In the fields of fluid dynamics, aeronautical engineering, environment engineering, and energy technology, it is critical to accurately measure the physical parameters of a material surface. [1] Optoelectronic devices have generally been employed as temperature and pressure sensors. [2] However, their sensing area is limited to a single point on a surface. There is a need to measure entire surfaces and obtain multidimensional data for mapping surfaces. There are high expectations that materials for surface measurements, such as temperature and pressure-sensitive dyes, will overcome this intrinsic limitation of optoelectronic devices.We seek to design temperature-sensitive dyes using luminescent lanthanide complexes. Lanthanide complexes exhibit characteristic luminescence with narrow emission bands (full width at half maximum, fwhm < 10 nm) and long emission lifetimes (> 1 ms), [3] which make them suitable for use in sensing devices. In 2003, Amao and co-workers reported the first temperature-sensitive dye that employed an Eu III complex in a polymer film. [4] Khalil et al. demonstrated the high performance of an Eu III complex for a temperature-sensitive paint (temperature sensitivity: 4.42 % 8C À1 ). [5] We have reported a Tb III complex, Tb(hfa) 3 -(H 2 O) 2 (hfa: hexafluoro acetylacetonato), that is suitable as a temperature-sensing probe since it exhibits effective energy back transfer (BEnT) from the emitting level of the Tb III ion to the excited triplet state of the hfa ligand. [6] Since BEnT depends on the energy barrier of the process, the emission intensity varies with temperature.To improve the thermosensing performance, it is necessary to develop a thermostable structure for high-temperature sensing and to implement a dual sensing unit for a high sensing ability. First, we focused on a lanthanide coordination polymer to produce a thermostable structure. Thermally stable coordination polymers and metal-organic frameworks have been widely studied. [7] Carlos and co-workers recently reported novel three-dimensional lanthanide-organic frameworks with 2,5-pyridinedicarboxylic acid. [8] Marchetti et al. developed thermostable Eu III coordination polymers with 4acyl-pyrazolone ligands. [9] Here, we consider that introducing Tb III ion and hfa ligands to coordination polymer frameworks will produce a Tb III coordination polymer that can be used as a temperature-sensing probe. The triplet state of hfa (22 000 cm À1 ) is very close to the emitting level of the Tb III ion (20 500 cm À1 ), resulting in effective EnT1 and BEnT and thus high-performance thermosensing dyes (Figure 1 a). We also selected low-vibrational frequency phosphane oxide [10] as the linking part in the Tb III coordination polymer because lanthanide complexes with high emission quantum yields composed of hfa and bidentate phosphane oxide ligands have been reported. [11] Second, we attempted to impart ratiometric temperature sensing by using luminescent Eu III and Tb III ions in the frameworks of the coordination polymer to realize a high th...

The significance of heart-rate turbulence (HRT) in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) was evaluated to examine whether it is sensitive to the risk of ventricular tachycardia (VT). HRT is reported to predict the prognosis after myocardial infarction (MI), but its prognostic value in patients with CHF remains unknown. HRT was measured in 50 CHF patients (left ventricular ejection fraction <50% and/or left ventricular end-diastolic diameter >55 mm, 34 cardiomyopathy, 16 post-MI) and 21 patients without obvious heart diseases (control). HRT slope and HRT onset were measured by the original definitions using digitized Holter ECG recordings. Cardiac pump function was assessed by echocardiography. The value of the HRT slope was significantly lower in CHF than in control (3.7 +/- 1.7 vs 16.4 +/- 5.3, mean +/- SD, p < 0.01). The value of the HRT onset in patients with CHF was significantly higher than that in control patients (-1.1 +/- 1.9 vs -3.6 +/- 1.7, mean +/- SD, p < 0.05). The HRT slope and onset in CHF patients with VT were nearly identical to those without VT. The HRT slope appears to be a powerful prognostic marker that shows significant differences between CHF subgroups when divided by clinical events; that is, CHF death and CHF hospitalization. However, it has limited value for predicting fatal ventricular arrhythmias.

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The study was designed to characterize patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) in Japan in terms of the etiologies and prognosis. CHF was defined by ejection fraction (EF >or=50%), left ventricular diastolic dimension (LVDD >or=55 mm) or a past history of congestive heart failure. Among the 721 recruited patients, the most frequent etiology for CHF was dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in patients aged less than 59 years, and valvular heart disease (VHD) in those aged 70 years or more. The 1-year crude mortality was 8% overall and 12% in patients with myocardial infarction (MI). Sudden death accounted for 40% of the total deaths among all patients, and 60% in patients with MI. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) was a consistent prognostic marker in CHF patients with a variety of etiologies. Total death and hospitalization because of heart failure were significantly less frequent in patients with BNP less than 100 pg/ml. In conclusion, the etiologies of Japanese CHF appear to be more diverse than those of other Western countries, but BNP is an excellent prognostic marker despite the etiological diversity. Sudden, unexpected death in CHF patients is also a serious problem in Japan. A nation-wide epidemiologic study should be done to characterize Japanese CHF.

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