Size estimation method for patch used in reconstruction of LV cavity

The reconstruction of LV cavity is accomplished by suturing a patch to the viable myocardium to exclude the infarcted area from the high LV pressures. However, there is no clear guideline to estimate the size of patch used for LV reconstruction. We have designed a new method to determine the correct patch size, and applied it in 5 cases. The suture line of the patch is at the junction of contractile (functional) and infarcted portions of LV. The patch size is determined by the length of AB, termed "a", as the base, where "point A" represents the junction on the LV anterior wall side, and "point B" the junction of the LV posterior wall side, from RAO 30 degrees projection of the left ventriculogram obtained by cardiac catheterization. In LV aneurysm, we designed the patch in the range of a/2 < l < or = pi a/2, where patch length on RAO 30 degrees is considered "l". An effort was made to reconstruct to normalize LV volume and contour by designing the patch size to be a/2 < l < a, particularly when the contractile portion was enlarged by aneurysm. On the other hand, in post AMI VSD, LV contractile portion is not enlarged in early stage. Therefore, the patch was designed in the range of a < l < or = pi a/2 to maintain LV volume. Postoperative LV volume can be calculated prior to surgery, by using the lengths of the designed patch. Postoperative analysis indicated that the actual LV volume and contour were almost identical to our estimation. This method is very useful in planning the patch size for LV reconstruction.     

Effect of strong gravitational field on oriented crystalline perovskite-type manganese oxide La<Subscript>1−<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Sr<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>MnO<Subscript>3</Subscript>

We report the effect of a strong gravitational field on oriented crystalline perovskite-type manganese oxide La_1?x Sr _x MnO₃ (LSMO). The perovskite-type manganese oxides La_1?x Sr _x MnO₃ (LSMO) have been investigated for giant magnetoresistance (GMR) by controlling the hole-doping level (x). A strong gravitational field can change in crystalline state and the enhancement of usual diffusion. We subjected oriented crystalline La_1?x Sr _x MnO₃ with different grain and grain-boundary (GBs) Sr concentrations to a strong gravitational field and investigated the resulting changes in the A-site cation diffusion and physical properties of the material. Electron probe micro-analysis (EPMA) results showed appearance of the GBs where the Sr concentration was quite high compared with in other GBs. The quantitative analysis at the grain and GBs indicated that cation diffusion was more enhanced than the annealed one. The temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility of the gravity samples changed with the Sr concentration in the grains. The temperature dependence of the resistivity curves of the gravity sample showed several abrupt changes, which corresponded to phase transitions at the grains and GBs, which may be caused by composition changes.     

Experiment and modelling of cantilever-based electromagnetic energy harvester driven by direct impact of spherical ball

Microsystem Technologies - We carried out a numerical analysis and an experimental investigation of the nonlinear resonance characteristics of an electromagnetic vibration energy harvester driven...     

Reliability-based topology optimization under shape uncertainty modeled in Eulerian description

Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization - This paper presents a reliability-based topology optimization method under geometrical uncertainties. First, we briefly introduce the concept of...     

Ultra‐high‐resolution 1058‐ppi OLED displays with 2.78‐in size using CAAC‐IGZO FETs with tandem OLED device and single OLED device

We fabricated new 2.78‐in 1058‐ppi organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) displays. The displays used OLED devices with a tandem structure and a single structure and a field effect transistor (FET) using c‐axis aligned crystalline In–Ga–Zn–O (CAAC‐IGZO) for an active layer and employing the 1.5‐µm rule over a glass substrate. Even in the displays with such high resolution exceeding 1000 ppi, crosstalk that was observed in the lower luminance region was suppressed. The displays achieved high color reproducibility and reduced viewing angle dependence.     

An Efficient Boundary Handling with a Modified Density Calculation for SPH

We propose a new boundary handling method for smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH). Previous approaches required the use of boundary particles to prevent particles from sticking to the boundary. We address this issue by correcting the fundamental equations of SPH with the integration of a kernel function. Our approach is able to directly handle triangle mesh boundaries without the need for boundary particles. We also show how our approach can be integrated into a position‐based fluid framework.     

Biosynthesis and characterization of novel polyhydroxyalkanoate copolymers consisting of 3-hydroxy-2-methylbutyrate and 3-hydroxyhexanoate

In this study, in order to explore the possibility of biosynthesizing a novel polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), copolymerization of 3-hydroxy-2-methylbutyrate (3H2MB) as the α-position methylated monomer and 3-hydroxyhexanoate (3HHx) as the medium-chain-length monomer was performed to obtain P(3H2MB-co-3HHx). The β-oxidation-deficient Escherichia coli LSBJ, harboring the PHA biosynthetic operon from Aeromonas caviae and the propionyl-CoA transferase gene (pct) from Megasphaera elsdenii, was cultured with feeding tiglic and hexanoic acids as the precursors for 3H2MB and 3HHx, respectively. It was observed that pct expression was highly effective to enhance the incorporation of 3H2MB into PHA. The biosynthesized PHA was composed of 3H2MB and 3HHx units only, and the 3H2MB fraction varied in the range of 36–60 mol% depending on the culture conditions. These PHAs exhibited glass transition temperatures between ?11 to ?17 °C; moreover, no melting peak was observed during analysis using differential scanning calorimetry. This study demonstrated the biosynthesis of a hitherto unreported PHA by engineering metabolic pathway in E. coli.     

Topology optimization of supporting structure for seismic response reduction of an arch

A flexible supporting structure that reduces seismic response of an arch is proposed. Topology and cross-sectional areas of the supporting structure modeled as a truss structure are optimized through two steps of static and dynamic optimization problems. In the first step, a flexible supporting structure that has diagonal displacement at the top under horizontal load is obtained by solving static optimization problems. Then, in the second step, the cross-sectional area of the flexible member is optimized to minimize the seismic response acceleration of the arch evaluated by the complete quadratic combination (CQC) method. Time-history seismic response analysis is carried out to show that the response in the normal direction of the roof successfully decreases due to flexibility of the supporting structure; in addition, installing passive energy dissipation devices into the flexible supporting structure is very effective in reducing the tangential response of the arch.     

The thermal behaviour of copper diphosphates made by wet process

Copper diphosphates (Cu₂P₂O₇ · 5H₂O, Cu_1.6K_0.8P₂O₇ · 1.7H₂O, and Cu_1.5K_1.0P₂O₇ · 2.8H₂O) were made by mixing aqueous solutions of tetrapotassium diphosphate and copper dichloride. When the diphosphates were heated, the decomposition of the diphosphates to orthophosphate was observed at a temperature lower than 150° C. The orthophosphate was polymerized by condensation to polyphosphates in the temperature range of about 150 to 450° C. The polyphosphates reorganized to diphosphate at 450 to 550° C according to the following reaction: