Characterization of Activated Carbon Paper Electrodes Prepared by Rice Husk-Isolated Cellulose Fibers for Supercapacitor Applications.

For the preparation of activated carbon papers (APCs) as supercapacitor electrodes, impurity substances were removed from rice husks, before carbonization and various activation temperature treatments, to optimize electro chemical efficiency. The porosities and electrochemical performances of the ACPs depended strongly on activation temperature: The specific surface area increased from 202.92 (500 °C) to 2158.48 m2 g-1 (1100 °C). XRD and Raman analyses revealed that ACP graphitization also increased with the activation temperature. For activation at 1100 °C, the maximum specific capacitance was 255 F g-1, and over 92% of its capacitance was retained after 2000 cycles.

Angiographic embolization for hemorrhage control after dental implantation.

Dental implantation in the mandibular anterior region is considered a safe and reliable surgical procedure. On the other hand, several articles have reported that inadvertent hemorrhage of the sublingual artery can result in life-threatening airway obstruction. Surgical ligation under intubation or tracheostomy is the most widely used approach for controlling mouth floor bleeding in this highly vascular region. Nonetheless, surgically exploring the bleeding focus is difficult because of anatomical distortion followed by widespread edema and swelling. Since swelling of the mouth floor advances quickly, timely management is essential for favorable postoperative outcome. This paper reports a case of immediate hemorrhage control with angiographic embolization to perform rapid hemostasis before the ongoing swelling causes airway obstruction. Less invasive, angiographic embolization can prevent neurovascular damage during a surgical exploration of injured vascular structures on the mouth floor.

Immunization with a hemagglutinin-derived synthetic peptide formulated with a CpG-DNA-liposome complex induced protection against lethal influenza virus infection in mice.

Whole-virus vaccines, including inactivated or live-attenuated influenza vaccines, have been conventionally developed and supported as a prophylaxis. These currently available virus-based influenza vaccines are widely used in the clinic, but the vaccine production takes a long time and a huge number of embryonated chicken eggs. To overcome the imperfection of egg-based influenza vaccines, epitope-based peptide vaccines have been studied as an alternative approach. Here, we formulated an efficacious peptide vaccine without carriers using phosphodiester CpG-DNA and a special liposome complex. Potential epitope peptides predicted from the hemagglutinin (HA) protein of the H5N1 A/Viet Nam/1203/2004 strain (NCBI database, AAW80717) were used to immunize mice along with phosphodiester CpG-DNA co-encapsulated in a phosphatidyl-ß-oleoyl-γ-palmitoyl ethanolamine (DOPE):cholesterol hemisuccinate (CHEMS) complex (Lipoplex(O)) without carriers. We identified a B cell epitope peptide (hH5N1 HA233 epitope, 14 amino acids) that can potently induce epitope-specific antibodies. Furthermore, immunization with a complex of the B cell epitope and Lipoplex(O) completely protects mice challenged with a lethal dose of recombinant H5N1 virus. These results suggest that our improved peptide vaccine technology can be promptly applied to vaccine development against pandemic influenza. Furthermore our results suggest that potent epitopes, which cannot be easily found using proteins or a virus as an antigen, can be screened when we use a complex of peptide epitopes and Lipoplex(O).

Endovascular treatment of ruptured aneurysms or pseudoaneurysms on the collateral vessels in patients with moyamoya disease.

OBJECTIVE: Ruptured aneurysms or pseudoaneurysms on the collateral vessels in patients with moyamoya disease have been known to be difficult to treat surgically because of their deep location and combined ischemic condition of the brain. For several years, we have treated these aneurysms by endovascular means. In this article, we describe the detailed techniques and outcomes. METHODS: Eight patients with moyamoya disease who presented with intracerebral or intraventricular hemorrhage were treated by endovascular embolization. All had small aneurysmal lesions on distal collateral arteries (the distal part of the anterior and lateral posterior choroidal artery as periventricular collaterals in 7 patients and a small collateral branch from anterior communicating artery in 1 patient) that were located at corresponding area to the hemorrhage demonstrated on angiography. After superselecting the arteries as distally as possible, the aneurysms were occluded by n-butyl-cyanoacrylate injection. RESULTS: Seven of 8 aneurysms were successfully and completely occluded without complication. One failed due to a small artery. Neither additional neurological deficit nor newly developed infarction was observed during the follow-up period. Clinically, 6 of the 8 patients demonstrated complete recovery. No further bleeding occurred during the follow-up period (mean, 24 months; range, 11-60 months). CONCLUSION: Although further investigation is required to determine many aspects of this treatment, including indication, safety, and efficacy, the endovascular occlusion of aneurysms on the collateral vessels in moyamoya disease with glue could be an effective treatment option.