Stent endoprosthesis for obstructing colorectal cancers

We present the case of a patient in whom hypotension, sudden cardiopulmonary arrest, and coma developed after a massive dose of a seemingly harmless cathartic agent. The diagnosis of hypermagnesemia was made 9 hours after the patient's admission, when the serum magnesium concentration was 21.7 mg/dL (8.9 mmol/L). The patient's condition improved with IV calcium, saline solution infusion, and cardiorespiratory support. The elimination half-life of magnesium in this case was 27.7 hours. Few cases have been reported in which patients have survived with serum levels greater than 18 mg/dL (7.4 mmol/L). This case provides evidence that hypermagnesemia may occur in patients with normal kidney function. The diagnosis of hypermagnesemia should be considered in patients who present with symptoms of hyporeflexia, lethargy, refractory hypotension, shock, prolonged QT interval, respiratory depression, or cardiac arrest.     

STRUCTURE FORMATION OF COATED FILMS WITH DISPERSED PIGMENTS DURING DRYING

In the drying of coated films with dispersed pigments, such as floppy disks, the structure of the film is formed during the drying process and depends on the drying condition. It is important to understand the structure formation during drying for the design of the dryer and die better quality of the product. We measured die drying characteristics of the film and determined the structure of dried film experimentally. A qualitative model for the structure formation during drying of the coated film is suggested.     

Effect of the Chiral Center Position of an Optically Active Terminal Group on the Induction of Optical Activity in Polysilanes

Summary Polysilanes with an optically active alkoxy group, i.e., (S)-(+)-2-butoxy, (R)-(-)-2-butoxy, (S)-(-)-2-methyl-1-butoxy, and (S)-(+)-3,7-dimethyl-1-octoxy, at the terminal positions, the chiral carbon centers of which were located at the α, β, and γ positions relative to the oxygen, respectively, were prepared, and the effect of the position of chiral center of the terminal optically active group on the induction of optical activity in polysilanes was investigated. The circular dichroism (CD) spectra of these polymers showed positive Cotton signals around 340 nm at temperatures below -20 °C, but the intensities were small, indicating that the optically active groups at the terminal positions have some ability, albeit small, to induce optical activity to the polysilanes. Further, the optically active (S)-(+)-2-butoxy and (R)-(-)-2-butoxy groups did not control the helical sense direction of the polymers, despite the different chiral stimuli from the 2-butoxy groups introduced to the terminal positions. To control the helical structure of polysilanes by the use of optically active terminal groups, appropriate optically active groups are required.     

Time-series primitive static states for detailing work state and flow of human-operated work machine

This paper proposes a quantification method for a comprehensive work flow in construction work for describing work states in more detail on the basis of analyzing state transitions of primitive static states (PSS), which consist of 16 symbolic work states defined by using on-off state of the lever operations and joint loads for the manipulator and end-effector. On the basis of the state transition rules derived from a transition-condition analysis, practical state transitions (PST), which are common and frequent transitions in arbitrary construction work, are defined. PST can be classified into essential state transition (EST) or nonessential state transitions (NST). EST extracts common phases of work progress and estimates positional relations between a manipulator and an object. NST reveals wasted movements that degrade the efficiency and quality of work. To evaluate comprehensive work flows modeled by combining EST and NST, work-analysis experiments using our instrumented setup were conducted. Results indicate that all the PSS definitely changes on the basis of PST under various work conditions, and work analysis using EST and NST easily reveals work characteristics and untrained tasks related to wasted movements.     

E.s.r. study of annealing and melting effects on the molecular motion of spin trapped chain-end radicals located on the polyethylene surface

E.s.r. spectra of chain-end spin labels on the surface of polyethylene powder were obtained for high and low density polyethylene samples at various stages of heat treatment process. The subsequent crystalline structures of the samples were examined with wide angle and small angle X-ray diffraction spectra. The effects of annealing on the motion of the labels were dependent on annealing temperature and the type of the samples. Higher temperature annealing decreased the rotational correlation times (τ_c) and their activation energy in high density polyethylene but did not affect those of low density polyethylene. Melting decreases the values of τ_c and ΔE for both high an low density polyethylene samples. The cause of these decreases were attributed to the changing of the sites of the chain-end labels. The motion of the labels appeared to be influenced by the local segmental motion of the polymer main chains.     

Structural Modulations in Monoclinic Tricalcium Silicate Solid Solutions Doped with Zinc Oxide, M(I), M(II), and M(III)

Structural modulations in solid solutions of C₃S doped with various amounts of ZnO were investigated via the selected-area electron diffraction method. Three monoclinic modifications (M(I), M(II), and M(III)) were identified in the solid solutions. The modifications had pseudohexagonal subcells that were modulated to form supercells. Coordinates of the reflections attributable to the supercells could be expressed by the following linear combinations of vectors of the reciprocal lattices: m₁(−2 a */5.4 + 2 b */5.4 − 7 c */5.4) for M(I), m₂(− a */5 + b */5 − c *) for M(II), and m₃(− a */6 + b */6 + 7 c */6) for M(III), m₁ and m₂=±1 and ±2, and m₃=±1, ±2, and ± 3. All the monoclinic modifications possessed structural modulations of a one-dimensional type. The modulation waves could be detected as wavy contrasts by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.     

Redox properties of CeO2 and Pt-Rh/CeO2 studied by TAP method

Redox properties of CeO₂ and Pt-Rh/CeO₂ were studied by temporal analysis of products (TAP) method using alternative pulses of CO and O₂. A portion of pulsed CO was oxidized to CO₂ and a portion of CO was adsorbed on the surface. Pulsing ¹⁸O₂ onto the catalyst which has surface species derived from CO, evolved CO₂ contained no ¹⁸O suggesting that the surface species will be carbonate ions.     

Clinical application of single-shot echo-planar diffusion-weighted imaging with compressed SENSE in prostate MRI at 3T: preliminary experience

Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine - Image quality (IQ) of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) with single-shot echo-planar imaging (ssEPI) suffers from low signal-to-noise...