The drying process in agriculture is energy-intensive and traditionally relies on fossil fuels, which are becoming less reliable and more expensive. This study designed and simulated a hybrid solar hot plate dryer system using the computer to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. The system's main components are a flat plate collector, photovoltaic panels, and a wind turbine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProtein phosphorylation, controlled by protein kinases, is central to regulating various pathophysiological processes, including cardiac systolic function. The dysregulation of protein kinase activity plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of cardiac systolic dysfunction. While cardiac contraction mechanisms are well documented, the mechanisms underlying cardiac diastole remain elusive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe release of pressure from a high-pressure-stable polymer/gas solution is a common method for creating gas bubbles and forming foam with a typical polyhedral cell structure. We propose a new approach to control the foaming process by pausing the bubble growth at intermediate pressure before reaching ambient pressure. This allows us to control the growth of the bubbles and investigate various physical phenomena involved in polymer foaming, such as Ostwald ripening, bubble interactions, coalescence, and different bubble growth regimes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlast Reconstr Surg Glob Open
October 2024
Among super-microsurgical techniques, the anastomosis of vessels smaller than 0.5 mm is very difficult to perform due to the small diameter and thinness of the blood and lymphatic vessel walls. In this article, we report on the main points of super microsurgery, particularly on the anastomosis of veins and lymphatic vessels with diameters smaller than 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Tumors in or near the foramen magnum may cause communicating or non-communicating hydrocephalus (HC), depending on their size and location. Here, an 81-year-old female developed communicating HC following the resection of a meningioma ventral to the foramen magnum.
Case Description: An 81-year-old female presented with numbness in the left neck and left hemiparesis.
Down syndrome (DS) is associated with several endocrine disorders, including diabetes, obesity, and primary hypogonadism. Here, we present a man with DS who manifested with atypical hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and in whom weight loss resulted in the improvement of hypothalamic GH deficiency. A 27-year-old man with DS and severe obesity was admitted for hypoxia resulting from obesity hypoventilation syndrome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study explores the adhesive properties of copolymers comprising glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (MPTMS), focusing on their suitability for adhesive applications. Peel resistance measurements revealed a substantial impact of the GMA/MPTMS ratio on adhesion capabilities, identifying an optimal ratio of 30/70 for copolymerization with -butyl acrylate (BA) to improve foaming performance. BA, a foaming monomer activated by a photoacid generator and heat, enhances the copolymerized adhesive's adhesion strength and foamability for postuse delamination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA nonvolatile optical phase shifter is a critical component for enabling the fabrication of programmable photonic integrated circuits on a Si photonics platform, facilitating communication, computing, and sensing. Although ferroelectric materials such as BaTiO offer nonvolatile optical phase shift capabilities, their compatibility with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor fabs is limited. HfZrO is an emerging ferroelectric material, which exhibits complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor compatibility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStomata play a pivotal role in balancing CO uptake for photosynthesis and water loss via transpiration. Thus, appropriate regulation of stomatal movement and its formation are crucial for plant growth and survival. Red and blue light induce phosphorylation of the C-terminal residue of the plasma membrane (PM) H-ATPase, threonine, in guard cells, generating the driving force for stomatal opening.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOn the basis of our numerous years of experience in teaching residents without microsurgery experience and assisting in the initiation of microsurgery in clinical practice, we herein describe the general procedures and crucial aspects to consider regarding microsurgery and supermicrosurgery training for residents. The description focuses on training methods, surgical skills, and training time and effort. The target audience of the training is residents who have never performed microsurgery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntimicrob Steward Healthc Epidemiol
November 2023
The detection rate of multidrug-resistant in patients admitted to 2 wards and the intensive care unit decreased from 20.3% (129 of 636 isolates) to 4.2% (37 of 889 isolates) after the start of disinfection of hand washing sinks using alkyl diaminoethylglycine hydrochloride.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Traumatic middle meningeal artery (MMA)-middle meningeal vein (MMV) fistula (MMA-MMV fistula) and MMA pseudoaneurysm are the 2 main MMA-related vascular diseases occurring after blunt head trauma. These are rare but known causes of delayed intracranial hemorrhage. This study investigated predictors that may aid in the diagnosis of these diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMedicine (Baltimore)
September 2023
A recent study showed that thoracic epidural block (TEB) suppressed the occurrence of major complications after pleurectomy/decortication (P/D) for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) under general anesthesia. To investigate the mechanisms underlying the correlation, both acute inflammatory status and intraoperative nociception were evaluated in the present study. In a single-institutional observational study, consecutive adult patients undergoing P/D were enrolled from March 2019 to April 2022.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe plastication of pellets in a co-rotating twin-screw extruder is a significant concern for product homogeneity and stability in the plastic industry. We developed a sensing technology for pellet plastication in a plastication and melting zone in a self-wiping co-rotating twin-screw extruder. The collapse of the solid part of the pellets emits an elastic wave as an acoustic emission (AE) that is measured on the kneading section of the twin-screw extruder using homo polypropylene pellets.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSix years prior, the patient accidentally swallowed a denture during a meal and immediately visited a nearby doctor. However, because spontaneous excretion was expected, regular imaging testing was used to monitor it. After 4 years, although the denture was still in the small bowel, as there were no symptoms, the regular follow-up was terminated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is a rare and occasionally fatal undesirable reaction to dopamine antagonists, and its phenotype is diverse owing to causative drugs. Classically, elevation of serum creatine kinase is described in NMS. Some reports have described muscular pathological findings; however, muscle magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has not been reported previously.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) is a critical complication of pancreatectomy in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Recent papers reported that serum carbohydrate antigen (CA)19-9 levels predicted long-term prognosis. We investigated whether preoperative serum CA19-9 levels were associated with POPF in PDAC patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIdeal cancer treatments specifically target and eradicate tumor cells without affecting healthy cells. Therefore, antibody-based therapies that specifically target cancer antigens can be considered ideal cancer therapies. Antibodies linked with small-molecule drugs (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhen the regulation of axonal and dendritic growth is altered, the neuronal network becomes disordered, which may contribute to the development of psychiatric disorders. Some genome analyses have suggested relationships between mutations in strawberry notch homologue 1 (SBNO1) and neurodevelopmental disorders. However, the function of SBNO1 has not yet been reported.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Although PNENs generally have a better prognosis than pancreatic cancers, some PNENs display malignant behavior including lymph node (LN) metastasis. Complete tumor resection can be the only potentially curative treatment for patients with resectable PNENs. However, the indications for LN dissection are still controversial.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Evidence supports endovascular coiling for ruptured intracranial aneurysms (RIAs). However, in some cases, it is difficult to achieve complete occlusion by coiling, such as with wide-neck aneurysms. We report our experience with intentional staged RIA treatment using targeted endovascular coiling at the rupture point in the acute phase, followed by delayed stent-assisted coiling, flow diverter stenting, or surgical clipping.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLeptin, a hormone secreted by adipocytes, exhibits therapeutic potential for the treatment of type 1 diabetes (T1D). Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) is a key enzyme that negatively regulates leptin receptor signaling. Here, the role of PTP1B in the treatment of T1D was investigated using PTP1B-deficient (knockout [KO]) mice and a PTP1B inhibitor.
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