BACKGROUND Since aortic diameter is the most -significant risk factor for rupture, we sought to identify stress-dependent changes in gene expression to illuminate novel molecular processes in aneurysm rupture. MATERIALS AND METHODS We constructed finite element maps of abdominal computerized tomography scans (CTs) of seven abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) patients to map wall stress. Paired bi...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and diabetes mellitus (DM) are considered as risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship of CKD and DM with the presence of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). METHODS We enrolled 261 patients with AAA (AAA+) and age-and-sex matched 261 patients without AAA (AAA-) at two hospitals between 200...

BACKGROUND The utility of (18) F-FDG and (11)C-PBR28 to identify aortic wall inflammation associated with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) development was assessed. METHODS Utilizing the porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE) perfusion model, abdominal aortas of male Sprague-Dawley rats were infused with active PPE (APPE, AAA; N = 24) or heat-inactivated PPE (IPPE, controls; N = 16). Aortic diamete...

Cytoplasmic dynein is a giant ATP-driven molecular motor that proceeds to the minus end of the microtubule (MT). Dynein hydrolyzes ATP in a ring-like structure, containing 6 AAA+ (ATPases associated with diverse cellular activities) modules, which is ~15 nm away from the MT binding domain (MTBD). This architecture implies that long-distance allosteric couplings exist between the AAA+ ring and t...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to introduce a novel, simple and effective technique for creating a reliable rabbit model of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) via a combination of periaortic calcium chloride (CaCl2) and elastase incubation. METHODS Forty-eight New Zealand white rabbits were divided into four groups. The AAA model was developed via a 20-minute periaortic incubation of C...

In this paper, utilization of clustering algorithms for data fusion in decision level is proposed. The results of automatic isolated word recognition, which are derived from speech spectrograph and Linear Predictive Coding (LPC) analysis, are combined with each other by using fuzzy clustering algorithms, especially fuzzy k-means and fuzzy vector quantization. Experimental results show that the ...

Aims: The aims of the present work are (1) to evaluate dose calculation accuracy of two commonly used algorithms for 15 MV small photon fields in a medium encompassing heterogeneity and (2) to compare them with measured results obtained from gafchromic film EBT2.Materials and Methods: Authors employed kailwood (Pinus Wallichiana) to mimic lung. Briefly, seven Kailwood plates, each measuring 25x...

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is the most common and critical disease. Bleeding serious complication from a ruptured AAA, which often results in death. Therefore, early diagnosis treatment are only effective means to reduce AAA associated mortality. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) combines functional anatomical imaging. The expanded application of PET/CT medical fiel...

An 87-year-old normotensive man was admitted to our hospital due to symptoms of general fatigue. His body temperature was 37.3°C, his C-reactive protein (CRP) level was 22.6 mg/dL and his white blood cell count (WBC) was 16,000/mL. Although a computed tomography (CT) scan did not reveal any infections, we detected Klebsiella pneumoniae in a blood culture. Following the administration antibiotic...