Effect of Stress Level on Bending Creep Behavior of Wood During Cyclic Moisture Changes

This study investigated the effect of stress level on bending creep behavior of Japanese cedar (Cryptomerica japonica D. Don) during cyclic moisture changes. Tests were made at 20° with four cyclic relative humidity changes between 65% and 95% under four stress levels: 12.6, 18.5, 24.3, and 30.2 MPa, corresponding to 17, 25, 33, and 42% of short-term breaking stress, respectively. The effect of moisture content (MC) change on elastic compliance and mechano-sorptive (MS) compliance was examined. The results indicated that the total compliance revealed different behavior under various stress levels over the history of cyclic moisture changes and appeared to be greater under higher stress. Elastic compliance increased linearly with MC and affected the behavior of total compliance during MC change. As MC change increased, the MS compliance during the first adsorption and all desorption increased linearly, while during subsequent adsorption revealed a decrease in lower stress and an increase in higher stress. At a given stress level, the first adsorption led to greater MS deformation than did desorption and subsequent adsorption. The elastic parameter KE for MC effect on elastic compliance and the MS parameter KM for relationship between MS compliance and MC increased as quadratic functions of applied stress. The rate of increase in the parameters accelerated above about 25 to 33% stress level. As a result, when MC is cycled, MS compliance increase occurs at lower stress levels relative to creep at constant MC

Facile synthesis of optically active oxindoles by copper-catalyzed asymmetric monotosylation of prochiral 1,3-diols

A facile synthetic method toward optically active 3,3-disubstituted oxindoles with excellent enantioselectivity was achieved using chiral copper-catalyzed desymmetrization of prochiral 1,3-diols. The monotosylated product was transformed into oxindole derivatives efficiently

A proposed combination of flat-panel detector and mobile X-ray systems for low-dose image-guided central venous catheter insertion

A central venous catheter (CVC) should be inserted at the optimum position to infuse medicines, blood products, nutrients, or fluids. Positioning of the catheter tip is commonly performed under landmark or fluoroscopic guidance. However, Japanese regulations do not allow the performing of fluoroscopy-guided procedures outside of the fluoroscopy room. We hypothesized that a new image-guided CVC placement technique by combining a wireless flat-panel detector (FPD) and a mobile X-ray system could be applied at the bedside to support CVC insertion. A CVC attached to a chest phantom in conjunction with the polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) phantom was imaged, contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was measured with images, and radiologists and emergency physicians rated the catheter images using a Likert scale for visual evaluation. The minimum dose of the FPD and mobile X-ray system was reduced by at least 98% compared with that of the X-ray fluoroscopy system. The CNR decreased with the increasing PMMA phantom thickness. However, results of the visual evaluation were maintained at the clinically usable score with low-dose imaging up to a 6-cm thickness of the PMMA phantom. In conclusion, the combination of FPD and mobile X-ray systems is particularly effective in the emergency room setting where such procedures are required to be performed with urgency

Portosystemic Encephalopathy without Liver Disease Masquerading as Dementia

An 84-year-old woman was hospitalized due to consciousness disorder as hyperammonemia. She had no etiology of liver disease. Twelve months before the current admission, she had been diagnosed with dementia based on her low level of daily perception and physical activity. Abdominal computed tomography revealed a large portosystemic shunt between the medial branch of the portal vein and middle hepatic vein. After the improvement of her consciousness disturbance by medical treatment, percutaneous shunt embolization was electively performed. The patient showed a remarkable clinical improvement. Consciousness disturbance caused by hyper-ammonemia might be underlying in dementia patients. Increase of hepatopetal portal blood flow might have contributed to the improvement of her consciousness disturbance. Embolization of the portosystemic shunt might be more effective for patients without liver disease as in the present case

Body fat mass is correlated with serum transthyretin levels in maintenance hemodialysis patients

Serum transthyretin (TTR), also known as prealbumin, is a reliable nutritional indicator and an independent prognostic factor for maintenance hemodialysis patients. However, we recently reported that serum TTR levels did not affect protein−energy wasting (PEW). In this study, we investigated factors affecting serum TTR levels in 60 maintenance hemodialysis patients. The patients were divided into High-TTR and Low-TTR groups according to the median serum TTR level. Albumin levels were significantly higher and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were significantly lower in the High-TTR group than in the Low-TTR group. Although body fat mass was significantly higher in the High-TTR group than in the Low-TTR group, no significant difference in body fat ratio were observed. These findings suggest that body fat mass is related to serum TTR levels, apart from factors such as albumin and CRP levels, which showed correlations with serum TTR levels. Because body fat mass is related to better survival in maintenance hemodialysis patients, it may contribute to the prognostic value of serum TTR levels. In addition, in such patients, it may be important to evaluate body fatmass rather than body fat ratio and to maintain the minimum necessary body fat mass

Relationship between cardiac allograft vasculopathy and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in heart transplant recipients

POSTER PRESENTATION12th Annual SCMR Scientific Sessions – 2009 / Orlando, FL, USA / 29 January–1 February 200