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Although impaired neurodevelopment is strongly associated with severe brain injury, most preterm infants survive without severe brain injury. In this study, the association of impaired neurodevelopment and neonatal morbidities of preterm infants was assessed after excluding those with severe brain injury. This was a retrospective study of very low birthweight infants in a single tertiary center. After excluding infants with severe brain injury, the study population was categorized as infants without intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and with low-grade IVH. Neurodevelopmental outcomes at a corrected age (CA) of 18–24 months were evaluated using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development 3rd Edition (Bayley-III). Cerebral palsy (CP), hearing impairment and blindness were also assessed and compared. Of 240 infants, 25 (11.6%) infants had combined neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI). In the multivariate analysis for combined NDI, small for gestational age (SGA) (adjusted OR 6.820, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.770–26.307), moderate to severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) (aOR 3.21, 95% CI 1.032–9.999) and severe retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) (aOR 5.669, 95% CI 1.132–28.396) were associated with combined NDI. Among neonatal morbidities, moderate to severe BPD and severe ROP were associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infants without severe brain injury.

An increasing number of studies report associations between low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] level and insulin resistance; however, whether low vitamin D levels directly contribute to increased insulin resistance is unclear. We investigated the impact of residential area on the association between 25(OH)D and insulin resistance in elderly Koreans. Using data from the Korean Urban Rural Elderly study, we conducted cross-sectional analyses in 1628 participants (505 men and 1123 women). Serum 25(OH)D was analyzed as both continuous and categorized variables. Homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was calculated using fasting blood glucose and insulin levels. In men, 25(OH)D level was inversely associated with HOMA-IR (standardized β = −0.133, p < 0.001) after adjustment for age, body mass index, waist circumference, smoking, alcohol intake, exercise, and study year. However, we noted significant urban-rural differences in 25(OH)D level (43.4 versus 65.6 nmol/L; p < 0.001) and HOMA-IR (1.2 versus 0.8 mmol·pmol/L2; p < 0.001). When we additionally adjusted for residential area, the association between 25(OH)D and HOMA-IR was attenuated (standardized β = −0.063, p = 0.115). In women, the association between 25(OH)D and HOMA-IR was not significant before or after adjustment for residential area. Environmental or lifestyle differences in urban and rural areas may largely explain the inverse association between serum 25(OH)D and insulin resistance.

The main objective of this study is to simultaneously evaluate the surface and existing layers of composite pavement using PMS data and GPR equipment. The distribution of dielectric constants according to the existing concrete conditions and the relationship between dielectric constants and surface distress was evaluated. As a result, the dielectric constant distribution of the existing concrete showed a significant difference depending on the AAR. In addition, the correlation between surface distress and the dielectric constants of the existing layers was low.

Cultivated oat (Avena sativa L.) is an important cereal crop that has captured interest worldwide due to its nutritional properties and associated health benefits. Despite this interest, oat has lagged behind other cereal crops in genome studies and the development of DNA markers due to its large and complex genome. RNA-Seq technology has been widely used for transcriptome analysis, functional gene study, and DNA marker development. In this study, we performed the transcriptome sequencing of 10 oat varieties at the seedling stage using the Illumina platform for the development of DNA markers. In total, 31,187,392~41,304,176 trimmed reads (an average of 34,322,925) were generated from 10 oat varieties. All of the trimmed reads of these varieties were assembled and generated, yielding a total of 128,244 assembled unigenes with an average length of 1071.7 bp and N50 of 1752 bp. According to gene ontology (GO) analysis, 30.7% of unigenes were assigned to the “catalytic activity” of the parent term in the molecular function category. Of the 1273 dCAPS markers developed using 491 genotype-specific SNPs, 30 markers exhibiting polymorphism in 28 oat varieties were finally selected. The transcriptome data of oat varieties could be used for functional studies about the seedling stage of oat and information about sequence variations in DNA marker development. These 30 dCAPS markers will be utilized for oat genetic analysis, cultivar identification, and breeders’ rights protection.

This study compared the demineralization resistance of teeth treated with silver diamine fluoride (SDF) to that treated with fluoride varnish. A total of 105 healthy bovine incisors were divided into control, fluoride varnish, and SDF groups. The enamel surface density change was then measured by micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) at three depths. The demineralized zone volume was measured on 3D micro-CT images to evaluate the total demineralization rate. The enamel surface morphology was assessed by scanning electron microscope. The enamel density had continuously decreased while demineralization increased in the control and fluoride varnish groups. The enamel density had increased in the SDF group till the 7th day of demineralization treatment and decreased thereafter. However, the decrease in the SDF group was less severe than that in the other groups (p < 0.05). The demineralized enamel volume had increased through treatment and was the highest in the control group, followed by the fluoride varnish and SDF group. The enamel surface morphology was the roughest and most irregular in the control group, followed by the fluoride varnish group and SDF groups.