A case report of incomplete endocardial cushion defect with mitral stenosis in an elderly patient

The following paper describes a mitral valve replacement (SJM 27 mm), the patch closure (EPTFE) of an ostium primum atrial septal defect and tricuspid annuloplasty (De Vega's method) in a 64-year-old female patient with an incomplete endocardial cushion defect and mitral stenosis. Surgery revealed thickened, mitral valve leaflets and the presence of a cleft, findings similar to those observed in case of rheumatic degeneration. Investigation of patient hemodynamics confirmed a diagnosis of Lutembacher syndrome and a lower with left ventricle volume. After surgery, the volume of left ventricle increased and the patients clinical course was uneventful.     

The development of a diagnostic and monitoring system for vibrating pipe branches

This paper deals with a diagnostic and monitoring system for assessing the integrity of pipe branches, during the operation of the nuclear power plant. This system have been developed under the concept of “easy to use without any sophisticated analysis” and “portable”. The accuracy of the diagnosis is based on the model optimization subsystem, which automatically modifies the numerical vibration model so as to fit its natural frequency to the actual natural frequency. The information obtained by this system may be reflected to a maintenance program of the plant to assure more reliable operation of the plant.     

Distribution and elimination of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins,dibenzofurans, biphenyls,and p,p'-DDE in tissues of bald eagles from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Liver, muscle, fat, kidney, and gall bladder of eight bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) found dead in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan during 2000 were analyzed for the presence of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and biphenyls (including coplanar PCBs), p,p'-DDE, and hexachlorobenzene (HCB). Necropsy results showed that the birds suffered from peritonitis, bacterial infection, or trauma. Concentrations of PCDD/DFs in livers ranged from 23 to 4500 pg/g on a wet weight basis (wet wt), whereas the least concentrations were found in blood plasma of bald eagle nestlings (2.3-49 pg/g, wet wt). A maximum total PCB concentration of 280,000 ng/g, wet wt, was found in the liver of a dead bald eagle affected by peritonitis. The greatest concentrations of p,p'-DDE and HCB in eagle livers were 17,000 and 120 ng/g, wet wt, respectively. Eagles with elevated 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) or total PCB concentrations tended to have great TCDD/TCDF or PCB126/PCB77 ratios, hypothesized to be due to induction of cytochrome P450 enzymes and subsequent metabolism of TCDF and PCB77. Concentrations of TCDD toxic equivalents (TEQs) in the tissues of bald eagles exceeded the thresholds for toxicity in a few avian species. Non-ortho coplanar PCBs accounted for 68-88% of the total TEQs in bald eagle tissues. PCDDs and PCDFs collectively accounted for, on average, 17% of the total TEQs. On the basis of the analysis of a single gall bladder with bile, biliary excretion rates of PCDDs, PCDFs, and PCBs were estimated as 0.015-0.02% per day.     

Quantitative source identification of dioxin-like PCBs in Yokohama, Japan, by temperature dependence of their atmospheric concentrations

The source and environmental behavior of dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) together with other PCBs and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDDs/PCDFs) were evaluated based on analysis of variations in their atmospheric concentrations in Yokohama, Japan. Potential factors responsible for variations in the atmospheric concentrations of the congeners were investigated by principal component analysis and multiple regression analysis of the data. Two major variations were seen: one had strong temperature dependence, while the other had no significant temperature dependence. A possible explanation for this difference is that the former is related to congeners released by volatilization (e.g., volatilization from commercial PCB products and past polluted environments), while the latter is related to congeners emitted from thermal processes. The relative contributions of dioxin-like PCBs released by volatilization and those emitted from thermal processes were estimated based on the temperature dependence of the atmospheric concentrations. The results suggest that both dioxin-like PCBs emitted from thermal processes and those released by volatilization are significant sources of air pollution in this area in terms of the toxic equivalent (TEQ) for dioxin-like PCBs. We demonstrated that the present approach based on variations in atmospheric concentrations can be useful in providing a qualitative as well as quantitative understanding of source information.     

Development of a simple capillary electrophoretic determination of glucosamine in nutritional supplements using in-capillary derivatisation with o-phthalaldehyde

A simple capillary electrophoretic method was developed for the determination of glucosamine using in-capillary derivatisation. Glucosamine in commercial products was extracted with purified water. The CE separation was achieved on an uncoated fused-silica capillary using a 20 mM borate buffer (pH 9.2) containing 5 mM o-phthalaldehyde (OPA) and 5 mM 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) at 25 kV, followed by UV detection at 340 nm. The detector response was linear (r² > 0.999) in the concentration range 10–1000 μg/mL. The limit of detection (LOD) was 1.3 mg/g. Spiked glucosamine recoveries at 50 and 100 mg/g level were 95.1% and 104.3%, respectively. The method was applied to 16 commercial products. The concentrations of glucosamine were 109–705 mg/g, and the ratios of detected glucosamine content to the labelled value were 88.8–124%. No significant bias was observed (r² = 0.989, p < 0.01), between results obtained by the proposed CE method and an official colorimetric method (Japanese Health Food & Nutrition Food Association).     

A phenolic antioxidant from the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) inhibits oxidation of cultured human hepatocytes mediated by diphenyl-1-pyrenylphosphine

3,5-Dihydroxy-4-methoxybenzyl alcohol (DHMBA), an antioxidant isolated from the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas), was studied in a cell-based fluorometric antioxidant assay using human hepatocyte-derived cells (C3A) and diphenyl-1-pyrenylphosphine (DPPP) as a fluorescent probe. In comparison with two hydrophilic antioxidants, DHMBA showed the stronger inhibition of DPPP-mediated fluorescence than chlorogenic acid and l-ascorbic acid: at a concentration of 320 μM of DPPP, the inhibition was 26.4 ± 2.6%, 11.1 ± 1.2%, and 0 ± 2.0% for DHMBA, chlorogenic acid, and l-ascorbic acid, respectively (mean ± SD, n = 4). Their relative oxygen radical absorbance capacities (ORAC) were dissociated with their cell-based antioxidant activities: 1.47 ± 0.40, 4.57 ± 0.30, and 0.53 ± 0.13 μmol TE/μmol for DHMBA, chlorogenic acid, and l-ascorbic acid, respectively (mean ± SD, n = 4). The amphiphilicity of DHMBA was better than chlorogenic acid and l-ascorbic acid might underlie this dissociation. Since the C3A cells are human hepatoma-derived cells, DHMBA might be useful in the prevention and treatment of liver diseases by involving an oxidation process.     

Identification of a novel nuclear localization signal in Sam68

Landmarks in the development of treatment of retinal detachment include the recognition of the significance of retinal breaks that resulted in the distinction between rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) and exudative retinal detachment, the development of indirect ophthalmoscopy and scleral depression that allow better visualization of the peripheral area of the retina and better identification of retinal breaks, the recognition of the need to seal all retinal breaks, and the realization that vitreous traction is the major underlying cause of retinal tears and RRD. Scleral buckling procedures combine retinopexy to provide a scar around retinal breaks to seal them and scleral indentation to neutralize vitreous traction; they provided the first effective treatment of RRD. As surgeons gained experience with scleral buckling, they became aware that some RRDs, particularly those with fixed folds and/or a funnel configuration, often could not be repaired using this approach. It was thought that excessive vitreous traction was at fault, and the condition was called "massive vitreous retraction."     

Moment stability analysis of linear stochastic human controller model in visuomotor tracking task

We investigate the stability limits of linear stochastic human controller model. In our previous study, we had proposed a model by which the probability distributions of human visuomotor tracking data can be accurately reproduced. In this study, we conduct a stochastic analysis on our model by deriving a system of moment differential equations with respect to random state variables of this model. We evaluate the stability limits of our model by detecting zero-eigenvalue conditions of the Jacobian matrix of the moment differential equations. The resulting stability limits make it possible to characterize the human parameter values that were experimentally identified from the human participants in our previous study; this shows that during the visuomotor tracking experiments, the human participants generated huge fluctuations far from the stability limits while applying almost neutrally stable proportional gain.     

Solubility of propylene in semicrystalline polypropylene

Gas solubilities and polymer swelling in propylene and semicrystalline polypropylene system at temperatures of 323.2 and 348.2 K and pressures up to propylene's vapor pressure were measured. Pressure, specific volume, and temperature (PVT) measurements of polypropylene were carried out at temperatures from 313 to 573 K and pressures up 200 MPa. Two kinds of polypropylenes, which had different stereoregularities, were used for both solubility and PVT measurements. The solubilities were correlated with the Sanchez–Lacombe equation of state (EOS) with temperature‐dependent binary interaction parameters to within 5% average relative percentage deviation. Swelling ratios estimated with Sanchez–Lacombe EOS coupled with optimized interaction parameters were 20% lower than the experimental values. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 79: 1134–1143, 2001     

Gelation of poly(vinyl alcohol)/water/dimethylformamide solutions and properties of dried films

The properties of solutions for syndiotacticity-rich poly(vinyl alcohol) (s-PVA)/dimethylformamide (DMF)/water systems, the gelation of the s-PVA solutions, and the properties of the dried s-PVA gel films were examined. From the results of the dissolution temperature of the polymer, the gelation temperature of the solutions, the melting temperature of the gels, and the compressive modulus of the gels, the solubility of the polymer was the highest at DMF contents of 10–20 vol %. The maximum dynamic tensile modulus of the drawn (×18) films obtained from the dried gel films with a DMF content of 10 vol % was 54.9 GPa at 20°C. The orientation of the polymer chains in the amorphous regions was higher than that in the crystalline regions. The orientation of the polymer chains in the amorphous regions for the drawn films with a DMF content of 10 vol % was higher than that for the drawn films with a DMF content of 60 vol %. The orientation of the polymer chains in the amorphous regions was considered to play an important role in the properties of high strength and high modulus. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 70: 1661–1667, 1998