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To understand the structure of cellulose, we searched for the global minimum potential energy of cellobiose, a basic structural unit of cellulose, in vacuum and water. We used the Low-MODe (LMOD) optimization method in the Ambertools 1.5 package with a GLYCAM_06 force field. The generalized Born model proposed by Hawkins, Cramer, and Trühlar was used as a solvation model. The global minima in vacuum and water had different conformations. These differences were explained by solvation effects, especially the change in electrostatic interaction upon solvation. The global minimum in vacuum was determined by the strength of hydrogen bonding, which was reduced in water. The conformation, which was subject to electrostatic repulsion in vacuum, became the global minimum in water because the electrostatic repulsion decreased as a result of the attractive interaction with water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated whether the echocardiographic parameters of the left atrium (LA) can predict the development of nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF). Among 14,062 patients (> 20 years old) who underwent an echocardiographic examination were evaluated, 2,606 patients who underwent follow-up ECG with an interval of > 6 months were investigated. Newly developed AF was noted in 42 (1.6%) patients with follow-up duration of 31.8 ± 8.9 months. Cox regression analysis revealed that a higher left atrial volume index (hazard ratio [HR]= 1.06; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03–1.09, P < 0.001), relative wall thickness (RWT) of≥ 0.407 (HR= 2.74, 95% CI 1.39–5.41, P= 0.004), a reduced peak atrial systolic mitral annular velocity (HR= 0.845, 95% CI 0.72–0.99, P= 0.037), and an advanced age (HR= 1.04, 95% CI 1.01–1.07, P= 0.009) were independently related to the development of nonvalvular AF. Therefore, reduced A′ , which is parameter of LA contractile function, might be an important predictor for the development of nonvalvular AF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study was designed to evaluate the effects of risk factors for erectile dysfunction (ED) or cardiovascular disease on the disease severity in impotent men. Methods: A total of 87 men, 25–75 years old (mean age, 53.4) were included in the study. Patients were evaluated with anthropometry, hormones, metabolic profiles and lifestyle. Baseline erectile function (EF) was evaluated using the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF). The severity of ED was classified into the following four grades based on the six-item EF domain of the IIEF: severe (6–10); moderate (11–16); mild to moderate (17–21); and mild (22–25). Patients were deemed to have metabolic syndrome (MS) if they had three or more of five criteria according to National Cholesterol Education Program, with some modification. Results: Of 87 patients, 15 patients (17.2%) had mild, 11 (12.6%) had mild to moderate, 33 (37.9%) had moderate and 28 (32.3%) had severe ED. There was no correlation between scores of IIEF or EF domain and continuous parameters. On the multivariate model used, hypertensive patients had 26-fold higher risk (odds ratio, 26.195; 95% confidence interval, 1.463–46.072; P = 0.027) of severe ED than those without hypertension. Other factors were not significant. Conclusion: The results of the study indicate that MS might not influence the severity of ED in impotent men. However, our findings suggest that hypertension plays a role in the disease severity in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE To determine the efficacy of an α-adrenoceptor antagonist, terazosin, in reducing nocturia in men with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), and to identify the factors predicting treatment outcome. PATIENTS AND METHODS In all, 100 patients were treated with 2 mg of terazosin once daily for the first 7 days, and continued to receive 4 mg of terazosin once daily for the following 3 weeks. The men were assessed at baseline and at the end of treatment using uroflowmetry, the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), and the degree of nocturia estimated from a frequency-volume chart (FVC) and objectively. RESULTS On the FVC, 27 patients reported that the terazosin treatment reduced their nocturia by more than half, and 14 reported a reduction of 25–49%. On the IPSS, 31 patients reported that the treatment reduced their nocturia by more than half and 27 reported a reduction of 25–49%. On multivariate regression analysis, only the actual number of nightly voids on the FVC was associated with a 2.1-fold chance of an improvement of >25% in objective nocturia ( P = 0.016). Using a comparable model, a greater nocturia score on the IPSS was associated with a higher likelihood of improvement in subjective nocturia (odds ratio, 1.653; 95% confidence interval, 1.079–2.533; P = 0.021). CONCLUSION Treatment with terazosin can reduce patients’ episodes of nocturia both subjectively and objectively in some men with LUTS. Our results suggest that both subjective and objective numbers of nocturia episodes are associated with improvements in subjective and objective nocturnal frequencies, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A driver state estimation algorithm that uses multimodal vehicular and physiological sensor data is proposed. Deep learning is applied to the fused multimodal data rather than each modality being treated as a different feature. A convolutional neural network model is developed and the driver state estimation algorithm is implemented using Google TensorFlow. The results show that deep learning is a very promising approach for driver state estimation compared with previously studied algorithms, such as dynamic Bayesian networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]