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Background: During sentinel node navigation surgery in patients with gastric cancer, intraoperative pathologic examination of sentinel nodes is crucial in determining the extent of surgery. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility and accuracy of intraoperative pathologic protocols using data from a prospective, multicenter, randomized trial. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted using data from the SEntinel Node ORIented Tailored Approach trials from 2013 to 2016. All sentinel lymph nodes were evaluated during surgery with hematoxylin–eosin (HE) staining using a representative section at the largest plane for lymph nodes. For permanent histologic evaluation, sentinel basin nodes were stained with HE and cytokeratin immunohistochemistry in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) sections and examined with HE for three deeper-step sections at 200-μm intervals. The failure rate of identification by frozen section and the metastasis rate in non-sentinel basins were investigated. Results: Of the 237 patients who underwent sentinel node basin dissection, 30 had lymph node metastases on permanent pathology. Thirteen patients had macrometastasis confirmed in frozen sections as well as FFPE sections (failure rate: 0%). Patients with negative sentinel nodes in frozen sections but micrometastasis in FFPE sections had no lymph node recurrence during the follow-up period (0%, 0/6). However, in cases with tumor-positive nodes in frozen sections, metastases in non-sentinel basins were detected in the paraffin blocks (8.3%, 2/24). Conclusions: The single-section HE staining method is sufficient for detecting macrometastasis via intraoperative pathological examination. If a negative frozen-section result is confirmed, sentinel basin dissection can be performed safely. Otherwise, standard surgery is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate patient‐reported outcome measures (PROMs) and the effects of gender and age on achieving clinically significant outcomes in patients undergoing arthroscopic superior capsular reconstruction (ASCR) with a minimum 2‐year follow‐up. Methods: Patients undergoing ASCR for irreparable rotator cuff tear between 2013 and 2020 were reviewed. Preoperative and minimum 2‐year postoperative PROMs were collected, including American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES), Constant, single assessment numeric evaluation (SANE), and visual analog scale (VAS) scores. Minimal clinically important difference (MCID) and patient‐acceptable symptomatic state (PASS) were calculated for each functional score and analyzed according to age and gender. The percentages of patients achieving MCID and PASS were recorded. Results: The study included 83 patients, with a mean follow‐up of 3.5 ± 1.4 years. Significant improvements were found in ASES, Constant, SANE, and VAS for all groups based on gender and age. Based on receiver‐operating characteristic curves, all scores had acceptable areas under the curve for PASS. Values for PASS and MCID were 81.5 and 10.3 for ASES; 61.5 and 6.2 for Constant; 82.5 and 11.5 for SANE and 1.5 and 1.1 for VAS, respectively. Analysis of achieving MCID and PASS showed no difference between the groups in the majority of outcome measures. However, female patients achieved the SANE thresholds for PASS at significantly higher rates than male patients. Patients ≥65 years old achieved ASES and Constant thresholds for MCID at significantly higher rates than patients ˂65 years old. Conclusion: Most patients achieved MCID and PASS at a 2‐year follow‐up. Patients showed comparable rates of MCID and PASS achievement on most outcome tools based on age and gender. Female patients achieved PASS on SANE at significantly higher rates than male patients and older patients achieved MCID on ASES and Constant at higher rates than young patients. Thus, age is a stronger factor for achieving MCID than gender. Level of Evidence: Level II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Poorly cohesive cells-gastric cancer (PCC-GC) represents distinct features within the GC spectrum. The present study investigated the clinicopathologic characteristics and chemo-sensitivity for a relatively large cohort of PCC-GC patients. Materials and methods: A total of 268 patients diagnosed with stage II or III PCC-GC were included. GC cell lines were also analyzed for drug sensitivity to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and oxaliplatin in vitro. Results: One hundred fifteen (42.9%) patients were stage II and 153 (57.1%) were stage III. Two hundred twenty-three (83.2%) patients received adjuvant therapy. Among these patients, 139 (62.3%) received CAPOX and 84 (37.7%) received S-1. With a median follow-up of 38.9 (1.6–137.8) months, the estimated 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were 52.3% and 61.0%, respectively. In the univariate analysis, survival was significantly better in the adjuvant chemotherapy group than in the surgery only group. In the subgroup analysis, there was no significant difference in DFS or OS between the types of adjuvant chemotherapy for either disease stage. In vitro cell line analysis, different responses to 5-FU and oxaliplatin were observed in SRC and non-SRC, where the treatment in KATOIII cell lines with oxaliplatin had less effect at a higher concentration compared to non-SRC cell lines. Conclusion: The current study found that adjuvant chemotherapy was not significantly associated with survival benefit for patients with resected stage II and III PCC-GC. Plus, S-1 showed numerically longer DFS and OS compared to CAPOX in PCC-GC patients, although no significant in the multivariate analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rice husk is the most silicon-rich renewable biomass and can be used as a raw material for producing silicon-based materials. With the increasing interest in utilizing rice husk as a renewable resource, the development of a robust silica extraction method is required. In this study, a one-pot alkali hydrothermal and ball-milling continuous silica extraction method was developed at the pilot scale. Results: Three residence times (50, 100, and 150 min) were selected to compare the performance of the continuous extraction process depending on the residence time. The silica production was 4.09, 2.67, and 2.22 kg day−1 while the silica extraction yield was 52.8, 69.1, and 86.0% at resident times of 50, 100, and 150 min, respectively. The energy consumption for producing 1 kg of silica from rice husk was 51.6, 47.7, and 47.4 MJ kg−1 at resident times of 50, 100, and 150 min, respectively. The one-pot continuous silica extraction process was performed for 150 h to verify the stability of the process. During long-term operation, the process exhibited a constant solid content and stable silica extraction yield. The silicate solution obtained by the one-pot continuous process was successfully used to synthesize size-controlled spherical silica particles, which had a purity of 99.1 wt% and amorphous structure. Conclusions: Overall, this study presents a novel continuous silica extraction method for the efficient recovery of silica from rice husk-based biorefineries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) can be used as a biomarker for diseases such as cancer, diabetes, atherosclerosis, and sepsis. In this study, we demonstrated the ability of nanozymes to displace the natural derived enzyme in enzyme-based assays for the measurement of LPC. Synthesized polyvinylpyrrolidone-stabilized platinum–ruthenium nanozymes (PVP/PtRu NZs) had a uniform size of 2.48 ± 0.24 nm and superb peroxidase-mimicking activity. We demonstrated that the nanozymes had high activity over a wide pH and temperature range and high stability after long-term storage. The LPC concentration could be accurately analyzed through the absorbance and fluorescence signals generated by the peroxidation reaction using the synthesized nanozyme with substrates such as 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) and 10-acetyl-3,7-dihydroxyphenoxazine (Ampliflu™ Red). LPC at a concentration of 0–400 µM was used for the analysis, and the coefficient of determination (R2) was 0.977, and the limit of detection (LOD) was 23.1 µM by colorimetric assay. In the fluorometric assay, the R2 was 0.999, and the LOD was 8.97 µM. The spiked recovery values for the determination of LPC concentration in human serum samples were 102–115%. Based on these results, we declared that PVP/PtRu NZs had an ability comparable to that of the native enzyme horseradish peroxidase (HRP) in the enzyme-based LPC detection method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study compared the clinical and radiologic results of reverse shoulder arthroplasty (RSA) using either the subscapularis-sparing deltopectoral approach (SSDA) or traditional deltopectoral approach (TDA) in cuff tear arthropathy patients.Materials and Method: We retrospectively evaluated 71 patients who underwent RSA for cuff tear arthropathy between July 2014 and December 2018. Patients were divided into two groups according to the surgical approach: TDA (34 cases) and SSDA (37 cases). The mean patient age was 78.6 years, and the mean (range) follow-up period was 23.5 (12-48) months. Clinical results were assessed using the Visual Analogue pain Scale (VAS), American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeon score (ASES), Korean Shoulder Scoring System (KSS), and Constant score. Radiographic indicators prosthesis-scapular neck angle (PSNA), peg-glenoid rim distance (PGRD), inferior overhang, acromion-greater tuberosity (AT) distance, and glenoid-greater tuberosity (GT) distance) were assessed, and notching severity was assessed according to the Nerot-Sirveaux classification.Results: The radiographic indicator results of the TDA and SSDA groups were as follows: PSNA (131.4° ± 17.2°, 136.1° ± 7.7°), PGRD (18.7 mm ± 2.9 mm, 21.4 mm ± 2.0 mm), AT distance (38.3 mm ±6.9 mm, 37.5 mm ± 6.8 mm), GT distance (51.6 mm ± 6.3 mm, 51.4 mm ± 5.3 mm), and inferior overhang (4.4 mm ± 2.2 mm, 2.9 mm ± 1.3 mm). PGRD and inferior overhang showed statistically significant differences between groups, but the clinical results showed no significant differences. There were no complications such as neurovascular injury, implant loosening, surgical site infection, or acromion fracture in either group.Conclusion: SSDA for RSA showed no significant differences in clinical and radiological results compared with TDA. Therefore, SSDA is a viable alternative for RSA in cuff tear arthropathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Laparoscopic proximal gastrectomy (LPG) is increasingly preferred for operative management of early gastric cancer, although there is no consensus on a standard reconstruction method after resection. Two popular methods used after LPG are double tract reconstruction (DTR) and double flap technique (DFT). This study assessed comprehensive clinical outcomes including quality of life (QoL) and body composition change 1 year after DFT and DTR. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed prospectively collected data from 51 to 18 patients who underwent DTR and DFT, respectively, between September 2014 and December 2018. Short-term surgical outcomes, presence of reflux esophagitis, nutritional supplementation, medications, nutritional status (laboratory results and body composition analysis), and QoL measured preoperatively and at 1 year postoperatively were compared between both groups. Results: Both groups did not differ significantly in clinicopathological characteristics. The DFT as compared to the DTR group required significantly longer time for anastomosis (79.4 vs. 60.9 min, p < 0.001) and use of fewer staplers (3.39 vs. 6.86, p < 0.001). While the presence of endoscopic reflux esophagitis and iron/vitamin B12 replacement were comparable, the DTR group showed a higher tendency of taking anti-reflux medications for reflux symptoms (DTR: 13.7% vs. DFT: 0.0%, p = 0.177). The DTR group lost significantly more weight (p = 0.038) and body fat (p = 0.009). QoL analysis showed significant deterioration in diarrhea, eating restriction, and taste problems in both groups (DTR group: p = 0.008, p < 0.001, p = 0.010, respectively, and DFT group: p = 0.017, p = 0.024, p = 0.034, respectively). However, only the DTR group showed significant deterioration in physical function (p = 0.009), role function (p = 0.033), nausea/vomiting (p = 0.041), appetite loss (p = 0.019), dysphagia (p = 0.001), pain (p = 0.025), and body image (p = 0.004). Conclusions: Despite requiring a longer anastomosis time, performing DFT after LPG was shown to be an ideal reconstruction method in terms of better 1-year QoL and nutritional outcome. Further larger studies over longer postoperative periods are necessary to confirm our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We investigated the prevalence of anterolateral ligament (ALL) injury and lateral meniscus (LM) tear in cases with both-bundle tear and selective bundle incomplete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Methods: A total of 174 cases of magnetic resonance (MR) images that had an ACL tear and underwent arthroscopic ACL reconstruction were retrospectively reviewed. ACL injury was classified into both bundle, anteromedial bundle, and posterolateral bundle (PL) on arthroscopic finding. The ALL was divided into three portions: femoral, meniscal, and tibial. ALL injury was scored into three groups: grade 0 is intact; grade 1 is stranding and edema surrounds the expected location of the ALL; grade 2 is clear discontinuity of the ALL consistent with rupture. Traumatic LM tear was also assessed on MR images. Results: The total prevalence of ALL injury was 36.2% (reader 1) and 42.0% (reader 2). ALL injury was statistically related to the selective bundle tear (p = 0.002 and 0.004, readers 1 and 2). PL bundle tear was significantly correlated with the ALL injury (p value < 0.001, readers 1 and 2, both). The location and grade of ALL injury were not significantly correlated with the type of ACL injury. LM tear was not significantly related to the types of ACL tear (p = 0.208 and 0.907, readers 1 and 2) and ALL injury (p value = 0.096 and 0.383, readers 1 and 2). Conclusions: ALL injury was significantly related to the PL bundle tear of the ACL. LM tear was not significantly correlated with the types of ACL injury and ALL injury. Key Points: • Anterolateral ligament (ALL) injury was significantly related to the posterolateral bundle (PL) tear of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). • Lateral meniscus (LM) tear was not significantly correlated with the types of ACL injury and ALL injury. • Clinicians and radiologists should be aware of these relationships and scrutinize ALL injury in cases with PL bundle tears, even with an incomplete ACL injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study was performed to compare the utility of the semi-automated and automated side-cut core biopsy needles for thyroid nodules. Methods: Between January 2014 and March 2020, biopsy was performed for 278 thyroid nodules using the semi-automated core needle and for 225 nodules using the automated core needle. Nondiagnostic rate, inconclusive rate, diagnostic performance and complication rates were evaluated and compared between two core needle types. Results: There were 1.2% (6/503) nondiagnostic results and 15.9% (80/503) inconclusive results. Nondiagnostic rate between two needle types was not significantly different. The semi-automated type (33/278, 11.9%) showed lower inconclusive rate than the automated type (47/225, 20.9%) (p = 0.006). The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and diagnostic accuracy for diagnosis of malignancy of the semi-automated type were 70.18, 100, 100, 84.96 and 88.89%, respectively; the corresponding rates of automated type were 70.45, 100, 100, 86.6, and 89.84%. There were 12 minor complications: four hematomas (4/278, 1.4%) for the semi-automated type and eight hematomas (8/225, 3.6%) for the automated type, which difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Core needle biopsy for thyroid nodules using either the semi-automated or automated needle is a safe diagnostic tool. Semi-automated needle has lower inconclusive rate than automated needle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to investigate changes in glucose metabolism and incretin hormone response following longer intestinal bypass reconstruction after distal gastrectomy (DG) in low BMI patients with gastric cancer and type 2 diabetes. A total of 20 patients were prospectively recruited and underwent either conventional Billroth I (BI), Billroth II with long-biliopancreatic limb (BII), or Roux-en-Y anastomosis with long-Roux limb (RY) after DG. A 75g-oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was given preoperatively; and at 5 days, 3 months, and 6 months postoperatively. Serum glucose, insulin, glucagon, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) were serially measured. At 6 months after surgery, complete diabetes remission was achieved in 57.1% of the BII group but in no patients in the other two groups (p = 0.018). BII group showed a significant reduction in glucose concentration during OGTT at 6 months in contrast to the other 2 groups. In the BII group, a significant increase in GLP-1 secretion was observed after surgery but not maintained at 6 months, while postoperative hyperglucagonemia was alleviated along with a reduction in GIP. BII gastrojejunostomy with long biliopancreatic limb achieved better diabetes control with favorable incretin response after DG compared to BI or RY reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vegetable soup (VS), a plant-based functional food, has been used as a traditional folk medicine and is attracting attention for its ability to enhance the immune response. β-Glucan, a well-established and effective immunomodulator, has synergistic effects when used in combination with some bioactive compounds. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the synergistic immunomodulatory effects of the combination of VS and β-glucan on macrophage-mediated immune responses. β-Glucan was demonstrated to synergistically enhance the VS-stimulated immune response, including the production of interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, and nitric oxide, mainly through the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway in macrophages. In addition, this combination has the potential for further development in functional foods with immune-enhancing activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The feasibility of surfactants for enhancement of extraction efficiencies in wet oil extraction through an acidic hydrothermal process was evaluated. Three different types of surfactants were tested: anionic (SDBS and SDS), cationic (CTAB and MBC), and non-ionic (IGEPAL CA-210 and Tween 60). The total fatty acid content of Chlorella vulgaris was 291.0 mg/g cell. Under the no-surfactant condition, the oil-extraction yield of the acidic hydrothermal extraction was 75.5%. The addition of SDBS and MBC at the 0.4% concentration showed enhanced oil-extraction performance, 85.4 and 85.7% yields, respectively. CTAB and Tween 60 showed low extraction yields, less than 43.0%. SDS and IGEPAL CA-210 showed high oil-extraction yields, higher, in fact, than the initial fatty acid content, due to surfactant partitioning into microalgal oil. With increasing surfactant concentration, the oil-extraction yields of CTAB decreased, those of IGEPAL CA-210 gradually increased, and those of SDBS increased and then decreased again. The best performance, an oil-extraction yield of 95.6%, was observed under the 0.2% SDBS, 120 °C, 1 h condition. Although IGEPAL CA-210 showed the high net oil-extraction yield of 98.3% at the 0.6% surfactant concentration, 61.2% of surfactant was partitioned into oil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The feasibilities of cell disruption by homogenization-assisted high-pressure nano-dispersion and recovery of astaxanthin-containing oil by oil partitioning in oil-acetone-water solution were examined. The total fatty acid content of Haematococcus pluvialis was 414.6 mg/g cell, and the astaxanthin content was 4.4% of oil. Extra oil was added to the solution in order to recover oil through instability of dispersion status instead of solvent evaporation. A total amount of energy of 0.34 kWh/L was consumed for acetone evaporation at 50 °C, whereas fully 1.86 kWh/L of energy for water evaporation was consumed. When soybean oil was added to the solution after partial acetone evaporation, the oil-recovery yield was 97.8%, while the yield after full evaporation was 97.6% in 10-g/L solution. However, the energy consumed for partial evaporation (0.29 kWh/L) was much lower than that for full evaporation (0.40 kWh/L). When H. pluvialis oil was added to the solution after partial evaporation, the oil-recovery yield decreased to 90.6% due to the impurity of crude H. pluvialis oil in 10-g/L solution. Methods such as refining of H. pluvialis oil, increase of microalgae dosage for cell disruption, and increase of the injection amount of extra oil can help to enhance oil recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Percentage of excess weight loss (%EWL) is the most common metric used after bariatric surgery. However, there has been consistent argument against its use since it varies significantly by initial body mass index (BMI). This study aimed to validate the newly suggested percentage of alterable weight loss (%AWL) metric in Korean patients.Methods: A retrospective review of the prospectively established database at Soonchunhyang University Seoul Hospital identified 165 patients who underwent primary laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and had at least 2-year follow-up weight loss results after surgery. Patients were classified into subgroups based on initial BMI, and their weight loss results expressed as BMI, %EWL, %AWL, and percentage of total weight loss (%TWL) were compared in terms of nadir weight and weight loss trajectory.Results: The study cohort included 27 male (16.4%) and 138 female (83.6%) patients with a mean baseline BMI of 38.1 ± 5.4. Nadir weight was achieved at mean 24.1 ± 10.6 months postoperatively. Female patients required significantly longer to achieve nadir weight than male patients (16.2 vs. 22.4 months, p = 0.001), and they achieved less weight loss expressed as nadir BMI, %EWL, and %AWL. Of these metrics, only %AWL was not significantly influenced by preoperative BMI and showed the least variation (25.2%) for reporting weight loss.Conclusion: The AWL metric can report weight loss regardless of baseline BMI in Korean patients undergoing RYGB; however, it must be validated in a larger population involving multiple centers from the Asia-Pacific area before being used clinically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A bifunctional solid catalyst has been utilized for producing biodiesel from high free fatty acid (FFA) oils by simultaneous esterification and transesterification. Simultaneous conversion of FFA and triglycerides (TG) in the oils into fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) by catalytic action has been demonstrated. The effects of various reaction parameters including reaction time, temperature, and molar ratio of methanol to oil on the yields of FAME have been investigated and optimized. Temperature is found to be the dominant factor determining FAME yield among the various parameters examined. Further, the catalyst exhibits stable activity up to 40 consecutive runs with no intervening regeneration steps. Under optimized reaction conditions, about 80% FAME yield is obtained in a one-step process with 50% FFA oil. Catalyst in the pellet shape may be applied in commercial processes. The feasibility of using the catalyst for biodiesel production from low-cost high FFA waste fats has been successfully demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Despite theoretical advantages, no clear benefit was proven for initial application of robotic surgery for gastric cancer so far. The aim of this analysis was to examine the role of robotic surgery regarding nodal dissection technically demanding areas compared to conventional laparoscopic surgery.Methods: This analysis included 87 patients who underwent robot-assisted distal gastrectomy (RADG) and 288 patients who underwent laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) at the National Cancer Center, Korea, between February 2009 and September 2011. Clinicopathologic data, surgery-related data, postoperative morbidity, and pathologic data for each nodal station were analyzed.Results: Time to flatulence was 3.5 ± 0.8 days for RADG and 3.8 ± 0.8 days for LADG (P = 0.01). Postoperative hospital stay was 6.7 ± 1.0 days in RADG and 7.4 ± 2.4 days in LADG (P < 0.001).The number of dissected lymph nodes was 37.1 ± 12.9 in the RADG group and 34.1 ± 12.1 in the LADG group (P = 0.044). In patients undergoing D2 gastrectomy, the number of dissected lymph nodes in the N2 area was 16.3 ± 7.7 for RADG and 13.2 ± 5.3 for LADG (P = 0.001). The number of dissected lymph nodes around the splenic artery area was 2.9 ± 2.9 in RADG and 2.2 ± 2.0 in LADG (P = 0.04). Regarding postoperative complications, there was no statistically significant difference [five patients (5.7%) in RADG and 26 patients (9%) in LADG) (P = 0.330)].Conclusion: RADG could provide an advantage over LADG in the dissection of the N2 area lymph nodes, especially around the splenic artery area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two lignan glycosides, acanthoside D ( 1) (=liriodendrin, (+)-syringaresinol di- O- β- d-glucopyranoside) and eleutheroside E ( 2) have been confused each other for so long time, and hard to be distinguished each other. Now, this two compounds need to be defined properly so that all the commercial mistakes and confusions should not be made. They have identical planar structures except for the configurations at C-7 and C-8 in each structure according to the chemistry database, SciFinder. The systematic name of acanthoside D is [(1 S,3a R,4 S,6a R)-tetrahydro-1 H,3 H-furo[3,4- c]furan-1,4-diyl]bis(2,6-dimethoxy-4,1-phenylene) bis- β- d-glucopyranoside ( 1), and the name of eleutheroside E is [(1 R,3a R,4 S,6a S)-tetrahydro-1 H,3 H-furo[3,4- c]furan-1,4-diyl]bis(2,6-dimethoxy-4,1-phenylene) bis- β- d-glucopyranoside ( 2). The differences at two chiral centers do not make any differences in the NMR spectra. Thus, the circular dichroism were utilized to dissolve this difficult problem. Acanthoside D ( 1) showed a positive Cotton effect at 200 nm, whereas eleutheroside E ( 2) exhibited a negative cotton effect at 200 nm. The absolute structure of acanthoside D was also confirmed by X-ray crystallography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethanol is the most commonly abused intoxicating substance among young and middle-aged adults, and ranks highly as a cause of disability and mortality. A pattern of heavy consumption, called binge drinking, leads to various psychiatric disorders. However, to the best of our knowledge, assessments of the influence of short-term binge ethanol (SBE) intoxication on cerebral metabolite changes in human and rat models are scarce. We used in vivo H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS) to quantitatively assess neurochemical responses in hippocampus in a rat model of SBE intoxication. Seven SBE-exposed rats received an initial dose of 5.0-g/kg ethanol (30 %-w/v solution) through gavage and additional doses of 2.0-g/kg ethanol (25 %-w/v solution), every 8 hour for 4 days. Six rats in sham control group (CNTL) received an equivalent volume of distilled water at comparable times. Sixty minutes after last gavage session, in vivo H-MRS scans were obtained from all rats using a 4.7 Tesla animal scanner. For neurochemical analysis, a single voxel was positioned in the hippocampal region and spectra were fitted for the quantification of 17 cerebral neurochemical signals. In hippocampus, the concentration of total choline-containing compound signals (tCho: [glycerophosphocholine] + [phosphocholine]) was significantly lower in SBE-exposed rats than in CNTL rats. Moreover, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)/total creatine (tCr: creatine + phosphocreatine), tCho/tCr, and tCho/total N-acetyl-aspartate (tNAA: N-acetyl-aspartate + N-acetyl-aspartyl-glutamate) ratios were significantly lower in SBE-exposed rats than CNTL rats. We determined that tCho, GABA, and tNAA signals were highly sensitive to short-term binge ethanol intoxication, which provides insights into neurochemical alterations associated with ethanol abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, lipid extraction from Aurantiochytrium sp. was performed using a molten-salt/ionic-liquid mixture. The total fatty acid content of Aurantiochytrium sp. was 478.8 mg/g cell, from which 145 mg/g cell (30.3 % of total fatty acids) of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was obtained. FeCl·6HO showed a high lipid extraction yield (207.9 mg/g cell), when compared with that of [Emim]OAc, which was only 118.1 mg/g cell; notably however, when FeCl·6HO was mixed with [Emim]OAc (5:1, w/w), the yield was increased to 478.6 mg/g cell. When lipid was extracted by the FeCl·6HO/[Emim]OAc mixture at a 5:1 (w/w) blending ratio under 90 °C, 30 min reaction conditions, the fatty acid content of the extracted lipid was a high purity 997.7 mg/g lipid, with most of the DHA having been extracted (30.2 % of total fatty acids). Overall, lipid extraction from Aurantiochytrium sp. was enhanced by the synergistic effects of the molten-salt/ionic-liquid mixture with different ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we present the feasibility of using a parallel RF transmit with multiple RF sources imaging method (MultiTransmit imaging) in polymer gel dosimetry. Image quality and B field homogeneity was statistically better in the MultiTransmit imaging method than in conventional single source RF transmission imaging method. In particular, the standard uncertainty of R was lower on the MultiTransmit images than on the conventional images. Furthermore, the MultiTransmit measurement showed improved dose resolution. Improved image quality and B homogeneity results in reduced dose uncertainty, thereby suggesting the feasibility of MultiTransmit MR imaging in gel dosimetry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flue gases mainly consist of CO that can be utilized to facilitate microalgal culture for bioenergy production. In the present study, to evaluate the feasibility of the utilization of flue gas from a coal-burning power plant, an indigenous and high-CO-tolerant oleaginous microalga, Chlorella sp. KR-1, was cultivated under mixotrophic conditions, and the results were evaluated. When the culture was mediated by flue gas, highest biomass (0.8 g cells/L·d) and FAME (fatty acid methyl esters) productivity (121 mg/L·d) were achieved in the mixotrophic mode with 5 g/L glucose, 5 mM nitrate, and a flow rate of 0.2 vvm. By contrast, the photoautotrophic cultivation resulted in a lower biomass (0.45 g cells/L·d) and a lower FAME productivity (60.2 mg/L·d). In general, the fatty acid profiles of Chlorella sp. KR-1 revealed meaningful contents (>40 % of saturated and mono-unsaturated fatty acids) under the mixotrophic condition, which enables the obtainment of a better quality of biodiesel than is possible under the autotrophic condition. Conclusively then, it was established that a microalgal culture mediated by flue gas can be improved by adoption of mixotrophic cultivation systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors associated with lymph node (LN) metastasis in early gastric cancer patients who underwent endoscopic resection (ER) and to evaluate the feasibility of minimal LN dissection in these patients.Methods: From January 2001 to March 2011, patients who underwent gastrectomy with lymphadenectomy due to the potential risk of LN metastasis after ER were enrolled at National Cancer Center, Korea. The incidence, risk factors, and distribution of LN metastasis were evaluated.Results: Of the 147 enrolled patients, the LN metastasis was identified in 12 patients (8.2%). The incidence of LN metastasis was not significantly increased in patients with submucosal invasion, lymphovascular invasion, and mixed undifferentiated histology [odds ratio (OR), 5.55, 1.349, and 0.387; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.688-43.943, 0.405-4.494, and 0.081-1.84, respectively]. Tumor size more than 2 cm was significantly associated with LN metastasis (OR, 14.056; 95% CI, 1.76-112.267). The incidence of LN metastasis gradually increased from 3.2 to 20%, as number of risk factors increased (P = 0.019). LN metastasis was present primarily along the perigastric area in all except two patients (1.4%) with skip metastasis to extragastric area.Conclusions: Standard surgery with at least D1 + LN dissection must be recommended for patients who proved to have risk factors for LN metastasis after ER, because the potential of skip metastasis is not negligible. Nevertheless, the minimal LN dissection, such as sentinel basin dissection, might be applied cautiously in patients with small-sized tumors after ER. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a through mold via (TMV) interconnect was developed for an embedded wafer level package (EMWLP) to enable 3D packing applications. The effects of the shape and surface roughness of the epoxy molding wafer on the quality of electroless Cu metallization were investigated for the vertical interconnection. The mold compound is a composite material composed of epoxy resin and filler particles. Therefore, the effect of the amount of filler particles was studied to optimize the shape of the epoxy molding by applying two types of laser drilling modes. In addition, the electroless Cu plating process was optimized to deposit a Cu seed layer along the TMV sidewall. To optimize the TMV process, a desmear process was applied to improve the shape of the TMV sidewall and adhesion between the epoxy molding compound and the dielectric polymer for multilayer metallization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alternative cleavage and polyadenylation (APA) generates diverse mRNA isoforms. We developed 3? region extraction and deep sequencing (3?READS) to address mispriming issues that commonly plague poly(A) site (pA) identification, and we used the method to comprehensively map pAs in the mouse genome. Thorough annotation of gene 3? ends revealed over 5,000 previously overlooked pAs (?8% of total) flanked by A-rich sequences, underscoring the necessity of using an accurate tool for pA mapping. About 79% of mRNA genes and 66% of long noncoding RNA genes undergo APA, but these two gene types have distinct usage patterns for pAs in introns and upstream exons. Quantitative analysis of APA isoforms by 3?READS indicated that promoter-distal pAs, regardless of intron or exon locations, become more abundant during embryonic development and cell differentiation and that upregulated isoforms have stronger pAs, suggesting global modulation of the 3? end-processing activity in development and differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an improved methodology for determining high-temperature tensile design strengths of Alloy 617, which is regarded as one of main structural materials for very high temperature reactor (VHTR) system. In establishing time-independent allowable stress values, an existing ASME standard procedure is preliminarily analyzed and their limitations are pointed out. Then, an improved methodology, which has a consistent and quantifiable design margin at low and high temperatures for tensile strengths, is proposed and compared with the ASME method. To find suitable curves of temperature trend to the tensile strength data, three fitting methods are demonstrated, and a statistical technique is adopted for design use. The results will be utilized to reasonably determine the tensile design strengths of Alloy 617 for application in the VHTR system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanisms of natural attenuation of arsenic (As) by wetland plants may be classified by plant uptake and adsorption and/or co-precipitation by iron (oxy)hydroxide formed on the root surface of plants or in rhizosediment. A natural Cattail ( Typha spp.) wetland impacted by tailings containing high levels of As from the Myungbong abandoned Au Mine, South Korea was selected, and the practical capability of this wetland to attenuate As was evaluated. The As concentrations in the plant tissues from the study wetland were several-fold higher than those from control wetland. SEM-EDX analyses demonstrated that iron plaques exist on the rhizome surface. Moreover, relatively high As contents bonded with hydrous iron oxides were found in the rhizosediments rather than in the bulk sediments. It was revealed through the leaching and sequential extraction analyses that As existed as more stable forms in the wetland sediment compared with adjacent paddy soil, which is also contaminated with As due to input of mine tailings. The As concentration ratios of extracted solution to sediment/soil represented that the wetland sediment showed significant lower values (10-fold) rather than the paddy soil with indicating high As stability. Also, As in the wetland sediment was predominantly bonded with residual phases on the basis of results from sequential extraction analysis. From these results, it is concluded that transformation of As contaminated agricultural field to wetland environment may be helpful for natural attenuation until active remediation action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The feasibility of biodiesel production from soapstock containing high water content and fatty matters by a solid acid catalyst was investigated. Soapstock was converted to high-acid acid oil (HAAO) by the hydrolysis by KOH and the acidulation by sulfuric acid. The acid value of soapstock-HAAO increased to 199.1 mg KOH/g but a large amount of potassium sulfate was produced. To resolve the formation of potassium sulfate, acid oil was extracted from soapstock and was converted to HAAO by using sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS). The maximum acid value of acid oil-HAAO was 194.2 mg KOH/g when the mass ratio of acid oil, sulfuric acid, and water was 10: 4: 10 at 2% of SDBS. In the esterification of HAAO using Amberylst-15, fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) concentration was 91.7 and 81.3% for soapstock and acid oil, respectively. After the distillation, FAME concentration became 98.1% and 96.7% for soapstock and acid oil. The distillation process decreased the total glycerin and the acid value of FAME produced a little. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a kind of waste collected from restaurants, trap grease is a chemically challenging feedstock for biodiesel production for its high free fatty acid (FFA) content. A central composite design was used to evaluate the effect of methanol quantity, acid concentration and reaction time on the synthesis of biodiesel from the trap grease with 50% free fatty acid, while the reaction temperature was selected at 95 °C. Using response surface methodology, a quadratic polynomial equation was obtained for ester content by multiple regression analysis. Verification experiments confirmed the validity of the predicted model. To achieve the highest ester content of crude biodiesel (89.67%), the critical values of the three variables were 35.00 (methanol-to-oil molar ratio), 11.27 wt% (catalyst concentration based on trap grease) and 4.59 h (reaction time). The crude biodiesel could be purified by a second distillation to meet the requirement of biodiesel specification of Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes an attractive method to make biodiesel from soybean soapstock (SS). A novel recovery technology of acid oil (AO) from SS has been developed with only sulfuric acid solution under the ambient temperature (25±2 °C). After drying, AO contained 50.0% FFA, 15.5% TAG, 6.9% DAG, 3.1% MAG, 0.8% water and other inert materials. The recovery yield of AO was about 97% (w/w) based on the total fatty acids of the SS. The acid oil could be directly converted into biodiesel at 95 °C in a pressurized reactor within 5 hours. Optimal esterification conditions were determined to be a weight ratio of 1 : 1.5 : 0.1 of AO/methanol/sulfuric acid. Higher reaction temperature helps to shorten the reaction time and requires less catalyst and methanol. Ester content of the biodiesel derived from AO through one-step acid catalyzed reaction is around 92%. After distillation, the purity of the biodiesel produced from AO is 97.6% which meets the Biodiesel Specification of Korea. The yield of purified biodiesel was 94% (w/w) based on the total fatty acids of the soapstock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Removal of hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs) using an additive-enhanced electrokinetic method was studied in a model system. Kaolinite and phenanthrene were selected as a model clay soil and a representative HOC, respectively. Three different chemically-synthesized surfactants along with two different biosurfactants were used to remove phenanthrene. Hydrogen peroxide was also used to degrade phenanthrene. Electrokinetic (EK) column experiments were performed using these additives. When no additive was used, a removal efficiency of phenanthrene was 4.23% after 2 weeks. When surfactants were added in the EK system, the removal efficiencies after 2 weeks were as follows: APG 11.1%, Brij 30 6.31%, SDS 9.97%, MEL 16.2% and BS-UC 17.4%. Among surfactants, biosurfactants had higher removal efficiencies than chemically-synthesized surfactants. When hydrogen peroxide was used, 54.7% of initial amount was removed at a current of 5 mA for 2 weeks. Even a higher removal efficiency was achieved (84.2%) at 10 mA within 1 week. These results suggest a detailed future study on the chemical treatment by hydrogen peroxide incorporated with EK method to remove phenanthrene from clay soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silicon carbide films have been grown onto graphite substrates by low pressure chemical vapor deposition using MTS (CH3SiCl3) as a source precursor and H2 or N2 as a diluent gas. The experiments were performed at fixed conditions of a flow rate of 100 sccm for each MTS and carrier gas, a flow rate of 300 sccm for diluent gas addition, and a total pressure of 5 torr. The effect of temperature from 900°C to 1350°C and the alteration of diluent gas species on the growth rate and structure of deposits have been studied. The experimental results showed that the deposition rate increased with increasing deposition temperature irrespective of diluent gases and reactant depletion effect increased especially at H2 diluent gas ambient. At MTS-H2 system, the deposition mechanism changed from chemical reaction to mass transfer controlled reaction with temperature. Otherwise, For MTS-H2-N2 system, surface chemical reaction controlled the growth process at whole deposition temperature ranges. For N2 addition, surface morphology of leaf-like structure appeared, and for H2, faceted structure at 1350°C. The observed features were involved by crystalline phase of β-SiC and surface composition with different gas ambient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We evaluated the prognostic implications of the circulating tumor cell (CTC) count in non-metastatic, HER2-negative breast cancer patients who failed to achieve pathologic complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT). A total of 173, non-metastatic breast cancer patients treated with NCT were prospectively enrolled. CTCs were obtained from blood drawn pre-NCT and post-NCT using a SMART BIOPSY SYSTEM isolation kit (Cytogen Inc., Seoul, Korea) with immunofluorescence staining. Excluding 26 HER2-positive patients, Relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) related to the CTC count and the association of the CTC count with the treatment response to given therapy were analyzed in 147 HER2-negative patients. Among 147 HER2-negative patients, 28 relapses (19.0%) and 13 deaths (8.8%, all breast cancer-specific) were observed during a median follow-up of 37.3 months. One hundred and seven patients (72.8%) were hormone receptor-positive, and 40 patients (27.2%) had triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). One or more CTCs were identified in 88 of the 147 patients (59.9%) before NCT and 77 of the 134 patients (52.4%) after NCT. In the entire HER2-negative patient cohort, the initial nodal status was the most significant factor influencing RFS and OS. In TNBC, 11 patients (27.5%) achieved pCR and patients that failed to achieve pCR with ≥ 5 CTCs after NCT, showed worse RFS (HR, 10.66; 95% CI, 1.80–63.07; p = 0.009) and OS (HR, 14.00; 95% CI, 1.26–155.53; p = 0.032). The patients with residual tumor and a high number of the CTCs after NCT displayed the worse outcome. These findings could provide justification to launch a future, well designed trial with longer follow-up data to obtain regulatory approval for clinical use of the assay, especially for the ER-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer subset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While plasmonic designs have dominated recent trends in structural color, schemes using localized surface plasmon resonances and surface plasmon polaritons that simultaneously achieve high color vibrancy at ultrahigh resolution have been elusive because of tradeoffs between size and performance. Herein we demonstrate vibrant and size-invariant transmissive type multicolor pixels composed of hybrid TiOx-Ag core-shell nanowires based on reduced scattering at their electric dipolar Mie resonances. This principle permits the hybrid nanoresonator to achieve the widest color gamut (~74% sRGB area coverage), linear color mixing, and the highest reported single color dots-per-inch (58,000~141,000) in transmission mode. Exploiting such features, we further show that an assembly of distinct nanoresonators can constitute a multicolor pixel for use in multispectral imaging, with a size that is ~10-folds below the Nyquist limit using a typical high NA objective lens. Tradeoffs between size and performance have limited plasmonic structural color vibrancy at high resolution. Here the authors present a nanophotonic resonant metal-coated nanowire capable of being used as a size invariant, vibrant multicolor pixel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate high light extraction efficiency of GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) using the selective growth of ZnO nanorods (NRs). The chemical wet-etched hexagonal patterns of ZnO transparent conductive film were used to achieve the selective growth of ZnO NRs, which could be grown at the non-etched hexagonal pattern regions due to the wet-etching effect. The optical transmittance of GaN-based LEDs was decreased by forming additional different types of ZnO transparent conductive films, such as the hexagonal ZnO patterns and the ZnO NRs selectively grown on hexagonal ZnO patterns. However, the light output power of GaN-based LEDs increased on decreasing the optical transmittance by employing a hexagonal ZnO transparent conductive film and selectively grown ZnO NRs. Based on these results, we suggest that the combined structure of the surface hexagonal patterns and the selectively grown ZnO NRs decreases the optical transmittance, but is more effective in improving the light extraction efficiency in the GaN-based LEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanostructure (NS) InGaN crystals were grown on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The NS-InGaN crystals, grown on a ~5-μm-long CNT/Si template, were estimated to be ~100-270 nm in size. Transmission electron microscope examinations revealed that single-crystalline InGaN NSs were formed with different crystal facets. The observed green (~500 nm) cathodoluminescence (CL) emission was consistent with the surface image of the NS-InGaN crystallites, indicating excellent optical properties of the InGaN NSs on CNTs. Moreover, the CL spectrum of InGaN NSs showed a broad emission band from 490 to 600 nm. Based on these results, we believe that InGaN NSs grown on CNTs could aid in overcoming the green gap in LED technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]