Scrutiny on Physical Properties of Sawdust From Tropical Commercial Wood Species: Effects of Different Mills and Sawdust's Particle Size

Physical properties of sawdust (i.e. particle size distribution, particle density, porosity, and water retention) from five tropical commercial wood species (Shorealeprosula, Dryobalanops lanceolata, Dipterocarpus cornutus, Shorea laevis, and Eusideroxylon zwageri) as prepared in various mill types (i.e. handsaw, sawmill, and milling ) were analyzed. This study aims to look into the relationship and interconnected between the use of different mill types, density of wood species origin and physical properties of the resulting sawdust. Generally, different mill types produced sawdust with different particle size distributions. The use of a handsaw produced a higher proportion of oversized particles (OS) and coarser particle size (CPS) than that of sawmill and milling , while also commonly producing the lowest proportion of fine particle size (FPS). For each wood species, the proportion of OS was lower than that of CPS and FPS. In addition, particle density and water retention produced by handsaw in CPS as well as FPS was the smallest, followed in an increasing order sawmill and milling. Porosity of CPS and FPS was the highest in handsaw-cut sawdust, followed in a decreasing order sawmill and milling cut sawdust. This study showed that the different mill types and particle size influenced the physical properties of sawdust. Further, analysis of influential factors on porosity and water retention using General Linear Model revealed that particle density inflicted a strong influence on porosity, as did particle size on water retention

Effect of malnutrition on FDG PET

Objective 18F-FDG PET/CT is a hybrid imaging method widely used as a useful, noninvasive imaging modality for evaluating various neoplastic diseases. When assessing the tumor uptake, the liver and the mediastinal blood pool are often used as a reference region. In daily clinical practice, the 18F-FDG uptake in the liver sometimes appears to decrease on PET images of patients with malnutrition. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether or not the liver 18F-FDG uptake is decreased in patients with malnutrition. Methods We retrospectively analyzed 246 patients who underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT from January 2018 to June 2018 and whose blood serum albumin was measured within 1 month of PET/CT. We compared the liver uptake and mediastinal blood uptake of patients with low serum albumin level (< 4.0 g/dl) and hypoalbuminemia (< 3.5 g/dl) with those with a normal serum albumin level (≥ 4.0 g/dl). Correlations between the liver and mediastinal blood uptake and the serum albumin level were also calculated. Results The maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) and mean standardized uptake value (SUVmean) of the liver in 117 patients with low serum albumin were 3.1 ± 0.5 and 2.3 ± 0.3, respectively, while they were 2.9 ± 0.4, 2.0 ± 0.3 in 29 patients with hypoalbuminemia; these values were all significantly lower than the respective ones (3.4 ± 0.5, 2.5 ± 0.4) in 129 patients with normal serum albumin (all p < 0.001). The SUVmean of the mediastinal blood uptake in patients with hypoalbuminemia and normal serum albumin were 1.6 ± 0.2 and 1.7 ± 0.3, respectively (p = 0.053). The serum albumin level demonstrated a significantly positive, moderate correlation with the liver SUVmean, showing a regression line of y = 0.31x + 1.1 (r = 0.41, p < 0.001). Conclusion The liver 18F-FDG uptake tended to decrease in patients with hypoalbuminemia. In the patients with malnutrition, the mediastinal blood pool may be more stable reference than the liver for evaluating the tumor activity because hypoalbuminemia is considered to less strongly influence the mediastinal blood pool than that in the liver

The diagnostic ability of SPECT/CT fusion imaging for gastrointestinal bleeding : a retrospective study

Background Blood loss from the gastrointestinal tract can be an acute and life-threatening event. For the treatment of gastrointestinal bleeding, it is important to accurately detect gastrointestinal bleeding and to localize the sites of bleeding. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively assess the capabilities of SPECT/CT in the diagnosis of gastrointestinal bleeding by a comparison with planar imaging alone as well as planar and SPECT. Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of 20 patients (21 examinations) who underwent gastrointestinal bleeding scintigraphy in the past 7 years and in whom the bleeding site was identified by endoscopy or capsule endoscopy, or in whom no evidence of gastrointestinal bleeding was identified during the clinical course. Five patients (5 examinations) were diagnosed by planar imaging (planar group). Eight patients (9 examinations) were diagnosed by planar imaging and SPECT (planar + SPECT group). Seven patients (7 examinations) were diagnosed by planar imaging and SPECT/CT (planar + SPECT/CT group). We calculated the diagnostic ability of each method in detecting the presence of bleeding, as well as the ability of each method to identify the sites of bleeding. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the methods were compared. Results The diagnostic ability of the three imaging methods in detecting the presence of gastrointestinal bleeding was as follows. Planar imaging showed 100% sensitivity (3/3), 100% specificity (2/2), and 100% accuracy (5/5). Planar + SPECT imaging showed 85.7% sensitivity (6/7), 100% specificity (2/2), and 88.9% accuracy (8/9). Planar + SPECT/CT imaging showed 100% sensitivity (6/6), 100% specificity (1/1), and 100% accuracy (7/7). The diagnostic ability of the three modalities in detecting the site of bleeding was as follows: planar, 33.3% (1/3); planar + SPECT, 71.4% (5/7); and planar + SPECT/CT, 100% (6/6). Conclusions All 3 imaging methods showed good accuracy in detecting the presence of gastrointestinal bleeding. The addition of SPECT or SPECT/CT made the anatomical position of the uptake clear and contributed to the localization of the site of gastrointestinal bleeding. Planar + SPECT/CT imaging therefore showed the highest diagnostic ability for detecting the site of gastrointestinal bleeding

The physiological uptake pattern of 18F-FDG in the left ventricular myocardium of patients without heart disease

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to evaluate the physiological uptake pattern of 18F-FDG in the left ventricular myocardium of patients under preparation for tumor FDG-PET. Patients and Methods : We enrolled 188 patients without cardiac disease. The accumulation patterns were classified as either ‘none’, ‘diffuse’, ‘focal’ or ‘focal on diffuse’. When a focal uptake was only observed on the basal wall, then the patterns were classified as having either a ‘ring’, ‘over half’ or ‘spot’ uptake. Results : The frequencies of the myocardial FDG uptake patterns were as follows : none, n=52 (27.7%) ; diffuse, n= 63 (33.5%) ; focal on diffuse, n=40 (21.3%) and focal, n=33 (17.6%). The age, blood glucose level, weight and dose of FDG did not differ significantly for each pattern. The focal and focal on diffuse patterns were seen in 73 patients, and 65 patients had a focal uptake only on the basal wall ; ring uptake in 29 patients, over half in 20 and spot uptake in 16 patients. Conclusions : The physiological myocardial uptake showed several patterns. Focal uptake was often seen in patients with cardiac disease, but it did not always indicate an abnormal finding when the accumulation was only on the basal wall

Naturalness Bounds on Dipole Moments from New Physics

Assuming naturalness that the quantum corrections to the mass should not exceed the order of the observed mass, we derive and apply model-independent bounds on the anomalous magnetic moments and electric dipole moments of leptons and quarks due to new physics.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

北海道礼文華峠におけるブナ分布北限域孤立個体群の立地と植生

筆者らはブナの分布北限域における最前線孤立個体群を太平洋から水平距離で2.5km内陸に位置する豊浦町礼文華峠の岩峰上及びその周辺で発見した．これはブナの天然分布個体群の中でも太平洋側における最北限の個体群であると考えられた。付近のアメダスのデータによれば，年平均気温7.3 ℃，年降水量1,198 mm，最大積雪深85cmであった．現地の暖かさの指数WIは52.5℃・月と推定された．ブナの分布，植生と立地の状況を明らかにするために現地調査を行った結果，以下の知見を得た．（1）岩峰上に生育する胸高以上のブナは約1.7 haの範囲（標高196 ～ 275 m）に39本生育し，胸高直径階分布は緩やかなL字型を示し，10 cm以下の個体が最多であった．（2） 岩峰のブナは主にミズナラ，ホオノキ，シラカンバと混生し，競合する針葉樹は記録されなかった．（3） 植物群落の種構成は日本海側に成立するブナ林に類似していた．（4） 土壌pHはやや酸性で5.4 ～ 5.5であり，無機態窒素は全国のブナ林の値と大きな違いはなかった．以上の知見から，礼文華峠の岩峰上のブナ個体群は，その生育に適した気候条件に加え，本州の岩峰などでしばしば優占する針葉樹類が不在であるなどの条件が重なって成立したと考えられた

木材の強度異方性に及ぼす温度の影響（第2報） : 細胞壁破断の出現率について

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