Effective Stress Analysis by Shear Strain Controllable Model and its Application to Centrifuge Shaking Model Test

Effective stress FEM which is able to control the growth of shear strains is proposed. Its validity is firstly confirmed through the simulation of undrained cyclic torsional shear tests. Then, it is applied to simulation of centrifuge shaking model tests; the experimental model consists of a caisson type quay wall and reclamation laid on the sand layer. Development of shear strain is shown to be controlled arbitrary keeping the excess porewater pressure generation unchanged through the simulation of undrained cyclic torsional shear test, which indicates that proposed model can be applicable to variety of soils with different density and fines contents. Displacement is shown to be controlled keeping excess porewater pressure generation constant in the centrifugal model, too, and good agreement is obtained between test and analysis by controlling the parameter for shear strain development

“Hook and Roll Technique” Using an Articulating Hook Cautery to Provide a Critical View during Single-incision Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

We describe a new simple and easy technique called the "Hook and roll technique" (HRT) that uses an articulating hook cautery to provide a critical view during single incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy (SILC). A 2-cm incision is made at the umbilicus to insert three 5-mm trocars or a multichannel port. After dissection of the serosa of the dorsal and ventral sides of the gall bladder, including Calot's triangle, the angled tip of the hook cautery is inserted between the cystic artery and duct with its tip placed dorsally. The tip is then rotated in a clockwise manner to avoid bile duct injury, allowing the connective tissue between them to be hooked, coagulated and cut. This procedure is repeated several times, followed by dissection between the cystic artery and the liver bed to achieve a critical view. From December 2008 to May 2011, 121 patients underwent SILC using HRT in our hospital without any serious complications. This technique is suitable for SILC, as it is consists of simple procedures that can be performed safely and easily, even by left hand in a cross-over approach, and it allows complete dissection of Calot's triangle to achieve a critical view without using any dissector under dangerous in-line viewing

Positron emission tomography assessments of phosphodiesterase 10A in patients with schizophrenia

[Background and hypothesis] Phosphodiesterase 10A (PDE10A) is a highly expressed enzyme in the basal ganglia, where cortical glutamatergic and midbrain dopaminergic inputs are integrated. Therapeutic PDE10A inhibition effects on schizophrenia have been reported previously, but the status of this molecule in the living patients with schizophrenia remains elusive. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the central PDE10A status in patients with schizophrenia and examine its relationship with psychopathology, cognition, and corticostriatal glutamate levels. [Study design] This study included 27 patients with schizophrenia, with 5 antipsychotic-free cases, and 27 healthy controls. Positron emission tomography with [18F]MNI-659, a specific PDE10A radioligand, was employed to quantify PDE10A availability by measuring non-displaceable binding potential (BPND) of the ligand in the limbic, executive, and sensorimotor striatal functional subregions, and in the pallidum. BPND estimates were compared between patients and controls while controlling for age and gender. BPND correlations were examined with behavioral and clinical measures, along with regional glutamate levels quantified by the magnetic resonance spectroscopy. [Study results] Multivariate analysis of covariance demonstrated a significant main effect of diagnosis on BPND (p = .03). A posthoc test showed a trend-level higher sensorimotor striatal BPND in patients, although it did not survive multiple comparison corrections. BPND in controls in this subregion was significantly and negatively correlated with the Tower of London scores, a cognitive subtest. Striatal or dorsolateral prefrontal glutamate levels did not correlate significantly with BPND in either group. [Conclusions] The results suggest altered striatal PDE10A availability and associated local neural dysfunctions in patients with schizophrenia

Study on Coupling Beams Using Low Yield Point Steel : Part 2 Evaluation of Test Results

日本建築学会大会学術講演梗概集（北陸）2002年8月rights:日本建築学会　rights: 本文データは学協会の許諾に基づきCiNiiから複製したものである　relation: isVersionOf: http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/11000374217

Cutoff Values of Serum IgG4 and Histopathological IgG4+ Plasma Cells for Diagnosis of Patients with IgG4-Related Disease

IgG4-related disease is a new disease classification established in Japan in the 21st century. Patients with IgG4-related disease display hyper-IgG4-gammaglobulinemia, massive infiltration of IgG4+ plasma cells into tissue, and good response to glucocorticoids. Since IgG4 overexpression is also observed in other disorders, it is necessary to diagnose IgG4-related disease carefully and correctly. We therefore sought to determine cutoff values for serum IgG4 and IgG4/IgG and for IgG4+/IgG+ plasma cells in tissue diagnostic of IgG4-related disease. Patients and Methods. We retrospectively analyzed serum IgG4 concentrations and IgG4/IgG ratio and IgG4+/IgG+ plasma cell ratio in tissues of 132 patients with IgG4-related disease and 48 patients with other disorders. Result. Serum IgG4 >135  mg/dl demonstrated a sensitivity of 97.0% and a specificity of 79.6% in diagnosing IgG4-related disease, and serum IgG4/IgG ratios >8% had a sensitivity and specificity of 95.5% and 87.5%, respectively. IgG4+cell/IgG+ cell ratio in tissues >40% had a sensitivity and specificity of 94.4% and 85.7%, respectively. However, the number of IgG4+ cells was reduced in severely fibrotic parts of tissues. Conclusion. Although a recent unanimous consensus of all relevant researchers in Japan recently established the diagnostic criteria for IgG4-related disease, findings such as ours indicate that further discussion is needed

急速に増大する腫瘤影を呈した肺Mycobacterium avium症の1例

症例は66歳,男性.慢性閉塞性肺疾患とい草塵肺で経過観察をしていた.6カ月前の胸部CTでは明らかな異常を認めなかったが,新たに左上葉の気腫性病変周囲に腫瘤性病変を認めた.気管支鏡検査にて,局所検体からM.avium が検出されたものの生検で肉芽腫病変を認めなかったため,CTガイド下肺生検を実施した結果,肺MAC症と最終診断した.近年,孤立性腫瘤形成型肺MAC症の症例を散見するようになってきているが,本症例のごとく短期間で急速に増大することもあることから,抗酸菌を含めた肺感染症に対する積極的な検査が必要と思われる.A 66-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for follow-up on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with a recent-showing abnormal chest shadow. He had received a periodic chest computed tomography (CT) six months prior due to a past history of COPD and Igusa pneumoconiosis. Although there was no mass shadow on the chest CT six months ago, a solitary tumorous shadow appeared surrounding the emphysematous lesions in the left upper lobe. M. avium was detected from local specimens viabronchoscopic examination, but because a granulomatous lesion was not observed, we performed a CT-guided lung biopsy and made a final diagnosis of pulmonary MAC disease. We recently observed that pulmonary MAC disease presents as a solitary tumorous shadow. However, as there are cases of pulmonary MAC disease presenting as a rapidly growing tumorous shadow within a short time, it is necessary to perform aggressive examinations for infectious diseases including an acid-fast bacilli examination

胸部リンパ節病変の診断における超音波気管支内視鏡ガイド 下経気管支針生検(EBUS-TBNA)の有用性

近年,超音波気管支内視鏡ガイド下経気管支針生検(Endobronchial Ultrasonography-guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration,以下EBUS-TBNA)は縦隔および肺門リンパ節病変に対するアプローチ法として開発され,病理学的および微生物学的な確定診断に用いられる.EBUSTBNAを実施できるか否かの判断や,施行後の診断率には標的リンパ節の大きさや周囲もしくは内部血管などが影響するが,それらに関する報告は少ない.2010年10月～2013年8月に,当科でEBUSを施行した69例のTBNA施行率,診断率,不成功の理由を後方視的に検討した.TBNAを施行できたのは60例であり(87%),そのうち54例(93%)で診断が確定できた.肺癌が42例(67%)と最多で,以下サルコイドーシス7例,他臓器癌のリンパ節転移3例,抗酸菌感染症1例,悪性リンパ腫1例であった.EBUS施行例のリンパ節の直径は21.3±6.0mmで,非確診例の標的リンパ節は有意に小さかった(17.5±3.7vs22.9±5.1mm,p<0.0001).部位別では下部気管傍リンパ節と気管支分岐部リンパ節で実施した症例が多かったが,部位による診断率の差は認めなかった.最終診断率では,肺癌が91%(46例中42例),サルコイドーシスが70%(10例中7例)であった.TBNAの不成功の理由は,「標的リンパ節が小さい」,「血管損傷の可能性が高い」,「患者の鎮静不可」であった.重篤な有害事象は1例も認めなかった.縦隔および肺門リンパ節病変の診断において,EBUS-TBNAは有用であると考えられた.Endobronchial ultrasonography - guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUSTBNA) is a new method for tissue biopsy of thoracic lymph node lesion. However, the clinical usefulness of this method and associated issues are still relatively unknown. Sixty-nine cases received EBUS in our hospital between October 2010 and August 2013. The relationship was analyzed between the diagnostic rate and the size or location of the lymph node targeted. TBNA was performed in 60 of the 69 cases, out of those the pathological and microbiological diagnosis were obtained in 54 cases (93%). The final diagnosis consisted of lung cancer in 42 cases (67%) followed by sarcoidosis in 7, metastasis of the other organ\u27s malignancy in 3 and mycobacterium infection in 1, and lastly malignant lymphoma in 1. The mean lymph node diameter was 21.3 ± 6.0 mm, and the inability to obtain the correct diagnosis was significantly smaller than obtaining the correct diagnosis. (17.5 ± 3.7 vs 22.9 ± 5.1 mm, p < 0.0001). In regard to the location of the lymph nodes, "lower paratrachea" and " subcarinal" were common, but was not chief concern with the diagnostic rate. Futhermore, the diagnostic rate was 91% (42 of 46) in lung cancer and 70% (7 of 10) in sarcoidosis. We could not perform EBUS-TBNA because of "small lymphnode" and "high risk of vascular damage" in addition to "insufficient patient\u27s sedation". No severe adverse events had occurred. EBUS-TBNA is useful for the thoracic lymph node lesion diagnosis

Numerical simulation of bi-component fuel droplet evaporation using Level Set method

Fuel droplets consisting of multiple components are known to exhibit complex evaporation behaviour. The Eulerian framework employed in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) which treats the droplets as a continuum, is effective for simulating the complex evaporation behaviour of such multicomponent droplets. In this study, the evaporation of binary-component or bi-component fuel droplets (which consist of two chemical species) in air, is simulated using the Eulerian framework with an extended evaporation model and its validity is examined. Spatio-temporal evolution of the gas-liquid interface is captured using the Level Set method, and a Ghost Fluid method is incorporated to consider the jump conditions at the interface. The computed evaporation speed of a fuel droplet consisting of a mixture of n-heptane and n-decane is compared with that of a previous experiment. Results show that n-heptane evaporates preferentially and the total evaporation speed is in an overall good agreement with that in the experiment. This confirms that the numerical framework used in the present simulation is capable of capturing the evaporation phenomenon of a bi-component fuel droplet. Additionally, several parametric simulations with different initial compositions (i.e., mass ratio of the constituent chemical species) of the bi-component fuel droplet and different initial ambient temperatures are performed, to investigate their influences on the evaporation characteristics of bi-component fuel droplet. The applicability of the proposed extended evaporation model and the numerical framework under these various simulation conditions are verified

Effects of others’ gaze and facial expression on an observer’s microsaccades and their association with ADHD tendencies

Abstract Background The aim of this study was to examine the effect of others’ gaze on an observer’s microsaccades. We also aimed to conduct preliminary investigations on the relationship between the microsaccadic response to a gaze and a gazer’s facial expression and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) tendencies. Methods Twenty healthy undergraduate and graduate students performed a peripheral target detection task by using unpredictable gaze cues. During the task, the participants’ eye movements, along with changes in pupil size and response times for target detection, were recorded. ADHD tendencies were determined using an ADHD questionnaire. Results We found that consciously perceiving the gaze of another person induced the observer’s attention; moreover, microsaccades were biased in the direction opposite to the gaze. Furthermore, these microsaccade biases were differentially modulated, based on the cognitive processing of the facial expressions of the gaze. Exploratory correlation analysis indicated that microsaccade biases toward gazes with fearful expressions may specifically be correlated with participant characteristics, including inattention. Conclusions Our findings support that microsaccades reflect spatial attention processing and social cognitive processing. Moreover, the exploratory correlation analysis results suggested the potential benefit of using microsaccade bias toward spatial attention to assess pathophysiological responses associated with ADHD tendencies