The influence of sludge discharge frequency on the performance of a full-scale UASB-type reactor has been assessed. The reactor has eight compartments and treats domestic sewage with an 8 hour ...hydraulic retention time. In each compartment, a different discharge frequency was employed ranging from 1 to 8 months. During the assessment period, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency, effluent volatile suspended solids (VSS) concentration, and cellular yield coefficient (Y) were evaluated. The results indicated that the operational stability increased with increasing discharge frequency, as shown by a higher COD removal and lower effluent VSS. The values of Y decreased when the sludge discharge frequency increased. In practice, good performance can be achieved when the sludge discharge frequency is between 1 and 4 months; COD removal efficiencies of 60–80%, average VSS effluent concentrations of 25–80 mg L−1, and Y values of 0.10–0.18 kg VSS kg CODremoved−1 were obtained.
Abstract Background Currently the long-term outcome among recipients of ABO-incompatible renal transplantations is excellent in Japan. However, previous reports have documented poor outcomes in ...patients with high (> 1:256) anti–A/B antibody titers pretreatment. The immunosuppressive protocol for ABO-incompatible high-titer renal transplantation has remained a medical challenge. Methods We treated 3 patients with high (> 1:512) anti–A/B antibody titers prior to ABO-incompatible renal transplantation. Our immunosuppressive protocol was initiated 1 month prior to surgery and included mycophenolate mofetil (1 g/d) and low-dose steroid (methylprednisolone 8 mg/d). Two doses of the anti–CD20 antibody rituximab, (150 mg/m2 ) were administered 2 weeks before and on the day of transplantation. We performed antibody removal with 6 to 8 sessions of plasmapheresis (plasma exchange or double-filtration plasmapheresis) before transplantation. Splenectomy was also performed on the day of transplantation. Postoperative immunosuppression followed the same regimen as ABO-compatible cases, in which calcineurin inhibitors were initiated 3 days before transplantation combined with 2 doses of basiliximab. Result With this protocol, the anti–A/B antibody was reduced to below 1:16 in all cases. All 3 patients underwent successful transplantation with a mean current serum creatinine of 1.32 mg/dL (range, 1.22–1.50 mg/dL). There were no episodes of antibody-mediated rejection. No serious complications or side effects were encountered. Conclusions A preconditioning protocol consisting of rituximab infusions, splenectomy, plasmapheresis, and pharmacologic immunosuppression enabled ABO-incompatible renal transplantation in patients with high (> 1:512) anti–A/B antibody titer.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
summary The aim of this study was to develop an objective evaluation system for the masticatory function. This system used paraffin wax cubes as a test food, which had six red‐ and green‐coloured ...layers so that each of the six surfaces showed a pseudo‐checkered pattern. A total of 100 paraffin cubes were chewed by 37 subjects and the images of these samples were captured and analysed using a digital image analyzer. With regard to the colour and the shape of each sample, five parameters were obtained. Furthermore, an independent examiner graded the degree of colour mixing in the chewed samples into three groups (poor, medium and good) by visual inspection. A discriminant analysis was performed using the five variables as predictors of two groups (good and poor). Mixing Ability Index (MAI) was calculated from the discriminant function and using this index, 97% of the samples from these two groups were classified correctly. This system needed only a few minutes to complete and is easy to use. Therefore, it has high potentials for clinical use.
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BFBNIB, CMK, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
The ephrin-A1 and EphA receptors are frequently highly expressed in different human cancers, suggesting that they may promote tumor development and progression. We generated transgenic mice carrying ...Fabpl(4xat-132) ephrin-A1, which express ephrin-A1 in the intestinal epithelial cells. Those mice were then mated with Apc(min/+) mice to produce the compound mice, which overexpress ephrin-A1 in the intestinal tumors of Apc(min/+) mice. We compared the number, size and histopathological features of the intestinal tumors in the Fabpl(4xat-132) ephrin-A1/Apc(min/+) compound mice with those of the Apc(min/+) mice. The compound mice showed an increased number of intestinal tumors, significantly in the large intestine, and developed more invasive tumors. Among the 20 mice of each type examined, 5 Apc(min/+) mice developed 5 invasive tumors, 1 invasive tumor in each mouse, in the proximal or middle portions of the small intestine. On the other hand, 14 out of 20 compound mice developed 29 invasive tumors and 16 of them were in the distal small intestine and the large intestine, where transgenic ephrin-A1 was highly expressed. These results suggested that the increased expression of ephrin-A1 accelerated the malignant progression of the intestinal adenoma to invasive tumors.
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DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
IntroductionRefined carbohydrates have been suggested to deteriorate glucose metabolism; however, whether persons with elevated intakes of white rice, a major staple food for the Japanese, experience ...increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes remains unclear. We prospectively investigated the association between white rice intake and risk of type 2 diabetes.MethodsParticipants were 25 666 men and 33 622 women aged 45–75 years who participated in the second survey of the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study and had no prior history of diabetes. We ascertained food intake by using a validated 147-item food frequency questionnaire. ORs of self-reported physician-diagnosed type 2 diabetes over 5 years were estimated by using logistic regressions.ResultsA total of 1103 new cases of type 2 diabetes were self-reported. Rice intake was significantly associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes in women; the multivariate-adjusted OR for the highest compared with lowest quartiles of rice intake was 1.65 (95% CI 1.06 to 2.57; p for trend =0.005). In men, the association was unclear, although there was a suggestion of a positive association among persons who were not engaged in strenuous physical activity (p for trend = 0.08).ConclusionsElevated intake of white rice is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes in Japanese women. The finding suggestive of a positive association of rice intake among physically inactive men deserves further investigation.
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BFBNIB, CMK, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
We calculate many different nova light curves for a variety of white dwarf masses and chemical compositions, with the assumption that free-free emission from optically thin ejecta dominates the ...continuum flux. We show that all these light curves are homologous and a universal law can be derived by introducing a "time scaling factor." The template light curve for the universal law has a slope of flux F8t super(-1.75) in the middle part (from 62 to 66 mag below the optical maximum), but it declines more steeply, F8t super(-3.5), in the later part (from 66 to 610 mag), where t is the time from the outburst in units of days. This break on the light curve is due to a quick decrease in the wind mass-loss rate. The nova evolutions are approximately scaled by the time of break. Once the time of break is observationally determined, we can derive the period of a UV burst phase, the duration of optically thick wind phase, and the turnoff date of hydrogen shell-burning. An empirical observational formula, t sub(3) = (1.68 c 0.08) t sub(2) + (1.9 c 1.5) days, is derived from the relation of F8t super(-1.75), where t sub(2) and t sub(3) are the times in days during which a nova decays by 2 and 3 mag from the optical maximum, respectively. We have applied our template light curve model to the three well-observed novae, V1500 Cyg, V1668 Cyg, and V1974 Cyg. Our theoretical light curves show excellent agreement with the optical y and infrared J, H, K light curves. The continuum UV 1455 AA light curves observed with IUE are well reproduced. The turn-on and turn-off of supersoft X-ray observed with ROSAT are also explained simultaneously by our model. The WD mass is estimated, from the light curve fitting, to be M sub(WD) - 1.15 M sub( )for V1500 Cyg, M sub(WD) - 0.95 M sub( )for V1668 Cyg, and M sub(WD) - 0.95-1.05 M sub( )for V1974 Cyg, together with the appropriate chemical compositions of the ejecta.
Recent studies have shown that enhanced hepatic expression of several innate immune genes predicts non‐response to 48 weeks of peginterferon plus ribavirin in chronic hepatitis C genotype 1. This ...study aimed to further address how gene expression of TLR3/RIG‐I signalling correlates with the outcome of the 72‐week extended treatment regimen. Relative hepatic mRNA expression and copy numbers of positive‐ and negative‐strand hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA were determined by real‐time PCR in 49 patients. Then, a 48‐week peginterferon‐α2b plus ribavirin treatment was commenced and extended to 72 weeks in cases of HCV RNA clearance after week 12. High rate of sustained virologic response was seen both in patients with early HCV clearance (85% 11/13) and slow virologic responders (85% 11/13) (per protocol analysis). The response was associated with low TLR3 expression (median, 0.9; range, 0–4.2 vs median, 1.9; range, 0.4–4.9; P = 0.004) but had no relation to the expression of TRIF (P = 0.315), RIG‐I (P = 0.953), IPS‐1 (P = 0.425), IRF3 (P = 0.329) and interferon‐β (P = 0.584). ROC curve analysis identified TLR3 expression of <1.5 as the best cut‐off for predicting response (positive and negative predictive values, 89% 16/18 and 70% 14/20, respectively). The expression was not affected by HCV replication but was higher in female patients (P = 0.043). Multivariate analysis showed TLR3 to be a single baseline predictor (odds ratio 18.5 95% CI 3.2–111, P = 0.001). Low hepatic TLR3 expression is a novel predictor of response to peginterferon plus ribavirin in genotype 1 patients.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Migraine-like features sometimes characterize the headache that follows epileptic seizure (postictal headache, PIH). We compared patients with different types of epilepsy to investigate the ...association between migraine-like PIH and seizure type. Subjects comprised 364 patients with partial epilepsy. Epilepsy types were temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE, n = 177), frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE, n = 116), and occipital lobe epilepsy (OLE, n = 71). Patients participated in a structured interview pertaining to PIH as well as interictal headache and family history of migraine. Headaches were classified according to the International Headache Society criteria, which was modified for this study. Forty percent had PIH and 26% of these patients had migraine-like PIH. Migraine-like PIH occurred significantly more often in cases of TLE and OLE than in cases of FLE. In addition, the incidence of interictal migraine headache was significantly higher in patients with migraine-like PIH. These results suggest that migraine-like PIH is related to particular regions of epileptogenic focus and that susceptibility to migraine headache predisposes to migraine-like PIH.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
We present magnetic field dependence of phase transition temperature and vortex configuration of superconducting networks based on theoretical study. The applied magnetic field is called “filling ...field” that is defined by applied magnetic flux (in unit of the flux quantum) per unit loop of the superconducting network. If a superconducting network is composed of very thin wires whose thicknesses are less than coherence length, the de Gennes–Alexander (dGA) theory is applicable. We have already shown that field dependences of transition temperature curves have symmetric behavior about the filling field of 1/2 by solving the dGA equation numerically in square lattices, honeycomb lattices, cubic lattices and those with randomly lack of wires networks. Many experimental studies also show the symmetric behavior. In this paper, we make an explicit theoretical explanation of symmetric behaviors of superconducting network respect to the applied field.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
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