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Whether free fatty acids (FFAs), which are generators of reactive oxygen species and substrates of cytotoxic lipid peroxidation products in proximal tubules of the kidney, can be a predictor of worsening renal function (WRF) is not fully elucidated. A total of 110 patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention within 24 h after symptom onset were included. The exclusion criteria were out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, vasospastic angina, hemodialysis, and/or lack of data. FFAs and serum cystatin C were measured on admission, and urinary liver-type fatty acid-binding protein (L-FABP) was measured 3 h after admission. WRF, defined as an increase in serum creatinine by ≥ 0.3 mg/dL for 2-year follow-up, was observed in 16 patients (15%). A multivariate logistic regression analysis (a stepwise algorithm) revealed that the FFA level was an independent predictor of WRF (P = 0.024). The FFA level was associated with WRF adjusted after serum cystatin C (odds ratio [OR]: 1.378 per 1 mEq/L, P = 0.017), L-FABP (OR: 1.370 per 1 mEq/L, P = 0.016), or the Mehran contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) risk score (OR: 1.362 per 1 mEq/L, P = 0.021). The FFA level was inversely associated with the change in estimated glomerular filtration rate level for 2 years (R2 = 0.051, P = 0.018). The FFA level on admission was associated with the mid-term WRF in patients with STEMI.

A stop-hole, which is drilling at the crack tip, is one of the famous tentative repairs of fatigue cracks in steel structures. When the crack becomes longer, the stress concentration of the stop-hole also increases. Therefore, during the tentative repair of long fatigue cracks, the chances for re-initiation of the fatigue cracks from the stop holes are high. The bolting stop-hole method is a useful technique against fatigue cracks. In this technique, bolting is applied only for the stop-holes at the crack tips. Therefore, as the crack length increases, the effect of the bolting stop-hole method decreases. In this paper, the authors propose a stress concentration reduction technique for a stop-hole by bolting the fatigue crack between stop-holes. The effect of the proposed technique was verified by tensile and bending tests of specimens as well as finite element analysis. From the tensile and bending tests, it was clarified that the stress concentration of the stop-hole was drastically reduced by bolting a crack under the condition before the slippage of bolts. Additionally, multi-bolting cracks have the advantage of improving the slippage load of the bolts in a crack. Furthermore, finite element analysis verified the reduction in stress concentration of the stop-hole by bolting a crack, and the effectiveness of bolting cracks and stop-holes was also shown.

The aim of the present study was to determine whether urinary 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), which is a marker of oxidative stress, can predict future cardiovascular death in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). A total of 551 consecutive patients with ACS who underwent admission urinary 8-OHdG measurements were enrolled in this study. The patients were divided into 2 groups according to the optimal cutoff value of admission urinary 8-OHdG determined by a receiver-operating characteristics curve for the prediction of cardiovascular death: a high admission urinary 8-OHdG group, 169 patients with admission urinary 8-OHdG ≥ 17.92 ng/mg creatinine; and a low admission urinary 8-OHdG group, 382 patients with admission urinary 8-OHdG

Adiponectin (APN) has cardioprotective properties and bisoprolol has been reported to increase myocardial APN expression and reduce myocardial damage. Administration of landiolol, which has a higher cardio-selectivity and shorter half-life than bisoprolol, during the percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) may increase serum APN and high-molecular weight (HMW)-APN, an active form of APN, in patients with stable angina pectoris (SAP). We recruited 70 patients with SAP and randomized them to intravenous landiolol during PCI (N = 35) or control group (N = 35). The primary endpoint was serum APN and HMW-APN level 3 days after PCI. There was no difference in the primary endpoint between the landiolol and control groups (8.93 ± 5.24 vs. 10.18 ± 5.81 μg/mL, p = 0.35 and 3.36 ± 2.75 vs. 4.28 ± 3.13 μg/mL, p = 0.20) for APN and HMW-APN levels, respectively. APN and HMW-APN level were significantly decreased 1 day after PCI [−0.55 ± 0.92 μg/mL (9.87–9.32 μg/mL), p

The Diamondback 360® coronary orbital atherectomy system (OAS) can safely debulk calcified lesions by pullback of the crown, if the crown is advanced to the distal of the lesion. The aim of this study was to compare crossability with two types of crown in OAS. Thirty-six consecutive severely calcified lesions in 33 patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention with the coronary OAS were included. The micro crown was used in 18 consecutive lesions from April 2018 to February 2019, and the classic crown with the glide assist was used in 18 consecutive lesions from March 2019 to August 2019. Good crossability was defined as the ability to cross the lesion before orbital atherectomy or to cross the lesion with a first session of orbital atherectomy. We also tried to elucidate whether the crown could cross the lesion without using the glide assist in 13 consecutive lesions at the end of the classic crown cases. Good crossability was more often observed in cases with the classic crown (17 of 18 lesions, 94%) than the micro crown (6 of 18 lesions, 33%) (P

Recently, a repair method by bonding patch plates is being applied to corroded steel structures. However, one of the issues of patch plate bonding repair is the brittle debonding of the patch plates. Generally, when the delamination of the patch plates occurs, the composite effect acting between the steel members and patch plates abruptly decreases. Therefore, to prevent the brittle debonding of the patch plates, a repair method combining an adhesive and stud bolts is proposed. Till date, tensile and compressive tests have been performed for the proposed method. In this study, plate bending tests were conducted to verify the effectiveness of this method under bending conditions. Furthermore, two types of epoxy resin-based adhesives were prepared to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method with different adhesive properties. The test results show that the proposed method is able to prevent the brittle debonding of the patch plates in the case of both epoxy resins.

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP), plates bonding repair method is one of the simple repair methods for cracked steel structures. In this study, the influence of width of CFRP plates on bending fatigue life of out-of-plane gusset joint strengthened with CFRP plates was investigated from the experimental and numerical point of view. In the bending fatigue test of cracked out-of-plane gusset joint strengthened with CFRP plates, the effect of width of CFRP plates on crack growth life was clarified experimentally. Namely, it was revealed that the crack growth life becomes larger with increasing the width of CFRP plates. In the numerical approach, the stress intensity factor (SIF) at the surface point of a semi-elliptical surface crack was estimated based on the linear fracture mechanics. Furthermore, the extended fatigue life of cracked out-of-plane gusset joint strengthened with CFRP plates was evaluated by using the estimated SIF at the surface point and the empirical formula of the aspect ratio of semi-elliptical crack. As the results of numerical analysis, the estimated fatigue life of the specimen strengthened with CFRP plates showed the good agreement with the test results.

In steel members strengthened by carbon-fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates, the thermal stresses are introduced in the steel members, the CFRP plates and the adhesive layers when temperature changes because the linear thermal expansion coefficients of steel and CFRP are mismatched. As so far, the authors proposed a technique to reduce the thermal stress in steel members strengthened by CFRP plates, which involves bonding aluminum alloy plates with CFRP plates. In the proposed method, the thermal stress in steel member can be reduced so that there are negligible levels of stress in steel member when the cross sectional areas of CFRP and aluminum plates are designed to correspond to the coefficient of thermal expansion of steel, even though the thermal stresses are introduced in the CFRP and aluminum plates. In this study, to confirm the maintaining the thermal stress reduction in steel member by proposed method, thermal stress measurement in steel plate strengthened by CFRP and aluminum plates was carried out about 21 months. In this research, the thermal stress introduced in the steel plate strengthened by CFRP plates was also measured. Furthermore, to assume the thermal shear and normal (peel) stresses in adhesive layers, FE analysis with plane stress element was employed. As the result, it was shown the thermal stresses in steel plate with CFRP plate were able to calculate by using composite theory and measured temperature. Furthermore, in steel plate strengthened by CFRP and aluminum plates, the thermal stress introduced in steel plate was negligible-small through the all-season. It was found the thermal stresses in steel plate with CFRP plates as well as CFRP and aluminum plates were also estimated by using composite theory and measured temperature. In the steel plate strengthened by CFRP and aluminum plates, the thermal shear and normal stresses in adhesive layer glued to steel plate become smaller than that in the conventional CFRP bonded specimen. However, the shear stress in adhesive layers between CFRP and aluminum plates in proposed method was higher than the thermal stress in adhesive layers between CFRP plates in conventional method.

Carbon fiber reinforced plastic, CFRP, plates bonding method is one of the new repair methods for fatigue cracks. In this method, propagation of fatigue crack will be delay because of the suppression of crack opening by crack bridging and stress reduction by composite effect of bonding CFRP plates. In this study, to clarify the effect of bonding CFRP plates on fatigue life extension, bending fatigue tests were carried out. First, fatigue tests on the specimens in as-welded condition were conducted until fatigue crack propagated to 10mm away from the weld toe. Then, fatigue crack was covered by CFRP plates and the specimens were re-tested until fatigue crack penetrated through the base plate. As the results of bending fatigue tests, the fatigue test data of the specimens repaired by bonding CFRP plates showed much longer fatigue life compared with that in as-welded condition, under stress ratio, R=0 and -infinity

ICR (Impact Crack-closure Retrofit) treatment was developed for extending fatigue life of cracked steel structures by closing the fatigue crack opening. By applying the ICR treatment to as-welded condition, compressive stress remains at weld toe. Therefore, ICR treatment can be used for the improvement of fatigue strength of welded joint at the same level of the other fatigue strength improved techniques. If a compression overload is subjected after ICR treatment, however, the residual compressive stress at weld toe will shift the tensile stress region. Accordingly, improved fatigue strength of welded joints by ICR treatment will be reduced after the compression overloaded. In order to investigate the effect of the compression overload on fatigue strength improved by ICR treatment, fatigue tests of out-of-plane gusset specimens were carried out. As the results, fatigue strength improved by ICR treatment was hardly reduced under the compression overload condition of nominal stress of −190 MPa.

Concrete Filled Tubular steel (CFT) member, which represents a superb deformability due to well-known confined effect between steel tube and concrete, has been used mainly as bridge pier. As a progressive composite member, Concrete Filled Double tubular steel (CFDT), which is consist of double skin steel tubes and filled concrete between them, has been proposed. Although a lot of reports on mechanical characteristics of the CFDT member are presently published, the necessity of shear connector for the CFDT member has not been addressed. In this research, the shear connector was installed at the interface between tubes and concrete in the CFDT member. To investigate the effect of the shear connector on the bending characteristics, the four points bending test were carried out. The results show that integrating the steel tubes and concrete enhances its bearing capacity. Furthermore, the strains of outer and inner tubes were also discussed in this paper.

We compiled and analyzed long-term data, including chemical, physical and phytoplankton community data, for the Lake Biwa ecosystem from 1962 to 2003. Analyses on environmental data indicate that Lake Biwa had experienced intensified eutrophication (according to total phosphorus concentration) in the late 1960s and returned to a less eutrophic status around 1985, and then exhibited rapid warming and thus increased water column stability since 1990. Total phytoplankton cell volume largely followed the trend of total phosphorus concentration, albeit short-term fluctuations existed. However, phytoplankton community shifted dramatically in response to those changes of environmental states. These shifts were cause by changes in trophic status driven by phosphorus loadings and physical properties in the water column driven by warming. Moreover, most phytoplankton species did not show a strong linear correlation with environmental variables, suggesting nonlinear transitions among different states.

In Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, the water of lakes and rivers showed high dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration, 5-50mgC/l. There was a clear relationship between DOC concentration and pH. DOC also contributed to low water transparency in the studied lakes. Water colors measured by spectrophotometer showed a strong relationship with DOC concentration, indicating high applicability of water color measurement for estimation of DOC. The development of a simple but quick estimation of DOC will contribute to understanding the seasonal dynamics of DOC, which might regulate both abiotic and biotic conditions in aquatic ecosystems in this area.

Forty-eight-hour experimental manipulations of zooplankton biomass were performed to examine the potential effects of zooplankton on nutrient availability and phytoplankton biomass (as measured by seston concentration) and C : N : P stoichiometry in eutrophic nearshore waters of Lake Biwa, Japan. Increasing zooplankton, both mixed-species communities and Daphnia alone, consistently reduced seston concentration, indicating that nearshore phytoplankton were generally edible. The zooplankton clearance rates of inshore phytoplankton were similar to rates measured previously for offshore phytoplankton. Increased zooplankton biomass led to increased concentrations of nutrients (NH4-N, soluble reactive phosphorus [SRP]). Net release rates were higher than those found in previous measurements made offshore, reflecting the nutrient-rich nature of inshore seston. Zooplankton nutrient recycling consistently decreased TIN : SRP ratios (TIN = NH4 + NO3 + NO2). This effect probably resulted from the low N : P ratios of nearshore seston, which were lower than those commonly found in crustacean zooplankton and thus resulted in low retention efficiency of P (relative to N) by the zooplankton. Thus, zooplankton grazing inshore may ameliorate algal blooms due to direct consumption but tends to create nutrient supply conditions with low N : P, potentially favoring cyanobacteria. In comparison with previous findings for offshore, it appears that potential zooplankton effects on phytoplankton and nutrient dynamics differ qualitatively in inshore and offshore regions of Lake Biwa.

Long-term follow-up was performed in patients with intra-Hisian atrioventricular (AV) block who were implanted with permanent pacemakers. Subjects were 14 consecutive patients (3 men and 11 women, 65.4±9.7 [SD] years old), who exhibited intra-Hisian block at the time of pacemaker generators were replaced due to battery depletion. Electrophysiological examinations were performed at both the initial implantation and pacemaker replacement. The mean duration from the initial implantation to the replacement was 9.4±4.3 years. All patients had severe symptoms such as syncope, dizziness, or dyspnea, and these symptoms were relieved by pacemaker implantation. Seven patients had complete AV block, and the other seven had advanced or paroxysmal AV block at the time of implantation. Seven patients, who had advanced AV block at the time of implantation, developed complete AV block. Five of the seven patients who had complete AV block at the time of implantation remained in complete AV block, one patient had advanced AV block, and one patient of complete AV block increased significantly from 50% to 93% during the two electrophysiological examinations (P

1. Es wurde nachgewiesen, das das Parotin die Eiweissynthese fordert, weil es Aminosaure und Harnstoff reduziert, die Turnover-Rate der RNS- und DNS-P vermehrt, den Einbau von C14-Glykokoll in das Lebereiweis beschleunigt und auf die im Eiweisstoffwechsel beteiligten Enzyme wirkt. 2. Das Parotin beschleunigt die Erholung des Gesamteiweises im Plasma nach der Plasmapherese und das Wachstum junger Ratten. 3. Das Parotin beschleunigt den Citronensaurecyclus und das P:O-Verhaltnis, d. h. die oxydative Phosphorylierung.

1. Es wurde bestatigt, das Parotin bei 7 Myasthenikern bessere Wirkungen als bei den bisher bekannten Arzneimitteln beobachtet wurde, mit Ausnahme einer Patientin, bei der die Parotininjektionen wegen des Fiebers ausgesetzt wurden.