Search

This paper presents the developments of sensorless control of an interior permanent-magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM) based on signal injection for the last five years. At first, modeling of an IPMSM is discussed. In contrast to the conventional inductance based voltage model, the flux model considering saturation and spatial harmonics of IPMSM is introduced. For the identification of the flux model, either finite element analysis or experimental test is required. Secondly, based on the flux model, some sensorless control methods of IPMSM for the traction of a vehicle, where IPMSMs are heavily saturated for higher torque density, are described. In contrast to the belief that there should be a certain saliency for the sensorless control based on the signal injection, it is explained that sensorless control is possible even in a reversed saliency region. Thirdly, the methods to decrease the magnitude of the injected signal itself are discussed together with the optimization of the frequency of the signal. The simulation and test results for typical automotive-grade IPMSMs with several sensorless methods exploiting square-wave signal injection are presented, and the physical meaning of the test results are discussed. Finally, future outlook based on recent developments is addressed.

Background: The aim of this study was to report the effect of acupotomy for patients with headache. Methods: Four patients with headache were treated with acupotomy. The improvement of symptoms was evaluated by numeric rating scale(NRS), Headache impact test-6(HIT-6) and headache attack frequency. Results: The numeric rating scale score and headache attack frequency decreased throughout the treatment period. No side effects were observed during treatment. Conclusion: Acupotomy had shown a positive clinical effect in the treatment of a headache in this case series. Further studies are required for its application on various headache.

Oxidative stress is a pathological condition occurring due to an imbalance between the oxidants and antioxidant defense systems in the body. Nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (NRF2), encoded by the gene NFE2L2, is the master regulator of phase II antioxidant enzymes that protect against oxidative stress and inflammation. NRF2/ARE signaling has been considered as a promising target against oxidative stress-mediated diseases like diabetes, fibrosis, neurotoxicity, and cancer. The consumption of dietary phytochemicals acts as an effective modulator of NRF2/ARE in various acute and chronic diseases. In the present review, we discussed the role of NRF2 in diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), cancer, and atherosclerosis. Additionally, we discussed the phytochemicals like curcumin, quercetin, resveratrol, epigallocatechin gallate, apigenin, sulforaphane, and ursolic acid that have effectively modified NRF2 signaling and prevented various diseases in both in vitro and in vivo models. Based on the literature, it is clear that dietary phytochemicals can prevent diseases by (1) blocking oxidative stress-inhibiting inflammatory mediators through inhibiting Keap1 or activating Nrf2 expression and its downstream targets in the nucleus, including HO-1, SOD, and CAT; (2) regulating NRF2 signaling by various kinases like GSK3beta, PI3/AKT, and MAPK; and (3) modifying epigenetic modulation, such as methylation, at the NRF2 promoter region; however, further investigation into other upstream signaling molecules like NRF2 and the effect of phytochemicals on them still need to be investigated in the near future.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) pollen grains are highly sensitive to extreme temperatures. Studies on the proteomic analysis of pollen at different developmental stages are limited. In this study, to identify proteins expressed during pollen development, we performed shotgun proteomic analysis of rice anthers harvested at 8, 3, and 0 days before heading (DBH). A total of 4509 non-redundant proteins were identified in rice anthers at each of the three time points with three replications per time point. Among these, 2968 proteins were reproducible, of which 1919 were specifically expressed at a given stage of anther development. Clustering and gene ontology (GO) enrichment analyses categorized the specifically expressed proteins into four groups. Group I comprised proteins involved in cell differentiation, reproduction, and stress response; Group II contained proteins related to cell growth and carbohydrate metabolic process; Group III included proteins related to starch accumulation and lipid metabolic process; Group IV comprised proteins related to structure morphogenesis and cellular components. Proteins in Group I steadily increased during anther development, whereas those in Group I steadily decreased. Group III proteins showed the highest expression at 3 DBH, whereas Group IV proteins exhibited the lowest expression at 3 DBH.

The prevalence of cardiocerebrovascular disease (CVD) is continuously increasing, and it is the leading cause of human death. Since it is difficult for physicians to screen thousands of people, high-accuracy and interpretable methods need to be presented. We developed four machine learning-based CVD classifiers (i.e., multi-layer perceptron, support vector machine, random forest, and light gradient boosting) based on the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We resampled and rebalanced KNHANES data using complex sampling weights such that the rebalanced dataset mimics a uniformly sampled dataset from overall population. For clear risk factor analysis, we removed multicollinearity and CVD-irrelevant variables using VIF-based filtering and the Boruta algorithm. We applied synthetic minority oversampling technique and random undersampling before ML training. We demonstrated that the proposed classifiers achieved excellent performance with AUCs over 0.853. Using Shapley value-based risk factor analysis, we identified that the most significant risk factors of CVD were age, sex, and the prevalence of hypertension. Additionally, we identified that age, hypertension, and BMI were positively correlated with CVD prevalence, while sex (female), alcohol consumption and, monthly income were negative. The results showed that the feature selection and the class balancing technique effectively improve the interpretability of models.

Despite the many comorbidities and the high mortality rate in preterm infants with patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), therapeutic strategies vary depending on the clinical setting, and most studies of the related risk factors have been based on small sample populations. The goal was to compare the accuracy of artificial intelligence (AI) analysis with that of conventional analysis for identifying the risk factors associated with symptomatic PDA (sPDA) in very low birth weight infants.This nationwide prospective cohort study included 8,369 infants. The participants were divided into an sPDA group and a nonPDA group, and The sPDA group was further divided into treated and untreated subgroups. A total of 47 perinatal risk factors were collected and analyzed. Multiple logistic regression as a standard analytic tool, five AI algorithms were used to identify the factors associated with sPDA. The combination of a large database of risk factors from nationwide registries and AI techniques achieved higher accuracy and better performance on the PDA prediction tasks, and the ensemble methods showed the best performances.

Despite the many comorbidities and high mortality rate in preterm infants with patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), therapeutic strategies vary depending on the clinical setting, and most studies of the related risk factors are based on small sample populations. We aimed to compare the performance of artificial intelligence (AI) analysis with that of conventional analysis to identify risk factors associated with symptomatic PDA (sPDA) in very low birth weight infants. This nationwide cohort study included 8369 very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. The participants were divided into an sPDA group and an asymptomatic PDA or spontaneously close PDA (nPDA) group. The sPDA group was further divided into treated and untreated subgroups. A total of 47 perinatal risk factors were collected and analyzed. Multiple logistic regression was used as a standard analytic tool, and five AI algorithms were used to identify the factors associated with sPDA. Combining a large database of risk factors from nationwide registries and AI techniques achieved higher accuracy and better performance of the PDA prediction tasks, and the ensemble methods showed the best performances.

Protein transduction domains (PTDs) have been shown to promote the delivery of therapeutic proteins or peptides into the living cells. In a previous study, we showed that the double mutant of TCTP-PTD 13, TCTP-PTD 13M2, was more effective in the delivery of insulin than the wild-type TCTP-PTD 13. In this study, we applied this approach to the nasal delivery of a different peptide, exendin-4, using as carriers, several modified TCTP-PTDs, such as TCTP-PTD 13M1, 13M2, and 13M3. Nasal co-administration of TCTP-PTD 13M2 with exendin-4 showed the highest exendin-4 uptake among the three analogs in normal rats, and also decreased blood glucose levels by 43.3% compared with that of exendin-4 alone and by 18.6% compared with that of exendin-4 plus TCTP-PTD 13 in diabetic mice. We also designed an additional covalently linked conjugate of TCTP-PTD 13M2 and exendin-4 and evaluated its hypoglycemic effect after subcutaneous or intranasal delivery. Subcutaneous administration of exendin-4 that its C-terminus is covalently linked to TCTP-PTD 13M2 showed hypoglycemic effect of 42.2% compared to that in untreated group, whereas intranasal delivery was not successful in diabetic mice. We conclude that a simple mixing TCTP-PTD 13M2 with peptide/protein drugs can be potentially a generally applicable approach for intranasal delivery into animals.

Rice crops are vulnerable to low temperatures. During development, the reproductive stage is particularly sensitive to cold exposure, which causes abnormal pollen development and a high degree of male sterility. In this study, shotgun proteomic analysis was used to analyze rice anthers containing pollen grains from a cold-tolerant variety, Dianxi 4. Protein expression was compared between normal anthers and anthers exposed to cold temperatures at the young microspore stage. In total, 3835 non-redundant proteins were identified in the rice anther. Of these, 441 proteins were differentially expressed between normal and cold-treated anthers. Pollen allergens, ATP synthase, actin, profilin, and β-expansin proteins were highly abundant, reflecting anther development, pollen germination, and pollen tube elongation. Starch and sucrose metabolic proteins such as α-amylase precursor and 4-α-glucanotransferase exhibited reduced expression after cold exposure. Among the proteins that exhibited increased expression after cold exposure, C2 domain proteins, and GRPs were identified as candidate signaling factors for mediation of the cold tolerance response. Through high-throughput proteomic analysis we were able to reveal proteomic changes against cold stress and suggest two signaling factors as the candidate genes.

Introduction Unroofing or marsupialization of liver cyst is performed for symptomatic case or growing cysts. Laparoscopic approach is widely used but few reports describe robotic approach for this procedure. Nowadays, single-port robotic surgery is adopted for various surgical procedures. We present a case of robotic single port (plus one) unroofing of multiple liver cysts using the DaVinci SP system. Methods A 53-year-old female was referred for multiple liver cysts which were diagnosed 6 years ago. Albeit asymptomatic, surgical resection was decided for enlarging cysts and subsequent pancreatic duct dilatation. Robotic port was inserted through transumbilical incision and an additional 5-mm-port was placed on the left side of the DaVinci SP system for energy device and suction/irrigation. Unroofing was done for most cysts and a drain was placed through the additional port. Results The operation time was 90 minutes, including 2 minutes of docking time and 57 minutes of console time, with negligible intraoperative blood loss. The drain was removed on the fifth postoperative day and the patient discharged on the ninth postoperative day without acute complication. Postoperative CT scan 3 months later confirmed decreased size of liver cysts and no evidence of pancreatic duct dilatation. Conclusions We report our experience of robotic single port (plus one) unroofing of multiple liver cysts using the DaVinci SP system. To our knowledge, this is the first report in Korea using the DaVinci SP system for unroofing of liver cyst. We believe that this approach is superior to laparoscopic approach while achieving similar safety outcome with fewer incisions.

Endogenous bioelectric signaling and the extracellular matrix (ECM) are factors that have a great effect on the performance of cellular functions. Presenting an experimental platform to confirm the synergy effects of an electrical stimulation, which simulates endogenous bioelectricity, and nanopatterns that can be precisely fabricated in various patterns sizes makes it possible to consider those factors effectively. Herein, we have performed a comparison of cellular response to each of general electrical stimulation and biomimetic electrical stimulation (BES) and demonstrated the synergy effects of electrical stimulation and ECM-mimetic nanopatterns. BES has provided the most remarkable proliferation among different types of electrical stimulation and upregulated the behavior of cells through synergy effects with ECM-mimetic nanopatterns. Thus, it is believed that using the synergy effects of BES and ECM-like nanopatterns has broad applications in the biomedical field, such as cell culture with electrical stimulation, induction of cell growth, tissue repair, etc.

Carrier peptides, termed protein transduction domains (PTDs), serve as provide promising vehicles for intranasal delivery of macromolecular drugs. A mutant PTD derived from human translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP-PTD 13, MIIFRALISHKK) was reported to provide enhanced intranasal delivery of insulin. In this study, we tested whether its efficiency could be further improved by replacing amino acids in TCTP-PTD 13 or changing the amino acids in the carrier peptides from the l- to the d-form. We assessed the pharmacokinetics of PTD-mediated transmucosal delivery of insulin in normal rats and the activity of insulin in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. The safety/toxicity profile of the carrier peptides was evaluated based on the release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in nasal wash fluid, body weight changes, and several biochemical parameters. Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies showed that the l-form of a double substitution A6L, I8A (MIIFRLLASHKK), designated as l-TCTP-PTD 13M2 was the most effective carrier for intranasal insulin delivery. The relative bioavailability of insulin co-administered intranasally with l-TCTP-PTD 13M2 was 37.1% of the value obtained by the subcutaneous route, which was 1.68-fold higher than for insulin co-administered with l-TCTP-PTD 13. Moreover, co-administration of insulin plus l-TCTP-PTD 13M2 reduced blood glucose levels compared to levels in diabetic rats treated with insulin plus l-TCTP-PTD 13. There was no evidence of toxicity. These results suggest that the newly designed PTD is a useful carrier peptide for the intranasal delivery of drugs or biomolecules.

Purpose: Human milk (HM) proteins are known as important factors in growing and development of neonates. For longer and easier storage of HM, freeze-drying is suggested as one of the promising meth...

Lesion mimic mutants (LMMs) commonly exhibit spontaneous cell death similar to the hypersensitive defense response that occurs in plants in response to pathogen infection. Several lesion mimic mutants have been isolated and characterized, but their molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, a spotted leaf sheath (sles) mutant derived from japonica cultivar Koshihikari is described. The sles phenotype differed from that of other LMMs in which lesion mimic spots were observed on the leaf sheath rather than on leaves. The sles mutant displayed early senescence, as shown, by color loss in the mesophyll cells, a decrease in chlorophyll content, and upregulation of chlorophyll degradation-related and senescence-associated genes. ROS content was also elevated, corresponding to increased expression of genes encoding ROS-generating enzymes. Pathogenesis-related genes were also activated and showed improved resistance to pathogen infection on the leaf sheath. Genetic analysis revealed that the mutant phenotype was controlled by a single recessive nuclear gene. Genetic mapping and sequence analysis showed that a single nucleotide substitution in the sixth exon of LOC_Os07g25680 was responsible for the sles mutant phenotype and this was confirmed by T-DNA insertion line. Taken together, our results revealed that SLES was associated with the formation of lesion mimic spots on the leaf sheath resulting early senescence and defense responses. Further examination of SLES will facilitate a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in ROS homeostasis and may also provide opportunities to improve pathogen resistance in rice.

This study aimed to identify the effects of Internet game on levels of aggression in children in the context of individual, familial, and social environments. The subjects were 2844 fourth graders participated in the Korean Youth Panel Survey between 2004 and 2008. Internet game use, the levels of aggression, self-esteem, self-control, stress, depression, attachment to parents, parental control, attachment to teachers, and attachment to peers were measured by 5-point Likert scales. The result showed that gender was the most effective factor influencing the initial level of, the rate of changes, an increase or decrease in the rate of changes in Internet game use and levels of aggression. Boys showed higher levels of Internet game use and aggression than girls. Children with higher self-esteem, self-control and lower stress and depression showed lower levels of Internet game use and aggression. The levels of Internet game use at fourth grade was positively correlated with later increase in the levels of aggression. Also, the faster increase in Internet game use caused faster increase in the levels of aggression later. Based on the results, preventive measures such as limiting the opportunities to access Internet games might be worth to decrease the aggressive behaviors among children.

A mixed-methods study evaluated the perceived effectiveness of a brief, community-based parenting intervention for Asian immigrant families in the United States . A community sample of twelve parent-child dyads (consisting of both foreign-born and U.S.-born children) participated in four-week long psychoeducational workshops on the mental health issues facing Asian-American immigrant families, and effective parent-child communication. The effectiveness of group assertiveness training on the child participants’ social competence was also evaluated. Participants reported improved psychosocial functioning upon the conclusion of the workshop. Qualitative feedback from the parents highlighted the efficacy of an integrated approach, predicated on group psychoeducation and in-session interventions designed to improve parent-child communication. Clinical implications and directions for future research are provided.

Military personnel who have experienced combat trauma are at risk for developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A greater recognition of the complex array of vulnerability factors that contribute to PTSD severity has led researchers to examine other non-combat-related factors. This longitudinal study examined a number of pre-, peri-, and postdeployment factors hypothesized to contribute to PTSD symptomatology among returning Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn veterans presenting with at least subthreshold PTSD symptoms and hazardous alcohol use in a primary care setting. Purported risk factors included childhood family environment, severity of combat exposure, postdeployment social support, alcohol dependence severity, and an avoidant coping style. At baseline, postdeployment social support and avoidant coping contributed to PTSD severity. Only avoidant coping was associated with changes in PTSD symptom at 1-year follow-up. Reducing avoidant coping may deter the maintenance of PTSD among veterans with PTSD symptoms and hazardous alcohol use.

The impact of red blood cell transfusion on long-term mortality has not been well characterized in patients with cancer of the esophagus after esophagectomy. Our retrospective observational study investigated 611 patients with cancer of the esophagus after esophagectomy from January 2005 to December 2012. Perioperative red blood cell transfusion was defined as red blood cell transfusion during intraoperative and postoperative period. One hundred ninety-six (32.1%) patients received red blood cell transfusion. During follow-up period, 153 (36.9%) patients without red blood cell transfusion and 120 (61.2%) patients with red blood cell transfusion died. Multivariable analysis identified that there was an incremental association between the amount of red blood cell transfusion and long-term mortality (hazard ratio 1.06, 95% confidence interval 1.04-1.08, P

This study was to evaluate the performed painful procedures among all sick neonates cared for at two university hospital neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in the Republic of Korea. This prospective study was done with all newborns admitted to the NICUs between 1 October and 20 November 2010. Data collection was done with self-administered questionnaire by each nurse for the first 2 weeks of admission and discontinued if the neonate was discharged, transferred or died. The number of painful procedures, according to general characteristics of the neonates, were compared using Mann-Whitney U-test and Kruskal-Wallis test. Oral suctioning was the most frequently performed procedure, followed by tracheal suctioning and nasal suctioning. The number of painful procedures increased as the gestation period became shorter and birthweight decreased. In conclusion, nurses should reappraise the need for painful procedures, in particular, among neonates with a gestation period of ≤ 27 weeks and babies with ≤ 1000 g of birthweight, and execute their performance only if necessary.

The aim of present study was to assess the effects of a eutectic mixture of topical anesthetics (EMLA cream) on pain responses of preschoolers during venipuncture. The pain responses were reported by children, nurses, and the children’s mothers. The pre- and post-test-designed study, which included a non-equivalent control group, was carried out in a pediatric unit at E University Hospital in South Korea. Pain responses during venipuncture were measured by the self-reporting of the children using the Face Pain Rating Scale (FPRS), the Procedure Behavior Checklist by nurses (PBCL), the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) by mothers, in addition to measurements of the children’s pulse rate and level of oxygen saturation. EMLA cream was effective in decreasing the pain responses of the children as assessed by FPRS, PBCL, and VAS scores. However, pulse rate and level of oxygen saturation of the children during venipuncture were not significantly different between the two groups. EMLA cream could be a useful option for reducing pain in preschool children during invasive procedures.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to elucidate the themes involved in a nursing experience of caring for extremely low birth weight infants (ELBWIs) in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Methods: Interviews with 6 nurses in various positions and observations in a level III NICU were conducted. The transcribed interview contents and observational notes were reviewed to analyze the data and conceptualize major themes. Results: Three major themes were identified: the fears expressed by the nurses regarding taking care of ELBWIs, reasons for persistent fears, and overcoming fears and gaining intuition. Nurses were afraid of the following factors: the physical fragility of the infants; the possibility of developing disabilities in the future; and the rapid changes in infants` physical condition. These fears were reduced when nurses had developed intuition and confidence in taking care of ELBWIs through various situational experiences. Conclusion: NICU nurses may benefit from obtaining more opportunities to participate in various learning experiences with simulated nursing situations in a variety of patient groups. Applying knowledge and skills into various nursing situations in an integrative way may contribute to enhancing nurses` confidence in nursing practice.

The 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is a well-known carcinogen, however, the biological mechanism of carcinogenesis by TCDD has not been established. Recently, protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) have been identified as secondary transcription co-activators and are proposed to be co-activators of aryl hydrocarbon receptors binding to xenobiotic response elements. Both PRMT1 and PRMT4 were also reported to be involved with carcinogenesis. The aim of this study was to identify cancer-related genes that are regulated by TCDD exposure and the effect of arginine methylation on TCDD toxicity by transfecting human hepatocarcinoma cells with PRMT1 and PRMT4 siRNA. By microarray analysis, 1,461 genes were up-regulated and 1,591 genes were down-regulated by TCDD exposure. Among the 16 up-regulated genes which had functions related to cancer or metastasis, 13 genes were confirmed by quantitative real time RT-PCR: ABCG2, NRP1, SOX5, BIRC3, CD109, CYP1A1, ERBB2, MTA1, FURIN, F3, PIK3R3, NPTN and NTN4. Co-inhibition of PRMT1 and PRMT4 resulted in decreased expression of eight of these genes, MTA1, ERBB2, SOX5, CD109, FURIN, NRP1, PIK3R3 and ABCG2, all of which have been reportedly involved in breast, ovary, prostate and lung cancers, and metastasis.

Zinc is an essential micronutrient for several physiological and biochemical processes. To investigate its transport in rice, we characterized OsZIP8, a rice ZIP (Zrt, Irt-like Protein) gene that is strongly up-regulated in shoots and roots under Zn deficiency. OsZIP8 could complement the growth defect of Zn-uptake yeast mutant. The OsZIP8-GFP fusion proteins were localized to the plasma membrane, suggesting that OsZIP8 is a plasma membrane zinc transporter in rice. Activation and overexpression of this gene disturbed the zinc distribution in rice plants, resulting in lower levels in shoots and mature seeds, but an increase in the roots. Field-grown transgenic plants were shorter than the WT. Under treatment with excess zinc, transgenics contained less zinc in their shoots but accumulated more in the roots. Altogether, these results demonstrate that OsZIP8 is a zinc transporter that functions in Zn uptake and distribution. Furthermore, zinc homeostasis is important to the proper growth and development of rice.

Blood sampling for a newborn screening test is necessary for all neonates in South Korea. During the heel stick, an appropriate intervention should be implemented to reduce neonatal pain. This study was conducted to identify the effectiveness of kangaroo care (KC), skin contact with the mother, on pain relief during the neonatal heel stick. Twenty-six neonates undergoing KC and 30 control neonates at a university hospital participated in this study. Physiological responses of neonates, including heart rate, oxygen saturation, duration of crying and Premature Infant Pain Profile (PIPP) scores were measured and compared before, during and 1 min and 2 min after heel sticks. The heart rate of KC neonates was lower at both 1 and 2 min after sampling than those of the control group. Also, PIPP scores of KC neonates were significantly lower both during and after sampling. The duration of crying for KC neonates was around 10% of the duration of the control group. In conclusion, KC might be an effective intervention in a full-term nursery for neonatal pain management.

Melanoma, one of the aggressive cancers, is known to be resistant to chemotherapy. Because of its aggressive nature, effectively inducing apoptosis is necessary to treat melanoma. Erythroid differentiation regulator 1 (Erdr1) is known to be a stress-related survival factor exhibiting anti-cancer effects in several cancers. However, little is known about the functions and underlying mechanisms of Erdr1 so far. To demonstrate the effect of Erdr1 in melanoma apoptosis, recombinant murine Erdr1 was injected into mice implanted with B16F10 melanoma cells. In vivo tumor growth was significantly inhibited in mice injected with Erdr1 compared to the control. In addition, the tumor from Erdr1-injected mice showed an increased level of apoptosis. Accordingly, apoptosis-regulating factors including anti-apoptotic marker Bcl-2 and pro-apoptotic marker Bax in the tumor tissues were examined. As expected, the decreased level of Bcl-2 and increased level of Bax were detected in tumors within the mice injected with Erdr1. Based on the in vivo study, the role of Erdr1 in tumor apoptosis was further tested by incubating it with cells of the murine melanoma cell line B16F10. Erdr1-induced apoptosis in B16F10 cells was observed. Additionally, Erdr1 downregulated STAT3 activity, inhibiting apoptosis via regulation of the Bcl-2 family. Overall, data demonstrate that Erdr1 induced murine melanoma apoptosis through the regulation of Bcl-2 and Bax. These findings suggest that Erdr1 is a novel regulator of apoptosis in melanoma.

In rice, the stage of development most sensitive to high temperature stress is flowering, and exposure at this stage can result in spikelet sterility, thereby leading to significant yield losses. In this study, protein expression patterns of rice anthers from Dianxi4, a high temperature tolerant Japonica rice variety, were compared between samples exposed to high temperature and those grown in natural field conditions in Korea. Shotgun proteomics analysis of three replicate control and high-temperature-treated samples identified 3,266 nonredundant rice anther proteins (false discovery rate < 0.01). We found that high levels of ATP synthase, cupin domain-containing proteins, and pollen allergen proteins were present in rice anthers. Comparative analyses of 1,944 reproducibly expressed proteins identified 139 differentially expressed proteins, with 95 increased and 44 decreased in response to high temperature conditions. Heat shock, DnaK family, and chaperone proteins showed highly increased expression, suggesting that the high temperature tolerance of Dianxi4 is achieved by stabilization of proteins in pollen cells. Trehalose synthase was also highly increased after heat treatment, suggesting a possible role for trehalose in preventing protein denaturation through desiccation.

Background It remains to be elucidated whether the Trendelenburg position increases intracranial pressure (ICP). ICP can be evaluated by measuring the sonographic optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD). We investigated the effect of the isolated Trendelenburg position on ONSD in patients undergoing robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. Additionally, we evaluated the effect of the Trendelenburg position combined with pneumoperitoneum on ONSD. Methods Twenty-one patients scheduled for robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy were enrolled. Sonographic ONSDs and hemodynamic parameters were measured at specific time points: in the supine position after induction of anesthesia, 3 min after the steep Trendelenburg position (35° incline), 3 min after the steep Trendelenburg position combined with pneumoperitoneum, and in the supine position after desufflation of the pneumoperitoneum. Results The ONSD 3 min after the steep Trendelenburg position was significantly higher than that of the supine position after induction of anesthesia (5.1 ± 0.3 mm vs. 4.5 ± 0.4 mm). In addition, the ONSD 3 min after the steep Trendelenburg position combined with pneumoperitoneum was higher than that of the supine position after induction of anesthesia (4.9 ± 0.4 mm vs. 4.5 ± 0.4 mm). The ONSD in the supine position after desufflation of the pneumoperitoneum was similar to that in the supine position after induction of anesthesia. Conclusions Use of the isolated steep Trendelenburg position, for even a short duration, increased the sonographic ONSD, providing a better understanding of the effect of only a transient steep Trendelenburg position on ONSD as a surrogate measure for ICP.

Following the rediscovery of Mendel’s principles of heredity in 1900, plant breeding has made tremendous progress in developing diverse methodologies to create and select variation by using genetic principles. Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, plant breeding has been systematized with state-of-the-art technologies aided by transgenic and genomics approaches. In the future, breeders will be able to assemble desirable alleles or genes into promising varieties with optimized performance using an approach that integrates scientific fields. Recent concerns about global warming, abnormal weather patterns, and unfavorable environments have pushed breeders to speed up the breeding process. In this chapter, the history of plant breeding, methods for creating variation, selection and generation advance strategies, and challenges and perspectives are briefly reviewed and discussed.

Micro-emboli have been reported to occur commonly during arthroscopic surgery, which is frequently performed as an orthopedic surgical procedure. We here report a patient who experienced unilateral postoperative visual loss after a hip arthroscopy using irrigation fluid in the supine position without any evidence of external compression to either eye throughout the surgical procedure. Retinal fundoscopy suggested that the patient had central retinal artery occlusion, one of the causes of the postoperative visual loss. This case suggests that arthroscopic surgery may pose a substantial risk for paradoxical air embolism, such as central retinal artery occlusion, and suggests the need to prevent the entry of micro-air bubbles during such a type of surgery.