Venous velocity of the right femoral vein decreases in the right lateral decubitus position compared to the supine position: a cause of postoperative pulmonary embolism?

The right lateral decubitus position is a risk factor for postoperative pulmonary embolism. We examined postural changes of femoral vein velocity in order to elucidate the mechanism. Thirty patients scheduled for general thoracic surgery were enrolled in this study. The common femoral veins on both sides were examined by color-duplex ultrasound for venous caliber and velocity when the patients were in the right lateral, left lateral, and supine positions. The maximum diameters of the right femoral vein in the right lateral decubitus position and the left femoral vein in the left decubitus position were significantly larger than those in the other positions. The venous velocity of the right femoral vein in the right lateral decubitus position was significantly smaller than that in the supine position, while the velocity of the left femoral vein in the left lateral decubitus position was not significantly decreased. We speculate that the decreased venous velocity of the right femoral vein in the right lateral decubitus position could result in a deep venous thromboembolism in the right leg, making this position a possible risk factor for postoperative pulmonary embolism.</p

Expression of a cascading genetic network within liposomes

AbstractLiposomes have long been used as possible compartments for artificial cells, and it has been shown that liposomes can sustain various types of biochemical reactions. To elevate the degree of molecular complexity of the system in liposomes, we have constructed a two-stage genetic network encapsulated in liposomes. This two-stage genetic network was constructed with the plasmid pTH, in which the protein product of the first stage (T7 RNA polymerase) is required to drive the protein synthesis of the second stage (GFP). We show that the two-stage genetic network constructed in a cell-free expression system is functional within liposomes

Efficacy of tumor-targeting Salmonella typhimurium A1-R in combination with anti-angiogenesis therapy on a pancreatic cancer patient-derived orthotopic xenograft (PDOX) and cell line mouse models.

The aim of the present study was to examine the efficacy of tumor-targeting Salmonella typhimurium A1-R treatment following anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy on VEGF-positive human pancreatic cancer. A pancreatic cancer patient-derived orthotopic xenograft (PDOX) that was VEGF-positive and an orthotopic VEGF-positive human pancreatic cancer cell line (MiaPaCa-2-GFP) as well as a VEGF-negative cell line (Panc-1) were tested. Nude mice with these tumors were treated with gemcitabine (GEM), bevacizumab (BEV), and S. typhimurium A1-R. BEV/GEM followed by S. typhimurium A1-R significantly reduced tumor weight compared to BEV/GEM treatment alone in the PDOX and MiaPaCa-2 models. Neither treatment was as effective in the VEGF-negative model as in the VEGF-positive models. These results demonstrate that S. typhimurium A1-R following anti-angiogenic therapy is effective on pancreatic cancer including the PDOX model, suggesting its clinical potential

Interfacial fracture strength property of micro-scale SiN/Cu components

AbstractThe strength against fracture nucleation from an interface free-edge of silicon-nitride (SiN)/copper (Cu) micro-components is evaluated. A special technique that combines a nano-indenter specimen holder and an environmental transmission electron microscope (E-TEM) is employed. The critical load at the onset of fracture nucleation from a wedge-shaped free-edge (opening angle: 90°) is measured both in a vacuum and in a hydrogen (H2) environment, and the critical stress distribution is evaluated by the finite element method (FEM). It is found that the fracture nucleation is dominated by the near-edge elastic singular stress field that extends about a few tens of nanometers from the edge. The fracture nucleation strength expressed in terms of the stress intensity factor (K) is found to be eminently reduced in a H2 environment

Optimal Robust PID control for first- and second-order plus dead-time processes

The present study proposes a new design method for a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control system for first-order plus dead-time (FOPDT) and over-damped second-order plus dead-time (SOPDT) systems. What is presented is an optimal PID tuning constrained to robust stability. The optimal tuning is defined for each one of the two operation modes the control system may operate in: servo (reference tracking) and regulation (disturbance rejection). The optimization problem is stated for a normalized second-order plant that unifies FOPDT and SOPDT process models. Different robustness levels are considered and for each one of them, the set of optimal controller parameters is obtained. In a second step, suitable formulas are found that provide continuous values for the controller parameters. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is confirmed through numerical examples

Identification of Antigenic Site Within hsc 70 by Serum Autoantibody in Patients with Cancer-associated Retinopathy

In our previous studies, both recoverin and heat shock cognate protein 70 (hsc 70) were found as autoantigens recognized by sera from four patients with cancer-associated retinopathy (CAR) . In the present study on the mole-cular mechanism of antibody generation in CAR, we identified the antigenic site within hsc 70 by the patients\u27 sera using deletion mutants of hsc 73. We expressed a series of deletion mutants of hsc 73 proteins and subjected then to western blot analysis. In western blot analysis, CAR patient\u27s serum reacted with wild type hsp 70, but not with the C-terminal truncated mutants. This data demonstrated that the antigenic site was located within the C-terminus region of hsc 73 as identified by CAR patient\u27s serum

Biostratigraphy, paleomagnetism and sedimentology of Late Cenozoic sediments in northwestern Hokkaido, Japan

Four Neogene sedimentary basins in northwestern Hokkaido (latitudes 44°-45° N.), the northernmost island of Japan, were studied to establish a combined microfossil-paleomagnetic sedimentologic stratigraphy. The measured section near Atsuta encompasses a shoaling depositional sequence from upper bathyal depths in the lower part to stagnant, nearshore conditions near the top of the sequence. Magnetostratigraphic evidence and age-diagnostic diatoms indicate the section to be Late Miocene age covering the interval from early Epoch 5 through Epoch 6, and possibly to late Epoch 7. The second measured section located north of Shosanbetsu exposes sediments derived from a volcano-clastic source and deposited on a continental slope with oversteepened slopes. Rich diatom floras from the sequence are assignable to the Denticula seminae var. fossilis-D. kamtschatica and D. kamtschatica Zones. A magnetic signature containing one reversal was observed in the upper part of the section, although the data seem to indicate the lower section to be dominantly normally magnetized. In the northwest Pacific deep-sea sequences, the zonal boundary of these two diatom zones lies between the Nunivak ( = "b") and "c" Events of the Gilbert Epoch, thus the distinct magnetic reversal observed in the upper part of the sequence is correlated with the top of the Nunivak Event. Neogene strata developed near Wakkanai City, the northwestern tip of Hokkaido, appear to have been deposited during a time interval of predominantly reversed geomagnetic polarity. Diatom floras suggest a correlation of these strata with the Denticula kamtschatica Zone which in turn corresponds, in the northwest Pacific deep-sea sequences, to the lower Gilbert Series below a horizon midway between the Nunivak and "c" Events. Diatom rich sediments of the Shimo-Ebekorobetsu area belong to the Yuchi Formation and comprise two assemblages assignable to the D. kamtschatica Zone and the superjacent Denticula seminae var.fossilis-D. kamtschatica Zone. From northern Honshu through Hokkaido to Sakhalin, in the western Pacific coastal region, beds containing the large pecten Fortipecten takahashii (YOKOYAMA) constitute a marker horizon useful for inter-regional correlation. In its southern range of distribution, F. takahashii is a diagnostic species in the lower part of the Tatsunokuchi Formation from which diatom floras assignable to the D. seminae var. fossilis-D. kamtschatica Zone are described. The F. takahashii bed occurs in the Shosanbetsu section, lying within the same diatom zone as the Tastunokuchi Formation and is in a reversely magnetized interval above the Nunivak Event (3.9 m.y. B.P.). The Neogene marine sediments of northwestern Hokkaido were deposited in the back-arc basin and reveal evidence of active arc magmatism at the time of deposition. In this tectonically active back-arc region, sediment-collecting basins shifted from area to area, accumulating sediments only for a relatively short period of time when spurts of active subsidence occurred in a given sedimentary basin