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Optimal muscle and intramuscular fat development are foundational to enhanced high-quality meat production in beef cattle, involving the proliferation and differentiation of key cellular populations, such as myoblasts and preadipocytes. Vitamin A is an essential nutrient for beef cattle and plays an important role in the formation and maintenance of numerous tissue types such as adipose tissue and skeletal muscle. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), the active form of vitamin A, on adipogenic and myogenic processes in bovine skeletal muscle-derived cells (BSMC). As a result, ATRA treatment significantly upregulated ZFP423 and MYF5 during the growth phase (P

The objective of this study was the establishment of clearance method that can ensure radiological safety and reasonably minimize radioactive waste when demolishing contaminated buildings at KRR-1&2. By reviewing Korean and international laws related to decommissioning, the method for clearance of contaminated buildings presented in this study is to first decontaminate the building and then conduct a radiological safety assessment, such as measuring residual radioactivity, to determine whether the radiation dose criteria for clearance are satisfied. The measurement results meet the radiation dose criteria, the contaminated buildings are regarded as clearance and can be converted into the general buildings. The demolition of the cleared buildings is carried out using conventional demolition methods. The waste generated during the demolition is classified as general construction waste and is disposed of according to relevant laws. The proposed method significantly optimized the number of samples analyzed and reduced the time and cost associated with the decommissioning. The established method will be applied to the ongoing decommissioning of contaminated buildings at KRR-1&2, and its application will be verified by regulatory bodies. The study suggests that this method could be used for the decommissioning of contaminated buildings at other Korean nuclear facilities in the future.© 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to clarify the association between improvement of spasticity in hemiplegic patient’s upper extremity with Botulinum toxin injection and improvement in postural balance and gait function. For this prospective cohort study, sixteen hemiplegic stroke patients with upper extremity spasticity were recruited. The plantar pressure with gait parameters, postural balance parameters, Modified Ashworth Scale, and Modified Tardieu Scale were evaluated before, 3 weeks and 3 months after Botulinum toxin A (BTxA) injection. Spasticity of hemiplegic upper extremity before, and after BTxA injection were significantly changed. Plantar pressure overload in affected side was reduced after BTxA injection. The mean X-speed and the horizontal distance decreased in postural balance analysis with eyes-opened test. Improvement in hemiplegic upper extremity spasticity showed positive correlation with gait parameters. In addition, improvement in hemiplegic upper extremity spasticity was positively correlated with change in balance parameters in postural balance analysis with eyes-closed and dynamic tests. This study focused on the effect of stroke patient’s hemiplegic upper extremity spasticity on their gait and balance parameters and identified that the BTxA injection on hemiplegic patient’s spastic upper extremity improve postural balance and gait function.

BackgroundAlthough several small cohort studies have shown the utility of argon plasma coagulation (APC) in the treatment of gastric dysplasia, its clinical significance has not been established. This study aims to assess the efficacy of APC as a first line treatment for gastric dysplasia, and identify risk factors for residual dysplasia.MethodsA total of 179 cases of gastric dysplasia were treated with APC and have been followed-up with upper endoscopy within 1 year. The overall incidence and the characteristics of lesions with residual dysplasia in follow-up endoscopy were analyzed by logistic regression.ResultsAmong 179 lesions treated with APC, 171 (95.5%) lesions have achieved complete ablation in the follow-up endoscopy. Additional APC was applied for residual dysplasia, achieving complete ablation in 97.77% (175/179). The upper third location of the gastric dysplasia was significantly associated with residual dysplasia, while tumor size, horizontal location, macroscopic morphology and grade of dysplasia showed no significant associations with residual dysplasia following the initial APC.ConclusionsAPC with meticulous follow-up can be recommended as a first line treatment in patients with gastric dysplasia.

The phonon modes of materials contain critical information on the quality of the crystals. Phonon modes also offer a wide range of polarization-dependent resonances in infrared that can be tailored to applications that require large dielectric function contrast in different crystal directions. Here, we investigate the far-field characteristics of MOCVD-grown Ga2O3 thin films. With a combination of cross-polarization FTIR and AFM characterization techniques, we propose an easy and non-invasive route to distinguish κ and β phases of Ga2O3 and study the quality of these crystals. Using numerical methods and cross-polarization spectroscopy, the depolarization characteristics of β-Ga2O3 are examined and depolarization strength values as high as 0.495 and 0.76 are measured, respectively, for 400 and 800 nm-thick β-Ga2O3. The strong birefringence near optical phonon modes of an 800 nm β-Ga2O3 on a sapphire substrate is used to obtain several polarization states for the reflected light in the second atmospheric window 8–14 µm. We anticipate that our findings open a new path for material characterization and wave plate design for the mid-IR range and offer novel possibilities for the future of IR on-chip photonics, thanks to the compatibility of β-Ga2O3 with standard nanofabrication technology.

Post-stroke spasticity is a common complication that limits the functional performance of patients. Botulinum toxin (BTx) is an effective treatment for spasticity. Numerous researchers have applied extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) to address post-stroke spasticity, yielding positive clinical outcomes. We aimed to clarify the add-on effects of ESWT on BTx therapy for spasticity in patients with post-stroke. Sixteen eligible patients with upper extremity spasticity after stroke were recruited for this study. They were randomized to either a BTx with focused ESWT treatment group or a BTx alone group. Spasticity, measured using the modified Ashworth score (MAS) and modified Tardieu scale (MTS), showed statistically significant improvements in the elbow and wrist flexor muscles in both BTx + ESWT group and BTx alone groups. However, no significant differences were observed between the two groups with time flow. The BTx + ESWT group showed significantly decreased MAS of the finger flexors at follow-up and increased R1 (MTS) of the finger flexors at 3 weeks after treatment, which was not observed in the BTx alone group. This is the first study to identify the add-on effect of ESWT on BTx injections to improve post-stroke upper limb spasticity.

Recent developments in artificial neural networks and their learning algorithms have enabled new research directions in computer vision, language modeling, and neuroscience. Among various neural network algorithms, spiking neural networks (SNNs) are well-suited for understanding the behavior of biological neural circuits. In this work, we propose to guide the training of a sparse SNN in order to replace a sub-region of a cultured hippocampal network with limited hardware resources. To verify our approach with a realistic experimental setup, we record spikes of cultured hippocampal neurons with a microelectrode array (in vitro). The main focus of this work is to dynamically cut unimportant synapses during SNN training on the fly so that the model can be realized on resource-constrained hardware, e.g., implantable devices. To do so, we adopt a simple STDP learning rule to easily select important synapses that impact the quality of spike timing learning. By combining the STDP rule with online supervised learning, we can precisely predict the spike pattern of the cultured network in real-time. The reduction in the model complexity, i.e., the reduced number of connections, significantly reduces the required hardware resources, which is crucial in developing an implantable chip for the treatment of neurological disorders. In addition to the new learning algorithm, we prototype a sparse SNN hardware on a small FPGA with pipelined execution and parallel computing to verify the possibility of real-time replacement. As a result, we can replace a sub-region of the biological neural circuit within 22 μs using 2.5 × fewer hardware resources, i.e., by allowing 80% sparsity in the SNN model, compared to the fully-connected SNN model. With energy-efficient algorithms and hardware, this work presents an essential step toward real-time neuroprosthetic computation.

The goal of the “2019 Automatic Speaker Verification Spoofing and Countermeasures Challenge” (ASVspoof) was to make it easier to create systems that could identify voice spoofing attacks with high levels of accuracy. However, model complexity and latency requirements were not emphasized in the competition, despite the fact that they are stringent requirements for implementation in the real world. The majority of the top-performing solutions from the competition used an ensemble technique that merged numerous sophisticated deep learning models to maximize detection accuracy. Those approaches struggle with real-world deployment restrictions for voice assistants which would have restricted resources. We merged skip connection (from ResNet) and max feature map (from Light CNN) to create a compact system, and we tested its performance using the ASVspoof 2019 dataset. Our single model achieved a replay attack detection equal error rate (EER) of 0.30% on the evaluation set using an optimized constant Q transform (CQT) feature, outperforming the top ensemble system in the competition, which scored an EER of 0.39%. We experimented using depthwise separable convolutions (from MobileNet) to reduce model sizes; this resulted in an 84.3 percent reduction in parameter count (from 286K to 45K), while maintaining similar performance (EER of 0.36%). Additionally, we used Grad-CAM to clarify which spectrogram regions significantly contribute to the detection of fake data.

PurposeThis study aimed to examine whether and to what degree the suicide risk of psychiatric patients is associated with psychiatric and non-psychiatric health service utilization.MethodsWe selected incident psychiatric patients, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, borderline personality disorder, depressive disorders, other affective disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder patients, in 2007–2010 and followed them up until 2017 based on the data linkage between the Korean National Health Insurance and National Death Registry. We analyzed the time-dependent association between suicide and four types of health service (psychiatric vs. non-psychiatric and outpatient vs. inpatient) utilization using a time-dependent Cox regression.ResultsThe suicide risk of psychiatric patients was significantly increased with recent psychiatric and non-psychiatric admission and psychiatric outpatient visits. The adjusted suicide hazard ratios for recent outpatient visits were similar to or even higher than those for recent psychiatric admission. The adjusted suicide hazard ratios of schizophrenia patients for psychiatric admission, psychiatric outpatient visits, and non-psychiatric admission within the recent 6 months were 2.34 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.12–2.58, p

In this research, we attempted to develop paints that can be applied to various fields such as high-rise building structures and electric vehicle batteries. To minimize damage to life and property in the event of a fire, we attempted to manufacture a highly elastic paint material that can block flames and control smoke spread, and that has additional sound insulation and waterproofing functions. A high-elasticity paint was manufactured by mixing a flame-retardant polyurethane dispersion (PUD) with an acrylic emulsion binder and adding different mass fractions of expandable graphite (EG). The thermal, physical, and morphological properties of the prepared mixed paint were analyzed. The thermal properties of the mixed paint were analyzed and intended to be used as input data (heat transfer coefficient, specific heat capacity) for fire simulation. Output data were used to predict how much the temperature would change depending on the time of fire occurrence. The reason for conducting simulations on the fire stability of paint materials is that the fire stability of paints can be predicted without conducting fire tests. Two hours after the fire broke out, the thermal temperature distribution was analyzed. The temperature distribution was compared with and without mixed paint. Two hours after a fire broke out in a virtual space, it was found that when the mixed paint was applied, the surrounding temperature of the penetration area was lower than when the mixed paint was not applied. Development costs for developing excellent paints can be reduced. Since fire safety can be predicted without actually conducting tests, the time required for product development can be reduced. We are confident that this is a very groundbreaking technology because it allows fire safety simulations for developed products to be conducted in a virtual space by creating an environment similar to actual fire test standards.

Abstract Background Cancer cachexia (CC) is a multifactorial process characterized by progressive weight loss, muscle mass, and fat tissue wasting, which adversely affects the quality of life and survival of patients with advanced stages of cancer. CC has a complex and multifactorial pathophysiology, and there is no established standard treatment. Therefore, it is often irreversible and a single treatment modality is unlikely to suppress its progression. We are conducting a randomized trial to investigate the efficacy and safety of a multimodal intervention compared to the best supportive care for patients who received palliative chemotherapy. Methods Patients with lung or gastrointestinal cancers undergoing palliative chemotherapy are eligible. Patients are randomized into a multimodal intervention care (MIC) arm versus a conventional palliative care (CPC) arm. MIC includes ibuprofen, omega-3-fatty acid, oral nutritional supplement, weekly physical, psychiatric assessment, nutritional counseling, and complementary and alternative medicine. CPC includes basic nutritional counseling and megestrol acetate as needed (i.e., anorexia ≥ grade 2). All interventions are performed for 12 weeks per subject. The co-primary outcomes are change (kg) in total lean body mass and handgrip strength (kg) from the baseline. A total of 112 patients will be assigned to the two arms (56 in each group). Discussion The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of MIC in preventing or alleviating CC in patients who underwent palliative chemotherapy. As there is no established single treatment for CC, it is expected that the results of this clinical trial will provide new insights to significantly improve the quality of life of patients with cancer. Considering the complex mechanisms of cachexia, the effect of MIC rather than a single specific drug is more promising. In this study, we did not overly restrict the type of cancer or chemotherapy. Therefore, we attempted to measure the effects of complex interventions while preserving clinical situations. Thus, it is expected that the results of this study can be applied effectively to real-world practice. Trial registration This clinical trial was registered in the Clinical Research Information Service (KCT0004967), Korean Clinical Trial Registry on April 27, 2020, and ClinicalTrial.gov (NCT 04907864) on June 1, 2021.

Abstract Although early intervention may help prevent the progression of bipolar disorder, there are some controversies over early pharmacological intervention. In this study, we recruited 40 subjects in the prodromal stage of BD-II (BP), according to bipolar at-risk state criteria. We compared the expression of their plasma proteins with that of 48 BD-II and 75 healthy control (HC) to identify markers that could be detected in a high-risk state. The multiple reaction monitoring method was used to measure target peptide levels with high accuracy. A total of 26 significant peptides were identified through analysis of variance with multiple comparisons, of which 19 were differentially expressed in the BP group when compared to the BD-II and HC groups. Two proteins were overexpressed in the BP group; and were related to pro-inflammation and impaired neurotransmission. The other under-expressed peptides in the BP group were related to blood coagulation, immune reactions, lipid metabolism, and the synaptic plasticity. In this study, significant markers observed in the BP group have been reported in patients with psychiatric disorders. Overall, the results suggest that the pathophysiological changes included in BD-II had already occurred with BP, thus justifying early pharmacological treatment to prevent disease progression.

In this research, a self-reinforced composite material was manufactured using a single polyethylene material, and this self-reinforced composite material has excellent recyclability and is environmentally friendly compared to composite materials composed of other types of material, such as glass fiber reinforced composites (GFRP) and carbon fiber reinforced composites (CFRP). In this research, the manufactured self-reinforced composite material consists of an outer layer and an inner layer. To manufacture the outer layer, low density polyethylene (LDPE) films were laminated on high density polyethylene (HDPE) fabrics and knitted fabrics, and composite materials were prepared at various temperatures using hot stamping. A 3D printing process was utilized to manufacture the inner layer. After designing a structure with a cross-sectional shape of a triangle, circle, or hexagon, the inner layer structure was manufactured by 3D printing high-density polyethylene material. As an adhesive film for bonding the outer layer and the inner layer, a polyethylene-based self-reinforced composite material was prepared using a low-density polyethylene material. Input data for simulation of self-reinforced composite materials were obtained through tensile property analysis using a universal testing machine (UTM, Shimadzu, Kyoto, Japan), and the physical property values derived as output data and actual experimental values were obtained. As a result of the comparison, the error rate between simulation data and experimental data was 5.4% when the shape of the inner layer of self-reinforced composite material was a hexagon, 3.6% when it was a circle, and 7.8% when a triangular shape showed the highest value. Simulation in a virtual space can reduce the time and cost required for actual research and can be important data for producing high-quality products.

There have existed many studies about the explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) that explains the logic behind the complex deep neural network called a black box. At the same time, researchers have tried to evaluate the explainability performance of various XAIs. However, most previous evaluation methods are human-centric, that is, subjective, where they rely on how much the results of explanation are similar to what people’s decision is based on rather than what features actually affect the decision in the model. Their XAI selections are also dependent of datasets. Furthermore, they are focusing only on the output variation of a target class. On the other hand, this paper proposes a robust heatmap assisted accuracy score (HAAS) scheme over datasets that helps selecting machine-centric explanation algorithms to show what actually leads to the decision of a given classification network. The proposed method modifies the input image with the heatmap scores obtained by a given explanation algorithm and then puts the resultant heatmap assisted (HA) images into the network to estimate the accuracy change. The resultant metric ( $HAAS$ ) is computed as a ratio of accuracies of the given network over HA and original images. The proposed evaluation scheme is verified in the image classification models of LeNet-5 for MNIST and VGG-16 for CIFAR-10, STL-10, and ILSVRC2012 over totally 11 XAI algorithms of saliency map, deconvolution, and 9 layer-wise relevance propagation (LRP) configurations. Consequently, for LRP1 and LRP3, MINST showed largest $HAAS$ values of 1.0088 and 1.0079, CIFAR-10 achieved 1.1160 and 1.1254, STL-10 had 1.0906 and 1.0918, and ILSVRC2012 got 1.3207 and 1.3469. While LRP1 consists of $\epsilon $ -rules for input, convolutional, and fully-connected layers, LRP3 adopts a bounded-rule for an input layer and the same $\epsilon $ -rules for other layers as LRP1. The consistency of evaluation results of HAAS and AOPC has been compared by means of Kullback-Leibler divergence, ensuring that HAAS is the more robust evaluation method than AOPC independently of datasets since HAAS has much lower average divergence of 0.0251 than AOPC of 0.3048. In addition, the validity of the proposed HAAS scheme is further investigated through the inverted HA test that employs inverted HA images made up with inverted heatmap scores and estimates the accuracy degradation caused by applying them to the network. The XAI algorithms with largest $HAAS$ results experience biggest accuracy degradation in the inverted HA test.

Abstract Abnormal thalamocortical networks involving specific thalamic nuclei have been implicated in schizophrenia pathophysiology. While comparable topography of anatomical and functional connectivity abnormalities has been reported in patients across illness stages, previous functional studies have been confined to anatomical pathways of thalamocortical networks. To address this issue, we incorporated large-scale brain network dynamics into examining thalamocortical functional connectivity. Forty patients with first-episode psychosis and forty healthy controls underwent T1-weighted and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Independent component analysis of voxelwise thalamic functional connectivity maps parcellated the cortex into thalamus-related networks, and thalamic subdivisions associated with these networks were delineated. Functional connectivity of (1) networks with the thalamus and (2) thalamic subdivision seeds were examined. In patients, functional connectivity of the salience network with the thalamus was decreased and localized to the ventrolateral (VL) and ventroposterior (VP) thalamus, while that of a network comprising the cerebellum, temporal and parietal regions was increased and localized to the mediodorsal (MD) thalamus. In patients, thalamic subdivision encompassing the VL and VP thalamus demonstrated hypoconnectivity and that encompassing the MD and pulvinar regions demonstrated hyperconnectivity. Our results extend the implications of disrupted thalamocortical networks involving specific thalamic nuclei to dysfunctional large-scale brain network dynamics in schizophrenia pathophysiology.

Brassinin (BSN), a potent phytoalexin found in cruciferous vegetables, has been found to exhibit diverse anti-neoplastic effects on different cancers. However, the impact of BSN on chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) cells and the possible mode of its actions have not been described earlier. We investigated the anti-cytotoxic effects of BSN on the KBM5, KCL22, K562, and LAMA84 CML cells and its underlying mechanisms of action in inducing programmed cell death. We noted that BSN could induce apoptosis, autophagy, and paraptosis in CML cells. BSN induced PARP cleavage, subG1 peak increase, and early apoptosis. The potential action of BSN on autophagy activation was confirmed by an LC3 expression and acridine orange assay. In addition, BSN induced paraptosis through increasing the reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, mitochondria damage, and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Moreover, BSN promoted the activation of the MAPK signaling pathway, and pharmacological inhibitors of this signaling pathway could alleviate all three forms of cell death induced by BSN. Our data indicated that BSN could initiate the activation of apoptosis, autophagy, and paraptosis through modulating the MAPK signaling pathway.

Abstract Background Major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder are prevalent and debilitating psychiatric disorders that are difficult to distinguish, as their diagnosis is based on behavioural observations and subjective symptoms. Quantitative protein profile analysis might help to objectively distinguish between these disorders and increase our understanding of their pathophysiology. Thus, this study was conducted to compare the peripheral protein profiles between the two disorders. Methods Serum samples were collected from 18 subjects with major depressive disorder and 15 subjects with bipolar disorder. After depleting abundant proteins, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and label-free quantification were performed. Data-dependent acquisition data were statistically analysed from the samples of 15 subjects with major depressive disorder and 10 subjects with bipolar disorder who were psychotropic drug-free. Two-sided t-tests were performed for pairwise comparisons of proteomes to detect differentially-expressed proteins (DEPs). Ingenuity Pathway Analysis of canonical pathways, disease and functions, and protein networks based on these DEPs was further conducted. Results Fourteen DEPs were significant between subjects with major depressive disorder and those with bipolar disorder. Ras-related protein Rab-7a (t = 5.975, p = 4.3 × 10− 6) and Rho-associated protein kinase 2 (t = 4.782, p = 8.0 × 10− 5) were significantly overexpressed in subjects with major depressive disorder and Exportin-7 (t = -4.520, p = 1.5 × 10− 4) was significantly overexpressed in subjects with bipolar disorder after considering multiple comparisons. Bioinformatics analysis showed that cellular functions and inflammation/immune pathways were significantly different. Conclusions Ras-related protein Rab-7a, Rho-associated protein kinase 2, and Exportin-7 were identified as potential peripheral protein candidates to distinguish major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder. Further large sample studies with longitudinal designs and validation processes are warranted.

Objective To evaluate the gait pattern of patients with gait disturbances without consideration of defilades due to assistive devices. This study focuses on gait analysis using the inertial measurement unit (IMU) system, which can also be used to determine the most appropriate assistive device for patients with gait disturbances. Methods Records of 18 disabled patients who visited the Department of Rehabilitation from May 2018 to June 2018 were selected. Patients’ gait patterns were analyzed using the IMU system with different assistive devices to determine the most appropriate device depending on the patient’s condition. Evaluation was performed using two or more devices, and the appropriate device was selected by comparing the 14 parameters of gait evaluation. The device showing measurements nearer or the nearest to the normative value was selected for rehabilitation. Results The result of the gait evaluation in all 18 patients was analyzed using the IMU system. According to the records, the patients were evaluated using various assistive devices without consideration of defilades. Moreover, this gait analysis was effective in determining the most appropriate device for each patient. Increased gait cycle time and swing phase and decreased stance phase were observed in devices requiring significant assistance. Conclusion The IMU-based gait analysis system is beneficial in evaluating gait in clinical fields. Specifically, it is useful in evaluating patients with gait disturbances who require assistive devices. Furthermore, it allows the establishment of an evidence-based decision for the most appropriate assistive walking devices for patients with gait disturbances.

The proteomics data included in this article supplement the research article titled “Predictive protein markers for the severity of depression in mood disorders: A preliminary trans-diagnostic approach study (manuscript ID: JPSYCHIATRES-D-20-00437).” Plasma protein was analyzed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). This data article included 370 plasma protein profiles expressed in patients with bipolar II disorder (BD-II) and major depressive disorder (MDD). The tables present the comparison of protein expressions between BD-II and MDD, and the relationship between the severity of the depressive symptoms and protein expression. In addition, details of results adjusting the use of each psychotropic medication (antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, and antidepressants) for 20 proteins that showed a significant relationship with the severity of the depressive symptom were presented in the table. Results of the bioinformatics analysis of proteins, which were significantly related to the severity of depressive symptom, are presented. The blood protein profiles and the results of the analyses presented in this data article provide detailed information on the proteins associated with mood disorders, and could be used as the basis for further mass spectrometry studies in psychiatric disorders.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is an inflammation-associated common cancer worldwide. Paejang-san and Mori Cortex Radicis have been traditionally used for treating intestinal inflammatory diseases in Korea and China. In the present study, we developed a new herbal formula as an alternative to CRC treatments, which is composed of two main components of Paejangsan (Patriniae Radix (Paejang in Korean) and Coix Seed (Yiyiin in Korean)), and Mori Cortex Radicis (Sangbekpi in Korean) based on the addition and subtraction theory in traditional medicine, hence the name PSY, and explored the potential therapeutic effects of the new formula PSY in human CRC cells by analyzing viability, cell cycle and apoptosis. We found that PSY ethanol extract (EtOH-Ex), but not water extract, significantly suppressed the viability of human CRC cells, and synergistically decreased the cell proliferation compared to each treatment of Patriniae Radix and Coix Seed extract (PY) or Mori Cortex Radicis extract (S), suggesting the combination of PY and S in a 10-to-3 ratio for the formula PSY. PSY EtOH-Ex in the combination ratio reduced cell viability but induced cell cycle arrest at the G2/M and sub-G1 phases as well as apoptosis in CRC cells. In addition, the experimental results of Western blotting, immunofluorescence staining and reporter assays showed that PSY also inhibited STAT3 by reducing its phosphorylation and nuclear localization, which resulted in lowering STAT3-mediated transcriptional activation. In addition, PSY regulated upstream signaling molecules of STAT3 by inactivating JAK2 and Src and increasing SHP1. Moreover, the chemical profiles of PSY from UPLC-ESI-QTOF MS/MS analysis revealed 38 phytochemicals, including seven organic acids, eight iridoids, two lignans, twelve prenylflavonoids, eight fatty acids, and one carbohydrate. Furthermore, 21 potentially bioactive compounds were highly enriched in the PSY EtOH-Ex compared to the water extract. Together, these results indicate that PSY suppresses the proliferation of CRC cells by inhibiting the STAT3 signaling pathway, suggesting PSY as a potential therapeutic agent for treating CRC and 21 EtOH-Ex-enriched phytochemicals as anti-cancer drug candidates which may act by inhibiting STAT3.

Knowing the number of pigs on a large-scale pig farm is an important issue for efficient farm management. However, counting the number of pigs accurately is difficult for humans because pigs do not obediently stop or slow down for counting. In this study, we propose a camera-based automatic method to count the number of pigs passing through a counting zone. That is, using a camera in a hallway, our deep-learning-based video object detection and tracking method analyzes video streams and counts the number of pigs passing through the counting zone. Furthermore, to execute the counting method in real time on a low-cost embedded board, we consider the tradeoff between accuracy and execution time, which has not yet been reported for pig counting. Our experimental results on an NVIDIA Jetson Nano embedded board show that this “light-weight” method is effective for counting the passing-through pigs, in terms of both accuracy (i.e., 99.44%) and execution time (i.e., real-time execution), even when some pigs pass through the counting zone back and forth.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors are the most common subepithelial tumors of the gastrointestinal tract. Gastrointestinal stromal tumors are commonly detected in the stomach followed by the small intestine. Surgery for gastrointestinal stromal tumors affecting the duodenojejunal junction is technically challenging because of the anatomical complexity of this area. A 56-year-old woman visited the outpatient clinic with the chief complaint of melena associated with dizziness from 5 days ago. Abdominal computed tomography revealed an enhancing small bowel mass measuring 4 cm × 5 cm in the left upper abdomen abutting the duodenojejunal junction. She underwent successful laparoscopic small bowel segmental resection of the duodenojejunal junction area. Laparoscopic segmental resection with side-to-side duodenojejunostomy for a gastrointestinal stromal tumor at the duodenojejunal junction is an advanced and challenging procedure requiring experience and a good surgical technique.

Constipation is a common disease that is frequently treated with cleansing enemas. Enemas are considered as effective and in some cases may cause serious adverse events. Iatrogenic perforations due to enemas lead to adverse outcomes in elderly patients with a poor general condition. Perforation remains an infrequent and rarely reported complication. In this work, we describe the cases of two patients with rectal perforation caused by a cleansing enema. The first patient had rectal perforation that led to a para-rectal abscess and the second patient had generalized peritonitis caused by rectal perforation.

BackgroundThe Seoul Pluripotent Risk for Mental Illness (SPRIM) study was designed to identify predictors leading to mental illness in help-seeking individuals by securing sufficient statistical power through transdiagnostic approaches. The SPRIM study aims to examine the clinical characteristics of high-risk individuals for mental illness and to identify proteomic biomarkers that can predict the onset of mental illness.MethodsThis paper describes the study protocol of the SPRIM study. We aim to recruit 150 participants who meet the criteria for high risk for major mental illness, 150 patients with major psychiatric disorders (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder), and 50 matched healthy control subjects for 2 years. Clinical evaluations, self-report measures, and proteomic analyses will be implemented. The assessment points are at baseline, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months.ConclusionsIn the present study, we introduced the study protocol of the SPRIM study, which is the first prospective cohort study of transdiagnostic high-risk concepts using proteomic biomarkers. This study has a paradigm that encompasses various diseases without aiming at predicting and preventing the development of a specific mental illness in help-seeking individuals. The transdiagnostic high-risk concept could be extended to provide a perspective for people with various psychopathological tendencies below a threshold, such that they do not meet the existing diagnostic criteria of mental illnesses, to determine what may lead them to a specific disease and help identify appropriate preventative interventions.

Polydeoxyribonucleotide (PDRN) is safe and effective in wound healing, cellular growth, synthesis of extracellular matrix protein, and inflammation reduction via activation of adenosine A2 receptors. We report a 28-year-old male patient treated with PDRN injections for chronic non-healing wound refractory to negative pressure wound therapy, skin graft, or growth factors. Three injections of PDRN were administered at the wound site into the anterior and medial sides of the left stump on the 1st, 4th, and 9th days of hospitalization. The PDRN ameliorated wound healing by enhancing cell growth, tissue repair, and angiogenesis. PDRN application represents a potential treatment for non-healing wounds obviating the need for additional therapies, and hospitalization, as well as improve patient’s activities of daily living.

Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) thin films of various thicknesses were grown on sapphire (0001) substrates by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) using trimethylgallium (TMGa), high purity deionized water, and silane (SiH4) as gallium, oxygen, and silicon precursors, respectively. N2 was used as carrier gas. Hall measurements revealed that films grown with a lower VI/III ratio had a dominant p-type conduction with room temperature mobilities up to 7 cm2/Vs and carrier concentrations up to ~1020 cm−3 for thinner layers. High resolution transmission electron microscopy suggested that the layers were mainly κ phase. Microstrip field-effect transistors (FETs) were fabricated using 2D p-type Ga2O3:Si, channels. They achieved a maximum drain current of 2.19 mA and an on/off ratio as high as ~108. A phenomenological model for the p-type conduction was also presented. As the first demonstration of a p-type Ga2O3, this work represents a significant advance which is state of the art, which would allow the fabrication of p-n junction based devices which could be smaller/thinner and bring both cost (more devices/wafer and less growth time) and operating speed (due to miniaturization) advantages. Moreover, the first scaling down to 2D device channels opens the prospect of faster devices and improved heat evacuation.

Socioeconomic status (SES), which takes into account household income and education level, is an important factor in the role of muscle strength as a discriminator of sarcopenia. Although the benefits of exercise on muscle strength are well recognized, its influence on people of different SES has not been fully elucidated, informing the aim of this study. A total of 6081 subjects, for which we had complete data on measurements of handgrip strength (HGS) and other relevant variables, were included from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANES) VII-3. A multivariable analysis showed that people with a low household income (odds ratio (OR) 1.637, p = 0.005) and low education status (OR 2.351, p < 0.001) had a poor HGS compared to those with a high SES, and that the difference in HGS made by muscle exercise was greater for people with a low household income (OR 7.082 vs. 3.619, p < 0.001) and low education status (OR 14.711 vs. 6.383, p < 0.001). Three-step logistic regression analysis showed that muscle exercise mediated the relationship between muscle strength and low household income (OR from 1.772 to 1.736, z = 2.373, p = 0.017) and low education level (OR from 2.368 to 2.309, z = 2.489, p = 0.012). This study confirmed that exercise improves the negative effect of SES on muscle strength, suggesting the greater importance of muscle exercise for people with a low SES.

Pyrimethamine (Pyri) is being used in combination with other medications to treat serious parasitic infections of the body, brain, or eye and to also reduce toxoplasmosis infection in the patients with HIV infection. Additionally, Pyri can display significant anti-cancer potential in different tumor models, but the possible mode of its actions remains unclear. Hence, in this study, the possible anti-tumoral impact of Pyri on human chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) was deciphered. Pyri inhibited cell growth in various types of tumor cells and exhibited a marked inhibitory action on CML cells. In addition to apoptosis, Pyri also triggered sustained autophagy. Targeted inhibition of autophagy sensitized the tumor cells to Pyri-induced apoptotic cell death. Moreover, the activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5) and its downstream target gene Bcl-2 was attenuated by Pyri. Accordingly, small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated STAT5 knockdown augmented Pyri-induced autophagy and apoptosis and promoted the suppressive action of Pyri on cell viability. Moreover, ectopic overexpression of Bcl-2 protected the cells from Pyri-mediated autophagy and apoptosis. Overall, the data indicated that the attenuation of STAT5-Bcl-2 cascade by Pyri can regulate its growth inhibitory properties by simultaneously targeting both apoptosis and autophagy cell death mechanism(s).

Touchscreens have been studied and developed for a long time to provide user-friendly and intuitive interfaces on displays. This paper describes the touchscreen technologies in four categories of resistive, capacitive, acoustic wave, and optical methods. Then, it addresses the main studies of SNR improvement and stylus support on the capacitive touchscreens that have been widely adopted in most consumer electronics such as smartphones, tablet PCs, and notebook PCs. In addition, the machine learning approaches for capacitive touchscreens are explained in four applications of user identification/authentication, gesture detection, accuracy improvement, and input discrimination.

Abstract Background In the treatment of functional dyspepsia, the placebo effect has been reported to be high, and the influence of the patient-practitioner relationship may be a major component of this effect. The specific and non-specific effects of acupuncture cannot be easily distinguished, and the patient-practitioner relationship may influence the total therapeutic effect in clinical practice. There have been no studies that investigate the influence of patient-practitioner relationship on acupuncture treatment for patients with functional dyspepsia. Methods Patients with postprandial distress syndrome, a functional dyspepsia subtype, will be recruited at three hospitals (two in Korea and one in USA) for an international, multi-center, randomized, patient/assessor-blinded, clinical trial. The total anticipated sample size is 88. The participants will be randomly allocated into two groups: an augmented interaction group and a limited interaction group. Acupuncture, with total 12 acupoints, will be performed twice weekly for 4 weeks in both groups. Trained practitioners will provide an “augmented” or “limited” interaction context, as determined by random allocation. The primary outcome measure is the proportion of responders, the proportion of participants who answer “yes” to more than half of the adequate relief questions during the study. Secondary outcome measures include questionnaires for quality of life and symptoms of dyspepsia, and maximum tolerable volume of nutrient drink test. Data will be collected at baseline and following 4 weeks of acupuncture. Discussion This study will evaluate the influence of the patient-practitioner interaction on clinical effects of acupuncture in patients with functional dyspepsia. Trial registration CRIS Identifier: ( KCT0002229 ).

Abstract Background The incidence of preadolescent acne among women is increasing. Acne deteriorates the quality of life; conventional treatment options are limited and have not been effective against acne, particularly acne associated with menstruation. Despite evidence that acne associated with menstruation abnormalities naturally improves when menstruation recovers to normal, there have only been few studies on the effects of dysmenorrhea treatment on acne. Therefore- we designed this study to assess the effects of gyejibokryung-hwan (GBH) and dangguijagyag-san (DJS), which are widely used in dysmenorrhea treatment, on acne associated with menstruation cycle. Methods This is a protocol for a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled and multicenter trial. One hundred and sixteen participants with dysmenorrhea accompanied by acne vulgaris will be recruited at three centers and randomized into two groups, the herbal treatment group and placebo group. The participants will receive GBH or DJS based on pattern identification or placebo granules thrice daily for 8 weeks, with an 8-week follow up. The primary outcome will be the mean percentage change in the count of inflammatory acne lesions. The secondary outcomes would be based on dysmenorrhea numeric rating scale, verbal multidimensional scoring system for dysmenorrhea, acne numeric rating scale, investigator’s static global assessment scale of facial acne vulgaris, and safety testing. Adverse events will also be reported. Discussion The effects of GBH or DJS used in dysmenorrhea treatment on acne associated with the menstrual cycle will be evaluated. The findings of this trial will provide evidence regarding the effect of herbal medicine in improving acne vulgaris associated with menstruation in women. Trial registration Korean Clinical Trial Registry ( http://cris.nih.go.kr ; registration number: KCT0002259). Date of registration: March 10, 2017

Objective: Numerous reports on neurocognitive functioning deficits in individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) and first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients suggest particular deficits in executive functioning (EF). However, to date, most of the studies have administered a single or a few EF tests to participants, and few investigations have examined the different components of EF to identify specific subdomains of relative strength and weakness.Method: Forty CHR subjects, 85 FEP patients, and 85 healthy controls (HCs) were assessed with a neuropsychological battery to elucidate the profiles of EF in the subdomains of shift, attention, fluency, and planning.Results: In the subdomains of shift, attention, and fluency, CHR individuals and FEP patients showed deficits compared to HC. The post hoc analysis revealed that CHR individuals had comparable attention shifting and phonemic fluency compared to FEP. CHR showed intermediate deficits between FEP and HCs in spatial working memory and semantic fluency, and the largest effect size was observed in semantic fluency both for CHR and FEP.Conclusion: Overall, the findings of this study, in addition to providing detailed profiles of EF in prodromal and early psychosis patients, highlight the informative value of the specific subdomains of semantic fluency and spatial working memory.

We report a high thermal stability of kappa gallium oxide grown on c-plane sapphire substrate by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. Kappa gallium oxide is widely known as a metastable polymorph transitioning its phase when subjected to a high temperature. Here, we show the kappa gallium oxide whose phase is stable in a high temperature annealing process at 1000 °C. These oxide films were grown at 690 °C under nitrogen carrier gas. The materials showed high electrical resistivity when doped with silicon, whereas the film conductivity was significantly improved when doped with both indium and silicon. This work provides a pathway to overcoming limitations for the advance in utilizing kappa gallium oxide possessing superior electrical characteristics.

In this paper, we propose a novel MAC protocol, called DG-LoRa, for improving scalability in low power wide area networks. DG-LoRa is backward compatible with legacy LoRaWAN and adds new features, such as group acknowledgment transmissions in the time-synchronized frame structure that supports determinism on channel access. In DG-LoRa, the number of responses to data frames that are transmitted from end devices is maximized by allocating the spreading factor and timeslot in the frame structure. We evaluate the performance of DG-LoRa using the Monte-Carlo simulation and then compare it with the performance of legacy LoRaWAN in terms of data drop rate and the number of retransmissions. Our numerical results show that DG-LoRa supports approximately five times more connections to the LoRa network satisfying a 5% data drop rate. Also, it is observed that DG-LoRa enables low overhead by reducing the number of data frame retransmissions.

We report the post-growth thermal annealing and the subsequent phase transition of Ga2O3 grown on c-plane sapphire substrates by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). We demonstrated the post-growth thermal annealing at temperatures higher than 900 °C under N2 ambience, by either in situ or ex situ thermal annealing, can induce phase transition from nominally metastable κ- to thermodynamically stable β-phase. This was analyzed by structural characterizations such as high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. The highly resistive as-grown Ga2O3 epitaxial layer becomes conductive after annealing at 1000 °C. Furthermore, we demonstrate that in situ annealing can lead to a crack-free β-Ga2O3.

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting technology has emerged as a powerful biofabrication platform for tissue engineering because of its ability to engineer living cells and biomaterial-based 3D objects. Over the last few decades, droplet-based, extrusion-based, and laser-assisted bioprinters have been developed to fulfill certain requirements in terms of resolution, cell viability, cell density, etc. Simultaneously, various bio-inks based on natural–synthetic biomaterials have been developed and applied for successful tissue regeneration. To engineer more realistic artificial tissues/organs, mixtures of bio-inks with various recipes have also been developed. Taken together, this review describes the fundamental characteristics of the existing bioprinters and bio-inks that have been currently developed, followed by their advantages and disadvantages. Finally, various tissue engineering applications using 3D bioprinting are briefly introduced.

Osteochondral defects, including damage to both the articular cartilage and the subchondral bone, are challenging to repair. Although many technological advancements have been made in recent years, there are technical difficulties in the engineering of cartilage and bone layers, simultaneously. Moreover, there is a great need for a valuable in vitro platform enabling the assessment of osteochondral tissues to reduce pre-operative risk. Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting systems may be a promising approach for fabricating human tissues and organs. Here, we aimed to develop a polycaprolactone (PCL)/alginate bipartite hybrid scaffold using a multihead 3D bioprinting system. The hybrid scaffold was composed of PCL, which could improve the mechanical properties of the construct, and alginate, encapsulating progenitor cells that could differentiate into cartilage and bone. To differentiate the bipartite hybrid scaffold into osteochondral tissue, a polydimethylsiloxane coculture system for osteochondral tissue (PCSOT) was designed and developed. Based on evaluation of the biological performance of the novel hybrid scaffold, the PCL/alginate bipartite scaffold was successfully fabricated; importantly, our findings suggest that this PCSOT system may be applicable as an in vitro platform for osteochondral tissue engineering.

Introduction: The fundamental role of the cerebellum in higher cognitive processing has recently been highlighted. However, inconsistent findings exist in schizophrenia with respect to the exact nature of cerebellar structural abnormalities and their associations with cognitive and clinical features.Materials and Methods: We undertook a detailed investigation of cerebellar lobular volumes in 40 patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP) and 40 healthy controls (HCs) using the spatially unbiased atlas template of the cerebellum (SUIT). We examined the functional significance of cerebellar structural abnormalities in relation to cognitive and clinical outcomes in patients.Results: We found that left cerebellar lobules VI and X volumes were lower in FEP patients, compared to HCs. Smaller left lobules VI and X volumes were associated with fewer number of categories completed on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) in patients. In addition, smaller left lobule X volume was related to performance delay on the Trail Making Test (TMT) Part B in patients.Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that cerebellar structural abnormalities are present at the early stage of schizophrenia. We suggest functional associations of cerebellar structural changes with non-verbal executive dysfunctions in FEP.

In this article, we propose a time division multiple access scheduling algorithm for end-to-end on-time packet delivery in multi-hop wireless sensor networks. Our proposed algorithm establishes a new communication path to substitute the old path including the link failed and schedules communication links on the new path by allocating timeslots satisfying end-to-end delay bound. Max–min optimization is employed to maximize the number of dedicated timeslots to establish the substitute path in the event of the next link failure. We evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm using QualNet network simulator and compare it with the performance of the algorithm that minimizes the end-to-end delay. Our numerical results show that the path survival ratio of the proposed algorithm is approximately two times higher when large number of communication links fails. In addition, we apply the global recovery and local recovery schemes to observe the increase in the overhead message exchanges. Compared to the global recovery scheme, local recovery scheme requires six times less control messages to establish the substitute path when a small number of link failures occur, whereas more than 90% communication paths survive.

Activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is well known to play a major role in the cell growth, survival, proliferation, metastasis, and angiogenesis of various cancer cells. Most of the citrus species offer large quantities of phytochemicals that have beneficial effects attributed to their chemical components. Our study was carried out to evaluate the anticancer effects of the pericarp of Iyokan ( Citrus iyo Hort. ex Tanaka), locally known as yeagam in Korea, through modulation of the STAT3 signaling pathway in both tumor cells and a nude mice model. The effect of supercritical extracts of yeagam peel (SEYG) on STAT3 activation, associated protein kinases, STAT3-regulated gene products, cellular proliferation, and apoptosis was examined. The in vivo effect of SEYG on the growth of DU145 human prostate xenograft tumors in athymic nu/nu male mice was also investigated. We found SEYG exerted substantial inhibitory effect on STAT3 activation in human prostate cancer DU145 cells as compared to other tumor cells analyzed. SEYG inhibited proliferation and downregulated the expression of various STAT3-regulated gene products such as bcl-2, bcl-xL, survivin, IAP-1/2, cyclin D1, cyclin E, COX-2, VEGF, and MMP-9. This correlated with an increase in apoptosis as indicated by an increase in the expression of p53 and p21 proteins, the sub-G1 arrest, and caspase-3-induced PARP cleavage. When administered intraperitoneally, SEYG reduced the growth of DU145 human prostate xenograft tumors through downmodulation of STAT3 activation in athymic nu/nu male mice. Overall, these results suggest that SEYG extract has the potential source of STAT3 inhibitors that may have a potential in chemoprevention of human prostate cancer cells.

Tracheal resection has limited applicability. Although various tracheal replacement strategies were performed using artificial prosthesis, synthetic stents and tissue transplantation, the best method in tracheal reconstruction remains to be identified. Recent advances in tissue engineering enabled 3D bioprinting using various biocompatible materials including living cells, thereby making the product clinically applicable. Moreover, clinical interest in mesenchymal stem cell has dramatically increased. Here, rabbit bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (bMSC) and rabbit respiratory epithelial cells were cultured. The chondrogenic differentiation level of bMSC cultured in regular media (MSC) and that in chondrogenic media (d-MSC) were compared. Dual cell-containing artificial trachea were manufactured using a 3D bioprinting method with epithelial cells and undifferentiated bMSC (MSC group, n = 6) or with epithelial cells and chondrogenic-differentiated bMSC (d-MSC group, n = 6). d-MSC showed a relatively higher level of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) accumulation and chondrogenic marker gene expression than MSC in vitro. Neo-epithelialization and neo-vascularization were observed in all groups in vivo but neo-cartilage formation was only noted in d-MSC. The epithelial cells in the 3D bioprinted artificial trachea were effective in respiratory epithelium regeneration. Chondrogenic-differentiated bMSC had more neo-cartilage formation potential in a short period. Nevertheless, the cartilage formation was observed only in a localized area.

The Strombus Linne, 1758 is a genus of marine mollusks belonging to the class Gastropoda, and is distributed in the tropical waters of the world. Typically, the family Strombidae includes five extant genera (Strombus, Lambis, Terebellum, Tibia, and Rimella), all of which are mostly found in tropical waters. Five individuals of Strombus luhuanus Linne, 1758 were collected from Uljin, Gyeongsangbuk-do province for the first time. In this study, we describe details of shell morphology and radula characters of the species with scanning electron microscopy images of the radula. This is a new record of Strombus luhuanus Linne, 1758 from Korean waters.

The Cymatium Roding, 1798 is a small- to large-sized marine gastropod genus. Three species has been reported thus far for Cymatium in the Korean waters. In general, Cymatium encausticum (Reeve, 1844) is known to occur in tropical seawaters including the Philippine Islands along with its congeners C. gutturnium, C. springsteeni, and C. exile. A single individual of the species was collected from Jejudo Island by SCUBA diving and morphological features were observed using a stereomicroscope. This is the first study to report the occurrence of Cymatium encausticum (Reeve, 1844) from the Korean waters, providing a detailed description of the species with the illustration for the shell morphology.