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Abstract Background While indirect comparison of infliximab (IFX) and vedolizumab (VDZ) in adults with Crohn’s disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC) shows that IFX has better effectiveness during induction, and comparable efficacy during maintenance treatment, comparative data specific to subcutaneous (SC) IFX (i.e., CT-P13 SC) versus VDZ are limited. Aim Pooled analysis of randomised studies to compare efficacy and safety with IFX SC and VDZ in moderate-to-severe inflammatory bowel disease. Methods Parallel-group, randomised studies evaluating IFX SC and VDZ in patients with moderate-to-severe CD or UC were identified. Eligible studies reported ≥ 1 prespecified outcome of interest at Week 6 (reflecting treatment during the induction phase) and/or at 1 year (Weeks 50-54; reflecting treatment during the maintenance phase). Prespecified efficacy and safety outcomes considered in this pooled analysis included the proportions of patients achieving disease-specific clinical responses, clinical remission, or discontinuing due to lack of efficacy, and the proportions of patients experiencing adverse events (AEs), serious AEs, infections, serious infections, or discontinuing due to AEs. Data from multiple studies or study arms were extracted and pooled using a random-effect model; comparative analyses were performed separately for patients with CD and UC. Results We identified three eligible CD trials and four eligible UC trials that assigned over 1200 participants per disease cohort to either IFX SC or VDZ. In patients with CD, intravenous induction therapy with IFX demonstrated better efficacy (non-overlapping 95% confidence intervals [CIs]) compared with VDZ; during the maintenance phase, IFX SC showed numerically better efficacy (overlapping 95% CIs) than VDZ. A lower proportion of IFX SC-treated patients discontinued therapy due to lack of efficacy over 1 year. In patients with UC, efficacy profiles were similar with IFX SC and VDZ during the induction and maintenance phases, and a lower proportion of IFX SC-treated patients discontinued therapy due to lack of efficacy over 1 year. In both cohorts, safety profiles for IFX SC and VDZ were generally comparable during 1 year. Conclusion IFX SC demonstrated better efficacy than VDZ in patients with CD, and similar efficacy to VDZ in patients with UC; 1-year safety was comparable with IFX SC and VDZ.

Multi-materials are required in high-tech industries that require different properties at different locations in the same structure. The successful utilization of multi-materials can be economical, space-saving, and easy to maintain in engineering applications. Regardless of the technique used, the multi-material deposition (MMD) of Ti and Ni alloys presents some unique challenges. In this study, MMD of Ti–6Al–4V and Ni–20Cr using a high-entropy alloy (HEA) intermediate layer was performed, and deposition failure causes were analyzed. Deposition failures were found to be caused by the immiscibility between materials, differences in thermal properties, and interface due to the formation of brittle intermetallic compounds (IMC). HEA causes lattice distortion owing to the difference in the size of the elements constituting the solid solution and has excellent mechanical properties owing to the lattice distortion and the unique microstructure caused by the formation of a single-phase solid solution. In addition, HEAs do not form IMC because they exhibit slow diffusion rates. Therefore, HEA could be used as an effective interlayer to inhibit IMC formation. In this study, Inconel 718 and Ti–6Al–4V were successfully deposited by applying a Ti–Nb–Cr–V–Ni HEA intermediate layer to MMD. In addition, microstructure analysis and hardness measurements were performed to analyze whether IMC inhibition and successful deposition occurred.

In recent years, researchers have increasingly focused on alloy design in additive manufacturing (AM) to adjust the microstructure and improve the mechanical properties. The microstructure of columnar grains, strong texture, and chemical inhomogeneity in designed alloy exhibit anisotropic properties, which negatively affect the mechanical properties of the materials. One such material affected by this problem is titanium (Ti), which is known for its exceptional mechanical properties. Unlike other alloys, titanium lacks grain refiners that can ameliorate the columnar structure. Consequently, numerous studies are currently underway to refine the Ti grain through the addition of solute elements. In this study, Ti6Al4V with Cu element was deposited using the directed energy deposition (DED) process to investigate the feasibility of Ti6Al4V-xCu and analyze the effect of Cu addition. Ti6Al4V with Cu addition was successfully deposited and exhibited evenly distributed composition. In addition, finer grains were more created than the deposited Ti6Al4V by converting columnar to equiaxed grain due to the high cooling rate facilitated by high restriction factor Q of Cu. The deposited Ti6Al4V–4Cu of mechanical properties exhibited a 19 % increase in ultimate tensile strength, a 19 % increase in hardness at the top, and reduced elongation compared to the deposited Ti6Al4V, owing to the precipitation of Ti2Cu, grain refinement, and solid solution of Cu. However, although the hardness of the deposited Ti6Al4V–7Cu exhibited a 36 % increase in hardness at the top, Ti2Cu precipitate was generated significantly, which adversely exhibited a 26 % decrease in ultimate tensile strength compared to the deposited Ti6Al4V.

Abstract There has been significant research focused on the development of stretchable materials that can provide a large area with minimal material usage for use in solar cells and displays. However, most materials exhibit perpendicular shrinkage when stretched, which is particularly problematic for polymer-based substrates commonly used in stretchable devices. To address this issue, biaxial strain-controlled substrates have been proposed as a solution to increase device efficiency and conserve material resources. In this study, we present the design and fabrication of a biaxial strain-controlled substrate with a re-entrant honeycomb structure and a negative Poisson’s ratio. Using a precisely machined mold with a shape error of less than 0.15%, we successfully fabricated polydimethylsiloxane substrates with a 500 μm thick re-entrant honeycomb structure, resulting in a 19.1% reduction in perpendicular shrinkage. This improvement translates to a potential increase in device efficiency by 9.44% and an 8.60% reduction in material usage for substrate fabrication. We demonstrate that this design and manufacturing method can be applied to the fabrication of efficient stretchable devices, such as solar cells and displays.

Monitoring cattle feed intake is crucial for evaluating animal health, productivity, and farm profitability. In particular, an abnormal intake is related to the cattle activity. Therefore, outlier detection forms the basis for intake monitoring. This study employed multiple algorithms ranging from statistics to deep learning to detect outliers in time-series data of cattle intake. We used five models implementing mean + standard deviation, moving average, box plot, time series decomposition, and autoencoder, and attempted to enhance the detection performance by a voting system to combine more than one model. Both box plot and time-series decomposition demonstrated high accuracy (over 95 %) and F1-score (harmonic mean of precision and recall). Thus, it reliably distinguished normal values from outliers. Moving average exhibited a high true-skill statistic (TSS), thereby rendering it suitable for outlier detection. The voting system gave F1 and TSS scores of 0.49 and 0.65, respectively. Thus, it enhanced the detection performance compared with the individual model. These results demonstrate that the performance metrics vary depending on the type of algorithm. This, in turn, highlights the need to select algorithms adapted to the monitoring objectives. The algorithmic selection can be complemented by a voting system. This demonstrates its potential for generating a reliable database with accurate outlier detection and aiding decision-making by livestock producers.

Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) is being extensively used in various industrial fields. In WAAM, if a bead is deposited without considering the central angle, its shape may collapse with increasing number of layers. To address this problem, a new method for optimizing the bead geometry using a support vector machine (SVM) classifier was established in this study. The ranges of the optimal deposition conditions were determined using the SVM classifier and verified by experiments. Geometric data of deposited beads were extracted using a laser profiler, and an SVM binary classifier was used to predict suitable ranges of the deposition conditions. Data were extracted through 20 single-layer basic experiments, classification was performed based on 4°, and the appropriateness of SVM classification was found through 8 single-layer and 3 multi-layer verification experiments.The results showed that the SVM classifier successfully selected the ranges of the optimal deposition conditions. Verification experiments revealed that the results in all cases were appropriately classified based on the boundary of the classification line. Moreover, the SVM classifier was efficient even when a small amount of input data was available. The contribution of this study is that the developed method can help build desired bead geometries in scenarios where deposition is required in the WAAM process, such as re-manufacturing. Thus, this method can be used in real-world industrial applications through further research on the bead shape with multi-layer deposition.

High entropy alloy (HEA) is a new material that can overcome the limitations of the physical properties of conventional materials, exhibit excellent mechanical properties, and be employed in various extreme environments. In particular, refractory HEA composed of refractory materials such as Ti and Ni are expected to exhibit desirable high-temperature properties. Metal additive manufacturing has a shorter manufacturing time than the conventional casting method and is suitable for HEA manufacturing using various metal materials. Specifically, directed energy deposition (DED) has a high solidification rate that is advantageous for grain refining, prevents intermetallic compounds, and averts shrinkage that occurs in the casting method, thereby reducing cracks and deformations and resulting in fewer defects and superior production quality. In this study, a HEA with desirable high-temperature characteristics that are composed of Ti–Nb–Cr–V–Ni was designed by optimizing thermodynamic parameters and deposited using DED. The deposited Ti–Nb–Cr–V–Ni exhibited a body-centered cubic structure. Tensile strength, hardness, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermal conductivity analyses were performed to analyze its mechanical and thermal properties. Ti–Nb–Cr–V–Ni exhibited a fine structure and high tensile strength at high temperatures due to the characteristics of the DED process, but low elongation at room temperature. These strength characteristics are attributed to the microstructure of Ti–Nb–Cr–V–Ni, which mainly forms the BCC phase. And Ti–Nb–Cr–V–Ni exhibited high hardness and high thermal stability enough to be used in extreme environments with high temperatures.

Oyster and scallop cultures have high growth rates in the Korean aquaculture industry. However, their production is declining because of the manual selection of polychaete-adherent oysters and scallops. In this study, an artificial intelligence model for automatic selection of polychaetes was developed using Microsoft Azure Custom Vision to improve the productivity of oysters and scallops. A camera booth was built to capture images of oysters and scallops from various angles. Polychaetes in the images were tagged. Transfer learning available with Custom Vision was performed on the acquired images. By repeating the training and evaluation, the number of training images was increased by analyzing the precision, recall, and mean average precision using the Compact [S1] and General [A1] domains of Custom Vision. This paper presents the artificial intelligence model developed for the automatic selection of polychaete-adherent oysters and scallops as well as the optimal model development method using Microsoft Azure Custom Vision.

Key Points Although certain Enterococcus genus are used as starter cultures in many food products, this bacterial group is considered a human and animal pathogen which can cause nosocomical infections and urinary tract infections, and contribute to food spoilage. Accurate and reliable identification of Enterococcus genus present in food is of great importance for predicting shelf life and for managing and reducing microbiological food hazar. Phylogenetic trees obtained from MALDI-TOF MS and VITEK2 analyses were compared to evaluate the discriminative resolution of these two systems.

This study aimed to assess the effects of microbial additives that produce antimicrobial and digestive enzymes on the growth performance, blood metabolites, fecal microflora, and carcass characteristics of growing–finishing pigs. A total of 180 growing–finishing pigs (Landrace × Yorkshire × Duroc; mixed sex; 14 weeks of age; 58.0 ± 1.00 kg) were then assigned to one of three groups with three repetitions (20 pigs) per treatment for 60 days of adaptation and 7 days of collection. Dietary treatments included 0, 0.5, and 1.0% microbial additives in the basal diet. For growth performance, no significant differences in the initial and final weights were observed among the dietary microbial additive treatments, except for the average daily feed intake, average daily gain, and feed efficiency. In terms of blood metabolites and fecal microflora, immunoglobulin G (IgG), blood urea nitrogen, blood glucose, and fecal lactic acid bacteria count increased linearly, and fecal E. coli counts decreased linearly with increasing levels of microbial additives but not growth hormones and Salmonella. Carcass quality grade was improved by the microbial additive. In addition, carcass characteristics were not influenced by dietary microbial additives. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with 1.0% microbial additive improved average daily gain, feed efficiency, IgG content, and fecal microflora in growing–finishing pigs.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of a traditional dry period (60 d) versus a no dry period (0 d) on the milk production, physiological response, and metabolic status of dairy cows exposed to heat stress during the transition period. Holstein dairy cows (n = 15) with similar expected calving dates were randomly assigned to two different dry period lengths: (1) no dry period (n = 7) and (2) a traditional dry period of 60 days (n = 8). All cows were studied from 8 weeks before expected calving to 10 weeks after calving and experienced heat stress during the transition period. The results showed that cows with no dry period decreased their milk yield in subsequent lactation, but compensated for the loss of milk yield accounted for by additional milk yield before calving. The energy balance at postpartum was improved in cows with no dry period compared to cows with a traditional dry period. There were no significant differences in the physiological response and blood metabolites at postpartum between the dry period lengths of dairy cows exposed to heat stress during the transition period. Taken together, our results showed that omitting the dry period improved the milk production and metabolic status of dairy cows exposed to heat stress during the transition period.

The deposition bead geometry in the arc strike zone is often abnormal compared with that in the middle deposition zone. The accumulation of these errors in the deposition process results in defects in the overall geometry of the deposition bead. To prevent the accumulation of such errors, this study aimed to address the irregular deposition bead shape and deviation of the deposition bead geometry in the arc strike zone without changing the deposition path or introducing external devices. A support vector machine classifier, which is a typical application of machine-learning classification models, was used to obtain the deposition condition ranges for a uniform deposition bead shape. The deposition conditions of the arc strike and middle deposition zones that could reduce the deviation of the deposition bead geometry in the arc strike zone were obtained using support vector machine regression. These conditions were applied in the form of variable conditions in single-path deposition. Five-layer deposition was conducted to validate the regression model. As a result of the validation experiment, the average height and width errors in the arc strike zone were 0.36% and 1.28%, respectively, and the average height and width errors in the middle deposition zone were 0.64% and 1.26%, respectively. Therefore, the regression model can be used for accurate deposition, thereby reducing the post-processing cost.

Purpose This study investigated the validity of introducing a clinical skills examination (CSE) to the Korean Oriental Medicine Licensing Examination through a mixed-method modified Delphi study. Methods A 3-round Delphi study was conducted between September and November 2022. The expert panel comprised 21 oriental medicine education experts who were officially recommended by relevant institutions and organizations. The questionnaires included potential content for the CSE and a detailed implementation strategy. Subcommittees were formed to discuss concerns around the introduction of the CSE, which were collected as open-ended questions. In this study, a 66.7% or greater agreement rate was defined as achieving a consensus. Results The expert panel’s evaluation of the proposed clinical presentations and basic clinical skills suggested their priorities. Of the 10 items investigated for building a detailed implementation strategy for the introduction of the CSE to the Korean Oriental Medicine Licensing Examination, a consensus was achieved on 9. However, the agreement rate on the timing of the introduction of the CSE was low. Concerns around 4 clinical topics were discussed in the subcommittees, and potential solutions were proposed. Conclusion This study offers preliminary data and raises some concerns that can be used as a reference while discussing the introduction of the CSE to the Korean Oriental Medicine Licensing Examination.

In underwater laser beam machining (ULBM), water provides a cooling effect by reducing the influence of the laser heat source, which makes ULBM more suitable for marking, cutting, and postprocessing than laser beam machining (LBM). Because the laser heat source not only affects the substrate temperature, but also heats the water, this study analyzes how the cooling effect occurs when water is heated. In this study, the heat-transformed zones in ULBM and heated underwater laser beam machining (HULBM) were improved by approximately 33% and 24%, respectively, compared to LBM at 400 W. In addition, the heat-affected zones in ULBM and HULBM improved by approximately 15% and 9%, respectively, compared to LBM. The hardness of ULBM and HULBM was higher than that of LBM. Based on these results, it was confirmed that water can reduce the effect of the laser heat source and improve the mechanical properties. Experiments will be conducted on the underwater laser beam machining of various substrates, such as Inconel718 and Ti-6Al-4V, in a future study. In addition, experiments will be conducted on the underwater laser beam machining of various substrates using a cooling system that can lower the temperature of water.

Recently, Inconel 718 has been used as a key component in the automobile and aerospace industries because of its excellent strength and corrosion resistance, even in high-temperature environments. If Inconel 718 is manufactured using additive manufacturing (AM), it is possible to manufacture products at a low cost and time without a mold in the prototype stage. However, post-processing is essential for AM because of the limitation of the surface quality. Therefore, in this study, Inconel 718 was manufactured using directed energy deposition (DED) in AM, and plasma-assisted machining (PAM) was performed as a post-processing step for efficient machining. In addition, Inconel 718 workpieces were fabricated with three additive paths (X-, Y-, and cross-path) to analyze the effects of the additive path on the mechanical properties and microstructure during DED. Before performing PAM, the depth of cut was determined through thermal analysis of the plasma heat source. To analyze the machining effect of PAM, the cutting force, surface roughness, burr formation, hardness, and microstructure of the DED-formed Incoenl718 were compared with those of conventional machining. It was confirmed that PAM can be used for post-processing of AM parts because of its excellent machining effects.

Abstract Background and aims There are limited comparative data for infliximab and vedolizumab in inflammatory bowel disease patients. Methods We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the efficacy and safety of infliximab and vedolizumab in adult patients with moderate-to-severe Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. Results We identified six eligible Crohn’s disease and seven eligible ulcerative colitis trials that randomised over 1900 participants per disease cohort to infliximab or vedolizumab. In the Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis cohorts, infliximab yielded better efficacy than vedolizumab for all analysed outcomes (CDAI-70, CDAI-100 responses, and clinical remission for Crohn’s disease and clinical response and clinical remission for ulcerative colitis) during the induction phase, with non-overlapping 95% confidence intervals. In the maintenance phase, similar proportions of infliximab- or vedolizumab-treated patients achieved clinical response, clinical remission, or mucosal healing in both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. For the safety outcomes, rates of adverse events, serious adverse events, and discontinuations due to adverse events were similar in infliximab- and vedolizumab-treated patients in both diseases. The infection rate was higher in infliximab for Crohn’s disease and higher in vedolizumab when treating patients with ulcerative colitis. There was no difference between the treatments in the proportions of patients who reported serious infections in both indications. Conclusions Indirect comparison of infliximab and vedolizumab trials in adult patients with moderate-to severe Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis demonstrated that infliximab has better efficacy in the induction phase and comparable efficacy during the maintenance phase and overall safety profile compared to vedolizumab.

The superior deposition rates of Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) allow for the production of a substantial number of parts while reducing the time and cost associated with machining, and have attracted significant attention. This study focused the microstructural and mechanical properties of a bimetallic thin-wall composed of SS308L and Inconel625, manufactured using variable-pressure rolling WAAM. A detailed analysis of the cross-sectional microstructure of the bi-metallic wall of non-pressure cases revealed a columnar solidification structure. In contrast, the pressured case was dominated by equiaxed structures. The microhardness tests conducted on the bimetallic interface revealed a hardness range of 139–188 HV within the SS308L region, and a 187–222 HV hardness spectrum within the Inconel625 region. The bimetallic interface displayed no unexpected hardness variations. Tensile tests carried out in the vertical direction across the bi-metallic interface resulted in a localized failure at the 308L region. The range of ultimate tensile strength was between 539 and 585 MPa, the yield strength varied from 344 to 377 MPa, and the elongation measurements were found to be within the range of 37 to 44%. All test specimens showed a consistent pattern of ductile rupture upon fractographic inspection, with fracture occurring in the SS308L region.

Mechanical parts manufactured using additive manufacturing (AM) processes are used in various fields, such as the aerospace, automobile, and machine tool fields. Recently, many researchers have been actively researching AM processes, owing to their advantages in fabricating complex-shaped components that are difficult to process using conventional processes such as rolling, forging, and casting. One of the AM processes, wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM), is widely used for manufacturing and repair. Mechanical parts usually suffer from severe damage, such as wear and cracks, during operation. Therefore, research on the damaged parts is often required for repairs. This study was performed to investigate the repair of damaged parts using WAAM in machine tool remanufacturing. In general, these parts are often damaged owing to falls of the workpieces and the inexperience of workers; the cross slide is one of the parts damaged most often in a lathe. Accordingly, this study used the cross slide as an example. First, the damaged area was partially cut flat. Second, it was filled with a metal wire using WAAM. Third, post-processing was performed to adjust the surface quality and shape accuracy. Then, the microstructure, chemical composition, and mechanical property of the repaired part were analyzed. Finally, the repaired cross slide was used to replace damaged parts. In general, this method can be applied to various mechanical parts such as impellers, turbine blades, and machine tools.

Abstract In the directed energy deposition (DED) process, significant empirical testing is required to select the optimal process parameters. In this study, single-track experiments were conducted using laser power and scan speed as parameters in the DED process for titanium alloys. The results of the experiment confirmed that the deposited surface color appeared differently depending on the process parameters. Cross-sectional view, hardness, microstructure, and component analyses were performed according to the color data, and a color suitable for additive manufacturing was selected. Random forest (RF) and support vector machine multi-classification models were constructed by collecting surface color data from a titanium alloy deposited on a single track; the accuracies of the multi-classification models were compared. Validation experiments were performed under conditions that each model predicted differently. According to the results of the validation experiments, the RF multi-classification model was the most accurate.

In this study, Saccharomyces cerevisiae culture fluid (SCCF) has been added to a diet of lactating dairy cows to attempt to improve the ruminal fermentation and potentially increase the dry matter intake (DMI) and milk yield. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of SCCF on the milk yield and blood biochemistry in lactating cows during the summer. Twenty-four Holstein dairy cows were randomly assigned to one of four treatments: (1) total mixed ration (TMR-1) (Control); (2) TMR-1 supplemented with SCCF (T1); (3) TMR-2 (containing alfalfa hay) (T2); and (4) TMR-2 supplemented with SCCF (T3). SCCF (5 ml/head, 2.0×107 CFU/mL) was mixed with TMRs daily before feeding to dairy cows. The mean daily temperature-humidity index (THI) during this trial was 76.92 ± 0.51 on average and ranged from 73.04 to 81.19. For particle size distribution, TMR-2 had a lower >19 mm fraction and a higher 8–19 mm fraction than TMR-1 (p < 0.05). The type of TMR did not influence the DMI, body weight (BW), milk yield and composition, or blood metabolites. The milk yield and composition were not affected by the SCCF supplementation, but somatic cell counts were reduced by feeding SCCF (p < 0.05). Feeding SCCF significantly increased the DMI but did not affect the milk yield of dairy cows. The NEFA concentration was slightly decreased compared to that in the control and T2 groups without SCCF. Feeding a yeast culture of S. cerevisiae may improve the feed intake, milk quality and energy balance of dairy cows under heat stress.

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) is an innovative method for fabricating products used in aerospace, automobile, and medical industries. Research on AM has been extensively conducted because AM can be applied to fabricate features and shapes difficult or impossible to produce using conventional machining (CM) method. However, a problem with this method is the low surface quality of the fabricated product, which necessitates post-processing after the AM process. In this study, CM and induction-assisted machining (IAM) were performed to improve the cutting force, surface roughness, hardness, and microstructure of 304L stainless steel fabricated through AM. First, a 304L stainless steel workpiece was fabricated through AM using metal powder and direct energy deposition. Before the IAM, a thermal analysis was performed to determine the effective depth of cut. After post-processing, the cutting force and surface roughness were measured to investigate the machining characteristics. It was confirmed that the hardness increased because of work hardening, thermal treatment effect and grain growth after CM and IAM. Therefore, CM and IAM can be used for post-processing to improve the machinability, hardness, and microstructure of the fabricated AM product.

With the development of additive manufacturing (AM) technology, many studies on wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) have been conducted due to its low production costs and high fabrication speed. Degree of freedom of the shape is a limitation of conventional machining (CM) that can be overcome by WAAM. Owing to the low level of shape completeness and surface roughness, post-processing through machining is needed. Plasma-assisted machining (PAM) is an effective method that improves the machinability of difficult-to-cut materials by softening the material by preheating using a heat source. In this study, CM and PAM of 304 stainless steel (SS) manufactured using WAAM were explored. Each 304 SS workpiece was manufactured using WAAM in X, Y, and Z directions. The experimental results were evaluated by conducting tensile tests and performing microstructural analysis. The machining conditions for PAM were selected via thermal analysis. Moreover, the post-machining effect was analyzed by measuring the cutting force, surface roughness, hardness, and microstructure. In addition, CM and PAM of 304 SS manufactured by casting were performed to compare the machining characteristics with those of the workpieces manufactured using WAAM.

Deep learning techniques have been widely applied to classify tree species and segment tree structures. However, most recent studies have focused on the canopy and trunk segmentation, neglecting the branch segmentation. In this study, we proposed a new approach involving the use of the PointNet++ model for segmenting the canopy, trunk, and branches of trees. We introduced a preprocessing method for training LiDAR point cloud data specific to trees and identified an optimal learning environment for the PointNet++ model. We created two learning environments with varying numbers of representative points (between 2048 and 8192) for the PointNet++ model. To validate the performance of our approach, we empirically evaluated the model using LiDAR point cloud data obtained from 435 tree samples scanned by terrestrial LiDAR. These tree samples comprised Korean red pine, Korean pine, and Japanese larch species. When segmenting the canopy, trunk, and branches using the PointNet++ model, we found that resampling 25,000–30,000 points was suitable. The best performance was achieved when the number of representative points was set to 4096.

A pregnancy diagnosis is an important standard for control of livestock’s reproduction in paricular dairy cattle. High reproductive performance in dairy animals is a essential condition to realize of high life-time production. Pregnancy diagnosis is crucial to shortening the calving interval by enabling the farmer to identify open animals so as to treat or re-breed them at the earliest opportunity. MicroRNAs are short RNA molecules which are critically involved in regulating gene expression during both health and disease. This study is sought to establish the feasible of circulating miRNAs as biomarkers of early pregnancy in cattle. We applied Illumina small-RNA sequencing to profile miRNAs in plasma samples collected from 12 non-pregnant cows (“open” cows: samples were collected before insemination (non-pregnant state) and after pregnancy check at the indicated time points) on weeks 0, 4, 8, 12 and 16. Using small RNA sequencing we identified a total of 115 miRNAs that were differentially expressed weeks 16 relative to non-pregnancy (“open” cows). Weeks 8, 12 and 16 of pregnancy commonly showed a distinct increase in circulating levels of miR-221 and miR-320a. Through genome-wide analyses we have successfully profiled plasma miRNA populations associated with pregnancy in cattle. Their application in the field of reproductive biology has opened up opportunities for research communities to look for pregnancy biomarker molecules in dairy cattle.

Background Reconstruction intramedullary nail spanning the whole length of the femur has been the gold standard treatment for complete atypical diaphyseal fractures of the femur (ADF). However, in cases of incomplete ADF combined with severe bowing, this approach might have complications and lead to iatrogenic complete fracture. We report two cases of incomplete ADF with severe bowing using a precontoured plate (PCP) after rapid prototyping (RP) of the deformed femurs with three‐dimensional printing (3DP) technology. Case presentation Two patients presented with gradually worsening thigh pain, especially during walking. The patients had been using bisphosphonates for 4 and 10 years, respectively. Radiography showed an incomplete fracture in the lateral cortex of the right femur shaft. The lateral bowing angles measured in the affected femurs were 15° and 14°, and the anterior bowing angles were 20° and 16°, respectively. In bone scans, both patients showed hot uptake in the right mid‐shaft of the femur. Preoperatively, the affected femur of the patient was reconstructed by 3DP RP using CT, and the plate was bent to the shape of the bone model. The ADF was fixed with a PCP using the minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis technique. Both patients were encouraged to start full weight‐bearing and return to their preinjury activity level in daily life immediately after surgery. At 2 years postoperatively, radiography showed healing of the fracture site without recurrence of thigh pain and implant‐related problems. Conclusion Although intramedullary nailing is the standard surgical treatment for complete ADF, PCP using 3DP RP could be an effective treatment option for incomplete ADF with severely curved femur.

In this study, we aimed to assess the feasibility of the lactic acid bacterium Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens DN1 (LKF_DN1) and the yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus KU140723-05 (KMA5), recently isolated from kefir, as probiotics. Specifically, we evaluated the effect of early administration of these 2 microbes on the inhibition of Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) colonization in neonatal chicks. We also examined the effects of exposure of chicks to probiotics before SE exposure on the reduction in the number of gut SE. A total of 108 1-day-old specific-pathogen-free male layer chicks were used for 3 independent experiments. The experimental chicks were randomly divided into 6 groups (negative control: basal diet [BD] without probiotics and SE; positive control: BD; probiotic group [PG] 1: BD + LKF_DN1; PG2: BD + KMA5; PG3: BD + LKF_DN1 + KMA5; and PG4: BD+ a commercial product IDF-7), all of which, except negative control, were coadministered with SE strain resistant to rifampicin (SERR). We found that the administration of LKF_DN1 and/or KMA5 reduced the number of viable cells of the SERR strain in chicks by up to 1.90 log10, relative to positive control chicks. Compared with late administration (day [D] 10 and D11), early administration (D1 and D2) of the probiotics was more effective in reducing SERR cell numbers in the gut. Furthermore, we detected no significant difference in the reduction of gut SERR cell numbers in chicks from the same groups exposed to the probiotics at D10 and D11 before and after administration with SERR. Collectively, our findings indicate that, as dietary additives, LKF_DN1 and KMA5 showed potential probiotic activity in chicks. Moreover, the combination of the lactic acid bacteria and/or yeast strain was found to rapidly reduce SE numbers in the chick gut and showed a prolonged inhibitory effect against SE colonization. We, thus, propose that the administration of these 2 probiotics, as early as possible after hatching, would be considerably effective in controlling SE colonization in the guts of chicks.

ABSTRACT: The current trend in monitoring meat quality is to move the quality measurements from the laboratory to the processing line. To provide better meat quality control in the commercial poultry processing plants, we evaluated the quality of broiler breast meat samples, observing different colors, and assessed their freshness using a Torrymeter. Different colors were classified based on the mean ± standard deviation of lightness (L*) values in 1,499 broiler breast fillets: Dark (L* < 56), normal (56 ≤ L* ≤ 62), and pale (L* > 62). To characterize the differences between the pale and normal color groups, we evaluated additional fillets for meat quality traits. Changes in meat quality during storage were also evaluated. The L* and Torrymeter values (freshness values) allowed us to distinguish between the pale and normal meat samples. Normal and pale fillets showed a significant difference in pH, Torrymeter values, and water-holding capacity (P < 0.001). The L* values were significantly correlated with cook and drip loss (P < 0.01) and were higher (paler, +1.2 L* unit) at 72-h postmortem than at 4-h postmortem. Torrymeter values were correlated with cook loss (P < 0.05) and pH (P < 0.001), and significantly decreased with the increase in storage period (P < 0.001). These results suggest the applicability of the Torrymeter, a fast and non-destructive device, in distinguishing stale and fresh breast fillets. With its portability and simplicity, the Torrymeter is expected to be a valuable tool to estimate meat freshness. Especially, the use of Torrymeter for evaluating pale breast fillets may allow easy identification and separation of fillets according to their pale, soft, and exudative properties in commercial poultry processing lines.

Kluyveromyces marxianus accounts for > 90% of the yeast population of kefir, and recently, its probiotic potential has been actively explored with a focus on its health benefits and safety. Herein, the survivability of five kefir-isolated K. marxianus strains (Km A1–A5) in a simulated gastrointestinal (GI) environment was evaluated and compared with those of commercial probiotic yeast, Saccharomyces boulardii MYA-796. To further explore the potential to survive in the host GI tract, biochemical activities, hydrophobicity assay, biofilm formation, auto-aggregation analysis, and phenol tolerance of the strains were assessed. K. marxianus A4 exhibited the best survivability among all tested strains, including the clinically proven probiotic yeast strain S. boulardii MYA-796 (p = 0.014) in the artificial GI tract ranging from pH 2.0 to 7.5. In addition, the five K. marxianus strains and S. boulardii MYA-796 displayed different assimilation of lactose, xylitol, D-sorbitol, and DL-lactate, indicating that K. marxianus metabolized a wide range of substances and, thus, might be more feasible to nourish themselves in the host GI tract for survival. K. marxianus strains showed a greater hydrophobicity of cell surface, abilities to biofilm formation and auto-aggregation, and phenol tolerance than S. boulardii MYA-796, suggesting greater potential for survival in the host GI tract.

Bimetallic structures manufactured by direct deposition have a defect due to the sudden change in the microstructure and properties of dissimilar metals. The laser metal deposition (LMD)-wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) process can alleviate the defect between two different materials by depositing the functionally graded material (FGM) layer, such as a thin intermediate layer using LMD and can be used to fabricate bimetallic structures at high deposition rates with relatively low costs using WAAM. In this study, the LMD-WAAM process was performed, and the microstructure of the fabricated bimetallic structure of IN625-SUS304L was investigated. The microstructure of the FGM zone of the LMD-WAAM sample was mainly fine equiaxed dendrite morphologies. In contrast, coarse columnar dendrite morphologies constituted the WAAM zone. The composition of the major alloying elements of the LMD-WAAM sample gradually changed with the height of the deposited layer. The microhardness of the LMD-WAAM sample tended to increase with an increasing Inconel content. In the case of the LMD-WAAM sample, the fracture occurred near the interface between 25% IN625 and 0% IN625; in the WAAM sample, the final fracture occurred in SUS304L near the interface. The tensile strength of the LMD-WAAM samples was inversely proportional to the laser power. The results showed that the LMD-WAAM samples had 8% higher tensile strength than the samples fabricated using only WAAM.

Vibration of manufacturing machine parts can be reduced by applying CFRP to precision machines. Recently, the use of 3D printers in manufacturing has increased. However, there are few studies on the vibration characteristics of 3D printed composite materials. The objective of this study is to analyze the vibration reduction effect of a 3D printed composite material used as a CFRP chuck adapter. The existing chuck adapter is made of steel. In this study, the vibration values for three types of CFRP, steel, and CFRP with steel chuck adapters are compared. The products were rotated at 10, 500, and 1000 rpm, and the vibration velocity and displacement were calculated as an average value after repeating each measurement 5 times. Vibration velocity was improved by up to 64% and displacement by up to 31.1%. These results can be usefully applied to other mechanical parts requiring vibration damping.

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) are composed of 5–35 at% of five or more elements, have high configurational entropy, do not form intermetallic compounds, and have a single-phase face-centered cubic structure or body-centered cubic structure. In particular, refractory HEAs (RHEAs), based on refractory materials with excellent mechanical properties at high temperatures, have high strength and hardness at room temperature and excellent mechanical properties at low and high temperatures. In this study, the Ti-Nb-Cr-V-Ni-Al RHEAs were deposited using direct energy deposition (DED). In the microstructure of Ti-Nb-Cr-V-Ni-Al, the sigma, BCC A2, and Ti2Ni phases appeared to be different from the BCC A2, BCC B2, and Laves phases predicted in the phase diagram. This microstructure was similar to that of the casted Ti-Nb-Cr-V-Ni-Al and had a constructed fine grain size. It was found that the growth of these microstructures was due to the DED process, which has a fast solidification rate. The fine grain size caused high hardness, and the microhardness of the Ti-Nb-Cr-V-Ni-Al was measured to be about 900 HV. In addition, in order to analyze the thermal properties of Ti-Nb-Cr-V-Ni-Al composed of the refractory material, the heat-affected zone (HAZ) was analyzed through a preheating test. The HAZ was decreased, owing to the high thermal diffusivity of Ti-Nb-Cr-V-Ni-Al.

This study estimated the effects of oil sources on fermentation characteristics, greenhouse gas, microbial diversity, and biohydrogenation of fatty acids in the rumen. In vitro ruminal incubation was performed with 7 mg of oil source, 15 mL rumen buffer, and 150 mg of synthetic diet at 39 °C for 0, 3, 6, 12, and 24 h. Oil sources consisted of corn oil (CO; linoleic acid (C18:2n-6)), linseed oil (LSO; linolenic acid (C18:3n-3)), or Ca-salts (protected C18:2n-6). The ruminal gas was collected for CH4 and CO2 analysis. Incubated rumen buffer was sub-sampled for the analysis of microbial quantification, fermentation characteristics, and fatty acid profiles. The results showed that Ca-salt increased acetate (p = 0.013), while CO increased propionate (p = 0.007). Fibrobacter succinogenes, Ruminococcus flavefaciens, and R. albus increased (p < 0.05) with Ca-salt after 12 h of incubation, while Streptococcus bovis increased (p < 0.05) by LSO. The CO and Ca-salt resulted in the highest C18:2n-6 (p = 0.002), while LSO resulted in the highest C18:3n-3 (p = 0.001). The Ca-salt had the lowest C18:0 (p = 0.002), but the highest C18:1cis-9 (p = 0.004). In conclusion, Ca-salt supplementation resisted biohydrogenation to some extent, decreased methanogenic archaea and protozoa, and exerted less toxic effects on fibrolytic bacteria.

Kefir, an acidic-alcoholic fermented milk product, is known to be associated with reduced cancer incidence. Multidrug resistance (MDR) against chemotherapeutic agents frequently occurs in cancer cells, leading to cancer therapy failure. To explore the potential chemo-sensitizing effects of kefir (i.e., kefir supernatant), drug-resistant human colorectal cancer cells (HT-29) were produced by exposing cells to 34 nm of doxorubicin (DOX) for 12 weeks. Results demonstrated that cells treated with kefir attenuated MDR and improved the anticancer effect of DOX in drug-resistant cells. Kefir increased intracellular accumulation of ROS and DOX in drug-resistant cells. Kefir decreased the gene and protein expressions of adenosine tri-phosphate binding cassette (ABC) transporters, a drug efflux pump, in drug-resistant cells. Upstream regulators of ABC transporters, such as ERK 1/2, JNK and NF-κB were also modulated by kefir. Our data suggest that kefir consumption may be helpful in patients receiving DOX chemotherapy owing to its chemo-sensitizing effects.

Most of the parts of an aircraft require the use of lightweight and high-strength materials. Since aircraft parts mainly use mechanical cutting processes, which are the most suitable material removal mechanism, to minimize changes in material properties, it is necessary to develop an optimal cutting tool and cutting solution for each material. This work aims to enhance productivity and reduce the production cost of an aircraft turbine disk through designing a cutting strategy and optimizing the cutting conditions using a simulation approach. The number of tools was reduced from eight to six compared to the existing process conditions for semi-finishing and finishing of a turbine disk, and a new tool path was proposed through simulation. The cycle time was reduced by about 24%. NC-code optimization was performed through feed-rate optimization considering cutting force and chip thickness. As a result, cycle times were reduced by about 14%. Through tool-path optimization and NC-code optimization, it was confirmed that the total cycle time was reduced by about 54%, and tool wear was significantly improved.

Additive manufacturing (AM) has the advantages of reducing material usage and geometrical complexity compared to subtractive manufacturing. Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) is an additive manufacturing process that can be used to rapidly manufacture medium-and large-sized products. This study deals with the path-planning strategy in WAAM, which can affect the quality of deposited components. It aims at suggesting effective path planning to reduce the height error of intersection parts. A comparative analysis of the bead width and height at the intersection parts was performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed path. The initial parameters were determined through single-layer deposition experiments, and multi-layer deposition experiments were performed. The resultant height error in the intersection part was 0.8%, while that in the non-intersection part was absent at the maximum height. Path planning is considered to be an effective method.

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) has been one of the most useful processes in the manufacturing field. It has significant advantages in terms of the benefits of feature freedom and material waste reduction. These processes commonly use a heat source to fabricate a 3D shape through melting of a metal powder and subsequent solidification. The directed energy deposition method can stack the desired amount of material in the required location. This study addresses the thermal effects of a WC-Co cutting tool insert deposited by AM of titanium alloy powder in the turning process. First, the optimal deposition conditions were selected by conducting preliminary experiments. Second, titanium alloy powder was deposited on the turning insert under the selected conditions. Finally, verification evaluation was carried out in the turning process. The thermal effects of the turning insert with the titanium alloy were compared with an ordinary cutting tool insert. The average temperature of the cutting tool was reduced by 15% during operation.

The Machining of titanium alloys is challenging because of their high strength, low thermal conductivity, high chemical reactivity, and high stresses at the cutting tool edges. Laser-assisted machining is an effective way to improve the machinability of titanium alloys. This paper presents an experimental investigation of the machinability of cutting force and surface roughness in laser-assisted end milling of titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V. The absorptivity of Ti-6Al-4V was determined by conducting preheating experiments using a high-power diode laser with a wavelength of 940–980 nm. A thermal analysis was performed using the finite element method to predict temperature distribution. The depth of cut was determined where tensile strength decreased sharply, and the predicted surface temperature is presented in the analysis results. The experiments were performed with conventional machining and laser-assisted machining. Surface roughness, tool wear, and cutting force were evaluated. In contrast to the results of conventional end milling, laser-assisted end milling improved surface roughness. Moreover, laser-assisted end milling proved more effective than conventional end milling in terms of cutting tool damage. Our results proved that heat assistance significantly influenced the magnitude of the cutting forces—while the actual reduction in forces varied slightly depending on the force component, cutting tool, and cutting conditions, force components showed a reduction of roughly 13–46%.

Even in an era of remarkable medical advances, there is an issue of why tuberculosis remains in the list of disastrous diseases, afflicting humans and causing suffering. There has not been a plausible answer to this, and it has been suggested that clinicians and medical scientists could presently not win the war against the tubercle bacilli. With regards to this issue, based on the authors' own clinical and research experiences, in this review, the available literature was revisited in order to address the raised questions and to provide recent information on characteristics of tubercle bacilli and possible ways to more effectively treat tuberculosis.

Microbiota plays a critical role in the overall growth performance and health status of dairy cows, especially during their early life. Several studies have reported that fecal microbiome of neonatal calves is shifted by various factors such as diarrhea, antibiotic treatment, or environmental changes. Despite the importance of gut microbiome, a lack of knowledge regarding the composition and functions of microbiota impedes the development of new strategies for improving growth performance and disease resistance during the neonatal calf period. In this study, we utilized next-generation sequencing to monitor the time-dependent dynamics of the gut microbiota of dairy calves before weaning (1–8 weeks of age) and further investigated the microbiome changes caused by diarrhea. Metagenomic analysis revealed that continuous changes, including increasing gut microbiome diversity, occurred from 1 to 5 weeks of age. However, the composition and diversity of the fecal microbiome did not change after 6 weeks of age. The most prominent changes in the fecal microbiome composition caused by aging at family level were a decreased abundance of Bacteroidaceae and Enterobacteriaceae and an increased abundance of Prevotellaceae. Phylogenetic investigation of communities by reconstruction of unobserved states (PICRUSt) analysis indicated that the abundance of microbial genes associated with various metabolic pathways changed with aging. All calves with diarrhea symptoms showed drastic microbiome changes and about a week later returned to the microbiome of pre-diarrheal stage regardless of age. At phylum level, abundance of Bacteroidetes was decreased (p = 0.09) and that of Proteobacteria increased (p = 0.07) during diarrhea. PICRUSt analysis indicated that microbial metabolism-related genes, such as starch and sucrose metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, alanine aspartate, and glutamate metabolism were significantly altered in diarrheal calves. Together, these results highlight the important implications of gut microbiota in gut metabolism and health status of neonatal dairy calves.

The present study investigated the effects of microbial additives producing antimicrobial and digestive-enzyme activities on the growth performance, blood metabolites, and fecal microflora of weaning pigs from 21 to 42 d of age. A total of 144 weaning pigs (1:1 ratio of gilt and boar; 21 d of age; 7.40 ± 0.53 kg of average body weight) were randomly distributed into four supplementary levels of microbial additive (0 vs. 0.5 vs. 1.0 vs. 1.5% of fresh weight) with three pens of replication, consisting of 12 weaning pigs per pen. All weaning pigs were maintained with the same basal diet for 21 d. Blood and feces were subsampled at day 21. Feed efficiency tended to increase linearly (p = 0.069) with an increasing supplementation level. Insulin, insulin-like growth factor 1, and blood glucose presented a quadratic effect (p < 0.05) with an increasing supplementation level, and these blood metabolites were highest at the 1% supplementation level. Immunoglobulin G in blood increased linearly by (p < 0.05) increasing the supplementation level. Salmonella and Escherichia coli in feces were decreased linearly by (p < 0.05) increasing the supplementation level. In conclusion, supplementation of microbial additive at 1.0% improved the feed efficiency, blood metabolites, and fecal microflora of weaning pigs.

It is shown in this work that annealing of Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) in the form of Ni/AlN/SiC heterojunction devices in an atmosphere of nitrogen and oxygen leads to a significant improvement in the electrical properties of the structures. Compared to the non-annealed device, the on/off ratio of the annealed SBD devices increased by approximately 100 times. The ideality factor, derived from the current-voltage (IV) characterization, decreased by a factor of ~5.1 after annealing, whereas the barrier height increased from ~0.52 to 0.71 eV. The bonding structure of the AlN layer was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Examination of the N 1 s and O 1 s peaks provided direct indication of the most prevalent chemical bonding states of the elements.

In this study, static induction transistors (SITs) with beta gallium oxide (β-Ga2O3) channels are grown on a p-epi silicon carbide (SiC) layer via radio frequency sputtering. The Ga2O3 films are subjected to UV/ozone treatment, which results in reduced oxygen vacancies in the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data, lower surface roughness (3.51 nm) and resistivity (319 Ω·cm), and higher mobility (4.01 cm2V−1s−1). The gate leakage current is as low as 1.0 × 10−11 A at VGS = 10 V by the depletion layer formed between n-Ga2O3 and p-epi SiC at the gate region with a PN heterojunction. The UV/O3-treated SITs exhibit higher (approximately 1.64 × 102 times) drain current (VDS = 12 V) and on/off ratio (4.32 × 105) than non-treated control devices.

The effects of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) made from oxygenated aluminum nitride (AlN) thin films deposited on a silicon carbide (SiC) substrate using radio frequency sputtering were investigated. The annealed SBD devices exhibited a 10x increase in the on/off current ratio vs. non-annealed devices for measurement temperatures ranging from 300 K to 450 K. The ideality factor, derived from the current density–voltage (J-V) characterization, increased by a factor of ~2.2 after annealing, whereas the barrier height decreased from ~0.91 to ~0.68 eV. Additionally, Auger electron spectroscopy indicated decreased concentrations of atomic oxygen in the AlN thin film, from ~36% before, to ~24% after annealing. This may have contributed to the reduced barrier height and improved on/off ratio in the annealed AlN/SiC diodes.

The microbial community within the rumen can be changed and shaped by heat stress. Accumulating data have suggested that different breeds of dairy cows have differential heat stress resistance; however, the underlying mechanism by which nonanimal factors contribute to heat stress are yet to be understood. This study is designed to determine changes in the rumen microbiome of Holstein and Jersey cows to normal and heat stress conditions. Under heat stress conditions, Holstein cows had a significantly higher respiration rate than Jersey cows. Heat stress increased the rectal temperature of Holstein but not Jersey cows. In the Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis, Jersey cows had a significantly higher proportion of genes associated with energy metabolism in the normal condition than that with other treatments. Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) results identified six taxa as distinguishing taxa between normal and heat stress conditions in Holstein cows; in Jersey cows, 29 such taxa were identified. Changes in the rumen bacterial taxa were more sensitive to heat stress in Jersey cows than in Holstein cows, suggesting that the rumen mechanism is different in both breeds in adapting to heat stress. Collectively, distinct changes in rumen bacterial taxa and functional gene abundance in Jersey cows may be associated with better adaptation ability to heat stress.

Background: Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus are major causative bacterial pathogens of dental caries. Objective: We investigated the applicability of three Lactobacillus strains (L. kefiranofaciens DD2, DD5, and DD6) isolated from kefir and three commercial Lactobacillus strains (L. plantarum ATCC 10012, L. johnsonii JCM 1022, and L. rhamnosus ATCC 7469) as potential oral probiotics with respect to their survivability in an experimental oral environment, antimicrobial activity, and anti-biofilm formation activity against S. mutans and S. sobrinus. Results: Strains DD2, ATCC 10012, ATCC 7469, and JCM 1022 had the best oral survivability, including aerotolerance and enzymatic resistance, and inhibited the growth and biofilm formation of S. mutans and S. sobrinus. In particular, DD2 suppressed all three classes of biofilm formation-associated genes: those associated with carbohydrate metabolism and those encoding regulatory biofilm and adhesion proteins. Conclusions: These results indicate that the novel kefir isolate L. kefiranofaciens DD2 effectively and directly inhibits S. mutans and S. sobrinus.

The effect of flavonoid-rich wine grape seed flour, a byproduct of winemaking, on global adipose tissue gene expression and obesity-induced insulin resistance was assessed in high fat (HF) diet-induced obese (DIO) mice. DIO mice were fed HF diet supplemented with either partially defatted Chardonnay grape seed flour (ChrSd) or microcrystalline cellulose (MCC, control) for 5 weeks. ChrSd diet suppressed the HF diet-induced increase in total body, liver, and adipose tissue weights with a significant decrease in feed efficiency. ChrSd intake significantly lowered the 2-h insulin and glucose areas under the curve suggesting that ChrSd improves insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism. Gene expression profiling analysis of adipose tissue from mice fed a ChrSd diet, by exon microarray and RT-PCR, revealed a down-regulation of genes related to oxidative stress, inflammation, immune response, protein carbonylation, and fatty acid synthesis. Conversely, genes related to the scavenging of free radicals, antioxidants, insulin sensitivity, and fatty acid oxidation, were up-regulated. Pathway analysis of microarray data identified genes related to innate immune response, inflammatory response, and infectious disease as being differentially regulated by the ChrSd diet. Thus, ChrSd ameliorates HF-induced obesity, insulin resistance, and glucose intolerance in DIO mice by modulating expression of genes in adipose tissue.

We described 3D printing technique and automated design software and clinical results after the application of this AFO to a patient with a foot drop. After acquiring a 3D modelling file of a patient’s lower leg with peroneal neuropathy by a 3D scanner, we loaded this file on the automated orthosis software and created the “STL” file. The designed AFO was printed using a fused filament fabrication type 3D printer, and a mechanical stress test was performed. The patient alternated between the 3D-printed and conventional AFOs for 2 months. There was no crack or damage, and the shape and stiffness of the AFO did not change after the durability test. The gait speed increased after wearing the conventional AFO (56.5 cm/sec) and 3D-printed AFO (56.5 cm/sec) compared to that without an AFO (42.2 cm/sec). The patient was more satisfied with the 3D-printed AFO than the conventional AFO in terms of the weight and ease of use. The 3D-printed AFO exhibited similar functionality as the conventional AFO and considerably satisfied the patient in terms of the weight and ease of use. We suggest the possibility of the individualized AFO with 3D printing techniques and automated design software.

To identify differentially expressed hepatic genes contributing to the improvement of high-fat (HF) diet-induced hepatic steatosis and insulin resistance following supplementation of partially defatted flavonoid-rich Chardonnay grape seed flour (ChrSd), diet-induced obese (DIO) mice were fed HF diets containing either ChrSd or microcrystalline cellulose (MCC, control) for 5 weeks. The 2-h insulin area under the curve was significantly lowered by ChrSd, indicating that ChrSd improved insulin sensitivity. ChrSd intake also significantly reduced body weight gain, liver and adipose tissue weight, hepatic lipid content, and plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol, despite a significant increase in food intake. Exon microarray analysis of hepatic gene expression revealed down-regulation of genes related to triglyceride and ceramide synthesis, immune response, oxidative stress, and inflammation and upregulation of genes related to fatty acid oxidation, cholesterol, and bile acid synthesis. In conclusion, the effects of ChrSd supplementation in a HF diet on weight gain, insulin resistance, and progression of hepatic steatosis in DIO mice were associated with modulation of hepatic genes related to oxidative stress, inflammation, ceramide synthesis, and lipid and cholesterol metabolism.