Balloon pump–induced pulsatile perfusion during cardiopulmonary bypass does not improve brain oxygenation

AbstractBackground: Whether pulsatile flow offers substantial advantages for brain protection during cardiopulmonary bypass is controversial. The purpose of this study is to determine whether differences exist between pulsatile and nonpulsatile bypass concerning the effects on internal jugular venous saturation and on the state of regional cerebral oxygenation during normothermia. Methods: Twenty-two patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass grafting were randomly divided into 2 groups: group 1 (n = 11) received nonpulsatile perfusion during cardiopulmonary bypass and group 2 (n = 11) received pulsatile perfusion during bypass. We used an intra-aortic balloon pump to generate pulsatility. A spectrophotometric probe (INVOS 3100R, Somanetics, Troy, Mich) was used to assess the state of regional cerebral oxygenation. A 4F fiberoptic oximetry oxygen saturation catheter was inserted into the right jugular bulb to monitor jugular venous oxygen saturation. Hemodynamic variables, arterial and jugular venous blood gases, and regional cerebral oxygenation were measured at 7 times points. Results: In both groups, jugular venous oxygen saturation decreased at the early stage of the cardiopulmonary bypass (P = .03). Five patients in group 1 and 6 in group 2 had a jugular venous oxygen saturation of less than 50%. In both groups, the regional cerebral oxygenation value decreased during cardiopulmonary bypass (P = .04). Conclusions: The present results showed that pulsatility generated through the use of intra-aortic balloon pumping did not produce any beneficial effects on jugular venous oxygen saturation and regional cerebral oxygenation at normothermia. (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1999;118:361-6

子宮内膜症性嚢胞の悪性転化におけるHO-1発現マクロファージの特徴

Malignant transformation of endometriosis is a rare and still poorly understood event, but is associated with the distortion of the pro-oxidant and anti-oxidant balance. The aim of the present study was to quantify the numbers of macrophages polarized as M1 or M2 phenotypes and the expression of heme oxygenase (HO)-1 in tissue sections from patients with benign ovarian endometrioma (OE) and its malignant transformation (endometriosis-associated ovarian cancer, EAOC). We performed a retrospective study at the Department of Gynecology, Nara Medical University hospital from December 2012 to March 2015. This study included 53 patients with OE (n = 33) and EAOC (n = 20), and we evaluated polarized functional status of macrophages by immunohistochemical staining of CD68, CD11c, CD163 and HO-1. The number of the M1 phenotype (CD11c+, p = 0.001) and the M2 phenotype (CD163+, p = 0.009) was significantly lower in EAOC patients than in OE patients. Analyzing the correlations between the studied markers, the expression of CD68, CD11c, and CD163 proteins significantly correlated with each other (p < 0.001). The number of M2 phenotypes expressing HO-1 was significantly decreased in the EAOC group, compared with the OE group (P < 0.001), demonstrating sustained downregulation of an antioxidant marker, HO-1, in EAOC. In conclusion, reduced number of M2 macrophages expressing HO-1 may have an important role in promoting malignant transformation of OE.博士（医学）・乙第1434号・令和元年9月27日Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier GmbH

Traveling Salesman Problem Based Auto-Router for Designing LEDs Applications with Conductive Inkjet Printing

Printable electronic circuits have received a big adoption from a variety of users such as researchers, hobbyists, designers, and children. The designers want to use electronic circuits along with graphic design yet focus on the creativity and aesthetics of the design. However, current technology requires them to take care of the discouraging electrical behaviors of the circuits. Taking the task of lighting up a bunch of light-emmited diodes (LEDs) as an example, it sounds simple, but is posing significant challenges for inexperience users. Given the non-negligible resistance of conductive ink, it is not straightforward to generate a pattern that lights up the LEDs evenly. Furthermore, a large number of LEDs make it difficult and error-prone to wire them efficiently. It is possible to try existing auto-routers in computer aided design tools to automatically route these LEDs. However, being optimized to make circuits with highly conductive materials such as copper and gold, these auto-routers ignore the intrinsic resistance of the conductive ink. In this paper, we propose an LED auto-router which computationally generates a conductive pattern to balance brightness of multiple LEDs without the need of additional resistors. Our routing algorithm is based on the traveling salesman problem to find the shortest cross-less path through the LEDs, and thus minimize the ink consumption. It then adjusts resistances of the conductive patterns to regulate the current which flows through each LED

Trilateration-Inspired Sensor Node Position Estimation for UAV-Assisted Microwave Wireless Power Transfer

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-assisted microwave wireless power transfer (WPT) enables the deployment of radio frequency (RF)-power-driven, battery-less sensor nodes in rural areas such as farm fields. Unlike in urban areas, suitable ambient radio waves for RF energy harvesting are not available in rural areas, therefore, we propose using UAVs to carry active RF sources. The UAVs will cover large fields and function as movable power feeders. To feed power to sensor nodes or any power feeding target efficiently, a UAV needs to be navigated to the desired power feeding point, which is usually right above the target; however, a Global Positioning Services (GPS) system is not accurate enough for this purpose. Therefore, this paper presents two trilateration-inspired sensor node position estimation methods for UAV WPT, based on the relationship between the sensor-UAV distance and power transmission efficiency. After the UAV collects data of several distances, measured by the sensor node from different UAV locations, the UAV then estimates the position of a sensor node by utilizing the data. In the direction-based approach, circles with the radius set as the measured distance are first centered at the measurement positions. Then, all the intersections of the two circles are calculated. Further, by relying on the assumption that the sensor node would be in the direction where the largest number of intersections is observed, the average position of the intersections included in the direction is regarded as the estimated position of the sensor. In the least squares approach, the position that minimizes the sum of squares of errors, obtained from the measurement results, is assumed to be the sensor position. By comparing the direction-based and least squares approaches to the conventional hill climbing method, we found that the least squares and direction-based approaches can complete power feeding faster in average by 52% and 26%, respectively, compared to the hill climbing method. Combining GPS with our least squares approach will enable the UAV to reach the appropriate zone rapidly and complete the power supply process quickly so that power may be delivered to more sensor nodes in less time

The prognosis predictive score around primary debulking surgery (PPSP) improves diagnostic efficacy in predicting the prognosis of ovarian cancer

Abstract In recent years, the pretreatment inflammatory responses have proven to predict the prognosis, but no report exists analyzing the combined inflammatory response of the pre- and postsurgical treatment. The current study aims to extract the factors predicting the recurrence and create novel predictive scoring. This retrospective study was conducted at our institution between November 2006 and December 2020, with follow-up until September 2022. Demographic and clinicopathological data were collected from women who underwent primary debulking surgery. We created the scoring system named the prognosis predictive score around primary debulking surgery(PPSP) for progression-free survival(PFS). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to assess its efficacy in predicting PFS and overall survival(OS). Cox regression analyses were used to assess its time-dependent efficacy. Kaplan–Meier and the log-rank test were used to compare the survival rate. A total of 235 patients were included in the current study. The cut-off value of the scoring system was six. Multivariate analyses revealed that an advanced International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics(FIGO) stage (p < 0.001 for PFS; p = 0.038 for OS), the decreased white blood cell count difference (p = 0.026 for PFS) and the high-PPSP (p = 0.004 for PFS; p = 0.002 for OS) were the independent prognostic factors. Cox regression analysis also supported the above results. The PPSP showed good prognostic efficacy not only in predicting the PFS but also OS of ovarian cancer patients comparable to FIGO staging