRPES apparatus based on a 250-kHz Ti:sapphire laser system. The 95-MHz system is less prone to space-charge broadening effects compared to the 250-kHz system, which we explicitly show in a systematic probe-power dependency of the Fermi cutoff of polycrystalline gold. We also describe that the TRPES response of an oriented Bi(111)/HOPG sample is useful for fine-tuning the spatial overlap of the pump and probe beams even when p is as low as 30 nJ/mm2.

Emergent photovoltage on SmB6 surface upon bulk-gap evolution revealed by pump-and-probe photoemission spectroscopy.

Recent studies suggest that an exemplary Kondo insulator SmB6 belongs to a new class of topological insulators (TIs), in which non-trivial spin-polarized metallic states emerge on surface upon the formation of Kondo hybridization gap in the bulk. Remarkably, the bulk resistivity reaches more than 20 Ω cm at 4 K, making SmB6 a candidate for a so-called bulk-insulating TI. We here investigate optical-pulse responses of SmB6 by pump-and-probe photoemission spectroscopy. Surface photovoltage effect is observed below ~90 K. This indicates that an optically-active band bending region develops beneath the novel metallic surface upon the bulk-gap evolution. The photovoltaic effect persists for >200 µs, which is long enough to be detected by electronics devices, and could be utilized for optical gating of the novel metallic surface.

Venovenous compares favorably with venoarterial access for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in neonatal respiratory failure.

Traditional extracorporeal membrane oxygenation via the venoarterial route requires cannulation and ligation of the internal jugular vein and common carotid artery. Concerns about ligation of the common carotid artery prompted development of a 14F double-lumen internal jugular vein cannula for venovenous oxygenation for neonates with respiratory failure. We retrospectively compared 22 patients supported by venovenous bypass and 20 patients supported with traditional venoarterial bypass. The two groups of patients were selected to be comparable in terms of diagnosis and severity of respiratory insufficiency. The diagnoses in both groups were limited to meconium aspiration syndrome or persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. The average oxygenation indexes in the two groups were similar (46.6 venovenous, 47.2 venoarterial, p = not significant). Venovenous access allowed flow rates of more than 100 ml/kg per minute, which were adequate for gas exchange support. One patient required conversion from venovenous to venoarterial bypass because of hemodynamic instability. The average time of bypass support was 115 hours (range 24 to 338 hours) for venovenous bypass and 134 hours (range 47 to 361 hours) for venoarterial bypass (p < 0.05). The time to extubation after decannulation from extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was 133 hours (range 38 to 720 hours) for venovenous support and 100 hours (range 27 to 192 hours) for venoarterial support (p = not significant). One patient supported with venoarterial bypass had an intracranial hemorrhage. There were no documented neurologic injuries in the patients managed with venovenous bypass. There were no deaths in either group. Venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation through a double-lumen cannula can adequately provide respiratory support for neonates with pulmonary failure and effectively avoids ligation of the common carotid artery.

Newborn extracorporeal lung assist using a novel double lumen catheter and a heparin-bonded membrane lung.

We report the clinical application of a novel double lumen catheter for veno-venous extracorporeal lung assist (ECLA) and the use of a heparin-bonded hollow fiber membrane lung, in the treatment of newborn respiratory failure. The outer lumen of the double lumen catheter was 14 Fr and was used for blood drainage; while the inner 8 Fr catheter was used for blood return. The double lumen catheter was made of spiral wire reinforced polyurethane, with a wall thickness of 0.25 mm. The hollow fiber membrane was made of non-microporous polyolefin, and was not permeable to water or plasma. We used this system to treat a newborn patient with meconium aspiration syndrome. Heparin was infused continuously at a rate of 18-25 units/kg/h, equal to 1/3 of the usual amount when a non-heparin bonded ECLA system was used and maintaining the activated clotting time near 120 s. Bleeding from cutdown sites was negligible. Only the right internal jugular vein was sacrificed. The patient was successfully weaned from ECLA and appears normal one year following discharge.

Characterization of alpha 1-adrenoceptor subtypes in rat spinal cord.

The alpha 1-adrenoceptor subtypes in ventral and dorsal horns of rat lumbar spinal cord were studied. High concentrations of the alpha 1D-adrenoceptor antagonist, BMY 7378 (8-[2-[4-(2-methoxyphenyl) 1-piperazinyl]ethyl]-8-azaspiro[4.5]decane-7,9-dione dihydrochloride), displaced bound [3H]prazosin in a single-site manner and the binding affinity was close to those for alpha 1A- and alpha 1B-adrenoceptor binding sites. 5-Methyl-urapidil displaced bound [3H]prazosin in a two site manner and the high and low affinities were close to those of alpha 1A- and alpha 1B-adrenoceptor binding sites, respectively. The alpha 1-adrenoceptor subtype populations of ventral and dorsal horns did not differ. The alpha 1A- and alpha 1B-adrenoceptor populations comprised 70% and 30%, respectively, of the total and very few alpha 1D-adrenoceptors were detected.

Multicenter comparison of conventional venoarterial access versus venovenous double-lumen catheter access in newborn infants undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

A multicenter trial was designed to compare standard venoarterial (VA) access versus single-catheter, venovenous access using the double-lumen catheter (VV-DLC) for newborns with respiratory failure undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Twenty-seven ECMO centers participated, each submitting data from the center's most recent VA cases, and data from VV-DLC cases completed upon entering the study. Data from 135 VA ECMO cases and 108 VV-DLC cases were submitted. All diagnoses resulting in neonatal respiratory failure were submitted, including patients with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (24 patients VA bypass, 11 patients VV-DLC bypass). Overall survival in patients undergoing VA bypass was 87%, while survival in patients undergoing VV-DLC bypass was 95%. Eleven patients required conversion from VV-DLC bypass to VA bypass because of insufficient support--10 of these patients survived (91% survival). Average bypass time for newborns undergoing VA bypass was 132 +/- 7.4 hours versus 100 +/- 5.1 hours for those undergoing VV-DLC bypass. Neurologic complications were more common in the VA bypass patients, although the VV patients were more stable. Hemorrhagic, cardiopulmonary, and mechanical complications, other than kinking of the DLC, occurred with approximately equal frequency in each group. In conclusion, in newborns with adequate cardiac function, venovenous ECMO using the DLC can provide the same level of support as conventional VA ECMO, without ligation of the carotid artery.

Accumulation of a disopyramide metabolite in renal failure.

Ten hemodialysis (HD) patients with normal liver function received disopyramide (DP) therapy in the steady state. DP, mono-N-dealkyldisopyramide (MND) and alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AAG) were measured before and after HD. Ten patients with normal renal and liver function were selected as controls. The DP concentration was 2.08 +/- 0.39 micrograms/ml (mean +/- SD) in the control group, and the pre and post HD levels were 2.40 +/- 1.08 micrograms/ml and 1.73 +/- 0.87 micrograms/ml, respectively, in the HD group. The MND concentration was 0.42 +/- 0.23 microgram/ml in controls, 1.53 +/- 0.52 micrograms/ml in pre HD and 1.08 +/- 0.32 microgram/ml in post-HD. Although DP and MND are both classified as small molecular weight substances, the average decrease in plasma concentration from pre to post HD was under 30% with both agents. The MND/DP ratio in the HD group was higher than in controls, but there was no significant difference between pre and post HD. The AAG level was 75 +/- 5 mg/dl in controls and 109 +/- 11 mg/dL before HD in the HD group (p < 0.001). In conclusion, an MND accumulation was observed in HD patients receiving DP therapy. Because the anticholinergic effect of MND is 24 times that of DP, MND is thought to contribute in some way to the hypoglycemia induced by DP in renal failure.

Evaluation of gravity-dependent membrane potential shift in Paramecium.

It is still debated whether or not gravity can stimulate unicellular organisms. This question may be settled by revealing changes in the membrane potential in a manner depending on the gravitational forces imposed on the cell. We estimated the gravity-dependent membrane potential shift to be about 1 mV G-1 for Paramecium showing gravikinesis at 1-5 G, on the basis of measurements of gravity-induced changes in active propulsion and those of propulsive velocity in solutions, in which the membrane potential has been measured electrophysiologically. The shift in membrane potential to this extent may occur from mechanoreceptive changes in K+ or Ca2+ conductance by about 1% and might be at the limit of electrophysiological measurement using membrane potential-sensitive dyes. Our measurements of propulsive velocity vs membrane potential also suggested that the reported propulsive force of Paramecium measured in a solution of graded densities with the aid of a video centrifuge microscope at 350 G was 11 times as large as that for -29 mV, i.e., the resting membrane potential at [K+]o = 1 mM and [Ca2+]o = 1 mM, and, by extrapolation, that Paramecium was hyperpolarized to -60 mV by gravity stimulation of 100-G equivalent, the value corrected by considering the reduction of density difference between the interior and exterior of the cell in the graded density solution. The estimated shift of the membrane potential from -29 mV to -60 mV by 100-G equivalent stimulation, i.e., 0.3 mV G -1, could reach the magnitude entirely feasible to be measured more directly.

[Clinical trial of forphenicinol for the lung infection with Mycobacterium avium, Mycobacterium intracellulare complex].

Clinical evaluation of forphenicinol, a low molecular weight immunomodulator, in patients with Mycobacterium avium, Mycobacterium intracellulare complex pulmonary infections has been conducted in a multicenter trial participated by 9 institutions in Kyushu during a period of 12 months from July 1982 to August 1983. Forphenicinol was administered for 6 months without changing the regimen of antituberculous drugs used previously. The following results were obtained. 1. Ten out of 33 eligible patients were evaluated as showing good responses; In 5 of them, elimination of M. avium, M. intracellulare complex from sputum was observed. In the other 5 patients, number of bacilli excreted was decreased significantly after treatment. 2. All of the cases with good responses were those which were simultaneously administered with antituberculous drugs. 3. Patients with thick-walled cavities, following cured tuberculosis, which was superimposed with M. avium, M. intracellulare complex, were poorly responded to forphenicinol. 4. Side effects were observed in 3 out of 41 patients; 1 case each with fever, abdominal distension and anorexia. No abnormalities in laboratory test values were observed.

[Causal inference in medicine--decision making].

In the field of occupational medicine, either when we consider some preventive plans or when we make decisions to compensate for occupational diseases, it has been necessary to discuss causality between work and disease. Furthermore, epidemiologic causality has recently been used in risk assessment in occupational and environmental settings. We have shown that the law of causality in medicine is recognized as probability and continuous variables. Such a law of causality has been recognized in the same way as probability in physics, too, and has been regarded as a model of science. Physicists and mathematicians had claimed the importance of probability in causal inference as well as the principle of uncertainty before it was discovered. We, then, explained Etiologic Fraction (EF), Attributable Proportion for the Exposed Population (APE), Probability of Causation (PC), and so on. The PC has been used to ascertain the conditional probability in an individual case of a disease having been caused by a particular prior exposure, by using the experience of exposed populations to determine the appropriate relative risk, and this has been used for compensation for exposed cases. Next the applicability of information from a population to individuals was presented. Third, we provided a brief historical aspect of epidemiology. The evolutions in Epidemiology have been very rapid, so we pointed out that, in Japan, we could observe many incommensurable phenomena in epidemiologists and physicians depending on the era which was studied by them. Fourth, we discussed judgement and political application based on epidemiologic evidence, using Yanagimoto's classification is also taken or not should be estimated and compared. We presented several examples of reasoning in judgements. Lastly, we discussed several tasks and assignments for the future of epidemiology.

[Accumulation of a disopyramide metabolite in renal failure].

Twenty-nine cases of hypoglycemia induced by disopyramide (DP) have been reported in the literature to date. Twenty of the reported cases showed hypo-renal function and a high concentration was rare. DP is metabolized to mono-N-dealkyldisopyramide (MND) in the liver and accumulation of MND is to be expected in renal failure. Both DP and MND bind mainly to alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AAG) in the plasma. In 10 hemodialysis (HD) patients with normal liver function receiving DP therapy in the steady state. DP, MND and AAG were measured pre- and post-HD. Ten patients with normal renal and liver function were selected as the controls. The DP concentration was 2.08 +/- 0.39 micrograms/ml (mean +/- SD) in the control group, and the pre- and post-HD levels were 2.40 +/- 1.08 micrograms/ml and 1.73 +/- 0.87 micrograms/ml, respectively, in the HD group. The MND concentration was 0.42 +/- 0.23 micrograms/ml in the controls, 1.53 +/- 0.52 micrograms/ml in pre-HD and 1.08 +/- 0.32 micrograms/ml in post-HD. Although DP and MND are both classified as substances of small molecular weight, the average decrease in plasma concentration from pre- to post-HD was under 30% with both agents. The MND/DP ratio in the HD group was higher than in the controls, but there was no significant difference between pre- and post-HD. The AAG level was 75 +/- 5mg/dl in the controls and 109 +/- 11mg/dl before HD in the HD group (P < 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[A patient with severe ventricular tachycardia who was saved by prolonged extracorporeal lung and heart assist].

A 47-y-o man had been suffering from cardiac failure due to refractory ventricular tachycardia (VT) after myocardial infarction. He underwent resection of the left ventricular aneurysm and cryocoagulation of the arrhythmogenic foci. On the 2nd post-operative day, VT often recurred in spite of repeated cardioversion and drug therapy, and threatened his life, even under IABP. Therefore, a veno-arterial bypass route was made and extracorporeal lung and heart assist, ECLHA, was started with a heparin bonded Maxima lung on the following day. Even under ECLHA, VT continued to recur. Cryocoagulation of the VT foci was tried again, without immediate success. A record high dose of beta-blockers, given under the circulatory support by ECLHA, stopped VT on the following day. The patient was weaned from the ECLHA circuit 12 days after the first operation, then from IABP on the 14th day. During the 10 day course of surgeries and ECLHA, the patient had almost 100 defibrillations. But for ECLHA, we may say that the patient couldn't have survived two open heart surgeries, administration of a great amount of beta-blockers, and repeated cardiac arrest without neurological sequelae.

Time-resolved photoemission apparatus achieving sub-20-meV energy resolution and high stability.

The paper describes a time- and angle-resolved photoemission apparatus consisting of a hemispherical analyzer and a pulsed laser source. We demonstrate 1.48-eV pump and 5.92-eV probe measurements at the ⩾10.5-meV and ⩾240-fs resolutions by use of fairly monochromatic 170-fs pulses delivered from a regeneratively amplified Ti:sapphire laser system operating typically at 250 kHz. The apparatus is capable to resolve the optically filled superconducting peak in the unoccupied states of a cuprate superconductor, Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8 + δ). A dataset recorded on Bi(111) surface is also presented. Technical descriptions include the followings: A simple procedure to fine-tune the spatio-temporal overlap of the pump-and-probe beams and their diameters; achieving a long-term stability of the system that enables a normalization-free dataset acquisition; changing the repetition rate by utilizing acoustic optical modulator and frequency-division circuit.

Direct evidence for three-dimensional off-axis trapping with single Laguerre-Gaussian beam.

Optical tweezers are often applied to control the dynamics of objects by scanning light. However, there is a limitation that objects fail to track the scan when the drag exceeds the trapping force. In contrast, Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beams can directly control the torque on objects and provide a typical model for nonequilibrium systems such as Brownian motion under external fields. Although stable "mid-water" trapping is essential for removing extrinsic hydrodynamic effects in such studies, three-dimensional trapping by LG beams has not yet been clearly established. Here we report the three-dimensional off-axis trapping of dielectric spheres using high-quality LG beams generated by a special holographic method. The trapping position was estimated as ~ half the wavelength behind the beam waist. These results establish the scientific groundwork of LG trapping and the technical basis of calibrating optical torque to provide powerful tools for studying energy-conversion mechanisms and the nonequilibrium nature of biological molecules under torque.