ABSTRACT: Radioactivity from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (F-1NPP) accident in deposition samples has been monitored at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS) in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, located about 220 km south-southwest of the F-1NPP. Sampling was carried out from 15 March 2011, two to three times a ...

ABSTRACT: A torso phantom was developed by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) that serves as a standard for intercomparison and intercalibration of detector systems used to measure low-energy photons from radionuclides, such as americium deposited in the lungs. DICOM images of the second-generation Human Monitoring Laboratory-Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory ...

ABSTRACT: Knowledge and lessons from past accidental exposures in radiotherapy are very helpful in finding safety provisions to prevent recurrence. Disseminating lessons is necessary but not sufficient. There may be additional latent risks for other accidental exposures, which have not been reported or have not occurred, but are possible and ...

It is generally accepted that chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) results from pulmonary emboli originating from deep vein thrombosis. However, this consensus opinion has been challenged, and the concept that some aspects of CTEPH exacerbation might result from a small-vessel disease leading to secondary thrombosis has been suggested. In addition ...

To compare different algorithms to determine the oscillometric mean arterial pressure. Using a computer-based model, the accuracy of five algorithms was studied: maximum amplitude algorithm, 33 and 40% formulas calculating the mean arterial pressure from oscillometrically measured systolic and diastolic pressures, and two oscillation shape-based algorithms. We examined to which ...

ABSTRACT: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) operates an environmentally controlled chamber for purposes of exposing various radon and decay product measurement equipment to known Rn concentrations. Exposure durations range from 1 h to several months, and Rn concentrations vary between 37 and 4,440 Bq m. Radon concentrations are generated ...

A3 was generated as an antibody recognizing somatic stem cells in rat tissues. We investigated the distribution of A3-positive cells in developing rat hair follicles by immunolabeling. A3-positive cells began to be seen in the hair germ and peg in fetuses and neonates; the positive cells were epithelial cells above ...

Cell shape is mainly determined by biophysical constraints, interacting according to non-linear dynamics upon the basic units provided by the genome. In turn, the specific configuration a cell acquires plays a fundamental, permissive role in modulating gene expression and many other complex biological functions. Cell shape is tightly connected to ...

ABSTRACT: Effective atomic numbers' (Zeff) effective electron density (Nel) for human organs and tissues have been computed in the energy region of 1 keV to 100 GeV using WinXCOM. The computed data of Zeff and Nel are tabulated. The computed values are compared with previous results. The computed data of ...

Potential risk associated with new nanomaterial exposure needs to be assessed. This in vivo study investigated pulmonary effects of engineered cadmium-containing silica nanoparticles Cd/SiNPs (1 mg/rat), silica SiNPs (600 μg/rat) and CdCl₂ (400 μg/rat) 1, 7 and 30 days after intratracheal instillation. Comprehensive histopathological and immunocytochemical characterization of lung damage ...

ABSTRACT: The authors measured the ambient dose rate and activity concentration of natural radionuclides in raw materials, products, and aerosols on worksites, as well as the Rn and Rn concentrations in an unshaped refractory, a shaped refractory, and an electrocast refractory plant processing zirconium ore in Japan. Estimations were made ...

New blood vessel formation is critical, not only for organ development and tissue regeneration, but also for various pathologic processes, such as tumor development and vasculopathy. The maintenance of the postnatal vascular system requires constant remodeling, which occurs through angiogenesis, vasculogenesis, and arteriogenesis. Vasculogenesis is mediated by the de novo ...

ABSTRACT: The reductive effect of an anti-pollinosis mask against internal exposure from radioactive materials dispersed following the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster was investigated. A single mask was worn continuously for 18 h from 15:00 JST on 15 March to 09:00 JST on 16 March 2011 at the Hongo campus of ...

Ankle blood pressure may be a useful indicator of arterial stiffness. The main aim of the present study was to examine the relationship of ankle blood pressure measured in midlife with the risk of dementia with advancing age. A secondary aim was to examine the relationship of physical exercise capacity ...

ABSTRACT: Indoor radon level measurements were carried out in 42 dwellings in Bethlehem, Palestine, using CR-39 solid state nuclear track detectors. The measurements were performed during winter and spring seasons of the year 2010, for a period ranging from 97-118 d using a total of 100 detectors. The detectors were ...

Recent investigations suggest that glucagon might have a potentially important hepatoprotective activity. We investigated the effect of glucagon in a model of acetaminophen-induced liver injury. CBA male mice were injected intraperitoneally with a lethal (300 mg/kg) or sublethal (150 mg/kg) dose of acetaminophen. The liver injury was assessed by observing ...

There is evidence that breast cancer patients suffer from thyroid disorders. However, the relation between thyroid receptor (TR) expression and breast cancer remains unknown so far. Therefore, the aim of this study was an immunohistochemical analysis of TR expression in breast cancer patients. Materials and methods: The expression of the ...

ABSTRACT: Use of unsealed radiopharmaceuticals in Iran's nuclear medicine centers has expanded rapidly in the last decade. As part of a nationwide survey, this study was undertaken to estimate the radiation risk due to the diagnostic nuclear medicine procedures performed in Tehran in 1999-2003. During the five years of the ...

A single instillation of porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE) results in significant airspace enlargement on the 28th day after instillation, whereas cigarette smoke (CS) exposure requires 6 months to produce mild emphysema in rodents. Considering that there are differences in the pathogenesis of parenchymal destruction in these different experimental models, it ...

ABSTRACT: The characteristics of the thermoluminescence glow curve and dosimetric peak of LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-100) crystals are studied, with emphasis on the evaluation of the influence of the irradiation dose and heating rate on the dosimetric peak (peak 5) trapping parameters. These parameters were obtained using a computerized deconvolution routine that ...

ABSTRACT: The effective dose coefficients tabulated in Publication 80 of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) for the radiopharmaceuticals addressed earlier in ICRP Publication 53 are based on the tissue weighting factors of ICRP Publication 60. Presumably these values are derived from the tissue dose coefficients tabulated in Publication ...

ABSTRACT: A single, large, bulk sample of uranium-contaminated material from the dirt floor of an abandoned metal rolling mill was separated into different types and sizes of aliquots to simulate samples that would be collected during site remediation. The facility rolled approximately 11,000 tons of hot-forged ingots of uranium metal ...

Older adults with chronic kidney disease have a high rate of uncontrolled hypertension. Home monitoring of blood pressure (BP) is an integral part of management, but requires that patients bring records to clinic visits. Telemonitoring interventions, however, have not targeted older, less technologically-skilled populations. Veterans with stage 3 or greater ...

Absence of, or loss-of-function mutations in the dysferlin gene (dysf) result in dysferlinopathy, characterized by increased muscle inflammation, collagen deposition and deterioration in muscle function. We evaluated halofuginone efficacy in improving muscle histopathology in mice with deleted dysf transmembrane domain. Quadriceps sublumbar and longissimus muscles of 9-month-old dysf-/- mice treated ...

ABSTRACT: This work investigated the viability of the portable x-ray fluorescence (PXRF) technique as a means of measuring iron levels in patients suffering from thalassemia major (beta-thalassemia) and hereditary hemochromatosis (HH or Haemochromatosis) or other iron-overload conditions. Measurements were conducted at the University Hospital Blood Center and in the Laboratory ...

Tumor angiogenesis plays important roles in the pathogenesis and prognosis of lung cancer. Both vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and Dll4/Notch pathways are critical for angiogenesis, whereas their relationship under hypoxia in lung cancer remains unknown. Thus, in the present study, we evaluated the expression of VEGF and Dll4/Notch signaling ...

ABSTRACT: The good neutron economy and online refueling capability of the CANDU® heavy water moderated reactor (HWR) enable it to use many different fuels such as low enriched uranium (LEU), plutonium, or thorium, in addition to its traditional natural uranium (NU) fuel. The toxicity and radiological protection methods for these ...

We propose an efficient group sequential monitoring rule for clinical trials. At each interim analysis both efficacy and futility are evaluated through a specified loss structure together with the predicted power. The proposed design is robust to a wide range of priors, and achieves the specified power with a saving ...

Idiopathic portal hypertension (IPH) is a condition of non-cirrhotic portal hypertension without a known cause of liver disease. Obliterative portal venopathy is regarded as the primary lesion, which is responsible for the pre-sinusoidal block of hepatic blood flow leading to the development of IPH. The disease pathogenesis of IPH seems ...

Children with intellectual disabilities (ID) and controls were exposed to an incidental learning phase, where half of the participants received highly implicit instructions at test while the other half received explicit instructions. When learning was assessed for simple chunks of information, children with ID performed better with implicit instructions than ...

PankoMab-GEX™ is a novel humanized and glycooptimized antibody, which recognizes a novel specific tumour epitope of MUC1 (TA-MUC1). The aim of this study was to evaluate PankoMab-GEX™ binding to a variety of ovarian cancer specimens (n=156) and to normal ovarian tissue. In addition, PankoMab-GEX™ staining was compared to that of ...

The aim of this study was to identify families affected by early repolarization syndrome (ERS) and to determine the mode of transmission of the disease. Early repolarization (ER) has recently been linked to idiopathic ventricular fibrillation. Familial inheritance of the disease has been suggested but not demonstrated. We screened relatives ...

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of serelaxin on short-term changes in markers of organ damage and congestion and relate them to 180-day mortality in patients with acute heart failure. Hospitalization for acute heart failure is associated with high post-discharge mortality, and this may be related ...

Skelemin, a myosin-associated protein in skeletal muscle, has been demonstrated to interact with integrin α(IIb)β(3) in nonmuscle cells during initial stages of cell spreading. The significance of this interaction and the role of skelemin in integrin signaling and cytoskeletal reorganization were investigated in this study. We established a series of ...

Approximately 800,000 times a year, an emergency physician admits a patient with symptomatic heart failure (HF). Yet only a minority of emergency department patients with HF are severely ill as a result of pulmonary edema, myocardial ischemia, or cardiogenic shock. The majority of patients are not in need of an ...

The incidence of Clostridium difficile associated enteral disease shows dramatic increase worldwide, with appallingly high treatment costs, mortality figures, recurrence rates and treatment refractoriness. It is not surprising, that there is significant interest in the development and introduction of alternative therapeutic strategies. Among these only stool transplantation (or faecal bacteriotherapy) ...

Coinciding treatment with periods of accelerated skeletal growth and maturation might be advantageous in clinical practice. Better understanding of the concordance between skeletal and chronologic ages during the period that children frequently receive orthodontic treatment is needed. The literature on skeletal age determination from hand-wrist radiographs lacks reports based on ...

Purpose: To report outcomes of epikeratoplasty in keratoconus (KC), utilizing manually-prepared plano donor lenticules in terms of flattening of the cone, reduction in astigmatism and improvement in the visual acuity. Materials and Methods: Patients with KC, having visual acuity <20/200, astigmatism >12 diopters (D) but without corneal opacity underwent epikeratoplasty, ...

An urgent need in American health care is improving quality and efficiency while controlling costs. One promising management approach implemented by some leading health care institutions is Lean, a quality improvement philosophy and set of principles originated by the Toyota Motor Company. Health care cases reveal that Lean is as ...

The purposes of this research were to investigate the long-term responses of mandibular condylar cartilage to experimentally induced disordered occlusion and to evaluate changes in the expression of the SDF-1/CXCR4 axis. Experimentally induced disordered occlusions were created in 8-week-old female Sprague-Dawley rats by orthodontic methods. After 24 weeks, remodeling of ...

Timely outbreak detection is a major objective of the surveillance of food-borne infections. In this regard molecular subtyping is a very useful tool for several bacterial pathogens, e.g. enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC), Listeria monocytogenes and various serotypes of non-typhoidal Salmonella. The basis is the characterization of patient isolates by molecular methods, ...

Rectovaginal fistula (RVF) is one of the intractable complications following chemoradiation and total mesorectal excision (TME) for rectal cancer. It is supposed that there is a strong possibility of this complication occurring in patients after radiation therapy and having underlying sepsis. We describe herein two female patients (73 and 40 ...

We report a diabetic patient with bilateral Descemet's membrane (DM) detachment after successive phacoemulsification. The DM detachments were diagnosed and documented in early postoperative period using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (OCT) and managed successfully by descemetopexy using 14% C3F8. This case highlights that some patients may be anatomically predisposed ...

In recent years, cutaneous complications have been reported after implantation of medical devices as a result of their widespread use. We report a case of reticular telangiectatic erythema (RTE) after replacement of a spinal cord stimulator. To date, the pathogenesis of RTE has been poorly understood. Some reports have suggested ...

Digital 3-dimensional models are widely used for orthodontic diagnosis. The aim of this study was to assess the validity, reliability, and reproducibility of digital models obtained from the Lava Chairside Oral scanner (3M ESPE, Seefeld, Germany) and cone-beam computed tomography scans of alginate impressions for tooth-width measurements and the Bolton ...

To assess the quality of specimens obtained from prostate biopsies performed by urology residents and evaluate the number of procedures required to perform high-quality transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided prostate biopsies. Between 2006 and 2009, 770 patients underwent TRUS-guided prostate biopsies in our academic center. During the 6 semesters of this period, ...

This is the first reported case of a Dormia basket being dislodged outside the ureter into the retroperitoneum during intracorporeal lithotripsy.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide (IVTA) on retinal sensitivity in cases of macular edema(ME) secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). Materials and Methods: Total of 14 eyes of 14 cases of BRVO were included in this prospective study. In each eye, at baseline and 1, ...

ABSTRACT: The current study investigated whether candidate cognitive endophenotypes may be used to validate a schizo-obsessive subtype. Using within-subject random effect regression analyses and cross-trait cross-relative analyses, we evaluated the association between obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCSs) and cognitive performance in 984 patients with nonaffective psychosis (22.5% with OCSs), 973 unaffected siblings ...

Photoinhibition of Photosystem II (PSII) is the light-induced loss of PSII electron-transfer activity. Although photoinhibition has been studied for a long time, there is no consensus about its mechanism. On one hand, production of singlet oxygen ((1)O(2)) by PSII has promoted models in which this reactive oxygen species (ROS) is ...