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Study Design: Retrospective case-control study. Purpose: To reduce unnecessary absolute bed rest (ABR), this study sought to determine the optimal aimed length of ABR in older patients getting conservative treatment for osteoporotic vertebral fractures (OVFs). Overview of Literature: OVFs are quite common in elderly patients. ABR is a vital part of conservative treatment for OVFs, although the length of ABR may increase patient. No recommendations regarding how long ABR should last. Methods: This study was conducted in 134 patients with OVFs initially treated conservatively. The patients were split into two groups: 3-day and 7-day ABR. From the time of injury to 1, 4, and 12 weeks after injury, compression rate (CR) and local kyphotic angle (LKA) were assessed and compared between the two groups. Any complications such as pneumonia, deep vein thrombosis, delirium, and urinary tract infection known to be related to ABR were examined based on the electronic medical record. Results: Forty-four patients underwent ABR for 3 days and 90 underwent ABR for 7 days. There was no significant difference in CR and LKA between the two groups at the time of injury versus 1, 4, and 12 weeks after injury. The patients were divided into two groups: those who received a 3-day ABR and those who received a 7-day ABR. CR and LKA were measured and compared between the two groups from the time of damage to 1, 4, and 12 weeks after injury. The ABR-related complication rate was 43.4% in the 7-day ABR group and 22.7% in 3-day ABR group (p =0.02). The duration of hospital stay was significantly shorter in the 3-day ABR group (12.8 days) than in the 7-day group (16 days) (p =0.01). Conclusions: Considering radiological outcomes, prognosis, complications, patient convenience, and economic impact, a 3-day ABR period is appropriate for the conservative treatment of OVFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tumour-unrelated, virus-specific bystander CD8+ T cells were recently shown to be abundant among tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). However, their roles in tumour immunity have not been elucidated yet.Methods: We studied the characteristics of bystander CD8+ TILs from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues (N=66) and their activation by interleukin (IL)-15 to repurpose them for tumour immunotherapy.Results: We show that bystander CD8+ TILs specific to various viruses are present in human NSCLC tissues. We stimulated CD8+ TILs ex vivo using IL-15 without cognate antigens and found that IL-15 treatment upregulated NKG2D expression on CD8+ TILs, resulting in NKG2D-dependent production of interferon (IFN)-γ (p=0.0006). Finally, we tested whether IL-15 treatment can control tumour growth in a murine NSCLC model with or without a history of murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) infection. IL-15 treatment reduced the number of tumour nodules in the lung only in mice with MCMV infection (p=0.0037). We confirmed that MCMV-specific bystander CD8+ TILs produced interferon (IFN)-γ after IL-15 treatment, and that IL-15 treatment in MCMV-infected mice upregulated tumour necrosis factor-α and IFN-γ responsive genes in tumour microenvironment.Conclusion: Thus, the study demonstrates that bystander CD8+ TILs can be repurposed by IL-15 for tumour immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peroneal tendon disorders are one of many causes of chronic lateral ankle pain. They are related to chronic conditions and anatomical factors and can cause persistent pain and functional impairment if neglected. Peroneal tendon tears are frequently misdiagnosed due to the absence of clear symptoms. For subacute or chronic peroneal tendon ruptures, tendons often became irreparable, and hence various surgical options have been introduced to address this issue. Current surgical treatment options include debridement and tubularization, tenodesis, tendon transfer, and reconstruction with a graft. There have been a few reports on the use of reconstruction techniques with an allograft. In this report, we present a rare case of a peroneal tendon reconstruction technique using an allograft in a young male with simultaneous irreparable peroneus longus and a complete rupture of the brevis tendon. The management plan, prognostic outlook, and a subsequent review of the relevant literature are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The blueprint for the Republic of Korea was drawn up in large part by northern Protestants who moved south following the division of the Korean Peninsula. This paper elucidates the profoundly important role they played in nation-building, highlighting the existence of multiple, functionally distinct Protestantisms. Far from constituting a uniform field, Christianity in Korea was shaped by tensions among three different Protestantisms originating in three different locations: the conservative Protestantism of the Northern Presbyterian Church in the United States, the progressivism of Canadian Protestantism, later nurtured by the Germans, and Japanese Protestantism, which entered Korea in the 1920s and left behind a deep imprint despite its relatively limited reach. While the most recognizable form of Protestantism has become inseparable from America itself, a significantly less conservative Protestantism hailing from Hamgyeong-do province and eastern Manchuria served as the core of anti-government dissidence in the 1960s and 1970s. Yet another Protestantism, concealing the word "Japan" from its genealogy in the charged atmosphere of post-liberation Korean society, survived as a powerful rival to and opponent of conservative American Protestantism in presenting a coherent vision of social reform. The existence of such different Protestantisms also reveals the presence of different modernities in postwar South Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A flexible hose that is unwound along with fiber-optic cables from a mother ship helps prevent interference with the mother ship during the unwinding of the fiber-optic cable. Because the density of fiber-optic cables is close to the fluid density, if there is no flexible hose, the fiber-optic cable is more likely to interfere with the mother ship because of the motion of underwater vehicles or mother ships. Hence, it is necessary to prevent the interference of fiber-optic cables by using flexible hoses made of stainless steel. Flexible hoses unwound as an underwater vehicle moves are coupled to the vehicle by shear pins, and once all flexible hoses are unwound, the underwater vehicle continues to move forward as the pins fracture. Here, a dynamic load applied on the shear pin for connection in the early stages of the unwinding of the flexible hose is an important factor that controls the position, which should be accurately predicted, prior to the motion of the underwater vehicle. Further, it is essential that the shear pin of the connection part be designed to fracture under the selected load so that underwater vehicle can continue to move forward as the pin breaks. In this study, analysis results based on loading information measured in real experiments were compared and verified, and based on the findings, an analytical model that can predict loads applied on the shear pin was developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the preparation of a series of palladium (Pd)(II)-trifluoroacetate (TFA)-(chelating diphosphine) complexes and the catalytic C-C coupling reactions of aryl halides and arylboronic acids. Topics covered include the advantages of transition-metal complexes having a TFA ligand, the results of the C-C coupling reactions of aryl bromides and phenylboronic acid and the optimization for Suzuli-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions of 4-chloro acetophenone with phenylboronic acid.

Background: Canine pemphigus foliaceus is an autoimmune antibody-mediated skin disease characterized by acantholysis. The objective of this case report is to present the successful management of steroid refractory pemphigus foliaceus with cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA4)-overexpressing adipose tissue mesenchymal stem cells (ATMSCs). Case presentation: A 10-year-old, 12.3-kg, castrated male Shih Tzu presented with severe pruritus and anorexia. The diagnosis of pemphigus foliaceus was made based on its history, physical examination, and histopathology results of a skin biopsy. Treatment with prednisolone and combination therapy of other immunosuppressive drugs had failed; therefore, immunosuppressive gene, CTLA4 overexpressing ATMSCs (CTLA4-ATMSCs) and/or naive ATMSCs administration was performed with the consent of the owner. ATMSCs were administered 21 times over a period of 20 months with intervals of 2 to 8 week. Prednisolone was gradually tapered concurrently and no relapse of the clinical signs was observed. After the termination of CTLA4-ATMSCs and/or naive ATMSCs treatment, the skin lesions had improved and could be managed with a low dose of prednisolone for 12 months. Conclusion: CTLA4-ATMSCs or naive ATMSCs transplantation may be beneficial as adjunctive therapy to initiate and maintain the remission of skin lesions caused by pemphigus foliaceus in veterinary medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Turner and colleagues introduced a new method that can detect tinnitus in animals. The stimulus is composed of a small background noise that is identical to the pitch of the tinnitus and a large pulse noise that can evoke a startle response. In normal rats, the gap decreases the startle reflex. However, in tinnitus rats, the gap does not decrease the startle reflex. The goal of this study was to optimize the stimulation paradigm so that the prepulse inhibition of N1-P2 amplitude would be maximized in the normal human subjects. Subjects and Methods: Seven normal control subjects without tinnitus were recruited. The stimulus was composed of two different sounds: the softer background noise and the louder pulse noise. A 50 msec silent gap was inserted before the pulse noise as the gap condition (G condition) but not in the no-gap condition (N condition). The averaged amplitude of the N1-P2 cortical response was recorded for the G and N conditions. Results: The G/N ratio was the smallest when the gap was 20 msec prior to the pulse noise. The G/N ratio was 84.8±16.8% with the Hanning window and 78.5±5.9% without the window. The G/N ratio was 91.1± 24.9%, 78.0±5.4%, and 79.0±18.1% when the intensity of the background noise was 10, 20, and 32 dB SL, respectively. When the intensity of the background noise was 20 and 32 dB SL, the N1-P2 amplitude of the G condition was significantly smaller than that of the N condition. Conclusions: The optimal stimulus should be composed of the 1 kHz pulse noise without Hanning window. The intensity of the background noise should be 20 dB HL and the location of the gap should be 20 msec prior to the pulse noise. It seems that with these optimized parameters we could expect a 78.0% inhibition of N1-P2 amplitude in normal subjects without tinnitus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this communication, the electromagnetic transmission problem through a narrow slot in a thick conducting screen is dealt with by using the modal expansion Galerkin's method in the space domain. The main concern centers on the condition for maximum power transmission through the slot in the thick conducting screen. Transmission cavity resonance phenomena, which are observed only when the resonance cavity is formed along the longitudinal direction inside the slot region in the thick conducting screen, are investigated. These transmission resonance peaks occur at particular values of the screen thickness, that is, when the thickness of the conducting screen is a little less than an integer number of half guide wavelength of the fundamental guided mode inside the slot region. It is also found that there is another type of transmission resonance phenomenon occurring regardless of the screen thickness. The latter type of transmission resonance is observed only when transverse resonance condition holds and can be taken as a generalization of the slot resonance in a thin conducting screen to that in an arbitrarily thick conducting screen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To determine by chest CT the proper compression landmark and depth for cardiopulmonary resuscitation in patients with pectus excavatum (PE). Methods The chest CT of 22 patients with PE (mean age=27 years; range 16-53 years, 10 male) from March 2002 to September 2011 were retrospectively evaluated as follows: length of sternum, external thickness/internal thickness (ET/IT) of the chest and the intrathoracic structures in the level of lower half (LH) of the sternum. In addition, Haller index (HI) and the degree of leftward displacement of the heart were measured. Finally, variables were also measured in an age/sex-matched control group (n=22) with no evidence of any chest wall deformity. Results The sternal length was not different and LH of the sternum was adequate to compress left ventricle (LV) in both groups. Patients had a significant higher HI and showed a greater leftward displacement of LV centre with a mean difference of 11 mm. PE patients showed a lesser ET/IT with a mean difference of approximately 20 mm than controls (mean ET/IT=174±18/70±10 mm vs 199±23/93±15 mm, p<0.001). Conclusions The LH of the sternum is an appropriate chest compression landmark in PE patients to compress LV, although the centre of LV shows slightly leftward displacement. Since PE patients have sunken chest, a 3-4 cm may be the proper compression depth in the patients when considering the current compression guideline in normal subjects is 5-6 cm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wegener’s granulomatosis (WG) is defined as a granulomatous inflammation of the upper and lower respiratory tract due to a systemic vasculitis. Facial nerve palsy may occur during the course of any granulomatous or vasculitis disease. But very few cases have been reported in which facial nerve palsy is the presenting feature of WG. We recently experienced an interesting case of WG presenting as acute middle ear infection and subsequent bilateral facial palsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To investigate the differences in antimicrobial susceptibility and resistance mechanisms against imipenem between Acinetobacter baumannii and Acinetobacter genomic species 13TU. Methods A total of 232 non-duplicate Acinetobacter species were consecutively collected from two Korean hospitals in Daegu, Republic of Korea, between November 2004 and November 2005. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by agar dilution methods. Resistance to imipenem was characterized by a carbapenemase activity test and PCR amplification. PFGE was performed to determine the clonal relatedness of imipenem-resistant Acinetobacter species. Results A. baumannii was the most prevalent species (61.2%), followed by Acinetobacter genomic species 13TU (25.9%). The resistance rates of A. baumannii to most antimicrobial agents were higher than those of other Acinetobacter species, while the resistance rate to imipenem was the highest in Acinetobacter genomic species 13TU. Imipenem-resistant Acinetobacter genomic species 13TU isolates produced VIM-2 metallo-β-lactamase, while imipenem-resistant A. baumannii isolates produced OXA-23 and/or OXA-51 β-lactamase. Imipenem-resistant Acinetobacter strains originated from different clones in each hospital. Conclusions Two prevalent Acinetobacter species, A. baumannii and Acinetobacter genomic species 13TU, possess distinct phenotypic and genotypic traits against antimicrobials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]