Factors Related to Liver Stiffness in Patients with Hepatitis C During Direct-acting Antiviral Agent Treatment

Background and Aim：The purpose of this study was to observe the changes over time in liver stiffness measured by shear wave elastography（SWE）in hepatitis C patients during direct-acting antiviral agent（DAA）treatment and evaluate the factors affecting the liver stiffness.Methods：The subjects were 206 consecutive patients diagnosed with hepatitis C in the Dokkyo Medical University Saitama Medical Center treated with DAAs. SWE was performed to measure the propagation velocity of shear waves（Vs）before starting treatment（baseline）, at the end of treatment（EOT）, and 12 weeks after EOT（follow-up 12）. The change in Vs（ΔVs）was calculated for the difference between baseline and follow-up 12. Clinical parameters were obtained on the same day as SWE. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify factors related to ΔVs.Results：Data from 149 patients were used；all 149 patients achieved sustained virological response. Mean Vs decreased significantly, from 1.58±0.92 m/s at baseline to 1.46±0.27 m/s at EOT（P＝0.00045）. Mean Vs at follow-up 12 was 1.42±0.28 m/s, significantly lower than at EOT（P＝0.00002）. The mean ΔVs was 0.147±0.164 m/s. On multiple regression analysis, prothrombin time％（PT％）and the change in alanine aminotransferase（ΔALT）from baseline were significantly related to ΔVs. Baseline ALT and the FIB4-index tended to affect ΔVs.Conclusions：In hepatitis C patients, Vs measured by SWE improved with 12 weeks of DAA therapyand continued to improve to follow-up 12. Baseline PT％ and ΔALT contributed significantly to theimprovement of Vs during DAA treatment, and the FIB-4 index also had a great effect

Electron identification using the TOPAZ detector at TRISTAN

We present an electron-identification method using the time-projection chamber and the lead-glass calorimeter in the TOPAZ detector system. Using this method we have achieved good electron identification against hadron backgrounds over a wide momentum range in the hadronic events produced by both single-photon exchange and two-photon processes. Pion-rejection factors and electron efficiencies were 163 and 68.4\% for high-$P_T$ electrons and 137 and 42.7\% for low-$P_T$ electrons in the single-photon-exchange process, and 8600 and 36.0\% for the two-photon process, respectively.Comment: 32 pages, latex format (article), 24 figures, submitted for publication

Collaborative Use of DEM and FEM for Brick Joint Splitting in Strong Earthquake Ground Motion

Masonry structures constructed about one hundred and fifty years ago, in the era of the opening of Japan, have been recognized as industrial heritages. Many of them are masonry warehouses made of brick or stone walls framed by wood members. In this research, a two-story warehouse in Tomioka city, a mortar jointed brick masonry with wooden frame reinforcements, was studied for strong earthquake ground motion. Several vibration modes were identified by micro-tremor observations and excitation tests. The three-dimensional FE overall model was constructed and tuned for the distinctive vibration modes. Two DEM local models, one for bending at the center bottom of the wall treated by plane strain, and the other for shear at the upper corner of the wall by plane stress, were constructed to evaluate brick joint splitting. For both models, dynamic displacement response obtained by the three- dimensional FEM were specified at their peripheries via periphery blocks. At the center bottom of the wall, horizontally developing joint splitting in the section was evaluated. At the upper corners, obliquely proceeding joint splitting on the wall was evaluated. In these analyses, the specified displacements were calculated by the FE model for intact brick walls, regardless of the degrading status of the walls. Although this assumption will have to be justified, the results of DEM were consistent with the reported summary of past earthquake damages

A Greenhouse Project toward Smart Agriculture

In the future estimation of 2050, the food demand increases 70% and the production decreases 15% caused by global warming, and farmer population be 1/5 of current workers. Until 2050, we need an agricultural system of twice production with the same farmland area and 5 times effective operations. To realize the sustainable society, smart agriculture including robot technology, AI, IoT is one of the solutions for food issues. We have been working for a greenhouse project under enPiT-everi for implementation of robotic, AI and IoT technologies to agriculture. In this paper, we introduce the project and robotic applications.The 2021 International Conference on Artificial Life and Robotics (ICAROB 2021), January 21-24, 2021, Higashi-Hiroshima (オンライン開催に変更

An Estimation Method of Coastal Ocean Debris Using Aerial Drone

The actual situation of marine litter has not been measured accurately; however innumerable floating garbage are drifting in the ocean. Especially, non-perishable waste such as microplastics continues to grow and is damaging marine life, including endangered species, and some are washed ashore and causing pollution damage to coastal areas. Microplastics incorporated into marine organisms, Arctic Sea ice, and deep-sea seafloor sediments have also been detected. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation in the United Kingdom estimates that the total amount of marine debris exceeds 150 million tons, with more than 8 million tons of new inflow each year. We measured and compared the amount of ocean debris in coasts in Hirado and Matsuura cities, Nagasaki with manual count and an aerial drone observation.The 2022 International Conference on Artificial Life and Robotics (ICAROB 2022), January 20-23, 2022, on line, Oita, Japa

Bioactive compounds and antibacterial activities in crystallized honey liquefied with ultrasound

The effect of ultrasound on the crystal size, phenols, flavonoids, Maillard products and antibacterial activity of crystallized honeys was studied. Three multifloral honeys (M), one monofloral (MO) and one honeydew (HD) honey were used. Ultrasound was performed at 42 kHz for different times (0, 5, 10 and 15 min). The antibacterial activities were tested against Salmonella typhimurium, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Listeria mono cytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. In all honeys, the parameters analyzed had significant dif ferences ((P < 0.05)). After 15 min of ultrasound the HD had increments of 44 mg of gallic acid/100 g of honey in phenols, and some M showed increase in flavonoids (5.64 mg of quercitin /100 g of honey) and improvement in inhibition against Salmonella typhimurium was 13.1%. In some honeys the correlation between phenols or fla vonoids and antibacterial activity were significant ((P < 0.05)). No correlation was found between Maillard products and antibacterial activity. The ultrasound treatment effect on the crystal size, phenols, flavonoid, Maillard products, and antibacterial activity of crystallized honeys were different in each honey.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Characterization of skin blister fluids from children with Epstein-Barr virus-associated lymphoproliferative disease

金沢大学附属病院小児科Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated T- or natural killer (NK)-cell lymphoproliferative disease (LPD) is a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by chronic proliferation of EBV-infected lymphocytes. Patients may present with severe skin manifestations, including hypersensitivity to mosquito bites (HMB) and hydroa vacciniforme (HV)-like eruption, which are characterized by blister formation and necrotic ulceration. Skin biopsy specimens show inflammatory reactions comprising EBV-infected lymphocytes. However, blister fluids have not been fully assessed in patients with this disease. Blister fluids were collected from three patients with EBV-associated LPD: two with HMB and one with HV. Immunophenotyping of blister lymphocytes and measurement of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in blister fluids were performed. The patients with HMB and HV exhibited markedly increased percentages of NK and γδ T cells, respectively, in both peripheral blood and blister fluids. These NK and γδ T cells strongly expressed the activation marker human leukocyte antigen-DR and were considered to be cellular targets of EBV infections. TNF-α was highly elevated in all blister fluids. Severe local skin reactions of EBV-associated LPD may be associated with infiltrating EBV-infected lymphocytes and a high TNF-α concentration in blister fluids. © 2018 Japanese Dermatological Association.Embargo Period 12 month