Tactile Sensing of Stiffness with Fingers Corresponds Well with the Objective Elasticity Evaluation

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Distribution of soil algae at the monitoring sites in the vicinity of Syowa Station between austral summers of 1992/1993 and 1997/1998

Distribution of soil algae was studied in the vicinity of Syowa Station in Lutzow-Holm Bay, Antarctica between the austral summers of 1992/1993 (JARE-33) and 1997/1998 (JARE-38) from the viewpoint of environmental monitoring. Soils were collected from 10 monitoring sites. Sites 1-4 were within Syowa Station. Sites 1-3 were close to a urinal tank. Six sites (sites 5-10) were several km from the station. Site 10 was in a penguin rookery. Twenty-one soil algae were identified : eight of Cyanophyceae, eight of Chlorophyceae, three of Xanthophyceae and two of Bacillariophyceae. Leptolyngbya cf. battersii, Phormidium autumnale, Navicula muticopsis, Xanthonema spp., Botrydiopsis spp. and Macrochloris multinucleata were common. An ornithocoprophilous alga, Prasiola crispa, was found in cultures of soils from sites 1-3 and at site 10. Total carbon contents (TC), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) in soils ranged from 0.04 to 0.991%, 0.002-0.401% and 0.161-0.809%, respectively. Maximum TC, TN and TP were observed at site 10. Relatively high values of TC (0.301%) and TN (0.016%) were detected at site 2. Presence of P. crispa at sites 1-3 and higher values of TC and TN at site 2 indicated that eutrophication of surface soils occurred near the urinal tank. The results of cluster analysis showed that most soil algal assemblages at sites 1-3 were grouped together. No clear changes in soil algal communities were observed during the study period at any of the monitoring sites

Continuous cardiac output measurement with a Doppler-equipped pulmonary artery catheter

BACKGROUND: We developed a Doppler-equipped pulmonary artery catheter that provides continuous measurement of the true main pulmonary blood flow velocity independent of the angle of incidence formed by the pulmonary artery catheter and the main pulmonary artery blood flow. This device uses 2 orthogonally positioned Doppler transducers that allow trigonometric correction for differences in the angle of blood flow between each transducer. We tested the accuracy of the Doppler-equipped pulmonary artery catheter by comparing its cardiac output measurements with those done by conventional techniques in animals. METHODS: The Doppler-equipped pulmonary artery catheter was evaluated in dogs. A pair of ultrasound Doppler transducers positioned at a fixed angle (90°) was mounted on the distal part of the thermodilution pulmonary artery catheter. The Doppler shifts (Δf1, Δf2) were detected by the 2 transducers sampling at 2 closely spaced points in the main pulmonary artery. The values of Δf1 and Δf2 were used to compute 2 velocity measurements. The true flow velocity of the main pulmonary artery was calculated with the following equation: V(pulm) = {(V(transducer1))(2) + (V(transducer2))(2)}(1/2) (V(pulm) = true main pulmonary artery velocity; V(transducer1) and V(transducer2) = velocity detected by transducers 1 and 2, respectively). The flow velocities were calculated by using a phase differential technique. Cardiac output was calculated as V(pulm) multiplied by a coefficient value. The coefficient value was calculated by dividing cardiac output, derived from conventional techniques, by V(pulm) at the beginning of each experiment. After thoracotomy, an electromagnetic flowprobe was placed around the main pulmonary artery in dogs. Cardiac output was simultaneously measured by the Doppler-equipped pulmonary artery catheter (CO-Doppler), and the electromagnetic flowmeter (CO-EMF) or the thermodilution technique (CO-Thermo). Cardiac output was manipulated by dobutamine and propranolol. RESULTS: CO-Doppler was highly correlated with CO-EMF (y = 1.16 × -0.26, r(2) = 0.99, P \u3c 0.001) and CO-Thermo (y = 1.24 × -0.90, r(2) = 0.85, n = 48, P \u3c 0.001). The bias between CO-EMF and CO-Doppler was -0.02 L/min; 95% limits of agreement were -0.32 to 0.28 L/min. The percentage error was 16%. The bias between CO-Thermo and CO-Doppler was 0.18 L/min; 95% limits of agreement were -0.62 to 0.98 L/min. CONCLUSIONS: The newly developed Doppler-equipped pulmonary artery catheter with 2 orthogonally positioned Doppler transducers allowed accurate and continuous measurements of cardiac output independent of the angle of incidence formed by the pulmonary artery catheter and the main pulmonary artery blood flow