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Objective To compare the convenience and effectiveness of the existing lumbosacral orthoses (LSO) (classic LSO and Cybertech) and a newly developed LSO (V-LSO) by analyzing postoperative data.Methods This prospective cohort study was performed from May 2019 to November 2019 and enrolled and analyzed 88 patients with degenerative lumbar spine disease scheduled for elective lumbar surgery. Three types of LSO that were provided according to the time of patient registration were applied for 6 weeks. Patients were randomized into the classic LSO group (n=31), Cybertech group (n=26), and V-LSO group (n=31). All patients were assessed using the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) preoperatively and underwent plain lumbar radiography (anteroposterior and lateral views) 10 days postoperatively. Lumbar lordosis (LS angle) and frontal imbalance were measured with and without LSO. At the sixth postoperative week, a follow-up assessment with the ODI and orthosis questionnaire was conducted.Results No significant differences were found among the three groups in terms of the LS angle, frontal imbalance, ODI, and orthosis questionnaire results. When the change in the LS angle and frontal imbalance toward the reference value was defined as a positive change with and without LSO, the rate of positive change was significantly different in the V-LSO group (LS angle: 41.94% vs. 61.54% vs. 83.87%; p=0.003).Conclusion The newly developed LSO showed no difference regarding its effectiveness and compliance when compared with the existing LSO, but it was more effective in correcting lumbar lordosis.

Background Since 1995, the Korean Society for Cytopathology has overseen the Continuous Quality Improvement program for cytopathology laboratories. The Committee of Quality Improvement has carried out an annual survey of cytology data for each laboratory and set standards for proficiency tests. Methods Evaluations were conducted four times per year from 2008 to 2018 and comprised statistics regarding cytology diagnoses of previous years, proficiency tests using cytology slides provided by the committee, assessment of adequacy of gynecology (GYN) cytology slides, and submission of cytology slides for proficiency tests. Results A total of 206 institutes participated in 2017, and the results were as follows. The number of cytology tests increased from year to year. The ratio of liquid-based cytology in GYN gradually decreased, as most of the GYN cytology had been performed at commercial laboratories. The distribution of GYN diagnoses demonstrated nearly 3.0% as atypical squamous cells. The rate for squamous cell carcinoma was less than 0.02%. The atypical squamous cell/squamous intraepithelial lesion ratio was about 3:1 and showed an upward trend. The major discordant rate of cytology-histology in GYN cytology was less than 1%. The proficiency test maintained a major discordant rate less than 2%. The rate of inappropriate specimens for GYN cytology slides gradually decreased. Conclusions The Continuous Quality Improvement program should be included in quality assurance programs. Moreover, these data can contribute to development of national cancer examination guidelines and facilitate cancer prevention and treatment.

The association between nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) or liver fibrosis and diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) has not been well studied. We aimed to investigate the association of NAFL or liver fibrosis indices and DPN in individuals with type 2 diabetes. In this observational study, we included 264 individuals with type 2 diabetes, and calculated non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) liver fat score, NAFLD fibrosis score, and Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index to evaluate the status of NAFLD or liver fibrosis. DPN was diagnosed when the Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument—Physical Examination score was ≥ 2.5. The NAFLD fibrosis score and FIB-4 index were significantly higher in individuals with DPN than in those without DPN. Logistic analyses showed that the NAFLD fibrosis score and FIB-4 index were associated with DPN after adjustment for covariates (adjusted odds ratio 1.474 and 1.961, respectively). In the subgroup analysis, this association was only significant in the group with a high NAFLD liver fat score (> − 0.640). Serum levels of fetuin-A, a hepatokine, were decreased in individuals with abnormal vibration perception or 10-g monofilament tests compared with their counterparts. The present study suggests that liver fibrosis might be associated with DPN in individuals with type 2 diabetes.

This paper addresses an automatic proficiency evaluation and speech recognition for second language (L2) speech. The proposed method recognizes the speech uttered by the L2 speaker, measures a variety of fluency scores, and evaluates the proficiency of the speaker’s spoken English. Stress and rhythm scores are one of the important factors used to evaluate fluency in spoken English and are computed by comparing the stress patterns and the rhythm distributions to those of native speakers. In order to compute the stress and rhythm scores even when the phonemic sequence of the L2 speaker’s English sentence is different from the native speaker’s one, we align the phonemic sequences based on a dynamic time-warping approach. We also improve the performance of the speech recognition system for non-native speakers and compute fluency features more accurately by augmenting the non-native training dataset and training an acoustic model with the augmented dataset. In this work, we augment the non-native speech by converting some speech signal characteristics (style) while preserving its linguistic information. The proposed variational autoencoder (VAE)-based speech conversion network trains the conversion model by decomposing the spectral features of the speech into a speaker-invariant content factor and a speaker-specific style factor to estimate diverse and robust speech styles. Experimental results show that the proposed method effectively measures the fluency scores and generates diverse output signals. Also, in the proficiency evaluation and speech recognition tests, the proposed method improves the proficiency score performance and speech recognition accuracy for all proficiency areas compared to a method employing conventional acoustic models.

Additional file 1.

본 연구에서는 마카 잎 추출물 제조를 위해서 다양한 추출용매, 온도, 시간을 적용하여 최적 추출조건을 확립하였다. 마카 잎 추출물은 70% 메탄올을 이용하여 70°C에서 3시간 동안 추출하였을 때 가장 높은 수율을 나타내어 최적의 추출조건으로 선정되었으며, 본 최적 조건으로 추출된 마카 잎 메탄올 추출물의 총당 및 uronic acid 함량은 각각 58.53% 및 3.55%였다. 또한, 마카 잎 메탄올 추출물의 구조분석을 위하여 FT-IR, NMR, X-선 회절도 분석을 진행하였다. FTIR과 NMR 분석 결과 마카 잎 메탄올 추출물의 주요 성분은 셀룰로오스로 확인되었으며, X-선 회절도를 통하여 마카 잎 메탄올 추출물은 A형 타입의 결정형 구조를 가지고 있는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 보수성 및 보유성 측정 결과, 마카 잎 메탄올 추출물은 보수성이 보유성보다 높은 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 항산화능 활성의 평가인 ABTS 라디칼 소거능과 SOD 유사 활성의 결과에서는 마카 잎 메탄올 추출물의 함량이 높아질수록 활성이 향상되는 것을 확인할 수 있었다.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs), also known as tumor-initiating cells (TICs), are suggested to be responsible for drug resistance and cancer relapse due in part to their ability to self-renew themselves and differentiate into heterogeneous lineages of cancer cells. Thus, it is important to understand the characteristics and mechanisms by which CSCs display resistance to therapeutic agents. In this review, we highlight the key features and mechanisms that regulate CSC function in drug resistance as well as recent breakthroughs of therapeutic approaches for targeting CSCs. This promises new insights of CSCs in drug resistance and provides better therapeutic rationales to accompany novel anticancer therapeutics.

1. Hyperlipidemic effects of HIV-1-protease inhibitors (PI) are associated with increased hepatic production of triglyceride (TG)-rich lipoproteins, rather than lipoprotein clearance. PI are known to increase apolipoprotein B (apoB) secretion, apoC-III mRNA expression and decrease apoA-1 secretion. Nutritional therapy remains an important strategy to manage PI-associated hyperlipidemia. 2. This study investigated the in vitro efficacy of Asian vegetable, Momordica charantia or bitter melon (BM) to ameliorate PI-associated apoB and lipid abnormalities in HepG2 cells. 3. Our study demonstrates that bitter melon juice (BMJ) significantly reduced apoB secretion and apoC-III mRNA expression and normalized apoA-I expression in PI-treated HepG2 cells. BMJ also significantly reduced cellular TG and microsomal TG transfer protein, suggesting that lipid bioavailability and lipidation of apoB assembly may play a role in decreased apoB secretion. 4. Identifying molecular targets of BM may offer alternative dietary strategies to decrease PI-associated hyperlipidemia and improve quality of life among HIV-1-infected patients.