Measurement of coagulation factor antibody levels is useful for diagnosis and determining therapeutic efficacy in hemorrhagic patients with autoantibodies to coagulation factor VIII and factor V: results from a single center in Japan.

Coagulation factor inhibitors (CFIs) sometimes cause fatal bleeding conditions. Determination of an inhibitor titer (INH-titer) using the Bethesda method is essential for diagnosing diseases associated with CFIs and examining the effects of immunosuppressive therapy. We reviewed 17 cases with CFIs (acquired hemophilia A, n = 11; FV inhibitor, n = 6) to examine the usefulness of determining quantities of an autoantibody to a coagulation factor (CF-IgG) by ELISA for diagnosis and therapeutic efficacy, as compared with INH-titer.

Motion analysis of wheelchair propulsion movements in hemiplegic patients: effect of a wheelchair cushion on suppressing posterior pelvic tilt.

[Purpose] This study sought to ascertain whether, in hemiplegic patients, the effect of a wheelchair cushion to suppress pelvic posterior tilt when initiating wheelchair propulsion would continue in subsequent propulsions. [Subjects] Eighteen hemiplegic patients who were able to propel a wheelchair in a seated position participated in this study. [Methods] An adjustable wheelchair was fitted with a cushion that had an anchoring function, and a thigh pad on the propulsion side was removed.

When a text is translated does the complexity of its vocabulary change? Translations and target readerships.

In linguistic studies, the academic level of the vocabulary in a text can be described in terms of statistical physics by using a "temperature" concept related to the text's word-frequency distribution. We propose a "comparative thermo-linguistic" technique to analyze the vocabulary of a text to determine its academic level and its target readership in any given language. We apply this technique to a large number of books by several authors and examine how the vocabulary of a text changes when it is translated from one language to another.

Clinical study of biocompatibility between open and closed heparin-coated cardiopulmonary bypass circuits.

The objective of this study was to investigate the difference between the closed circuit system and the open circuit system in clinical heparin-coated cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) circuits with a centrifugal pump. We evaluated the coagulation, fibrinolysis, and inflammatory response in valvular heart surgery. Nineteen patients were assigned at random to a group for the closed circuit system or the open circuit system.

Experimental study of critical exponents of electrical conductivity in a two-dimensional continuum percolation system.

In this paper an experimental study is presented for critical exponents of electrical conductivity in an inverse Swiss-cheese model. Filled circles are drawn on random positions of square paper in drawing ink with an X-Y plotter, and electrical resistance between both opposite sides is measured automatically by the use of general purpose interface bus system. Electrical conductivity is obtained from the inverse of the electrical resistance.