Evaluation of peripheral enhancement on contrast-enhanced computed tomography and corresponding pathological findings in colorectal liver metastases after preoperative chemotherapy

Purpose: To correlate peripheral enhancement on contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CE-CT) in patients with post-chemotherapy colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) with the corresponding pathological findings. Material and methods: Forty-four patients with CRLM who underwent hepatic resection after preoperative chemotherapy between 2008 and 2013 were included. Two radiologists blinded to the histopathology findings performed a consensus categorization of the marginal contrast effects of CRLM on CE-CT as follows: Group 1, smooth margin without enhancement; Group 2, smooth margin with an enhanced rim; and Group 3, fuzzy margin with/without an enhanced rim. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the imaging findings with the histological findings. Results: The percentage of infarct-like necrosis was significantly higher in those with CRLM with smooth margins than in those with CRLM with fuzzy margins (p < 0.001, r = 0.62). The percentage of viable cells was lowest in CRLM with smooth margins without enhancement (p < 0.001, r = 0.60). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the type of necrosis is related to the nature of the margins, and the presence of residual cells is related to peripheral enhancement

Considerations to Damage Patterns in the Marina District During the Loma Prieta Earthquake Based on Rayleigh Wave Investigation

Rayleigh wave investigation is made in the Marina District to study geotechnical factors controlling the damage patterns in the Loma Prieta earthquake. A portable system has been developed for determining a Rayleigh wave dispersion curve based on the measurements of artificially induced ground vibration or microtremor. Five sites are selected along a line crossing the hydraulic fill zone in which structures and/or buried utilities were significantly damaged. An inverse analysis on the measured dispersion curves results in a cross section of shear wave velocity profiles in the District. Site amplification and liquefaction potential of each site are estimated and discussed based on the Vs-profiles. It is shown that soil liquefaction is likely to have occurred throughout the fill zone, and that the predominant period of ground motions in the zone of structural damage is longer than and closer to the natural period of structures with soft first story than that in the non-damaged zone. These results appear to be consistent with the damage patterns in the District, indicating that the proposed investigation is effective for seismic zonation

Preliminary Report on the Geotechnical Aspects of the Philippine Earthquake of July 16, 1990

The Philippine earthquake of July 16, 1990 (MS = 7.8), of which epicenter is about 100 km north of Manila city, was one of the most costly single natural disasters in Philippine history. The loss of life of over 1,600 persons resulted. Extensive damage to buildings, roads, embankments, natural slopes, and bridges was observed in a widespread area of approximately 20,000 square kilometers. One of the major causes of the damage was liquefaction of various sandy soils including artificially fills, alluvial deposits of river delta, and sandbars. This paper presents a preliminary overview of damage aspects of the earthquake, with emphasis on liquefaction-induced damage of various structures

Effects of aerobic and anaerobic exercise training on different ergometers on rat skeletal and cardiac muscle tissues

Orientador: William Dias BelangeroTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciências MédicasResumo: O exercício físico promove um estresse no organismo, que resulta em alterações anabólicas nos tecidos corporais. Além disso, a modalidade e o ergômetro utilizado promovem variações no estresse e nas adaptações geradas pelo exercício. Nesse contexto, a presente pesquisa avaliou as alterações promovidas pelo exercício, aeróbio e anaeróbio, em diferentes ergômetros, nos tecidos muscular esquelético e cardíaco. Para isso foram utilizados 40 ratos, distribuídos em 5 grupos: Controle (C), Treinamento Aeróbio em Natação (ATW), Treinamento Resistido em meio aquático (RTW), Treinamento Aeróbio em Esteira Rolante (ATT) e Treinamento Resistido em Escalada (RTC). Os animais dos grupos ATW e ATT foram avaliados quanto a sua capacidade aeróbia por meio do teste de intensidade crítica, para determinação da carga de treinamento (70% do limiar), os grupos RTW e RTC realizaram teste de força máxima para definição de intensidade (80% da intensidade máxima). Após 4 semanas de treinamento, os animais foram eutanasiados, sendo retirados os músculos sóleo, gastrocnêmio e extensor longo dos dedos (EDL), além do coração. Os músculos esqueléticos foram analisados pela área de secção transversa (AST), e os cadiomiócitos foram avaliados pela área. No músculo EDL não houve diferença entre os modelos de treinamento aeróbio ATW e ATT (p=0,20). No entanto, o RTW apresentou maior hipertrofia do que quando comparado ao RTC (p<0,01). Com relação ao músculo Sóleo, o ATW foi responsável por gerar maior hipertrofia do que o ATT (p<0,01). Além disso, o RTC foi mais eficiente para produzir hipertrofia do que o RTW (p<0,01). Nas fibras de contração rápida do gastrocnêmio foi observado aumento da CSA dos grupos RTW e RTC em comparação com os grupos ATW (p<0,01 e p<0,01) e ATT (p<0,01 e p<0,01), e nas fibras de contração lenta o grupo ATW apresentou menor AST em relação aos grupos RTW (p=0,03) e RTC (p<0,01); o grupo ATT também apresentou menor AST em relação aos grupos RTW (p<0,01) e RTC (p<0,01, além disso, o grupo C apresentou maior AST em relação aos grupos ATW (p<0,01) e ATT (p<0,00). Nos cardiomiócitos houve hipertrofia nos grupos RTW e RTC em comparação com os grupos C (p<0,01 e p<0,01), ATW (p=0,03 e p<0,01) e ATT (p<0,01 e p<0,01). Conclui-se que os treinamentos aeróbios e anaeróbios eficazes em promover hipertrofia no EDL e no sóleo, entretanto nas fibras de contração rápida, e nos cardiomiócitos os apenas os grupos RTW e RTC apresentaram hipertrofia. Além disso não houve hipertrofia nas fibras de contração lenta em nenhum dos modelos de treinamento. Dessa forma a escolha do tipo de exercício, e o ergômetro utilizado apresentou influência nos resultados obtidos, tanto no músculo esquelético quanto no coraçãoAbstract: Physical exercise promotes stress in the body, which results in anabolic changes in body tissues. In addition, the modality and the ergometer used promote variations in stress and adaptations generated by exercise. In this context, the present research evaluated the changes promoted by exercise, aerobic and anaerobic, in different ergometers, in the skeletal and cardiac muscle tissues. For this, 40 rats were used, distributed in 5 groups: Control (C), Aerobic Training in Swimming (ATW), Resistance Training in Water (RTW), Aerobic Training on Treadmill (ATT) and Resistance Training in Climbing (RTC). The animals in the ATW and ATT groups were evaluated for their aerobic capacity by means of the critical intensity test, to determine the training load (70% of the threshold), the RTW and RTC groups performed the maximum strength test to define the intensity (80% of maximum intensity). After 4 weeks of training, the animals were euthanized and the soleus, gastrocnemius and long finger extensor (EDL) muscles were removed, in addition to the heart. Skeletal muscles were analyzed by the cross-sectional area (AST), and cadiomyocytes were assessed by the area. In the EDL muscle there was no difference between the ATW and ATT aerobic training models (p=0.20). However, RTW showed greater hypertrophy than when compared to RTC (p<0.01). Regarding the soleus muscle, ATW was responsible for generating greater hypertrophy than ATT (p<0.01). In addition, RTC was more efficient at producing hypertrophy than RTW (p<0.01). In the gastrocnemius fast twitch fibers, an increase in CSA was observed in the RTW and RTC groups compared to the ATW (p<0.01 and p<0.01) and ATT (p<0.01 and p<0.01) groups, and in the slow contraction fibers, the ATW group had a lower AST compared to the RTW (p=0.03) and RTC (p<0.01) groups; the ATT group also had a lower AST compared to the RTW (p<0.01) and RTC groups (p<0.01, in addition, group C had a higher AST compared to the ATW groups (p<0.01) and ATT (p<0.00). In cardiomyocytes, there was hypertrophy in the RTW and RTC groups compared to groups C (p<0.01 and p<0.01), ATW (p=0.03 and p<0.01) and ATT (p<0.01 and p<0.01). It was concluded that aerobic and anaerobic training effective in promoting hypertrophy in the EDL and soleus, however in the fast-twitch fibers, and in the cardiomyocytes, only the RTW and RTC showed hypertrophy, in addition there was no hypertrophy in the fibers of slow contraction in any of the training models, so the choice of the type of exercise, and the ergometer used had an influence on the results obtained, both in skeletal muscle and in the heartDoutoradoFisiopatologia CirúrgicaDoutor em CiênciasCAPE

Characterization of sensitivity and responses of a 2-element prototype wavefront sensor for millimeter-wave adaptive optics attached to the Nobeyama 45 m telescope

We report the results of the performance characterization of a prototype wavefront sensor for millimetric adaptive optics (MAO) installed on the Nobeyama 45 m radio telescope. MAO is a key component to realize a future large-aperture submillimeter telescope, such as Large Submillimeter Telescope (LST) or Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST). The difficulty of MAO is, however, real-time sensing of wavefront deformation with ~10 um accuracy across the aperture. Our wavefront sensor operating at 20 GHz measures the radio path length between a certain position of the primary mirror surface to the focal point where a 20 GHz coherent receiver is placed. With the 2-element prototype, we sampled two positions on the primary mirror surface (at radii of 5 m and 16 m) at a sampling rate of 10 Hz. Then an excess path length (EPL) between the two positions was obtained by differentiating the two optical paths. A power spectral density of the EPL shows three components: a low-frequency drift (1/f^n), oscillations, and a white noise. A comparison of EPL measurements under a variety of wind conditions suggests that the former two are likely induced by the wind load on the telescope structure. The power of the white noise corresponds to a 1sigma statistical error of 8 um in EPL measurements. The 8 um r.m.s. is significant with respect to the mirror surface accuracy required by the LST and AtLAST (~20-40 um r.m.s.), which demonstrates that our technique is also useful for the future large-aperture submillimeter telescopes.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures. Published in SPIE Pro

Design Window Analysis for the Helical DEMO Reactor FFHR-d1

Conceptual design activity for the LHD-type helical DEMO reactor FFHR-d1 has been conducted at the National Institute for Fusion Science under the Fusion Engineering Research Project since FY2010. In the first step of the conceptual design process, design window analysis was conducted using the system design code HELIOSCOPE by the “Design Integration Task Group”. On the basis of a parametric scan with the core plasma design based on the DPE (Direct Profile Extrapolation) method, a design point having a major radius of 15.6 m and averaged magnetic field strength at the helical coil winding center of 4.7 T was selected as a candidate. The validity of the design was confirmed through the analysis by the related task groups (in-vessel component, blanket, and superconducting magnet)