Level-5 (Japan)

BackgroundTraditional investigations of esophageal hiatal assessment for reflux disease and hiatal hernia (HH), such as endoscopy and barium swallow are subjective. High resolution manometry (HRM) limits hiatal hernia assessment to vertical length. We report a novel use of 3D volumetric Computed Tomography with effervescent oral contrast (Fizz-CT) as a means of preoperative HH diagnosis.MethodsA pilot series of 12 consecutive patients who underwent preoperative Fizz-CT assessment, as well as a combination of traditional investigations for HH (five primary, seven revisional HH).ResultsThe median age was 70years (IQR 57.5-76.8years) and median BMI 28.62 kg/m2 (IQR 24.9–34.1 kg/m2). Seven patients (58%) had a recurrent HH and five patients (42%) had a primary hiatus hernia. Fizz-CT was able to diagnose the HH in all cases. The median oesophageal hiatal surface area (HSA) was 9.46cm2 (IQR 4.66-13.79cm2). The median HH sac volume was 36.3cm3 (IQR 26.0-80.3cm3). All patients had a least one other investigation that has been traditionally used to diagnose HH. Seven of the 12 patients subsequently underwent laparoscopic HH repair surgery with intraoperative findings further confirming the radiological diagnosis of hiatus hernia.ConclusionFizz-CT imaging is a novel and accurate means of objective esophageal hiatal assessment in both primary and revisional HH patients. Vertical and radial measures of hiatal defects as well as hernia volumetry can be obtained. In post-surgical patients the relationship between the esophago-gastric junction and an infra- or supra-diaphragmatic fundoplication can also be assessed.

We use data sets from the Cyrtodactylus brevipalmatus group with limited genetic and morphological sampling to demonstrate that not accounting for sampling error may adversely influence decisions regarding species delimitation and diagnosis. Lack of geographic sampling between the endpoints of a species range may recover notable interpopulational genetic differentiation consistent with species-level differentiation. Additionally, small population sample sizes may fail recover statistically different diagnostic morphological differences. Combined, these types of sampling error can produce results seemingly consistent with the recognition of cryptic speciesgenetically delimited populations lacking diagnostic morphological characters. This is the current situation within some lineages of the C. brevipalmatus group whereas in others, sampling error is less problematic and does not jeopardize their taxonomy. We note the potential negative effects for comparative biology as a whole if sampling error is not taken into consideration prior to constructing taxonomies.

ABSTRACT Because of the release of in situ rock stress, rocks surrounding deep underground excavations are mostly driven into a post-peak damage state. Thus, investigations on cyclic loading-induced damage of rocks are of paramount significance in terms of the long-term stability of rock structures. In this study, using a damage-controlled testing method, the effect of post-peak cyclic loading on the failure behavior of different rock types was comprehensively evaluated. This investigation revealed that post-peak cyclic loading imposes no significant influence on the overall failure behavior of rocks. The evolution of damage variables also indicated that the large portion of axial strain damage (Da) occurs during the first cycle at the peak strength, whereas lateral strain damage (Dl) evolved more rapidly than Da did in the post-peak regime under further loading and unloading cycles. The cumulative permanent axial strain (∑ϵap) evolved nonlinearly with the axial stress ratio (σi/σa−peak) in the post-peak regime, which was manifested as sparse-dense-sparse hysteretic loops. A rapid reduction in the crack damage stress ratio was observed for rocks in the initial sparse hysteretic loops, which was followed by a lower decrease rate in the subsequent dense hysteretic loops, and an almost constant value was finally reached in the last sparse hysteretic loops. Furthermore, tangent Young’s modulus (Etan) and Poisson’s ratio (υ) evolved in three main stages: One, Etan first increased and then decreased in the initial sparse hysteretic loops, while υ continuously increased, representing significant deformation in the lateral direction. Two, Etan decreased in the dense hysteretic loops, while υ increased at a higher rate for stronger rocks because of the decrease in Da accumulation. Three, the increase rate of υ declined in the second set of sparse hysteretic loops, and Etan decreased until complete failure occurred.

The addition of amphiphilic triethylene glycol based corannulene molecules provides multiple Lewis basic sites that assist in perovskite grain growth, and improve the charge carrier collection and moisture resistance of perovskite solar cells. This study paves the way for utilization of more molecules from corannulene families in perovskite research.

Oil and Gas industry downturn in year 2015 posed impacts not only to the economy, but also to the career sustainability of women workforce, especially in Oil and Gas. Most of the organizations started to downsize, and some of the departments are restructured. Thus, workers have no options except to sustain in the organization. The question is, how? This paper discusses the problem statement; the career sustainability of women employees in Oil and Gas industry in Malaysia, gives the overview of the current scenario of women employees in Malaysia in general, and brought up the topic of diversification of roles in career, which is defined as ‘performing job not related to the qualification, or skills. It shares the methodology to assess the diversification of roles scenario via women employee survey experiment, covering the sampling of 100 women employees from various Engineering backgrounds and departments in Oil and Gas companies in Malaysia, with working experience between 5 to slightly more than 10 years. The scope of the survey is the assessment of current job roles of women employees, and diversification of roles scenarios. Overall, it summarizes the major findings from the survey, which showed 78% of 100 women employees who took part in the survey are currently having, or have had diversification of roles in their career. Then, through good platform available in Malaysia, the study recommends the ways to apply and adapt the roles diversification, in order to sustain in the career, for women employees in Oil and Gas industry, which may also be applied by other women workforce.

Purpose: To assess the antiviral efficiency of β-D-glucan (BDG) on human liver cell line (WRL68) infected with dengue virus (DENV).Methods: Cytotoxic activity was assessed via 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Solid-phase virus binding assay was used to determine the presence of a chemical affinity between dengue virus type 2 (DENV-2) and BDG. Plaque formation assay was performed to measure the suppression of DENV-2.Results: Plaque formation assay results revealed that the inhibition of DENV infection by BDG was effective at 400 μg/mL which occurred by inhibiting virus replication. BDG inhibited DENV replication and produced minimal toxicity on WRL68 cells at 600 μg/mL in a concentration-dependent manner. Treatment of DENV-2 with the highest concentration of the BDG resulted in 60, 55, and 50 % viability at 24, 48, and 72 h, respectively. Plaque formation and binding efficiency data confirmed that BDG protected the WRL68 cells against DENV-2.Conclusion: The results indicate that in infected cells, β-D-glucan was found to be potent in inhibiting replication of the dengue virus.Keywords: Dengue, β-D-glucan, Polysaccharide, Antiviral, Plaque formation, Binding efficiency

THIS PAPER REPORTS THE RESULTS of a preliminary survey which investigated antibiotic guideline use and the strategies used to implement and evaluate guideline use in NSW hospitals. We were interested in assessing the extent to which well established guidelines of proven value are being used in a sample of hospitals, as one way to measure implementation of the principles of clinical governance.