Observation of microstructure change during freeze-drying by in-situ X-ray Computed Tomography

[EN] X-ray computed tomography technique was used to observe microstructure formation during freeze-drying. A specially designed vacuum freeze-drying stage was equipped at the X-ray CT stage, and the frozen and dried microstructures of dextrin solutions were successfully observed. It was confirmed that the many parts of the pore microstructures formed as a replica of the original ice microstructures, whereas some parts formed as a consequence of the dehydration dependent on the relaxation level of the glassy phases, suggesting that the post-freezing annealing is advantageous for avoiding quality loss that relates to the structural deformation of glassy matters.Nakagawa, K.; Tamiya, S.; Sakamoto, S.; Do, G.; Kono, S.; Ochiai, T. (2018). Observation of microstructure change during freeze-drying by in-situ X-ray Computed Tomography. En IDS 2018. 21st International Drying Symposium Proceedings. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 935-942. https://doi.org/10.4995/IDS2018.2018.7642OCS93594

Development of pericardial fat count images using a combination of three different deep-learning models

Rationale and Objectives: Pericardial fat (PF), the thoracic visceral fat surrounding the heart, promotes the development of coronary artery disease by inducing inflammation of the coronary arteries. For evaluating PF, this study aimed to generate pericardial fat count images (PFCIs) from chest radiographs (CXRs) using a dedicated deep-learning model. Materials and Methods: The data of 269 consecutive patients who underwent coronary computed tomography (CT) were reviewed. Patients with metal implants, pleural effusion, history of thoracic surgery, or that of malignancy were excluded. Thus, the data of 191 patients were used. PFCIs were generated from the projection of three-dimensional CT images, where fat accumulation was represented by a high pixel value. Three different deep-learning models, including CycleGAN, were combined in the proposed method to generate PFCIs from CXRs. A single CycleGAN-based model was used to generate PFCIs from CXRs for comparison with the proposed method. To evaluate the image quality of the generated PFCIs, structural similarity index measure (SSIM), mean squared error (MSE), and mean absolute error (MAE) of (i) the PFCI generated using the proposed method and (ii) the PFCI generated using the single model were compared. Results: The mean SSIM, MSE, and MAE were as follows: 0.856, 0.0128, and 0.0357, respectively, for the proposed model; and 0.762, 0.0198, and 0.0504, respectively, for the single CycleGAN-based model. Conclusion: PFCIs generated from CXRs with the proposed model showed better performance than those with the single model. PFCI evaluation without CT may be possible with the proposed method

Importance of absorbable surgical sutures for the prevention of stitch abscess after surgery in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma

To elucidate the significance of absorbable surgical sutures in the occurrence of stitch abscess after surgery in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The subjects were 251 patients who underwent excision and/or reconstruction and/or neck dissection for oral SCC using absorbable surgical sutures. Detection rates and characteristics of patients with stitch abscess were retrospectively evaluated by comparing between our present and previous data. There was only one stitch abscess among the 251 patients. A significant difference in the incidence of stitch abscess was found between the present data and our previous data. Of course, no significant correlations were found between the occurrence of stitch abscess using absorbable surgical sutures and the various factors seen in our previous analysis. A complete switch of surgical sutures from silk to absorbable surgical sutures is needed for surgery in patients with oral SCC

The First Very Long Baseline Interferometry Image of 44 GHz Methanol Maser with the KVN and VERA Array (KaVA)

We have carried out the first very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) imaging of 44 GHz class I methanol maser (7_{0}-6_{1}A^{+}) associated with a millimeter core MM2 in a massive star-forming region IRAS 18151-1208 with KaVA (KVN and VERA Array), which is a newly combined array of KVN (Korean VLBI Network) and VERA (VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry). We have succeeded in imaging compact maser features with a synthesized beam size of 2.7 milliarcseconds x 1.5 milliarcseconds (mas). These features are detected at a limited number of baselines within the length of shorter than approximately 650 km corresponding to 100 Mlambda in the uv-coverage. The central velocity and the velocity width of the 44 GHz methanol maser are consistent with those of the quiescent gas rather than the outflow traced by the SiO thermal line. The minimum component size among the maser features is ~ 5 mas x 2 mas, which corresponds to the linear size of ~ 15 AU x 6 AU assuming a distance of 3 kpc. The brightness temperatures of these features range from ~ 3.5 x 10^{8} to 1.0 x 10^{10} K, which are higher than estimated lower limit from a previous Very Large Array observation with the highest spatial resolution of ~ 50 mas. The 44 GHz class I methanol maser in IRAS 18151-1208 is found to be associated with the MM2 core, which is thought to be less evolved than another millimeter core MM1 associated with the 6.7 GHz class II methanol maser.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figure

Measurement of serum hepcidin-25 levels as a potential test for diagnosing hemochromatosis and related disorders

石川県立中央病院金沢大学医薬保健研究域医学系Iron overload syndromes include a wide spectrum of genetic and acquired conditions. Recent studies suggest suppressed hepcidin synthesis in the liver to be the molecular basis of hemochromatosis. However, a liver with acquired iron overload synthesizes an adequate amount of hepcidin. Thus, hepcidin could function as a biochemical marker for differential diagnosis of iron overload syndromes. Methods We measured serum iron parameters and hepcidin- 25 levels followed by sequencing HFE, HJV, HAMP, TFR2, and SLC40A1 genes in 13 Japanese patients with iron overload syndromes. In addition, we performed direct measurement of serum hepcidin-25 levels using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in 3 Japanese patients with aceruloplasminemia and 4 Italians with HFE hemochromatosis. Results One patient with HJV hemochromatosis, 2 with TFR2 hemochromatosis, and 3 with ferroportin disease were found among the 13 Japanese patients. The remaining 7 Japanese patients showed no evidence for genetic basis of iron overload syndrome. As far as the serum hepcidin-25 was concerned, seven patients with hemochromatosis and 3 with aceruloplasminemia showed markedly decreased serum hepcidin-25 levels. In contrast, 3 patients with ferroportin disease and 7 with secondary iron overload syndromes showed serum hepcidin levels parallel to their hyperferritinemia. Patients with iron overload syndromes were divided into 2 phenotypes presenting as low and high hepcidinemia. These were then associated with their genotypes. Conclusion Determining serum hepcidin-25 levels may aid differential diagnosis of iron overload syndromes prior to genetic analysis. © Springer 2010