An instrumented indentation technique (IIT) appears to be a promising alternative to conventional stress measurement methods, particularly for welds with rapid microstructural gradients, because it ...has high spatial resolution and is non-destructive. The technique is used to characterize the residual stress of a friction stir-welded joint of API X80 steel. The indentation load-depth curve is significantly affected by the presence of residual stress and the stress-induced load change at a given penetration is converted to a quantitative stress value through an analytical model. All indentation test results show good agreement with those from an energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction performed to assess the validity of the IIT. In addition, the microstructures in various regions of the friction stir-welded joint and their effects on local microhardness are discussed.
Abstract Background Graft dysfunction after liver transplantation (OLT) is a life- threatening condition. Molecular adsorbent recirculating system (MARS) or plasmapheresis (PLP) may be effective ...supportive therapy of graft dysfunction for patients who cannot undergo retransplantation. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of MARS and PLP in patients with graft dysfunction after OLT. Methods Between January 2002 and July 2007, 31 OLT recipients who experienced graft dysfunction, defined as hyperbilirubinemia (>10 mg/dL) without bile duct obstruction and/or presence of hepatic encephalopathy, were treated with MARS or PLP. Biochemical and hemodynamic data and survival were compared in MARS and PLP groups. Results Fifteen patients were treated with 41 MARS sessions and 16 with 105 PLP sessions. After a single MARS session, patients showed significant reductions in creatinine, urea nitrogen, bilirubin, and ammonia. After a single PLP session, patients showed significant improvements in prothrombin time, bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, and albumin. After the completion of treatment, Both MARS and PLP significantly improved bilirubin values. at 90 days there were no differences in overall survival rates; 53% in MARS versus 56% in PLP. Conclusion Both MARS and PLP are alternative supportive treatments for graft dysfunction after OLT.
We report a search for time variations of the solar B 8 neutrino flux using 5804 live days of Super-Kamiokande data collected between May 31, 1996, and May 30, 2018. Super-Kamiokande measured the ...precise time of each solar neutrino interaction over 22 calendar years to search for solar neutrino flux modulations with unprecedented precision. Periodic modulations are searched for in a dataset comprising five-day interval solar neutrino flux measurements with a maximum likelihood method. We also applied the Lomb-Scargle method to this dataset to compare it with previous reports. The only significant modulation found is due to the elliptic orbit of the Earth around the Sun. The observed modulation is consistent with astronomical data: we measured an eccentricity of ( 1.53 ± 0.35 ) % , and a perihelion shift of ( − 1.5 ± 13.5 ) days. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is the predominant cause of severe entero-pathogenic diarrhea in swine. The lack of effective therapeutical treatment underlines the importance of research for ...new antivirals. In this study, we identified Q7R, which actively inhibited PEDV replication with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC
50) of 0.014
μg/mL. The 50% cytotoxicity concentration (CC
50) of Q7R was over 100
μg/mL and the derived therapeutic index was 7142. Several structural analogues of Q7R, quercetin, apigenin, luteolin and catechin, also showed moderate anti-PEDV activity. Antiviral drugs and natural compounds revealed ribavirin, interferon-α, coumarin and tannic acid have relative weaker efficacy compared to Q7R. Q7R did not directly interact with or inactivate PEDV particles and affect the initial stage of PEDV infection by interfering of PEDV replication. Also, the effectiveness of Q7R against the other two viruses (TGEV, PRCV) was lower compared to PEDV. Q7R could be considered as a lead compound for development of anti-PEDV drugs to may be used to during the early stage of PEDV replication and the structure-activity data of Q7R may usefully guideline to design other related antiviral agents.
The histamine H4 receptor (H4R), a member of the G-protein coupled receptor family, has been considered as a potential therapeutic target for treating atopic dermatitis (AD). A large number of H4R ...antagonists have been disclosed, but no efficient agents controlling both pruritus and inflammation in AD have been developed yet. Here, we have discovered a novel class of orally available H4R antagonists showing strong anti-itching and anti-inflammation activity as well as excellent selectivity against off-targets. A pharmacophore-based virtual screening system constructed in-house successfully identified initial hit compound 9, and the subsequent homology model-guided optimization efficiently led us to discover pyrido2,3-etetrazolo1,5-apyrazine analogue 48 as a novel chemotype of a potent and highly selective H4R antagonist. Importantly, orally administered compound 48 exhibits remarkable efficacy on antipruritus and anti-inflammation with a favorable pharmacokinetic (PK) profile in several mouse models of AD. Thus, these data strongly suggest that our compound 48 is a promising clinical candidate for treatment of AD.
We search for bottomonium states in Υ(2S) → (bb)γ decays with an integrated luminosity of 24.7 fb(-1) recorded at the Υ(2S) resonance with the Belle detector at KEK, containing (157.8±3.6)×10(6) ...Υ(2S) events. The (bb) system is reconstructed in 26 exclusive hadronic final states composed of charged pions, kaons, protons, and K(S)(0) mesons. We find no evidence for the state recently observed around 9975 MeV (X(bb)) in an analysis based on a data sample of 9.3×10(6) Υ(2S) events collected with the CLEO III detector. We set a 90% confidence level upper limit on the branching fraction BΥ(2S) → X(bb)γ × ∑(i)BX(bb) → h(i) < 4.9×10(-6), summed over the exclusive hadronic final states employed in our analysis. This result is an order of magnitude smaller than the measurement reported with CLEO data. We also set an upper limit for the ηb(1S) state of BΥ(2S) → ηb(1S)γ × ∑(i)Bηb(1S) → h(i) < 3.7×10(-6).
Previously, we and others showed that signals relayed through the murine T cell Ag 4-1BB enhance primary T cell responses, and that blocking the interaction of 4-1BB with its ligand results in ...decreased responses to polyclonal activators and to alloantigens. Because 4-1BB expression is induced following primary stimulation, we investigated the role of signaling through this molecule in the reactivation of proliferating T cells. To this end, preactivated, 4-1BB-expressing T cells were restimulated in the presence of plate-immobilized mAbs directed against 4-1BB or the prototypic costimulatory molecule CD28. In this work, we show that in the presence of either signal, T cells respond to TCR cross-linking with strong proliferative responses and cytokine production; moreover, our findings indicate that T cell proliferation partially correlates with surface 4-1BB expression. In addition, our results suggest that Ab-mediated costimulatory signals can act independently of potential accessory B7-CD28/CTLA-4 (cytotoxic T lymphocyte Ag-4) interactions. Importantly, the characteristic DNA fragmentation and apoptotic cell death observed after TCR re-engagement are inhibited comparably in the presence of either 4-1BB or CD28 signaling.
Deficient functional renal mass leads to progressive renal injury owing to the detrimental effects of glomerular hyperfiltration. Therefore, renal transplant mass is an important determinant of ...outcome.
We retrospectively analyzed 614 living donor renal transplantations performed from 1979 to 2002. Patients were divided into 4 groups according to donor-recipient gender differences: group 1 (male to male), group 2 (male to female), group 3 (female to male), and group 4 (female to female). We analyzed the clinical and immunological data to compare the 4 groups with respect to long-term graft survival, age gender, acute rejection episodes an HLA matching. We used the Kaplan-Meier method with the log-rank test to assess graft survival.
The actuarial graft survival rate was 86.24% at 5 years for donors younger than 50 years of age compared with 73.15% for those older than 50 years (
P = .0000). The graft survival from younger donors than recipients was 85.23% at 5 years compared with 80.35% for older donors (
P = .0213). The graft survival of group 3 (female donor to male recipient) was 75.12% at 5 years compared with 85.72%, 85.33%, and 83.16% for groups 1, 2, and 4, respectively (
P = .0165). The main parameters significantly associated with graft survival were donor age (
P = .0000), acute rejection episode (
P = .0000), donor gender (
P = .0215). HLA-DR matching (
P = .0516), and donor and recipient age matching (
P = .0213).
The results suggest that the sex and age matching between donors and recipients should be considered as a criterion in the choice of donor and recipient pairs for living donor renal transplantation.
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