Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index as a Possible Predictor of Decline in Kidney Function in Older People.

Background: The Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) is associated with morbidity and mortality in older individuals. Our study explored the relationship between GNRI, decline in kidney function, and all-cause mortality in older individuals.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study analyzed data from participants aged ≥60 years who underwent a general health checkup between 2002 and 2018.

Application of Double Piping Theory to Parallel-Arrayed Low-Pressure Membrane Module Header Pipe and Experimental Verification of Flow Distribution Evenness.

In this study, the improvement effect of flow distribution evenness is evaluated quantitatively by applying the double piping theory to a parallel-arrayed low-pressure membrane module header pipe structure, and its feasibility is discussed. Orifice inner pipes to be inserted into a full-scale membrane module header pipe are designed via the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique, and the flow rates into 10 membrane modules are measured in real time using a portable ultrasonic flowmeter during operation to verify the effect. Results of CFD simulation and actual measurements show that the outflow rate from the branch pipe located at the end of the existing header pipe is three times higher than the flow rate from the branch pipe near the inlet.

A Study on the Evaluation of Flow Distribution Evenness in Parallel-Arrayed-Type Low-Pressure Membrane Module Piping.

The objectives of this study were to measure the flow rate distribution from a header pipe to each module installed in parallel for a water treatment membrane filtration process in operation and to investigate the reason for an uneven distribution of the flow rate via the CFD technique. In addition, this study attempted to propose the ratio of the branch pipe to the header pipe required to equalize the flow distribution for the same membrane filtration process. Finally, the relationship between the Reynolds number in the header pipe and the degree of the manifold flow distribution evenness was investigated.

Improving flow distribution in influent channels using computational fluid dynamics.

Although the flow distribution in an influent channel where the inflow is split into each treatment process in a wastewater treatment plant greatly affects the efficiency of the process, and a weir is the typical structure for the flow distribution, to the authors' knowledge, there is a paucity of research on the flow distribution in an open channel with a weir. In this study, the influent channel of a real-scale wastewater treatment plant was used, installing a suppressed rectangular weir that has a horizontal crest to cross the full channel width. The flow distribution in the influent channel was analyzed using a validated computational fluid dynamics model to investigate (1) the comparison of single-phase and two-phase simulation, (2) the improved procedure of the prototype channel, and (3) the effect of the inflow rate on flow distribution.

Arousal with iv epinephrine depends on the depth of anesthesia.

Purpose: To investigate whether the depth of anesthesia affects the change in the bispectral index (BIS) caused by iv epinephrine during propofol anesthesia.

Methods: Forty women undergoing elective lower abdominal surgery received a propofol target controlled infusion (TCI) to maintain a modified Observer's Assessment of Alertness/Sedation (OAA/S) score of 2 (sedation period). Subsequently anesthesia was induced with propofol TCI 5 mug.

Effects of botulinum toxin type A on the superior cervical ganglia in rabbits.

Sympathetic neurolysis is very important in treating chronic pain, especially sympathetically maintained pain. However, conventional neurolytic agents destroy nerve fibers nonselectively and may leave serious complications. Botulinum toxin type A (BTA) selectively acts on cholinergic nerves and inhibits the secretion of acetylcholines (Ach) at the involved nerve endings.