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Concerns regarding the safety of transgenic foods have been raised because of possibility of undesirable effects development during genetic engineering. Analysis of phenotypic traits can increase the likelihoods of identifying those unintended effects in dietary composition of the GM crops. Objective of this study was to compare the transgenic lines with their non-transgenic counterpart. Different vegetative and reproductive traits as well as antioxidant properties were considered to evaluate the transgenic ( HV8 and HV23) lines containing CaMsrB2 gene and their non-transgenic (Ilmi) parent line. Grain size and weight, seed germination, root length, root and shoot dry weight, length and width of flag leaf, plant height, and ligule, stamen and carpel length were not significantly different. Onset and completion of heading in each line occurred almost during the same period. The antioxidant properties in terms of DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging activity and polyphenol content were not statistically different under same treatment condition. The results suggested that the transgenic rice lines containing CaMsrB2 gene were equivalent to their non-transgenic counterpart without any visible unintended effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experiment to search for light sterile neutrinos is conducted at a reactor with a thermal power of 2.8 GW located at the Hanbit nuclear power complex. The search is done with a detector consisting of a ton of Gd-loaded liquid scintillator in a tendon gallery approximately 24 m from the reactor core. The measured antineutrino event rate is 1976 per day with a signal to background ratio of about 22. The shape of the antineutrino energy spectrum obtained from the eight-month data-taking period is compared with a hypothesis of oscillations due to active-sterile antineutrino mixing. No strong evidence of 3+1 neutrino oscillation is found. An excess around the 5 MeV prompt energy range is observed as seen in existing longer-baseline experiments. The mixing parameter sin2θ14 is limited up to less than 0.1 for Δm241 ranging from 0.2 to 2.3eV2 with a 90% confidence level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The prevalence of depression is relatively high in the Korean military. Social support is a protective factor against depression and is classified into four categories: emotional support-having the sense of feeling loved; instrumental support-receiving material assistance; informational support-receiving advice; appraisal support-feeling valued and respected for one's abilities., Objective: To investigate the effect of support from one's superior on depression among Republic of Korea (ROK) military officers., Methods: 2047 participants from the 2015 Military Health Survey were included in the study. The Korean version of the Beck Depression Inventory was used to measure depression, and a self-reported questionnaire was used to assess support from one's superior. A chi-squared test and multiple logistic regression were used to analyse the data., Results: Of the 2047 participants, 177 (8.6%) had depression. Military officers who did not receive support from their superior were more likely to have depression than than those who did receive support (OR=2.09, 95% CI 1.30 to 3.36). Additionally, military personnel who did not receive emotional or appraisal support were more likely to have depression (emotional support: OR=2.37, 95% CI 1.31 to 4.29; appraisal support: OR=1.56, 95% CI 1.48 to 2.75)., Conclusions: Our study found that depression in military officers was associated with lack of support from superiors. In particular, emotional support and appraisal support had a statistically significant effect. Therefore, we suggest that the ROK armed forces consider early intervention and management for high-risk groups. A social support programme and organisational atmosphere are also needed to improve supportive ability and skills of superiors., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: The current histopathological classifications for actinic keratosis (AK) are subjective, and histopathological factors predicting the progression into invasive squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) remain unclear., Objectives: To quantitatively assess the histopathological findings of AK and to investigate the predisposing factors for malignant transformation of AK., Methods: A total of 502 AK specimens were retrospectively reviewed. The AK lesions were divided into the atrophic, intermediate, hypertrophic and bowenoid types. Histopathological features were quantitatively analysed using computer-aided image analysis., Results: The epidermal thickness excluding the horny layer increased with statistical significance (P < 0.001) in order of atrophic, intermediate, hypertrophic and bowenoid type. The proportion of keratinocytic atypia was not significantly different among subtypes, except for the bowenoid type. Five of 498 cases were confirmed to develop into SCC. Bowenoid type, epidermal thickening and higher proportion of keratinocytic atypia were significantly associated with progression to invasive SCC in univariate analysis (OR = 12.571, 95% CI: 1.392-113.57; OR = 1.004, 95% CI: 1.001-1.007; OR = 1.069, 95% CI: 1.011-1.130, respectively). In multivariate analysis, only the proportion of keratinocytic atypia was an independent predisposing factor for progression to invasive SCC (OR = 1.069; 95% CI: 1.011-1.130)., Conclusions: Histopathological subtypes based on the essential change of the epidermis well correlated with the actual epidermal thickness excluding the horny layer. The overall severity of keratinocytic atypia might be an independent risk factor for malignant transformation of AK., (© 2020 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.)

This in vitro study examined the utility of comparing red fluorescence between active and inactive caries lesions and investigated whether changes in red fluorescence and fluorescence loss are influenced by lesion activity following remineralization. Sixty-two noncavitated smooth surface caries lesions on extracted human teeth were classified into active or inactive lesions using the Nyvad system prior to a 12-day pH-cycling procedure. Quantitative light-induced fluorescence-digital images were used to measure fluorescence parameters before and after pH cycling. At baseline, the intensity (ΔR) and area (A ΔR ) of red fluorescence were 1.5- and 2.2-fold higher in active lesions than in inactive lesions ( p <0.05). The ratio of A ΔR to lesion area was associated with classification of active lesions (odds ratio = 1.031; 95% confidence interval = 1.005-1.058). After pH cycling, the active lesions showed about 2- and 8-fold greater reductions in the median values of A ΔR and fluorescence loss related to lesion volume (ΔQ) compared with inactive lesions ( p <0.05). In conclusion, red fluorescence differs depending on lesion activity, and the red fluorescence area and lesion volume change following remineralization. The results suggest that measuring red fluorescence may be a useful way of objectively evaluating lesion activity of smooth surface lesions.

The RENO experiment has analyzed about 500 live days of data to observe an energy dependent disappearance of reactor ν[over ¯]&#95;{e} by comparing their prompt signal spectra measured in two identical near and far detectors. In the period between August of 2011 and January of 2013, the far (near) detector observed 31 541 (290 775) electron antineutrino candidate events with a background fraction of 4.9% (2.8%). The measured prompt spectra show an excess of reactor ν[over ¯]&#95;{e} around 5 MeV relative to the prediction from a most commonly used model. A clear energy and baseline dependent disappearance of reactor ν[over ¯]&#95;{e} is observed in the deficit of the observed number of ν[over ¯]&#95;{e}. Based on the measured far-to-near ratio of prompt spectra, we obtain sin^{2}2θ&#95;{13}=0.082±0.009(stat)±0.006(syst) and |Δm&#95;{ee}^{2}|=[2.62&#95;{-0.23}^{+0.21}(stat)&#95;{-0.13}^{+0.12}(syst)]×10^{-3}  eV^{2}.