Effect of hemodialysis on left and right ventricular function--evaluation using electrocardiogram gated radionuclide ventriculography

Eighteen outpatients with chronic renal failure undergoing hemodialysis (HD) were studied. Immediately before and after HD, the left and right ventricular function measured by electrocardiogram gated radionuclide ventriculography (RNV). By HD, body weight changed 58.6 +/- 7.50 kg to 57.2 +/- 6.80 kg and BUN level changed 67.9 +/- 29.00 mg/dl to 37.1 +/- 18.96 mg/dl and creatinine level changed 11.3 +/- 3.90 mg/dl to 6.8 +/- 2.48 mg/dl. Before HD, cardiac output was 8.08 +/- 1.50 l/min and cardiac index was 5.00 +/- 0.87 l/(min m2). Left ventricular function improved (LVEF changed 60.4 +/- 6.85% to 64.2 +/- 8.7%, LVEF/LVET changed 0.237 +/- 0.048%/ms to 0.254 +/- 0.021%/ms) between before and after HD, but there was not significant difference. Right ventricular function improved (RVEF changed 41.2 +/- 8.00% to 50.0 +/- 11.96, RVEF/RVET changed 0.167 +/- 0.028%/ms to 0.209 +/- 0.059%/ms) between before and after HD, and there was significant difference (p less than 0.05).     

Extended operator expansion method for neutrinoless double beta decay

Reliable calculations of nuclear matrix elements are a prerequisite for the determination of the effective neutrino mass and other particle physics parameters from neutrinoless double beta decay. Here, the operator expansion method is improved by including Coulomb, tensor and central interactions simultaneously. Furthermore, the formalism of the OEM is extended to those matrix elements necessary to extract the right-handed parameters and from 0 decay. OEM includes the dependence of the nuclear matrix elements on the intermediate states implicitly and can therefore be understood as a step beyond the closure approximation. Numerical studies are carried out for the isotope⁷⁶Ge combining the OEM expressions with ground-state wave functions calculated within a proton-neutron quasiparticle Random Phase Approximation (pn-QRPA) model. The influence and relative importance of central, tensor and Coulomb interactions is investigated. Within the OEM, contributions from the Coulomb force are found to be negligible in 0 decay, while the tensor force leads to a moderate change of the results, of the order of (10–30)%, giving a better agreement between sets of calculations which employ different NN-interactions. Generally, results of the OEM+QRPA calculation are similar to previous calculations of 0 decay matrix elements, indicating that 0 decay is not sensitive to model approximations and might therefore be more accurately calculated than the strongly suppressed 2 decay matrix elements.     

Chemiluminescence sequential injection immunoassay for vitellogenin using magnetic microbeads

A rapid and sensitive immunoassay for the determination of carp vitellogenin (Vg) is described. The method involves a sequential injection analysis (SIA) system equipped with a chemiluminescence detector and a samarium-cobalt magnet. An anti-Vg monoclonal antibody, immobilized on magnetic beads, was used as a solid support for the immunoassay. The introduction, trapping and release of the magnetic beads in the flow cell were controlled by a samarium-cobalt magnet and the flow of the carrier solution. The immunoassay was based on a sandwich immunoreaction of anti-Vg monoclonal antibody (primary antibody) on the magnetic beads, Vg, and the anti-Vg antibody labeled with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) (secondary antibody), and was based on a subsequent chemiluminescence reaction of HRP with hydrogen peroxide and p-iodophenol, in a luminol solution. The magnetic beads to which the primary antibody was immobilized were prepared by coupling the primary antibody with the magnetic beads after an agarose-layer on the surface of the magnetic beads was epoxidized. The primary antibody-immobilized magnetic beads were introduced, and trapped in the flow cell equipped with the samarium-cobalt magnet, a Vg sample solution, an HRP-labeled secondary antibody solution and the luminol solution were sequentially introduced into the flow cell based on an SIA programmed sequence. Chemiluminescence emission was monitored by means of a photomultiplier located at the upper side of the flow cell. The optimal incubation times both for the first and second immunoreactions were determined to be 20 min. A concave calibration curve was obtained between Vg concentration and chemiluminescence intensity when various concentrations of standard Vg samples (2–100 ng mL⁻¹) were applied to the SIA system under optimal conditions. In spite of a narrow working range, the lower detection limit of the immunoassay was about 2 ng mL⁻¹.     

Extensive oxygen exchange between carbon dioxide and magnesium oxide surface

Temperature-programmed desorption study of C¹⁸O₂ adsorbed on MgO has revealed that the desorbed carbon dioxide is composed exclusively of C¹⁶O₂, indicating that the adsorbed CO₂ species roll over the MgO surface.     

Zooxanthellamide A, a novel polyhydroxy metabolite from a marine dinoflagellate of Symbiodinium sp.

A novel polyhydroxy metabolite named Zooxanthellamide A, C₁₂₈H₂₂₂N₂O₅₄S₂, was isolated from a cultured marine dinoflagellate, Symbiodinium sp., and the chemical structure was determined by spectroscopic methods.     

Catalytic degradation of polyolefins over hexagonal mesoporous silica: Effect of aluminum addition

Degradations of polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) over pure hexagonal mesoporous silica and aluminum-containing hexagonal mesoporous silica catalysts were studied in a fixed bed catalytic reactor at 380 and 430 °C, respectively. The thermal and catalytic degradations of both PP and PE in liquid-phase-contact and vapor-phase-contact modes over pure hexagonal mesoporous silica had no significant effect on the product yields. The liquid products were widely distributed in hydrocarbons with boiling point ranges of 36–405 °C. By adding a small amount of aluminum to the hexagonal mesoporous material, aluminium-containing hexagonal mesoporous silica exhibited good performance in cracking heavy molecular weight hydrocarbons into light hydrocarbons. High liquid yields and less coke deposits were obtained in liquid-phase-contact reaction with increasing aluminum content. The liquid products were mainly composed of C₅–C₁₀ hydrocarbons with boiling points of 36–174 °C, and propene, butene, and butane were main components in gaseous products. The effect of degradation temperature was not observed on product yields though degradation rate of polyolefin into liquid products was faster. Conversely, in vapor-phase-contact reaction, an increase in gaseous yield was observed when increasing the amount of aluminum and temperature of the cracking reactor, while the residue yield remained constant.     

Information market games

In this paper information markets with perfect patent protection and only one initial owner of the information are studied by means of cooperative game theory. To each information market of this type a cooperative game with sidepayments is constructed. These cooperative games are called information (market) games. The set of all information games with fixed player set is a cone in the set of all cooperative games with the same player set. Necessary and sufficient conditions are given in order that a cooperative game is an information game. The core of this kind of games is not empty and is also the minimal subsolution of the game. The core is the image of an (n-1)-dimensional hypercube under an affine transformation, (= hyperparallellopiped), the nucleolus and -value coincide with the center of the core. The Shapley value is computed and may lie inside or outside the core. The Shapley value coincides with the nucleolus and the -value if and only if the information game is convex. In this case the core is also a stable set.