Experimental study on TNF-alpha linked percutaneous isolated hepatic chemoperfusion (PIHP)]

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to establish perceptions of informed consent in patients undergoing surgery for acute abdominal conditions. METHODS: A prospective observational study was carried out using a structured questionnaire-based interview technique in patients undergoing surgery for acute abdominal conditions. Main outcome measures were to establish the effects of pain and preoperative analgesia on informed consent, patient comprehension of planned surgery and the degree of discussion of potential side-effects and complications. RESULTS: Thirty-one of 49 patients perceived that pain did not interfere with their ability to give informed consent. Forty of 48 stated that preoperative analgesia did not impair their ability to give informed consent. Forty-two understood why an operation was being planned but 28 patients stated that there had been no preoperative discussion of any potential side-effects or complications of surgery. CONCLUSION: In this study the majority of patients perceived that they retained the ability to give informed consent despite the effects of pain and analgesia. Although the majority of patients understood why an operation was being planned there is a clear need for improved discussion of potential side-effects and complications.     

Hepatic artery-biliary fistula during infusion chemotherapy

A 52-year-old man with rectal cancer and liver metastasis underwent tumor resection with hepatic arterial catheterization. During adjuvant chemotherapy, he developed epigastric pain, nausea, and melena. Digital subtraction angiography revealed a hepatic artery-biliary fistula and a pseudoaneurysm at the catheter tip. This rare complication of intra-arterial chemotherapy is reported in detail.     

Sequential Circuits with Combinational Test Generation Complexity under Single-Fault Assumption

We show that the test generation problem for all single stuck-at faults in sequential circuits with internally balanced structures can be reduced into the test generation problem for single stuck-at faults in combinational circuits. In our previous work, we introduced internally balanced structures as a class of sequential circuits with the combinational test generation complexity. However, single stuck-at faults on some primary inputs, called separable primary inputs, corresponded to multiple stuck-at faults in a transformed combinational circuit. In this paper, we resolve this problem. We show how to generate a test sequence and identify undetectability for single stuck-at faults on separable primary inputs.     

Synthesis of C-unalkylated calix[4]resorcinarene from 1,3-dimethoxybenzene-formaldehyde condensation

Summary We proposed a convenient method for the synthesis of C-unalkylated calix[4]resorcinarene octamethyl ether by the HCl-catalyzed condensation of 1,3-dimethoxybenzene with paraformaldehyde in 2-ethoxyethanol. The conformation of the C-unalkylated calix[4]resorcinarene was preferentially chair-like and it changed to a boat-like by heating it in bulk and solution. Received: 26 November 2001/ Revised: 19 December 2001/ Accepted: 25 December 2001     

Effects of the amount of γ′ and oxide content on the secondary recrystallization temperature of nickel-base superalloys

The effects of the amount of γ′ and yttria (Y₂O₃) content on the secondary recrystallization (SRx) temperature of as-extruded material of the mechanically alloyed nickel-base superalloys based on a superalloy TMO-2 were investigated. It was observed that (1) the primarily recrystallized grain size of the as-extruded material decreased with increasing the γ′ and the yttria content in the material; (2) the SRx temperature decreased with decreasing the yttria content and with increasing the amount of theγ′ up to about 55 vol pct, while (3) the temperature increased for the material containing more than 65 vol pctγ′; and (4) the SRx temperatures of the material containing 75 vol pctγ′ phase with 1.1 wt pct yttria and 55 vol pctγ′ phase with no yttria were identical to theirγ′ solvus. From these results, the following conclusions are drawn: (1) dissolution of theγ′ particles is a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for the occurrence of secondary recrystallization; (2) secondary recrystallization of a material with sufficiently smaller grain size occurs at a temperature higher than theγ′ solvus and the temperature at which the yttria particles lose their ability to prevent rapid growth of the primarily recrystallized grains; and (3) the SRx temperature of a material with larger grain size depends on grain size. Formerly Assistant Researcher with NRIM     

Effect of calcium chloride on vapor-liquid equilibria of alcohol-alcohol and alcohol-water binary systems

The vapor-liquid equilibria of three alcohol-alcohol binary mixtures (methanol-ethanol, methanol-1-propanol and ethanol-1-propanol) and three alcohol-water binary mixtures (methanol-water, ethanol-water and allyl alcohol-water) containing calcium chloride were measured at 298.15 K using a flow-type apparatus. The measured data of each ternary system were correlated by the use of a semi-empirical model proposed by Hála. It was found that the model with the optimal value of the exponent β = 5.0 in the electrostatic interaction term, originally given as 3/2 by Hála, gives reasonable prediction to all the systems in this study.     

Inhibitory effects of a cyclosporin derivative, SDZ PSC 833, on transport of doxorubicin and vinblastine via human P-glycoprotein

The inhibitory effects of SDZ PSC 833 (PSC833), a non-immunosuppressive cyclosporin derivative, on the P-glycoprotein (P-gp)-mediated transport of doxorubicin and vinblastine were compared with those of cyclosporin A (Cs-A). The transcellular transport of the anticancer drugs and PSC833 across a monolayer of LLC-GA5-COL150 cells, which overexpress human P-gp, was measured. Both PSC833 and Cs-A inhibited P-gp-mediated transport of doxorubicin and vinblastine in a concentration-dependent manner and increased the intracellular accumulation of doxorubicin and vinblastine in LLC-GA5-COL150 cells. The values of the 50%-inhibitory concentration (IC50) of PSC833 and Cs-A for doxorubicin transport were 0.29 and 3.66 microM, respectively, and those for vinblastine transport were 1.06 and 5.10 microM, respectively. The IC50 of PSC833 for doxorubicin transport was about 4-fold less than that for vinblastine transport, suggesting that the combination of PSC833 and doxorubicin might be effective. PSC833 itself was not transported by P-gp and had higher lipophilicity than Cs-A. These results indicated that the inhibitory effect of PSC833 on P-gp-mediated transport was 5- to 10-fold more potent than that of Cs-A, and this higher inhibitory effect of PSC833 may be related to the absence of PSC833 transport by P-gp and to the higher lipophilicity of PSC833.     

Three-dimensional profiling using the Fourier transform method with a hexagonal grating projection

We present three-dimensional profilometry based on triangulation in which a hexagonal pattern is projected on the object. To obtain an accurate result with a one-shot photographic image, the Fourier transform method and method of excess fraction are adopted. The three grating components of the hexagonal pattern are used. For compactness a new pattern projection scheme is introduced. The experimental results show that the constructed optical system works well for measuring the profile of a mannequin with a height resolution of ~ +/- 1 mm.     

Condensation experiments for counter-current flow limitation in an inverted U-tube

In this study, we measured counter-current flow limitation (CCFL) characteristics in an inverted U-tube (18.4 mm diameter and 1.0 m straight-part length) simulating steam generator (SG) U-tubes under conditions of steam condensation at pressures of 0.1–0.14 MPa. Differential pressure ΔP between the top of the inverted U-tube and the lower tank was measured, and the flow patterns wave estimated by comparing the waveforms of ΔP with those in air–water experiments. As a result, we classified the flow patterns under CCFL conditions into CCFL-P, CCFL-L and CCFL-T. The falling water flow rate under CCFL conditions slightly increased as the pressure increased and the cooling water temperature decreased (subcooling of cooling water increased). In the case of CCFL-L, CCFL characteristics in the inverted U-tube were between those in air–water and saturated steam–water experiments at 0.1 MPa. Furthermore, we derived a Wallis type CCFL correlation and its uncertainty from CCFL data, including previously measured data, i.e., J*^1/2_G + 0.88J_L*^1/2 = 0.76 ± 0.05.