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An 11-month-old male infant with ascending paralysis had an unremarkable initial cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis and imaging. Progressive neurological symptoms resulted in repeated CSF sampling, microscopy, and plasma microbial cell-free DNA next-generation sequencing analysis, that in combination with epidemiology, confirmed the diagnosis.An 11-month-old male infant with ascending paralysis had an unremarkable initial cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis and imaging. Progressive neurological symptoms resulted in repeated CSF sampling—microscopy, and plasma microbial cell-free DNA next-generation sequencing analysis, which in combination with epidemiology, confirmed the diagnosis.

One problem associated with ironmaking is the depletion of carbonaceous material (e.g., coal) for iron reduction. A combination of coal and biomass (coal–biomass co-pyrolysis) provides an advantageous synergetic effect to overcome the disadvantage of using renewable raw materials, such as biomass. In this study, we investigated the effect of coal–biomass co-pyrolysis in integrated pyrolysis–tar decomposition over low-grade iron ore. Combined coal–biomass with biomass blending ratios (BBRs) of 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% were studied by thermogravimetric analysis. A kinetic study on the co-pyrolysis using a double-distributed activation energy model has been conducted. Coal–biomass co-pyrolysis was also performed in integrated pyrolysis–tar decomposition over porous iron ore. The reference line method was used to identify the synergetic effect for each pyrolysis product. A synergetic effect of coal–biomass co-pyrolysis has also been found for decreasing char and heavy tar products as well as for increasing light tar, gas, and deposited carbon through chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) over porous iron ore. The highest carbon content of CVI ore (4.70%) was obtained when using BBR-25%.

The catalytic performance of Ni-containing limonite ore in the dry reforming reaction of methane (CH4 + CO2 → 2H2 + 2CO) was determined before and after hydrogen reduction, and under a flow of hydrogen. After hydrogen reduction, the limonite ore exhibited higher catalytic performance, because of the formation of Fe–Ni. However, the Fe in Fe–Ni was readily oxidized by the input CO2gas, resulting in a rapid decrease in the catalytic performance of limonite ore. The performance decrease was due to a decrease in the Ni surface area; Ni could not dissolve in iron oxides and this caused segregation in the iron oxides. When the reaction was conducted under a hydrogen flow, the Fe–Ni was formed and maintained. Ni was highly dispersed in the Fe–Ni phase, resulting in greater surface area of Ni and higher conversion rate of CH4and CO2. The catalytic performance of the limonite ore was inferior to the Ni/Al2O3catalyst because the effect of catalyst support was small, however, the limonite ore was more stable during catalytic use and much cheaper than the Ni/Al2O3.

We previously showed that nicotine evoked kinetic tremor by activating the inferior olive, which is implicated in the pathogenesis of essential tremor, via α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Here, we evaluated the effects of various anti-tremor and anti-epileptic agents on nicotine-induced tremor in mice to clarify the pharmacological characteristics of nicotine tremor. Drugs effective for essential tremor, propranolol, diazepam and phenobarbital, all significantly inhibited kinetic tremor induced by an intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of nicotine (1 mg/kg). In contrast, none of the medications for Parkinson's disease, l-DOPA, bromocriptine or trihexyphenidyl, affected the nicotine tremor. Among the anti-epileptic agents examined, valproate, carbamazepine and ethosuximide, significantly inhibited nicotine-induced tremor. In addition, a selective T-type Ca2+channel blocker, TTA-A2, also suppressed the nicotine tremor. However, neither gabapentin, topiramate, zonisamide nor levetiracetam significantly affected nicotine-induced tremor. The present results show that nicotine-induced tremor resembles essential tremor not only on the neural basis, but also in terms of the pharmacological responses to anti-tremor agents, implying that nicotine-induced tremor can serve as a model for essential tremor. In addition, it is suggested that anti-epileptic agents, which have stimulant actions on the GABAergic system or blocking actions on voltage-gated Na+channels and T-type Ca2+channels, can alleviate essential tremor.

This article seeks to utilize the data collected from virtual reality (VR)-based software and a leap-motion device used for learning of subtle errors in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) cases to enable early detection of MCI by analyzing the classification rules for errors (action slips) based on finger-action transitions when performing instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). Finger motion was recorded as a time-series database. An induction technique known as Inductive-Logic Programming (ILP), which uses logical and clausal language to represent the training data, was then used to discover a concise classification rule using logical programming. The content within this article was able to generate rules on how action transitions of the finger in the experiments were related to the pattern of micro-errors that indicate the difference of error regarding the length of the no-motion state of the finger.

We investigated four catalysts for the dry reforming of methane: three Ni-containing natural iron ores (LN, SN, and NN ores) and one Ni-supported ore (Ni-supported NN ore) to solve the problems about unused high-temperature waste heat and CO2emission in the steel industry. The CO2conversion ratio was highest for the LN ore (1.18 wt % Ni), followed by Ni-supported NN (1.0 wt % Ni), SN (0.30 wt % Ni), and NN (0 wt % Ni) ores. The CO2conversion ratio of the LN ore was much higher than that of the Ni-supported NN ore, despite the fact that they contained almost the same amount of Ni. This is because the LN ore had a higher surface area and a higher nickel dispersion. Transmission electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy revealed that Ni existed quite finely in the LN ore but existed as a larger particle (20 nm) in the Ni-supported NN ore. Smaller Ni particles have a higher surface area, resulting in the higher catalytic performance of the LN ore. More CO2and CH4reacted and higher amounts of H2and CO were produced with the LN ore catalyst compared to the uncatalyzed reaction. The LN ore showed more reduction at higher temperatures, and metallic iron and nickel were produced above 1073 K; reduction did not progress past Fe3O4at lower temperatures.

Sick sinus syndrome (SSS) is a common arrhythmia often associated with aging or organic heart diseases but may also occur in a familial form with a variable mode of inheritance. Despite the identification of causative genes, including cardiac Na channel (SCN5A), the pathogenesis and molecular epidemiology of familial SSS remain undetermined primarily because of its rarity.

This study presents a three‐dimensional numerical analysis of the effect of boundary layer thickness on vortex structures and heat transfer behind a hill mounted in a laminar boundary layer. When the thickness of the velocity boundary layer is comparable to the hill height, a hairpin vortex is formed symmetrically to the center of the spanwise direction in the wake. A secondary vortex is formed between the legs, and horn‐shaped secondary vortices appear under the concave parts of the hairpin vortex. When the boundary layer thickness increases, the legs and horn‐shaped secondary vortices move toward the center of the spanwise direction, and thus heat transport and heat transfer increase there. At this time, high‐turbulence areas generated locally move toward the center of the spanwise direction with an increase in the boundary layer thickness. With a further increase in the boundary layer thickness, steady streamwise vortices are formed downstream of the hill, but the heat transfer decreases. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley InterScience (). DOI 10.1002/htj.20261

A 67-year-old male with dilated cardiomyopathy and chronic renal failure who received chronic hemodialysis for 9 years admitted with pulmonary edema. Three days after admission, electrocardiogram showed transient prolongation of QT interval which was followed by macroscopic T wave alternans (TWA) and ventricular fibrillation (VF). Temporary pacing from right ventricular apex suppressed TWA and VF effectively. Combined cardiac resynchronization therapy and implantable cardioverter defibrillator device was implanted for the secondary prevention of VF. Both prolongation of QT interval and TWA disappeared for 10 days after therapy and no arrhythmic event occurred since then.

A 67-year-old male with dilated cardiomyopathy and chronic renal failure who received chronic hemodialysis for 9 years admitted with pulmonary edema. Three days after admission, electrocardiogram showed transient prolongation of QT interval which was followed by macroscopic T wave alternans (TWA) and ventricular fibrillation (VF). Temporary pacing from right ventricular apex suppressed TWA and VF effectively. Combined cardiac resynchronization therapy and implantable cardioverter defibrillator device was implanted for the secondary prevention of VF. Both prolongation of QT interval and TWA disappeared for 10 days after therapy and no arrhythmic event occurred since then.

To find out whether CD36 plays a role in the human lipoprotein metabolism, we studied lipoprotein profiles in subjects with CD36 deficiency. Apparently healthy Japanese volunteers (n = 790) were classified by flow cytometry into three groups of normal (platelet and monocyte CD36+, n = 741, 93.8%), type-II deficiency (platelet CD36− and monocyte CD36+, n = 45, 5.7%), and type-I deficiency (platelet and monocyte CD36−, n = 4, 0.5%). At least one of reported mutations in the CD36 gene was found in all four subjects with type-I deficiency and in 23 of the 45 subjects with type II. Among 779 subjects (731 normals, 44 type II, and four type I) with serum triglyceride levels of <400 mg/dL, serum total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol were significantly elevated in type-II deficiency (P = 0.0095 and 0.0382 versus normal, respectively, Scheffe's F-test), while differences were not significant in triglyceride and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol. Similar tendency was observed in type-I deficiency, although the differences were not statistically significant because of small sample size. We conclude that CD36 deficiency elevates LDL cholesterol, indicating a contribution of CD36 to LDL metabolism. Am. J. Med. Genet. 93:299–304, 2000. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Recent development of information and control systems have made it more important to develop intelligent planning methods of large scale and complex systems to support human planner more effectively. In this paper a framework of intelligent planning is discussed and construction of methods is proposed based on searches for solution and state spaces. Their effectiveness is examined through some examples of applications and efficient algorithms for large scale combinatorial problems are studied as basic methods

Limited dorsal myeloschisis (LDM) is characterized by a fibroneural stalk linking the skin lesion to the underlying spinal cord. LDMs originally have either saccular or nonsaccular (flat) skin lesion; we recently demonstrated the human tail-like cutaneous appendage at the lumbosacral region, which is a morphological variation. We surgically treated a 6-month-old girl with a cutaneous appendage at the upper thoracic region; the appendage was a continuation of the LDM stalk. Surgery involving cord untethering and cosmetic removal of the appendage was performed. Histopathologically, small nests of glial fibrillary acidic protein-immunopositive neuroglial tissues were observed in the appendage and in the intradural LDM stalk. Clinicians should be aware of further morphological variations of thoracic lesions associated with LDM.