Search

Sang Mi Han,1 In Phyo Hong,1 Soon Ok Woo,1 Sung Nam Chun,2 Kwan Kyu Park,3 Young Mee Nicholls,4 Sok Cheon Pak5 1Department of Agricultural Biology, National Academy of Agricultural Science, Wanju, 2Dong Sung Pharmaceuticals Co Ltd, Seoul, 3Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu, Daegu, South Korea; 4Manuka Doctor Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand; 5School of Biomedical Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW, Australia Abstract: Facial wrinkles are an undesirable outcome caused by extrinsic photodamage and intrinsic aging processes. Currently, no effective strategies are known to prevent facial wrinkles. We assessed the beneficial effects of bee-venom serum on the clinical signs of aging skin. Our results show that bee-venom serum treatment clinically improved facial wrinkles by decreasing total wrinkle area, total wrinkle count, and average wrinkle depth. Therefore, bee-venom serum may be effective for the improvement of skin wrinkles. Keywords: bee venom, wrinkle, area, count, depth

In this research, a multiband patch antenna design based on the superposition of multiple modes at the same resonant frequency is presented. The concept of the contribution of lower order modes (LOMs) with the higher order dominant modes (HODMs) is investigated using characteristic mode analysis (CMA). In order to provide similar broadside radiations in three bands, the radiating capability of the LOMs is enhanced in the resonant frequencies of HODMs. These HODMs when excited alone provide null in the broadside radiations of the antenna. Using a single feed, enhancement in the broadside radiations of the antenna is achieved with the superposition of multiple modes at the same resonant frequency. Based on the proposed concept two antennas have been designed and fabricated. The antenna provides stable and enhanced radiations. simulated and measured results are in good agreement. These antennas find application in many applications including communication systems, base station antennas, 5G communications, satellite communication etc., (© 2023. Springer Nature Limited.)

Metastasis of lung cancer to the skin is uncommon, presenting in 0.22% to 12% of lung cancer patients, and it is extremely rare for skin metastasis to be the first clinical manifestation of lung cancer. In the few cases where skin metastasis has been reported as the first sign of lung cancer, the patients were typically heavy smokers or had preexisting respiratory diseases and symptoms. This prompted clinicians to consider skin metastasis of a pulmonary malignancy. Large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) is a rare type of lung cancer that accounts for approximately 3% of lung cancers. LCNEC mainly metastasizes to visceral organs, such as the liver, bone, and brain, and it only shows metastasis to the skin in very rare cases. Herein, we report an unusual case of a metastatic skin lesion as the first sign of primary pulmonary LCNEC, in a 63-year-old woman with no pulmonary symptoms or personal history of smoking or pulmonary disease.

Background: Mandibular split fractures, in which the fracture occurs exclusively in the posterior wall, are uncommon. This study aimed to enhance clinicians' understanding of mandibular split fractures and offer insights for future research., Methods: This study included six patients who visited our hospital between January 2020 and June 2023 and were diagnosed with mandibular split fractures. We retrospectively collected data from patients' medical records on their age, sex, symptoms, mechanism, impact site, associated injuries, and treatment method, as well as the location, pattern, and number of fractures observed on computed tomography (CT) and panoramic images. The frequency of split fractures among all mandibular fractures was calculated., Results: The six patients included three men (50%) and three women (50%), ranging in age from 20 to 71 years (mean age, 49.8 years). The split fractures were located in the symphysis in one patient (16.7%), symphysis to parasymphysis in two patients (33.3%), parasymphysis in one patient (16.7%), and parasymphysis to the body in two patients (33.3%). Four patients (66.7%) had condylar head fractures, while two patients (33.3%) had single split fractures. The mechanism of trauma was a slip-down incident in four cases (66.7%), while two cases (33.3%) were caused by motorcycle traffic accidents. Four patients (67%) underwent intermaxillary fixation, while two patients (33%) improved with conservative treatment. Split fractures were diagnosed in all six patients on CT, whereas the fracture line was not clearly visible on panoramic images. Mandibular split fractures accounted for 5.6% of all mandibular fractures., Conclusion: This study provides insights into the clinical characteristics of rare mandibular split fractures and the diagnostic imaging findings. Furthermore, CT scans and three-dimensional image synthesis-instead of panoramic images-may be essential for accurately diagnosing mandibular fractures, including mandibular split fractures, in the future.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating effect of social capital on the relationship between Social Media use motives and subjective well-being., Methods: In the study, online self-reporting surveys were conducted with Social Media users in their 20s, and data from 445 participants were used for structural equation modeling., Results: The main findings of the study were as follows. First, the interpersonal motives for Social Media use had an indirect effect on subjective well-being by mediating offline bonding capital and online bonding capital. In addition, interpersonal motives had an indirect effect on subjective well-being by dual-mediating online and offline bonding capital. Second, the self-expression motive for Social Media use did not directly affect subjective well-being, but it indirectly affected subjective well-being by mediating offline bonding capital. Third, the information-seeking motive for Social Media use did not directly affect subjective well-being, but it indirectly affected subjective well-being by mediating offline bonding capital., Conclusion: This study identified a specific mechanism for how motives for using Social Media affect subjective well-being. Furthermore, the results of this study suggest that the effect of Social Media use on subjective well-being may differ depending on the motive for Social Media use.

The demand for unprecedented data and ubiquitous wireless connections have led to the adoption of new types of transmitters and receivers. Additionally, different new types of devices and technologies need to be proposed for such demand. Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) is going to play a very significant role in the upcoming beyond-5G/6G communications. It is envisioned that not only the RIS will be deployed to assist and create a smart wireless environment for the upcoming communications, but also the receiver and transmitter can be fabricated using RIS to make a smart and intelligent transmitter and receiver. Thus, the latency of upcoming communications can be reduced very significantly using RIS, which is a very important factor. Artificial intelligence assists communications and shall be adopted widely for the next generation networks. In this paper, radiation pattern measurement results of our previously published RIS have been provided. This work is the extension work of our previously proposed RIS. The polarization-independent passive type of RIS working in the sub-6 GHz frequency band using low-cost FR4-substrate was designed. Each unit cell with dimensions of 42 mm × 42 mm had a single-layer substrate backed by a copper plate. A 10 × 10-unit cell array was fabricated to check the performance of the RIS. Such types of unit cells and RIS were designed to set up initial measurement facilities in our laboratory for any kinds of RIS measurements.

Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-aided wireless communications systems are one the promising wireless communication system where the wave can be guided by the RIS. It is envisioned that beyond-5G/6G communication will have a low-cost, high spectral efficiency, high energy efficiency, and smart wireless environment. In this paper, initially, different measurement techniques of the RIS have been discussed, which are available in the literature. Then, a new type of RIS has been proposed. Finally, a different parameter measurement technique for our proposed RIS has been presented. A low-cost FR4 substrate with a height of 1.6 mm was considered to design the RIS in the sub-6 GHz frequency band. Another important thing is that our proposed IRS is a single-layer substrate backed by a copper plate. The area of each unit cell was 42 mm × 42 mm. The RIS was designed to operate at the central frequency of the 3.5 GHz frequency band. The novelty of the proposed RIS is that it is a polarization-independent structure. Thus, polarization-related losses can be overcome using this structure. A 10×10-unit cell array was designed to check the radiation performance. The magnitude of the reflection coefficients was measured in our laboratory for the proposed configuration.

In this study, we investigate a millimeter wave (mmWave) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging scheme utilizing a low-cost frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar to take part in non-destructive testing which could be a useful tool for both civilian and military demands. The FMCW radar working in the frequency range from 76 GHz to 81 GHz is equipped with a 2-D moving platform aiming to reconstruct the 2-D image of the shape of the target object. Due to the lab environment containing several devices and furniture, various noise and interference signals from the floor are not avoidable. Therefore, the digital signal processing algorithms are joined to remove the undesired signals as well as improve the target recognition. This study adopts the range migration algorithms (RMAs) on the processed reflected signal data to form the image of the target because of its verified ability in this type of mission. On the other hand, the integration of compressed sensing (CS) algorithms into the SAR imaging system is also researched which helps to improve the performance of the system by reducing the measurement duration while still maintaining the image quality. Three minimization algorithms are used involving the imaging system as the CS solvers reconstruct the radar data before being processed by RMA to form the image. The proposed imaging scheme demonstrates its good ability with high azimuth resolution in the mission of detecting tiny cracks in the rebar of reinforced concrete. In addition, the participation of CS algorithms improves the performance of the scheme as the cracks on the rebar can be located on the images, which are reconstructed from only 30% of the dataset. The comparison of CS solvers shows that ADMM outperforms the other candidates in the reconstruction task.

With the advancement of technology, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, are being used in numerous applications. However, the illegal use of UAVs, such as in terrorism and spycams, has also increased, which has led to active research on anti-drone methods. Various anti-drone methods have been proposed over time; however, the most representative method is to apply intentional electromagnetic interference to drones, especially to their sensor modules. In this paper, we review various studies on the effect of intentional electromagnetic interference (IEMI) on the sensor modules. Various studies on IEMI sources are reviewed and classified on the basis of the power level, information needed, and frequency. To demonstrate the application of drone-sensor modules, major sensor modules used in drones are briefly introduced, and the setup and results of the IEMI experiment performed on them are described. Finally, we discuss the effectiveness and limitations of the proposed methods and present perspectives for further research necessary for the actual application of anti-drone technology.

In this paper, a numerical algorithm for the electromagnetic scattering analysis of singly curved dielectric structures, which can be applied to a canopy of fighter aircraft, is presented with experimental verification. At first, the Poggio-Miller-Chang-Harrington-Wu-Tsai (PMCHWT) method is used as a MoM-based solution for the electromagnetic scattering of a dielectric material. Its formulation was generated with the EFIE formulation in a multi-region condition. The PMCHWT algorithm is implemented with C++ code, and the accuracy is verified by calculating the bistatic RCS of some canonical structures with conductive or dielectric materials. RCS measurement under quasi-anechoic condition is presented with its procedure and calibration method. The monostatic RCS results of a specially modeled singly curved dielectric structures are obtained analytically with the PMCHWT, as well as experimentally, revealing excellent agreement.

Background: Polycarprolactone and beta tricalcium phosphate (PCL/β-TCP) are resorbable biomaterials that exhibit ideal mechanical properties as well as high affinity for osteogenic cells., Aim: Objective of this study was to evaluate healing and tissue reaction to the PCL/β-TCP barrier membrane in the rabbit calvaria model for guided bone regeneration., Materials and Methods: The PCL/β-TCP membranes were 3D printed. Three circular defects were created in calvaria of 10 rabbits. The three groups were randomly allocated for each specimen: (i) sham control; (ii) PCL/β-TCP membrane (PCL group); and (iii) PCL/β-TCP membrane with synthetic bone graft (PCL-BG group). The animals were euthanized after two (n = 5) and eight weeks (n = 5) for volumetric and histomorphometric analyses., Results: The greatest augmented volume was achieved by the PCL-BG group at both two and eight weeks ( p < 0.01). There was a significant increase in new bone after eight weeks in the PCL group ( p = 0.04). The PCL/β-TCP membrane remained intact after eight weeks with slight degradation, and showed good tissue integration., Conclusions: PCL/β-TCP membrane exhibited good biocompatibility, slow degradation, and ability to maintain space over eight weeks. The 3D-printed PCL/β-TCP membrane is a promising biomaterial that could be utilized for reconstruction of critical sized defects.

To reduce the electromagnetic wave interference caused by cavity resonance or electromagnetic wave leakage, herein, an optical transparent radar absorbing structure (RAS) was designed using transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) with a high optical transmittance and electrical conductivity, and a procedure was proposed for detecting possible defects in the fabrication and operation and for assessing the influence of the defects on the electromagnetic performance. To detect locally occurring defects in planar and three-dimensional absorbing structures, a measurement system based on an open-ended near-field antenna capable of producing small beam spots at a close distance was constructed. Moreover, the reflection characteristics of the transparent RAS were derived from a simplified multiple reflection equation, and the derived results were compared with the analysis results of an equivalent circuit model to predict the surface resistance of the TCO coating layer, based on which the presence of defects could be confirmed. By using the experimental results, the predicted surface resistance results of the coating layer and the results measured using a non-contact sheet resistance meter were compared and were found to correspond, thereby confirming the effectiveness of the proposed defect detection method.

Near-field to far-field transformation (NFFFT) is a frequently-used method in antenna and radar cross section (RCS) measurements for various applications. For weapon systems, most measurements are captured in the near-field area in an anechoic chamber, considering the security requirements for the design process and high spatial costs of far-field measurements. As the theoretical RCS value is the power ratio of the scattered wave to the incident wave in the far-field region, a scattered wave measured in the near-field region needs to be converted into field values in the far-field region. Therefore, this paper proposes a near-field to far-field transformation algorithm based on spherical wave expansion for application in near-field RCS measurement systems. If the distance and angular coordinates of each measurement point are known, the spherical wave functions in an orthogonal relationship can be calculated. If each weight is assumed to be unknown, a system of linear equations as numerous as the number of samples measured in the near electric field can be generated. In this system of linear equations, each weight value can be calculated using the iterative least squares QR-factorization method. Based on this theory, the validity of the proposed NFFFT is verified for several scatterer types, frequencies and measurement distances.

A detailed understanding of the catalytic upgrading of light cycle oil (LCO) is important to achieve effective deep hydrodesulfurization (HDS) when LCO is mixed with straight run gas oil in the diesel pool. Herein, HDS of polyaromatic-rich LCO was studied at the molecular level over three NiMo catalysts on silica-alumina supports, which were synthesized on the pilot scale using different silica/alumina mixing procedures. Gas chromatography with atomic emission detection and two-dimensional gas chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry were used to evaluate the HDS performance through determining the feed and product compositions, respectively, at the molecular level. Furthermore, the textural properties of the catalysts were evaluated using Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and the temperature-programmed desorption of NH 3 . The performance of the best catalyst was attributed to its higher content of octahedrally coordinated Mo oxide species, a lower number of layered stacks, and the more acidic sites on the surface. In addition, the hydrotreating reactivity of various family groups in LCO over the catalyst was investigated., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2020 American Chemical Society.)

The concurrence of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in a single tumor is rarely encountered. We report a case of BCC and SCC in a single tumor in the anterior auricular area. A 70-year-old woman had been diagnosed with BCC by a punch biopsy performed at a dermatology clinic. We performed wide excision of the tumor with an ulcer in the anterior auricular area. Analysis of the biopsy specimen revealed the presence of both BCC and SCC in the tumor. This case illustrates that it is necessary to establish a precise diagnosis and formulate appropriate surgical and treatment plans considering the possibility that two carcinomas may coexist, although the possibility is low in patients with skin cancer.

This paper studies the secure communication of a non-orthogonal multiple-access (NOMA) relaying system in the presence of an eavesdropper in which the NOMA communication between a source and two users is assisted by an energy-harvesting (EH) relay. The relay extracts a part of its received signal strength using a power-splitting (PS) policy then harvests energy using a non-linear EH (NLEH) circuit. A friendly jammer sends jamming signals to help secure communication. The jammer is exploited as an additional energy source. A store-and-transmit (SaT) scheme which allows the EH relay to perform energy storing and information transmitting is proposed. For performance evaluation, the closed-form expressions for three metrics, secrecy outage probability (SOP), average achievable secrecy rate (AASR) and average stored energy (ASE) are derived. These results enable studies on the effects of various system parameters, such as NOMA power-allocation factors, target secrecy rates, jammer's location, and relay's power levels, on the system performance.

Eighteen constituents, including nine new compounds, were isolated from the bee pollen of Quercus mongolica. The structures of the new compounds were established on the basis of combined spectroscopic analysis. Structurally, the nine new compounds are polyamine derivatives with phenolic moieties which were assigned as one putrescine derivative, mogolicine A (2), seven spermidine derivatives, mongolidines A-G (3-5, 8, 12, 14, 17) and one spermine derivative, mogoline A (18). Evaluation of the biological activity of isolated compounds revealed that the polyamine derivatives with coumaroyl and caffeoyl moieties showed tyrosinase inhibition with IC 50 values of 19.5-85.8 μM; however, the addition of a methoxy group to phenolic derivatives reduced the inhibitory activity., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In this research, a security paper based on frequency selective structure technologies was designed and fabricated using selective wave reflection characteristics to prevent the offline leakage of confidential documents. Document leakage detection systems using security papers detect security papers using transceiving antenna gates. For the application of such systems, the structure must be designed with excellent reflection performance and stability at the angle of incidence. For this purpose, a loop and patch-type frequency selective structure based on a four-legged element structure was designed to have X-band frequency reflection characteristics. This design was based on optimized variables and was realized through the screen printing method using silver ink on A4 paper. It was verified that both the design and simulation results matched well. To verify its actual applicability, a detector module operable at 10 GHz was manufactured to observe both the security paper detection range in relation to distance with a signal strength of -10 dBm and the detection area in relation to the number of times that the security paper had been folded.

Objective: Bee (Apis mellifera L.) venom (BV) has been used as a cosmetic ingredient owing to its anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial effects. The aim of this study was to assess the skin safety of BV., Methods: For this purpose, skin phototoxicity and sensitization tests were conducted in healthy male Hartley guinea pigs. The animals were divided into three groups (n=5) for the phototoxicity test: G1 (negative control), G2 (BV gel treatment), and G3 (positive control). After specified treatments, the animals were irradiated with ultraviolet A (15 J/cm 2 ). The photosensitivity test was also performed in three groups: G4 (negative control, n=5), G5 (BV gel treatment, n=10), and G6 (positive control, n=5)., Results: Erythema and edema were observed after 24, 48, and 72 hours in the positive control group, but not in the negative control and BV gel groups. Application of BV to the guinea pig skin had no toxic effects on any clinical signs, body weight, or mortality. In addition, it did not evoke a skin reaction in both either the skin phototoxicity and skin photosensitization tests., Conclusion: Therefore, it can be concluded that BV has the potential to be developed as a drug ingredient for topical uses., (© 2017 The Authors. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Epidermal cysts are intradermal or subcutaneous cystic tumors that frequently occur in the face, scalp, neck, and body trunk. Acquired cases of epidermal cyst commonly occur as a result of various surgical operations, chronic irritation, or trauma, all of which may trigger the occurrence of the invagination of squamous epithelium. A 57-year-old man presented with a palpable mass 7 cm×2 cm in size in the upper lip. The patient had a 3-year history of wearing a denture to restore missing bilateral maxillary central and lateral incisors, accompanied by inflammatory findings on the buccal mucosa due to chronic lip irritation. The resected oval-shaped cyst had a size of 5.5 cm×3.0 cm×2.5 cm, and it was an encapsulated mass with a well-defined margin. The histopathology was typical of epidermal cyst. This case of a rare giant upper lip epidermal cyst in a patient wearing a denture may be of interest to clinicians., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Air-unstable magnetic aluminum phthalocyanine (AlPc) molecules are prepared by an on-surface metalation reaction of phthalocyanine with aluminum (Al) atoms on Au(111) in ultrahigh vacuum. Experiments and density functional theory calculations show that an unpaired spin is located on the conjugated isoindole lobes of the molecule rather than at the Al position.

All-trans-retinoic acid (ReA), a closed-shell organic molecule comprising only C, H, and O atoms, is investigated on a Au(111) substrate using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. In dense arrays single ReA molecules are switched to a number of states, three of which carry a localized spin as evidenced by conductance spectroscopy in high magnetic fields. The spin of a single molecule may be reversibly switched on and off without affecting its neighbors. We suggest that ReA on Au is readily converted to a radical by the abstraction of an electron.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), along with other antibiotic resistant bacteria, has become a significant social and clinical problem. There is thus an urgent need to develop naturally bioactive compounds as alternatives to the few antibiotics that remain effective. Here we assessed the in vitro activities of bee venom (BV), alone or in combination with ampicillin, penicillin, gentamicin or vancomycin, on growth of MRSA strains. The antimicrobial activity of BV against MRSA strains was investigated using minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC) and a time-kill assay. Expression of atl which encodes murein hydrolase, a peptidoglycan-degrading enzyme involved in cell separation, was measured by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The MICs of BV were 0.085 µg/mL and 0.11 µg/mL against MRSA CCARM 3366 and MRSA CCARM 3708, respectively. The MBC of BV against MRSA 3366 was 0.106 µg/mL and that against MRSA 3708 was 0.14 µg/mL. The bactericidal activity of BV corresponded to a decrease of at least 3 log CFU/g cells. The combination of BV with ampicillin or penicillin yielded an inhibitory concentration index ranging from 0.631 to 1.002, indicating a partial and indifferent synergistic effect. Compared to ampicillin or penicillin, both MRSA strains were more susceptible to the combination of BV with gentamicin or vancomycin. The expression of atl gene was increased in MRSA 3366 treated with BV. These results suggest that BV exhibited antibacterial activity and antibiotic-enhancing effects against MRSA strains. The atl gene was increased in MRSA exposed to BV, suggesting that cell division was interrupted. BV warrants further investigation as a natural antimicrobial agent and synergist of antibiotic activity.

Bee pollen is flower pollen with nectar and salivary substances of bees and rich in essential components. Bee pollen showed antioxidant and tyrosinase inhibitory activity in our assay system. To maximize the antioxidant and tyrosinase inhibitory activity of bee pollen, extraction conditions, such as extraction solvent, extraction time, and extraction temperature, were optimized using response surface methodology. Regression analysis showed a good fit of this model and yielded the second-order polynomial regression for tyrosinase inhibition and antioxidant activity. Among the extraction variables, extraction solvent greatly affected the activity. The optimal condition was determined as EtOAc concentration in MeOH, 69.6%; temperature, 10.0 °C; and extraction time, 24.2 h, and the tyrosinase inhibitory and antioxidant activity under optimal condition were found to be 57.9% and 49.3%, respectively. Further analysis showed the close correlation between activities and phenolic content, which suggested phenolic compounds are active constituents of bee pollen for tyrosinase inhibition and antioxidant activity. Taken together, these results provide useful information about bee pollen as cosmetic therapeutics to reduce oxidative stress and hyperpigmentation.

Royal jelly has been widely used as a health supplement worldwide. However, royal jelly has been implicated in allergic reactions, and we developed a water-soluble royal jelly (WSRJ) without the allergy inducing protein. In this study, we aimed to identify the anti-melanogenic efficacy of WSRJ. B16F1 melanoma cells were first treated with 10 nM α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH) and then with various doses of WSRJ. In addition, we investigated the mRNA and protein expression of melanogenesis-related genes such as tyrosinase, tyrosinase related protein-1 (TRP-1) and TRP-2 by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. WSRJ directly inhibited tyrosinase and cellular tyrosinase activity, which decreased melanin synthesis in α-MSH stimulated B16F1 melanoma cells a level comparable to that observed with arbutin. WSRJ decreased the mRNA and protein expressions of tyrosinase, TRP-1, and TRP-2, which was comparable to that observed with arbutin. WSRJ has strong anti-melanogenic activity, which invoice direct inhibition of tyrosinase enzyme activity and suppression of expression of melanogenesis related genes. Results from this study suggests that WSRJ is a potential candidate for the treatment of skin pigmentation.

Low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), scanning tunneling spectroscopy and dI/dV mapping techniques have been applied to study double-decker DyPc₂ molecules on Pb(111) films grown on silicon wafers. The DyPc₂ molecules firstly self-assemble into a monolayer where two neighbouring molecules form an azimuthal angle of 6°. Scattered DyPc₂ molecules in the second layer can be stabilized on top of the first self-assembled monolayer, adopting a co-axial alignment with the underlying molecules. With the reference to the new layer assembled by Pc molecules generated by the cracking of DyPc₂ molecules on the substrate at or above room temperature, the molecular configuration can be directly deduced from STM imaging. The two Pc ligands in the same double-decker molecule rotate 45° with respect to each other. The dI/dV mapping of the individual DyPc₂ molecules in the second layer shows that they can appear as either four-lobed or eight-lobed features in the STM images depending on the bias voltage employed.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Cordyceps species which is well-known as 'winter worm summer grass' has long been used as tonics and stimulants to enhance energy, exhibiting a potential for energy metabolism. Clinical trials have suggested their beneficial effect on lipid metabolic disorders such as hyperlipidemia., Materials and Methods: The effect of Cordyceps militaris on metabolic parameters was investigated using C58BL/6J mice induced by high-fat diet (HFD). The effect was first determined by assessing the body and organ weight. For further investigation, sections of epididymal adipose tissue were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and the size of epididymal adipocyte was measured by Image analysis system. Fat accumulation in frozen liver sections was assessed by the Oil Red O staining and the plasma biochemical parameters were also assessed. Active constituents were characterized using chromatographic and spectroscopic analysis., Results: The administration of Cordyceps militaris extract (CE) at the dose of 100mg/kg and 300 mg/kg reduced body weight gain and food efficiency ratio induced by HFD. The amount of epididymal fat and size of adipocytes were also decreased by CE treatment. In addition, liver weight and fat deposition in liver were dramatically reduced in CE-treated group. The treatment of CE also showed beneficial effects on plasma parameters related to lipid profiles. Further study for the characterization of active constituents of Cordyceps resulted in the isolation of two new compounds such as cordyrroles A (1) and B (7) together with 12 known compounds including pyrrole alkaloids and nucleotide derivatives. Among the isolated compounds, cordyrrole A significantly inhibited adipocyte differentiation and pancreatic lipase activity, whereas cordyrrole B was more effective at inhibiting pancreatic lipase. Cordycepin, a characteristic compound of Cordyceps militaris, decreased the rate of adipocyte differentiation., Conclusion: Treatment of CE inhibited HFD-induced metabolic disorders, mainly by improvement in metabolic parameters. As active constituents, pyrrole alkaloids and nucleotide derivatives were characterized. These results suggested that Cordyceps militaris might be beneficial for the treatment of metabolic disorders obesity through the combined actions of diverse constituents., (© 2013 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.)

Background: In patients with medial orbital wall fracture, predicting the correlation between the degree of enophthalmos and the extent of fracture is essential for deciding on surgical treatment. We conducted this retrospective study to identify the correlation between the two parameters., Methods: We quantitatively analyzed the correlation between the area of the bone defect and the degree of enophthalmos on computed tomography scans in 81 patients with medial orbital wall fracture who had been left untreated for more than six months., Results: There was a significant linear positive correlation between the area of the medial orbital wall fracture and the degree of enophthalmos with a formula of E=0.705A+0.061 (E, the degree of enophthalmos; A, the area of bone defect) (Pearson's correlation coefficient, 0.812) (P<0.05). In addition, that there were no cases in which the degree of enophthalmos was greater than 2 mm when the area of the medial orbital wall fracture was smaller than 1.90 cm(2)., Conclusions: Our results indicate not only that 2 mm of enophthalmos corresponds to a bone defect area of approximately 2.75 cm(2) in patients with medial orbital wall fracture but also that the degree of enophthalmos could be quantitatively predicted based on the area of the bone defect even more than six months after trauma.

The bacterial communities in the guts of the adults and larvae of the Asian honey bee Apis cerana and the European honey bee Apis mellifera were surveyed by pyrosequencing the 16S rRNA genes. Most of the gut bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences were highly similar to the known honey bee-specific ones and affiliated with Pasteurellaceae or lactic acid bacteria (LAB). The numbers of operational taxonomic units (OTUs, defined at 97% similarity) were lower in the larval guts (6 or 9) than in the adult guts (18 or 20), and the frequencies of Pasteurellaceae-related OTUs were higher in the larval guts while those of LAB-related OTUs in the adult guts. The frequencies of Lactococcus, Bartonella, Spiroplasma, Enterobacteriaceae, and Flavobacteriaceae-related OTUs were much higher in A. cerana guts while Bifidobacterium and Lachnospiraceae-related OTUs were more abundant in A. mellfera guts. The bacterial community structures in the midguts and hindguts of the adult honey bees were not different for A. cerana, but significantly different for A. mellifera. The above results substantiated the previous observation that honey bee guts are dominated by several specific bacterial groups, and also showed that the relative abundances of OTUs could be markedly changed depending on the developmental stage, the location within the gut, and the honey bee species. The possibility of using the gut bacterial community as an indicator of honey bee health was discussed.

Zygomatic fractures are the second most common facial bone fractures encountered and treated by plastic surgeons. Stable fixation of fractured fragments after adequate exposure is critical for ensuring three-dimensional anatomic reduction. Between January 2008 and December 2010, 17 patients with zygomatic fractures were admitted to our hospital; there were 15 male and 2 female patients. The average age of the patients was 41 years (range, 19 to 75 years). We exposed the inferior orbital rim and zygomatic complex through a lateral brow, intraoral, and subciliary incisions, which allowed for visualization of the bone, and then the fractured parts were corrected using the Carroll-Girard T-bar screw. Postoperative complications such as malar asymmetry, diplopia, enophthalmos, and postoperative infection were not observed. Lower eyelid retraction and temporary ectropion occurred in 1 of the 17 patients. Functional and cosmetic results were excellent in nearly all of the cases. In this report, we describe using the Carroll-Girard T-bar screw for the reduction of zygomatic fractures. Because this instrument is easy to use and can rotate to any direction and vector, it can be used to correct displaced zygomatic bone more accurately and safely than other devices, without leaving facial scars.

Electrical contacts between nanoengineered systems are expected to constitute the basic building blocks of future nanoscale electronics. However, the accurate characterization and understanding of electrical contacts at the nanoscale is an experimentally challenging task. Here, we employ low-temperature scanning tunneling spectroscopy to investigate the conductance of individual nanocontacts formed between flat Pb islands and their supporting substrates. We observe a suppression of the differential tunnel conductance at small bias voltages due to dynamical Coulomb blockade effects. The differential conductance spectra allow us to determine the capacitances and resistances of the electrical contacts which depend systematically on the island-substrate contact area. Calculations based on the theory of environmentally assisted tunneling agree well with the measurements.

Inhibition of adipocytes differentiation is suggested to be an important strategy for prevention and/or treatment of obesity. In our present study, Cordyceps militaris showed significant inhibitory activity on adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes as assessed by measuring fat accumulation using Oil Red O staining. Activity-guided fractionation led to the isolation of cordycepin (1), guanosine (2) and tryptophan (3) as active compounds. All the three compounds were more effective in the prevention of early stage of adipogenesis than in lipolysis. In addition, combinational treatment of three compounds significantly increased anti-adipogenic activity.

Honey production from approximately 1.6 million colonies owned by about 199,000 Korean beekeepers was almost 23,000 metric tons in 2009. Nosema causes significant losses in honey production and the virus decreases population size. We initiated a survey of honey bee colonies on the blooming period of Acacia to determine the prevalence of Nosema and virus in 2011. Most Korean beekeepers have moved from the south to north of Korea to get Acacia nectar for 2 mon. This provided a valuable opportunity to sample bees originating from diverse areas in one location. Twenty hives owned by 18 beekeepers were sampled in this year. Nosema spore counts ranged from zero to 1,710,000 spores per bee. The average number of nosema spores per bee was 580,000. Approximately 95% of the colonies were infected with Nosema, based on the presence of spores in the flowering period of Acacia. This indicates that Nosema is the predominant species affecting honeybee colonies. Also, the seven most important honeybee viruses were investigated by reverse transcription-PCR. Among them, four different viruses were detected in samples. Black queen cell virus was present in all samples. Chronic bee paralysis virus was detected in 10% of samples. Deformed wing virus was present in only 5% of the samples. Prevalence of Sacbrood virus was 15%. However, Cloudy wing virus, Israel acute paralysis virus and kashmir bee virus were not detected in any of samples.

This study was conducted to confirm the possible use of female Yangwonjam as a host for synnemata production of Isaria tenuipes in eight local areas in Korea. Silkworm pupation rate, infection rate and synnemata characteristics of I. tenuipes were examined. Normal silkworms had a higher pupation rate than silkworms inoculated with I. tenuipes. The pupae survival percentage of normal silkworm in cocoons was 92.5~97.6%, whereas it ranged from 91.1~95.6% in silkworms sprayed with I. tenuipes. Female Yangwonjam showed the highest survival percentage at 97.6% among the silkworm varieties tested. I. tenuipes infection rate of larvae of 5th instar newly-exuviated silkworms was 89.2~90.7% in the spring rearing season and 98.2~99.3% in the autumn rearing season. Synnemata production of I. tenuipes was excellent in female Yangwonjam with an incidence rate of 98.0% followed by male Yangwonjam (94.1%) and Baegokjam (93.3%) in the spring rearing season. Synnemata living weight ranged from 1.44~0.94 g in the spring rearing season. The female Yangwonjam had the heaviest synnemata weight (1.44 g) in the spring rearing season. The synnemata of I. tenuipes produced on pupae were white or milky-white in color, and were similar in shape and color to wild synnemata collected in Korea.

An electrospray apparatus for deposition of organic molecules on surfaces in ultrahigh vacuum is presented. The kinetic energy at the impact and mass to charge ratio of deposited ions can be controlled by an electrostatic quadrupole deflector and an in-line quadrupole mass spectrometer. With an ion funnel in the first two vacuum stages a high ion transmission is achieved. Experiments on porphyrin cations and deoxyribonucleic acid deposited on a Au(111) surface demonstrate the capabilities of the instrument.

This study was conducted out to select a silkworm variety suitable for synnemata production of Isaria tenuipes. Four kinds of the mulberry silkworm varieties, Bombyx mori, were hybridized using a Japanese parental line and a Chinese parental line, and used to test for synemata formation in I. tenuipes. The larval period of normal silkworms was 22 hr longer than the silkworms inoculated with this fungus. Among the silkworm varieties tested, Hachojam had the shortest larval period with 23.02 days. The non-cocooning silkworm had a shorter larval period than the cocoon producing silkworms. The pupation rate of normal silkworms was about 9% higher than that of silkworms sprayed with I. tenuipes. Hachojam had the highest infection rate at 99.8%, but no significant difference was observed for the infection rate by silkworm variety. The production of synnemata was the best in JS171 × CS188 with an incidence rate of 99.3%, followed by Hachojam, and Chugangjam. The synnemata produced from Hachojam were the heaviest and showed white or milky-white in color.

Defect of dendritic cell (DC) maturation in tumor microenvironments is an important immunological problem limiting the success of cancer immunotherapy. Here, we investigated the effects of polysaccharide (cordlan) isolated from Cordyceps militaris on DC maturation. Phenotypic maturation of DCs by cordlan was demonstrated by the elevated expressions of CD40, CD80, CD86, MHC-I, and MHC-II molecules, and functional maturation by increased expression of IL-12, IL-1beta, TNF-alpha, and IFN-alphabeta, enhanced allogenic T cell stimulation, and decreased endocytosis. Of note was that cordlan induced maturation of tlr4+/+ DCs from C3H/HeN mice, but not tlr4(-/-) DCs from C3H/HeJ mice, suggesting the promising membrane receptor of cordlan. In addition, cordlan increased phosphorylation of ERK, p38, and JNK, and nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB p50/p65, which were main signaling molecules down-stream from TLR4. These results indicate that cordlan induces DC maturation through TLR4 signaling pathways., (2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Injection inoculation protocols for fruit body formation of Cordyceps militaris (C. militaris) were investigated to improve the incidence of infection in the silkworm species Bombyx mori (B. mori). Injection, with suspensions of C. militaris hyphal bodies into living silkworm pupae, was used to test for fruit body production. Use of Daeseungjam rather than Baegokjam or Keumokjam varieties of B. mori is thought to be suitable for infection by C. militaris. From mounting, nine-day-old to 11-day-old pupae showed the best incidence of infection with a 100 µL injection volume. Silkworm pupae injected with a hyphal suspension concentration of more than 2 × 10(5) colony-forming unit (cfu) recorded a greater than 96% incidence of infection. Also, fruit bodies of C. militaris were induced and produced at a light intensity between 500 and 1,000 lx.

The energy gap Delta of superconducting Pb islands grown on Si(111) was probed in situ between 5 and 60 monolayers by low-temperature scanning tunneling spectroscopy. Delta was found to decrease from its bulk value as a function of inverse island thickness. Corresponding T&#95;{c} values, estimated using bulk gap-to-T&#95;{c} ratio, are in quantitative agreement with ex situ magnetic susceptibility measurements, however, in strong contrast to previous scanning probe results. Layer-dependent ab initio density functional calculations for freestanding Pb films show that the electron-phonon coupling constant, determining T&#95;{c}, decreases with diminishing film thickness.

The purpose of this study is to develop new standards for the disability evaluation with reference to existing laws and other study reports regarding disabilities for the rational evaluation of the diverse kinds of disfigurement in appearance and skin. Three plastic surgery specialists and 3 dermatology specialists developed a new standard for the disability evaluation which is appropriate for circumstances in Korea. Disability rate does not take into account the social occupation, gender or age of the patient, but instead, evaluate the Activity of Daily Living and the social adaptability of the appearance and skin disfigurement regardless of the balance between different disabilities. We tried to include most cutaneous disorders and categorized them into 3 types; congenital (Type 1), acquired (Type 2) as well as any permanent skin impairment sequelae of disease, trauma or treatment process (Type 3). For type 3 disorders, we tried to rate the score according to the size of involved skin lesion. The disability rate is determined by dividing the disability class into 8 steps based on the seriousness of each type of disability.