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Summary: Osteoporosis increases the risk of periprosthetic distal femoral fractures after TKA, especially in patients with a history of osteoporotic fractures. Therefore, careful assessment and proper treatment of osteoporosis need and the importance of taking osteoporotic medication needs to be recognized by the patients following primary TKA. Purpose: Osteoporosis is a risk factor for fractures, including those of the hip, vertebrae, and distal radius; however, the association between osteoporosis and periprosthetic fractures after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has not been much investigated. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the association of the presence of systemic osteoporosis with periprosthetic fractures after TKA. Methods: This study included 34 patients with periprosthetic fractures following primary TKA and 106 controls matched for age and sex. Bone mineral density was evaluated at the femoral neck, total hip, and lumbar spine using dual X-ray absorptiometry. Medical records were reviewed for age; sex; body mass index; smoking; rheumatoid arthritis, endocrine diseases, and cardiovascular diseases; history of glucocorticoid use; medication for osteoporosis; and history of previous osteoporotic fracture. In addition, anterior femoral notching after TKA was evaluated. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis were used to determine factors associated with periprosthetic fracture. Results: The prevalence of osteoporosis in the fracture group was higher than that in the control group (61.8% vs. 40.6%, p=0.045). The rate of medication for osteoporosis was significantly low in the fracture group (47.6 % vs 76.7%, p=0.026). History of previous osteoporotic fracture (odds ratio [OR], 9.1; p=0.015) and osteoporosis (OR, 3.6; p=0.013) were significant risk factors for periprosthetic fractures after TKA. Medication for osteoporosis could decrease the risk of periprosthetic fracture (OR 0.3; p=0.020). Conclusion: Osteoporosis is a major risk factor for periprosthetic distal femoral fractures after TKA. Therefore, careful assessment and proper treatment of osteoporosis need and the importance of taking osteoporotic medication needs to be recognized to the patients following primary TKA, especially in patients with a history of osteoporotic fracture. Level of evidence: Prognostic study, level III [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present advancements in a finite element method for computing the physical properties of magnetic microcalorimeters (MMCs). Utilizing the COMSOL package, we conducted 3D simulations of a meander-shaped Nb coil with a realistic geometry. The resulting magnetic field distribution showed good agreement with a previous 2D simulation and revealed non-negligible differences at the side edge of the sensor material. Employing the simulation results, we calculated the MMC properties and compared them with previous measurements. Our calculated values closely align with the measured values for the sensor magnetization, the pulse heights from alpha detection, and the coil inductance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the development of a heat flow model utilizing a scintillating crystal for heat and light detection. By analyzing the measured light signals from α - and β / γ -induced events in a CaMoO 4 crystal, we describe the time-dependent behavior of the scintillation emission and the subsequent generation of delayed phonons in the crystal. The phonon detection channel model incorporates both prompt and delayed generation of a thermal phonons; these are absorbed in a phonon collector film on the crystal surface or converted into a thermal phonon distribution in the crystal. A reasonable agreement is observed in the comparison between the measured signals and the simulated signals derived from the model study. We attribute the observed pulse shape discrimination to the presence of the delayed phonons associated with the scintillation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recrystallization behavior of cold-rolled Al–Zn–Mg–Cu-based alloy sheets was systematically investigated by varying the Cu and Mg contents. With increasing Cu and Mg contents, the recrystallized grain size was reduced from 54.9 to 23.3 μ m owing to the reduced ratio of the size to volume fraction of microscale particles. Interestingly, the sensitivity of different particles to particle-stimulated nucleation (PSN), which is reflected by the linear experimental coefficient (k), was dependent on their morphologies and relative fractions. The k value was considerably small (0.07) in the Cu-free alloys, implying that the Zn and Mg containing particles have an insignificant effect on the PSN. However, the k value increased significantly to 0.61 with the increase in Cu content to 1.3 wt%, because the rod-shaped Al7Cu2Fe particles formed a large plastic deformation zone around them. The addition of 2.0 wt% Mg led to the increase in the relative fraction of round-shaped Al2CuMg particles, increasing the k value from 0.46 to 0.86. The Al7Cu2Fe particles were a stronger source of PSN than the Al2CuMg particles, forming more recrystallized grains. Although Mg addition could increase the yield strength of the aged sheets, a strength–ductility trade-off arose. However, the addition of Cu simultaneously increased the yield strength and elongation because the uniform distribution of grain boundary precipitates caused by grain refinement could reduce the stress concentration during plastic deformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a detector model study for light detectors having Ge and Si wafers as absorbers with a metallic magnetic calorimeter (MMC) readout. The model explains the heat flow processes between the thermal components in the detector system, including athermal and thermal phonon transfers and electronic heat diffusion. The temperature dependence of the thermal conductance values was in good agreement with their expectations. The analysis also resulted in finding the characteristic time constants of the athermal phonons for direct absorption in the phonon collector film and for the downconversion to thermal phonons of the absorber wafers. It is a complete detector model to be applied for various detector variations such as the type and dimensions of the wafer absorber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a correction notice for an article titled "Thermal Model Improvement in Phonon Detection Channels Using a Scintillating Crystal" published in the Journal of Low Temperature Physics. The correction addresses several errors in the original article, including incorrect terms and subscripts. The corrected version of the article can be found online. The document also includes contact information for the author. [Extracted from the article]

AMoRE is an international project to search for the neutrinoless double beta decay of 100 Mo using a detection technology consisting of magnetic microcalorimeters (MMCs) and molybdenum-based scintillating crystals. Data collection has begun for the current AMORE-I phase of the project, an upgrade from the previous pilot phase. AMoRE-I employs thirteen 48 depl. Ca 100 MoO 4 crystals and five Li 2 100 MoO 4 crystals for a total crystal mass of 6.2 kg. Each detector module contains a scintillating crystal with two MMC channels for heat and light detection. We report the present status of the experiment and the performance of the detector modules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The AMoRE collaboration is preparing for the AMoRE-II experiment that will probe neutrinoless double beta decay with 100 kg of 100Mo isotope. The 100Mo nuclide will be mainly in the form of lithium molybdate crystals that are instrumented with metallic magnetic calorimeters (MMC), which detect the phonon excitations produced by electrons from neutrinoless double beta decay in the crystals. The energy resolution at a Q-value = 3.034 MeV is around 10 keV within a temperature ranging between 10 and 20 mK. Increasing the crystal mass of individual detector modules will reduce the number of detector channels and allow a few practical advantages associated with crystal growing, detector preparation, and operation of the experiment. To this end, we carried out an experiment with a 6 cm (diameter (D)) × 6 cm (height (H)) cylindrical lithium molybdate crystal of 516 g mass, which is 73% more massive than the 5 cm (D) × 5 cm (H) crystals that are currently being used in the AMoRE-I setup. We found that the larger crystal detector shows good performance characteristics in terms of energy resolution, signal time constant and particle identification capability, which makes it a suitable option for the AMoRE-II experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of the bias current on the in-plane colossal anisotropic magnetoresistance (C-AMR) is investigated in spatially confined La0:3Pr0:4Ca0:3MnO3 microbridges. Dramatic increases of the C-AMR are found when the bias current is reduced. For example, in one of the samples, the C-AMR changed from ∼900% to over ∼24 000% as the current is decreased from 1 lA to 10nA. The results indicate that the bias current can be used to manipulate the C-AMR in spatially confined manganite thin films via changes to the nature of the anisotropic percolation within the samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

La0.3Pr0.4Ca0.3MnO3 (LPCMO) thin film micro-bridge deposited on LaAlO3. Angular dependence of the magneto-resistance R(ϑ) of this bridge, where ϑ is the angle between the magnetic field and the current directions in the film plane, exhibits sharp positive and negative percolation jumps near TMIT. The sign and the magnitude of these jumps can be tuned using the magnetic field. Such behavior has not been observed in LPCMO micro-bridges subjected to tensile strain, indicating a correlation between the type of the lattice strain, the distribution of electronic domains, and the anisotropic magneto-resistance in spatially confined manganite systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correlated manganite films exhibit functional transport properties due to the co-existence of the competing electronic phase domains which are energetically similar. Here, we investigate very large bi-polar resistive switching (RS) in spatially confined La0.3Pr0.4Ca0.3MnO3 films. In this system, non-volatile bi-polar RS (up to ∼2× 106%) takes place via electric field induced expansion/shrinkage of metallic phase domains, which are separated by an insulating phase domain. These effects are observed without the need of a pre-forming process. We suggest the modification of a memristor model for phase separated systems to explain the observed non-volatile bi-polar I–V characteristics. Investigations of the endurance of the RS over many switching cycles (more than 2.7 × 104 switching) show that it does not decay and full switching occurs with a high success rate. Furthermore, the ability to carry out switching between a number of distinct resistance levels is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have studied the effects of film thickness and surface inhomogeneities on the fluid and static phase separated states of La0.35Pr0.35Ca0.3MnO3 films grown on LaAlO3 and SrTiO3 substrates which provide compressive and tensile strain, respectively. The shapes and areas of the resistance versus magnetic field hysteresis loops were used to identify the type of phase separated state in the films. Atomic force microscopy revealed an increase of the relative surface roughness of the films with a decreasing thickness. The resultant distribution of the strain produces a dramatic enhancement of the inhomogeneous electronic phase separation as well as large changes in the dependence of the resistivity on magnetic field in the thinnest films deposited on both types of substrates. In contrast to thick films, the static phase separated state in the thinnest films is more inhomogeneous than the fluid phase separated one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic distortions and polaronic effects have been investigated in La0.8Ba0.2Mn1-xAlxO3 doped manganites of R3c symmetry. We studied the transport and magnetic properties and constructed a phase diagram of this system. We also analyzed the dependence of the transport data on the doping level x. The dependence of the polaron activation energy in the paramagnetic state on x doping was calculated and compared with the available literature data. The results suggest an interplay between a magnetic polaron mediated conductivity which dominates at low x and a bipolaron mediated one which controls electric transport at higher doping. It is suggested that the magnetic polaron formation is responsible for the increased magnetoresistance at low Al doping. Investigation on the nature of the magneto-transport mechanism of such ferromagnetic manganite will be useful in understanding its potential applications at the paramagnetic state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Signal amplitudes of low-temperature detectors, vastly used in rare-event searches such as neutrinoless double beta decay experiments, are sensitive to measurement conditions causing instability such as operation temperature fluctuations. Those detector signal amplitudes thus present drifts and shifts over time due to those temperature fluctuations and need to be corrected. This effect degrades the energy resolution and particle discrimination capabilities of the calorimetric detection at low temperatures, with both strongly affecting the sensitivity of rare-event search experiments. Joule heaters were developed and used on absorber crystals in the Advanced Mo-based Rare process Experiment project, to inject periodically a controlled amount of heat, and thus produce reference signals that can be used to correct and thus stabilize the signal amplitudes of the detectors. The pulse height of the heater signals could not be used as a correction parameter as it was affected by various sources of instability. Instead, the rise time of the heater signals was used to generate a correction function describing well the time dependence of the particle-induced events in the crystals and thus provided a significant improvement of the energy resolution and particle discrimination capabilities to separate β / γ and α events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a new type of active electrostatic suspension system without using position sensors. The concept is to design a feedback controller without using position signals of the object instead using the voltage signals. In the working process of the electrostatic suspension system, the capacitance formed between the electrode and the suspended object is treated as a capacitor of two parallel plates, and if the gap length between them is changed the capacitance is then changed. This causes to change the voltage across the capacitance formed between the electrode and suspended object. This voltage is measured, and it then is used to estimate all variables of the system that are the displacement, velocity of the suspended object, and voltage across the capacitance formed. These estimated values are employed in the feedback schema instead of actual states values. The design of the controller follows the classical observer state-space approach. First, a state feedback controller is constructed with the assumption that all the state variables of the suspension system that are displacement, velocity of the suspended object, and voltage across the capacitance formed by the electrodes and the suspended object, are available for feedback. Second, a full observer is designed for estimating all the states from the measured voltage across the capacitance. Finally, the estimated signals produced by the full observer are used in the feedback controller instead of the actual states, and the self-sensing electrostatic suspension without using position sensors is achieved. The experimental and simulation results show that the suspended object successfully levitated at reference gap without using position sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We developed measurement systems for the simultaneous detection of phonon and scintillation signals from Li 2 MoO 4 crystals based on the metallic magnetic calorimeter (MMC) technology. Two measurements were carried out using Li 2 MoO 4 crystals of different sizes. The first measurement was conducted with a compact detection system designed for a 1 × 1 × 1 cm 3 crystal. An advanced light detector with Neganov–Luke phonon amplification was adopted in the compact setup. Later, the second experiment was carried out using a cylindrical Li 2 MoO 4 crystal of 5 cm in diameter and 5 cm in height. Another light detector was implemented with a 2-in. Ge wafer and an MMC sensor. Both measurements resulted in simultaneous detection of heat and light signals. Clear particle discriminations between α - and β / γ -induced events were demonstrated by comparing amplitudes of the heat and light signals in both measurements. The heat signals in the larger setup showed an energy resolution of 18 keV FWHM for 2615 keV γ -rays. The energy linearity of the detector response was investigated for a suitable calibration near 3.034 MeV, the Q value of 100 Mo double-beta decay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report progress on the development of a light detector with Neganov–Luke (NL) phonon amplification. Double comb-like electrodes were fabricated on an intrinsic Si wafer to apply an electric field. A metallic magnetic calorimeter was used for a sensitive measurement of the temperature increase originating from the light absorption in the wafer and NL phonon amplification. The NL light detector was applied to the simultaneous detection of heat and light signals from a ZnWO 4 scintillating crystal. Clear amplification of the light signals was obtained for various voltages applied to the electrodes, while no change in the heat signals was observed. The voltage dependence of the measured gain was investigated for a few efficiency parameters, such as the saturation voltage required to suppress the recombination of electron-hole pairs and the heat generation efficiency of the NL effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zirconium and hafnium oxides and silicates have emerged as potential replacements for SiO2 as gate dielectric material. Patterning of these materials by wet etching in fabrication areas originally designed for SiO2 gates may give rise to contamination of SiO2 by aqueous zirconium and hafnium species. This paper summarizes the work carried out to characterize the adsorption behavior of aqueous zirconium and hafnium species onto thermally grown silicon dioxide. Electrokinetic and adsorption measurements were carried out to understand the extent and nature of interaction. The adsorption of both Zr and Hf species showed a maximum at pH 5.5. Significant reduction in the adsorption of both Zr and Hf occurred upon addition of fluoride ions to the solution. Using appropriate speciation diagrams, an adsorption model has been developed to explain the experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a systematic trigger study for the Advanced Molybdenum-based Rare process Experiment (AMoRE), an international project searching for the neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) of 100Mo. AMoRE utilizes a heat and light detection method at millikelvin temperatures. A detector module of AMoRE is composed of a large crystal absorber and metallic magnetic calorimeter temperature sensors. We applied a software filter with various conditions to the continuously saved data from the current AMoRE setup. With a trigger level set to 5 times the standard deviation of the noise signals resulting from a Butterworth filter, an energy threshold, defined as the energy of the signals leading to a 50% trigger efficiency, was found to be 2.2 keV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of the Advanced Mo-based Rare process Experiment (AMoRE) is to search for the neutrinoless double beta decay of 100Mo using low-temperature detectors consisting of Mo-based scintillating crystals read out via metallic magnetic calorimeters. Heat and light signals are measured simultaneously at millikelvin temperatures, which are reached using a cryogen-free dilution refrigerator. The AMoRE-Pilot experiment, using six 100Mo-enriched, 48Ca-depleted calcium molybdate crystals with a total mass of about 1.9 kg, has been running in the 700-m-deep Yangyang underground laboratory as the pilot phase of the AMoRE project. Several setup improvements through different runs allowed us to achieve a high energy resolution and an efficient particle discrimination. This article briefly presents the status of the AMoRE-Pilot experiment, as well as the plans for the next, larger-scale, experimental stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Poultry Science / Archiv für Geflügelkunde is the property of Verlag Eugen Ulmer and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: Migrated lumbar disc herniations (LDHs) in the sagittal plane are common. Disc migration grading can be applied as a useful measurement tool in the diagnosis, treatment, and outcome evaluation of migrated LDH. No study has evaluated the reliability of migrated LDH grading. We evaluated the reliability and functionality of the current magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) grading system for migrated LDH. Methods: We assessed a six-level grading system developed based on sagittal MRI and graded according to the direction (rostral and caudal) and degree (low, high, and very high) of disc migration. One-hundred and one migrated LDHs treated with minimally invasive endoscopic discectomy were analyzed independently by two experienced radiologists. Intraobserver and interobserver agreements were assessed by kappa statistics. Results: The most common migrated LDH grade was grade 4 (30.94%; caudal, low-grade migration). Rostral and caudal migrations were more common in the upper and lower lumbar levels, respectively. Interobserver agreement in the grading of migrated LDH was good at both the first (kappa = 0.737) and second assessment (kappa = 0.657). The intraobserver agreement for reader 1 was very good (kappa = 0.827) and for reader 2 was good (kappa = 0.620). Conclusions: The current grading system for migrated LDH was found to be reliable and functional with good interobserver and intraobserver agreement. It may be useful in the interpretation of disc migration patterns and outcomes of various minimally invasive surgical procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the coexistence of non-volatile bi-polar resistive switching (RS) and tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) in spatially confined La0.3Pr0.4Ca0.3MnO3 films grown on LaAlO3 substrates. At certain temperatures, the arrangement of electronic phase domains in these narrow systems mimics those found in heterostructured metal-insulator-metal devices. The relative spin orientations between adjacent ferromagnetic metallic phase domains enable the TMR effect, while the creation/ annihilation of conduction filaments between the metallic phase domains produces the RS effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluoride has been widely used for the prevention of dental caries since the mid-20th century. The aim of this study was to investigate the chronologic trends in studies on fluoride mechanisms of action against dental caries during the years 1950 to 2015. To this aim, queries such as "fluoride," "fluoride and demineralization," "fluoride and remineralization," "fluoride and (plaque or biofilms)," and "fluoride and (bacteria or microbials)" were submitted to PubMed to collect research article information, including titles, abstracts, publication dates, author affiliations, and publication journals. The article information that PubMed produced was then collected by an automatic web crawler and examined through informetrics and linguistic analyses. We found that the number of articles concerned with fluoride mechanisms of action against dental caries was 6,903 and gradually increased over time during the years 1950 to 2015. They were published by 1,136 journals-most notably, Caries Research and Journal of Dental Research. Of the articles published, those related to bacteria/microbials had a higher percentage (44%) than those dealing with plaque/biofilms, demineralization, and remineralization. With regard to the geographic distribution of authors, Europe and North America accounted for 65% of the articles during the years 1987 to 2015, although the number of authors in Asia sharply increased in recent years. Among the fluoride compounds, NaF was mentioned more frequently than SnF2, Na2PO3F, amine fluoride, and acidulated phosphate fluoride during the years 1986 to 2015. Water fluoridation received the most attention among the various fluoride application methods (toothpastes, mouthwashes, fluoride varnishes, and fluoride gels) during the same period. These results, obtained from employing informetrics and linguistic analyses, suggest that in studies on fluoride mechanisms of action, 1) the unbalanced geographic distribution of articles and 2) the heavy concentration of articles on particular fluoride compounds and application methods should be overcome in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is associated with a poor prognosis and high postoperative recurrence rate. Although postoperative opioid use has been associated with cancer recurrence, its relevance in ESCC has not been determined. Therefore, this study investigated whether high-dose postoperative opioid use was associated with recurrence risk in patients with ESCC. For this retrospective analysis, the medical records of patients who were diagnosed with ESCC and who underwent surgery between January 2006 and December 2010 in the National Cancer Center, Korea were evaluated. Total opioid administration over a 10-day period, from during surgery to postoperative day 9, was calculated. A cutoff value was determined using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and patients were classified into the high-use and low-use groups. The primary and secondary outcomes of the study were freedom from recurrence and overall survival, respectively. After propensity score matching, the effect of opioid use on freedom from recurrence and overall survival was evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The final analysis set included 258 patients. The cumulative opioid dose cutoff point was 1783.5 mg of oral morphine. High-dose postoperative opioid use was a significant factor affecting recurrence (Hazard ratio [HR], 2.162; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.583-2.954; P < 0.0001). In contrast, postoperative opioid use was not associated with death (HR, 1.274; 95% CI, 0.922-1.761; P = 0.1422). In patients with ESCC, compared with low-dose opioid use, high-dose intraoperative and postoperative opioid use was significantly associated with an increased risk of recurrence. However, opioid dosage did not affect overall survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives This study investigated the relationship between oral hygiene conditions, activities of daily living (ADL) and cognitive ability in older Korean patients in long-term care facilities. Methods Ninety older persons (65+) were randomly sampled from a possible 112 residents in a single facility. They participated in a 2-month-long survey. The Korean Modified Barthel Index was used to measure the ADL, and cognitive ability was measured using the Mini-Mental State Examination, Korean version. Oral hygiene status was measured using the Simplified Oral Hygiene Index and the Tongue Coating Index (TCI). Results Older participants with complete dependence manifested significantly poorer oral hygiene ( P < 0.05). Scores on the TCI were significantly higher in participants who were dentulous with partial dependence ( P < 0.05). A multiple regression analysis showed that dependence and being dentulous significantly predicted poorer oral hygiene ( P < 0.05). Conclusions This study suggests that older participants with complete dependence had poor oral hygiene on tooth surfaces, while participants with partial dependence had poor tongue hygiene. In addition, dentulous older participants had poorer tongue hygiene than edentulous ones. This indicates the need to assess tooth status and provide oral care services via ADL in long-term care facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of interior materials with various absorption coefficients on speech privacy was investigated in a 1:10 scale model of one high-speed train cabin geometry. The speech transmission index ( STI) and privacy distance ( rP) were measured in the train cabin to quantify speech privacy. Measurement cases were selected for the ceiling, sidewall, and front and back walls and were classified as high-, medium- and low-absorption coefficient cases. Interior materials with high absorption coefficients yielded a low rP, and the ceiling had the largest impact on both the STI and rP among the interior elements. Combinations of the three cases were measured, and the maximum reduction in rP by the absorptive surfaces was 2.4 m, which exceeds the space between two rows of chairs in the high-speed train. Additionally, the contribution of the interior elements to speech privacy was analyzed using recorded impulse responses and a multiple regression model for rP using the equivalent absorption area. The analysis confirmed that the ceiling was the most important interior element for improving speech privacy. These results can be used to find the relative decrease in rP in the acoustic design of interior materials to improve speech privacy in train cabins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroRNAs ( miRNAs) are short, non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level, which can be measured in cells, tissues, and body fluids including plasma. Differences in miRNA expression levels suggest an epigenetic mechanism and changed expression levels are emerging as a novel biomarker for various diseases. We attempted to identify circulating miRNAs associated with susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus ( SLE) in the Korean population and elucidate their significance for clinical phenotype. An expression profiling analysis using miRNA polymerase chain reaction ( PCR) array was conducted with pooled miRNA from 10 patients with SLE and 10 healthy controls ( HCs). Nine miRNAs were differentially expressed between the SLE and HC. To verify this, we performed quantitative PCR for various miRNA from SLE patients ( n = 70) and HCs ( n = 40). The hsa- miR-30e-5p, hsa- miR-92a-3p, and hsa- miR-223-3p were significantly up-regulated in plasma of SLE patients ( P = 0.048, P = 0.039, and P = 0.046, respectively). Especially, the hsa- miR-223-3p was significantly associated with oral ulcer ( P < 0.001) and lupus anticoagulant ( P = 0.031). Thus, plasma hsa- miR-30e-5p, hsa- miR-92a-3p, and hsa- miR-223-3p may be promising novel biomarkers in the diagnosis and clinical manifestation of SLE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims The aim of this study was to characterize phenotypical properties, to analyse whole genomes of novel Acinetobacter baumannii phages infecting carbapenem-resistant Ac. baumannii ( CRAB) and to evaluate their potential as antimicrobial alternatives to control Ac. baumannii in clinical settings. Methods and Results The Ac. baumannii phages, Βϕ-R1215 and Βϕ-R2315, were isolated from sewage samples. These phages were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, host spectrum, the thermal/ pH stability test, the bacterial lysis assay and the whole genome analysis. Both phages lysed 21 of 45 CRAB hosts, and showed high stability at various pH ( pH 4-10) and temperature (25-60°C), and were strongly active against host bacteria in vitro. The genomes of Βϕ-R1215 and Βϕ-R2315 are linear double-strands of DNA with 44·866 and 44·846 bp respectively. These two genomes revealed high similarity at the DNA level, but the organization and direction of open reading frames were different. Conclusions The Ac. baumannii phages, Βϕ-R1215 and Βϕ-R2315, are novel lytic phages lysing CRAB strains which were isolated from respiratory samples of patients. Significance and Impact of the Study In vitro and in silico data showed that these novel Ac. baumannii phages, Βϕ-R1215 and Βϕ-R2315, have potential as antimicrobial alternatives to control CRAB in healthcare settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study was to investigate the level of exercise participation in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and to investigate their intention, attitude and preference toward exercise. The data of 158 IBD patients that participated in a self-administered survey at Severance Hospital between March 2013 and November 2013 were included in this cross sectional and descriptive analysis. Questionnaires included 3 sections to determine the IBD patient's current exercise participation, attitude toward exercise, and exercise preferences. This study investigated IBD patients both collectively, and according to their specific disease: Crohn's disease (CD) (n = 62), Ulcerative colitis (UC) (n = 73) and intestinal Behçet's disease (BD) (n = 23). IBD patients currently participate in 103 min/week of exercise including mild, moderate and strenuous intensity, with BD patients being the least active, followed by CD, and UC being most active. The majority of IBD patients found exercise to be pleasant (57.7%), beneficial (80.5%), sensible (71.8%), uplifting (61%) and good (70.5%), and 44.4% found exercise to be enjoyable. This study shows the IBD patients' participation, attitude and preferences toward exercise and provides much needed information for the development of evidence based exercise programs that are specific to IBD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Cosmetic Science is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Diabetes mellitus is closely related to oral-complicated diseases by oxidative stress. This study investigates whether cellular myeloblastosis (c-myb) could protect human dental pulp cells against glucose oxidative stress and regulate autophagy activity for pulp vitality. Diabetes mellitus was induced by streptozotocin in Sprague-Dawley rats, and their pulp tissue in teeth was analyzed in terms of pulp cavity and molecules by hematoxylin and eosin and immunohistochemistry staining. Human dental pulp cells were serially subcultured and treated with glucose oxidase in the presence of elevated glucose to generate glucose oxidative stress. The replication-deficient adenovirus c-myb and small interfering RNA c-myb were introduced for c-myb expression. The pulp tissue from the diabetic rats was structurally different from normal tissue in terms of narrow pulp capacity, reduced c-myb, and dentinogenesis molecules. Glucose oxidase treatment decreased c-myb and dentinogenesis molecules (bone morphogenetic protein 2 and 7, dentin matrix protein 1, and dentin sialophosphoprotein) in human dental pulp cells. However, overexpression of c-myb by adenovirus c-myb increased dentinogenesis, autophagy molecules (autophagy protein 5, microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B-light chain 3, and Beclin-1), and cell survival via p-AMPK/AKT signaling even with glucose oxidative stress. In contrast, the lack of c-myb decreased the above molecules and cell survival by downregulating p-AMPK/AKT signaling. The results indicate that diabetes leads to irreversible damage to dental pulp, which is related to downexpression of autophagy via the p-AMPK/AKT pathway by decline of c-myb. The findings of this study provide a new insight that c-myb could ameliorate autophagy activity and that it is applicable for monitoring complicated diseases of dental pulp. The involvement of c-myb in pulp pathology could serve a therapeutic target in oral-complicated diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the surface and interface states of Bi2Se3 thin films by using the second-harmonic generation technique. Distinct from the surface of bulk crystals, the film surface and interface show the isotropic azimuth dependence of second-harmonic intensity, which is attributed to the formation of randomly oriented domains on the in-plane. Based on the nonlinear susceptibility deduced from the model fitting, we determine that the surface band bending induced in a space charge region occurs more strongly at the film interface facing the Al2O3 substrate or capping layer compared with the interface facing the air. We demonstrate that distinct behavior of the terahertz electric field emitted from the samples can provide further information about the surface electronic state of Bi2Se3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a method to predict the thermal ageing effect on fracture toughness of CF8M cast stainless steel. The proposed method is based on multi-axial fracture strain combined with finite element damage analysis to simulate ductile tearing. Multi-axial fracture strain loci of un-aged and aged CF8M are determined by analyzing notched bar tensile test. It is shown that the thermal ageing effect on multi-axial fracture strain loci can be characterized by one constant. It is further shown that J-resistance curves of un-aged and aged CF8M can be predicted well from finite element damage analysis using multi-axial fracture strain loci. Implication of present results to practical application of crack assessment of aged cast stainless steels is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following Ref. , this technical note presents a method to predict the thermal ageing effect on fracture toughness of cast stainless steel CF8M from the small punch test using finite element (FE) damage analysis. A procedure is given to extract tensile properties and multi-axial fracture strain locus of aged CF8M from the small punch test using FE analysis. It is further shown that fracture toughness of aged CF8M can be predicted from the small punch test using FE damage analysis. Comparison with experimental data shows good agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Cosmetic Science is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)