Background An early diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis is important, particularly when considering the need for administering corticosteroid therapy. However, no reports are available on the success ...rate of diagnosis on the basis of biopsy findings in patients with cardiac sarcoidosis. This study investigated the diagnostic success rate of histologic evaluation of endomyocardial biopsy specimens in patients with this disease.
Methods and Results Right ventricular endomyocardial biopsy was performed in 26 patients in whom cardiac sarcoidosis was strongly suspected according to the Diagnostic Criteria of Sarcoidosis, plus abnormalities on the electrocardiogram, cardiac radionuclide images, or in left ventricular wall motion. A mean of 4.0 sites were sampled per patient. In each case we determined whether a definitive diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis could be made histologically. Noncaseating granulomas were found in only 5 (19.2%) of the 26 cases, thus permitting a histologic diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis. A histologic diagnosis was made in 4 (36.4%) of 11 patients who exhibited a dilated cardiomyopathy-like clinical picture, in contrast to only 1 (6.7%) of 15 patients in whom conduction disturbances were the major clinical feature and whose left ventricular ejection fraction was within normal limits.
Conclusions The diagnostic rate achieved with biopsy in cardiac sarcoidosis is low; the patients with sarcoidosis and evidence of significant cardiac involvement should be treated for cardiac sarcoidosis despite negative myocardial biopsies for this disease. (Am Heart J 1999;138:299-302.)
The gravitational
separation of major atmospheric components, in addition to the age of air,
would provide additional useful information about stratospheric circulation.
However, observations of the ...age of air and gravitational separation are
still geographically sparse, especially in the tropics. In order to address
this issue, air samples were collected over Biak, Indonesia in February 2015
using four large plastic balloons, each loaded with two compact cryogenic
samplers. With a vertical resolution of better than 2 km, air samples from
seven different altitudes were analyzed for CO2 and SF6 mole
fractions, δ15N of N2, δ18O of O2, and δ(Ar∕N2) to examine the vertically dependent age and
gravitational separation of air in the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) and
the equatorial stratosphere. By comparing their measured mole fractions with
aircraft observations in the upper tropical troposphere, we have found that
CO2 and SF6 ages increase gradually with increasing altitude from
the TTL to 22 km, and then rapidly from there up to 29 km. The CO2 and
SF6 ages agree well with each other in the TTL and in the lower
stratosphere, but show a significant difference above 24 km. The average
values of δ15N of N2, δ18O of O2, and δ(Ar∕N2) all show a small but distinct upward decrease due to the
gravitational separation effect. Simulations with a two-dimensional
atmospheric transport model indicate that the gravitational separation effect
decreases as tropical upwelling is enhanced. From the model calculations with
enhanced eddy mixing, it is also found that the upward increase in air age is
magnified by horizontal mixing. These model simulations also show that the
gravitational separation effect remains relatively constant in the lower
stratosphere. The results of this study strongly suggest that the
gravitational separation, combined with the age of air, can be used to
diagnose air transport processes in the stratosphere.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a complete system of healing that developed in China about 3000 years ago, and includes herbal medicine, acupuncture, moxibustion and massage, etc. In recent ...decades the use of TCM has become more popular in China and throughout the world. Traditional Japanese medicine has been used for 1500 years and includes Kampo-yaku (herbal medicine), acupuncture and acupressure. Kampo is now widely practised in Japan and is fully integrated into the modern health-care system. Kampo is based on TCM but has been adapted to Japanese culture. In this paper we review the history and characteristics of TCM and traditional Japanese medicine, i.e. the selection of traditional Chinese herbal medicine treatments based on differential diagnosis, and treatment formulations specific for the ‘Sho’ (the patient's symptoms at a given moment) of Japanese Kampo - and look at the prospects for these forms of medicine.
Structure of the neutron-rich N=86 isotope 140Xe, located northeast of a doubly-magic nucleus 132Sn, is investigated by β−γ spectroscopy. Two β-decay isomers in 140I are newly found in the study of ...two different β decays of 140I which were produced by two reactions (i) direct in-flight fission at a primary target and (ii) β decay of 140Te at an active stopper. Half-lives of the β decays of the ground state, the low-spin isomer, and the high-spin isomer are determined to be 0.38(2), 0.91(5), and 0.47(4) s, respectively. Decay schemes of the β decay of the high-spin isomer and of the mixed β decays of the ground state and the low-spin isomer in 140I to 140Xe are constructed using the information on γ-ray coincidence relation and γ-ray intensity. Nuclear structures of the low-lying states in 140Xe and 140I are discussed by comparing the experimental results to two theoretical calculations based on a large-scale shell model and the deformed Skyrme Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov plus deformed quasiparticle-random-phase approximation. Possible candidates for (quasi-)γ-band members of 2+ and 4+ states and the octupole collective 1− state are proposed in 140Xe. Increase of quadrupole, triaxial, and octupole collectivities is discussed with the increase of neutron and proton numbers.
The β-decay scheme of 138Te and the level structure of 138I is reported for the first time. The experiment was performed at the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory of RIKEN, as one of the EUROBALL-RIKEN ...Cluster Array campaigns. Secondary radioactive ions, including 138Te and 138Sb, were produced by the in-flight fission of a 238U beam with the energy of 345 MeV per nucleon. From the β decay of 138Te, the level scheme of 138I was supplemented with new spin and parity assignments, such as the low-lying negative-parity states and a positive-parity 1+ state. This 1+ state can be interpreted as being associated with the π0h11/2⊗ν0h9/2 partner orbital configuration populated by the Gamow-Teller transition between a neutron in the 0h9/2 orbital and a proton in the 0h11/2 orbital. Details of the structure of 138I are discussed in terms of the proton-neutron interactions and Gamow-Teller transition strength within the theoretical context of shell-model calculations.
Newly observed decay schemes of the nuclei 137Sb and 138Sb are reported. The neutron-rich Sb isotopes were produced by the in-flight fragmentation of a 238U primary beam with an energy of 345 ...MeV/nucleon. Several new excited states of 137Te with tentatively assigned spin-parities of (5/2−), (9/2−), and (7/2) have been established which play an important role in the evolution of neutron levels beyond N=82. The study of the β decay of 138Sb led to a considerable extension of the level scheme of 138Te including the identification of several nonyrast states. The structure of 137Te and 138Te is discussed on the basis of large-scale shell-model calculations performed using two different effective interactions.
As a basic understanding of the dynamics of the atmospheric circulation, it has been believed that gravitational separation of atmospheric components is observable only in the atmosphere above the ...turbopause. However, we found, from our high-precision measurements of not only the isotopic ratios of N2, O2 and Ar but also the mole fraction of Ar, that gravitational separation occurs even in the stratosphere below the turbopause; their observed vertical profiles are in good agreement with those expected theoretically from molecular mass differences. The O2/N2 ratio observed in the middle stratosphere, corrected for gravitational separation, showed the same mean air age as estimated from the CO2 mole fraction. Simulations with a 2-dimensional model of the middle atmosphere indicated that a relationship between gravitational separation and the age of air in the stratosphere would be significantly affected if the Brewer–Dobson circulation was enhanced due to global warming. Therefore, gravitational separation is usable as a new indicator of changes in the atmospheric circulation in the stratosphere.
Objectives Structural abnormalities in the hippocampus have been implicated in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). The brain-derived neurotrophic factor ( BDNF ) val66met ...polymorphism may contribute to these abnormalities and therefore confer vulnerability to MDD. This study examined whether there is a relationship among BDNF genotype, hippocampal volumes, and MDD in older adults. Methods Thirty-three older adults with MDD and 23 psychiatrically normal comparison subjects were studied. Structural magnetic resonance imaging analysis was used to quantify hippocampal volumes. A repeated-measures analysis of covariance examined the relationships among BDNF val66met (val/val, met carrier), diagnosis (depressed, nondepressed), and hippocampal volumes (right, left). Age, gender, education, and whole brain volume were included as covariates. Results Elderly MDD BDNF val/val homozygotes had significantly higher right hippocampal volumes compared with nondepressed val/val subjects. However, there was no difference between the depressed and healthy nondepressed met carriers. In addition, depressed met carriers had an earlier age of onset of depressive illness than val/val homozygotes, but age of onset did not moderate the relationship between hippocampal volumes and MDD diagnosis. Conclusion These results provide preliminary evidence of a neuroprotective role of the val/val genotype, suggesting that neurotrophic factor production protects against pathophysiological processes triggered by depression in older adults with later age of onset of MDD. The BDNF val66met polymorphism may play a salient role in structural alterations of the hippocampus in older adults with MDD.
An interior permanent-magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM) is a highly efficient motor and operates in a wide speed range; therefore, it is used in many industrial and home appliance applications. ...However, the torque ripple of synchronous motors such as the IPMSM and synchronous reluctance motor is very large. The variation of magnetic resistance between the flux barriers and teeth causes the torque ripple. In this paper, flux barriers are asymmetrically designed so that the relative positions between the outer edges of the flux barriers and the teeth do not correspond. As a result, torque ripple can be reduced dramatically.
PDF
