901–85 Lp(a) is a Predictor of Coronary Artery Disease in Pre-menopausal but not in Post-menopausal Women

Coronary artery disease (CAD) risk increases in women after menopause. Although numerous reports suggest that lipid profile worsening after menopause may be associated with an increase in CAD among women, there have been few studies that discussed the contribution of Lp(a). To examine the association between CAD and Lp(a) in pre-menopausal (PR, <55 yo) and post-menopausal (PO, ≥55 yo) women, we evaluated Lp(a) levels and other risk factor prevalence in 180 female patients (20 to 77 yo) with angiographically defined CAD. Six risk factors were assessed: hyper-Lp(a)emia (Hi-Lp(a), Lp(a)≥30mg/dl). hyper-LDLemia (Hi-LDL, LDL≥160mg/dl). hypo-HDLemia (Lo-HDL, HDL<35mg/dl), hypertension, diabetes, and smoking. Cases were defined as those who had >1 coronary artery with >50% stenosis. There were more patients with Hi-Lp(a) (61%*vs 27%), Hi-LDL (61%**vs 5%) and smoking (61%**vs 9%) in PR cases (n=18) as compaved with those in PR controls (n=22). PO cases (n=93) had more Lo-HDL (15%*vs 2%), diabetes (33%**vs 13%) and smokers (61%**vs 9%) than PO controls (n=47) did. The median Lp(a) of PR cases was higher than that of PR controls (38.8*, 22.7mg/dl), and they increased with number of diseased arteries. In contrast, there was no difference in the Lp(a) levels between PO cases and PO controls (21.7, 25.2mg/dl). Logistic regression model also revealed that Hi-Lp(a) was an independent predictor of CAD after controlling for Hi-LDL, Lo-HDL, hypertension, diabetes and smoking among PR (B=2.44, SE=1.20, p<0.05), but not among PO. Our data suggests that Lp(a) may be a strong risk factor for CAD in pre-menopausal women, and in post-menopausal women other risk factors, such as an estrogen deficiency, may play an important role. (*p<0.05, **p<0.01)

CALLIDIOPINI BEETLES (COLEOPTERA, CERAMBYCIDAE) IN THE COLLECTION OF MUSEUM ZOOLOGICUM BOGORIENSE, INDONESIA. PART II, GENITALIA AND TAXONOMY OF THE GENUS TETHIONEA PASCOE

Species of Tethionea Pascoe, 1869, Callidiopini, in the collection of Museum of Zoologicum Bogoriense are reviewed. Two new species of the genus are described, T. peggieae sp. nov. and T. oculata  sp. nov., both from Papua Province, Indonesia. In addition, T. unicolor Pascoe, T. strumosa Pascoe and T. tridentata Pascoe are redescribed. Their male genitalia are documented and illustrated in detail. In particular, the ejaculatory duct complexes of endophalli are carefully observed, as well as 8th sternites and tergites.  For T. oculata sp. nov., the female genitalia are described. Morphological and taxonomical aspects of these species are discussed

sEMG Sensor Using Polypyrrole-Coated Nonwoven Fabric Sheet for Practical Control of Prosthetic Hand

One of the greatest challenges of using a myoelectric prosthetic hand in daily life is to conveniently measure stable myoelectric signals. This study proposes a novel surface electromyography (sEMG) sensor using polypyrrole-coated nonwoven fabric sheet as electrodes (PPy electrodes) to allow people with disabilities to control prosthetic limbs. The PPy electrodes are sewn on an elastic band to guarantee close contact with the skin and thus reduce the contact electrical impedance between the electrodes and the skin. The sensor is highly customizable to fit the size and the shape of the stump so that people with disabilities can attach the sensor by themselves. The performance of the proposed sensor was investigated experimentally by comparing measurements of Ag/AgCl electrodes with electrolytic gel and the sEMG from the same muscle fibers. The high correlation coefficient (0.87) between the two types of sensors suggests the effectiveness of the proposed sensor. Another experiment of sEMG pattern recognition to control myoelectric prosthetic hands showed that the PPy electrodes are as effective as Ag/AgCl electrodes for measuring sEMG signals for practical myoelectric control. We also investigated the relation between the myoelectric signals\u27 signal-to-noise ratio and the source impedances by simultaneously measuring the source impedances and the myoelectric signals with a switching circuit. The results showed that differences in both the norm and the phase of the source impedance greatly affect the common mode noise in the signal

Thoracic endovascular aneurysm repair in Japan: Experience with fenestrated stent grafts in the treatment of distal arch aneurysms

ObjectivesIn the West, stent grafts for endovascular repair of thoracic aortic aneurysms have been commercially available for several years, whereas in Japan, a manufactured stent graft was not approved for this application until March 2008. Nevertheless, endovascular thoracic intervention began to be performed in Japan in the early 1990s, with homemade devices used in most cases. Many researchers have continued to develop homemade devices. We have participated in joint design and assessment efforts with a stent graft manufacturer, focusing primarily on fenestrated stent grafts used in repairs at the distal arch, a site especially prone to aneurysm.MethodsFrom 1995 to February 2008, we performed about 1100 endovascular procedures to treat thoracic aortic aneurysms and 682 cases were performed at Tokyo Medical University. In 435 out of 682 the aneurysm was located in the area from the distal arch to the proximal descending aorta. Fenestrated stent grafts were inserted in 288 cases. Computed tomography scans were performed at 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively and annually thereafter.ResultsThe initial success rate in the entire series was 95.2%. Complications included 26 cerebral infarctions (3.8%), six of which (0.9%) resulted in serious paralysis and changes in consciousness. Among patients who received fenestrated stent grafts, paraplegia occurred in 2.6%, aortic injury in 1.2%, and iliofemoral artery injury in 6.0%. No complications resulted from occlusion of aortic arch branches. At ≥2 years after intervention, aneurysm diameter was reduced in 62% of patients, 33% had no change, and 5% had a diameter enlargement. The stent graft complication rate during follow-up was 8.4%, the device fracture rate was 1.4%, and the device migration rate was 7%. The 5-year survival rate was 62.4%, with follow-up in 96.8% of the patients.ConclusionEndovascular repair has promising results in the descending thoracic aortic region, although some stent grafts and their delivery systems can still be improved. Additional commercial developments and available stent grafts designed for use in the distal arch are urgently needed

Endoscopic and Histological Features of the Large Intestine in Patients with Atopic Dermatitis

Although atopic dermatitis is known to be closely associated with food antigens, the actual changes in the gastrointestinal tract have not been clarified. The aim of this study was to investigate the macroscopic and histological features of the large intestine in patients with atopic dermatitis. We studied 15 outpatients who had generalized atopic dermatitis. Eight non-dermatitis subjects of a similar age without inflammatory bowel disease were also enrolled as controls. Total colonoscopy, pathological evaluation of biopsy specimens, and detection of Candida albicans were performed in all subjects. Four patients were re-examined after 6 months of treatment with an antifungal drug. Among the 15 patients with atopic dermatitis, 4 patients had melanosis coli. On pathological examinations, prominent infiltration of eosinophils and fragmentation of granulocyte nuclei were observed. There were no changes after an antifungal therapy. In the patients with melanosis coli, lipofuscin deposits were observed in the lamina propria. Candida albicans was not detected in any of the subjects. In conclusion, patients with atopic dermatitis may have a predisposition to develop chronic inflammation of the large intestine

An EMG Keyboard for Forearm Amputees

A high-efficiency, easy-to-use input device is not only important for data entry but also for human-computer interaction. To date, there has been little research on input devices with many degrees of freedom (DOF) that can be used by the handicapped. This paper presents the development of an electromyography (EMG)-based input device for forearm amputees. To overcome the difficulties in analysing EMG and realising high DOF from biosignals, the following were integrated: (1) an online learning method to cope with nonlinearity and the individual difference of EMG signals; (2) a smoothing algorithm to deal with noisy recognition results and transition states; and (3) a modified Huffman coding algorithm to generate the optimal code, taking expected error and input efficiency into consideration. Experiments showed the validity of the system and the possibility for development of a quiet, free-posture (no postural restriction) input device with many DOF for users, including forearm amputees

Crystal structure of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase from Hansenula saturnus

This research was originally published in Journal of Biological Chemistry. Min Yao, T. Ose, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Atsushi Horiuchi, Atsushi Nakagawa, Soichi Wakatsuki, Daisuke Yokoii, Toyotaka Murakamii, Mamoru Honmai, and Isao Tanaka. Crystal structure of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase from Hansenula saturnus. J. Biol. Chem. 2000; 275, 34557-34565. © the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Comments on Quantum Aspects of Three-Dimensional de Sitter Gravity

We investigate the quantum aspects of three-dimensional gravity with a positive cosmological constant. The reduced phase space of the three-dimensional de Sitter gravity is obtained as the space which consists of the Kerr-de Sitter space-times and their Virasoro deformations. A quantization of the phase space is carried out by the geometric quantization of the coadjoint orbits of the asymptotic Virasoro symmetries. The Virasoro algebras with real central charges are obtained as the quantum asymptotic symmetries. The states of globally de Sitter and point particle solutions become the primary states of the unitary irreducible representations of the Virasoro algebras. It is shown that those states are perturbatively stable at the quantum level. The Virasoro deformations of these solutions correspond to the excited states in the unitary irreducible representations. In view of the dS/CFT correspondence, we also study the relationship between the Liouville field theory obtained by a reduction of the SL(2;$\mathbb{C}$) Chern-Simons theory and the three-dimensional gravity both classically and quantum mechanically. In the analyses of the both theories, the Kerr-de Sitter geometries with nonzero angular momenta do not give the unitary representations of the Virasoro algebras.Comment: 25 pages, LaTeX, typos corrected. References are adde