Curiosity about a positive or negative event prolongs the duration of emotional experience.

Some researchers claim that uncertainty prolongs the duration of emotional experiences because uncertainty toward an emotion-eliciting event prolongs attention to that event. However, some results contradict this claim. We assumed that curiosity rather than uncertainty prolongs the duration of emotional experience via attention, and that attention and emotional experience are prolonged only when uncertainty elicits curiosity. This assumption is based on the information gap theory, which proposes that curiosity increases with uncertainty, but that curiosity decreases at a certain level of uncertainty. We conducted a survey study to investigate the relationships among curiosity, uncertainty, attention and duration of positive and negative emotional experiences. The results showed that curiosity, but not uncertainty, prolonged the duration of emotional experiences and the process was completely mediated by attention both for positive and negative emotions. Moreover, uncertainty prolonged the duration of emotional experiences only when uncertainty elicited curiosity, which in turn prolonged attention to the emotion-eliciting event.

Repeat surgery for hemolysis 6 years after replacement of the ascending aorta for acute aortic dissection.

A 71-year-old woman underwent replacement of the ascending aorta for Type A aortic dissection. After 6 years, she suddenly developed severe hemolytic anemia, and a second operation for replacement of the ascending aorta was performed. Her hemolysis was thought to occur as follows: the proximal ascending aorta of the graft might have gradually expanded until it compressed the graft. The severe hemolysis was thought to be attributable to disturbance of blood flow by a jet of blood at the site of constriction or the reversed inner felt. Such a case as this is very unusual in that the second operation for hemolytic anemia occurred 6 years after the first surgery.

Determination of plasma concentrations of endothelin-1(1-31) and endothelin-1 in healthy subjects and patients with atherosclerosis.

We previously found that human chymase cleaves big endothelins at the Tyr31-Gly32 bond and produces 31-amino-acid endothelins, endothelins(1-31). Endothelin-1(1-31) has been isolated from a number of human organs, including the heart and lungs. As endothelin-1 has been shown to play a significant role in the paracrine regulation of cardiovascular functions in humans, it is possible that endothelin-1(1-31) may also exhibit biological activity on human tissues. We previously reported that synthetic endothelin-1(1-31) exhibits a number of physiological actions on cultured cells in vitro. In the present study, we investigated the plasma concentrations of endothelin-1(1-31) and endothelin-1 in healthy subjects and compared them with those in patients with cardiovascular diseases. Endothelin-1(1-31) and endothelin-1 in human plasma was measured using a sandwich-enzyme-immunoassay system, which was recently described for measurement of endothelin-1(1-31). The plasma concentrations of endothelin-1(1-31) and endothelin-1 in healthy volunteers were 19.24 +/- 5.70 and 15.54 +/- 4.45 pg/ml (n = 5), respectively. We also measured plasma concentrations of endothelin-1(1-31) and endothelin-1 before and after surgery in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms. Before surgery, plasma concentrations of endothelin-1(1-31) and endothelin-1 in these patients were higher than those in healthy individuals. After surgery, both endothelin-1(1-31) and endothelin-1 in plasma decreased to levels similar to those of healthy subjects. This suggests that endothelin-1(1-31) may have similar physiological significance to endothelin-1 in patients with atherosclerosis.

Rastelli type repair using Freestyle valved conduit for a 69-year-old woman with tetralogy of Fallot.

A 69-year-old woman visited our hospital with general fatigue and shortness of breath on effort as the chief complaints. She was diagnosed as having tetralogy of Fallot, using cardiac ultrasonography. The cardiac catheterization findings showed that right venticular hypertension was at 114/5 mmHg, which was parallel to the left ventricular pressure, and a pressure gradient of about 100 mmHg was observed between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery. Coronary artery angiography revealed that the left coronary artery was intact, but the right had an abnormal origin from the left valsalva sinus and was estimated at nearly equal to the single coronary. Therefore, we performed a Rastelli type operation with a valved conduit which we made using a composite Hemashield artificial graft (diameter 20 mm) and Freestyle valve (diameter 21 mm). The postoperative course was uneventful and she was discharged with hemodynamic conditions mostly normalized.

Histological study on the influences of an ultrasonic scalpel on skeletonized vessel wall.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to histologically clarify the difference of vascular wall damage when an ultrasonic scalpel is used in varied ways in the vicinity of a vessel. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 1) The surface of sodium carbonate-containing jelly was manually brushed with the edge of a dissecting hook type Harmonic Scalpel (HS), and the thickness of the air bubble layer was measured to investigate the range to which the vibrations of the instrument reached. 2) The internal thoracic artery (ITA), radial artery (RA) and vein skeletonized were cut bluntly or brushed using HS ex vivo, and tissue damages were observed histologically. 3) The depth of thermal degeneration (TD) of residual stumps of ITAs skeletonized by HS using an output power level (level) of 2 and the quick touch method at the time of coronary arterial bypass grafting (CABG) were investigated histologically. RESULTS: 1) The mean thickness of the air bubble layers by single brushing was 3.7, 3.7 and 3.1 mm at level 4, 3 and 2, and no significant difference. When brushed 5 times, it was 6.9, 5.5 and 6.7 mm, respectively, showing marked increases compared with single brushing. 2) A: One side of the RA stump cut with a dissecting hook at level 2 was nicely occluded by a degenerated protein coagulum, but the contralateral had no coagulum. An ITA cut by a shear type blade at level 3 showed that both stumps were nicely occluded, but the vessel wall was introverted and fragmented. B: ITAs brushed 5 or 10 times at level 2 showed that TD occurred in tunica externa, the mean depth of 100 or 203 microm, and never exceeded the external elastic lamella. RAs brushed 10 times at level 2 and 3 showed that TD and air bubble generation occurred in the tunica externa, and the mean depth was 203 and 203 microm. However, TD exceeded the external lamella in some cases at level 3. Veins brushed 10 times at level 3 showed that TD spread to all layers. 3) The depth of TD in ITAs skeletonized clinically by HS was 400 to 530 microm, and apart from the external elastic lamella. CONCLUSIONS: 1) Though the air bubble layer was very thick in jelly, it was observed only in tunica externa ex vivo. 2) For coagulation and cut of small blood vessels, it is vital to press an HS blade edge onto the vessel so as to press equally both portions to be cut. There is a possibility of a fragmented and introverted vessel wall into the lumen. 3) By dissecting ITA and RA using HS at level 2 and the quick touch method, TD can be limited to the depth of the connective tissue of tunica externa.