AIM： To examine the significance of branched-chain amino acid （BCAA） treatment before transcatheter arterial chemoembolization （rACE） for hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC）.METHODS： This study included 99 patients...AIM： To examine the significance of branched-chain amino acid （BCAA） treatment before transcatheter arterial chemoembolization （rACE） for hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC）.METHODS： This study included 99 patients who underwent TACE therapy for HCC at our hospital and were followed up without treatment for at least 6 mo between January 2004 and January 2010. They were divided into 2 groups： those receiving BCAA granules （/7 = 40） or regular diet （n = 59, control）. Data obtained were retrospectively analyzed （prior to TACE, and 1 wk, 1, 3, and 6 mo after TACE） in terms of nutritional condition and clinical laboratory parameters （serum albumin level and Child-Pugh score）, both of which are determinants of hepatic functional reserve.RESULTS： The BCAA group comprised 27 males and 13 females with a mean age of 69,9 ：E 8,8 years, The patients of the BCAA group were classified as follows： Child-Pugh A/B/C in 22/15/3 patients, and Stage Ⅱ/Ⅲ/ /IVA HCC in 12/23/5 patients, respectively. The controlgroup comprised 32 males and 27 females with a mean age of 73.2 ± 10.1 years. In the control group, 9 patients had chronic hepatitis, Child-Pugh A/B/C in 39/10/1 patients, and Stage Ⅰ/Ⅱ/Ⅲ/IVA HCC in 1/11/35/12 patients, respectively. Overall, both serum albumin level and Child-Pugh score improved significantly in the BCAA group as compared with the control 3 and 6 mo after TACE （P 〈 0.05）. Further analysis was performed by the following categorization： （1） child-Pugh classification; （2） liver cirrhosis subgroup with a serum albumin level 〉 3.5 g/dL; and （3） epirubicin dose. A similar trend indicating a significant improvement of all variables in the BCAA group was noted （P 〈 0.05）.CONCLUSION： Treatment with BCAA granules in patients who have undergone TACE for HCC is considered useful to maintain their hepatic functional reserve.展开更多
Cavitation flows induced around an axial-flow pump blade and inside a high pressure cage-type valve are simulated by a two-dimensional unsteady Navier-Stokes analysis with the simplest treatment of bubble dynamics. Th...Cavitation flows induced around an axial-flow pump blade and inside a high pressure cage-type valve are simulated by a two-dimensional unsteady Navier-Stokes analysis with the simplest treatment of bubble dynamics. The fluid is assumed as a continuum of homogeneous dispersed mixture of water and vapor nuclei. The analysis is aimed to capture transient stages with high amplitude pressure change during the birth and collapse of the bubble especially at the stage of cavitation inception. By the pump blade analysis, in which the field pressure is moderate, cavitation number of the inception and locations of developed cavitation are found to agree with experimental results in a wide flow range between high incidence and negative incidence. In the valve flow analysis, in which the water pressure of 5MPa is reduced to 2MPa, pressure change responding to the bubble collapse between the vapor pressure lower than 1 KPa and the extreme pressure of higher than 104 KPa is captured through a stable computation. Location of the inception bubble and pressure force to the valve plug is found agree well with the respective experimental features.展开更多
文摘AIM： To examine the significance of branched-chain amino acid （BCAA） treatment before transcatheter arterial chemoembolization （rACE） for hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC）.METHODS： This study included 99 patients who underwent TACE therapy for HCC at our hospital and were followed up without treatment for at least 6 mo between January 2004 and January 2010. They were divided into 2 groups： those receiving BCAA granules （/7 = 40） or regular diet （n = 59, control）. Data obtained were retrospectively analyzed （prior to TACE, and 1 wk, 1, 3, and 6 mo after TACE） in terms of nutritional condition and clinical laboratory parameters （serum albumin level and Child-Pugh score）, both of which are determinants of hepatic functional reserve.RESULTS： The BCAA group comprised 27 males and 13 females with a mean age of 69,9 ：E 8,8 years, The patients of the BCAA group were classified as follows： Child-Pugh A/B/C in 22/15/3 patients, and Stage Ⅱ/Ⅲ/ /IVA HCC in 12/23/5 patients, respectively. The controlgroup comprised 32 males and 27 females with a mean age of 73.2 ± 10.1 years. In the control group, 9 patients had chronic hepatitis, Child-Pugh A/B/C in 39/10/1 patients, and Stage Ⅰ/Ⅱ/Ⅲ/IVA HCC in 1/11/35/12 patients, respectively. Overall, both serum albumin level and Child-Pugh score improved significantly in the BCAA group as compared with the control 3 and 6 mo after TACE （P 〈 0.05）. Further analysis was performed by the following categorization： （1） child-Pugh classification; （2） liver cirrhosis subgroup with a serum albumin level 〉 3.5 g/dL; and （3） epirubicin dose. A similar trend indicating a significant improvement of all variables in the BCAA group was noted （P 〈 0.05）.CONCLUSION： Treatment with BCAA granules in patients who have undergone TACE for HCC is considered useful to maintain their hepatic functional reserve.
文摘Cavitation flows induced around an axial-flow pump blade and inside a high pressure cage-type valve are simulated by a two-dimensional unsteady Navier-Stokes analysis with the simplest treatment of bubble dynamics. The fluid is assumed as a continuum of homogeneous dispersed mixture of water and vapor nuclei. The analysis is aimed to capture transient stages with high amplitude pressure change during the birth and collapse of the bubble especially at the stage of cavitation inception. By the pump blade analysis, in which the field pressure is moderate, cavitation number of the inception and locations of developed cavitation are found to agree with experimental results in a wide flow range between high incidence and negative incidence. In the valve flow analysis, in which the water pressure of 5MPa is reduced to 2MPa, pressure change responding to the bubble collapse between the vapor pressure lower than 1 KPa and the extreme pressure of higher than 104 KPa is captured through a stable computation. Location of the inception bubble and pressure force to the valve plug is found agree well with the respective experimental features.
