Carbon fibre reinforced cellulose-based polymers: intensifying interfacial adhesion between the fibre and the matrix

Interfacial interactions governing the interfacial adhesion between cellulose propionate and carbon fibre surface are placed under scrutiny to pave the way towards the development of green cellulose-based carbon fibre reinforced polymers. A range of molecular entities are deposited on the surface by initially grafting aromatic structures with appropriate functions via diazonium species followed by further derivatization of these entities. Cellulose propionate was also bound covalently to the surface via a tosylated derivative invoking its facile nucleophilic displacement reaction with surface-grafted amino functions. Significant increase in interfacial shear strength was obtained for the cellulose propionate-grafted carbon fibre composite as well as for the 4-(aminomethyl)benzene-functionalized sample, in the latter case possible hydrogen bonding took place with the cellulose propionate matrix. Furthermore, the positive effect of a highly lipophilic and yet compact –CF₃ substituent was also noted. In order to let the grafted structure efficiently penetrate into the matrix, steric factors, lipophilicity and potential secondary interactions should be considered. It needs to be pointed out that we provide the first synthetic strategy to covalently bind cellulose derivatives to a largely graphitic surface and as such, it has relevance to carbonaceous materials being applied in cellulose-based innovative materials in the future.

Interfacial adhesion of a cellulose propionate/carbon fibre composite is tailored providing a synthetic strategy to bind cellulose derivatives to graphitic surfaces.     

MgH2–CoO: a conversion-type composite electrode for LiBH4-based all-solid-state lithium ion batteries

Several studies have demonstrated that MgH₂ is a promising conversion-type anode toward Li. A major obstacle is the reversible capacity during cycling. Electrochemical co-existence of a mixed metal hydride-oxide conversion type anode is demonstrated for lithium ion batteries using a solid-state electrolyte. 75MgH₂·25CoO anodes are obtained from optimized mixing conditions avoiding reactions occurring during high-energy ball-milling. Electrochemical tests are carried out to investigate the cycling capability and reversibility of the on-going conversion reactions. The cycling led to formation of a single-plateau nanocomposite electrode with higher reversibility yield, lowered discharge–charge hysteresis and mitigated kinetic effect at high C-rate compared to MgH₂ anodes. It is believed that reduced diffusion pathways and less polarized electrodes are the origin of the improved properties. The designed composite-electrode shows good preservation and suitability with LiBH₄ solid electrolyte as revealed from electron microscopy analyses and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

The findings point to a means of guided formation of MgH₂–CoO conversion-type nanocomposite electrode for all-solid-state Li-ion batteries.     

Transbronchial Cryobiopsy for Miliary Tuberculosis Mimicking Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis

Miliary tuberculosis is a potentially lethal type of tuberculosis that results from the hematogenous dissemination of Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli. We herein describe the case of a 34-year-old man that presented with a one-month history of cough and fever, while his sputum smear results were negative. Chest computed tomography revealed bilateral centrilobular ground-glass opacification (GGO), suggestive of hypersensitivity pneumonitis; thus, bronchoscopy was performed. Cryobiopsy specimens revealed necrotic granulomas. A re-examination of sputum after bronchoscopy identified Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and miliary tuberculosis was diagnosed. A cryobiopsy might be useful for diagnosing miliary tuberculosis pathologically, particularly when miliary nodules may be masked by GGO.     

Angioscopic assessments and clinical outcomes one year after polymer-free biolimus A9-coated coronary stent implantation

BackgroundPolymer-free biolimus A9-coated coronary stent (DCS) has novel features which lead to the expectation of better arterial healing. However, comparisons of intravascular status between DCS and drug-eluting stents (DES), and robust real-word clinical assessments of DCS have been lacking to date.MethodsFrom September 2017 to September 2018, we evaluated the intra-vascular status of 74 DCS implanted in 55 lesions from 43 patients using coronary angioscopy (CAS) approximately one year after implantation from a cohort of 219 lesions in 158 patients. We set 239 second-generation durable-polymer DES (DP-DES) implanted in 211 lesions from 180 patients from a cohort of 2652 lesions in 1914 patients as the control. Angioscopic images were analyzed to determine (1) the dominant degree of neointimal coverage (NIC) over the stent; (2) the heterogeneity of NIC; (3) yellow color grade of the stented segment; and (4) the presence of intra-stent thrombus. The primary outcome was the incidence of thrombus and secondary outcomes were the other CAS findings, and the 1-year clinical outcomes which included target lesion revascularization (TLR) and major adverse cardiac events (MACE). To minimize inter-group differences in baseline characteristics, propensity score matching was performed for clinical outcomes.ResultsIncidence of thrombus adhesion was similar in DCS and DP-DES groups (28.4% versus 22.6%, p = 0.31). However, the dominant NIC grade was significantly higher in DCS (p < 0.001), while NIC was more heterogeneous in DCS than in DP-DES (p = 0.001). Maximum yellow color grade was similar (p = 0.22). After propensity score matching, 202 lesion pairs from 146 patient pairs were retained for analysis. The cumulative incidence of TLR (4.6% versus 3.8%, p = 0.38) and MACE (11.6% versus 11.7%, p = 0.84) was similar for DCS and DP-DES.ConclusionsDCS showed thrombus adhesion and clinical outcomes at 1 year similar to DP-DES. DCS can thus be used with similar safety and efficacy as DP-DES.     

An Irreversible Worsening Cardiac Function after Withdrawing Medical Treatments in a Patient with Dilated Cardiomyopathy: A Pathological Analysis

A 44-year-old man diagnosed with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy was admitted to our hospital with acute decompensated heart failure. Seven years before this admission, the first introduction of medication resulted in left ventricular (LV) recovery, which was sustained for several years. However, the patient stopped taking his medication, resulting in worsening of the LV function. Despite the second introduction of medication, the LV function did not improve. We performed cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and an endomyocardial biopsy, which revealed the significant development of cardiac fibrosis that had not been present at the time of the initial diagnosis.     

Triglyceride Deposit Cardiomyovasculopathy with Massive Myocardial Triglyceride which Was Proven Using Proton-magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

The patient was a 73-year-old man with a history of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, rheumatoid arthritis, repeated percutaneous coronary intervention and percutaneous peripheral intervention procedures. He was frequently admitted to our hospital for congestive heart failure with orthopnea. The myocardial washout rate of iodine-123-β-methyl iodophenyl-pentadecanoic acid was defective on scintigraphy. He was diagnosed with triglyceride deposit cardiomyovasculopathy (TGCV). Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) indicated the level of myocardial triglyceride (TG) content to be extremely high (4.92%). This is the first report to confirm a massive accumulation of TG in the myocardium of a patient with TGCV using ¹H-MRS noninvasively.     

Leucine-rich alpha-2 glycoprotein is a potential biomarker to monitor disease activity in inflammatory bowel disease receiving adalimumab: PLANET study

Journal of Gastroenterology - This multicenter prospective study (UMIN000019958) aimed to evaluate the usefulness of serum leucin-rich alpha-2 glycoprotein (LRG) levels in monitoring disease...     

Evaluation of the input site and characteristics of the antegrade fast pathway based on three-dimensional bi-atrial stimulus-ventricle mapping

Journal of Interventional Cardiac Electrophysiology - Previous studies examined the right atrial (RA) input site of the antegrade fast pathway (AFp) (AFpI). However, the left atrial (LA) input to...     

Acute reversible myocardial depression associated with sepsis

A 30-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for left lobar pneumonia with septic shock. Acute left-sided heart failure became evident as sepsis developed. Echocardiography revealed diffuse severe hypokinesis of the left ventricle (LV) and a pulmonary artery catheter showed Forrester subset II hemodynamics. Along with amelioration of sepsis and decrease of the serum concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6, LV hypokinesis improved. It is suggested that the patient's heart failure may have been due to functional depression of myocardial contractility resulting from a direct effect of the cytokines towards the cardiomyocytes, the so-called "septic myocardial depression".