Giant splenic cyst with high serum concentration of CA 19-9. Failure of treatment with percutaneous transcatheter drainage and injection of tetracycline

BACKGROUND: Recently, several cases of nonparasitic true splenic cyst with high serum concentration of carbohydrate antigen (CA 19-9) have been reported. CASE: We report a giant splenic cyst presenting with high serum concentration of CA 19-9 in a 21-year-old man without a history of previous trauma. Imaging techniques showed a huge monolocular cyst of the spleen, and laboratory data showed increased serum CA 19-9 levels (326 U/ml; normal, < 37 U/ml). Serologic test was negative for parasitic infection. These findings led us to the diagnosis of epithelial splenic cyst. Percutaneous transcatheter drainage and injection of tetracycline were performed for 2 weeks. The cyst shrank, and the serum CA 19-9 level decreased favorably. However, cystic fluid reaccumulated in a month. CONCLUSIONS: The accumulation of cystic fluid in splenic epithelial cysts may be attributable not only to the secretion of the lining cells but also to influx from the splenic sinuses.     

Regression of superficial gastric MALT lymphoma with unsuccessful eradication therapy for Helicobacter pylori infection

A 51-year-old man had a reddish flat granular lesion in the stomach on endoscopic examination. Histology of biopsied specimen confirmed the diagnosis of low-grade B-cell gastric lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (gastric MALT lymphoma) and simultaneous infection with Helicobacter pylori. He was given antibiotic treatment. Five weeks later, endoscopy and histology of biopsied specimen showed eradication of H. pylori, and the tumor had regressed. Six months later, H. pylori reemerged, but the tumor had not recurred. After the second antibiotic therapy, H. pylori has been eradicated. The lymphoma has been in remission for 14 months.     

Effects of Young's modulus of epoxy resin on axial compressive strength of carbon fibre

Using epoxy resins with various molecular weight between cross-linkings, attempts have been made to estimate the fibre axial compressive strength of pitch-based graphitized fibre, and the effect of Young's modulus of epoxy resins on compressive strength was investigated. The estimated compressive strength of fibre decreases with increasing temperature. This decrease in compressive strength may be accounted for by a decrease in the radial compressing force due to a decrease in the residual thermal stress. There is a linear relationship between the estimated compressive strength and radial compressive force in a temperature range from room temperature to 80 °C. The estimated compressive strength of the fibre increases with increasing Young's modulus of epoxy resins. In order to realize reinforcing fibres with a higher compressive strength, it will be necessary to use a resin matrix with a higher modulus.     

Effect of silicate incorporation on in vivo responses of α-tricalcium phosphate ceramics

In addition to calcium phosphate-based ceramics, glass-based materials have been utilized as bone substitutes, and silicate in these materials has been suggested to contribute to their ability to stimulate bone repair. In this study, a silicate-containing α-tricalcium phosphate (α-TCP) ceramic was prepared using a wet chemical process. Porous granules composed of silicate-containing α-TCP, for which the starting composition had a molar ratio of 0.05 for Si/(P + Si), and silicate-free α-TCP were prepared and evaluated in vivo. When implanted into bone defects that were created in rat femurs, α-TCP ceramics either with or without silicate were biodegraded, generating a hybrid tissue composed of residual ceramic granules and newly formed bone, which had a tissue architecture similar to physiological trabecular structures, and aided regeneration of the bone defects. Supplementation with silicate significantly promoted osteogenesis and delayed biodegradation of α-TCP. These results suggest that silicate-containing α-TCP is advantageous for initial skeletal fixation and wound regeneration in bone repair.     

Effect of residual stress on the strength of alumina-steel joint with Al-Si interlayer

The effect of residual stress on the strength of an alumina-steel joint with the Al-Si interlayer was studied. Alumina rods, 32 mm in diameter and 9 mm in length and steel pipes were diffusion bonded at 873 K and at a contact pressure of about 5 M Pa for 30 min in a vacuum of 24×10^–2Pa. The interlayer of aluminium sheet clad with Al-10% Si alloy on both sides was used. The tensile strength of the joints is influenced by the thickness of the interlayer or the intermetallic compound formed between the interlayer and the steel. The strength increases with increasing interlayer thickness and with decreasing intermetallic compound thickness. It is found that the residual stress measured by Sachs method is much lower than that by the elastic calculation. The stress decreases with increasing interlayer thickness. Increase in thickness of the aluminium core of the interlayer is effective in improving the joint strength. This improvement can be explained by considering the stress of the joint.     

A study on the adsorption of dialkyldimethyl ammonium chloride

A study was made on the structure, adsorption behavior toward fabrics and dependence upon particle size of an aqueous dispersion of di(hydrogenated tallow)dimethyl ammonium chloride (purified Arquad 2HT), the most widely used softener base. From the results of analyses by X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and electron microscopy, it was found that the dispersed phase of Arquad 2HT dispersion consisted of hydrated particles having a similar structure to that of the multilayered liposomes (or vesicles) of phospholipids and that these particles were adsorbed onto fabrics by softening treatment It was also found that finely dispersed particles showed better softening and antistatic performances in addition to a superior storage stability, due to their higher rate and uniformity of adsorption compared to roughly dispersed particles.     

Precision internal threading of stainless steel

Analysis has shown that vibration cutting is a suitable process for production of internal screw threads in thin stainless steel cylinders. A precision vibration internal threading lathe has been developed. Experiments were carried out with this lathe to investigate the tool life, chip type, accuracy of machined thread etc. The main results obtained by experiments are: (1) the chips formed by this vibration cutting are unoxidized, white-grey, flow type chips; (2) a smooth machined flank is produced which has an iridescent surface; (3) the desired sharp profile of the internal thread can be machined; (4) the relation between tool wear and cutting lengths was investigated; (5) by this process and lathe, it is possible to thread 10 000 pieces per tool. This is a 200-fold extension of tool life, compared with 40–50 pieces in conventional cutting. The vibration internal threading machine has been used in mass production tests, and the above results confirmed on about 500 000 work-pieces.     

Research on constitutions and physiology of skin-development of traditional Chinese medicine for skin

Evaluation studies in the development of new types of cosmetics are divided into exploratory and confirmatory research. The exploratory evaluation aims to discover the unknown characteristics of tested products, whereas the confirmatory evaluation aims to examine the attainment of their designed quality. This report presents an evaluation method to achieve simultaneously the two objectives using the think-aloud method with the paired comparisons method. The results obtained for two foaming cleansers possessed both exploratory aspects and confirmatory ones, and were straightforward in demonstrating the features of the foaming cleansers, because the think-aloud method was not restricted by a complicated evaluation procedure. The method proposed from the discussions can be readily applied to the process of new product development.     

A switching command-based whole-body operation method for humanoid robots

This paper introduces a switching command-based whole-body operation method for humanoid robots. Humanoid robots are biped machines possessing multiple degrees of freedom (DOF). Due to the complexity of their multi-DOF structure, and the difficulty in maintaining postural stability, whole-body operation of humanoid robots is fundamentally different from traditional fixed-base manipulators or stable-base mobile manipulators. By studying the shifts in locus of attention between human body joints during task execution, we developed a switching command-based operation method that allows the operator to select only the necessary points of the humanoid robot's body for manipulation. Whole-body motion satisfying the desired movements of the selected points is generated using an inverse-kinematics motion generation scheme. This switching operation method enables flexible whole-body operation of humanoid robots using simple input devices. The proposed whole-body operation method is implemented as a teleoperation system using two 3-DOF joysticks to operate a 30-DOF humanoid robot (HRP-1S) developed in the Humanoid Robotics Project (HRP) of the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry of Japan. Experiments teleoperating HRP-1S confirmed the effectiveness of our method.