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BACKGROUND: Esophageal stricture is a major complication of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) in patients with superficial esophageal cancer (SEC). Oral steroids have been used to prevent esophageal stricture in patients with more than 75% of the esophageal circumference resected. However, there are no established guidelines regarding the optimal duration of steroid use. This retrospective observational study aimed to compare the incidence of esophageal stricture according to the period of prophylactic oral steroid use and to identify the risk factors for esophageal stricture. METHODS: Eighty-one patients who were prescribed prophylactic steroid after undergoing ESD for SEC with more than 75% of esophageal circumference resected were enrolled. Patients were classified into the four-week steroid group (n=72) or eight-week steroid group (n=9) to compare the incidence of esophageal stricture. In addition, the patients were subdivided into those who developed esophageal stricture (n=24) and those who did not (n=57) to identify the risk factors for esophageal stricture. RESULTS: Twenty patients (27.8%) in the four-week oral steroid group and four patients (44.4%) in the eight-week oral steroid group developed esophageal stricture (P=0.44). The univariable analysis identified tumor size, longitudinal length of semi-circumferential resection, and proportion of circumferential resection as risk factors of esophageal stricture. The multivariable analysis identified the proportion of circumferential resection as an independent risk factor. After adjusting for the proportion of circumferential resection, the incidence of stricture was marginally higher in the eight-week steroid group [P=0.05; odds ratio (OR): 5.69; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01–32.15]. CONCLUSIONS: Eight weeks of oral steroid prophylaxis does not reduce the risk of stricture after extensive ESD more than four weeks of oral steroid prophylaxis. The proportion of circumferential resection is the strongest risk factor for stricture in patients with SEC undergoing ESD.

Ferromagnets generate an anomalous Hall effect even without the presence of a magnetic field, something that conventional antiferromagnets cannot replicate but noncollinear antiferromagnets can. The anomalous Hall effect governed by the resistivity tensor plays a crucial role in determining the presence of time reversal symmetry and the topology present in the system. In this work we reveal the complex origin of the anomalous Hall effect arising in noncollinear antiferromagnets by performing Hall measurements with fields applied in selected directions in space with respect to the crystalline axes. Our coplanar magnetic field geometry goes beyond the conventional perpendicular field geometry used for ferromagnets and allows us to suppress any magnetic dipole contribution. It allows us to map the in-plane anomalous Hall contribution and we demonstrate a 120$^\circ$ symmetry which we find to be governed by the octupole moment at high fields. At low fields we subsequently discover a surprising topological Hall-like signature and, from a combination of theoretical techniques, we show that the spins can be recast into dipole, emergent octupole and noncoplanar effective magnetic moments. These co-existing orders enable magnetization dynamics unachievable in either ferromagnetic or conventional collinear antiferromagnetic materials.

Background: This study was performed to compare glenoid version and inclination measured using two-dimensional (2D) images from computed tomography (CT) scans or three-dimensional (3D) reconstructed bone models.Methods: Thirty patients who had undergone conventional CT scans were included. Two orthopedic surgeons measured glenoid version and inclination three times on 2D images from CT scans (2D measurement), and two other orthopedic surgeons performed the same measurements using 3D reconstructed bone models (3D measurement). The 3D-reconstructed bone models were acquired and measured with Mimics and 3-Matics (Materialise).Results: Mean glenoid version and inclination in 2D measurements were –1.705º and 9.08º, respectively, while those in 3D measurements were 2.635º and 7.23º. The intra-observer reliability in 2D measurements was 0.605 and 0.698, respectively, while that in 3D measurements was 0.883 and 0.892. The inter-observer reliability in 2D measurements was 0.456 and 0.374, respectively, while those in 3D measurements was 0.853 and 0.845.Conclusions: The difference between 2D and 3D measurements is not due to differences in image data but to the use of different tools. However, more consistent results were obtained in 3D measurement. Therefore, 3D measurement can be a good alternative for measuring glenoid version and inclination.

Many contemporary metaphysicians think that for any two distinct things, it is always possible for them to coexist with one another. Leibniz gives a somewhat different answer: two distinct things are able to coexist with one another only when they are compossible. God cannot create all possible substances together because not all of them are compossible. But what is the basis within Leibniz���s philosophy for the incompossibility of substances? This has been one of the most hotly contested issues in the recent secondary literature. Four kinds of interpretations have been presented. Logical interpretations maintain that compossibility is ultimately nothing but logical consistency. Advocates of logical interpretations argue that two possible substances are compossible just in case their complete concepts are logically consistent. In contrast, lawful, cosmological, and packing interpretations assume that possible substances are logically independent of one another. They maintain that any two possible substances are per se compossible. However, God is precluded from actualizing all possible substances by some non-logical constraints. The literature has long been dominated by variations of those four approaches. In this dissertation, however, I show that there is one important issue that has been largely overlooked: the compossibility relation is intransitive. Intransitivity will be problematic for all the above interpretations since they all seem to agree that the compossibility relation is transitive. According to logical interpretations, each possible substance is compossible with and only with its world-mates; thus, compossibility is an equivalence relation (reflexive, symmetric, and transitive). According to lawful, cosmological, and packing interpretations, the compossibility relation is trivially transitive since any two possible substances are per se compossible. However, there are passages where Leibniz suggests that the compossibility relation is intransitive. If compossibility is intransitive for him, then none of those four approaches is on the right track. This indicates that we need a new approach to the puzzle of impossibility. In my dissertation, I present a novel interpretation of compossibility. My alternative has the following features: (1) It uses combinatorial principles to solve the problem of compossibility; God calculates all the possible combinations and the sum of the perfection of each combination by simple mathematical principles. But (2) the combinatorial principles I am relying on are non-Humean. Thus, I deny that everything can be combined with everything else. The intransitivity of compossibility is in fact a natural consequence of non-Humean combinatorialism. Moreover, (3) my view can provide solutions to important puzzles of compossibility. More specifically, it can explain both that (i) Spinozistic necessitarianism is logically impossible and that (ii) the World-Apart scenario is logically possible for Leibniz. Thus, my work will reveal in a rigorous manner what Leibniz has in mind when he says that his metaphysics is nothing but the ���Divine Mathematics.���

Additional file 1: Fig. S1. Transcriptomic comparison between ameloblastomas (AMs) and odontogenic keratocysts (OKCs). Fig. S2. Histopathological validation for the AM and OKC samples. Fig. S3. Validation for the mRNA expression of selected parameters from RNA-sequencing. Fig. S4. Cytotoxicity of verapamil. Fig. S5. Ca2+ influx increased in CACNA1C-overexpressed AM cells. Fig. S6. The cell proliferation strongly associated with the Cav1.2 in AM tumoroid. Fig. S7. Cav1.2 maintained Wnt/β-catenin signaling activity in AM tumoroid.

Additional file 1: Table S1. Statistical models in STATA and R software. Table S2. Variance ratio of covariate balance.

Deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) in smart buildings has received considerable interest from both the academic community and commercial sectors. Unfortunately, widespread adoption of current smart building solutions is inhibited by the high costs associated with installation and maintenance. Moreover, different types of IoT devices from different manufacturers typically form distinct networks and data silos. There is a need to use a common backbone network that facilitates interoperability and seamless data exchange in a uniform way. In this paper, we present EMIoT, a novel solution for smart buildings that breaks these barriers by leveraging existing emergency lighting systems. In EMIoT, we embed a wireless LoRa module in each emergency light to turn them into wireless routers. EMIoT has been deployed in more than 50 buildings of different types in Sydney Australia and has been successfully running over two years. We present the design and implementation of EMIoT in this paper. Moreover, we use the deployment in a residential building as a use case to show the performance of EMIoT in real-world environments and share lessons learned. Finally, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of EMIoT. This paper provides practical insights for IoT deployment in smart buildings for practitioners and solution providers., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

In recent years, we have witnessed the rapid development of LoRa technology, together with extensive studies trying to understand its performance in various application settings. In contrast to measurements performed in large outdoor areas, limited number of attempts have been made to understand the characterization and performance of LoRa technology in indoor environments. In this paper, we present a comprehensive study of LoRa technology in multi-floor buildings. Specifically, we investigate the large-scale fading characteristic, temporal fading characteristic, coverage and energy consumption of LoRa technology in four different types of buildings. Moreover, we find that the energy consumption using different parameter settings can vary up to 145 times. These results indicate the importance of parameter selection and enabling LoRa adaptive data rate feature in energy-limited applications. We hope the results in this paper can help both academia and industry understand the performance of LoRa technology in multi-floor buildings to facilitate developing practical indoor applications., Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures

The generation of spin-polarised carriers in a non-magnetic material holds the key to realise highly efficient spintronic devices. Recently, it has been shown that the large spin-orbit coupling can generate spin-polarised currents in noble metals such as tungsten and platinum. Especially, if small samples of such metals are rotated on a plane disc in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field, the orbital angular momentum is altered leading to a segregation of spin up and spin down electrons, i.e., a spin current in the samples. This is manifested via an induced magnetic moment on the metal. In this letter, magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) is used to detect induced magnetic moments which allows remote measurements on metal samples rotating at 100~210 Hz. Our results confirm the mechanical generation of spin-polarised currents via optical detection of spin accumulation.

Antibiotics are widely used to treat or feed additives on the livestock farms, and the excreted metabolites via urine or feces are directly distributed to the environment. Occurring in the environm...

Objectives: The facial bones are the most noticeable area in the human body, and facial injuries can cause significant functional, aesthetic, and psychological complications. Continuous study of the patterns of facial bone fractures and changes in trends is helpful in the prevention and treatment of maxillofacial fractures. The purpose of the current clinico-statistical study is to investigate the pattern of facial fractures over a 4-year period. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis of 1,824 fracture sites was carried out in 1,284 patients admitted to SMG-SNU Boramae Medical Center for facial bone fracture from January 2010 to December 2013. We evaluated the distributions of age/gender/season, fracture site, cause of injury, duration from injury to treatment, hospitalization period, and postoperative complications. Results: The ratio of men to women was 3.2:1. Most fractures occurred in individuals aged between teens to 40s and were most prevalent at the middle and end of the month. Fractures occurred in the nasal bone (65.0%), orbital wall (29.2%), maxillary wall (15.3%), zygomatic arch (13.2%), zygomaticomaxillary complex (9.8%), mandibular symphysis (6.5%), mandibular angle (5.9%), mandibular condyle (4.9%), and mandibular body (1.9%). The most common etiologies were fall (32.5%) and assault (26.0%). The average duration of injury to treatment was 6 days, and the average hospitalization period was 5 days. Eighteen postoperative complications were observed in 17 patients, mainly infection and malocclusion in the mandible. Conclusion: This study reflects the tendency for trauma in the Seoul metropolitan region because it analyzes all facial fracture patients who visited our hospital regardless of the specific department. Distinctively, in this study, midfacial fractures had a much higher incidence than mandible fractures.

Graphical abstract, Stem cell research has gathered immense attention in the past decade due to the remarkable ability of stem cells for self-renewal and tissue-specific differentiation. Despite having numerous advancements in stem cell isolation and manipulation techniques, there is a need for highly reliable probes for the specific detection of live stem cells. Herein we developed a new fluorescence probe (CDy9) with high selectivity for mouse embryonic stem cells. CDy9 allows the detection and isolation of intact stem cells with marginal impact on their function and capabilities.

11 figures, 3 tables.-- Supplementary information available., The attrition behaviour of several promising oxygen carriers tested in Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC) units has been evaluated using an air-jet apparatus based on ASTM D5757 at 20 and 800 °C. Results were evaluated to determine a general testing procedure that allows estimating the adequacy at working temperature of a potential oxygen carrier. For both fresh and used oxygen carriers, attrition was lower when the temperature of the Air Jet attrition Index (AJI) test was increased. Thus, tests with potential oxygen carriers must be performed close to the temperature they are planned to be used to obtain reliable information. Results indicated that used oxygen carriers with AJI value at hot conditions between 1 and 2% showed long lifetimes under continuous CLC operation., This work was supported by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) through the international collaboration project i-LINK+ 1225. The authors would also thank the support of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the program “Programa Operativo FEDER Aragón 2014-2020 - Construyendo Europa desde Aragón: Proyecto BiosinCO2 (LMP180_18)” and of the ENE2017-89473-R AEI/FEDER, UE. T. Mendiara thanks for the “Ramón y Cajal” post-doctoral contract awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.

This paper describes the fabrication of novel modified polyethylene (PE) membranes using plasma technology to create high-performance and cost-effective separator membranes for practical applications in lithium-ion polymer batteries. The modified PE membrane via plasma modification process plays a critical role in improving wettability and electrolyte retention, interfacial adhesion between separators and electrodes, and cycle performance of lithium-ion polymer batteries. This paper suggests that the performance of lithium-ion polymer batteries can be greatly enhanced by the plasma modification of commercial separators with proper functional materials for targeted application.