Concrete structure construction on the Moon

This paper describes a precast prestressed concrete structure system on the Moon and erection methods for this system. The horizontal section of the structural module is hexagonal so that various layouts of the modules are possible by connecting the adjacent modules to each other. For erection of the modules, specially designed mobile cranes are used

Effects of laser wavelength and density scalelength on absorption of ultrashort intense lasers on solid-density targets

Hot electron temperatures and electron energy spectra in the course of interaction between intense laser pulse and overdense plasmas are reexamined from a viewpoint of the difference in laser wavelength. The hot electron temperature measured by a particle-in-cell simulation is scaled by $I$ rather than $I \lambda^2$ at the interaction with overdense plasmas with fixed ions, where $I$ and $\lambda$ are the laser intensity and wavelength, respectively.Comment: 12th International Congress on Plasma Physics, 25-29 October 2004, Nice (France

Tropical calcific pancreatitis.........An overview

Tropical calcific pancreatitis is a nonalcoholic type of chronic pancreatitis affecting the childrens and young adults characterized clinically by recurrent abdominal pain in childhood, diabetes in adolescent and death in early childhood. Although the exact etiology is not known, malnutrition and chronic cassava toxicity either singly or in combination are presumed to be the prime factor in pancreatic injury unopposed by detoxification of free radical. Moreover micronutrients deficiency, oxidant stress and antioxidant deficiency might play substantial role. Diabetes secondary to tropical calcific pancreatitis is a distinctive and frequent problem, being named by W.H.O. study group as 'fibrocalculous pancreatic diabetes (FCPD) and classified as one of the variant of the so-called malnutrition related diabetes mellitus (MRDM).熱帯地方の貧困層の小児や若干成人にみられる非アルコール性の慢性膵炎で,小児期に反復する腹痛で発症し,10～20歳で膵性糖尿病になり,20～ 30歳で死亡する類似の病像を示す症例をTropical calcific pancreatitis(熱帯性石灰化慢性膵炎)という｡高率に膵石を伴う｡成因は乳幼児期からの熱量,蛋白貰,micronutrients(亜鉛,銅,セレニウム)の摂取不足に加えて食事中シアン産生物質や環境中oxidantsなど複合因子によると推測されている｡病理像は世界各国にみられる慢性膵炎典型例に類似する｡最近は,生活環境や医療事情の改善により,全身栄養障害の減少や生存期間 の延長など病像が変貌しっつある｡糖尿病を重視する立場からはFibrocalculous pancreatic diabetesと呼ばれ,同一地域にみられるProtein-deficient pancreatic diabetesと合わせてMalnutrition-related diabetes mellitus(MRDM)と総称し,糖尿病の一亜型に分類されている

Emulsification Properties of Poly(lactide-block-ethylene glycol-block-lacticide) Block Polymers

Homo-and copolymers of poly(lactic acid) have gathered much attention because of their biodegradability and biocompatibility. They have numerous applications in the biomedical field due to their potential. In their polymers, we are interested in poly(lactic acid)-poly(ethylene glycol) block polymers. The amphiphilic triblock copolymers, poly(DL-lactic acid)-poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(DL-lactic acid)(PLEL), have known to be surface-active ability. Therefore, we have studied emulsification properties with the polymers. PLEL were prepared by ring-opening copolymerization of DL-lactide and poly(ethylene glycol) catalyzed by stannous 2-ethylhexanoate. We prepared ethyl acetate-water-PLEL emulsion and applied this emulsion to biodegradable polymer scaffolds. PLA scaffolds were prepared by an emulsion freeze-drying method. These scaffolds were made by varying water weight fraction. Their surface pore size became larger with increasing water weight fraction

Lifelong persistent infection of hamster brain by human adenovirus type 6.

To establish an experimental persistent infection of the brain with human adenoviruses, adenovirus type 6 (ad 6) was inoculated intracerebrally into young adult hamsters. Hamsters appeared languid for a few days after inoculation, but recovered rapidly. By cocultivation of tissue fragments with HeLa cells, ad 6 was always recovered from the brains of hamsters throughout their lives, as long as 29 months, indicating the establishment of a lifelong persistent infection. Except for the first few days after inoculation, however, attempts to recover virus by inoculation of tissue extracts onto HeLa cells or by cultivation of tissue fragments alone were unsuccessful.</p

Alcohol-induced pancreatitis

膵炎のうちもっとも頻度が高いアルコール性膵炎（AIP）の疫学，臨床像および発生機序に関する従来の知見を総括した。AIPの大多数は慢性膵炎である。通常は長期にわたる多量の飲酒を背景に発症するが，遺伝的素因および食事因子も重要な役割を演じる。発症初期には血中膵酵素の上昇をともなう腹痛が病像を支配するが，進展すると膵外分泌不全による消化吸収障害と膵内分泌不全による糖尿病が病像を支配するようになる。アルコール性慢性膵炎は非アルコール性慢性膵炎にくらべて確診時にすでに進展した症例が多く，合併症が多く，進行が早く，予後が悪い。死亡の主たる原因は癌の併発と糖尿病の合併症で，膵炎の急性増悪発作がこれにつぐ。併発する癌のなかでは膵癌よりもむしろ上部気道および上部消化管の癌が多い。発生機序としてはDuctal－Plug説とToxic－Metabolic説が有力であるが，最近は細 胞内膵酵素活性化説とFree　Radical説も注目をあびている。This paper is to review the literature on the epidemiology, clinical pictures and etiopathogenesis of alcohol-induced pancreatitis (AIP). The incidence of AIP has been increasing worldwide, paralleling the increase in alcohol consumption. AIP manifests itself following a longterm consumption of large amounts of alcohol. There is no known threshold value of alcohol consumption in terms of the risk of developing AIP, although the logarithm of the risk of developing AIP is lineally correlated with the amount of alcohol intake. Why some alcoholics develop pancreatitis whereas others with equal consumption of ethanol are spared remains to be explained. Therefore, two additional factors are considered to play important roles in developing AIP : genetic predisposition and diet. The majority of AIP IS chronic pancreatitis (AICP), although a minority can be acute pancreatitis (AIAP). AIAP shows somewhat higher morbidity and mortality than the common variety of acute pancreatitis. If recovered from an attack, AIAP shows morphological and functional restoration. AICP manifests itself with an acute attack of abdominal pain, insidious onset of abdominal pam, or a pain-free variety. An acute attack in AICP resemble that m AIAP ; often these two can be differentiated only by follow-up studies. AICP shows no morphological and functional restoration, and often shows progressive deterioration. Abdominal pain with elevated serum pancreatic enzymes is a predominant clinical picture m the early stage of AICP, whereas in the late stage symptoms and signs deriving from exocrine insufficiency (maldigestion) and endocrine insufficiency (pancreatic diabetes) begin to dominate the clinical pictures. AICP is in the more advanced stage and shows more complications than nonalcoholic chronic pancreatitis at the time of diagnosis. In addition, AICP shows more rapid progress and higher morbidity and mortality. The incidence of microangiopathy in pancreatic diabetes resemble that in primary diabetes, being higher in patients with a longer history of diabetes, those on insulin treatment and those under poorer control. Main causes of death are development of cancer in the upper respiratory and gastrointestinal tract and diabetic complications (hypoglycemic shock, renal failure, and intractable pneumonia), and acute attack of pancreatitis leads to death less frequently. Ductal-Plug theory and classical Toxic-Metabolic theory are most popular to explain the pathogenesis of AIP ; however, increasing evidence has been reported that oxygen free radicals and intracellular activation of zymogens by lysosomal enzymes may be involved in the pathogenesis

Profile of Blood Glucose in Diabetic Patient Suffered from Diabetic Foot Osteomyelitis with Effective Low Carbohydrate Diet

The case was 52-year-old female with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) for 10-years. She complained of the decreased sensation of right lower foot, and revealed diabetic foot infection (DFI) and/or diabetic foot osteomyelitis (DFO) at right 1st proximal phalanx. Various data included body mass index (BMI) 33.3 kg/m2, HbA1c 11.4%, blood glucose 430 mg/dL, WBC 12100 /μL, C-reactive Protein (CRP) 13.5 mg/dL. On admission (day 1), she was started by 4 times of injection (Aspart and Glargin) with glucose profile 200-500 mg/dL. Surgical amputation of the right toe was performed between 1st metatarsal and proximal phalanx (day 17). Then, blood glucose profile decreased moderately. After discharge of the hospital, super-Low Carbohydrate Diet (LCD) was started without Aspart (day 37). Consequently, glucose profile was normalized with HbA1c 6.3% on (day 77). Consequently, LCD was evaluated to be effective for glucose variability in this case and some related discussion was described

Tazobactam/piperacillin for moderate-to-severe pneumonia in patients with risk for aspiration: comparison with imipenem/cilastatin.

BACKGROUND: Treatment of aspiration pneumonia is becoming an important issue due to aging of populations worldwide. Effectiveness of tazobactam/piperacillin (TAZ/PIPC) in aspiration pneumonia is not clear. PURPOSE: To compare clinical efficacy between TAZ/PIPC (1:4 compound) and imipenem/cilastatin (IPM/CS) in patients with moderate-to-severe aspiration pneumonia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this open-label, randomized study either TAZ/PIPC 5 g or IPM/CS 1 g was intravenously administered every 12 h to patients with moderate-to-severe community-acquired aspiration pneumonia or nursing home-acquired pneumonia with risk for aspiration pneumonia for average 11 days. The primary outcome was clinical response rate at the end of treatment (EOT) in validated per-protocol (VPP) population. Secondary outcomes were clinical response during treatment (days 4 and 7) and at the end of study (EOS) in VPP population, and survival at day 30 in modified intention-to-treat (MITT) population. RESULTS: There was no difference between the groups in primary or secondary outcome. However, significantly faster improvement as measured by axillary temperature (p < 0.05) and WBC count (p = 0.01) was observed under TAZ/PIPC treatment. In patients with gram-positive bacterial infection, TAZ/PIPC was more effective at EOT in VPP population (p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: TAZ/PIPC is as effective and safe as IPM/CS in the treatment of moderate- to-severe aspiration pneumonia

Protein C activity as a potential prognostic factor for nursing home-acquired pneumonia

[Introduction] Despite the poor prognosis for nursing home acquired pneumonia (NHAP), a useful prognostic factor is lacking. We evaluated protein C (PC) activity as a predictor of in-hospital death in patients with NHAP and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). [Methods] This prospective, observational study included all patients hospitalized with pneumonia between July 2007 and December 2012 in a single hospital. We measured PC activity at admission and investigated whether it was different between survivors and non-survivors. We also examined whether PC activity 20 mg/dL, respiratory rate >30/min, and blood pressure 65). When it was a useful prognostic factor for pneumonia, we combined PC activity with the existing prognostic scores, the pneumonia severity index (PSI) and CURB-65, and analyzed its additional effect by comparing the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) of the modified and original scores. [Results] Participants comprised 75 NHAP and 315 CAP patients. PC activity was lower among non-survivors than among survivors in NHAP and all-pneumonia (CAP+NHAP). PC activity <55% was a useful prognostic predictor for NHAP (Odds ratio 7.39 (95% CI; 1.59–34.38), and when PSI or CURB-65 was combined with PC activity, the AUC improved (from 0.712 to 0.820 for PSI, and 0.657 to 0.734 for CURB-65). [Conclusions] PC activity was useful for predicting in-hospital death of pneumonia, especially in NHAP, and became more useful when combined with the PSI or CURB-65

CD4+ T Responses Other Than Th1 Type Are Preferentially Induced by Latency-Associated Antigens in the State of Latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) produces a diverse range of antigenic proteins in its dormant phase. The cytokine profiles of CD4+ T cell responses, especially subsets other than Th1 type (non-Th1 type), against these latency-associated M. tuberculosis antigens such as α-crystallin (Acr), heparin-binding hemagglutinin (HBHA), and mycobacterial DNA-binding protein 1 (MDP-1) remain elusive in relation to the clinical stage of M. tuberculosis infection. In the present study, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) collected from different stages of M. tuberculosis-infected cases and control PBMCs were stimulated with these antigens and ESAT-6/CFP-10. Cytokine profiles of CD4+ T cells were evaluated by intracellular cytokine staining using multicolor flow cytometry. Our results demonstrate that Th1 cytokine responses were predominant after TB onset independent of the type of antigen stimulation. On the contrary, non-Th1 cytokine responses were preferentially induced by latency-associated M. tuberculosis antigens, specifically IL-10 response against Acr in latent M. tuberculosis infection. From these results, we surmise a shift in the CD4+ T cell response from mixed non-Th1 to Th1 dominant type during TB progression