On Evaluation for Aging-Tolerant Ring Oscillators with Accelerated Life Test and Its Application to A Digital Sensor

An aging-tolerant ring oscillator (RO) has been proposed for a digital temperature and voltage sensor. This paper discusses on the effectiveness of aging-tolerance of the ROs through accelerated life test for a test chip with 65nm CMOS technology. The progress of delay degradation of the ROs is examined, and influence of delay degradation on measurement accuracy of the sensor is investigated. Experimental results show that the aging-tolerant ROs can mitigate delay degradation, and that the measurement errors of the sensor can be reduced. Compared with a sensor consisting of an aging-intolerant RO, temperature and voltage errors are reduced 2.5°C and 32mV, respectively.29th IEEE Asian Test Symposium (ATS\u2720), November 22-25, 2020, Penang, Malaysia（オンライン開催に変更

Image Quality of the Coronary Angiography with Noise Reduction Technology to Decrease the Radiation Dose

We examined the effects of a reduced exposure dose on the quality of images from an angiography device augmented with a noise reduction algorithm. Before its clinical application, we compared the diameter of the discrimination limit of the hole with that in the conventional method by a visual evaluation with a contrast-detail (C-D) phantom imaged using the target dose. Based on the results, a reducible dose was determined and applied clinically. The sample population consisted of patients being followed up after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for coronary artery disease; we evaluated the effects of the exposure reduction on image quality. A significant dose reduction was observed by the noise-reduction method compared to the conventional method; the radiation dose to the flat panel detector (FPD) could be reduced to 70 nGy per frame. Clinically, a dose reduction of approx. 40% was obtained while maintaining image quality almost equal to that of the conventional method

Biodegradable polymer with collagen microsponge serves as a new bioengineered cardiovascular prosthesis

AbstractObjectiveBiodegradable materials with autologous cell seeding have attracted much interest as potential cardiovascular grafts. However, pretreatment of these materials requires a complicated and invasive procedure that carries the risk of infection. To avoid these problems, we sought to develop a biodegradable graft material containing collagen microsponge that would permit the regeneration of autologous vessel tissue. The ability of this material to accelerate in situ cellularization with autologous endothelial and smooth muscle cells was tested with and without precellularization.MethodsPoly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) as a biodegradable scaffold was compounded with collagen microsponge to form a vascular patch material. These poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)–collagen patches with (n = 10) or without (n = 10) autologous vessel cellularization were used to patch the canine pulmonary artery trunk. Histologic and biochemical assessments were performed 2 and 6 months after the implantation.ResultsThere was no thrombus formation in either group, and the poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) scaffold was almost completely absorbed in both groups. Histologic results showed the formation of an endothelial cell monolayer, a parallel alignment of smooth muscle cells, and reconstructed vessel wall with elastin and collagen fibers. The cellular and extracellular components in the patch had increased to levels similar to those in native tissue at 6 months.ConclusionsThe poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)–collagen microsponge patch with and without precellularization showed good histologic findings and durability. This patch shows promise as a bioengineered material for promoting in situ cellularization and the regeneration of autologous tissue in cardiovascular surgery

LINE-1 hypomethylation in gastric cancer, detected by bisulfite pyrosequencing, is associated with poor prognosis

BACKGROUND: Genome-wide DNA hypomethylation plays an important role in genomic instability and carcinogenesis. DNA methylation in the long interspersed nucleotide element-1, L1 (LINE-1) repetitive element is a good indicator of the global DNA methylation level. In some types of human neoplasms, LINE-1 methylation level is attracting interest as a predictive marker for patient prognosis. However, the prognostic significance of LINE-1 hypomethylation in gastric cancer remains unclear. METHODS: Using 203 resected gastric cancer specimens, we quantified LINE-1 methylation using bisulfite-pyrosequencing technology. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to calculate the hazard ratio (HR), adjusted for the clinical and pathological variables. RESULTS: Gastric cancers showed significantly lower LINE-1 methylation levels compared to matched normal gastric mucosa (p < 0.0001; n = 74). Tumoral LINE-1 methylation range was 11.6–97.5 on a 0–100 scale (n = 203; mean 71.4, median 74.4, standard deviation 12.9). LINE-1 hypomethylation was significantly associated with shorter overall survival [log-rank p = 0.029; univariate HR 2.01, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.09–3.99, p = 0.023; stage-matched HR 1.88, 95 % CI 1.02–3.74, p = 0.041; multivariate HR 1.98, 95 % CI 1.04–4.04, p = 0.036]. No significant effect modification was observed by any of the covariates in survival analysis (all p interaction >0.25). CONCLUSIONS: LINE-1 hypomethylation in gastric cancer is associated with shorter survival, suggesting that it has potential for use as a prognostic biomarker

Antitumor activity of α-pinene in T-cell tumors

T-cell acute leukemia and lymphoma have a poor prognosis. Although new therapeu-tic agents have been developed, their therapeutic effects are suboptimal. α- Pinene, a monoterpene compound, has an antitumor effect on solid tumors; however, few comprehensive investigations have been conducted on its impact on hematologic ma-lignancies. This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the potential benefits of using α- pinene as an antitumor agent for the treatment of T-cell tumors. We found that α- pinene inhibited the proliferation of hematologic malignancies, especially in T- cell tumor cell lines EL-4 and Molt-4, induced mitochondrial dysfunction and re-active oxygen species accumulation, and inhibited NF-κB p65 translocation into the nucleus, leading to robust apoptosis in EL-4 cells. Collectively, these findings suggest that α- pinene has potential as a therapeutic agent for T-cell malignancies, and further investigation is warranted

Pharmacokinetic Behavior of Cyclosporine A in Liver Dysfunction

The pharmacokinetic behavior of cyclosporine A (CyA), known as a potential immunosuppressive agent to prevent graft rejection in transplantation, was studied in patients with acute hepatitis and primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). The ratios of blood concentration of total CyA (CyA and its metabolites), CyA, and CyA metabolites to dose/kg body weight, (t-CyA/dose, CyA/dose, and CyA-Met/dose, respectively) were significantly higher in patients with hepatitis than those in renal transplantation. In PBC patients these ratios showed a tendency to be smaller than those in renal transplantation, but were not significant. The ratio of CyA-Met/ CyA was higher in the patients with hepatitis and PBC than that in renal transplantation. It was highest in the patients with PBC. The ratio of CyA-Met/CyA was significantly increased with a decrease of liver functions evaluated by serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT), and total serum bilirubin (t-Bil). These results indicate that hepatic function affects the pharmacokinetic behavior of CyA and the increased ratio of CyA-Met/dose could be caused by a possible increased efflux of metabolites into the blood circulation due to impaired bile excretion. These results also indicate the importance of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) in the use of CyA with patients with hepatic dysfunction