Huge right ventricle–right coronary artery fistula compromising right ventricular function in a patient with pulmonary atresia and intact ventricular septum: A case report

AbstractJ Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2001;122:1030-

Prediction Models for BMI and NAFLD

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is closely associated with obesity. Disulfide bond‐forming oxidoreductase A‐like protein (DsbA‐L) is known to be a key molecule in protection against obesity and obesity‐induced inflammation. In the present study, we used a modeling and simulation approach in an attempt to develop body mass index (BMI) and BMI‐based NAFLD prediction models incorporating the DsbA‐L polymorphism to predict the BMI and NAFLD in 341 elderly subjects. A nonlinear mixed‐effect model best represented the sigmoidal relationship between the BMI and the logit function of the probability of NAFLD prevalence. The final models for BMI and NAFLD showed that DsbA‐L rs1917760 polymorphism, age, and gender were associated with the BMI, whereas gender, patatin‐like phospholipase 3 rs738409 polymorphism, HbA1c, and high‐density and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were associated with the risk of NAFLD. This information may aid in the genetic‐based prevention of obesity and NAFLD in the general elderly population

The DsbA-L gene is associated with respiratory function of the elderly via its adiponectin multimeric or antioxidant properties

Oxidative stress and inflammation play a key role in the age-related decline in the respiratory function. Adipokine in relation to the metabolic and inflammatory systems is attracting growing interest in the field of respiratory dysfunction. The present clinical and experimental studies investigated the role of the disulfide bond-forming oxidoreductase A-like protein (DsbA-L) gene, which has antioxidant and adiponectin multimeric (i.e. activation) properties, on the respiratory function of the elderly. We performed a retrospective longitudinal genotype-phenotype relationship analysis of 318 Japanese relatively elderly participants (mean age ± standard deviation: 67.0 ± 5.8 years) during a health screening program and an in vitro DsbA-L knock-down evaluation using 16HBE14o-cells, a commonly evaluated human airway epithelial cell line. The DsbA-L rs1917760 polymorphism was associated with a reduction in the ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC) and %FEV1 and with the elevation of the prevalence of FEV1/FVC < 70%. We also confirmed that the polymorphism was associated with a decreased respiratory function in relation to a decrease in the ratio of high-molecular-weight adiponectin/total adiponectin (as a marker of adiponectin multimerization) and an increase in the oxidized human serum albumin (as an oxidative stress marker). Furthermore, we clarified that DsbA-L knock-down induced oxidative stress and up-regulated the mucus production in human airway epithelial cells. These findings suggest that the DsbA-L gene may play a role in protecting the respiratory function of the elderly, possibly via increased systemic adiponectin functions secreted from adipocytes or through systemic and/or local pulmonary antioxidant properties

Progress of Research and Development of Fundamental Technologies for Accelerator Magnets Using Coated Conductors

A project to develop the fundamental technologies for accelerator magnets using coated conductors is in progress. A coil-dominated magnet and an iron-dominated magnet were designed, based on the conceptual design of spiral sector fixed field alternating gradient accelerator for carbon cancer therapy and that for accelerator-driven subcritical reactor, respectively. The required winding technologies were clarified through designing the magnets. The R&D of winding technologies for coils with three-dimensional shape and those with negative bend have been carried out. The influence of the magnetization of coated conductors on the field quality of magnets was studied experimentally