An electron probe Auger emission microanalyzer has been constructed. The instrument is composed of an electromagnetic focussing primary probe column and a cylindrical mirror electron energy analyzer. By using this instrument, Auger electron spectroscopy studies have been carried out in the modes of both emission microanalysis and emission micrograph. The feasibility o£ this method is investigated through its application to the study of iron surface.

The clinical characteristics of male patients with pulmonary Mycobacterium avium complex disease have not been clearly defined. We aimed to clarify the clinical characteristics of male patients with pulmonary Mycobacterium avium complex disease compared with female patients.

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with pulmonary Mycobacterium avium complex disease who visited the outpatient clinic of the Shinshu University Hospital between 2003 and 2016 and compared the clinical characteristics of male and female patients.

A total of 234 patients with pulmonary Mycobacterium avium complex disease were identified (68 men and 166 women). Male patients were significantly older than female patients. Blood examination results showed that the lymphocyte count, total protein level and albumin level were significantly lower in men than in women. Chest imaging findings were broadly categorised into the fibrocavitary and nodular bronchiectasis types. There were no significant differences in chest imaging findings and the time from diagnosis to disease exacerbation between men and women.

During the study period, the incidence of the nodular bronchiectasis type of pulmonary Mycobacterium avium complex disease in male patients increased compared with previous reports. Men had no difference in time to exacerbation compared with women.

Insufficient nutrition during the perinatal period causes structural alterations in humans and experimental animals, leading to increased vulnerability to diseases in later life. Japanese quail, Coturnix japonica, in which partial (8–10%) egg white was withdrawn (EwW) from eggs before incubation had lower birth weights than controls (CTs). EwW birds also had reduced hatching rates, smaller glomeruli and lower embryo weight. In EwW embryos, the surface condensate area containing mesenchymal cells was larger, suggesting that delayed but active nephrogenesis takes place. In mature EwW quail, the number of glomeruli in the cortical region (mm2) was significantly lower (CT 34.7±1.4, EwW 21.0±1.2); capillary loops showed focal ballooning, and mesangial areas were distinctly expanded. Immunoreactive cell junction proteins, N-cadherin and podocin, and slit diaphragms were clearly seen. With aging, the mesangial area and glomerular size continued to increase and were significantly larger in EwW quail, suggesting compensatory hypertrophy. Furthermore, apoptosis measured by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick-end labeling analysis was higher in EwWs than in CTs on embryonic day 15 and postnatal day 4 (D4). Similarly, plasma glucocorticoid (corticosterone) was higher (P<0.01) on D4 in EwW quail. These results suggest that although nephrogenic activity is high in low-nutrition quail during the perinatal period, delayed development and increased apoptosis may result in a lower number of mature nephrons. Damaged or incompletely mature mesangium may trigger glomerular injury, leading in later life to nephrosclerosis. The present study shows that birds serve as a model for ‘fetal programming,’ which appears to have evolved phylogenetically early.

The impulse radar was found to be useful in surveying the internal structures of wet snow patches in mountain regions. Radar profiles revealed that the thickness of the perennial ice was 30 m, possibly the thickest in Japan. An unconformity widely extended nearly parallel to the surface at the depth of 2 to 9 m and divided the ice into two parts.

We carefully re-examine the evolution of small scale cosmological perturbations, motivated from the studies of cosmic structure formation in the high-z universe. Under the assumption of the hierarchical clustering scenario, the evolution of density fluctuations on very small scales is especially important for the early formation of the bound objects such as population III stars or primordial sub-galaxies.

Evolution of magnetic structures in the region around an eruptive prominence of August 28, 1992 are examined using soft X-ray images obtained by Yohkoh. The eruption was preceded by the appearance of a large-scale soft X-ray jet which was ejected from near the root of the southern end of the prominence. Changes of magnetic geometry at the southern end of the prominence appeared to trigger the eruption. In the course of prominence eruption, helically twisted soft X-ray loops were observed around the prominence. This indicates that magnetic reconnection of a sheared arcade took place underneath the erupting prominence.

The Munich Dust Counter (MDC) is a scientific experiment on board of the MUSES-A mission of Japan. It is the result of a cooperation between the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) of Japan and the Chair of Astronautics of the Technische Universität München (TUM) of Germany. The MDC is an impact ionization detector designed to determine mass and velocity of cosmic dust. Here a short overview over the MUSES-A mission is given to show the measurement situation of the MDC experiment. The measurement principle of the instrument together with a discussion of the scientific objectives and the design of the experiment is summarized.

The Munich Dust Counter (MDC) is a scientific experiment on board the MUSES-A mission of Japan measuring cosmic dust. The satellite HITEN of this mission has been launched on January 24th, 1990 from Kagoshima Space Center. Here the present status of the MDC experiment is summarized. The number of dust particles measured so far is presented together with first and preliminary results of flux calculations and spatial as well as directional distributions of cosmic dust particles measured until July 25, 1990. A clear evidence of particles coming from the inner solar system (beta-meteoroids) already has been found. These are compared to particles coming from the apex direction.

Submillimetre observations of the externally irradiated protostar R CrA IRS7B show that this source has dramatically different chemical abundances in comparison with otherwise similar embedded protostars not subject to external irradiation.

Submillimetre observations of externally irradiated low-mass protostellar envelopes show that the gas temperature in the envelopes is dominated by the external irradiation. Detailed studies of the protostar IRS7B in Corona Australis also show that the chemistry is strongly affected by the irradiation, depleting the abundances of complex organic molecules.

Optical components such as lenses, glass windows, and prisms are subject to Fresnel reflection due to the mismatch between the refractive indices of the air and glass. An optical interface layer, i.e., antireflection (AR) layer, is needed to eliminate this unwanted reflection at the air/glass interface. Nanostructured broadband and wide-angle AR structures have been developed using a scalable self-assembly process. Ultra-high performance of the nanostructured AR coatings has been demonstrated on various substrates such as quartz, sapphire, polymer, and other materials typically employed in optical lenses. AR coatings on polycarbonate lead to optical transmittance enhancement from approximately 90% to almost 100% for the entire visible, and part of the near-infrared (NIR), band. The AR coatings have also been demonstrated on curved surfaces. AR coatings on n-BK7 lenses enable ultra-high light transmittance for the entire visible, and most of the NIR, spectrum. Nanostructured oxide layers with step-graded index profiles, deposited onto the optical elements of an optical system, can significantly increase sensitivity, and hence improve the overall performance of the system.

The BiFeO3/BaTiO3 (BFO/BTO) multilayers were deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates using sol-gel spin coating technique. The electric and magnetic studies on BFO/BTO multilayer structures were carried out for different number of layers. Enhancement in multiferroic properties were seen for all the prepared multilayers as compared to individual BTO and BFO thin films. Maximum value of ferroelectric polarization 71.18 µC/cm2 and saturation magnetization 69.85 emu/cm3 was obtained for multilayer structure having five layers. The observed enhancement in the multiferroic properties of the multilayer system is due to the increased interfacial stress and multiferroic coupling between the alternating layers.

The role of ferroelectric LiNbO3 (LNB) in altering the frequency dependence of the capacitance of CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO) thin films has been investigated. A cost effective spin coating deposition process was used to integrate the oxide heterostructures onto silicon substrates. This study showed that the frequency stability of the CCTO/LNB structure was much improved when the crystallization conditions and physical dimension of each layer were optimized. To integrate this structure with current silicon technology, heterostructures of CCTO and LNB thin films were fabricated on HF terminated Si using chemical solution deposition. It was found that the order of deposition of the two layers was important for the structural quality of the heterostructures with the CCTO layer followed by the LNB layer being the preferred structure. In addition to improvement of the capacitance variation with frequency, the heterostructures also provide a path to tuning the frequency of operation.

At the present moment, zinc oxide is primarily being used as an electronic material for low-field thin-film transistor and transparent conducting oxide device applications. In this paper, we present some recent results on the steady-state electron transport within zinc oxide suggesting that this material may also be considered as an alternative material to gallium nitride for high-power and high-frequency electron device applications. The expected device performance that may be obtained from zinc oxide-based devices is then projected and contrasted with that expected from gallium nitride-based devices. It is shown that zinc oxide-based devices have a slight advantage when compared with the case of gallium nitride.

Indium tin oxide (ITO) nanowires (NWs) were grown on glass substrates by using ITO sputtering sources (targets) with SnO2 contents in the range of approximately 5.0 to 30.0 wt%. NW growth became apparent at temperatures above 125 °C, and the In, Sn and O contents of the resulting ITO NWs were similar to those of the ITO source. NWs grown from ITO sources containing 5.0 to 12.0 wt% SnO2 had circular or elliptical cross-sections, while those obtained from sources with 12.0 to 30.0 wt% SnO2 exhibited square cross-sections. ITO NWs approximately 2 μm in length were obtained as single crystals with a cubic crystal structure. The resistivity of an ITO NW was measured using four nanoprobes in conjunction with a field emission scanning electron microscope and was found to range from 0.13 to 0.6 μΩ-m, values that were approximately one order of magnitude lower than those of transparent ITO films.