Sensitivity of Electrocardiogram on Electrode-Pair Locations for Wearable Devices: Computational Analysis of Amplitude and Waveform Distortion.

An electrocardiogram (ECG) is used to observe the electrical activity of the heart via electrodes on the body surface. Recently, an ECG with fewer electrodes, such as a bipolar ECG in which two electrodes are attached to the chest, has been employed as wearable devices. However, the effect of different geometrical factors and electrode-pair locations on the amplitude and waveform of ECG signals remains unclear.

Carbon stocks of particle board and fiberboard in Japan.

The carbon stock function of harvested wood products (HWPs) is attracting attention among climate change countermeasures. Among HWPs, particle board (PB) and fiberboard (FB) mainly use recycled materials. This study estimated carbon stocks of PB and FB and their annual changes over the past 70 years in Japan using three methods of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change guidelines: Tiers 1-3.

[Paliperidone, risperidone].

Risperidone, a serotonin-dopamine antagonist, is effective in preventing delusions and hallucinations by D2 receptor antagonism and treating negative symptoms by 5-HT2A receptor antagonism. It is less likely to produce extrapyramidal symptoms than conventional antipsychotics, enabling safe drug therapy for schizophrenia. Paliperidone, based on 9OH-risperidone(major metabolite of risperidone), was developed to make the best use of the high therapeutic efficacy of Risperdal and enable continued treatment with lower prevalence of adverse events.

Detecting damaged regions of cerebral white matter in the subacute phase after carbon monoxide poisoning using voxel-based analysis with diffusion tensor imaging.

Introduction: The present study aimed to detect the main regions of cerebral white matter (CWM) showing damage in the subacute phase for CO-poisoned patients with chronic neurological symptoms using voxel-based analysis (VBA) with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).

Methods: Subjects comprised 22 adult CO-poisoned patients and 16 age-matched healthy volunteers as controls. Patients were classified into patients with transient acute symptoms only (group A) and patients with chronic neurological symptoms (group S).

1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy indicates damage to cerebral white matter in the subacute phase after CO poisoning.

Objective: The authors examined whether (1)H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) can identify damage to the centrum semiovale in the subacute phase after CO exposure.

Methods: Subjects comprised 29 adult patients who were treated with hyperbaric oxygenation within a range of 4-95 h (mean 18.7 h) after CO exposure.

Reduced gastric surface mucus layer in experimental portal hypertension.

The pathogenesis of portal hypertensive gastropathy has not yet been thoroughly elucidated. Changes in the gastric surface mucus layer in prehepatic portal hypertensive and cirrhotic rat models were studied by observing frozen sections fixed with formaldehyde vapor and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. We produced prehepatic portal hypertensive rats by partial ligation of the portal vein, and cirrhotic rats by prolonged administration of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) and phenobarbital sodium.

Functional capacity of the liver after two-thirds partial hepatectomy in the rat.

Background: Liver cell proliferation after partial hepatectomy in rats has been thoroughly investigated. Although DNA synthesis and morphologic restoration have been studied in this rat model, the functional capacity of the remnant liver during regeneration has not been elucidated.

Methods: We measured the indocyanine green disappearance rate (ICG-k) and serum aminopyrine (CLamp) in rats at various intervals after two-thirds hepatectomy.

Evaluation of long-term results of Caroli's disease: 21 years' observation of a family with autosomal "dominant" inheritance, and review of the literature.

A 5-year-old girl underwent laparotomy in 1972 because of hepatomegaly and mottled radiopacities shown by cholangiography. Polycystic segmental dilatation of the intrahepatic bile ducts, typical of Caroli's disease, was found. Thereafter she remained in good health for over 21 years with careful medical management.

Long-term effects of intrasplenically transplanted adult hepatocytes and fetal liver in hyperbilirubinemic Gunn rats.

We performed adult hepatocyte transplantation (HCTx) and fetal liver transplantation (FLTx) into the spleens of hyperbilirubinemic Gunn rats in congenic combination and we compared the long-term effects of these procedures for as long as 12 months. Proliferative activity of intrasplenic hepatocytes was evaluated using antiproliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) immunohistochemical staining. The serum total bilirubin levels (T.

Morphometry of sinusoids and portal hypertension in non-alcoholic cirrhosis.

To examine whether structural changes in hepatocytes and/or sinusoidal areas contribute to the portal hypertensive state in non-alcoholic cirrhosis, a new method of morphometric analysis using a computer-aided color image analyzer was performed in 16 patients with non-alcoholic cirrhosis, which allowed quantitative evaluation of various morphometric parameters of sinusoids and hepatocytes. The sinusoidal pressure gradient was estimated theoretically with these and clearance parameters using Poiseulle's equation and compared with the hepatic venous pressure gradient measure by hepatic vein cannulation. A significant relationship was found between the hepatic venous pressure gradient and sinusoidal volumetric ratio (r = -0.

Study of new prognostic factors of esophageal variceal rupture by use of image processing with a video endoscope.

Background: We studied new prognostic factors of esophageal variceal rupture by analyzing electronic video images of esophageal varices in 30 patients with portal hypertension.

Methods: Fifteen of the patients were emergency or elective cases (bleeders), and the remaining 15 were prophylactic cases (nonbleeders). A comparison was made between the bleeders and nonbleeders in terms of endoscopic findings and the image processing data, especially variceal color tone and red color sign.

Sugiura procedure for management of variceal bleeding in Japan.

During the last three decades the Sugiura procedure and other nonshunting operations have been widely performed as the operations of choice for bleeding esophageal varices in Japan. The Sugiura procedure (University of Tokyo method), a transthoracoabdominal esophageal transection, consists in paraesophageal devascularization, esophageal transection and reanastomosis, splenectomy, and pyloroplasty. The results have been satisfactory with low operative mortality and low rebleeding rate.

[A case of hyperammonemia in chronic renal failure successfully treated with the infusion of NaHCO3].

The present report describes a rare of a 77-year-old woman who developed encephalopathy and metabolic acidosis associated with hyperammonemia, at the introduction of hemodialysis by chronic renal failure. With the intravenous infusion of HCO3-, levels of acidosis and hyperammonemia decreased rapidly. Concomitantly the disturbance of consciousness was improved.