Quality Measurement of Two Phase Flow with Plug Flow

In order to control refrigeration cycles employing an injection system properly, it is important to detect quality of gas–liquid two-phase refrigerant in a two-phase region of the cycle. Although there are some techniques such as using a capacitance sensor or a X-ray beam scanning to measure a cross-sectional void fraction of the gas-liquid two-phase flow in a pipe, the measurement of the quality or flow rate of each phase is quite difficult since the liquid phase and gas phase of two-phase flow flowing in a pipe have different velocities in most cases. Meanwhile, the flow through a narrow tube becomes plug flow and the velocities of gas plug and liquid plug are almost the same. Therefore, the void fraction or quality of two-phase flow with plug flow in the narrow tube can be measured by detecting each plug length. Authors have examined the quality measurement of two-phase flow in the refrigeration cycle based on the plug flow characteristics. In previous studies, it was confirmed that the quality can be measured with an accuracy of about ±10% when the flow regime is plug flow in the narrow tube. However, the quality range where the flow regime becomes the plug flow is limited to the quality less than 0.1. In this study, multiple narrow tubes are installed with a gas bypass line to extend the quality range to be measured. Consequently, the measurable range of quality up to 0.8 was achieved with an accuracy of ±10%

Recent Advances in Ultrasound Imaging of Breast Lesions

Helminth parasites are known to elicit the immune response towards T helper 2 (Th2)-type, characterized by Th2 related cytokines, that typically include interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-5 and IL-13. In this review we will describe the mechanisms involved in helminth induced Th2 immune response. Intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) produce thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), which is both necessary and sufficient for the initiation of Th2 cytokine-driven inflammation. IL-33 mRNA is expressed early during parasite infection and IL-33 binds ST2 receptor, both of which are associated with optimal CD4+ Th2 polarization. Following innate immune cell recognition, basophils and mast cell can secrete Th2 type cytokines that are thought to contribute to CD4+ Th2 differentiation. Additionaly, dendritic cell conditioned with some helminth products can promote CD4+ Th2 differentiation. Alternatively activated macrophages, activated by the Th2 cytokines IL-4 and IL-13 in parasitic infections, contribute to the host protective response: control of Th1-type inflammation, wound healing and worm expulsion. Experimentally, helminths have been associated with protection against a number of autoimmune disorders, including inflammatory bowel diseases and type 1 diabetes. It may be a novel strategy to ameliorate autoimmune inflammation by expanding and activating the Th2 response originated from parasites

Effect of Film-Forming Additive in Ionic Liquid Electrolyte on Electrochemical Performance of Si Negative-Electrode for LIBs

1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide (EMI-TFSA) is one of the promising ionic liquids as electrolyte solvent to enhance the electrochemical performance of Si electrode for Li-ion batteries (LIBs) because of its low viscosity and high conductivity. However, it has low stability against reduction and its reductive decomposition product inhibits Li+ insertion to electrodes, leading to poor cycling stability. To exert a potential of EMI-TFSA, we employed vinylene carbonate (VC) as film-forming additive. Si electrode exhibited very high cycling stability and rate capability in 20 vol.% VC-added EMI-TFSA-based electrolyte. In addition, by replacing TFSA anion with bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide (FSA) for Li salt and ionic liquid solvent, an excellent cycling performance and outstanding rate capability was achieved. VC cannot only fabricate a good surface film but also lower the interaction between Li+ and FSA-, providing smooth desolvation of FSA- to obtain better high-rate performance. Non-flammability of the VC-added electrolytes was confirmed by fire resistance test in closed-system: no ignition was observed even at 300°C. Consequently, we found that mixture electrolyte consisted of EMI-based ionic liquid and VC, especially 1 M LiFSA/EMI-FSA with 20 vol.% VC, is a prospective candidate for simultaneously enhancing the electrochemical performance of Si electrode as well as safety of LIBs

SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor-binding domain is internalized and promotes protein ISGylation in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes

Although an increased risk of myocarditis has been observed after vaccination with mRNA encoding severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 spike protein, its underlying mechanism has not been elucidated. This study investigated the direct effects of spike receptor-binding domain (S-RBD) on human cardiomyocytes differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC-CMs). Immunostaining experiments using ACE2 wild-type (WT) and knockout (KO) iPSC-CMs treated with purified S-RBD demonstrated that S-RBD was bound to ACE2 and internalized into the subcellular space in the iPSC-CMs, depending on ACE2. Immunostaining combined with live cell imaging using a recombinant S-RBD fused to the superfolder GFP (S-RBD-sfGFP) demonstrated that S-RBD was bound to the cell membrane, co-localized with RAB5A, and then delivered from the endosomes to the lysosomes in iPSC-CMs. Quantitative PCR array analysis followed by single cell RNA sequence analysis clarified that S-RBD-sfGFP treatment significantly upregulated the NF-kβ pathway-related gene (CXCL1) in the differentiated non-cardiomyocytes, while upregulated interferon (IFN)-responsive genes (IFI6, ISG15, and IFITM3) in the matured cardiomyocytes. S-RBD-sfGFP treatment promoted protein ISGylation, an ISG15-mediated post-translational modification in ACE2-WT-iPSC-CMs, which was suppressed in ACE2-KO-iPSC-CMs. Our experimental study demonstrates that S-RBD is internalized through the endolysosomal pathway, which upregulates IFN-responsive genes and promotes ISGylation in the iPSC-CMs.Okuno S., Higo S., Kondo T., et al. SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor-binding domain is internalized and promotes protein ISGylation in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes. Scientific Reports 13, 21397 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-48084-7

Evaluation of antigen-positive toxin-negative enzyme immunoassay results for the diagnosis of toxigenic Clostridium difficile infection

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile)-associated diarrhea (CDAD) is a challenging nosocomial infectious disease. C. DIFF Quik Chek Complete assay is widely used to detect glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) antigen and toxin A/B of C. difficile simultaneously. However, the interpretation of GDH positive/toxin negative results is problematic.We performed a retrospective study of patients with GDH positive/toxin negative results to determine the probability of detecting toxigenic C. difficile and its risk factors. Between April 2012 and March 2017, we investigated cultures of fecal specimens followed by toxin detection tests. The clinical histories of patients with and without toxigenic C. difficile were compared using univariate- and multivariate-analyses. In total, 2675 patients were examined using C. Diff Quik Chek Complete assay. Among 356 GDH positive/toxin negative patients, cultures were performed in 220 cases and toxigenic C. difficile was recovered from 139 (63.2%) specimens. Patients with toxigenic C. difficile had significantly lower body mass index than those without. Over half the GDH positive/toxin negative patients were infected with toxigenic C. difficile. Lower BMI was a CDAD risk factor in this patient population. These data can be utilized to initiate isolation and clinical interventions before confirmatory test results are available

Development of Scaled-Up Synthetic Method for Retinoid X Receptor Agonist NEt-3IB Contributing to Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract Small-molecular drugs, which are generally inexpensive compared with biopharmaceuticals and can often be taken orally, may contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations. We previously reported the retinoid X receptor (RXR) agonist 4-(ethyl(3-isobutoxy-4-isopropylphenyl)amino)benzoic acid (NEt-3IB, 1) as a small-molecular drug candidate to replace biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. The previous synthetic method to 1 required a large amount of organic solvent and extensive purification. In line with the SDGs, we aimed to develop an environmentally friendly, inexpensive method for the large-scale synthesis of 1. The developed method requires only a hydrophobic ether and EtOH as reaction and extraction solvents. The product was purified by recrystallization twice to afford 99% pure 1 at 100 mmol scale in about 30% yield. The optimized process showed a 35-fold improvement of the E-factor (an index of environmental impact) compared to the original method. This work, which changes the solvent used to environmentally preferable ones based on the existing synthetic method for 1, illustrates how synthetic methods for small-molecular drugs can be adapted and improved to contribute to the SDGs

Rethinking Fano's Inequality in Ensemble Learning

We propose a fundamental theory on ensemble learning that evaluates a given ensemble system by a well-grounded set of metrics. Previous studies used a variant of Fano's inequality of information theory and derived a lower bound of the classification error rate on the basis of the accuracy and diversity of models. We revisit the original Fano's inequality and argue that the studies did not take into account the information lost when multiple model predictions are combined into a final prediction. To address this issue, we generalize the previous theory to incorporate the information loss. Further, we empirically validate and demonstrate the proposed theory through extensive experiments on actual systems. The theory reveals the strengths and weaknesses of systems on each metric, which will push the theoretical understanding of ensemble learning and give us insights into designing systems.Comment: To appear in ICML 202

Quality measurement of refrigerant two-phase flow in refrigeration cycles

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