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Background/Aims The aim of this study was to investigate useful cardiac biomarkers in the differential diagnosis of acute pulmonary embolism (APE) with troponin elevation from acute non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). Methods A total of 771 consecutive NSTEMI patients with D-dimer measurements and 90 patients with troponin-I (TnI) elevation out of 233 APE patients were enrolled, and cardiac biomarkers were compared. Results D-dimer elevation was noted in 382 patients with NSTEMI (49.5%), and TnI elevation was noted 90 out of 233 APE patients (38.6%). Unnecessary coronary angiography was performed in 10 patients (11.1%) among 90 APE patients with TnI elevation. D-dimer was significantly elevated in APE than in NSTEMI (9.9 ± 11.6 mg/L vs. 1.8 ± 4.3 mg/L, p < 0.001), whereas TnI was significantly elevated in NSTEMI (22.4 ± 41.5 ng/mL vs. 0.7 ± 1.4 ng/mL, p < 0.001). D-dimer/TnI ratio was significantly higher in APE than in NSTEMI (50.6 ± 85.3 vs. 1.6 ± 5.7, p < 0.001). On receiver operation characteristic curve analysis, the optimal cut-off value for differentiating APE from NSTEMI was 1.12 mg/L for D-dimer (sensitivity 81.1%, specificity 70.2%), 0.72 ng/mL for TnI (sensitivity 80.6%, specificity 78.9%), and 1.82 for D-dimer/TnI ratio (sensitivity 93.3%, specificity 86.6%). Conclusions D-dimer/TnI ratio would be a simple and useful parameter for differentiating APE with cardiac troponin elevation from NSTEMI. Optimal cardiovascular imaging to identify APE should be considered in patients with D-dimer/ TnI ratio > 1.82 before performing coronary angiography to avoid unnecessary invasive procedure.

Autophagy, a main degradation pathway for maintaining cellular homeostasis, and redox homeostasis have recently been considered to play protective roles in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in neurons can induce mitochondrial damage and protein aggregation, thereby resulting in neurodegeneration. Oxidative stress is one of the major activation signals for the induction of autophagy. Upon activation, autophagy can remove ROS, damaged mitochondria, and aggregated proteins from the cells. Thus, autophagy can be an effective strategy to maintain redox homeostasis in the brain. However, the interaction between redox homeostasis and autophagy is not clearly elucidated. In this review, we discuss recent studies on the relationship between redox homeostasis and autophagy associated with neurodegenerative diseases and propose that autophagy induction through pharmacological intervention or genetic activation might be a promising strategy to treat these disorders.

Author's summary Malignancy is an important cause of pericardial effusion. Constrictive physiology (CP) may be a significant prognostic indicator, since it may interrupt cancer therapy. In this study, the authors demonstrated that there are differences in the characteristics of patients who developed CP after pericardiocentesis and those who did not. These include pericardial enhancement on computed tomography, the presence of a malignant mass abutting the pericardium, high serum C-reactive protein levels, and high medial mitral annular early diastolic velocity, which could be used as predictors of CP development. The risk of all-cause death was significantly high in the CP group., Background and objectives This study aimed to identify the characteristics and clinical outcomes of cancer patients who developed constrictive physiology (CP) after percutaneous pericardiocentesis. Methods One-hundred thirty-three cancer patients who underwent pericardiocentesis were divided into 2 groups according to follow-up echocardiography (CP vs. non-CP). The clinical history, imaging findings, and laboratory results, and overall survival were compared. Results CP developed in 49 (36.8%) patients after pericardiocentesis. The CP group had a more frequent history of radiation therapy. Pericardial enhancement and malignant masses abutting the pericardium were more frequently observed in the CP group. Fever and ST segment elevation were more frequent in the CP group, with higher C-reactive protein levels (6.6±4.3mg/dL vs. 3.3±2.5mg/dL, p

Background Atrial remodeling associated with atrial fibrillation (AF) is known to be a risk factor for significant tricuspid regurgitation (TR), but the predictor of reversible TR in patients with severe functional TR and AF has been poorly studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the predictors of reversible TR in patients with severe functional TR and AF. Methods Among 232 patients with severe TR, a total of 71 patients with severe functional TR and AF were enrolled and divided into 2 groups: reversible TR group (n = 16, 70.1 ± 15.5 years, 7 males) vs. non-reversible TR group (n = 55, 72.3 ± 11.8 years, 20 males). Improvement of TR to moderate or lesser degree on follow-up (FU) echocardiography was considered as reversible TR in the present study. Results During 38.9 ± 26.7 months of FU period, reversible TR was observed in 16 patients (22.5%). The presence of left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction was significantly prevalent (43.8% vs. 20.0%, p = 0.03) and the improvement in LV ejection fraction (EF) more than 10% on FU echocardiography was more significantly frequent (62.5% vs. 23.3%, p = 0.003) in the reversible TR group than in the non-reversible TR group. However, the other echocardiographic parameters, including right ventricular function were not different between the groups. In multivariate analysis using Cox proportional hazard model, the improvement of LVEF more than 10% was the only independent predictor of reversible TR (HR = 7.39, 95%CI 1.80–30.28, p = 0.005). Nine patients died only in patients with non-reversible TR (12.7%), but the reversibility of TR was not associated with mortality. Conclusions The improvement of LV systolic function was the only independent predictor of reversible TR. Appropriate medical therapy including management for heart failure should be considered before performing surgery in patients with severe functional TR and AF, especially in patients with LV dysfunction.

Electrically insulating graphene oxide with various oxygen-functional groups is a novel material as an active layer in resistive switching memories via reduction process. Although many research groups have reported on graphene oxide-based resistive switching memories, revealing the origin of conducting path in a graphene oxide active layer remains a critical challenge. Here nanoscale conductive graphitic channels within graphene oxide films are reported using a low-voltage spherical-aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy. Simultaneously, these channels with reduced graphene oxide nanosheets induced by the detachment of oxygen groups are verified by Raman intensity ratio map and conductive atomic force microscopy. It is also clearly revealed that Al metallic protrusions, which are generated in the bottom interface layer, assist the local formation of conductive graphitic channels directly onto graphene oxide films by generating a local strong electric field. This work provides essential information for future carbon-based nanoelectronic devices.

Copyright©2016 Korean Geriatric Society This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). ▸Received: September 17, 2015, ▸Revised: December 9, 2015, ▸Accepted: December 16, 2015 Address for correspondence: Jeong Gwan Cho, MD, PhD The Heart Research Center of Chonnam National University Hospital, 8 Hak-dong, Dong-gu, Gwangju 61469, Korea Tel: +82-62-220-5778, Fax: +82-62-228-7174, E-mail: chojg@unitel.co.kr 우리나라 노인에서 심방세동의 유병률

Determining the presence of conducting filaments in resistive random access memory with nanoscale thin films is vital to unraveling resistive switching mechanisms. Bistable resistive switching within graphene-oxide (GO)-based resistive memory devices, recently developed by many research groups, has been generally explained by the formation and rupture of conducting filaments induced by the diffusion of metal or oxygen ions. Using a low-voltage spherical aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy (TEM), we directly observe metallic nanofilaments formed at the amorphous top interface layer with the application of external voltages in an Al/GO/Al memory system. Atomic-resolution TEM images acquired at an acceleration voltage of 80 kV clearly show that the conducting nanofilaments are composed of nanosized aluminum crystalline within the amorphous top interface layer after applying a negative bias (ON state). Simultaneously, we observe the change in the crystallinity of GO films by the back-diffusion of oxygen ions. The oxygen-deficient regions are clearly confirmed by energy-filtered TEM oxygen elemental mapping. This work could provide strong evidence to confirm the resistive switching mechanism previously suggested by our group.

This study represents the effective fire and smoke control in the case of fire in deep underground tunnels, even if the exhaust system can be calculated, the optimal smoke capacity can be determined by establishing technical standards for the transverse ventilation system focusing on the design as a basis for deriving the parameters for utilization. Numerical analyses were performed using the FDS program as a function of the unsteady flow in a deep underground tunnel fire. The analysis results were calculated within 250 m smoke using an inside wind velocity of 0m/s when the capacity of smoke was exhausted, 80 m 3 /s, whereas in case of an internal wind velocity of 3m/s, the

A boiling heat transfer system is used in a variety of industrial processes and applications, such as refrigeration, power generation, heat exchangers, cooling of high-power electronics components, and cooling of nuclear reactors. The critical heat flux (CHF) is the thermal limit during a boiling heat transfer phase change; at the CHF point, the heat transfer is maximized, followed by a drastic degradation beyond the CHF point. Therefore, Enhancement of CHF is essential for economy and safety of heat transfer system. In this study, the CHF and heat transfer coefficient under the pool-boiling state were tested using multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) CM-95 and CM-100. These two types of multi-wall carbon nanotubes have different sizes but the same thermal conductivity. The results showed that the highest CHF increased for both MWCNTs CM-95 and CM-100 at the volume fraction of 0.001%, and that the CHF-increase ratio for MWCNT CM-100 nanofluid with long particles was higher than that for MWCNT CM-95 nanofluid with short particles. Also, at the volume fraction of 0.001%, the MWCNT CM-100 nanofluid indicated a 5.5% higher CHF-increase ratio as well as an approximately 23.87% higher heat-transfer coefficient increase ratio compared with the MWCNT CM-95 nanofluid.

AIMS Measured glomerular filtration rate (mGFR) is often used to identify augmented renal clearance (ARC). However, in the clinical setting, estimated GFR (eGFR) is obtained more quickly and inexpensively. We aimed to determine whether eGFR can identify ARC by evaluating the correlation between the eGFR and vancomycin trough level (VTL). MATERIALS AND METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients aged ≤ 18 years who underwent vancomycin therapeutic drug monitoring at our tertiary hospital from July 2009 to June 2014. VTL, serum creatinine concentration, eGFR, and clinical factors affecting VTL were analyzed. RESULTS Of 101 patients, 76 (75.25%) had a subtherapeutic VTL. Patient age (p = 0.006), the daily vancomycin dose (p = 0.041) and dosing interval (p = 0.006), and eGFR (p

Changes in the Brewer-Dobson circulation (BDC) during the 30 years 1980–2009 are investigated using Modern Era Retrospective-analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) reanalysis data. The mass streamfunction that is induced by wave forcings in the transformed Eulerian-mean (TEM) equation through the downward-control principle is used as a proxy for the BDC. The changes in the BDC are investigated using two aspects: the wave propagation conditions in the stratosphere and the wave activity in the upper troposphere. They are compared in the first (P1) and second (P2) 15-year periods. The resolved wave forcing, expressed by the Eliassen-Palm (EP) flux divergence (EPD), is significantly enhanced during the December-January-February (DJF) season in P2 in both the Northern Hemisphere (NH) high latitudes and the Southern Hemisphere (SH) mid- and high latitudes. The increased zonal mean zonal wind at high latitudes in the SH, caused by ozone depletion, leads to an upward shift of the Rossby-wave critical layer and this allows more transient planetary waves to propagate into the stratosphere. In the NH, the enhanced EPD in DJF leads to an increase in the frequency of Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) events. The gravity wave drag (GWD) is smaller than the EPD and the change in it between the two time periods is insignificant. The residual term in the TEM equation is similar to the GWD in the two periods, but its change between the two periods is as large as the change in the EPD. Among the four components of the EP flux at 250 hPa, the meridional heat flux played a dominant role in the enhancement of the BDC in P2.

Image warping is a technology to transform input images to be suitable for given conditions and has been recently utilized in changing face shape of characters in the field of movies or animation. Mesh warping which is one of warping methods that change shapes based on the features of face forms warping images by forming rectangular mesh groups around the eyes, nose, and mouth and matching them 1:1. This method has a problem in the resultant images are distorted in the segments of boundaries between meshes when there are errors in mesh control points or when meshes have been formed as many small area meshes. This study proposes a triangle based image interpolation technique to minimize the occurrence of errors in the process of forming natural warping images of face and process accurate results with a small amount of arithmetic operation and a short time. First, feature points that represent the face are found and these points are connected to form basic triangle meshes. The fact that the proposed method can reduce errors occurring in the process of warping while reducing the amount of arithmetic operation and time is shown through experiments. Keywords : Facial image warping(얼굴 영상 워핑), Feature-based method(특징기반 방법), Triangle subdivision(삼각형 반복분할), Image interpolation(영상보간법), Mesh warping(메쉬워핑)

Puerarin [4H-1-benzopyran-4-one,8-b-D-glucopyranosyl-7-hydroxy-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)] is the major bioactive constituent in galgeun, which is the dried root of Puerariae Radix. For more than 2,000 years, galgeun has been widely used as an herbal medicine for its potential benefits on the treatment of common cold, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in Northeastern Asia including Korea. To investigate whether puerarin participates in drug-herb interactions, this study examined the in vitro inhibitory effects of puerarin on the metabolic activities of cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, and CYP3A4), using specific Vivid®Substrates and recombinant CYP450 isozymes. The inhibitory effects of puerarin were observed in CYP2C19 and CYP2D6 with the % inhibitions of 37.9 (CYP2C19/miconazole) for 400 μg/mL and 27.6 (CYP2D6/quinidine) for 100 μg/mL, respectively. Slightly lower % inhibitions were seen in CYP1A2; 24.3 (CYP1A2/α-naphthoflavone) for 400 μg/mL. A significant dose–response effect was found in CYP2C19. (Pearson’s r = 0.999, P = 0.023). Little or no inhibitory activity was observed in CYP2C9 and CYP3A4. These findings imply that special attention should be paid to the use of puerarin when used concomitantly with drugs that are metabolized primarily by CYP2C19, CYP2D6, and CYP1A2. To identify the existence of potential interaction effects of puerarin on CYP2C19, CYP2D6, and CYP1A2, and to evaluate possible clinical significances of the effects, further in vivo or clinical studies should be explored.

Recently, high-thermal-conductivity graphene and carbon nanotube nanoparticles have attracted particularly close attention from researchers. In the present study, the thermal conductivity and viscosity properties of two kinds of graphene and carbon nanotube nanofluids added to distilled water - two graphenes and carbon nanotubes of differing size - were compared and analyzed. The thermal conductivities of the nanofluids, formulated in the usual manner by adding graphene and carbon nanotube to distilled water and subjecting the mixture to ultrasonic dispersion, were measured by the transient hot-wire method, and the viscosities were determined using a rotational digital viscometer. As a result, we concluded that the nanofluid of small particle diameter of graphene have outstanding properties as heat transfer media, due to their excellent thermal conductivity and viscosity, compared with the other nanofluid.

Nanofluids using Carbon Nanotubes have a excellent thermal characteristic. In this study, for increasing the efficiency of solar collector, the thermal conductivity and viscosity of Ethanol-Oxidized Multi-walled Carbon Nanofluids were measured. Nanofluids were manufactured by ultra-sonic dispersing Oxidized Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes(OMWCNTs) in ethanol at the rates of 0.0005 ~ 0.1 vol%. The thermal conductivity and viscosity of manufactured nanofluids were measured at the low temperature(), the room temperature() and the high temperature(). For measuring thermal conductivity and viscosity, we used transient hot-wire method and rotational digital viscometer, respectively. As a result, under given temperature conditions, thermal conductivity of the 0.1 vol% nanofluids improved 33.74% (), 33.14% () and 32.36% (), and its viscosity increased by 37.93% (), 31.92% () and 29.42% () than the base fluids.

The co-generation system consisted of gas a turbine, a steam turbine, heat recovery steam generator and a heat exchangers for district heating was investigated in the present study. A back-pressure steam turbine (non-condensing type) was used. A partial load analysis according to the outdoor temperature in winter was conducted and optimal thermal load and power conditions was examined using the commercial computing software Thermoflex. As a result, under a constant thermal load, the power outputs of gas turbine and overall system increased as an outdoor temperature decreased. On the other hand, the reduction in exhaust gas temperature led to the decrease in output of steam turbine. Considering the portion of gas turbine in overall system in terms of the power output, it can be known that the tendency in power output of overall system was similar to that of the gas turbine.

Background To investigate the impact of left ventricular (LV) diastolic functional recovery on major adverse cardiac events (MACE) 6 months after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in patients with preserved LV systolic function. Methods A total 463 patients with preserved LV systolic function at 6 months after an AMI were divided into two groups based on the extent of diastolic recovery assessed by echocardiography: group I (n = 241) showed improving diastolic function and group II (n = 222) did not. MACE included death, recurrent myocardial infarction, and rehospitalization due to heart failure, and these events were compared with the patients' characteristics at baseline. Results Compared with group I, the patients in group II were older and had a higher prevalence of hypertension and diabetes. Blood levels of hemoglobin and triglyceride were lower in group II, whereas the levels of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein were higher in this group than in group I. MACE were significantly more frequent in group II than in group I. Age, elevated NT-proBNP, and impaired diastolic recovery were significant independent predictors of MACE. Conclusion Despite improvement in LV systolic function, LV diastolic function had not improved in 222 patients (47.9%) by the 6-month follow-up after the index AMI, and impaired diastolic functional recovery was found to be an independent predictor of MACE. Evaluation of diastolic function would be a useful way to stratify risk in patients discharged after an index AMI.

Individual variations in pheromone emission patterns were examined in a scarab beetle, Anomala cuprea Hope (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), by headspace collection of airborne volatiles from individual females. The amount of pheromone obtained varied among virgin females, and about 16% of these females (“silent” females) did not emit detectable amount of pheromone throughout the experimental period. There was no clear temporal pattern of peak pheromone emission for 19 days after the onset. More than half of the laboratory mated females completely stopped releasing pheromone after the first mating, while the rest of them continued releasing pheromone, frequently followed by additional mating.

Fisher’s (1930) prediction of equal investment for each sex in a panmictic population is influenced by a number of ecological factors, among which resource availability plays a major role, particularly when the population exists under changing resource availability. Rosenheim et al. proposed a multifaceted parental investment model based on the underlying assumption that individual females determine their sex investment according to resource availability and oocyte availability to maximize reproductive success. The model predicts that greater availability of resources used for provisions will lead to (1) an increase in the proportion of females produced (when the female is the larger sex) and (2) an increase in the amount of provisions per offspring and thus an increase in offspring size. I tested these predictions by a controlled experiment using a leaf-cutter bee, Megachile apicalis. I presented two levels of food resources to the nesting females, which were allowed to forage and nest in cages. The experimental results supported these parental investment model’s predictions. Key words: Hymenoptera, investment ratios, leaf-cutter bee, Megachile apicalis, Megachilidae, parental investment, resource levels, sex allocation. [Behav Ecol 10:552‐ 556 (1999)]

The long-term goal of this study was to use solitary bees to assess the impact of advancing Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifcra scutcllata Lepeletier) on the native California bee fauna. Cavity-nesting, solitary bee species were systematically monitored in wooden trap nests at 6 sites in northern central California from 1990 to 1992. Three sites were in the San Joaquin Valley in wildlife refuges or preserves; 3 were in coastal mountain or Sierran foothill parks or reserves. Differences in frequencies of nesting bees were observed and recorded among sites and habitats through time. A Poisson regression indicated that all explanatory variables and their 1st order interactions were highly significant. There were significant differences among bee taxa, sites and years, and their interactions (bee X site; bee X year; site X year). Mcgachile species were the predominant cavity nesters in the 3 valley sites; Osmia species were the common group in coastal mountain I foothill sites. In a computer simulation, using a variation of the Poisson regression, several significant differences were also observed between yearly frequency counts for certain bee species at the same site. Possible reasons for year to year changes included differential natural mortality, extreme annual weather patterns, use of marginal habitats, and negative impacts from exotic solitary bee species. Three exotic megachilids (Mcgachile rotundata (F.), M. apicalis Spinola, and M. concinna Smith) have successfully invaded and become established in California. Possibly, M. apicalis has affected other cavity nesting bee species, including the exotic M. rotundata in our Central Valley sites.

1. The effects of female size on fitness of the leaf-cutter bee Megachile apicalis Spinola (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) were examined using artificial nesting sites in the field. 2. Although female size had no significant effect on female longevity or sex ratio of progeny, it did have a significant effect on fecundity; larger females attained greater realized fecundity than did smaller females. 3. This significant effect of female size on fecundity occurred because larger females produced cells faster than did smaller females. 4. Female size also had a significant effect on egg size; larger females laid larger eggs than did smaller females. 5. Female size had a significant effect on the size of investment in each progeny. The size of investment estimated by brood cell weight was greater for larger females than for smaller females. This pattern was largely absent, however, when the size of investment was estimated by adult progeny weight. 6. Female size had a significant effect on nest usurpation behaviour; larger females had a higher capacity to usurp nests than did smaller females.

Ten [PdII(dicarboxylato)(1,2-diaminocyclohexane)] complexes were prepared after the antitumor-active Pt(II)-1,2-diaminocyclohexane complexes as the cisplatin analogues of palladium series. They were characterized by means of elemental analysis, IR and NMR spectroscopy. As a result, the dicarboxylate ligands were confirmed to be chelated with Pd(II) within the scope studies. The stability differences between the dicarboxylato complexes according to the chelate ring size could not be differentiated due to generally lower thermodynamic stability of the dicarboxylato Pd(II) complexes.

Nests of two wild leaf-cutter bees, Megachile (Litomegachile) gentilis Cresson and M. (Eutricharaea) timberlakei Cockerell, were obtained from trap-nesting. The nests were composed of linear series of brood cells. The brood cells contained leaf disks which tightly covered the cocoons within. Cocoon size, weight, and adult weight decreased toward the nest entrance as commonly occurs in tube-nesting solitary bees. In addition, the size of the leaf disks decreased toward the nest entrance and were positively related to that of the cocoons. Sizes of the cocoons and leaf disks were influenced by sex allocation, producing females in the inner and males in the outer brood cells within the nests. Cell morphology of the two species was compared.

Objective: To investigate the usefulness of cardiac biomarkers in the evaluation of prognosis and cardiac involvement (CI) in patients with acute aortic syndrome (AAS). Methods: A total of 260 AAS patients with the measurements of cardiac biomarkers were divided into 2 groups; the survived (n=215, 60.6±13.7 years, 110 males) vs the dead (n=45, 64.5±13.6 years, 19 males). N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), cardiac specific troponin-I (cTnI), C-reactive protein (CRP), creatinine kinase (CK), MB fraction of CK (CK-MB), and D-dimer were compared. Results: NT-proBNP and D-dimer were significantly elevated in the dead group than in the survived group (3558.7±5497.2 vs 949.9±2307.3 pg/mL, p

Recently it is widely conducted about the usage of regenerative energy produced during brake periods of railway vehicles. The storage system for regenerative energy using super-capacitor (EDLC:Electric Double Layer Capacitor) is one of those research areas. In the storage systems of the regenerative energy, super-capacitor (EDLC) is used for storage device of modular energy. It is critical to estimate the proper replacement moment for the existed super-capacitor (EDLC) due to the safety of the system. However, there is no standard method to predict the expected life of super-capacitor (EDLC). In this paper, therefore, we propose the method to estimate expected life of super-capacitor by evaluating of internal heating which caused by regenerative current pattern of railway vehicles. With that, we improve the reliability of whole system. Furthermore, it is also addressed to prove that our research is reasonable.

Green tea polyphenols have recently attracted medical attention as bioactive agents with anticancer, antimicrobial, and antiviral effects. We discovered their new usage as preservative agents for tissue transplants. We preserved rat aortas in a DMEM solution containing polyphenols extracted from green tea leaves. The preserved aortas retained original structures and mechanical strength, and were devoid of any undesirable cell secretions for over a month under physiological conditions. In addition, aortas from Lewis rats preserved for a month and transplanted to allogenic ACI rats completely avoided rejection by the host, suggesting that the polyphenols have immunosuppressive actions on the aortic tissues. From these results, we conclude that polyphenol treatment of aortic tissue transplant can maintain its viability for extended periods of time either before or after transplantation, and the method can be applicable to other transplantation situations.

The leaf-cutter bee, Megachile tsurugensis, builds a brood cell in a preexisting tunnel with leaf discs that she cuts in decreasing sizes and assembles them like a Russian matryoshka doll. By experimentally manipulating the brood cell, it was investigated how she regulates the size of leaf discs that fit in the brood cell’s internal volume. When the internal volume was artificially increased by removing a bulk of leaf discs, she decreased the leaf disc size, although increasing it would have made the leaf disc more fitting in the increased internal volume. As a reverse manipulation, when the internal volume was decreased by inserting a group of inner layers of preassembled leaf discs to a brood cell, she decreased the leaf disc size, so that the leaf disc could fit in the decreased internal volume. These results suggest that she uses at least two different mechanisms to regulate the disc size: the use of some internal memory about the degree of building work accomplished in the first and of sensory feedback of dimensional information at the construction site in the second manipulation, respectively. It was concluded that a stigmergic mechanism, an immediate sensory feedback from the brood cell changed by the building work, alone cannot explain the details of the bee’s behavior particularly with respect to her initial response to the first manipulation. For a more complete explanation of the behavior exhibited by the solitary bee, two additional behavioral elements, reinforcement of building activity and processing of dimensional information, were discussed along with stigmergy.

Epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGCg) and related polyphenolic compounds found in tea are known to have antioxidative activities. However, they also have pro-oxidative activities such as generation of hydrogen peroxide. In this report, we investigated the effect on cells and showed the potential usage of EGCg in cell preservation. H(2)O(2) was generated from EGCg at concentrations of more than 300 microg/mL for 6 h at 37 degrees C, and high cytotoxicity for L929 cells were shown. In contrast, in the presence of 1 microg/mL catalase, the amount of generated H(2)O(2) was significantly low and cytotoxicity decreased markedly. This indicates that catalase eliminated H(2)O(2) generated by degradation of EGCg. Although H(2)O(2) generation was prevented, L929 cell proliferation was slightly inhibited in proportion to the concentrations of EGCg. L929 was exposed able to be 300 microg/mL to EGCg and 1 microg/mL catalase for maximum 18 days. EGCg inhibited the growth of L929 cells, and cell proliferation was restarted immediately after medium change for removing EGCg. We concluded that EGCg had a reversible growth inhibition when H(2)O(2) was eliminated from cell cultures.

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of living alone for in-hospital and one-year clinical outcome after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in Korean patients. Methods: A total of 1,700 patients who admitted at the Chonnam National University Hospital were analyzed. We divided the patients into two groups by the existence of a spouse or family member that lived together with the patient at the first time of hospital visit due to AMI. The primary endpoint was composed of in-hospital death and cardiac death during one-year clinical follow-up. Secondary end point was other major adverse cardio-cerebral events (MACCE) including non-fatal MI, repeat revascularization, ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke during one-year clinical follow-up. Result: Living alone patient group had higher proportion of Killip class II-IV (34.3% vs. 26.6%, p=0.006) and higher value of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (2.2±4.0 vs. 1.5±3.4 ng/mL, p=0.019) than not living alone group. In-hospital death (8.9 % vs. 5.1%, p=0.010) and one-year cardiac death (7.7% vs. 4.6%, p=0.031) developed more in living alone groups. However, living alone was not an independent prognostic factor for in-hospital death (HR 1.51, 95% CI 0.91-2.52, p=0.113) and one-year cardiac death (HR 1.18, 95% CI 0.59-2.34, p=0.64) after multivariate analysis. Conclusion: Living alone was not an independent prognostic factor for in-hospital and one-year clinical outcome after AMI.

Fascioliasis is a rare zoonotic disease caused by Fasciola hepatica, the liver fluke. Humans can become accidental hosts of this parasite by ingesting contaminated drinking water or plants containing viable metacercariae. There are two disease stages: the hepatic (acute) and biliary (chronic) stages. The biliary stage of this zoonotic infection is often misdiagnosed because the symptoms are subclinical, with intermittent cholangitis as the only sign. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) has been described in the diagnosis of a few cases of fascioliasis. We used this modality to diagnose biliary fascioliasis in a 39-year-old woman with chronic hepatitis B who had intermittent abdominal pain for three years with irregular wall thickening and luminal narrowing of the common hepatic duct (CHD), which resembled neoplasia of the CHD. Following the correct diagnosis, the adult worm was removed using endoluminal forceps via endoscopic sphincterotomy. This case report confirms the diagnostic and therapeutic value of ERCP in patients with biliary fascioliasis that may mimic neoplasia of the CHD. (Korean J Med 2015;88:187-191)

We reviewed ten cases of Wegener's granulomatosis with special emphasis on the characteristics of the early stage of Wegener's granulomatosis. All patients presented with nonspecific symptoms and signs, so that Wegener's granulomatosis was not initially considered. However, half of the patients had clinical or radiologic disease in the nose/or paranasal sinuses as the primary presenting problems and showed neutrophil microabscess surrounded by palisading epithelioid cells and irregularly arranged giant cells in the nasal biopsy as the most characteristic feature. Five of ten patients were believed to have a protracted superficial phenomenon before involvement of other organs, specifically the lung or kidney. Four of ten patients showed nonreactivity to ANCA test at the time of presentation. Although the number of cases reviewed in this study was small, the rate of nonreactivity to ANCA was higher than those of the larger series. The importance of early diagnosis of Wegener's granulomatosis can not be overemphasized in view of the fact that cases unrecognized clinicopathologically finally progress to full-blown systemic form of Wegener's granulomatosis with poor prognosis. The diagnosis of Wegener's granulomatosis should be based on a thorough and meticulous examination of its characteristic histologic changes in biopsied tissue particularly extravascular foci.

Maternal investment in offspring size and number differed between spring- and summer-emerging individual females of Megachile apicalis, a solitary multivoltine bee. Data from experimentally initiated female populations indicated that spring-emerging females produced a relatively large number of progeny but allocated a small amount of food to each, resulting in small progeny. Adult females of larger body sizes provisioned food at a greater rate than did smaller females, and this body-size effect was significant in spring-emerging females. The large body size of these females allowed them to increase the number of progeny produced under the abundant floral resources that occurred during the spring. Conversely, summer-emerging females produced fewer progeny under the diminishing resources for brood production, but allocated each with more food, producing larger progeny, most of which emerged in the spring of the following year. Field data using trap-nests also indicated the same pattern of seasonal offspring size allocation found in the experimental populations. This maternal investment strategy entails a trade-off between the size and number of progeny, so that the daughters upon emergence can best perform in their brood production under the seasonally variable environments where they reproduce.