It was demonstrated that the third-order optical nonlinearity of polymer films could be reversibly controlled by the photochromic conversion and following J-aggregate formation of spiropyran embedded in an inert polymer matrix. Patterns consisting of areas with high and low third-order nonlinear optical activities were prepared by imagewise exposure of the photochromic films followed by thermal treatment to form thermally stable J aggregates of photoinduced merocyanine in the exposed area. This system could be useful in developing new unconventional optical devices based on optical nonlinearities, including new types of spatial light modulators.

We herein present a rare case of Actinomyces turicensis bacteremia that was caused by pyometra. The patient was successfully treated with transvaginal drainage and antibiotic therapy. A literature review in MED-LINE showed that there have been only 8 previously reported cases of A. turicensis bacteremia. This infection frequently occurs in patients with visceral abscesses, and blood culture examinations usually reveal a polymicrobial pattern. However, the prognosis of such patients has been reported to generally be benign. Due to difficulties in performing bacterial identification and the wide-spectrum clinical pictures associated with this bacteremia, no comprehensive understanding of the clinical features of each Actinomyces species has yet been established.

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While jaw functions as cooperative work of the jaw muscles and the nervous system

This paper presents a method to evaluate a repair time of building damaged by an earthquake. The repair time is evaluated by a repair schedule described by logic network. The logic network of the repair schedule is automatically generated based on preceding activities of each activity. The shortest repair time is evaluated under resource limitations of worker types. The proposed method is so automated that it can be incorporate into the evaluation procedure proposed in FEMA P-58 which employs Monte Carlo simulation to consider variability of earthquake response evaluation and damage evaluation, etc.