ZASTOSOWANIE WYŁADOWANIA ELEKTRYCZNEGO DO OZONOWANIA GLEBY

In this study, influence of ozone treatment on physical properties of soil was investigated. We used a quartz container for ozone treatment of soil. The amount of soil used for treatment was 100 g. Treating time was 90 minutes. Flow rate of ozone gas was 1.5 L/min. We measured characteristics of soil such as inorganic nutrient (NO3-N, NO2-N, and NH4-N), pH(H2O), fungi, DNA of soil, and exchangeable bases (Ca, K, Fe, and Al) before and after ozone treatment.W niniejszym opracowaniu, opisano badania wpływu obróbki ozonem na własności fizyczne gleby. Do ozonowania gleby wykorzystaliśmy pojemnik kwarcowy. Ilość gleby poddanej działaniu ozonu wynosiła 100g, a czas oddziaływania 90 minut. Przepływ ozonu wyniósł 1.5l/min. Mierzono właściwości gleby, takie jak nieorganiczne składniki odżywcze (NO3-N, NO2-N i NH4-N), pH(H2O), grzyby, DNA w glebie i zasady wymienne (Ca, K, Fe i Al) przed i po poddaniu jej działaniu ozonu

ZASTOSOWANIE WYŁADOWANIA ELEKTRYCZNEGO DO OZONOWANIA GLEBY

In this study, influence of ozone treatment on physical properties of soil was investigated. We used a quartz container for ozone treatment of soil. The amount of soil used for treatment was 100 g. Treating time was 90 minutes. Flow rate of ozone gas was 1.5 L/min. We measured characteristics of soil such as inorganic nutrient (NO3-N, NO2-N, and NH4-N), pH(H2O), fungi, DNA of soil, and exchangeable bases (Ca, K, Fe, and Al) before and after ozone treatment.W niniejszym opracowaniu, opisano badania wpływu obróbki ozonem na własności fizyczne gleby. Do ozonowania gleby wykorzystaliśmy pojemnik kwarcowy. Ilość gleby poddanej działaniu ozonu wynosiła 100g, a czas oddziaływania 90 minut. Przepływ ozonu wyniósł 1.5l/min. Mierzono właściwości gleby, takie jak nieorganiczne składniki odżywcze (NO3-N, NO2-N i NH4-N), pH(H2O), grzyby, DNA w glebie i zasady wymienne (Ca, K, Fe i Al) przed i po poddaniu jej działaniu ozonu

Supravalvular thrombus after pulmonary artery banding and fontan procedure evaluated by multidetector-row computed tomography

SummaryThe mechanisms responsible for thromboembolic events in children with congenital heart disease have not yet been fully elucidated. Furthermore, establishment of long-term anticoagulation therapy in Fontan patients remains controversial. Here, we report the case of a 9-year-old boy who presented with hemiparesis due to a thromboembolic stroke; the boy had previously undergone staged pulmonary artery banding and Fontan procedure. Cardiac multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) clearly showed the supravalvular thrombus at the roofed (blind) pulmonary valve and circulatory stasis, which could be considered a possible source of the thrombus. Follow-up CT examination showed that the thrombus disappeared, but the circulatory stasis remained. Therefore, because the risk of thrombus formation was not eliminated, anticoagulation therapy was continued for the patient. Our case indicates the possible application of cardiac MDCT for providing insight into the hemodynamic mechanisms responsible for the thromboembolic events in children with congenital heart disease

Successful stenting of the ductus venosus in 2 neonates with asplenia syndrome complicated by infracardiac type total anomalous pulmonary venous connection

SummaryIn the neonatal period, the surgical mortality of palliation is extremely high for asplenia syndrome complicated by single ventricle combined with total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC). Recently, stent implantation for the pulmonary venous drainage route soon after birth has been used instead of surgery to prevent pulmonary venous occlusion and to maintain stable hemodynamics in the neonatal period or in early infancy. Here, we successfully implanted stents in the ductus venosus (DV) in 2 neonates with asplenia syndrome complicated by infracardiac type TAPVC. The first patient was a 3-day-old male neonate with severe cyanosis. Immediately after TAPVC was diagnosed, we implanted a stent in the DV. The second patient was a 0-day-old female neonate. She was diagnosed as TAPVC by fetal echocardiogram. After the scheduled delivery, a stent was successfully implanted. We believe that stent implantation in the DV in the neonatal period is effective and less invasive than surgery in patients with infracardiac type TAPVC

Effect of Combination of Natural Dyes and the Blocking Layer on the Performance of DSSC

Over the years, researchers have been working on replacing sensitized dye for dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC), because of its low production cost, biodegradability, and non-toxicity. However, the overall performance of natural dye-based DSSCs is low compared to the DSSCs sensitized with Ruthenium based dyes. The combination of natural dyes with an optimized choice of the extracting solvents and the proper volume ratio of mixture of the dyes, enhances inherent properties, such as absorption and adsorption of the dyes. It also allows the device to utilize photon energy more efficiently over the entire visible wavelength. As a result, DSSC sensitized with the dye mixture shows higher absorbance, and cumulative absorption properties over the whole visible region than the DSSC fabricated with individual dyes and showed higher photocurrent. Another effective way to improve cell efficiency is by using a blocking layer. The blocking layer increases the photocurrent, is mainly due to the improvement of the electron recombination at the transparent conducting oxide/electrolyte interfaces. Also, the blocking layer’s compact structure creates an effective pathway for electron transportation; thus, the device’s photocurrent increases. Additionally, a slight improvement in the open-circuit voltage and fill factor was observed, thus cell efficiency enhances significantly. By both the proper ratio of dye mixture and the blocking layer improves cell performance of DSSC and opens a new pathway for future studies

Subendocardial contractile impairment in chronic ischemic myocardium: assessment by strain analysis of 3T tagged CMR

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The purpose of this study was to quantify myocardial strain on the subendocardial and epicardial layers of the left ventricle (LV) using tagged cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) and to investigate the transmural degree of contractile impairment in the chronic ischemic myocardium.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>3T tagged CMR was performed at rest in 12 patients with severe coronary artery disease who had been scheduled for coronary artery bypass grafting. Circumferential strain (C-strain) at end-systole on subendocardial and epicardial layers was measured using the short-axis tagged images of the LV and available software (Intag; Osirix). The myocardial segment was divided into stenotic and non-stenotic segments by invasive coronary angiography, and ischemic and non-ischemic segments by stress myocardial perfusion scintigraphy. The difference in C-strain between the two groups was analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U-test. The diagnostic capability of C-strain was analyzed using receiver operating characteristics analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The absolute subendocardial C-strain was significantly lower for stenotic (-7.5 ± 12.6%) than non-stenotic segment (-18.8 ± 10.2%, p < 0.0001). There was no difference in epicardial C-strain between the two groups. Use of cutoff thresholds for subendocardial C-strain differentiated stenotic segments from non-stenotic segments with a sensitivity of 77%, a specificity of 70%, and areas under the curve (AUC) of 0.76. The absolute subendocardial C-strain was significantly lower for ischemic (-6.7 ± 13.1%) than non-ischemic segments (-21.6 ± 7.0%, p < 0.0001). The absolute epicardial C-strain was also significantly lower for ischemic (-5.1 ± 7.8%) than non-ischemic segments (-9.6 ± 9.1%, p < 0.05). Use of cutoff thresholds for subendocardial C-strain differentiated ischemic segments from non-ischemic segments with sensitivities of 86%, specificities of 84%, and AUC of 0.86.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Analysis of tagged CMR can non-invasively demonstrate predominant impairment of subendocardial strain in the chronic ischemic myocardium at rest.</p

Development of thickness measurement program for transparent conducting oxide thin films

The gallium doped zinc oxide has been one of the candidates for the transparent conducting oxide thin film electrode. It is not suitable to use a conventional light interference method to measure the thickness of the gallium doped zinc oxide thin film because the refractive index and extinction coefficient of the thin film is unknown during the optimization of the deposition conditions. In this paper, we report on the details of the film thickness program which uses the measured optical and electric properties and relationship between the plasma frequency and the optical constant of the film. The obtained film thickness of the prepared gallium doped zinc oxide thin film using the program was comparable with thicknesses measured by a cross-sectional analysis of the atomic force microscopy and the surface profiler. Moreover, the optical constant of refractive index and extinction coefficient of the film could also be estimated