Search

In Japan, dental charting following a disaster is performed by handwriting the information on a paper-based dental chart before manual input into a computer database. Even if available, radiographic facial or intraoral images, regardless of whether they are analogue or digital, must be stored separately from the dental chart. To create a comprehensive and more permanent database accessible worldwide, we developed a system employing digital pens with image microprocessors. This system digitizes and records characters and drawings as they are being handwritten on a microdotted-paper-based post-mortem dental chart. Data stored in the built-in memory of the digital pen are transferred to a computer or tablet via Bluetooth. Using a cognitive wireless router, the information is relayed to a remote data centre. Radiographic and other images are also transferred into the same folder under a unique ID number. After several practical field tests, the system was employed at a landslide disaster in Hiroshima ...

This paper aims to develop the next-generation manufacturing method of plasma display panels (PDPs) which is superior in cost-performance and environmental damage to current methods, by introducing the lift-off process in place of the etching process. The lift-off process, which has been applied in the LSI fields, has been faced problems caused by inappropriate resist profiles, such as difficulty in resist removal and low pattern accuracy. Moreover, in PDP processes, inappropriate profiles cause more serious problems. In this paper, the inversely tapered and T-shaped resist profile is proposed, and its feasibility is experimentally proved. for proper design of the proposed profile, deposition model onto the profile is discussed, and a method based on the model is given.

BackgroundThe interactions between endogenous cytokine antagonists, surgical injury and perioperative infection are poorly understood.MethodsPerioperative plasma concentrations of soluble tumour necrosis factor receptor p55 (STNFR p55), interleukin (IL) 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) and IL-6 were measured by immunoassay in 29 consecutive patients undergoing liver resection.ResultsPlasma concentrations of STNFR p55, IL-1ra and IL-6 showed a striking increase immediately after operation (day 0) and on postoperative day 1. STNFR p55 concentrations correlated significantly with operating time (P < 0·05); IL-1ra levels with operating time, blood loss and weight of resected liver (P < 0·05); and IL-6 concentrations with operating time and blood loss (P < 0·05). Eight of the 29 subjects developed postoperative infections, of whom four had positive cultures of enteric organisms. Plasma STNFR p55 and IL-6 concentrations were significantly higher in the infected group than in the uninfected group (P < 0·05). STNFR p55 and IL-6 concentrations on day 0 differentiated between the two groups with a diagnostic accuracy of 79 and 83 per cent respectively.ConclusionThese results suggest that STNFR p55, IL-1ra and IL-6 are produced during operation in response to surgical stress. This production of STNFR p55 and IL-6 may be enhanced further by intraoperative bacterial translocation. Measurement of plasma STNFR and IL-6 concentrations may predict the development of postoperative infectious complications.

The relation of interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in serum to the postoperative complications was assessed in 50 patients following an extensive hepatectomy. In addition, the postoperative levels of IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-1β in peritoneal exudative fluid were determined in 22 patients. The patients with preoperative biliary obstruction showed a higher incidence of postoperative infection compared to those without (44 vs. 12%, p = 0.043). The postoperative serum IL-6 levels on day 1 were significantly higher in patients with postoperative infection than in those without (p < 0.01). Biliary obstruction and intraoperative blood loss contributed to the increase in the serum IL-6 levels in a multiple regression analysis (p = 0.01 and p = 0.044, respectively). Further, the fluid levels of inflammatory cytokines were significantly higher in patients with biliary obstruction than in those without (p < 0.05). These results suggest that in patients with biliary obstructions a hyperactive cytokine response occurs after an extensive hepatectomy and results in a high incidence of postoperative infection.