A case of a ruptured lingual artery aneurysm treated with endovascular surgery

A rare case of a ruptured lingual artery aneurysm treated with endovascular procedure in presented. A 67-year-old woman undergoing treatment in our hospital for right thalamic hemorrhage complained of sudden swelling in the submandibular area and breathlessness. The swelling was so rapid and progressive that her breathing was disturbed. She was intubated as soon as possible. Computed tomography (CT) showed a massive subcutaneous hematoma, extending from the left submandibular area to the neck, which had compressed the trachea to the right. CT with contrast medium showed extravasation of the medium for this lesion. Angiography showed that the aneurysm was located on the periphery of the left ingual artery. Extravasation of contrast medium from the aneurysm was also observed. We considered that direct surgery was difficult to perform safely, so we chose an endovascular procedure to treat this lesion. The lingual artery was successfully embolized using four platinum coils. No rebleeding or other complication occurred after the coil embolization. Disturbance of breathing due to air way obstruction is an important symptom of a ruptured lingual artery aneurysm. Endovascular surgery may be the first choice for treatment of the bleeding origin.     

Frequency dispersion of the internal friction in tetragonal and cubic zirconia polycrystals stabilized with yttria

A forced vibration method for measuring the frequency dispersion of internal friction under cyclic-tensile-compressive stress on the single axis was developed so that various mechanical tests can be conducted using a specimen having the same shape, machining, and sintering conditions. With this new method, frequency dispersions of the internal friction for tetragonal and cubic zirconia polycrystals stabilized with yttria were measured. The activation energy for the relaxation time was determined. As a result of comparison with the activation energy for the relaxation time measured by a conventional method, we conclude that the results of the internal friction measured in this study are valid. The activation energy for the ionic conductivity was determined, and compared with that for the relaxation time. The activation energies for the relaxation time in 2.6YSZ, 3YSZ, and the lower temperature peak of 10YSZ are very similar to those for the conductivity. As a result, we conclude that the internal friction peaks of 2.6YSZ and 3YSZ, and the lower temperature peak of 10YSZ are derived from rearrangement of point defects associated with oxygen ion vacancies.     

Effect of graphite content on properties of B4C‐W2B5 ceramic composites by in situ reaction of B‐Gr‐WC

Strip‐shaped W₂B₅ reinforced B₄C ceramic composites were prepared via in situ reaction of boron(B)‐graphite(Gr)‐WC system by powder metallurgy (P/M). In order to study the effect of the graphite content on the properties of the as‐fabricated ceramic composites, the powder mixture of B‐Gr‐WC with various amounts of Gr powder were blended and consolidated by spark plasma sintering (SPS). The sintering parameters were shown as following: sintering pressure was set as 30 MPa; The three‐step sintering temperature was 1100‐1550‐1700°C and the duration time was set as 5‐5‐6 minutes, respectively. In situ formed strip‐shaped W₂B₅ particles were dispersed homogeneously in B₄C matrix, which resulted in a remarkable improvement on the fracture toughness and mechanical properties. Appropriate 5vol% residual Gr in the composite shows positive effect on the mechanical properties which achieved an optimal counter‐balance of fracture toughness and hardness, the relative density was 99.8%, the Vickers hardness can reach 30.2 GPa, and the fracture toughness was 11.9 MPa·m^1/2 when the sintering temperature was set at 1700°C.     

Boundary shape design by using PDE filtered design variables

This paper deals with a design method for boundary shapes using filtering techniques based on a partial differential equation (PDE). In shape optimization, it is known that oscillatory boundaries appear when design variables are directly assigned to the design boundaries. In addition, during the optimization process, discretized elements in a computational domain are distorted due to extremely large shape changes along the design boundaries. The distorted elements may cause accuracy deterioration or numerical instability in a forward problem. In this paper, we propose a shape optimization method by using the PDE as a low pass filter which prevents the oscillatory boundaries of the optimized design. For restricting the shape distortion of the discretized elements, the shear deformation of the elements is constrained in the optimization problem. Mathematical programming is used to find the boundary shapes under the KKT conditions. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through numerical examples in solid and fluid mechanics.     

Histological features of the vomeronasal organ in the giraffe,Giraffa camelopardalis

The vomeronasal organ (VNO) that preferentially detects species‐specific substances is diverse among animal species, and its morphological properties seem to reflect the ecological features of animals. This histological study of two female reticulated giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata) found that the VNO is developed in giraffes. The lateral and medial regions of the vomeronasal lumen were covered with sensory and nonsensory epithelia, respectively. The vomeronasal glands were positive for periodic acid‐Schiff and alcian blue (pH 2.5) stains. The VNO comprises several large veins like others in the order Cetartiodactyla, suggesting that these veins function in a pumping mechanism in this order. In addition, numerous thin‐walled vessels located immediately beneath the epithelia covering the lumen entirely surrounded the vomeronasal lumen. This sponge‐like structure might function as a specific secondary pump in giraffes.     

Biosynthesis of sterols and ecdysteroids in Ajuga hairy roots

Hairy roots of Ajuga reptans var. atropurpurea produce clerosterol, 22-dehydroclerosterol, and cholesterol as sterol constituents, and 20-hydroxyecdysone, cyasterone, isocyasterone, and 29-norcyasterone as ecdysteroid constituents. To better understand the biosynthesis of these steroidal compounds, we carried out feeding studies of variously ²H- and ¹³C-labeled sterol substrates with Ajuga hairy roots. In this article, we review our studies in this field. Feeding of labeled desmosterols, 24-methylenecholesterol, and ¹³C₂-acetate established the mechanism of the biosynthesis of the two C₂₉-sterols and a newly accumulated codisterol, including the metabolic correlation of C-26 and C-27 methyl groups. In Ajuga hairy roots, 3α-, 4α-, and 4β-hydrogens of cholesterol were all retained at their original positions after conversion into 20-hydroxyecdysone, in contrast to the observations in a fern and an insect. Furthermore, the origin of 5β-H of 20-hydroxyecdysone was found to be C-6 hydrogen of cholesterol exclusively, which is inconsistent with the results in the fern and the insect. These data strongly support the intermediacy of 7-dehydrocholesterol 5α,6α-epoxide. Moreover, 7-dehydrocholesterol, 3β-hydroxy-5β-cholest-7-en-6-one (5β-ketol), and 3β,14α-dihydroxy-5β-cholest-7-en-6-one (5β-ketodiol) were converted into 20-hydroxyecdysone. Thus, the pathway cholesterol→7-dehydrocholesterol→7-dehydrocholesterol 5α,6α-epoxide→5β-ketol→5β-ketodiol is proposed for the early stages of 20-hydroxyecdysone biosynthesis. 3β-Hydroxy-5β-cholestan-6-one was also incorporated into 20-hydroxyecdysone, suggesting that the introduction of a 7-ene function is not necessarily next to cholesterol. C-25 Hydroxylation during 20-hydroxyecdysone biosynthesis was found to proceed with ca. 70% retention and 30% inversion. Finally, clerosterol was shown to be a precursor of cyasterone and isocyasterone.     

Purification and characterization of a cold-active protease from psychrotrophic Serratia marcescens AP3801

Protease activity was detected in the culture medium of Serratia marcescens AP3801 grown at 10°C, which was isolated from soil collected from the top of a mountain. The enzyme, designated as CP-58 protease, was purified to homogeneity from the culture broth by ion exchange and gel filtration chromatographies. The molecular mass of the protease was 58 kDa, and its isoelectric point was close to 6.0. Maximal activity toward azocasein was observed at 40°C and from pH 6.5 to 8.0. The activity was strongly inhibited by 1,10-phenanthroline, suggesting that the enzyme is a metalloprotease. The N-terminal amino acid sequence was Ser-Leu-Asn-Gly-Lys-Thr-Asn-Gly-Trp-Asp-Ser-Val-Asn-Asp-Leu-Leu-Asn-Tyr-His-Asn-Arg-Gly-Asn (or Asp)-Gly-Thr-Ile-Asn-Asn-Lys-Pro-Ser-Phe-Asp-Ile-Ala. A search through databases for sequence homology aligned CP-58 protease with metalloprotease. The result of the cleavage pattern of oxidized insulin B-chain suggests that CP-58 protease has a broader specificity than other proteases against the peptide substrate.     

Development of double-decker pulse radiolysis

Double-decker pulse radiolysis (DDPR), which utilizes double-decker electron beams, was investigated to develop a new pulse radiolysis with a high time resolution. The double-decker electron beams were generated by injecting two UV pulses into a photocathode radio-frequency gun. In the pulse radiolysis, one electron beam was used as a pump beam, and the other was converted to a probe pulse. Finally, as its first application, the DDPR was successfully used for observing solvated electrons in water, with a 10%-90% rise time of 8.6 ps.     

Cooling of extraction electrode of an ion source in long-pulse operation

Experimental studies were made on the cooling of extraction electrodes of an ion source in the case of long-pulse operation. Copper electrodes with forced water cooling pipes were tested under the condition that an ion beam of 1 to 5 A at 30 keV was extracted for up to 10 s. The average heat loading to the grid are of the electrode was as high as 130 W/cm2. This high heat flux was obtained by a set of electrodes artificially arranged to produce poor beam optics, and hence the high heat loading. Temperature of the ground electrode was measured at two points by thermocouples buried and silver brazed in it, and was kept below 230 degrees C due to a large boiling heat transfer coefficient of the cooling water. No evidences of deformation or deterioration of the electrodes was observed after repetitious beam extraction. This heat loading was still a half of that on the grid of the ion source for the JT-60 NBI.