A porous media theory for characterization of membrane blood oxygenation devices

A porous media theory has been proposed to characterize oxygen transport processes associated with membrane blood oxygenation devices. For the first time, a rigorous mathematical procedure based a volume averaging procedure has been presented to derive a complete set of the governing equations for the blood flow field and oxygen concentration field. As a first step towards a complete three-dimensional numerical analysis, one-dimensional steady case is considered to model typical membrane blood oxygenator scenarios, and to validate the derived equations. The relative magnitudes of oxygen transport terms are made clear, introducing a dimensionless parameter which measures the distance the oxygen gas travels to dissolve in the blood as compared with the blood dispersion length. This dimensionless number is found so large that the oxygen diffusion term can be neglected in most cases. A simple linear relationship between the blood flow rate and total oxygen transfer rate is found for oxygenators with sufficiently large membrane surface areas. Comparison of the one-dimensional analytic results and available experimental data reveals the soundness of the present analysis.     

Radial transport characteristics of fast ions due to energetic-particle modes inside the last closed-flux surface in the compact helical system

The internal behavior of fast ions interacting with magnetohydrodynamic bursts excited by energetic ions has been experimentally investigated in the compact helical system. The resonant convective oscillation of fast ions was identified inside the last closed-flux surface during an energetic-particle mode (EPM) burst. The phase difference between the fast-ion oscillation and the EPM, indicating the coupling strength between them, remains a certain value during the EPM burst and drives an anomalous transport of fast ions.     

Rapid quantification of cyanamide by ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography in fertilizer,soil or plant samples

A rapid and simple method for determination of cyanamide in fertilizer, soil and plants has been developed. In this method, cyanamide is extracted with 2% acetic acid and the extract separated by centrifugation. It is then purified by passing through a membrane filter. The extract was derivatized with 6-aminoquinolyl-N-hydroxysuccinimidyl-carbamate and the derivatized compound separated by ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography. It is then detected with a UV detector at 260 nm by the same method as is used for amino acid analysis. The proposed method is fast, simple and cheap and also has good selectivity and sensitivity for the determination of cyanamide in a wide range of biotic and abiotic materials.     

Synthesis of C-arylglycosides via Ru(II)-catalyzed [2 + 2 + 2] cycloaddition

In the presence of catalytic amounts of Cp*RuCl(cod), the cycloaddition of 1,6-diynes with various C-alkynylglycosides proceeded at ambient temperature to afford C-arylglycosides in 46-93% yields.     

Entropy loss and risk of improved estimators for the generalized variance and precision

Let the distributions of X(p×r) and S(p×p) be N(, I _r) and W _p(n, ) respectively and let them be independent. The risk of the improved estimator for || or {ei329-1} based on X and S under entropy loss (=d/|| –log(d/||)–1 or d||–log(d||)–1) is evaluated in terms of incomplete beta function of matrix argument and its derivative. Numerical comparison for the reduction of risk over the best affine equivariant estimator is given.Dedicated to Professor Yukihiro Kodama on his 60th birthday.     

Synthesis of jaspine B regioisomers through palladium-catalyzed stereoselective tetrahydrofuran formation: Insight into the ligand recognition of sphingosine kinases

We recently reported a structure-activity relationship study of 4-epi-jaspine B derivatives toward sphingosine kinase (SphK) and identified selective inhibitors of two SphK isoforms. In this study, we designed and synthesized jaspine B regioisomers on the basis of palladium-catalyzed tetrahydrofuran formation and late-stage cross metathesis reactions to investigate the influence of the substitution position of functional groups on SphK inhibition. Evaluation of the jaspine B regioisomers SphK inhibitory activities revealed that several of these compounds exhibited comparable SphK1/2 inhibitory potency to that of 4-epi-jaspine B.     

From electrode to device characterizations of polyaniline/micro and nanodiamond/carbon fiber as ternary composites applied as supercapacitor

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Production and characterization of polyaniline/boron-doped diamond/carbon fiber (PAni/diamond/CF) ternary composites are presented in this work, as well as...     

Toward Pluramycins with Epoxy Side Chain: Syntheses of Kidamycinone and Epoxykidamycinone (Saptomycinone H)

For exploring general routes to the pluramycin‐class of antibiotics, including congeners with epoxide‐bearing side chains, syntheses of kidamycinone and its epoxide (epoxykidamycinone) have been achieved. At the stage of the A‐ring cyclization with alkene‐bearing side chain, the desired 6‐endo product was obtained as a major compound, although the corresponding undesired 5‐exo product was also formed.     

Total Synthesis of Dictyodendrins A–F by the Gold-Catalyzed Cascade Cyclization of Conjugated Diyne with Pyrrole

The total synthesis of dictyodendrins A–F was achieved by using the gold(I)-catalyzed annulation of a conjugated diyne with N-Boc-pyrrole for direct construction of the pyrrolo[2,3-c]carbazole scaffold. Late-stage functionalization of the resulting pyrrolo[2,3-c]carbazole to introduce various substituents provided divergent access to dictyodendrins. Some dictyodendrin analogues exhibited inhibitory activities toward CDK2/CycA2 and GSK3.     

Gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI compared with CT during angiography in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Purpose

To assess the value of gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the pre-therapeutic detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis with the combination of computed tomography (CT) arterial portography and CT hepatic arteriography (CTAP/CTHA).

Materials and Methods

A total of 54 consecutive patients with 87 nodular HCCs were retrospectively analyzed. All HCC nodules were confirmed pathologically. Three blinded readers independently reviewed 432 hepatic segments, including 78 segments with 87 HCCs. Each reader read two sets of images: Set 1, CTAP/CTHA; Set 2, gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI including a gradient dual-echo sequence and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). The ROC method was used to analyze the results. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and sensitivity according to tumor size were evaluated.

Results

For each reader, the area under the curve was significantly higher for Set 2 than for Set 1. The mean area under the curve was also significantly greater for Set 2 than for Set 1 (area under the curve, 0.98 vs. 0.93; P = .0009). The sensitivity was significantly higher for Set 2 than for Set 1 for all three readers (P = .012, .013 and .039, respectively). The difference in the specificity, positive predictive values and negative predictive values of the two modalities for each reader was not significant (P > .05).

Conclusion

Gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI including a gradient dual-echo sequence and DWI is recommended for the pre-therapeutic evaluation of patients with HCC.