The relationship between positron emission tomography (PET) findings and developmental or seizure outcome was examined in 17 infants (11 males, six females; mean age at onset of spasms 7 months, range 3 to 26 months) with newly diagnosed cryptogenic West syndrome. The predictive value of PET in these infants was assessed. PET was performed in the infants at the onset of spasms and 3 months after initial therapy using 18F-labelled 2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-glucose. A third PET was performed at 18 months of age if the second scan was abnormal. All infants were followed up until at least 3 years of age. Cortical hypometabolism was detected in 11 infants on the first PET and in five infants on the second. Rate of developmental delay at the last follow-up was significantly higher in infants with hypometabolism on the second PET than in those without PET abnormalities (p<0.05). Rate of seizure occurrence after initial treatment was higher in infants with cortical hypometabolism on the second PET, but the difference was not statistically significant. Results suggest that when PET after the initial treatment shows no abnormalities, even though the first PET shows hypometabolism, infants with cryptogenic West syndrome may have a favourable developmental or seizure outcome. PET may be a useful tool in evaluating the prognosis in infants with cryptogenic West syndrome.

Epitaxial thin films of (001)-oriented FeTiO3+δ were prepared on α-Al2O3(001) single crystalline substrates by helicon plasma sputtering technique. The FeTiO3+δ films had large oxygen nonstoichiometry, which seriously depended on both substrate temperature and oxygen pressure during the sputtering deposition. The valence states of Fe ions in FeTiO3+δ changed monotonically from Fe2+ to Fe3+ with decreasing the substrate temperature from 900 to 400°C or with increasing the oxygen pressure from 0.9 to 1.8×10-6 Pa. The change of Fe valence states from Fe2+ to Fe3+ induced the magnetic phase transition only for the films prepared at 900°C. The films containing Fe2+ were paramagnetic while those with Fe3+ were antiferromagnetic at room temperature. The oxygen nonstoichiometry of the FeTiO3+δ films was probably produced by cation vacancies and disarrangement of Fe3+ and Ti4+ ions, which randomly occupied both interstitial and substitutional sites of the FeTiO3 related structure.

In the early modern age Japan was a kingdom rich in metal resources. A lot of gold, silver and copper were produced and exported to foreign countries, nevertheless Japan maintained a national isolation policy. The Iwami silver mine located in Shimane prefecture was the representative silver mine that prospered most. It produced about 10 % of the world's silver output. It is now mostly abandoned and reduced to ruins. Only a famous picture scroll remains to indicate its real activities. Through archaeological excavation started in 1983, it is becoming clear that extensive remains of mining and smelting are preserved. From 1996 scientific investigation of the excavated remains has been conducted. During excavation, and confirmed by scientific research, we recognized that the artifacts deposited during both the mining of the silver ore and the smelting process could be classified into two artifactual types; objects and fragments produced in the dressing process that were not influenced by a heating process and objects influenced by a heating process and produced by smelting and refining. The low grade ore, waste and tailings (remains after gravity concentration) that were scrapped in the dressing process are included in the former type, and the furnace fragments for smelting and refining, tuyeres (blast pipes) and slag and other smelter remains are of the latter type. The waste and tailings scrapped in the dressing process have not previously been studied. This study aimed at systematically investigating the dressing technology and estimating the ore grade through the evaluation of the range of variation in the waste and tailings left as scrap in the dressing process. The analytical results revealed the actual activities practiced at the Iwami silver mine in the dressing process.

Since the beginning of the 18th century A.D., an artificial iron oxide pigment (hematite, called “bengara” in Japanese) and having a beautiful yellowish red color, has been produced in Japan and applied to pottery, textiles and paintings. However, in 1965 the traditional “bengara” could not be produced anymore, mainly because of environmental pollution. The purpose of this study is to make clear the features of traditional “bengara” and to reproduce high quality “bengara” using modern high-purity reagents. Traditional “bengara” has been characterized as hematite containing a small amount of Al. The average size of the “bengara” particles is approximately 100 nm. The color becomes more yellowish-red with increasing Al content. A monophase of hematite prepared by heating a mixture FeSO4-7H2O and α-Al2O3 to about 680 °C included a small amount of Al substituted in a solid solution. The particle size greatly decreased as the heat treatment temperature was decreased: 100 nm at 770 °C but 50 nm at 650 °C. The color of the particles becomes more vivid as the temperature is decreased, but within bounds this color is independent of the amount of Al in solid solution.

Well-crystallized Ba2Zn2Fe12O22 (Zn2–Y) films with high c-axis oritentation were successfully formed on Ag substrates at low temperature by the polymeric precursor method. A precursor solution with stoichiometric Ba2+, Zn2+, and Fe3+ ions was deposited on the substrates by a dip-coating. The films were then heat-treated at temperatures ranging from 700 to 900 °C. The crystallization process of c-axis-oriented Zn2–Y films occurred at the considerably low temperature of 750 °C, though a small amount of spinel oxides contaminated them. The films had hexagonal grain structures which were developed by increasing the heat-treatment temperature. Magnetization curves of the Zn2–Y film heated at 900 °C clearly indicated that the film had large in-plane magnetic anisotropy and had small in-plane coercivity.

CoFe2O4/α-Fe2O3 (ferrimagnetic / antiferromagnetic) bilayered films were prepared on α-Al2O3(102) single-crystalline substrates by helicon plasma sputtering. A well-crystallized epitaxial α-Fe2O3(102) layer was formed on the substrate, while CoFe2O4 grown on α-Fe2O3(102) was a polycrystalline layer with a (100)-preferred orientation. The α-Fe2O3(102) films without CoFe2O4 layers clearly showed a spin-flip transition at about 400 K. The spins aligned perpendicular to the film plane at room temperature changed their direction within the film plane above 400 K. However the α-Fe2O3 base layers of CoFe2O4/α-Fe2O3 bilayered films did not show any spin-flip transition. The CoFe2O4 layer on α-Fe2O3 had a large in-plane magnetic anisotropy, while the spin axis of the α-Fe2O3(102) base layer was directed perpendicular to the film plane. The magnetization of ferrimagnetic CoFe2O4 layers was coupled perpendicularly to the spin axis of anitiferromagnetic α-Fe2O3 layers due to the exchange coupling at the interface between CoFe2O4 and α-Fe2O3.

In order to develop wide-band microwave absorbers we tried to prepare composite absorbers between the magnetic loss (Ni-Zn-ferrite) and the dielectric loss (SiC) materials. The dry or wet mixtures of Ni-Zn-ferrite and polycarbosilane (PCS) were cured in air and were then subjected to pyrolysis forming of the ferrite composites. The composites produced by the wet mixing had granular structure: the PCS surrounding the ferrite particles suppressed the sintering and the grain growth of the ferrite composites during pyrolysis. The matching frequency due to the magnetic loss linearly increased with increasing the PCS content. Moreover the ferrite/SiC hemi-crystallized composite cured at 473 K for 24 hours showed wide-band absorption spectrum having the both magnetic and dielectric losses.

Well-crystallized Y-type hexagonal ferrite (Me2-Y, Me=Zn and Co) films with highly c-axis orientation were successfully prepared on Ag substrates by dip coating technique. The procedure consisted of preparation of homogeneous metal-organic solution by polymerized complex method, dip coating and subsequent heat-treatment. The films deposited on α-Al2O3 easily reacted with the substrate, while the films deposited on Ag formed hexagonal planar structures. The formation temperature of Me2-Y structures on Ag was 800 °C, which was much lower than that of Me2-Y bulk crystals. The Me2-Y films on Ag had a large in-plane magnetic anisotropy. The observed anisotropy field of the Zn2-Y film was about 13 kOe and that of Co2-Y was too large beyond our experimental limits.

Titanium di- and sesquioxide films were epitaxially grown on the (001) surface of sapphire single-crystalline substrates by an activated reactive evaporation method. Formation range for each titanium oxide was determined as a function of oxygen pressure (Po2) by means of x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. Films prepared at Po2 ≥ 2.0 × 10−4 Torr were stoichiometric (100)-oriented rutile of TiO2, and with decreasing Po2 they would accommodate more and more Ti3+ ions in the rutile structure. At Po2 = 0.6 × 10−4 Torr, on the other hand, (001)-oriented Ti2O3 was formed and an electrical transition was clearly detected at about 400 K. However, the large lattice mismatch between the substrate and these films leads to a periodic introduction of misfit dislocations in the case of the TiO2 films and a mixing of stacking sequences for the Ti2O3 films.

Magnetic fields in Vega, ϒ Geminorum, and Sirius are searched by using empirical and theoretical relations of magnetic-field strength to the relative differences between the equivalent widths of each pair of the two Fe II lines near 6150 and 4400 Å. We estimated the possible strengths of their magnetic fields as follows: 0.0 kG or 2.5 – 3.5 kG for Vega, 0 – 2 kG or 2.8 – 3.0 kG for ϒ Gem, and 0.0 kG or ∼ 2(?) – 2.5 kG for Sirius. The empirical relation yields the former value in each star, which is consistent with those determined through polarization measurements, while the theoretical relation the latter with systematically large values.

In order to obtain essential information on the formation process of the high-Tc phase in the Bi, Pb–Sr–Ca–Cu–O system, subsolidus phase equilibrium in the systems PbO(PbO2)–SrO–CuO and PbO(PbO2)–CaO–SrO has been studied, mainly by XRD analysis. A pseudoternary Pb–Sr–Cu–O solid solution was newly found. This solid solution has a wide solubility range including its typical composition Pb2.03Sr3Cu0.73O7.70. It has a hexagonal structure with lattice parameters a = 10.11 and c = 7.11 in AU. Composition dependences of the lattice parameters and the decomposition (incongruent melting) temperature of (Ca1−xSrx)2PbO4 solid solution are also reported.

In order to obtain essential information on the formation process of the high-Tc phase in the Bi, Pb-Sr-Ca-Cu-O system, phase equilibria in the system PbO-CaO-CuO have been studied, mainly by x-ray diffraction analysis and thermal analysis. Temperature versus composition diagrams were established for the systems PbO-CuO(Cu2O) and PbO(PbO2)–CaO in air. Three invariant points were detected in these systems: a eutectic reaction (PbO + Ca2PbO4 = L) at 847 ± 6°C, a peritectic reaction (Ca2PbO4 = L + CaO) at 980 ± 2°C, and a eutectic reaction (PbO + CuO = L) at 789 ± 3°C. For the system PbO(PbO2)-CaO-CuO, subsolidus phase equilibrium in air was established. The liquidus was also examined at 780, 800, and 820°C, and a ternary (PbO-Ca2PbO4-CuO) eutectic point was detected at 772 ± 6°C.

Quantitative analyses of the Ga abundances in 27 Hg-Mn stars, 11 Si (magnetic) stars, 8 He-weak stars, and 7 normal stars are made with the resonance lines of Ga II at 1414 Å and Ga III at 1495 Å in IUE spectra. The Ga overabundances are confirmed as a genuine anomaly in many peculiar stars. Only upper limits of the Ga abundance can be obtained for some stars. However these upper limits are much lower than those inferred from visual spectra. Among the 27 Hg-Mn stars, 17 stars are distributed in the range of 2.0 – 3.8 dex of overabundances of Ga. Ten other stars show upper limits less than 2.1 dex. Fifteen stars of 20 hotter Hg-Mn stars with Teff > 11000 K show high overabundances in a narrow range of 2.6 – 3.8 dex, while, among 7 cooler Hg-Mn stars, the only star HR 7775 shows the same overabundance as in these 15 stars. Of 11 Si stars, 9 stars have Ga overabundances ranging from 1.9 to 3.2 dex. Gallium is overabundant in 5 out of 8 He-weak stars in the range of 1.7 – 3.2 dex, while in the three other stars the upper limits are less than 1.3 dex. The Ga abundances in normal stars are all upper limits which roughly correspond to the solar value.