Quality of life following aortic valve replacement in octogenarians

【Purpose】We aimed to evaluate the outcomes of and the quality of life (QOL) after conventional aortic valve replacement (AVR) amongst octogenarians.【Methods】We enrolled 48 patients aged ≥80 years who underwent conventional aortic valve replacement between May 1999 and November 2012. Patient conditions were assessed before surgery, at 6 and 12 months after surgery, and during the late period regarding the need for nursing care, degree of independent living, and living willingness.【Results】The follow-up rate was 100% with 45.6 ± 41.3 months follow-up. Two patients (4%) died during hospitalization and 11 (23%) died during the follow-up period. The 1-, 5-, and 10-year survival rates were 84.9, 76.9, and 39.6%, respectively. During the late period, of 35 surviving patients, 31 (88%) were living at home. The degree of independent living score decreased after surgery. However, scores of the need for nursing care and living willingness remained preoperative level.【Conclusions】QOL following conventional aortic valve replacement for elderly patients aged ≥80 years who showed independence in activities of daily living (ADL) before surgery were satisfactory. Therefore, aortic valve replacement could be a viable option for elderly patients aged ≥80 years after accounting for preoperative ADL levels

Fundamental physics activities with pulsed neutron at J-PARC(BL05)

"Neutron Optics and Physics (NOP/ BL05)" at MLF in J-PARC is a beamline for studies of fundamental physics. The beamline is divided into three branches so that different experiments can be performed in parallel. These beam branches are being used to develop a variety of new projects. We are developing an experimental project to measure the neutron lifetime with total uncertainty of 1 s (0.1%). The neutron lifetime is an important parameter in elementary particle and astrophysics. Thus far, the neutron lifetime has been measured by several groups; however, different values are obtained from different measurement methods. This experiment is using a method with different sources of systematic uncertainty than measurements conducted to date. We are also developing a source of pulsed ultra-cold neutrons (UCNs) produced from a Doppler shifter are available at the unpolarized beam branch. We are developing a time focusing device for UCNs, a so called "rebuncher", which can increase UCN density from a pulsed UCN source. At the low divergence beam branch, an experiment to search an unknown intermediate force with nanometer range is performed by measuring the angular dependence of neutron scattering by noble gases. Finally the beamline is also used for the research and development of optical elements and detectors. For example, a position sensitive neutron detector that uses emulsion to achieve sub-micrometer resolution is currently under development. We have succeeded in detecting cold and ultra-cold neutrons using the emulsion detector.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, Proceedings of International Conference on Neutron Optics (NOP2017

Development of new small-angle neutron scattering geometry with ring-shaped collimated beam for compact neutron source

Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) is an important tool to investigate material properties in nanometer to micrometer scale. The opportunity to conduct SANS experiments is, however, limited because of the low number of available SANS beam lines. Compact neutron sources are expected to play a significant role to increase neutron scattering facilities including SANS beam lines. The problem is that the flux of compact neutron sources can be very low, which makes it difficult to measure scattered neutrons from a sample. A SANS geometry with ring-shaped collimated beam (r-SANS) is developed to conduct SANS experiments at very low flux neutron sources. By using ring-shaped collimated neutrons to hit a large sample, the scattered neutron flux becomes high on the ring center line because the scattered neutrons with each scattered angle overlaps on each point of the ring center line. By setting a 3He point detector on the center line and shielding the surrounding of the small detection area well, high signal to noise ratio experiments are possible. In this paper, we show the concept of this new geometry and a preliminary experimental result of a glassy carbon sample taken with the r-SANS geometry constructed at Kyoto University proton Accelerator Neutron Source (KUANS)

Development of new small-angle neutron scattering geometry with ring-shaped collimated beam for compact neutron source

Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) is an important tool to investigate material properties in nanometer to micrometer scale. The opportunity to conduct SANS experiments is, however, limited because of the low number of available SANS beam lines. Compact neutron sources are expected to play a significant role to increase neutron scattering facilities including SANS beam lines. The problem is that the flux of compact neutron sources can be very low, which makes it difficult to measure scattered neutrons from a sample. A SANS geometry with ring-shaped collimated beam (r-SANS) is developed to conduct SANS experiments at very low flux neutron sources. By using ring-shaped collimated neutrons to hit a large sample, the scattered neutron flux becomes high on the ring center line because the scattered neutrons with each scattered angle overlaps on each point of the ring center line. By setting a 3He point detector on the center line and shielding the surrounding of the small detection area well, high signal to noise ratio experiments are possible. In this paper, we show the concept of this new geometry and a preliminary experimental result of a glassy carbon sample taken with the r-SANS geometry constructed at Kyoto University proton Accelerator Neutron Source (KUANS)

Study on Moderation Properties of Cold Mesitylene using KUANS

Neutron moderation properties from the cold mesitylene moderator have been studied. Kyoto University Accelerator driven Neutron Source has been used for these experiments. The container of the mesitylene moderator is situated in front of the polyethylene moderator and the change of the time of flight spectrum has been recorded as a function of the temperature of the mesitylene moderator. By fitting the Maxwell distribution to the obtained TOF spectra, the neutron temperature corresponding to the mesitylene temperature is estimated

Study on Moderation Properties of Cold Mesitylene using KUANS

Neutron moderation properties from the cold mesitylene moderator have been studied. Kyoto University Accelerator driven Neutron Source has been used for these experiments. The container of the mesitylene moderator is situated in front of the polyethylene moderator and the change of the time of flight spectrum has been recorded as a function of the temperature of the mesitylene moderator. By fitting the Maxwell distribution to the obtained TOF spectra, the neutron temperature corresponding to the mesitylene temperature is estimated

A survey of national sustainable development indicators

We surveyed sustainable development indicators (SDIs) adopted by 28 national governments, regions, and international organisations and compiled them into a database. The aims of this study were to understand the elements of sustainable development (SD), examine SDIs developed in certain fields and countries, and determine future tasks to improve SDI development. A total of 1,790 indicators were surveyed and classified into 77 subcategories in four categories. Most of the indicators measured various SD elements, and the indicators reflected each country's developmental stage and specific concerns. Several advanced or unique indicators were also identified. Five major tasks in the future development of SDIs were identified: 1) creating time-conscious indicators; 2) measuring interactions between elements of a system; 3) dealing with transboundary issues in a national SDI system; 4) measuring SD quality (including subjective elements); 5) including ordinary citizens by showing the relationships between SDI and everyday life.sustainable development; national indicators; database; environmental information; statistics; categorisation; sustainability; social indicators; environmental indicators; economic indicators.