Hemodynamic Performance of the Biventricular Bypass System Operated in an Independent Variable Rate Mode

The present study was undertaken to determine whether a biventricular bypass system operated in an independent variable rate (VR) mode can maintain the entire circulation. Two pusher-plate pumps which incorporated the Hall effect position sensors were used to bypass the right and left ventricles in 10 sheep under fibrillation. The flow distributions of the pump output to the carotid and renal arteries were investigated every 6 h using ultrasonic blood flow meters for 24 h in 5 animals, and the controllability of the VR mode was evaluated in 5 long-term experiments. The carotid artery flow ratio to the pump output decreased significantly from 4.7 +/- 0.8% before the bypass to 2.7 +/- 0.9% after 24 h. However, the renal artery flow ratio did not change throughout the experiments. In the long-term experiments, the animals were kept alive from 3 to 48 days (mean 15.6 days). The mean pump output had been maintained at more than 90 ml/min/kg for the first 7 days. After the surgery, the pump driving conditions were not readjusted in any experiment. The results indicate that the biventricular bypass system operated in the independent VR mode automatically maintains the entire circulation at a satisfactory level.</p

Binary Quantum Turbulence Arising from Countersuperflow Instability in Two-Component Bose-Einstein Condensates

We theoretically study the development of quantum turbulence from two counter-propagating superfluids of miscible Bose-Einstein condensates by numerically solving the coupled Gross-Pitaevskii equations. When the relative velocity exceeds a critical value, the counter-superflow becomes unstable and quantized vortices are nucleated, which leads to isotropic quantum turbulence consisting of two superflows. It is shown that the binary turbulence can be realized experimentally in a trapped system.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Feedback Control of the Arachidonate Cascade in Osteoblastic Cells by 15-deoxy-Δ12,14-Prostaglandin J2

15-deoxy-Δ12,14-prostaglandin J2 (15d-PGJ2) and an anti-diabetic thiazolidinedione, troglitazone (TRO) are peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-γ ligands, which regulate immuno-inflammatory reactions as well as adipocyte differentiation. We previously reported that 15d-PGJ2 can suppress interleukin (IL)-1β-induced prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) synthesis in synoviocytes of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). IL-1 also stimulates PGE2 synthesis in osteoblasts by regulation of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 and regulates osteoclastic bone resorption in various diseases such as RA and osteoporosis. In this study, we investigated the feedback mechanism of the arachidonate cascade in mouse osteoblastic cells, MC3T3-E1 cells, which differentiate into mature osteoblasts. Treatment with 15d-PGJ2 led to a significant increase in IL-1α-induced COX-2 expression and PGE2 production in a dose dependent manner. The effect of 15d-PGJ2 was stronger than that of TRO. However, it did not affect the expression of COX-1. In addition, cell viability of MC3T3-E1 cells was not changed in the condition we established. This means that 15d-PGJ2 exerts a positive feedback regulation of the arachidonate cascade of PGE2 in osteoblastic cells. These results may provide important information about the pathogenesis and treatment of bone resorption in a variety of diseases such as RA and osteoporosis

A sheep survived for 48 days with the biventricular bypass type total artificial heart.

A biventricular bypass type total artificial heart (BVB-TAH) utilizing two pusher-plate pumps was developed and implanted in a sheep for 48 days with excellent results. A Hall effect sensor was utilized to operate each pump independently with a full stroke at variable rates (VR). With this system, the animal's hemodynamics was kept physiologically, and all metabolic parameters except hemoglobin and hematocrit returned to normal three weeks after implantation. However, signs of infection appeared on the forty-second day, and consequently the animal fell into a state of shock. Even at that time the BVB-TAH maintained circulation by increasing pumping rate automatically. On the forty-eighth day, the animal could not stand and suffered from anuria; the experiment was then terminated after 1,140 h pumping. At autopsy, there was an enlarged heart with an atrophic change, 1,900 ml of pleural effusion, and 3,100ml of ascites fluid. Blood culture taken on the forty-seventh day yielded Acinetobacter calcoaceticus. The BVB-TAH operated in an independent VR mode maintained entire circulation, and has a capability of substituting the native heart function in any situation.</p

Supersymmetric Intersecting Branes on the Waves

We construct a general family of supersymmetric solutions in time- and space-dependent wave backgrounds in general supergravity theories describing single and intersecting p-branes embedded into time-dependent dilaton-gravity plane waves of an arbitrary (isotropic) profile, with the brane world-volume aligned parallel to the propagation direction of the wave. We discuss how many degrees of freedom we have in the solutions. We also propose that these solutions can be used to describe higher-dimensional time-dependent "black holes", and discuss their property briefly.Comment: 12 pages, LaTe

Countersuperflow instability in miscible two-component Bose-Einstein condensates

We study theoretically the instability of countersuperflow, i.e., two counterpropagating miscible superflows, in uniform two-component Bose-Einstein condensates. Countersuperflow instability causes mutual friction between the superfluids, causing a momentum exchange between the two condensates, when the relative velocity of the counterflow exceeds a critical value. The momentum exchange leads to nucleation of vortex rings from characteristic density patterns due to the nonlinear development of the instability. Expansion of the vortex rings drastically accelerates the momentum exchange, leading to a highly nonlinear regime caused by intervortex interaction and vortex reconnection between the rings. For a sufficiently large interaction between the two components, rapid expansion of the vortex rings causes isotropic turbulence and the global relative motion of the two condensates relaxes. The maximum vortex line density in the turbulence is proportional to the square of the relative velocity.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure