Novel Model of Pulmonary Artery Banding Leading to Right Heart Failure in Rats

Background. Congenital heart diseases often involve chronic pressure overload of the right ventricle (RV) which is a major cause of RV dysfunction. Pulmonary artery (PA) banding has been used to produce animal models of RV dysfunction. We have devised a new and easier method of constricting the PA and compared it directly with the partial ligation method. Methods. Eight-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats (240–260 g) were divided into three groups: sham operation, partial pulmonary artery ligation (PAL) procedure, and pulmonary artery half-closed clip (PAC) procedure. RV function and remodeling were determined by echocardiography and histomorphometry. Results. Surgical mortality was significantly lower in the PAC group while echocardiography revealed significantly more signs of RV dysfunction. At the 8th week after surgery RV fibrosis rate was significantly higher in the PAC group. Conclusions. This procedure of pulmonary artery banding in rats is easier and more efficient than partial ligation

Intracoronary Autologous Cardiac Progenitor Cell Transfer in Patients With Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (TICAP) : A Prospective Phase 1 Controlled Trial

RATIONALE: Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) remains a lethal congenital cardiac defect. Recent studies have suggested that intracoronary administration of autologous cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) may improve ventricular function. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to test whether intracoronary delivery of CDCs is feasible and safe in patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. METHODS AND RESULTS: Between January 5, 2011, and January 16, 2012, 14 patients (1.8±1.5 years) were prospectively assigned to receive intracoronary infusion of autologous CDCs 33.4±8.1 days after staged procedures (n=7), followed by 7 controls with standard palliation alone. The primary end point was to assess the safety, and the secondary end point included the preliminary efficacy to verify the right ventricular ejection fraction improvements between baseline and 3 months. Manufacturing and intracoronary delivery of CDCs were feasible, and no serious adverse events were reported within the 18-month follow-up. Patients treated with CDCs showed right ventricular ejection fraction improvement from baseline to 3-month follow-up (46.9%±4.6% to 52.1%±2.4%; P=0.008). Compared with controls at 18 months, cardiac MRI analysis of CDC-treated patients showed a higher right ventricular ejection fraction (31.5%±6.8% versus 40.4%±7.6%; P=0.049), improved somatic growth (P=0.0005), reduced heart failure status (P=0.003), and lower incidence of coil occlusion for collaterals (P=0.007). CONCLUSIONS: Intracoronary infusion of autologous CDCs seems to be feasible and safe in children with hypoplastic left heart syndrome after staged surgery. Large phase 2 trials are warranted to examine the potential effects of cardiac function improvements and the long-term benefits of clinical outcomes

Study on the mechanism of double proton transfer in terms of dynamical electron theory

報告番号: 甲25533 ; 学位授与年月日: 2010-03-24 ; 学位の種別: 課程博士 ; 学位の種類: 博士(学術) ; 学位記番号: 博総合第982号 ; 研究科・専攻: 総合文化研究科広域科学専

Adiabatic Electronic Motion in Forming Covalent Bond

In studying a dynamical process of the chemical reaction, it is decisive to get appropriate information from an electronic current density. To this end, we divide one-body electronic density into a couple of densities, that is, an electronic sharing density and an electronic contraction density. Since the one-body electronic current density defi ned directly through the microscopic electronic wave function gives null value under the Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics, we propose to employ the Maxwell\u27s displacement current density de fined by means of the one-body electronic density obtained under the same approximation. Applying the electronic sharing and the electronic contraction current densities to a hydrogen molecule, we show these densities give important physical quantities for analyzing a dynamical process of the covalent bond.</div

A data-driven scheme to search for alternative composite materials

Here, we propose an interaction analysis method, which quantitatively evaluates the interactions among constituent materials in composites that consist of matrix (e.g. resin), fillers, and additives (e.g. fiber-reinforced plastics). Using this method, we developed a data-driven scheme that is capable of identifying alternative constituent materials. The scheme enabled the search for new composites with the same performance as the original composite. The proposed scheme was also found useful for composites with complex interactions, where the features of constituent materials (e.g. the addition ratio) exhibited linear and exponential relationships with the performance. To demonstrate the utility of the proposed scheme, we searched for alternative constituent materials, which are involved in the interaction with the largest contribution to the performance (i.e. bending modulus). The bending moduli of the resulting composites were comparable to the original composite, thereby verifying the utility of the proposed scheme

動的電子論による二重プロトン移動の反応機構に関する研究

University of Tokyo (東京大学

Investigation of strain redistribution mechanism in

Mechanisms of strain localization and localized activation of slip systems in α titanium were investigated using a crystal plasticity finite element (CPFE) method. A microscopic image of polycrystalline α titanium was obtained by electron back scatter diffraction (EBSD), and the data was converted from the microscopic image into the geometric model for the CPFE analysis. The uniaxial tensile deformation of the model was numerically reproduced by the CPFE method employing a dislocation density based constitutive equation. The results showed that the strain distribution corresponds well with that obtained by the experiment when the ratio of critical resolved shear stress (CRSS) employed in the numerical simulation is basal:prismatic ⟨a⟩:1st-pyramidal ⟨a⟩:1st-pyramidal ⟨c + a⟩:2nd-pyramidal ⟨c + a⟩ = 1.0:1.0:1.3:2.0:2.0. Next, numerical simulations were performed by changing the ratio of CRSS among the slip systems but keeping all other conditions the same as those of the above uniaxial tensile analysis. The results showed that strain redistribution typically occurs between hard and soft regions with high and low CRSSs for the primary slip systems; this redistribution resulted in a localized higher strain and activation of slip systems. However, localized activation of slip systems was observed even in slip systems with higher CRSS; the mechanism could be explained by the strain redistribution in the tensile direction