Multiscale modeling of in-room temperature distribution with human occupancy data: a practical case study

This paper develops a method for modelling of in-room temperature distribution incorporated with data collected by human sensors. This modelling is based on a standard two-dimensional heat diffusion equation with an effective diffusion coefficient. The effective diffusion coefficient is nominally identified from characteristics of air flow inside a room and its architectural design. For modelling multiple time-scale influence of human occupancy on the in-room temperature distribution, two independent parameters—the effective diffusion coefficient and human heat input—of the equation are modulated with the human sensor data that capture spatio-temporal dynamics of the occupancy in high resolution. The developed method is applied to a practical office space in commercial building in Japan so that its effectiveness is demonstrated by comparing numerical simulations of the equation with measured data on temperature.     

Evaluation of electron tomography reconstruction methods for interface roughness measurement

We evaluate the suitability of simultaneous iterative reconstruction technique (SIRT), filtered back projection, and simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique methods for buried interface roughness measurements. We also investigate the effect of total electron dose distributed over the entire tilt series on measured roughness values. We investigate the applicability of the dose fractionation theorem by evaluating the effect of an increasing number of images, i.e., decreasing tilt increment size at fixed total electron irradiation dose on the quantitative measurement of buried interface roughness. The results indicate that SIRT is the most suitable method for reconstruction and a 3° to 5° angle is optimal for the roughness measurement.     

Possibility of improving postoperative QOL by selecting the gastroepiploic artery as a graft in coronary artery bypass

In patients with PG-dependent renal function, NSAID administration constantly reduces GFR and RBF in a dose-dependent fashion. In this situation, the risk of overt acute renal failure is high and should be taken into proper account. In contrast, the incidence of NSAID-related renal structural alterations appears to be very low, yet the absolute number of patients may be significant considering the wide use of such drugs. Concerning the antiproteinuric effect of NSAIDs, the unfavourable ratio risk/benefit does not seem to support their indication in proteinuric nephropathies. The development of PGHS-2 selective inhibitors is promising, and may open new therapeutical strategies in the treatment of the progression of renal disease.     

Successful treatment of intraoperative myocardial ischemia with nicorandil

The relationship between sulfation and polymerization in chondroitin sulfate (CS) biosynthesis has been poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the specificity of bovine serum UDP-GalNAc: CS beta-GalNAc transferase responsible for chain elongation using structurally defined acceptor substrates. They consisted of tetra- and hexasaccharide-serines that were chemically synthesized and various regular oligosaccharides with a GlcA residue at the nonreducing terminus, prepared from chondroitin and CS using testicular hyaluronidase. The enzyme preparation was obtained from fetal bovine serum by means of heparin-Sepharose affinity chromatography. The preparation did not contain the alpha-GalNAc transferase recently demonstrated in fetal bovine serum (Kitagawa et al., J. Biol. Chem., 270, 22190-22195, 1995), that utilizes common acceptor substrates. The beta-GalNAc transferase used as acceptors, two hexasaccharide-serines GlcA beta 1-3GalNAc beta 1-4GlcA beta 1-3Gal beta 1-3Gal beta 1-4Xyl beta 1-O-Ser and GlcA beta 1-3GalNAc(4-sulfate) beta 1-4GlcA beta 1-3Gal (4-sulfate) beta 1-3Gal beta 1-4Xyl beta 1-O-Ser, but neither the monosulfated hexasaccharide-serine GlcA beta 1-3GalNAc(4-sulfate) beta 1-4GlcA beta 1-3Gal beta 1-3Gal beta 1-4Xyl beta 1-O-Ser nor tetrasaccharide-serines with or without a sulfate group at C-4 of the third sugar residue Gal-3 from the reducing end. The results indicated that the sulfate group at the Gal-3 C-4 markedly affected the transfer of GalNAc to the terminal GlcA. In addition, a sulfate group at C-4 of the reducing terminal GalNAc of regular tetrasaccharides remarkably enhanced the GalNAc transfer, suggesting that the enzyme recognizes up to the fourth saccharide residue from the nonreducing end. The level of incorporation into a tetra- or hexasaccharide containing a terminal 2-O-sulfated GlcA residue was significant, whereas there was no apparent incorporation into tetra- or hexasaccharides containing a terminal 3-O-sulfated GlcA or penultimate 4,6-O-disulfated GalNAc residue. These results indicated that sulfation reactions play important roles in chain elongation and termination.     

Scintigraphic assessment of silent myocardial ischaemia after early infarction using myocardial SPET imaging with 201Tl and 123I-MIBG

To test the hypothesis that myocardial sympathetic denervation reflects silent myocardial ischaemia early after infarction, 12 patients with myocardial infarction but without post-infarction angina pectoris underwent single photon emission tomography (SPET) at rest with 201Tl and 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) shortly after and 3 months after infarction. Short-axis SPET images at the basal, mid-ventricular and apical portions of the left ventricle were selected, and each short-axis image was divided into eight segments. Tracer uptake in each of the 24 segments was scored using a 4-point scale. The total score in each segment was calculated as the defect score for each image, and the difference between the total defect score for the 201Tl and 123I-MIBG images was calculated as the delta defect score. All 12 patients underwent exercise stress 201Tl scintigraphy 1 month after infarction, and they were divided into two groups: those patients with (Group A, n = 7) and those patients without (Group B, n = 5) transient perfusion defects in the peri-infarcted region without chest pain. For the 123I-MIBG defect score, a marked reduction at 3 months was observed in Group A (24 +/- 12 vs 13 +/- 6; P < 0.01), whereas the defect score remained unchanged in Group B (25 +/- 7 vs 23 +/- 8; N.S.). The delta defect score was significantly reduced in Group A (10 +/- 5 vs 6 +/- 4; P < 0.05), whereas it remained unchanged in Group B. The 123I-MIBG defect score early after infarction was higher than the exercise-induced 201Tl defect score (24 +/- 12 vs 20 +/- 9; P < 0.01), whereas at 3 months post-infarction it was lower than the exercise-induced 201Tl defect score (13 +/- 6 vs 20 +/- 9; P < 0.05). Moreover, effort chest pain during daily activities was noted in 5 of the 7 (71%) patients in Group A within 3 months post-infarction. The results of this study suggest that viable but denervated myocardium (mismatched 123I-MIBG defects) is present in peri-infarcted regions, and that myocardial sensory nervous disturbance, which may co-exist with sympathetic nervous denervation, may induce silent myocardial ischaemia in patients with myocardial infarction.     

Cerebral hypoperfusion in orthostatic hypotension with globally denervated myocardium

A 57-yr-old woman had frequent syncope when rising from a seated position. Her blood pressure fell from 140/80 mmHg to 60-70/40 mmHg while changing positions. Iodine-123-metaiodobenzylguanidine ([123I]MIBG) did not accumulate in the heart, whereas 201Tl-Cl (201Tl) did. Raise-up 99mTc-hexamethyl-propyleneamine oxime (99mTc-HMPAO) brain SPECT revealed decreased activity in the bilateral frontal areas, and subsequent supine 99mTc-HMPAO brain SPECT revealed filling in these areas, indicating that the cerebral blood flow (CBF) was transiently decreased in the frontal areas more than others in a standing position. The plasma norepinephrine (NE) level of this patient was normal during supine rest, but when she stood up, failure to increase the plasma level of NE uncovered a sympathetic nervous dysfunction. The CBF abnormality in patients with orthostatic hypotension may be due to a "functional" hemodynamic mechanism that induces orthostatic stress. This patient had transient hypoperfusion in the frontal areas when standing, without organic cerebral arterial stenosis. Only CBF in the frontal areas revealed relative hypoperfusion. These regions might be highly susceptible to a change in blood flow. The causes of orthostatic hypotension of this patient were autonomic failure with a disturbance of the sympathetic nerve endings, which was revealed by 99mTc-HMPAO brain SPECT and cardiac [123l]MIBG imaging.     

Wear and Degradation Characteristics of Perfluoroalkylpolyethers (PFPEs) in High Vacuum©

Wear and degradation as exhibited by degassing of three commercially available perfluoroalkylpolyethers, A, straight chain with acetal linkage (OCF₂CF₂)_p(OCF₂)_q;B, straight chain without acetal linkage (CF₂CF₂CF₂O)_n; C, branched chain (CFCF₃CF₂O)_m, were evaluated at 0.025 mis under 1 to 300 N at 10^?5 Pa in a four-ball configuration using 440C and Si₃N₄ balls, Φ:6.35 mm, as test specimens. A quadrupole mass spectrometer having a mass range of 1 to 200 amu was employed to analyze gaseous products released from the sliding surfaces.

Disregarding the gas released, Oil C showed slightly better wear characteristics than B, but far better than A when tested with a 440C ball on 440C balls.

Taking gas evolution into account, Oil B carried the highest load; the initial degassing was detected at the Hertzian pressure of 1 GPa for A, 2 GPa for B, and 1.75 GPa for C when using 440C balls, and at 1.5 GPa for A and 2.75 GPa for C when using Si₃N₄ balls. Oil B evaluated with Si₃N₄ balls did not evolve gases even at 2.75 GPa. The initial outgassing load of sliding pairs of a Si₃N₄ ball against 440C balls and vice versa was closer to that of a 440C ball on 440C balls than to a Si₃N₄ ball on Si₃N₄ balls.

Mass spectra patterns obtained from experiments with a Si₃N₄ ball on Si₃N₄ balls were similar to those from experiments with a 440C ball on 440C balls.

Oil A released more CFO⁺ (m/e = 47) and CF₂O⁺ (m/e = 66) than Oil B or C, which could originate from the acetal linkage of its molecular structure as shown by Mori and Morales (1).     

Compositional analysis of deasphalted oil before and after hydrocracking over zeolite catalyst by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry

Elemental compositions of components in feed and catalytically processed deasphalted oils were characterized by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS). The processed oils which were hydrocracked over a zeolite catalyst at three different reaction temperatures (370, 380, and 390 °C) were analyzed. Species of the deasphalted oils were ionized either by electrospray ionization (ESI) or by in-beam electron ionization (EI). The ESI mass spectra were obtained from every feed and processed deasphalted oil. Over 550 chemically different compounds were observed in the feed oil mass spectra. Molecular formulas for the detected peaks were calculated by using accurate mass. The compounds with one N atom as well as one N and S atoms were detected as major and minor component, respectively, in every mass spectrum. The number of the detected species in processed deasphalted oil decreases as the reaction temperature increases. However, the carbon distribution of NS-containing species shifts to high number as the reaction temperature increases. Molecular formulas distribution against Z-value (Z-value is defined as C_nH_2n + ZN_mS_sO_o) and C-number were investigated for the ESI mass spectra. Z-value distribution of the peaks assigned to N-compounds was convergent in its compounds with Z = − 25 as increasing the reaction temperature. Detailed mass spectrum analysis reveals that compounds which were not detected in the feed oil were observed in the mass spectra of processed oils; N, S, and O-containing compounds. For the in-beam EI only the processed oil at 390 °C yields approximately 700 resolved peaks at adopted probe temperature (300 °C) of EI. Molecular formula analysis for the observed peaks was conducted as well as ESI. It reveals that the molecular formulas having Z-value (− 30 < Z < 2) and carbon number ranged from 8 to 31 except for (− 18 < Z < − 12, 15 < C-number < 22) were contained in the processed deasphalted oil. Using complementary ionization techniques to characterize the feed and catalytic reacted deasphalted oils provide better understanding of fuel processing conditions.     

Cloning and sequencing of part of the S10 operon from Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans FDC Y4

Linear dye penetration was evaluated in teeth with open apices in which calcium phosphate cement was used as an apical barrier to facilitate obturation. The apical foramens of 42 extracted single-rooted human teeth were opened to a size 90 file. Half the teeth received apical barriers consisting of calcium phosphate cement (CPC) followed by obturation using a customized gutta-percha cone/ lateral condensation technique. The other half were obturated without benefit of apical barriers. Linear dye penetration was measured after 48 h exposure to India ink. The teeth receiving apical CPC barriers before obturation had significantly less dye penetration than teeth without apical barriers. Based on its proven biocompatibility and osteconductive potential, calcium phosphate cement may serve well as a replacement for calcium hydroxide in a single-visit immediate apical barrier apexification technique.