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We determined the associations between serum haptoglobin concentration and peri- and postpartum disorders, milk yield, and reproductive performance in dairy cows. Furthermore, associations between haptoglobin and some blood metabolites were also investigated. We collected blood from 112 Holstein cows 1 week postpartum to measure serum haptoglobin and metabolite/enzyme (aspartate aminotransferase [AST], total bilirubin [T-bilirubin], total cholesterol [TCH], non-esterified fatty acids [NEFA], and β-hydroxybutyrate [BHBA]) concentrations. Cows were divided into two groups based on their haptoglobin concentrations: a low-HP group ( 100 µg/mL, n = 40). The incidence of peri- and postpartum disorders (dystocia, retained placenta, metritis, and endometritis) was higher (P

In this study, the chlorination of uranium oxide (UO2) using ammonium chloride and zirconium as chemical agents was conducted to recover the uranium in the anode basket residues from the pyrochemical process of used nuclear fuel. The chlorination of UO2 was predicted using thermodynamic equilibrium calculations. The experimental conditions for the chlorination were determined using a chlorination test with cerium oxide (CeO2). In the chlorination test, it was confirmed that UO2 was chlorinated into UCl3 at 320 °C, some UO2 remained without changes in the chemical form, and ZrO2, Zr2O, and ZrCl2 were generated as byproducts.

Background Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a dose-limiting toxicity of paclitaxel, with no reliable method to identify at-risk patients. We investigated the incidence and risk factors including genetic polymorphisms associated with the development of CIPN based on clinician and patient reporting of neuropathic symptoms. Patients and methods Risk factors for the development of CIPN were examined in 454 patients treated with paclitaxel/carboplatin from the International Collaboration on Ovarian Neoplasms 7 (ICON7) trial. Neuropathy was graded by clinicians by standard adverse event reporting and by patients utilising OV28 questionnaire. Genetic risk factors were examined by selecting six single nucleotide polymorphisms in genes associated with microtubule function. Risk factors were assessed via dose-to-event cox regression models. Results Grade >2 neuropathy was reported by clinicians in 28% of patients, while 67% of patients reported 'quite a bit' or 'very much' tingling or numbness. Agreement between clinicians and patients was poor (κ = 0.236, 95% confidence interval, 0.177-0.296, P < 0.001). Older age, bevacizumab treatment and bowel resection were associated with clinician reported CIPN, while older age and volume of residual disease were associated with patient-reported neuropathy. There were no significant associations between clinician-reported neuropathy or patient-reported neuropathy and TUBB2, CEP72 or individual MAPT or GSK3B SNPs, however MAPT additive polymorphisms were associated with patient-reported neuropathy and GSK3B additive polymorphisms were associated with clinician reported CIPN. Conclusions There was significant discordance between patient- and clinician-reported neurotoxicity. The lack of consensus regarding optimal outcome measures and whose opinion with regard to CIPN takes precedence is a limitation in the investigation of risk factors for CIPN. Care must be taken to select and include patient-reported outcome measures in CIPN assessment to enable accurate identification of genetic and other risk factors for neuropathy.

Background Increasing evidence demonstrated that inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has a shared genetic background with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs). However, the association between these two disease entities is not vigorously elucidated. The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence and association between IBD and ARDs. Methods A nationwide population-based cross-sectional study was performed using the Korean National Health Insurance Claims database according to ICD-10 codes (Table 1). The prevalence of ARDs, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), inflammatory myositis (polymyositis (PM) and dermatomyositis (DM)), systemic sclerosis (SSc), Sjogren’s syndrome (SjS), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), was determined in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, compared with general populations. Results A total of 82,480 IBD patients (57,382 patients with ulcerative colitis and 25,098 with Crohn’s disease) were enrolled. The analysis revealed that patient with IBD had higher risk of being concomitantly affected by AS and RA (Table 2). Other ARDs, such as SLE, inflammatory myositis, SSc, and SjS were not associated with IBD. Conclusion This nationwide population-based study demonstrated that RA and AS showed higher incidence in IBD patients. This result suggests that etiopathogenesis of IBD might be shared with RA and AS.

CNT and GNP have several excellent mechanical properties including, high strength, Young's modulus,thermal conductivity, corrosion resistance, electronic shielding and so on. In this study, CF/CNT, GNP/epoxycomposites were manufactured by varying the CNT weight ratio at 2wt% and 3wt%, GNP weight ratio at 0.5wt%and 1 wt%. The composites were manufactured by mechanical method (3-roll-mill). Tensile, impact and wear testswere performed according to ASTM standards D638, D256 and D3181 respectively. The results showed that, CF/GNP0.5 wt%/epoxy composites gave good mechanical property in all composites, e.g., tensile strength, impact andwere resistance.초록 : CNT 및 GNP 는 고강도, 고강성, 열전도율, 내부식성, 전자 차폐성 등 여러 우수한 기계적 특성을 갖기 때문에, 우주 항공분야, 전자기기 소재 및 에너지 소재에 사용되고, 제동 시 흡수 에너지가 크고 안정된 제동 효과를 나타내기 때문에 경주용 자동차나 항공기의 브레이크 디스크 재료로도 각광받고 있다. 본 연구에서는 CNT중량비를 2 wt% 및 3 wt%, GNP 중량비를 0.5wt%, 1wt% 변화시켜 CF/CNT, GNP/Epoxy 복합재료를 제조하였다. 복합 재료는 기계적 방법(3-롤밀)에 의해 제조되었다. 기계적 특성은 인장, 충격 및 마모 테스트를 각각 ASTM D638,D256과 D3181에 따라 수행하였다. 시험 결과 CF/GNP0.5 wt%/Epoxy 복합재료가 인장, 충격, 마모시험에서 우수한 특성을 보였다.

BACKGROUND Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) has been the endoscopic treatment of choice for rectal carcinoid tumors

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of feeding induced molting on the visceral organs and blood component profile in laying hens and designed to test 400 flocks of 60 week old Leghorn laying hens for 34 weeks. A total of four molting treatment methods by including the molted with customary molting by fasting method (c), feeding single diet of corn (T1), feeding single diet of wheat bran (T2) and feeding single diet of alfalfa meal (T3) were tested, and each treatment was repeated for 5 times, and 20 laying hens were randomly assigned in an cage for each repeat. As the result of the experiment, ovary was 2.03 ～ 2.86% and oviduct was 2.51 ～ 3.47% in visceral organs for body weight at pre-molting term, but there was no significant difference. At post-molting, no significant difference was found, ovary was 0.25 ～ 0.41%, uterus of control, T1, T2 and T3 was 1.12%, 0.82%, 0.48% and 0.90%, respectively. T2 was significantly lower than control, T3 ( p

Background/Aims: p12DOC-1 is a well-known growth suppressor; however, its role in gastric carcinogenesis is still unclear. We investigated the expression of p12DOC-1 in gastric cancer tissues and its possible correlation with p53 expression, and determined its clinical significance. Methods: Immunohistochemical staining using the tissue array method was performed on 180 human gastric carcinomas. The clinicopathological features and prognostic significance were analyzed. Results: Of the 180 tissue samples, p53 expression was positive in 85 (47.2%) and p12DOC-1 expression was negative in 140 (77.8%). The negative expression of p12DOC-1 was significantly associated with a more advanced depth of tumor invasion and stage (p < 0.05). No apparent correlation was found between p12DOC-1 and p53 expressions. The 5-year survival rate of the p12DOC-1-positive cases (53.7%) was higher than that of the p12DOC-1-negative cases (39.3%); however, neither p12DOC-1 nor p53 expression status had any statistically significant prognostic value. Multivariate analysis revealed that lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, lymphatic invasion and perineural invasion were independent prognostic factors. Conclusions: This is the first report that suggests that p12DOC-1 may be involved in the development and progression of gastric cancer. Further studies are required to clarify its exact role in the mechanism of gastric carcinogenesis.

Animal welfare advocates, claim that the induced molting by fasting be avoided. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of molting induced by various feeding methods on productivity and egg quality in laying hens. We used 400 flocks of 60-week-old leghorn laying hens in four treatments(five replicates of 20 hens each): fasting method (C), feeding single corn grain diet (T1), feeding single wheat bran diet (T2) and feeding single alfalfa meal diet (T3). As the result of the experiment, egg production and daily egg mass significantly decreased only in T1 compared with the control during the 1~4th week after the secondary egg laying (P 0.05). In addition, no significant difference of feed conversion was observed between treatment groups. In terms of egg quality, the egg shell thickness was significantly improved in T1 group than the control group by feeding only corn at the 10th and 14th week after the secondary egg laying (P

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding herb extract (HE) on productivity, intestinal microflora and blood component profile in broiler chickens. A total of three hundred twenty, 1-d-old male chicks (Ross) were divided into 4 treatments with 5 replicates, 16 birds per replicate. Dietary treatments consisted of four diets; the corn-soybean based control diet, the diet containing HE 0.1%, the diet containing HE 0.2%, and the diet containing HE 0.4%. The Control diet contained 3,100, 3,100, 3,200 kcal/kg ME and 22%, 20%, 18% CP for starter (), grower (), and finisher () periods, respectively. There were no significant differences in feed intake and BW gain among treatments in starter period. In grower period, the BW gain of HE 0.2%, and HE 0.4% were significantly higher (p

Ruminal parameters, rumen development, nutrient digestibilities, and N utilization were estimated in Holstein calves fed starch from different sources. Ground corn, ground barley, ground wheat, and crimped oats were used to formulate 4 isostarch (25% of starter dry matter) pelleted diets. These diets were randomly allocated to calves (16 calves per treatment, 8 female and 8 male) and fed ad libitum along with mixed grass hay throughout the experiment. Ruminal contents and blood were sampled at d 35, 50, and 70 of age to estimate ruminal parameters and plasma beta-hydroxybutyrate, respectively. At d 70, twenty-four male calves (6/treatment) were randomly selected, euthanized, and forestomach weight, papillae length (PL), papillae width (PW), rumen wall thickness (RWT), and papillae concentration were measured. At d 63, twenty-four female calves (6/treatment) were randomly selected and moved to metabolism stalls to estimate total tract apparent nutrient digestibilities and N utilization. Female calves were given 2 wk for adaptation to experimental facilities and then total collections of feces and urine were made from d 77 to 84 of age. Ruminal pH at d 35 of age was higher in calves fed corn and oat diets than in those fed barley and wheat diets. Ruminal pH at d 50 and 70 of age was the lowest in calves on barley diets followed by those on oat and wheat diets and then by those on the corn diet. Ruminal total volatile fatty acid concentrations at d 35 of age were greatest in calves fed corn or wheat diets followed by those fed barley and oat diets. Calves on corn and wheat diets maintained greater ruminal volatile fatty acids concentrations at d 50 and 70 of age. Ruminal ammonia, acetate, propionate, butyrate, and blood beta-hydroxybutyrate concentrations were also greater in calves on the corn and wheat diets. Full and empty weights of forestomach, PL, PW, RWT, and papillae concentrations were greater in calves on corn and wheat diets. Daily average intake of nutrients (dry matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, starch, Ca, and P) was greater in calves fed corn and wheat diets than in those fed barley and oat diets. Starch source did not influence the total tract apparent digestibilities of nutrients in calves. Daily N retention (g/d) was greatest on the corn diet followed by the wheat diet and then the barley and oat diets. In conclusion, calves on a corn diet have greater ruminal capacity to accommodate feed bulk. More physically and metabolically functional rumens in calves on corn and wheat diets probably resulted in greater feed consumption and N retention.

This paper presents a low-cost bidirectional (BiDi) wavelength-division-multiplexed passive optical network (WDM-PON) employing colorless uncooled BiDi transceivers (TRxs) and superluminescent diode (SLD)-based broadband light sources (BLSs). The C band is allocated for upstream and the E+ band for downstream in consideration of BiDi packaging, SLD development, and wavelength alignment of dual-window arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs). The BiDi TRx integrates an uncooled Fabry-Perot laser diode (FP-LD), a p-i-n photodiode (PD), and a 45/spl deg/-angled thin-film filter in a small-form-factor (SFF) package. The SLD-based BLSs provide 13-dBm amplified spontaneous emissions (ASEs) with spectral ripples of < 3 dB and polarization dependencies of

This study was carried out to estimate the effects of parity, milking time, milking interval and days in milk(DIM) on variation in milk yield between consecutive milkings(am to pm to am), morning and evening milk yield and its components, somatic cell counts(SCS), milking duration, milk flow rate and peak milk flow in Holstein dairy cattle. Records from one hundred and twenty two heads of Holstein cattle at National Livestock Research Institute, Korea were used for this study from July 1 to August 8, 2005. The experimental herd had average 1.6±0.9 parities, 199.8±109.1 DIM and 12.26±4.06 kg milk yields at each milking. Milking yield, percent milk fat and SNF, milking duration and average milk flow were significantly varied by parity, milking time and DIM. Percent milk protein and lactose were varied by parity and DIM, however SCS and average milk flow were affected by parity and milking time. Milking interval significantly affected the consecutive, morning and evening milk yield and average milk flow. However, MUN was not affected by parity, milking time, DIM and milking interval. Milk yield was decreased with increasing parity. Milk yield in the morning was higher than that of in the evening. Milk yield between consecutive milking was not affected by parity, however, affected by milking time. Percent milk Fat, SNF and SCS were higher at in evening milk than those of in morning milk. Milk protein, lactose, SNF, SCS, milking duration and peak milk flow rate were influenced by parity. This study suggested that milk yield variation between consecutive milking, milking flow rate, and milking duration could be important traits for enhancing Holstein cattle productivity however, and more study is needed to estimate genetic parameters for such traits.

The existence of familial aggregation of mandibular prognathism (MP) suggests that genetic components play an important role in its etiology. In this study, a genome-wide linkage analysis to identify loci susceptible to MP was conducted with 90 affected sibling-pairs in 42 families, comprised of 40 Korean sibling-pairs and 50 Japanese sibling-pairs. Two non-parametric linkage analyses, GENEHUNTER-PLUS and SIBPAL, were applied and detected nominal statistical significance of linkage to MP at chromosomes 1p36, 6q25, and 19p13.2. The best evidence of linkage was detected near D1S234 (maximum Zlr = 2.51, P = 0.0012). In addition, evidence of linkage was observed near D6S305 (maximum Zlr = 2.23, P = 0.025) and D19S884 (maximum Zlr = 1.93, P = 0.0089). Identification of the susceptible genes in the linkage regions will pave the way for insights into the molecular pathways that cause MP, especially overgrowth of the mandible, and may lead to the development of novel therapeutic tools.

The present study was carried out to investigate effects of various factors such as sire, bovine leukemia vi- rus(BLV) carrier/non-carrier, parity, calving month and lactation periods on somatic cell count(SCC) and milk components in dairy cows. The animals calved from January 2001 to March 2004. Milk samples were col- lected every 30 ± 5 days in milk(DIM), and somatic cell count and milk components were analysed by Somascope MK2/Lactoscope FTIR. Bovine Leukemia Virus(BLV) was detected by ELISA method. The lactation periods were divided into five periods; (1) 30DIM, (2) 31 to 60DIM, (3) 61 to 120DIM, (4) 121 to 180DIM, and (5) more than 180DIM. The level of SCC and milk components in all lactation periods were significantly affected by sire, parity, calving month, lactation period and BLV carrier/non-carrier. The results suggest that BLV carrier/non-carrier analysis in a herd may be necessary if milk quality is low owing to a high SCC. BLV carrier/non-carrier did not affect milk protein content for all lactation periods.

본 연구는 소 난자의 초자화 동결 방법을 설정하기 위하여 체외성숙 소 난자에서 난구세포가 부착된 상태 또는 제거한 상태로 microdrop (MD) 방법과 straw (Straw) 방법을 이용하여 초자화 동결하여 생존율을 검사하였다. 동결 융해난자는 a) 단위발생을 유도하였고 b) 체외수정 후 전핵 형성을 관찰하였으며 c)체외수정 후 수정란 발달을 검사하였다. 초자화 동결 난자의 생존율은 MD 방법을 이용하였을 때가 Straw를 이용하였을 때 보다 높았다 (92.50 vs. 74.19%, p 0.05). 그러나 미수정란 ( 4PN)은 신선란과 동결 융해란 모두에서 나타났다. 체외수정 후, 난구세포가 부착된 난자의 2세포기 발달율은 신선란에 비하여 MD 또는 Straw 처리구에서 유의적으로 낮았다 (Fresh; 81.76% vs. MD; 22.22% and Straw; 11.36%, p 【Studies on the Viability of In Vitro-Matured Bovine Oocytes Vitrified by Microdrop and Straw Method To establish vitrification method for bovine oocytes, mature bovine oocytes were vitrified by microdrop (MD) or straw (Straw) method and the viability of vitrified oocytes with or without cumulus cells (CC) were examined by several methods; a) parthenogenetic activation; b) pronuclear formation after in vitro fertilization (IVF); and c) embryonic development after IVF. The survival rate of vitrified oocytes by MD was significantly higher than by Straw (92.50 vs. 74.19%, p 0.05). While no fertilization ( 4PN) was appeared not only fresh but vitrified-thawed groups. After IVF, two-cell developmental rates of vitrified oocytes with CC by MD and Straw were significantly low compared to fresh oocytes (Fresh; 81.76% vs. MD; 22.22% and Straw; 11.36%, p】

It is difficult to predict precisely whether the lesion corresponds to endoscopic resection indication. Furthermore, discrepancy may occur between endoscopic forceps biopsy (EFB) and finally resected specimen, which may be diagnosed as undifferentiated cancer and additional surgery may be required. Our study aimed to evaluate predictive factors to diagnose undifferentiated cancer after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). Among the 532 patients diagnosed by ESD between January 2009 and December 2015, 557 early gastric cancer (EGC) cases were studied. Factors predicting diagnosis of undifferentiated cancer and clinical outcomes of the lesions were retrospectively analyzed. Among the 557 cases with EGC, 535 (96.1%) were diagnosed as differentiated cancer and 22 (3.9%) as the undifferentiated type with ESD. Tumor size was larger (mean size 20.67 vs 13.59 mm, P

Objectives Long-term treatment with cyclosporine (CsA) results in chronic nephrotoxicity, which is known to be mediated by several cytokines including transforming growth factor-betal. Cytokines are known to play an important role in innate immunity, apoptosis, angiogenesis, cell growth, and differentiation. They are known to be involved in most disease processes, including cancer, cardiac disease, and nephrotoxicity. To evaluate changes of cytokines in a rat model of CsA-induced chronic nephrotoxicity, we performed a cytokine array. Methods Experiments were performed on two groups of rats; normal control group and CsA-treated group. Cytokine array in rat serum was performed using Cytokine Antibody Array I kit from RayBiotech. Results Serum creatinine, urine creatinine, and creatinine clearance increased in the CsA-treated group. Among the several cytokines, the expressions of the lipopolysaccharide-induced CXC chemokine (LIX), monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), nerve growth factor (β-NGF), and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) in the CsA-treated group were increased above that of cytokines in the control group. The density of the LIX in controls was 0.62, and in the CsA-treated group was 1.24. The density of the MCP-1 in controls was 0.68, and in CsA-treated, 1.43. The density of the β-NGF in controls was 0.62, and that in CsA-treated, 1.24. The density of the TIMP-1 in controls 1.13, and in CsA-treated, 1.40. Conclusions Our data suggested that among several cytokines elevated levels of the LIX, MCP-1, β-NGF, and TIMP-1 are the contributing factors to CsA-induced nephropathy.

In this study, a CAD/CAM system for axisymmetric deep drawing processes has been developed. A knowledge-based approach is employed for the system. Under the environment of the CAD/CAM software of Personal Designer, the system has been written in UPL (User Programming Language). The geometry of the intermediate and the final object in deep drawing processes, including processes parameters, are inputs for the CAD/CAM system. The input data can be obtained from the results of Pro_Deep. The parts drawing of die sets for each process is generated in the tool design module of the CAD/CAM system. Also, the die assembly drawings can be obtained. NC commands for the machining of the part can be generated in the developed CAD/CAM system.

We propose a 1-fiber bidirectional WDM self-healing ring that has bidirectional optical add/drop multiplexers. A simple fault detection method is proposed, and no signal degradation due to in-band crosstalk is demonstrated in the failure state. The power penalty of the ring transmission was less than 1 dB at a BER 10/sup -12/ in the normal and failure state.

Photoluminescence (PL) and photoreflectance (PR) measurements on a nominally undoped GaAs layer grown by molecular beam epitaxy have been carried out to investigate the neutralization of the carbons and the variation of the charges in the GaAs. After the GaAs was hydrogenated and annealed at 400°C, PL measurements showed that the relative intensity ratio between the donor-bound exciton and the carbon acceptor increased by a factor of 2. PR measurements indicate that the variation of the broadening parameter is induced by a neutralization of the carbon acceptors. These results were caused by the neutralization of the carbon due to the combination of the hydrogenic ions and the carbon ions in the GaAs or by the separation of the hydrogen atoms resulting from the thermal treatment.

We modify a multiple target angle tracking algorithm presented by Sword, et al. (1990). The predicted estimates, instead of the existing estimates, of the target angles are updated by the most recent output of the sensor array to improve the tracking performance of the algorithm for crossing targets. Also, the least square solution is modified to avoid abnormally large angular innovations when the target angles are very close. The improved performance of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated by computer simulations. >

We define the requirement of the visible-light communication (VLC) transceiver for bidirectional high-speed and short-range communications and examine its practicability. VLC transceivers were implemented with edge-emitting laser diode and silicon photo diode, designed primarily to operate in a full duplex mode at 120 Mbit/s. The design of an optical antenna was also included in this paper, which is to alleviate the performance degradation due to tilting. Their bit error rate performance was examined experimentally with respect to the transmission distance, the coverage range and the tilt degree.

A new switch-level critical-path verifier for cmos digital circuits is presented. The signal flow through mos transistors is determined by combining the designer's tag with a set of direction-derivation rules, and the delays are evaluated on a stage-by-stage basis. The paper uses a semianalytic cmos delay-time model that takes into account the configuration ratio, the input waveform slope and the load condition. This model is derived from the optimally weighted switching peak current, which is, in turn, derived from the Shichman-Hodges' DC equations. The delay equations are computationally effective, and the error is found to be typically within 10% of the spice results. A novel methodology for reporting multiple paths, called a modified depth-first search with predictor, is investigated. In comparison with the conventional method without predictor, it requires much less CPU time.

Objective After organ transplantation, some patients suffer from mild neurological symptoms, such as tremor, to severe complications, including seizures and encephalopathy. These neurological side effects can be caused by immunosuppressants such as tacrolimus. However, the mechanism of encephalopathy by tacrolimus is not fully understood. Methods We measured the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in glioma cells after tacrolimus treatment. Tacrolimus added to glioma cells was incubated for 60 minutes at 37°C. The production of ROS was evaluated by measuring the fluorescent product from the oxidation of an oxidant-sensitive 2′,7′-dichlorofluorescin using VICTOR 3TM multilabel counter. Results Tacrolimus resulted in the production of the ROS in glioma cells. The production of the ROS was increased in time-dependent fashion. Conclusions These findings indicated that the tacrolimus may contribute the neurological side effects by ROS production.

Objectives After organ transplantation, some patients suffer from mild neurologic symptoms, ranging from tremor to severe complications, including seizures and encephalopathy. Among the immunosuppressants, tacrolimus can cause neurologic side effects. However, the mechanisms of encephalopathy by tacrolimus are not fully understood. We measured the antioxidant status, hydrogen peroxide level, and malondialdehyde level in glioma cells after tacrolimus treatment. Methods The production of hydrogen peroxide was determined by the modified xylenol orange method. The amount of malondialdehyde was measured by the thiobarbituric acid assay, which is based on malondialdehyde reaction with thiobarbituric acid to give a red species absorbing at 535 nm. Total antioxidant status (TAS) was measured using TAS kits (NX2332). Results Tacrolimus resulted in dose- and time-dependent increases in the production of hydrogen peroxide by glioma cells. The antioxidant status decreased in the glioma cells after tacrolimus treatment. Malondialdehyde level was unchanged in the glioma cells after tacrolimus treatment. Conclusions Increased production of reactive oxygen species and decreased antioxidant status by tacrolimus in glioma cells may contribute to neurologic side effects.

Prolonged monotonous driving may lower a driver's awareness level as well as increasing their stress level due to the compulsion to maintain safe driving, which may result in an increased risk of a traffic accident. There is therefore an opportunity for technological assessment of driver physiological status to be applied in-car, hopefully reducing the incidence of potentially dangerous situations. As part of our long-term aim to develop such a system, we describe here the investigation of differential skin temperature measurement as a possible marker of a driver's stress level. In this study, healthy male (n=18) & female (n=7) subjects were investigated under environment-controlled conditions, whilst being subjected to simulated monotonous travel at constant speed on a test-course. We acquired physiological variables, including facial skin temperature which consists of truncal and peripheral skin temperatures (T s ) using thermography, beat-by-beat blood pressure (BP), cardiac output (CO), total peripheral resistance (TPR), and normalized pulse volume (NPV) used as an indicator of local peripheral vascular tone. We then investigated the driver's reactivity in terms of skin temperatures with this background of cardiovascular haemodynamics. We found that the simulated monotonous driving produced a gradual drop in peripheral T s following the driving stress, which, through interpretation of the TPR and NPV recordings, could be explained by peripheral sympathetic activation. On the other hand, the truncal T s was not influenced by the stress. These findings lead us to suggest that truncal-peripheral differential T s could be used as a possible index indicative of the driver's stress.