Mesoporous titania-silica composite films with highly aligned cylindrical pores are prepared by the sol-gel method using a substrate with structural anisotropy. The strong alignment effect of a rubbing-treated polyimide film on a substrate provides a narrow alignment distribution in the plane of the film regardless of the fast condensation rate of titania precursors. The collapse of the mesostructure upon the surfactant removal is effectively suppressed by the reinforcement of the pore walls with silica by exposing the as-deposited film to a vapor of a silicon alkoxide. The existence of a silica layer on the titania pore wall is proved from the distributions of Ti and Si estimated by the elemental analysis in high resolution electron microscopy. The obtained mesoporous titania-silica composite film exhibits a remarkable birefringence reflecting the highly anisotropic mesoporous structure and the high refractive index of titania that forms the pore wall. The Δn value estimated from the optical retardation and the film thickness is larger than 0.06, which cannot be achieved with the conventional mesoporous silica films with uniaxially aligned mesoporous structure even though the alignment of the pores in the films is perfect. These inorganic films with mesoscopic structural anisotropy will find many applications in the field of optics as phase plates with high thermal/chemical/mechanical stabilities.
The patient was a 53-year-old woman who underwent colonoscopy for anal pain and melena. We diagnosed her with Stage I (T2N0M0) anal canal squamous cell carcinoma by biopsy specimen and CT scan. We recommended chemo-radiotherapy because she hoped to keep her anus. For this patient, we planned an S-1 administration at a dose of 120 mg/ body/day for consecutive 14 days followed by 7 days of rest period with whole pelvis and bilateral inguinal radiation (total 45 Gy/25 Fr). Then we added a booster radiation (14 Gy/7 Fr) to a local area for 5 days followed by 2 days of rest period. After 2 weeks of chemo-radiotherapy, we could not detect any tumors by colonoscopy. We diagnosed it as a pathological complete response for biopsy specimen.
Abstract. This paper introduces the contents of the report "Challenges for the national standardisation of geographical names in Japan", prepared by the Toponymy Subcommittee under IGU Working Group of the Planetary Science Committee, Science Council of Japan. The report suggests the establishment of a national geographical names board in Japan. It first indicates the growing awareness in the world on the importance of geographical names, including the activities of UNGEGN. This is followed by a description of current issues Japan is facing on geographical names, such as discrepancies of names used in the media and those used in textbooks, naming disputes at local authority mergers, and commercialisation of geographical names. It also described currently how the various government administration bodies deal with these issues, and points out some problems, mainly due to lack of overarching principles and coordination between agencies. Some examples of systems of other countries with a national geographical names board is shown, and finally some concrete recommendations, including an establishment of an inter-ministrial body that deals comprehensively with geographical names issues, awareness raising of society on the functions and importance of geographical names, development of human resources, and active participation in the international forum on geographical names.
