Fatigue Prediction of the Discharge Pipe in Reciprocating Compressor

In this paper, a fatigue prediction of the line discharge tube for reciprocating compressor being installed in a refrigerator was studied. The tube usually gets plenty of the repeated loads caused by the start and stop motion of a reciprocating compressor. There are two representative methods to predict the fatigue stress. At first the stress-life can be applied to the problem which takes a lot of repeated stress within the elastic strain range. Second is the strain-life method which can be used when it comes to the problem of a small repeated stress in the plastic strain range. This paper presents the stress-life method how the design parameters of a discharge pipe relate to the fatigue prediction and analyzes the co-relation between them

Chlorine Dioxide Gas Retain Postharvest Quality and Shelf Life of Tomato During Modified Atmosphere Packaging Storage

While surface sterilization can minimize the postharvest loss of fruits and vegetables, it depends on concentration, treatment duration, storage condition, and crops. This study was conducted to investigate the consequences of chlorine dioxide (ClO2) gas on post-harvest quality and shelf life of tomato fruits during the modified atmosphere packaging storage. Tomato fruits of light red maturity stage were harvested at Gangwon province in the Republic of Korea. Fruits were dipped in fungal suspension and, afterward, some of them were sterilized with NaOCl, while others were sterilized with ClO2 gas. On the final storage day, the 5 ppm ClO2 gas 12 hours treated tomato fruits showed the least carbon dioxide and ethylene, and the utmost oxygen concentration. The least fresh weight loss, prolonged shelf life and the most suppressed fungal incidence were obtained by the 5 ppm ClO2 gas 12 hours treatment. As compared to other treatments, the 5 ppm ClO2 gas 12 hours treatment yielded higher firmness, titratable acidity and vitamin C, and lower soluble solids. Therefore, the 5 ppm ClO2 gas 12 hours treatment may be useful to prevent fungal incidence as well as to retain the postharvest quality and increase the shelf life of tomato fruits

Diagnosis and Prognosis Using Machine Learning Trained on Brain Morphometry and White Matter Connectomes

Accurate, reliable prediction of risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is essential for early, diseasemodifying therapeutics. Multimodal MRI, such as structural and diffusion MRI, is likely to contain complementary information of neurodegenerative processes in AD. Here we tested the utility of commonly available multimodal MRI (T1-weighted structure and diffusion MRI), combined with high-throughput brain phenotyping—morphometry and connectomics—and machine learning, as a diagnostic tool for AD. We used, firstly, a clinical cohort at a dementia clinic (study 1: Ilsan Dementia Cohort; N=211; 110 AD, 64 mild cognitive impairment [MCI], and 37 subjective memory complaints [SMC]) to test and validate the diagnostic models; and, secondly, Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI)-2 (study 2) to test the generalizability of the approach and the prognostic models with longitudinal follow up data. Our machine learning models trained on the morphometric and connectome estimates (number of features=34,646) showed optimal classification accuracy (AD/SMC: 97% accuracy, MCI/SMC: 83% accuracy; AD/MCI: 97% accuracy) with iterative nested cross-validation in a single-site study, outperforming the benchmark model (FLAIR-based white matter hyperintensity volumes). In a generalizability study using ADNI-2, the combined connectome and morphometry model showed similar or superior accuracies (AD/HC: 96%; MCI/HC: 70%; AD/MCI: 75% accuracy) as CSF biomarker model (t-tau, p-tau, and Amyloid β, and ratios). We also predicted MCI to AD progression with 69% accuracy, compared with the 70% accuracy using CSF biomarker model. The optimal classification accuracy in a single-site dataset and the reproduced results in multisite dataset show the feasibility of the high-throughput imaging analysis of multimodal MRI and data-driven machine learning for predictive modeling in AD

Inappropriate antidiuretic hormone syndrome presenting as ectopic antidiuretic hormone-secreting gastric adenocarcinoma: a case report

INTRODUCTION: Although the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone has connection with various malignant tumors, there are few reports associated with advanced gastric cancer. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe the case of a 63-year-old Korean male with inappropriate antidiuretic hormone syndrome due to an ectopic antidiuretic hormone-producing advanced gastric adenocarcinoma manifested with overt serum hypo-osmolar hyponatremia and high urinary sodium concentrations. His adrenal, thyroidal, and renal functioning were normal, and the hyponatremia improved following removal of the tumor. The cancer cells were immunostained and found to be positive for the antidiuretic hormone. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an antidiuretic hormone-secreting advanced gastric adenocarcinoma associated with the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone, showing cancer cells immunostained for the antidiuretic hormone. CONCLUSIONS: Although a strong relationship between gastric cancer and the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone remains to be established, we suggest that gastric cancer could be included as a differential diagnosis of cancer that is associated with the syndrome of antidiuretic hormone

Pig-to-Nonhuman Primate (NHP) Naked Islet Xenotransplantation

Islet transplantation is an established therapy for selected type 1 diabetes (T1D) patients with severe hypoglycemic unawareness and glycemic liability despite of insulin treatment. However, the donor organ is limited. Porcine islets are the best alternative source to overcome this limitation, and pig-to-nonhuman primate (NHP) naked islet xenotransplantation studies are being performed worldwide. Several studies including our own have presented successful proof-of-concept results based on immunosuppression regimen including the anti-CD154 monoclonal antibody. Particularly, long-term control of diabetes by adult porcine islet transplantation has been demonstrated in five consecutive monkeys, and the longest survival was ~1000 days after transplantation. Currently, pig-to-NHP islet xenotransplantation based on clinically applicable immunosuppression regimen is being pursued. In this chapter, we will describe all the procedures of pig-to-NHP naked islet xenotransplantation: (1) the porcine islet isolation from designated pathogen-free (DPF) miniature pigs, (2) diabetes induction in monkeys, (3) transplantation procedure via the portal vein, (4) immune monitoring comprising humoral and cellular immunity after porcine islet transplantation, and finally (5) liver biopsy and subsequent immunohistochemical procedure in detail

A Case of Malignant Pericardial Mesothelioma With Constrictive Pericarditis Physiology Misdiagnosed as Pericardial Metastatic Cancer

Malignant pericardial mesothelioma is a rare and progressive cardiac tumor. There is no established standard treatment and the prognosis is poor. Most patients were retrospectively diagnosed from surgery or autopsy due to absence of specific clinical manifestation. Most patients with pericardial mesothelioma have demonstrated constrictive physiology on echocardiography or cardiac catheterization. Therefore, pericardial mesothelioma was often misdiagnosed as other causes of constrictive pericarditis. We report a case of primary pericardial mesothelioma misdiagnosed as pericardial metastasis of unknown origin

Machine learning prediction of incidence of Alzheimer’s disease using large-scale administrative health data

Nationwide population-based cohort provides a new opportunity to build an automated risk prediction model based on individuals’ history of health and healthcare beyond existing risk prediction models. We tested the possibility of machine learning models to predict future incidence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) using large-scale administrative health data. From the Korean National Health Insurance Service database between 2002 and 2010, we obtained de-identified health data in elders above 65 years (N = 40,736) containing 4,894 unique clinical features including ICD-10 codes, medication codes, laboratory values, history of personal and family illness and socio-demographics. To define incident AD we considered two operational definitions: “definite AD” with diagnostic codes and dementia medication (n = 614) and “probable AD” with only diagnosis (n = 2026). We trained and validated random forest, support vector machine and logistic regression to predict incident AD in 1, 2, 3, and 4 subsequent years. For predicting future incidence of AD in balanced samples (bootstrapping), the machine learning models showed reasonable performance in 1-year prediction with AUC of 0.775 and 0.759, based on “definite AD” and “probable AD” outcomes, respectively; in 2-year, 0.730 and 0.693; in 3-year, 0.677 and 0.644; in 4-year, 0.725 and 0.683. The results were similar when the entire (unbalanced) samples were used. Important clinical features selected in logistic regression included hemoglobin level, age and urine protein level. This study may shed a light on the utility of the data-driven machine learning model based on large-scale administrative health data in AD risk prediction, which may enable better selection of individuals at risk for AD in clinical trials or early detection in clinical settings

Efficacy of High-dose Chemotherapy and Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation in Patients with Relapsed Medulloblastoma: A Report on The Korean Society for Pediatric Neuro-Oncology (KSPNO)-S-053 Study

The efficacy and toxicity of high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (HDCT/ASCT) were investigated for improving the outcomes of patients with relapsed medulloblastoma. A total of 15 patients with relapsed medulloblastoma were enrolled in the KSPNO-S-053 study from May 2005 to May 2007. All patients received approximately 4 cycles of salvage chemotherapy after relapse. Thirteen underwent HDCT/ASCT; CTE and CM regimen were employed for the first HDCT (HDCT1) and second HDCT (HDCT2), respectively, and 7 underwent HDCT2. One transplant related mortality (TRM) due to veno-occlusive disease (VOD) occurred during HDCT1 but HDCT2 was tolerable with no further TRM. The 3-yr overall survival probability and event-free survival rates ±95% confidence intervals (CI) were 33.3±12.2% and 26.7% ±11.4%, respectively. When analysis was confined to only patients who had a complete response (CR) or partial response (PR) prior to HDCT, the probability of 3-yr overall survival rates ±95% CI was 40.0±15.5%. No patients with stable disease (SD) or progressive disease (PD) survived. Survival rates from protocol KSPNO-S-053 are encouraging and show that tumor status prior to HDCT/ASCT is an important factor to consider for improving survival rates of patients with relapsed medulloblastoma

Improvement of Induction Remission Rate by Modifying the Dose of Idarubicin for Relapsed Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Relapse is the major cause of treatment failure in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), yet there is no established treatment for relapsed ALL. To improve the induction remission rate, we modified the dose of idarubicin in the original Children's Cancer Group (CCG)-1884 protocol, and retrospectively compared the results. Twenty-eight patients diagnosed with relapsed ALL received induction chemotherapy according to the CCG-1884 protocol. Complete remission (CR) rate in all patients after induction chemotherapy was 57%. The idarubicin 10 mg/m2/week group showed CR rate of 74%, compared with the 22% CR rate of the idarubicin 12.5 mg/m2/week group (p=0.010). Remission failure due to treatment-related mortality (TRM) was 44% and 5.2% in the idarubicin 12.5 mg/m2/week and 10 mg/m2/week groups, respectively (p=0.011). Overall survival (OS) and 4-yr event-free survival (EFS) were 12.8% and 10.3%, respectively. OS and 4-yr EFS were higher in the idarubicin 10 mg/m2/week group (19.3% and 15.6%) than in the 12.5 mg/m2/week group (0% and 0%). In conclusion, a modified dose of idarubicin from 12.5 mg/m2/week to 10 mg/m2/week resulted in an improved CR rate in the treatment of relapsed ALL, which was due to lower TRM. However, despite improved CR rate with modified dose of idarubicin, survival rates were unsatisfactory