Study of sexual function in male hemodialysis patients--a sexual function survey using a questionnaire

Sexual dysfunction is a well-documented complication among male hemodialysis patients. To evaluate it in detail, we conducted a sexual function survey using the Sapporo Medical University Sexual Function Questionnaire. Two hundred five male patients receiving outpatient hemodialysis were entered into this study. Patients with diabetes mellitus and severe anemia (Hb value < 8.0 g/dl) were excluded. The control group consisted of 3,462 healthy male subjects. Of male hemodialysis patients, 33.7% showed deterioration of libido, while 44.4% showed deterioration of potency, both of them decreased greatly with age. Ejaculatory ability correlated with potency. We compared the frequency of sexual intercourse in male hemodialysis patients with that in normal males. Twelve point nine percent of hemodialysis patients (HP) ranging from 30 to 39 in age versus 3.5% of age-matched normal males had no sexual intercourse and 22.4% of HPs from 40 to 49 versus 3.0% of age-matched normal males, 52.2% of HPs from 50 to 59 versus 7.5% of age-matched normal males, and 89.3% of HPs from 60 to 69 versus 18.0% of age-matched normal males had no sexual intercourse. These results revealed that the sexual frequency in hemodialysis patients decreased more than that in normal males in all age groups and with age.     

A 10 bit 20 MS/s 3 V supply CMOS A/D converter

A 10 bit CMOS A/D converter with 3 V power supply has been developed for being integrated into system VLSI's. In this A/D converter, redundant binary encoders named “twin encoders” enhance tolerance to substrate noise, together with employing differential amplifiers in comparators. The bias circuit using a replica of the amplifier is developed for biasing differential comparators with 3 V power supply. Subranging architecture along with a multilevel tree decoding structure improves dynamic performance of the ADC at 3 V power supply. The A/D converter is fabricated in double-polysilicon, double-metal, 0.8 μm CMOS technology. The experimental results show that the ADC operates at 20 MS/s and the twin encoders suppress the influence of substrate noise effectively. This ADC has a single power supply of 3 V, and dissipates 135 mW at 20 MS/s operation     

PTCR Characteristics in Barium Titanate Ceramics with Curie Points Between 60° and 360°C

PTCR characteristics in porous semiconducting barium titanate ceramics with Curie points from 60° to 360°C were investigated. The magnitude of the PTCR effect in these cerumics decreases self-onsistently with increasing Curie point within this temperature range. A PTCR efSect of more than 4 orders of magnitude was ahserved, for a Ba_0.44Pb_0.6TiO₃ ceramic with a Curie point of 360°C .     

High thermal stable thermoplastic-thermosetting polyimide film by use of asymmetric dianhydride (a-BPDA)

In order to obtain thermoplastic (before curing) and thermosetting (after curing) polyimides with high T_g for adhesive film, we prepared novel polyimides having phenylethynyl group in the side chain (44% of concentration of curing group) from asymmetric 2,3,3′,4′-biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride (a-BPDA), 3,4′-oxydianiline (3,4′-ODA) or 1,3-bis(4-aminophenoxy)benzene (1,3,4-APB) or 1,3-bis(3-aminophenoxy)benzene (1,3,3-APB), and 2,4-diamino-1-(4-phenylethynylphenoxy)benzene (mPDAp). Among three kinds of polymer, uncured polyimide of a-BPDA/1,3,4-APB; mPDAp had rather high T_g (265 °C, DMA) and thermoplasticity (E′ drop>10³ at T_g). After curing reaction of phenylethynyl group, the T_g of the polyimide was increased dramatically (364 °C, DMA). The polyimide derived from 1,3,4-APB having less concentration of curing group (20%) was also prepared to improve further film flexibility and toughness.     

Rapid ethanolysis procedure for jojoba wax analysis by gas liquid chromatography

A rapid ethanolysis procedure for preparing jojoba wax for gas liquid chromatographic analysis is described. The wax esters are hydrolyzed by refluxing 4 drops of jojoba wax in 5% HCl in anhydrous ethanol in a test tube. The resulting fatty acid ethyl esters and fatty alcohols are separated and quantitated by a single gas liquid chromatographic run. Analysis of duplicate samples by this procedure gives essentially the same results as a procedure which requires 10 times more sample and reagents and considerably more time.     

Three-dimensional medical image recognition of cancer of the liver by a revised radial basis function (RBF) neural network algorithm

In this study, we propose a revised radial basis function (RBF) neural network algorithm and apply this algorithm to computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) of the liver. First, the revised RBF neural network algorithm is applied to recognition of the liver regions, and the recognition results are compared with those obtained using the conventional RBF neural network and the conventional multilayered neural network trained using the back-propagation algorithm. It is shown that the revised RBF neural network is accurate, and is a useful method because the parameters are automatically determined. Then, the revised RBF neural network is applied to CAD of the liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).     

Tetra-Repeat Microsatellite Markers for the Masu Salmon (Oncorhynchus masou masou) and Its Application in Cross-Subspecies Amplification

We developed tetranucleotide-repeat microsatellite markers for the masu salmon (Oncorhynchus masou) complex. 454 pyrosequencing was used to discover repeat motifs, and seven polymorphic microsatellite-primer sets were identified. The number of alleles detected at each locus ranged from four to 24 and the expected heterozygosity varied from 0.57 to 0.92. Cross-subspecies amplification for O. m. masou, O. m. ishikawae and O. m. subsp. was successful. These microsatellites can be utilized in studies of genetic structure, genetic diversity, and intra- and inter-subspecific hybridization, making a contribution to conservation and management of the Oncorhynchus masou complex.     

Gas Transport Parameters for Compacted Reddish-Brown Soil in Sri Lankan Landfill Final Cover

Gas exchange through the compacted final cover soil at landfill sites plays a vital role for emission, fate, and transport of toxic landfill gases. This study involved measuring the soil-gas diffusivity (Dp/Do, the ratio of gas diffusion coefficients in soil and free air) and air permeability (ka) for differently compacted soil samples (reddish-brown soil) from the final cover at the Maharagama landfill in Sri Lanka. The samples were prepared by either standard Proctor compaction or hand compaction to dry bulk densities of 1.60–1.94??g?cm-3. Existing and modified models for predicting Dp/Do and ka were tested against the measured data. The simple, single-parameter Buckingham model predicted measured Dp/Do values across compaction levels equally well or better than a dry bulk density (DBD) dependent model and a soil-water retention (SWR) dependent model. The measured ka values for differently compacted samples were highly affected by the compaction level and the sample moisture preparation method. Also, for air permeability, a single-parameter Buckingham-type ka model was most accurate in predicting ka in the differently compacted soil samples. Equivalent air-filled pore diameters (the effective diameter of the drained pores active in leading air through the sample) for gas flow, deq, were calculated from the measured Dp/D0 and ka values. The deq increased with compaction level, suggesting that a very high compaction level creates well-connected macropores in the reduced total pore space of the cover soil. This is an important consideration when designing cover soils for optimally low water and high oxygen exchange while minimizing climate and toxic gas emissions from the waste layer to the atmosphere.