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We evaluated the analgesic effects of multimodal pain control in which intravenous acetaminophen (IV APAP) was added to the standard protocol for Japanese patients who had undergone a total hip arthroplasty (THA). We performed a retrospective cohort study of 180 patients aged 66.4±10.5 years (30% male) who had undergone a THA (Oct. 2014 to Feb. 2015) at our hospital. The control patients were administered the standard analgesic protocol: flurbiprofen axetil as a continuous intravenous infusion and oral celecoxib (NAPAP; n=109). The patients in the new analgesic protocol group received IV APAP in addition to the standard analgesic protocol (APAP; n=71). The primary outcome was the maximum value of postoperative pain the patients reported on a numerical rating scale (NRS) during the first 24 h post-surgery. A univariate analysis and multivariate analyses adjusted for age, sex, the stage of hip osteoarthritis, preoperative pain, and surgical time showed that the maximum postoperative pain NRS scores during the first 24 h after surgery was significantly lower when the APAP protocol was used. The addition of IV APAP to the current standard multimodal analgesia protocol for Japanese patients who have undergone a THA may decrease the patients’ postoperative pain.

We have measured the vibrationally resolved partial cross sections \sigma_{v_1^{\prime}} and asymmetry parameters \beta_{v_1^{\prime}} for C K-shell photoionization of the CO2 molecule in the Σu shape resonance region above the C K-shell ionization threshold. The positions of both the maxima of \sigma_{v_1^{\prime}} and the minima of \beta_{v_1^{\prime}} move towards the C K-shell threshold with increasing symmetric stretching vibrational excitation v'1 in the C 1s single-hole state. Calculations employing the relaxed-core Hartree–Fock approach reproduce the observed vibrational effects.

We present experimental evidence for pronounced electron transfer from C to F+ happening during the breakup of CH3F+ ions in gas phase produced by resonant photoemission following F 1s to 6a1* core excitation of CH3F. We measured the momentum of the ionic fragments in coincidence with the F KVV Auger electrons that show a Doppler shift reflecting the motion of the F nucleus. The correlation between Doppler shift and ion momentum is opposite for the F+ and the CH2+ fragments, indicating that CH2+ is produced by electron transfer from C to F+, after the Auger electron emission from excited moving F. This finding is rationalized by calculations of the potential energy curves of the main states involved in the excitation and decay processes.

Vibrationally resolved spectra have been obtained for the lowest-lying cationic states X(2B1), A(2A1) and B(2B2) of the water molecule reached after participator resonant Auger decay of core-excited states. The angular distribution has been measured for the first four vibrational components of the X-state in the photon energy regions including the O1s->4a1 and the O1s->2b2 core excitations, and for different portions of the vibrational envelope of the B-state in the photon energy region including the O1s->2b2 core excitation. For the X-state, a large relative spread in beta values of the different vibrational components is observed across both resonances. For the B-state, a very different trend is observed for the high binding energy side and the low binding energy side of the related spectral feature as a function of photon energy. A theoretical method based on the scattering K-matrix has been used to calculate both the photoabsorption spectrum and the beta values, by taking both interference between direct and resonant photoemission and vibrational/lifetime interference into account. The numerical results show qualitative agreement with the trends detected in the experimental values and explain the conspicuous variations of the beta values primarily in terms of coupling between direct and resonant photoemission by interaction terms of different sign for different final vibrational states.

A new type of multilayer film analytical element--consisting of a spreading layer, a blocking layer, an enzymic reagent layer, and a transparent layer--has been developed for blood glucose determination. After a spot of whole blood is dropped on the film, the plasma glucose concentration is determined in 6 min without further manipulations. Precise measurement of sample volume spotted on the film is not necessary for good results, nor is knowledge of the hematocrit in the range 10-46%. The minimum concentration of glucose detectable by this method is 100 mg/L. The coefficients of variation, within-run and between-run, were all less than 2.5% for 800-4000 mg/L glucose concentrations. Macromolecules and hydrophobic substances in blood did not interfere. This method seems suitable for emergency use, especially.

We hypothesized that endothelin-1 (ET-1) is an important mediator in renal dysfunction under septic conditions. This study clarified the pathophysiologic role of ET-1 in renal function under conditions of surgical stress, especially sepsis.We investigated the correlation between ET-1 levels and renal function and the effect of anti-ET-1 antibody (AwET-1N40) on renal function in a septic shock rat model.The plasma ET-1 level increased significantly at 30 minutes and remained significantly elevated for 24 hours, reaching a peak (195 +/- 24.4 pg/ml) 3 hours after the endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide derived from Escherichia coli) injection. Increases in plasma creatinine concentration and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) level and decreases in urine volume and urinary sodium excretion were also observed in the early phase after endotoxin injection. The plasma creatinine concentration and the plasma ET-1 level increased significantly at 30 minutes, reached a peak at 3 hours, and then decreased. Anti-ET-1 antibody administration (5 nmol/kg body, four times intravenously) decreased plasma creatinine concentration and BUN level and increased urine volume and urinary sodium excretion 3 hours after endotoxin injection (creatinine, p = 0.07; BUN, p0.05; urine volume, p0.01; urinary sodium excretion, p0.01; anti-ET-1 vs shams).These results suggest that the increase in endogenous ET-1 induced by sepsis plays an important role in renal dysfunction in the septic state.

Fragmentation of the SF6 molecule upon F 1s excitation has been studied by resonant photoemission. The F atomiclike Auger line exhibits the characteristic Doppler profile that depends on the direction of the photoelectron momentum relative to the polarization vector of the radiation as well as on the photon energy. The measured Doppler profiles are analyzed by the model simulation that takes account of the anisotropy of the Auger emission in the molecular frame. The Auger anisotropy extracted from the data decreases with an increase in the F–SF5 internuclear distance.

Angle-resolved resonant Auger-electron spectroscopy has been carried out on the nitrogen molecule at selected photon energies around 419 eV, where a 1s core electron and two valence electrons are promoted into the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital 1πg. Significant enhancement of a specific band, which cannot be disentangled in direct photoionization, is observed at a binding energy of 37.6 eV, with a value of the anisotropy parameter β much smaller than 2. We assign this new band to the transition to a doubly excited cationic state of N2, in which two of the excited valence electrons remain in the 1πg orbital, proposing a "double spectator" type decay mechanism. This observation shows how to preferentially probe multiply excited configurations of cations using multiple resonant excitation.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: On diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), metastatic tumors of the brain may exhibit different signal intensities (SI) depending on their histology and cellularity. The purpose of our study was to verify the hypotheses (1) that SI on DWI predict the histology of metastases and (2) that apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values reflect tumor cellularity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We assessed conventional MR images, DWI, and ADC maps of 26 metastatic brain lesions from 26 patients, 13 of whom underwent surgery after the MR examination. Two radiologists performed qualitative assessment by consensus of the SI on DWI in areas corresponding to their enhancing portions. We measured the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) on T2-weighted images and normalized ADC (nADC) values, and compared them with tumor cellularity. RESULTS: The mean SI on DWI and the CNR on T2-weighted images were significantly lower in well differentiated than in poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas and lesions other than adenocarcinoma. The mean nADC value was significantly higher in well differentiated than poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas and lesions other than adenocarcinoma. All 3 small-cell carcinomas and 1 large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma exhibited high SI on DWI. The nADC value showed a significant inverse correlation with tumor cellularity. There was no significant correlation between the CNR and tumor cellularity. CONCLUSION: The SI on DWI may predict the histology of metastases; well differentiated adenocarcinomas tended to be hypointense, and small- and large-cell neuroendocrine carcinomas showed hyperintensity. Their ADC values reflect tumor cellularity.

Previous studies have shown anti-inflammatory potential of alkaline extract of the leaves of Sasa senanensis Rehder (SE). The aim of the present study was to clarity the molecular entity of SE, using various fractionation methods. SE inhibited the production of nitric oxide (NO), but not tumour necrosis factor-α by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated mouse macrophage-like cells. Lignin carbohydrate complex prepared from SE inhibited the NO production to a comparable extent with SE, whereas chlorophyllin was more active. On successive extraction with organic solvents, nearly 90% of SE components, including chlorophyllin, were recovered from the aqueous layer. Anti-HIV activity of SE was comparable with that of lignin-carbohydrate complex, and much higher than that of chlorophyllin and n-butanol extract fractions. The CYP3A inhibitory activity of SE was significantly lower than that of grapefruit juice and chlorophyllin. Oral administration of SE slightly reduced the number of oral bacteria. When SE was applied to HPLC, nearly 70% of SE components were eluted as a single peak. These data suggest that multiple components of SE may be associated with each other in the native state or after extraction with alkaline solution.

Dynamics of coherent G-mode and D-mode phonons in Ar⁺-ion implanted graphite has been investigated using transient reflectivity measurement. With an increase in the Ar⁺-ion dose, coherent D-mode phonon appears at which the dephasing rate of the coherent G-mode phonon begins to increase. The increase in the amplitude of the coherent D-mode phonon and those in dephasing rates of the coherent D-mode and G-mode phonons indicate effective carrier-defect scatterings in the defective graphite. The dephasing rate of the D-mode is larger than that of the G-mode, indicating an existence of an additional dephasing process for the D-mode. We attribute it to the broad spectral distribution of the D-mode phonon, which is understood as a coherent excitation of large wavevector phonons with different wavevectors through inter-Dirac-cone scattering. The frequency chirping of the D-mode and its defect density dependence are also discussed based on this scattering mechanism.