Search

The assembled papers in this special issue jointly explore the urban manifestation of “Global China” at different scales and involving diverse actors, discussing the ways in which the urban has been reconfigured by China’s global expansion and uncovering the differentiated modes of speculative and spectacular urban production at present. Observing from Ghana, India, Malaysia and China, these papers collectively make theoretical, methodological, and empirical contributions to recognise the dynamics of speculation, articulation and translation in global capitalism, where China plays an increasingly significant role. In this introduction, we first set out to explain our standing point with China as method, which is an attempt to situate China in our comparative studies endeavour and to make self-reflection on what it means to study China as both an optic and a process. We then introduce the three main themes that have guided our interrogation of what global China implies. These include: (a) transplanting models and urbanism; (b) multi-scalar construction of temporality; and (c) situating the urban China model in global capitalism. These aspects are at the core of our engagement with the contributing papers in this special issue that together extend the critique of our changing urban conditions at present.

Chrysanthemum plants are one of the most economically important plants in South Korea. Both virus and viroid can cause diseases and economic damage to the plants. In this study, we investigated the detection of seven viruses and two viroids in 350 chrysanthemum plants cultivated in Yesan-gun, Chungcheongnam-do. Two viruses, chrysanthemum virus B (CVB) and tomato aspermy virus (TAV), and two viroids, chrysanthemum chlorotic mottle viroid (CChMVd) and chrysanthemum stunt viroid (CSVd), were detected in this study. The two viruses were detected in six samples and one sample, respectively. The two viroids were detected in 97 samples and 21 samples, respectively. The nucleotide sequences of the CVB-CN-Y, TAV-CN-Y, CChMVd-CN-Y, and CSVd-CN-Y obtained in this study showed 83.7–86.9%, 99.2–100.0%, 94.4–99.5%, and 95.7–99.7% identity, respectively, compared to their other strains/isolates. The CVB-CN-Y and TAV-CN-Y showed the greatest nucleotide sequence homology to CVB-GS1 and three TAV isolates (TAV-V, TAV-P, and TAV-ChJ), respectively. The CChMVd-CN-Y and CSVd-CN-Y showed the greatest nucleotide sequence homology to CChMVd-Horst and four CSVd isolates (Au1.1, K4pop, Sagae, and Tochigi), respectively. This study is the report on the infection rate of viruses and viroids in chrysanthemum plants cultivated in Yesan-gun in 2021.

The article aims to investigate the relations between work and urban space, focusing on the struggles of street vendors for the ‘right to the city centre’ in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. We join critical debates on Brazil’s internationally praised urban reform by focusing on informal workers. Beyond lacking the protection of labour laws, the ‘right to the city’ (RttC) of such workers has been consistently denied through restrictive legislations and policies. In the context of the ‘crisis’ of waged labour, we explore the increasing centrality of urban space for working-class political struggles. Looking at Belo Horizonte, the article traces the relation between urban participatory democracy and the development of legal-institutional frameworks that restricted street vendors’ access to urban space in the city. In the context of an urban revitalisation policy implemented in 2017, we then explore the use of legal frameworks to remove street vendors from public areas of the city and the resulting political resistance movement. The discussion focuses on the emergence of the Vicentão Occupation, a building squatted by homeless families and street vendors in conflict with the local state. Through this case, we explore the radical potential of contemporary articulations of Henri Lefebvre’s framework emerging from the confluence of diverse local urban struggles for ‘the right to the city centre’. Ultimately, we argue for an understanding of the RttC as a process and a site of continual struggle whose terrain is shaped, but cannot be replaced by, legal frameworks that need to be constantly contested and evolving to reflect the shifting socio-spatial relations.

By examining comparatively two recent projects of university-led large-scale real estate development in South Korea and Singapore, this paper contributes to the ongoing efforts to problematise the methodological statism in the study of East Asian urbanisation, i.e., understanding it as a process dominated by state actors, on the one hand, and to challenge the perspective that university-led real estate projects are a neoliberal strategy as conventionally understood in the West on the other. To this end, this paper uses qualitative research methods to investigate how and why East Asian universities participate in real estate development projects; how the universities pursue their material goals by negotiating with the state, which is known to have led condensed urbanisation and industrialisation in East Asia (Global East). This paper concludes that speculative real estate development activities of East Asian universities are variegated based on their developmental legacies and need to be understood as more nuanced processes. The case studies demonstrate that East Asian universities have worked beyond their social roles by directly participating in the urban process, pursuing the accumulation of real estate assets that would eventually undermine their public role as educational institutions.

Despite the oil wealth and hyper-welfare provision to its citizens, Kuwait has seen the rise of a ‘housing crisis’ discourse in recent years. This paper aims to provide an opportunity to understand the nature of Kuwait’s housing crisis and the reasons behind the state’s perceived inability to respond to it. Through the analysis of research findings from the field, we argue that the housing crisis in Kuwait is socially constructed, reflecting the multi- layered conditions of historic provision and consumption of housing in Kuwaiti society. The formulation of the housing crisis can be further disaggregated into (a) the crisis of the Kuwaiti welfare state, (b) the crisis of land development and (c) the society in crisis. Tackling the housing crisis, therefore, requires a holistic approach that involves multi-level stakeholder engagement, including a wide range of citizens. Our study on housing in Kuwait draws attention to the country’s contemporary state–society relations and the complexities of housing crises unfolding globally.

While green urbanism has been discussed extensively in the urban studies literature, less attention has been paid to the micropolitics of its cross-border transplantation. Using the case of Forest City, a mainland Chinese developer-led mega-project in the Iskandar Malaysia, we analyze the different ways green urbanism has been deployed in speculative city-making. The state seeks to position Iskandar Malaysia as greener than its global competitors, while the developer consolidates its brand image and marketing aesthetics with selective “green and smart” techniques, yet at the cost of local residents’ habitat. In moving mountains to green the sea, the logic of speculative urbanization prevails and presides over sustainable and equitable green urbanism. Further attention to the complex local power nexus and the micropolitics of speculative green urbanism contextualizes different stakeholders’ rationales and practices, and contributes to critical reflections on the entanglement of green urbanism and speculative urbanization.

The present study is aimed at investigating the ability of a CFD modeling of liquid–liquid jet breakup to resolve the principal mechanisms relevant to jet breakup as well as submillimeter-scale drop size. It is generally known that jet leading edge breaks up by boundary layer stripping (BLS), and jet lateral surface breaks up by Kelvin–Helmholtz instability (KHI). The jet breakup rate as well as the resulting particle size are important parameters that would largely govern the intensity of a steam explosion in severe reactor accidents. First, a two-dimensional simulation of KHI along the melt-liquid coolant interface was performed using the VOF model in ANSYS Fluent with fine meshes as small as 0.02 mm. The dominant wavelength obtained by FFT analysis of calculated melt volume fractions showed that the fastest growing wavelength from the linear analysis of KHI is seen only at the very early development of the instability, and it increases gradually. Second, a three-dimensional simulation of BLS was performed, and the shapes and sizes of the melt particles were obtained. The particle size distributions from KHI and BLS simulations were compared with COLDJET experimental data of Woods metal and water, and it showed that the finer drops of one millimeter or smaller are produced by Kelvin–Helmholtz instability, and the drops of a few millimeters in diameter are mainly produced by boundary layer stripping.

Cudraxanthone D (CD) is a natural xanthone compound derived from the root barks of Cudrania tricuspidata . However, the biological functions of CD in human metabolism have been rarely reported until now. Autophagy is the self-degradation process related to cancer cell metastasis. Here, we elucidated the effects of CD on human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells’ metastatic ability. We confirmed that CD effectively decreased the proliferation and viability of SCC25 human OSCC cells in time- and dose-dependent manners. Also, the metastasis phenotype of the SCC25 cell (migration, invasion, and epithelial–mesenchymal transition [EMT]) was inhibited by CD. To further investigate the mechanism by which CD inhibited the metastatic capacity, we detected the relationship between EMT and autophagy in the SCC25 cells. The results revealed that CD inhibited the metastasis of the SCC25 cells by attenuating autophagy. Thus, our findings produced a potential novel agent for the treatment of human OSCC metastasis.

Background The mainstay of endometrial cancer treatment is surgical resection of tumors and postoperative adjuvant treatment is recommended if necessary. However, there is no consensus on the management of unresectable metastatic endometrial cancer. This study aimed to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by interval debulking surgery (NAC-IDS) in unresectable, metastatic endometrial cancer. Methods From the endometrial cancer cohorts of four institutions in Korea, we identified patients with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stages IIIC–IVB endometrial cancer who received NAC-IDS between January 2008 and December 2020. Through a medical record review, we collected patients’ clinicopathological data. Progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and the factors affecting survival outcomes were analyzed. Results Overall, 32 patients were included with endometrioid (n = 18), serous (n = 5), carcinosarcoma (n = 6), and other histological types (n = 3). Among them, 28 (87.5%) patients had stage IVB disease. The most common neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) regimen was paclitaxel-carboplatin (n = 25, 78.1%), which was administered for a median of six cycles. While 26 (81.3%) patients showed an objective response, two (6.3%) progressed despite NAC. At the time of interval debulking surgery (IDS), 23 (71.9%) patients achieved complete cytoreduction. During 31.0 months of the median follow-up, there were 23 recurrences and 11 deaths, corresponding to a median PFS of 19.7 months and a 3-year OS rate of 69.7%. In multivariate analyses, non-endometrioid histology and residual tumor after IDS were identified as independent poor prognostic factors for PFS (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 7.322; P P = 0.001, respectively). Multivariate analysis for OS could not be conducted because of the small number of events, although non-endometrioid histology was the only factor associated with worse OS in univariate analysis (adjusted HR, 4.523; P = 0.032). Conclusions NAC-IDS may be a treatment option for unresectable metastatic endometrial cancer. Tumor histology and the possibility of complete cytoreduction are the primary considerations for NAC-IDS.

D-pinitol is an analog of 3-methoxy-D-chiro-inositol found in beans and plants. D-pinitol has anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, and anticancer effects. Additionally, D-pinitol induces apoptosis and inhibits metastasis in breast and prostate cancers. However, to date, no study has investigated the anticancer effects of D-pinitol in oral cancer. Therefore, in this study, whether the anticancer effects of D-pinitol induce apoptosis, inhibit the epithelialto- mesenchymal transition (EMT), and arrest cell cycle was investigated in squamous epithelial cells. D-pinitol decreased the survival and cell proliferation rates of CAL-27 and Ca9-22 oral squamous carcinoma cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Evidence of apoptosis, including nuclear condensation, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase, and caspase-3 fragmentation, was also observed. D-pinitol inhibited the migration and invasion of both cell lines. In terms of EMT-related proteins, E-cadherin was increased, whereas N-cadherin, Snail, and Slug were decreased. D-pinitol also decreased the expression of cyclin D1, a protein involved in the cell cycle, but increased the expression of p21, a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor. Hence, D-pinitol induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in CAL-27 and Ca9-22 cells, demonstrating an anticancer effect by decreasing the EMT.

Objective To evaluate the longitudinal changes of swallowing kinematics based on videofluoroscopic swallowing studies (VFSSs) in subacute stroke patients grouped according to the method of dietary intake.Methods Sixty-nine subacute stroke patients who had taken at least 2 successive VFSSs were included. Subjects were allocated into 3 groups according to the degree of swallowing function recovery—not improved group (tube feeding recommended to patients at both studies), improved group (tube feedings recommended initially to patients and oral feeding recommended at follow-up study), and well-maintained group (oral feeding at both studies recommended to patients). Initial VFSS was performed during the subacute stage of stroke, 1 to 12 weeks after the onset of stroke, and follow-up VFSS was performed at least once. Kinematic variables were calculated by two-dimensional motion analysis of multiple structures, including the hyoid bone, epiglottis, and vocal cord. Changes of kinematic variables were analyzed in serial VFSSs.Results At the initial VFSS, the well-maintained group showed significantly larger angles of epiglottic folding than the not improved group, while at the follow-up VFSS, the improved and the well-maintained groups showed significantly larger epiglottic folding angles than the not improved group. The distribution of epiglottic folding angles was in a dichotomous pattern, and each cluster was related to the swallowing function.Conclusion This study showed that improved epiglottic folding angles are associated with the recovery of the swallowing process and suitability for oral feeding among various kinematic variables in subacute stroke patients.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop a predictive model for cesarean delivery after induction of labor (IOL) in twin pregnancy. Design: Retrospective cohort study Setting: University hospital. Population: Twin pregnancy who underwent IOL from 2005 to 2018 Methods: The study population was randomly divided into the training and test sets at a ratio of 2:1. Three-fold cross-validation (CV) with 100 times repetitions was applied to select the best model. Main outcome measure to develop and validate a prediction model for cesarean delivery after IOL in twin pregnancies. Results: A total of 1,703 twin pregnancies were analyzed, including 1,356 women in the development cohort of the SNUH database and 347 women in the external validation cohort of the SNUBH database. In the development cohort, the clinical variables that were different between the successful and failed IOL groups were included in the logistic regression analysis, and the final prediction model, composed of five variables (maternal age, maternal height, parity, cervical effacement, and summated birth weight of both twins), was selected with an AUROC of 0.742 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.700-0.785) and 0.733 (95% CI, 0.671-0.794) in the training set and test set, respectively. A nomogram for predicting the risk of cesarean delivery after IOL in twin pregnancies was also developed. Conclusion: A prediction model to provide information and evaluate the risk of cesarean delivery after IOL in twin pregnancies was developed. Keywords Twin pregnancy, induction of labor, cesarean section, prediction model

Although various methods, such as surgery and chemotherapy, are applied to the treatment of OSCC, there are problems, such as functional and aesthetic limitations of the mouth and face, drug side effects, and lymph node metastasis. Many researchers are making efforts to develop new therapeutic agents from plant-derived substances to overcome the side effects that occur in oral cancer treatment. Polydatin is known as a natural precursor of resveratrol, and research on its efficacy is being actively conducted recently. Therefore, we investigated whether polydatin can induce apoptosis and whether it affects cell migration and invasion through the regulation of EMT-related factors in OSCC. Polydatin decreased the survival and proliferation rates of CAL27 and Ca9-22 cells, and induced the release of cytochrome c, a factor related to apoptosis, and fragmentation of procaspase-3 and PARP. Another form of cell death, autophagy, was observed in polydatin-treated cells. In addition, polydatin inhibits cell migration and invasion, and it has been shown to occur through increased expression of E-cadherin, an EMT related factor, and decreased expression of N-cadherin and Slug and Snail proteins and genes. These findings suggest that polydatin is a potential oral cancer treatment.

Viral protein 2 (VP2), which is the structural protein of parvovirus, can produce virus-like particles (VLPs) by a self-assembly process in vitro, making VLPs attractive vaccine candidates. VP2 of canine parvovirus (CPV) is responsible for neutralizing antibodies in immunized animals. In this study, VP2 protein of canine parvovirus-2c was expressed using a baculovirus expression system and assembled into parvovirus-like particles in insect cells. The results show that VP2 proteins assembled into virus-like particles (VLPs) with antigenic properties similar to those of natural CPV and a high hemagglutination (HA) titer (1:27). The recombinant 6-His-tagged VP2 protein with a molecular mass of about 65 kDa was detected by anti-His antibody and anti-PPV serum. This study provides a foundation for the application of VP2 protein in the clinical diagnosis of CPV and in the vaccination against CPV.

In an effort to contribute to the contemporary debates on accumulation by dispossession (ABD), we argue for a closer attention to the link between the state and ABD. We propose contextualizing ABD within the institutionalization of the process of replacing communal property rights with private property rights. In such institutionalization, the state plays a critical role as the final guarantor of property rights. As such, the sociospatial specificities of the state would strongly influence how ABD unfolds and how it is understood. In the empirical part of this article, we use this approach to focus on a specific type of capitalist state—that is, the developmental state—to examine the emergence of apartment-dominated residential landscapes in Gangnam District, Seoul, in the 1970s through the use of ABD. Key Words: accumulation by dispossession and primitive accumulation of capital, developmental state, Gangnam District, high-rise apartments, Seoul, South Korea, vertical accumulation.

On downward-facing heated wall in an inclined channel the bubble nucleation and departure behavior are affected by large bubbles near the heated wall as the vapor bubbles tend to slide along the upper heated wall. In order to investigate the boiling behavior in this geometry, an experiment was carried out with 1.2 m long rectangular channel, 0.06 m × 0.1 m of channel cross section. The channel was inclined by 10°, 20°, or 30° from the horizontal plane. The size of the heated wall was 0.06 m wide, 0.75 m long. The heat flux on the heated wall was provided by the Joule heating of the thin stainless steel plate bonded to the Teflon wall by DC electric current. The tests were conducted with near-saturated water at atmospheric pressure. The heat flux was varied in the range of 40–240 kW/m2 and the mass flux was in the range of 100–300 kg/m2 s. The temperatures of the heated surface were measured at five points and were used for calculating heat transfer coefficients. High speed video images showed that the bubbles were sliding along the heated wall, continuing to grow and combining with the bubbles growing at the nucleation sites in the downstream. These large bubbles continued to slide along the heated wall and formed elongated slug bubbles. The measured flow boiling heat transfer coefficients for the range of the test parameters were 5000–12,000 W/m2 K. By performing video image analyses, the length, velocity and frequency of slug bubbles sliding on the upper heated wall were measured as a function of wall heat flux, mass flux, and the inclination angle. These sliding bubble parameters were reduced to so-called Reduction Factor and an empirical correlation of the reduction factor is proposed. These sliding slug bubble parameters can be used to model wall boiling on inclined, downward-facing heated wall.

Young-Guk Na,1 Jin-Ju Byeon,1 Miao Wang,1 Hyun Wook Huh,1 Gi-Ho Son,1,2 Sung-Hoon Jeon,1,3 Ki-Hyun Bang,1,2 Sung-Jin Kim,1 Hye-Jin Lee,1 Hong-Ki Lee,1 Cheong-Weon Cho1 1College of Pharmacy, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea; 2Korea United Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Sejong, Republic of Korea; 3SamA Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Suwon, Republic of Korea Background: Ticagrelor (TCG) is used to inhibit platelet aggregation in patients with acute coronary syndrome, but its poor solubility and low bioavailability limit its in vivo efficacy. The purpose of this study was to manufacture an optimized TCG-loaded self-microemulsifying drug delivery system (SMEDDS) to enhance the oral bioavailability and antiplatelet activity of TCG. Materials and methods: Solubility and emulsification tests were conducted to determine the most suitable oils, surfactants, and cosurfactants. Scheffé’s mixture design was applied to optimize the percentage of each component applied in the SMEDDS formulation to achieve optimal physical characteristics, ie, high solubility of TCG in SMEDDS, small droplet size, low precipitation, and high transmittance. Results: The optimized TCG-loaded SMEDDS (TCG-SM) formulation composed of 10.0% Capmul MCM (oil), 53.8% Cremophor EL (surfactant), and 36.2% Transcutol P (cosurfactant) significantly improving the dissolution of TCG in various media compared with TCG in Brilinta® (commercial product). TCG-SM exhibited higher cellular uptake and permeability in Caco-2 cells than raw TCG suspension. In pharmacokinetic studies in rats, TCG-SM exhibited higher oral bioavailability with 5.7 and 6.4 times higher area under the concentration–time curve and maximum plasma concentration, respectively, than a raw TCG suspension. Antiplatelet activity studies exhibited that the TCG-SM formulation showed significantly improved inhibition of platelet aggregation compared with raw TCG at the same dose of TCG. And, a 10 mg/kg dose of raw TCG suspension and a 5 mg/kg dose of TCG-SM had a similar area under the inhibitory curve (907.0%±408.8% and 907.8%±200.5%·hours, respectively) for antiplatelet activity. Conclusion: These results suggest that the developed TCG-SM could be successfully used as an efficient method to achieve the enhanced antiplatelet activity and bioavailability of TCG. Keywords: ticagrelor, SMEDDS, optimization, bioavailability, platelet aggregation, antiplatelet activity

One of the major contributions of the postcolonial critique of urbanism is the call for de-centring knowledge production, especially the emphasis on the need for ‘theorising’ from the Global South so that urban processes embedded therein are not rendered simply as variants of the Global North. De-centring the production of knowledge on global urbanism involves moving away from over-reliance on Western cities as sources of theoretical inspiration and treating all cities across the globe as ‘ordinary cities’ placed on the level-playing field. The rise of East and South-East Asia, to some extent, provides an opportunity to disrupt the North-South binaries, which do not capture the more complex web of spatial connectedness.

There is an established urban studies literature on the discursive politics of green urbanism, especially with regards to eco-cities and (mega) greenfield developments. However, less attention has been paid to the micropolitics of cross-border transplantation of green urbanism ideas and practices, especially within Asia. This paper examines the case of Forest City, a mainland Chinese developer-led mega greenfield project in the Iskandar Malaysia special economic corridor, to be built on four reclaimed islands. Based on observations, in-depths interviews with local stakeholders and document analysis, we analyse the different ways in which green urbanism has been used by the local state and the developer as an apparatus for speculative city-making. On the one hand, the state seeks to position Iskandar Malaysia as greener than its global competitors through the development of a homegrown "low carbon society" green accreditation system. On the other hand, the (selectively) "green and smart" Forest city consolidates the developer's corporate brand image and marketing aesthetics at the cost of local residents' living environment. Attention to such entangled micropolitics of speculative green urbanism contextualises different stakeholders' rationales and practices and contributes to critical reflections on the entanglement of green urbanism and speculative urbanisation.

A detailed examination of the “Korean development model” from its urban dimension, evaluating its sociopolitical contexts and implications for international development cooperation. There is an increasing tendency to use the development experience of Asian countries as a reference point for other countries in the Global South. Korea’s condensed urbanization and industrialization, accompanied by the expansion of new cities and industrial complexes across the country, has become one such model, even if the fruits of such development may not have been equitably shared across geographies and generations. The chapters in this book critically reassess the Korean urban development experience from regional policy to new town development, demonstrating how these policy experiences were deeply rooted in Korea’s socioeconomic environment and discussing what can be learned from them when applying them in other developmental contexts. This book will be of great interest to scholars and researchers in the field of urban studies and developmental studies in general and in Korea’s (urban) development experience in particular.

The paper aims to investigate the relations between work and urban space, focusing on the struggles of street vendors for the “right to the city centre” in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. We join critical debates on Brazil’s internationally praised urban reform by focusing on informal workers. Beyond lacking the protection of labour laws, the “right to the city” (RttC) of such workers has been consistently denied through restrictive legislations and policies. In the context of the “crisis” of waged labour, we explore the increasing centrality of urban space for working-class political struggles. Looking at Belo Horizonte, the paper traces the relation between urban participatory democracy and the development of legal-institutional frameworks that restricted street vendors’ access to urban space in the city. In the context of an urban revitalisation policy implemented in 2017, we then explore the use of legal frameworks to remove street vendors from public areas of the city and the resulting political resistance movement. The discussion focuses on the emergence of the Vicentão Occupation, a building squatted by homeless families and street vendors in conflict with the local state. Though this case, we explore the radical potential of contemporary articulations of Henri Lefebvre’s framework emerging from the confluence of diverse local urban struggles for “the right to the city centre”. Ultimately we argue for an understanding of the RttC as a process and a site of continual struggle whose terrain is shaped, but cannot be replaced by, legal frameworks that need to be constantly contested and evolving to reflect the shifting socio-spatial relations.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES We reviewed the long-term outcomes after tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) repair with trans-annular incision; and evaluated the effectiveness of pulmonary valve replacement (PVR) on outcomes. METHODS This was a retrospective review of clinical outcomes of 180 of 196 TOF patients who underwent total correction with trans-annular incision from 1991 to 1997 (PVR group: 81; non-PVR group: 99). RESULTS The median age of the patients was 14.0 months (interquartile range [IQR], 10.7-19.8 months) at TOF repair. Ten in-hospital deaths (5.1%) occurred. During the follow-up, 81 patients underwent PVR at the median age of 13.5 years (IQR, 11.2-17.1 years). The patients in PVR group showed better outcomes than non-PVR group in overall survival rate (100% in PVR vs. 88.7% in non-PVR, p=0.007), in all adverse events (arrhythmia, neurologic complications, 95.5% in PVR vs. 74.6% in non-PVR, p=0.024) at 20 years. Age at TOF repair younger than 1 year (hazard ratio [HR], 2.265; p=0.01) and previous shunt history (HR, 2.195; p=0.008) were predictive for requiring PVR. During follow-up, 10 late deaths (5 sudden deaths) occurred in the non-PVR group, mainly due to ventricular arrhythmia and right ventricular failure; there was 1 late death (not a sudden death) in the PVR group. CONCLUSIONS Long-term survival after repair of TOF with trans-annular incision were acceptable. However, arrhythmias were frequently observed during 20 years of follow-up. The patient age

The rapid development of wireless technology has accelerated the development of Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) to support accident prevention and the safety of a vehicle driver. VANET is a form of Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET), and it differs from MANET in that the network topology of a VANET changes dynamically in response to the high mobility of a vehicle and the unstable link quality due to various types of road patterns. Since most access and merging conflicts occur due to vehicle movement patterns and traffic conditions, the collision rate can be reduced if each vehicle can predict the location, movement direction, and resource occupancy information of other vehicles. In this paper, we propose a collision avoidance method based on the vehicle mobility prediction model in TDMA-based VANET. The proposed algorithm allocates time-slots of TDMA to avoid access and merging collisions by predicting the mobility of nearby vehicles using control time-slot occupancy information, vehicle ID, hop information, vehicle movement direction, and longitude and latitude of a vehicle. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can reduce access and merging collision rates compared with other legacy algorithms, and the performance gain of the proposed algorithm is enhanced in road environments when traffic density is high and where vehicles have high mobility and change their travel directions frequently.

Background Although previous in vivo studies explored urinary microRNA (miRNA), there is no agreement on nephrotoxicity-specific miRNA biomarkers. Objectives In this study, we assessed whether urinary miRNAs could be employed as biomarkers for nephrotoxicity. Methods For this, literature-based candidate miRNAs were identified by reviewing the previous studies. Female Sprague-Dawley rats received subcutaneous injections of a single dose or repeated doses (3 consecutive days) of gentamicin (GEN; 137 or 412 mg/kg). The expression of miRNAs was analyzed by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction in 16 h pooled urine from GEN-treated rats. Results GEN-induced acute kidney injury was confirmed by the presence of tubular necrosis. We identified let-7g-5p, miR-21-3p, 26b-3p, 192-5p, and 378a-3p significantly upregulated in the urine of GEN-treated rats with the appearance of the necrosis in proximal tubules. Specifically, miR-26-3p, 192-5p, and 378a-3p with highly expressed levels in urine of rats with GEN-induced acute tubular injury were considered to have sensitivities comparable to clinical biomarkers, such as blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, and urinary kidney injury molecule protein. Conclusions These results indicated the potential involvement of urinary miRNAs in chemical-induced nephrotoxicity, suggesting that certain miRNAs could serve as biomarkers for acute nephrotoxicity.

Compressed development experiences, especially in Asia, have translated into expectations for ‘fast cities’ where time and space are compressed to materialise ‘real’ Asia experiences. However, what does ‘fast urbanism’ mean for those who see Asian cites as reference points? Moreover, what does ‘fast urbanism’ mean for those who have living memories of such fast-paced development, and how might this be different for their future generations? This intervention addresses these two questions by reflecting on the politics of temporality, calling for critical attention to the ideological imposition of ‘fast’ development in Asia and beyond. We argue that the ‘Asian speed’ of development was enabled in specific historical and geographical conjunctures, which entailed the appropriation of individual and collective aspirations through the invention of a certain kind of futurity and, in so doing, consolidated local politico-economic structures that displace both the present and the future.

Background Although previous in vivo studies explored urinary microRNA (miRNA), there is no agreement on nephrotoxicity-specific miRNA biomarkers. Objectives In this study, we assessed whether urinary miRNAs could be employed as biomarkers for nephrotoxicity. Methods For this, literature-based candidate miRNAs were identified by reviewing the previous studies. Female Sprague-Dawley rats received subcutaneous injections of a single dose or repeated doses (3 consecutive days) of gentamicin (GEN; 137 or 412 mg/kg). The expression of miRNAs was analyzed by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction in 16 h pooled urine from GEN-treated rats. Results GEN-induced acute kidney injury was confirmed by the presence of tubular necrosis. We identified let-7g-5p, miR-21-3p, 26b-3p, 192-5p, and 378a-3p significantly upregulated in the urine of GEN-treated rats with the appearance of the necrosis in proximal tubules. Specifically, miR-26-3p, 192-5p, and 378a-3p with highly expressed levels in urine of rats with GEN-induced acute tubular injury were considered to have sensitivities comparable to clinical biomarkers, such as blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, and urinary kidney injury molecule protein. Conclusions These results indicated the potential involvement of urinary miRNAs in chemical-induced nephrotoxicity, suggesting that certain miRNAs could serve as biomarkers for acute nephrotoxicity.

Background Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is now considered as a hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome and elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) is commonly related to NAFLD in the absence of viral hepatitis or alcohol abuse. Previous studies have indicated that elevated ALT is associated with diabetes or metabolic syndrome in adults, but the clinical significance of ALT or NAFLD in pregnancy has not been well determined. The objective of this study was to determine the association between elevated ALT in early pregnancy and the development of gestational diabetes or preeclampsia in late pregnancy. Methods In this retrospective cohort study, pregnant women who met the following inclusion criteria were included: 1) singleton pregnancy; 2) ALT levels were measured in antenatal outpatient clinic at 4–20 weeks of gestation; 3) patients were screened for gestational diabetes and delivered in Cheil General Hospital and Women's Healthcare Center. Cases with viral hepatitis or other liver diseases were excluded. The early ALT levels were divided into two groups (normal ALT [≤ 95th percentile] and elevated ALT [> 95th percentile]), and the frequency of gestational diabetes and preeclampsia was compared between the two groups of cases. Gestational diabetes was screened and diagnosed by two-step procedure (50 g oral glucose challenge test and 75 g glucose challenge test with World Health Organization [WHO] criteria). Results A total of 2,322 women met the inclusion criteria. Cases with elevated early ALT levels (> 95th percentile) had a higher risk of subsequent gestational diabetes and preeclampsia (gestational diabetes by WHO criteria, 2.1% in normal ALT vs. 6.5% in elevated ALT, P < 0.01; preeclampsia, 1.0% in normal ALT vs. 4.1% in elevated ALT, P < 0.05). This relationship between elevated ALT and increased risk of gestational diabetes/preeclampsia remained significant after adjustment for maternal age and pre-pregnancy body mass index. Conclusion Elevated unexplained ALT in early pregnancy is associated with the risk of subsequent development of gestational diabetes and preeclampsia in late pregnancy., Graphical Abstract

Diabetes mellitus (DM) has become a major health problem in most countries of the world. DM causes many complications, including hyperglycemia, diabetic ketoacidosis, and death. In Asia, mulberry has been used widely in the treatment of DM. Combination of drugs with herbal medicine may reduce the unwanted side effects caused by drugs. In this study, the influence of extended mulberry leaves extract (MLE) intake on metformin (Met) was evaluated in terms of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in DM-induced rats. Three week-treatment of MLE alone produced the anti-hyperglycemic effect (around 24%) if compared to the control. Interestingly, Met administration after MLE treatment for 3 weeks enhanced about 49% of the anti-hyperglycemic effect of Met. In addition, the extended intake of MLE potentiated the anti-hyperglycemic effect of Met on various concentrations. This potentiated anti-hyperglycemic effect of Met appears to be due to the pharmacokinetic change of Met. In this study, 3 week-treatment of MLE reduced the elimination of Met in DM-induced rats. In addition, MLE reduced the human organic cation transporter 2 (hOCT2) activity in a concentration-dependent manner. Thus, these findings suggest that MLE lowered the elimination of Met via inhibiting the hOCT2.

Biofluid-based biomarkers provide an efficient tool for hazard identification of chemicals. Here, we explored the potential of microRNAs (miRNAs) as biomarkers for hepatotoxicity of chemicals by linking in vitro to in vivo animal models. A search of the literature identified candidate circulating miRNA biomarkers of chemical-induced hepatotoxicity. The expression of candidate miRNAs (miR-122, miR-151a, miR-192, miR-193a, miR-194, miR-21, miR-29c), was determined by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction in in vivo acute liver injury induced by acetaminophen, and then were further compared with those of in vitro cell assays. Candidate miRNAs, except miR-29c, were significantly or biologically upregulated by acetaminophen, at a dose that caused acute liver injury as confirmed by hepatocellular necrosis. Except miR-122 and miR-193a, other miRNAs elevated in in vivo models were confirmed by in vitro models using HepG2 cells, whereas they failed by in vitro models using human primary hepatocytes. These findings indicate that certain miRNAs may still have the potential of toxicological biomarkers in linking in vitro to in vivo hepatotoxicity.

Gemcitabine is used in the treatment of several solid tumors as one of anticancer nucleoside analogues and is necessary to administer high doses to achieve the desired therapeutic response. However, this treatment may be related to severe side effects. For improvement of the encapsulation efficiency of gemcitabine for gemcitabine-loaded nanoparticle composed of biodegradable polymer and reducing the side effects due to the high concentration of gemcitabine, we formulated gemcitabine-loaded PLGA particles using chitosan and different type of surfactant. The gemcitabine-loaded particles were prepared using a double emulsion solvent evaporation technique. The effects of surfactants to modify the size of gemcitabine-loaded particles were different. The mean diameters of gemcitabine-loaded particles ranged from 400.8 nm to 1712.7 nm. The surface charge of gemcitabine particles was − 5.62 mV to 1.46 mV. The encapsulation efficiency of gemcitabine-loaded particles was found to be 29.56–34.38%. Interestingly, the addition of surfactant could be improved an encapsulation efficiency of gemcitabine.

In light water reactor core melt accidents, the potential risk of energetic molten fuel coolant interaction (FCI, steam explosions) in a partially-flooded reactor cavity has drawn substantial attention. However, when the cavity is completely filled with coolant and the reactor vessel lower head is submerged for the purpose of external reactor vessel cooling, the jet breakup behavior in this case could not only be quite different from the case of partially-flooded reactor cavity, but also affect the risk of fuel coolant interactions. In this study, the jet breakup in liquid-liquid system was experimentally investigated for a fully-flooded and a partially-flooded cavity, and the existing jet breakup models were evaluated against the experimental data. The jet breakup experiment, named as COLDJET, was carried out using the Woods metal whose melting point was 72 °C. The melt jet temperature was lower than the boiling point of coolant so that only the hydrodynamic aspect of jet breakup was investigated. The jet diameter was 50 mm and the coolant depth was 1 m. To investigate the effect of air space of free-falling jet, the experiment was conducted for both fully-flooded and partially-flooded cavities. In the latter case, the free-fall distance in air space was 1 m. A high-speed video camera (typically 4000 fps) was used to visualize the jet breakup and there was an obvious difference in jet breakup behavior between the fully-flooded and the partially-flooded cavities. The jet breakup lengths which were identified in the jet front falling speed were compared with existing models and found that the agreement with the Epstein and Fauske’s model was remarkable. The solidified debris were collected, dried, and sieved to obtain the debris size distribution. It was observed that the average debris size in case of the fully-flooded condition was much smaller than that of the partially-flooded condition at the same jet injection velocity. This is because the entrained air layer between the melt and water acted as like vapor film in boiling condition. The prediction of most probable debris size by the model based on Kelvin-Helmholtz instability showed a good agreement with the experimental data. The jet breakup tests were also simulated using the TRACER-II code, which is a two-dimensional, transient, four-fluid code that can calculate the mixing and propagation of energetic fuel-coolant interactions. The test results were used to improve the jet breakup models of the code as well as to validate the code.

Objectives Coronary artery stenosis after an arterial switch operation (ASO) leads to subsequent reoperation. Therefore, we investigated the indications for reoperation and the results of reoperation to suggest methods to improve our management protocol for coronary artery stenosis after an ASO. Methods Between September 2003 and December 2016, 86 consecutive patients who underwent an ASO were included in the study. The indications for reoperation, reoperation techniques and postoperative results were investigated. Results There were 4 in-hospital deaths (4.7%). One late death occurred during the median follow-up period of 59.6 months. The 5-year overall survival rate was 94.2%. Seven reoperations were performed in 5 patients due to coronary artery stenosis. The indications for reoperation were severe coronary artery stenosis confirmed by computed tomography (CT) angiography or coronary angiography with or without symptoms. Patients with a coronary artery between the great arteries or a high take-off coronary artery frequently required reoperation due to coronary artery stenosis. None of the patients who underwent unroofing or cut-back angioplasty experienced complications during the median follow-up period of 52.0 months. However, 2 patients who underwent ostioplasty required an additional reoperation due to coronary artery restenosis. Conclusions A standardized follow-up protocol including CT angiography or coronary angiography after the ASO is required to address coronary artery stenosis. Good reoperation results were observed using the unroofing and cut-back angioplasty techniques.

This study aims to develop a safety analysis methodology through which the integrity of both the lower head and the in-core instrumentation (ICI) nozzles of an external vessel-cooling reactor in nuclear power plants can be verified through finite element analyses. The ICI was used to measure the neutron flux distribution and control in the core of the reactor. Two analysis models were implemented. One was a two-dimensional model for the lower head, and the other was a three-dimensional model for the ICI nozzle. Heat transfer and thermo-mechanical analyses were also performed. The heat transfer analysis was conducted to evaluate the heat flux caused by the high-temperature melt and the conditions caused by external vessel cooling. The thermo-mechanical analysis was performed by using thermal loading, internal pressure, and deadweight of debris. Consequently, an ejection caused by the failure of the weld zone between the nozzle and the lower head was verified. An additional analysis of the nozzle support parts was then performed. The analysis results revealed that both nozzle ejection and contaminant leakage could be prevented if the nozzle support parts have enough stiffness.

The aim of this study was to prepare the liposome with 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, 1.2 dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine, cholesteyl hemisuccinate, calcein as a drug model and evaluate physicochemical characteristics such as particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), encapsulation efficiency (EE). Also, the morphology of the blank liposome (without calcein) and the calcein-loaded liposome was observed by a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The particle size and PDI of the blank liposome and the calcein-loaded liposome without tween 80 were 139.8 ± 4.497, 0.31 ± 0.03 and 150.8 ± 8.45, 0.29 ± 0.03 nm, respectively. In addition, it was confirmed that the particle size of the calcein-loaded liposome increased from 294. 6 ± 17.8 to 466.4 ± 78.4 nm when tween 80 was used from 1 to 6%. EE of the calcein-loaded liposome was 66.0 ± 0.58%, independent of the concentration of tween 80. TEM images showed that the shape of the blank liposome and the calcein-loaded liposome was round. In vitro drug release test, calcein from the liposome released approximately 20–25 and 40–50% in pH 7.4 and 4.0, respectively, with a sustained release pattern. The cellular uptake of calcein from the calcein-loaded liposome was about 1.08-fold than that from the calcein solution at 10 µM for a 2 h incubation time. These results suggest that the calcein-loaded liposome was successfully prepared, and could be an application for a hydrophilic drug in further study.