OBJECTIVES
The objective of the present study was to evaluate the clinical effects of human atrial natriuretic peptide (hANP) on post-operative cardiopulmonary complications in elderly patients ...undergoing pulmonary resection for lung cancer.
METHODS
A retrospective study involving 44 consecutive patients aged ≥75 years who had elevated pre-operative B-type natriuretic peptide levels (≥30 pg/ml) and underwent a scheduled pulmonary resection for lung cancer in two specialized thoracic centres between April 2008 and March 2010. Results were compared between the patients who did and did not receive hANP during the perioperative period. The primary endpoint was the incidence of post-operative cardiopulmonary complications. Post-operative haemodynamics, white blood cell (WBC) counts and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were also examined.
RESULTS
The incidence of post-operative cardiopulmonary complications was significantly lower in the hANP group than that in the control group (26 vs. 86%, P < 0.0001). Patients in the hANP group showed significantly lower WBC counts and serum CRP levels post-operatively.
CONCLUSIONS
Continuous infusion of low-dose hANP during lung cancer surgery had a prophylactic effect on post-operative cardiopulmonary complications in elderly lung cancer patients.
(Trial registration number: JPRN-UMIN000003631).
During 2008 and 2009 dedicated beam experiments with crab cavities were performed in the KEKB. The goal was to measure the impact of crab-cavity radio frequency (rf) noise on the beam quality. These ...experiments were performed as a validation of the crab-cavity beam dynamics models in view of the possible use of crab cavities in the upgrade of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). An unexpected strong beam-beam instability was observed during the course of the experiments as a kind of frequency response. Understanding this finding required extensive multiparticle and single particle simulations plus an extra experimental session to consolidate the observations.
Drosophila wings are patterned by a morphogen, Decapentaplegic (Dpp), a member of the TGFbeta superfamily, which is expressed along the anterior and posterior compartment boundary. The distribution ...and activity of Dpp signaling is controlled in part by the level of expression of its major type I receptor, thickveins (tkv). The level of tkv is dynamically regulated by En and Hh. We have identified a novel gene, master of thickveins (mtv), which downregulates expression of tkv in response to Hh and En. mtv expression is controlled by En and Hh, and is complementary to tkv expression. In this report, we demonstrate that mtv integrates the activities of En and Hh that shape tkv expression pattern. Thus, mtv plays a key part of regulatory mechanism that makes the activity gradient of the Dpp morphogen.
Sivelestat sodium hydrate is a selective inhibitor of neutrophil elastase (NE), and is effective in acute lung injury associated with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS). The effect of ...Sivelestat for postoperative clinical courses after transthoracic esophagectomy was investigated. Consecutive patients with carcinoma of the thoracic esophagus who underwent transthoracic esophagectomy between 2003 and 2004 were assigned to the Sivelestat‐treated group (n = 18), and those between 1998 and 2003 were assigned to the control group (n = 25). The morbidity rate, duration of postoperative SIRS, mechanical ventilation, and intensive care unit (ICU) stay, and the sum of the sequential organ failure assessment scores at all time points after the operation were compared. Serum NE activities and serum concentrations of TNF‐α, IL‐1β, IL‐6, and high mobility group box chromosomal protein 1 (HMGB1) were measured. Postoperative complications developed in three patients in the control group, and one in the Sivelestat‐treated group. The durations of SIRS, mechanical ventilation, and ICU stay were significantly shorter in the Sivelestat‐treated group. Even in patients without complications, the durations of mechanical ventilation, and ICU stay were also significantly shorter, and the arterial oxygen pressure/fraction of inspired oxygen ratio at postoperative day 1 was significantly higher in the Sivelestat‐treated group. Serum NE activities and serum concentrations of IL‐1β, IL‐6, and HMGB1 were significantly suppressed in the Sivelestat‐treated group. Postoperative Sivelestat treatment after transthoracic esophagectomy improves the condition of SIRS and postoperative clinical courses, even in patients without complications.
Low-Z collimator for SuperKEKB Terui, S.; Ishibashi, T.; Abe, T. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
February 2023, 2023-02-00, Letnik:
1047
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Collimators have been installed in the SuperKEKB main ring to suppress beam-induced background noise (BG) in a particle detector complex referred to as Belle II. However, in high beam current ...operations (>500 mA), movable collimator jaws are occasionally damaged by abnormal beams. During collimator damage, there were events where components of the Belle II detector were damaged and the final focusing superconducting magnet was quenched. Compared to undamaged collimator jaws, damaged collimator jaws were observed to be less capable of suppressing beam losses in the experimental area where Belle II was located. Therefore, Belle II cannot operate safely with damaged collimator jaws owing to the high beam-induced BG. As a solution to this significant performance issue, a special collimator that is relatively durable even when hit by an abnormal beam has been designed to protect the important machine and detector components. To avoid severe damage to the collimator jaw, we used low-atomic-number (low-Z) materials. This special collimator, referred to as a low-Z collimator, uses carbon as the material for the collimator head and part of the jaw that directly interacts with the beam. After various measurements and calculations, a low-Z collimator was installed in the accelerator. As expected, during beam commissioning, the low-Z collimator was able to reduce the BG. However, during the high bunch current study, an unexpected beam size blow-up associated with the wakefield generated by the collimator was observed.
The rhythmic motility of the intestine is regulated by the interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) and the enteric nervous system. Rhythmic motility is considered to occur after the differentiation of ...mesenchymal progenitor cells into ICC during the late embryonic period. In this study, we successfully reconstructed a gut‐like tissue demonstrating rhythmic contractions by culturing dispersed cells enzymatically isolated from the mouse intestine during the mid‐embryonic period. These intestinal cells were reconstituted into a collagen gel at high density, made to proliferate considerably, and grew into a gut‐like tissue after 1 week of culturing. The reconstituted tissue showed rhythmic contractions and stained positive for the specific marker proteins of neurones and ICC, PGP9.5 and c‐Kit. The tissue also demonstrated network formation by developing nerve cells and ICC. Moreover, in the presence of nifedipine, c‐Kit‐immunopositive cells showed spontaneous Ca2+ oscillation, which is considered to be coupled to the electrical activity that corresponds to slow waves. Therefore, this culture system may be of use in elucidating the developmental mechanisms of gastrointestinal motility.
An orbit feedback system around the interaction point (IP) has been developed and successfully employed at KEKB for more than 6 years. The purpose of the system is to maintain an optimum geometrical ...relationship of orbits of two beams at the IP and to prevent a luminosity degradation due to orbit drifts. The feedback system is based on orbit measurements around the IP rather than a direct measurement of the luminosity. Owing to the system, the luminosity degradation due to the orbit drifts is suppressed to around or less than 1%.
Microwave instability in the low energy ring of KEKB was studied using a broadband impedance model. The model gave excellent descriptions of longitudinal dynamics for both positive and negative ...momentum compactions. Moreover, it predicted that the threshold of microwave instability was a factor of 2 lower than the machine nominal operating bunch current. The prediction was confirmed by a measurement using the Belle detector. Furthermore, we integrated the longitudinal wakefield into the beam-beam simulation and applied it to study the combined effects in KEKB. As a result, the beam-beam simulation became truly three dimensional with emittance growth in all three dimensions simultaneously as the beam currents increase. In addition, an observed mystery of asymmetry in the horizontal scan could also be explained by our simulations.
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