The relationship between stapling doughnuts: characteristics and functional results after total gastrectomy

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The objective of this study was to determine whether the thickness of the esophageal doughnut is related to postoperative results in total gastrectomy. METHODOLOGY: Thirty-eight total gastrectomy patients were studied, including 18 who underwent jejunal pouch reconstruction and 20 who did not have pouch reconstruction. We used the Proximate-ILS circular stapler, with purse-string suturing at the cut end of the esophagus performing only the mucosal layer manually in all cases. We divided the esophageal doughnuts after stapling into two groups: Group A: doughnut involving muscle tissue of 0-25% of the esophageal circumference; Group B: doughnut involved muscle tissue of 25-100% of the esophageal circumference. Reflux scores and the scintigraphic reflux index were determined. RESULTS: No significant difference was found between the two groups in reflux score or scintigraphic reflux index. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that the degree of postoperative reflux esophagitis was not affected by the amount of the muscular layer included in the esophageal doughnut. Continuity, and not variability of the degree of involved muscle in the esophageal doughnut, is an important factor at the time of stapling.     

Anodic oxidation of coal slurries in flow-through packed bed electrodes

Experimental studies were made to determine the characteristics of anode systems depolarized by coal slurries. The anode was a packed bed of platinum-plated titanium pellets, through which the slurries were recirculated. This flow system increased collisions between coal particles and the anode surfaces so that the anodic oxidation of the coal was enhanced. At the same time, soluble organic compounds and Fe²⁺ ions dissolved from the coal were oxidized at the anode, and Fe³⁺ was reduced by thermochemical reactions with reducing compounds in the coal; this reduction was important in maintaining the current density in long-term electrolysis.     

Thermoelectric properties of In- and Ga-doped spark plasma sintered ZnO ceramics

In this study, indium (In)- and gallium (Ga)-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) ceramics, [Zn_(1?x?y)Ga_xIn_y]O (x = 0, 0.02; y = 0, 0.005, 0.01, 0.02), were fabricated via spark plasma sintering (SPS) at 1423 K. Crystal structure and microstructural analyses were conducted to confirm the solubility of the dopants and understand the correlations between the crystallographic phases and the various compositions. It was confirmed that the solubility of Ga (x = 0.02; y = 0.005) was promoted by doping with In and Ga, and the highest power factor of 0.99 mW K^?2 m^?1 was acquired at 1046 K. Furthermore, the thermal conductivity at 340–530 K was reduced by doping with In and Ga.     

Improvement in Reactivity and Grindability of Belite-Rich Cement by Remelting Reaction

A new modification of belite-rich cement, a "remelted belite cement," exhibits higher hydration activity and better grindability than conventional belite-rich cement. The belite constituent in the new cement completely undergoes a remelting reaction and thus is distinctly different from the belite in conventional cement, which is rapidly quenched to depress the reaction. The remelted belite has a weaker resistance to fracture than does the quenched material and thus has better grindability. When the two cements, with nearly the same particle-size distributions, are compared, the specific surface area of the remelted belite cement is higher, resulting in higher hydration activity.     

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.     

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     

Surface Relief Induced by Martensitic Transformation in Phosphorus-Bearing Dicalcium Silicate

Crystals of (Ca_1.955□_0.045)(Si_0.91P_0.09)O₄, where □ denotes a vacancy, have been prepared and examined by XRD, optical microscopy, SEM, and AFM. At 20°C, the crystals are composed of 38%α' _L and 62%β phases. Upon cooling to −185°C, the α' _L - to β-phase transformation occurs, which increases the β-phase composition to 72%. The transformation is also accompanied by the formation of platelike surface reliefs. The surface relief angles have been determined from observations (7.9°± 0.2°) and calculations based on a phenomenological analysis (7.84°). The fair agreement of these values indicates that the transformation is martensitic and mainly governed by a shear mechanism.     

A unified approach to reducts in dominance-based rough set approach

The Dominance-based Rough Set Approach (DRSA), which is an extension of the Rough Set Approach (RSA), analyzes a sorting problem for a given data set. Attribute reduction is one of major topics in RSA as well as DRSA. By attribute reduction, we can find an important attribute set, which is called a reduct. In this paper, we propose a new approach to reducts in DRSA. A few kinds of reducts have been already proposed in DRSA, therefore, we clarify relations among the proposed and previous ones. We prove that they are consolidated into four kinds. Moreover, we show that all kinds of reducts can be enumerated based on two discernibility matrices.     

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.     

Improving Spatial Resolution of Real-Time Terahertz Near-Field Microscope

Terahertz (THz) wave imaging for biomaterial samples such as cells requires real-time acquisition and high spatial resolution beyond the diffraction limit. The existing THz near-field microscopes are based on raster-scanning techniques, and are therefore not able to image and trace morphological changes in a large area. With the recent advances in high-power THz sources, we demonstrated how to achieve high spatial resolution over a large size using a conventional charge-coupled-device (CCD) camera with the electro?Coptic (EO) sampling technique. In this paper, we determine a limiting factor that restricts spatial resolution in our near-field microscope. By calculating the imaging performance of the probe beam together with THz wave diffraction, we show that the most relevant factor is the diffraction inside the EO crystal. Near-field imaging of metal patterns using EO crystals with different thicknesses supports this calculation. A thin EO crystal is essential for achieving THz images with high spatial resolution.