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A fine-focusing x-ray source has been constructed employing a field electron emitter prepared by growing carbon-nanofibers (CNFs) on a metal tip. The x-ray source is composed of a CNF field electron emitter, an electrostatic lens, two magnetic lenses, and a W-target for generating x-rays by electron impact. The CNFs provided field electrons with a current density of J∼5×109 A/m2, which was evaluated with the aid of Fowler–Nordheim theory. The electron beam extracted from the CNF emitter was accelerated to the energies of E=10–25 keV, and then focused by the lenses. By recording the x-ray images of test charts, the optimum resolution of the x-ray source was estimated to be approximately Dx=0.5 μm.

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IntroductionThe route of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) transmission in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is not clearly explained. We investigate an MRSA outbreak involving five babies in the NICU. The molecular investigation using polymerase chain reaction-based open reading frame typing (POT) method was performed.Presentation of outbreakA MRSA outbreak occurred in a six-bed NICU affecting 5 babies. Within 13 days of the emergence of index case, all five babies including triplets and other two babies were found to colonize MRSA by the active surveillance culture. Environmental surveillance cultures revealed that the preserved breast milk provided by the triplets' mother was the only item in the NICU that was positive for MRSA. The mother had a bite wound on the nipples, and the breast milk was not pasteurized. The POT method revealed that MRSA strains detected from the triplets, the breast milk, and the other baby who was fed the triplets' mother's milk were genetically identical (POT index: 106-247-33). The all strains of MRSA carried Staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) IV and had good susceptibility for the non-ß-lactam antimicrobial agents, suggesting the strains were community-acquired MRSA.ConclusionsThe mother’s milk contaminated with community-origin MRSA is serving as the reservoir of MRSA and one of the sources of MRSA outbreaks in the NICU. It is important to closely monitor the condition of the mothers of the children in the NICU. Pasteurization of breast milk should be considered when the skin on the nipple is broken.

Stabilization of field emission (FE) from carbon nanofibers grown on a metal tip has been extensively studied using ballast resistances of 1 ≤ R ≤ 1500 MΩ at electron currents of 1≲I≲100μA. The FE current stability ɛ(R) = ΔI(R)/Im strongly depends on the mean current Im, while the data points of the relative stability Γ(R) = ɛ(R)/ɛ(0) plotted as a function of R multiplied by Im could be crudely reduced into a curve. In the stabilization studied here, extracting voltage fluctuation ΔV(R) was weakly induced by the current fluctuation ΔI(R). The current stability ɛ(R) and the voltage fluctuation ΔV(R) could be interpreted by employing a dynamical impedance of z = (dI/dV)−1 evaluated from the experimental I–V curve. The optimum current stability of ɛ(R) ∼ 0.002 was achieved using the resistance of R ∼ 10 MΩ around the highest FE current of Im = 80 μA, while the extracting voltage stability was η(R) = ΔV(R)/V ∼ 0.001 [ΔV(R) ∼ 2 V] at R ∼ 10 MΩ and Im ∼ 80 μA.