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Jinhun Park,1 Yu-Cheol Lim,2 Deok-Sang Hwang,3 In-Hyuk Ha,2 Ye-Seul Lee2 1Department of Internal Medicine, Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; 2Jaseng Spine and Joint Research Institute, Jaseng Medical Foundation, Seoul, Republic of Korea; 3Department of OB & GY in Korean Medicine, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of KoreaCorrespondence: In-Hyuk Ha; Ye-Seul Lee, Jaseng Spine and Joint Research Institute, Jaseng Medical Foundation, 2F, 540 Gangnam-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 06110, Republic of Korea, Tel +82-2-2222-2740, Fax +82-2-2222-2737, Email hanihata@gmail.com; yeseul.j.lee@gmail.comPurpose: This study is a retrospective, cross-sectional study aiming to present basic data on the treatment modalities and cost of care for primary dysmenorrhea (PD) by analyzing healthcare utilization and patient distributions using the 2010 to 2018 Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) data.Patients and Methods: We used the HIRA-National Patient Sample (NPS) data to analyze medical service utilization for PD (ICD-10 code: N94.4, N94.6) in Western medicine (WM) or Korean medicine (KM) care between January 2010 and December 2018.Results: There were 41,139 patients diagnosed with PD who utilized Western medicine (WM) or Korean medicine (KM) care at least once during the study period. The number of claims and patients steadily rose over the years from 7430 claims for 3989 patients in 2010 to 11,523 claims for 6226 patients in 2018. The predominant age group was 15 to 24 years. Regarding the frequency of service categories for PD in the claims, consultation was the most common and costly service category in WM (72,120 cases, 47.89%; 631,912 USD, 69.74%), while injection and analogous treatments was the most common and costly service category in KM (97,157 cases, 72.41%; 314,696 USD, 55.86%). Regarding the drug prescriptions, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (26,617 cases, 40.47%) were the most frequently prescribed drug for PD in pharmacies and hospitals.Conclusion: The result shows an annual increase in healthcare utilization for PD with the fastest rate in individuals aged 15 to 24 years. This study provides data on the current utilization of WM and KM care for PD for policymakers. Furthermore, we analyzed the frequency and cost of common treatment modalities in WM and KM, which would be useful data for clinicians and researchers.Keywords: primary dysmenorrhea, healthcare administrative claims, health care costs, medical use

BCL2 translocation is the genetic hallmark of follicular lymphoma (FL). Besides BCL2 translocation, copy number (CN) gains and translocations of BCL6, MYC, and IRF4 have also been detected in FL, b...

The accurate estimation of premorbid intellectual functioning in patients with known or suspected cognitive impairment is crucial for clinicians. However, there is no reliable method for estimating premorbid intelligence in South Korea. The purpose of this study was to develop the Korea Premorbid Intelligence Estimate (KPIE) as an estimate of the premorbid intellectual functioning.Data from the Korean WAIS-IV standardization sample were used to generate several Full Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ) estimation formulas using demographic variables and current WAIS-IV subtest performance. The standardization sample (N = 1216) was randomly divided into two groups: the first group was used to develop the formulas and the second group was used to validate the prediction equations. Age, education, gender, region of the country, and select subtest raw scores (Vocabulary, Information, Matrix Reasoning, and Visual Puzzle) were used as predictor variables.Five KPIE-4 equations were generated. Estimated FSIQ derived from the KPIE-4 equation is highly correlated with K-WAIS-IV FSIQ.The resulting formulas for estimating premorbid FSIQ were highly significant and precise in predicting FSIQ scores of participants in the K-WAIS-IV normative sample. These equations provide a means for clinicians to estimate intellectual functioning in adults, and can be utilized as a method of estimating individuals premorbid functioning.

This study evaluated the effect of age and cell of origin on the prognostic significance of Ki-67 labeling index (Ki-67 LI) on overall survival (OS) of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in a cohort of 697 patients treated with rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone (R-CHOP). Multivariate analysis revealed no prognostic significance of high Ki-67 LI (≥ 85%) for OS. However, on subgroup analysis, high Ki-67 LI was significantly associated with poor OS in late-elderly patients (aged ≥ 70 years) (p = 0.021) and non-germinal center B-cell-like (GCB) subtype (p = 0.015). In particular, high Ki-67 LI was associated with a poor prognosis in late-elderly patients with non-GCB subtype. No correlation was observed in young adults (aged < 60 years) or early-elderly (aged 60–70 years) patients or GCB subtype. The present study shows that high Ki-67 LI is a risk factor for poor OS in the late-elderly age group and non-GCB subtype in patients with DLBCL treated with R-CHOP.

A wind farm is a collection of a few tens or a few hundreds of wind turbine generator installed in close vicinity. There is a need for further research to examine the performance of wind farm and w...

A new photocurable ladder-like poly(phenyl-co-mercaptopropyl)silsesquioxane (LPPMPSQ) was synthesized in one pot via base catalyzed hydrolysis-polycondensation of a comonomer mixture of phenyltrimethoxysilane and 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane. Obtained LPPMPSQ was characterized by 1H NMR, FT-IR, 29Si NMR, TGA, and the electrical (k = 3.6) and mechanical properties (surface modulus = 4.9 GPa) found to be suitable for application as a photocurable gate dielectric material.

A novel organic-inorganic hybrid-type ladder-like poly(benzylazide) silsesquioxane (LPBAzSQ) and ladder-like poly(propylazide) silsesquioxane (LPPAzSQ) were synthesized through azidation of ladder-like poly(p-chloromethyl)phenylsilsesquioxane (LPCMPSQ) and ladder-like poly(propylchloro)silsesquioxane (LPPCSQ). The ladder-like structure of the synthesized LPBAzSQ and LPPAzSQ compounds, full substitution of azide groups, and their click chemistry with various functional groups was characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, 29Si NMR, FT-IR, GPC. This new approach for functionalization of ladder-like silsesquioxanes has allowed for insertion of polar functional groups that have yet be examined in silsesquioxane chemistry.

Porphyrin metal complex covered with polystyrene (PS) arm chains was synthesized by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization of styrene from the porphyrin metal (Cu) complex with chain transfer agents (CTA) in the presence of AIBN at 80 °C (PDI < 1.2). Obtained PS covered porphyrin metal complex was then mixed with different molar ratio of styrene-(ethylene-co-butylene)-styrene (SEBS) triblock copolymer to give well-defined morphologies such as cylinder and lamella structures, where the porphyrin metal complex was selectively dispersed into the PS domain of the SEBS triblock copolymer. These materials could be expected to show interesting electroactive properties, because of high dielectric constant (k) and elastomeric property from the porphyrin metal complex and the SEBS triblock copolymer elastomer, respectively.

This paper describes the effect of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) in anisotropic conductive films (ACFs) composition on the material properties and reliability of ACF interconnections for chip-on-glass (COG) applications. Series of POSS modified ACFs containing 0wt%, 2wt%, 4wt%, 6wt% and 8wt% contents of octa-methacrylated POSS were formulated and characterized. The POSS added in the formulations favorably affected on the materials properties of ACFs by lowering coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and increasing modulus (E′). In addition, an increase in the POSS contents led to higher curing density and, as a result, thermo-mechanical properties of ACFs were improved. But, the adhesion strength of ACF materials was decreased with the POSS content, due to higher modulus originated from octa-functional POSS. The reliability performances of COG assemblies using POSS modified ACFs were also investigated. In conclusion, the materials properties and module reliability of COG assemblies were impr...

The effect of material properties of anisotropic conductive films (ACFs) on the reliability of chip on glass (COG) assemblies was investigated. Two types of ACF were used in this study. ACF-A (50 wt%) is designed to have higher rubber resin content than ACF-B (11 wt%), in order to reduce the warpage of COG assembly. From the study on basic material properties, such as elastic modulus (E′), coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and glass transition temperature (Tg), ACF-B showed better properties than ACF-A. The temperature cycle reliability test showed that there were little differences between two ACF COG assemblies in spite of their different warpage level. But, results of high temperature storage test (100°C and 1000 hours) exhibited that the ACF-B COG assembly showed better performances due to the better material properties of ACF-B.

We investigated the effect of carbon nanotube on the crystal structure and mechanical/ferroelectric/piezoelectric properties based on poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and carbon nano tube (CNT) composite film. The composite films were prepared by solution blending method, and the films were formed by hot-pressing. The contents of CNT were from 0.001 wt.% to 1 wt.%. For inducing piezoelectric beta-crystal structure, the hot-pressed nano composite films were drawn by 400% elongation. These samples were poled at high voltage and high temperature for polarization of the PVDF/CNT composite film. The beta-crystalline phase were increased with CNT contents, passing through the peak, and decreased. The structural changes depend on the CNT contents, drawing and poling conditions.

Aromatic dialdehyde based on phenothiazine and aromatic diamine were used to synthesize polyazomethine type conjugated polymer, poly(PZ-PI) which had good solubility in common organic solvents. The UV absorption maximum(λmax,UV) and edge(λedg,UV) of poly(PZ-PI) were observed at 415 and 510 nm, respectively. The threshold voltage of ITO/polymer/Mg and ITO/polymer/Alq3(100 A)/Mg device was at 10 V and 7 V, respectively. Besides double layer LED with Alq3 exhibited both enhanced emission intensity and efficiency compared to the single layer LED.

Polyimides containing hydroxyl group, so-called poly(hydroxy-imide)s, were prepared by the thermal imidization in the presence of m-cresol. The poly(hydroxy-imide)s exhibited high resistance to thermal degradation, with 10% weight loss temperature starting at near 527°C in air. The organic/inorganic hybrid materials were prepared with TEOS by acid-catalyzed sol-gel reaction of sol-gel polyimide precursors obtained from the coupling reaction of the poly(hydroxy-imide) with 3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl isocyanate. All of the cured hybrid films spin-coated on ITO glass are transparent. The initial decomposition temperature was recorded at 356°C. The dielectric constant of a hybrid material film was 3.24 at the frequency of 10kHz. The hybrid materials retained the coefficient of thermal expansion up to 3 ppm/°C below Tg and 30 ppm/°C above Tg.

Relationships between the properties of ternary blends of polyamides, a thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer (TLCP) (poly(ester amide)) and a maleic anhydride grafted polyolefin are studied under various processing conditions. Thermal properties show the compatibility in the ternary blend. The shear viscosity of a ternary blend is slightly lower than that of a binary blend. The morphology of the dispersed TLCP phase varies between droplets and oriented fibrils when the drawing is weak, and is highly correlated with changes in tensile properties. Though there are some morphological differences depending on the matrix thermoplastics (nylon 6, nylon 66 or nylon 46), it is commonly observed that addition of the compatibilizer induces better adhesion at the interface as well as lower interfacial tension, and hence enables the deformation of the dispersed phase into elongated and fibril shapes, even when the viscosity of the TLCP is much lower than that of the matrices. Fibril development is favored in the s...

Protein degradation in eukaryotic cells is mediated mainly by the ubiquitin (Ub)-proteasome system. One fundamental question in this field is about specific features in a protein that trigger its ubiquitylation and subsequent proteasomal degradation? In other words, the problem of degradation signals (degrons).1 The first degradation signals to be identified were N-degrons, which comprised destabilizing N-terminal residues of protein substrates.2 Detailed analysis of the N-degrons gave rise to the N-end rule, which enables the nature of N-terminal residue and its modifications to dictate the in vivo half-life of a protein. In eukaryotes, the N-end rule pathway comprises 2 major branches, the Arg/N-end rule pathway and the Ac/N-end rule pathway.3,4 The Arg/N-end rule pathway was the first specific pathway of the Ub system to be discovered.2 This pathway involves, in particular, the N-terminal arginylation of a protein and N-recognins (E3 Ub ligases in eukaryotes). The E3 N-recognins specifically target unacetylated basic (Arg, Lys, His) or bulky hydrophobic (Leu, Phe, Tyr, Trp, Ile) N-terminal residues. The Arg/N-end rule pathway has been implicated in a wide range of functions, including the sensing of small peptides or nitric oxide, protein quality control, DNA repair, meiosis, cardiovascular development, etc.3,4 The other branch, called the Ac/N-end rule pathway, targets for degradation proteins through their Nα-terminally acetylated (Nt-acetylated) residues. In eukaryotes, Nt-acetylation is one of the most common protein modifications, observed in up to 90% of human proteins.5 Despite its abundance and pervasiveness, the biological role of Nt-acetylation in a majority of proteins had been largely unknown. Nt-acetylation was mostly thought to protect a protein from degradation. In contrast, it was discovered in 2010 that Nt-acetylation creates specific degrons for the Ac/N-end rule pathway.6 This finding has shown that the Nt-acetyl group at the N-termini of many cellular proteins is an entirely new class of degradation signals, termed Ac/N-degrons. Nt-acetylation occurs largely cotranslationally and apparently irreversibly.5 In other words, nearly every protein obtains a specific Ac/N-degron from the moment of its birth. Thus, formed Ac/N-degrons were therefore suggested to be conditionally active, only if they were accessible to Ac/N-recognins, when an Ac/N-degron is not masked through rapid intramolecular folding of a protein or intermolecular assembly with other proteins.6 In accordance with this assumption, the Ac/N-degron of Cog1, a subunit of the Golgi-localized COG complex, was shown to be sterically shielded by its interactions with Cog2, Cog3, and Cog4 in the COG complex, and thereby to monitor and control the levels of Cog1 in a cell, relative to those of its binding partners.7 This study provided not only the first example of physiological functions of the Ac/N-end rule pathway, but also a simple scheme for the control of protein quality and stoichiometries. The conditionality of the built-in Ac/N-degrons in the broad range of substrates opened up a new question: might there be a proteolytic system to process non-Nt-acetylated proteins by targeting unmodified “stabilizing” N-terminal residues, which were previously classified in the Arg/N-end rule pathway?3,4 To address this unanswered question, we paid attention to N-terminal methionine (Met), because it is present in virtually all nascent polypeptides. We found that Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ubr1 E3 N-recognin and its mouse counterparts UBR1 and UBR2 of the Arg/N-end rule pathway recognized proteins with unacetylated N-terminal Met, if it is followed by a large second-position Ф residue (Leu, Ile, Phe, Tyr, Trp)8 (Fig. 1). We further demonstrated that Ubr1 mediated degradation of not only quasi-randomly chosen natural proteins (Msn4, Sry1, Arl3, Pre5), but also misfolded proteins by targeting their Met-Ф residues. Very importantly, the discovery of Met-Ф degrons greatly expands the substrate range of the Arg/N-end rule pathway, because approximately 15% of all DNA-encoded proteins, in both yeast and mammals, belong to this class of proteins. Furthermore, our finding reveals mechanical and functional cross-talks between the Ac/N-end rule pathway and the Arg/N-end rule pathway. Specifically, proteins with Met-Ф N termini, if Nt-acetylated, can be removed by the Ac/N-end rule pathway or, if they escape Nt-acetylation, by the Arg/N-end rule pathway8 (Fig. 1). Figure 1. Crosstalk between the Arg/N-end rule pathway and the Ac/N-end rule pathway. Nearly all nascent proteins bear N-terminal Met due to the AUG start codon. The Arg/N-end rule pathway targets for degradation proteins with unacetylated N-terminal ... The discovery that N-terminal Met acts as a degron suggests that nearly all 20 amino acids are likely to be destabilizing N-terminal residues according to specific sequence context and their states of Nt-acetylation.8 The dual targeting mechanism of the 2 branches of the N-end rule pathway may be true for conditional degradation of many full-length proteins or proteolytic fragments in a cell. The current and further understandings of the N-end rule pathway may, therefore, account for extensive degradation of most cellular proteins by the ubiquitin–proteasome system, including relatively long-lived proteins.

Well-defined hybrid polymers consisting of organic polymers grafted from inorganic backbone were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Ladder-like structured polysilsesquioxane functioned as both ATRP initiator and hard inorganic backbone, while the organic polymers grafted were hard styrene and soft n-butyl acrylate. Ladder-like structured poly(chloromethylphenylsilsesquioxane) (LCMPSQ) was synthesized using sequential two-step reactions with (ρ-chloromethyl)phenyltrimethxysilane as a monomer in one bath in the presence of K2CO3 as a base catalyst (M w = 6,000). Obtained LCMPSQ was then used as a multi-functional macroinitiator for graft polymerization of styrene (St) or/and n-butyl acrylate (nBA) monomers via ATRP using a CuCl catalyzed system, which gave three types of hybrid graft polymers: poly(styrene-g-silsesquioxane) (PS-g-PSQ), poly(nBA-g-silsesquioxane) (PnBA-g-PSQ) and poly(styrene-ran-nBA-g-silsesquioxane) (PS/nBA-g-PSQ). The hybrid graft polymers were prepared with vari...

Electromechanical strain response of poly (styrene-b-ethylene-co-butylene-b-styrene) (SEBS)/carbon black(C) composite has been investigated by using laser displacement sensors. The composite consisting of neat SEBS, mineral oil and carbon powder was prepared by internal mixer. Compliant carbon paste electrodes were coated on both sides of the composite films. The SEBS and SEBS/C composite showed very fast electromechanical strain responses to the electric stimulation. The residual strain was rarely observed during the cyclic actuation tests. The SEBS/C composite with a small amount of carbon black had much higher electromechanical strain than the SEBS.

Polymethylsilsesquioxane(PMSQ)s with photo-curable groups were prepared by copolymerization of alkoxysilanes. Poly(acryloyl-co-methylsilsesquioxane)(PAMSQ)s of various mole ratio acryloyl group (6 mol%, 12 mol%, 24 mol%, 48 mol%, 100 mol%) were obtained from copolymerization of methyltrimethoxylsilane and 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl acrylate. Optical and photonic curable properties were studied by near infrared region spectra, prism coupler, UV-visible spectra, and photo-DSC. The optical losses were below 0.002 dB/cm at 830, 1330, and 1550 nm, respectively. Optical loss was found to be independent of a molar ratio of functional group.

A new type of low-k dielectric material, poly(tridecafluoro1,1,2,2,tetrahydrooctyl-co-phenylsilsesquioxane) (PFCPSQ) was synthesized by hydrolysis and condensation reaction of trimethoxysilyl monomers in the presence of a base catalyst in H2O/THF mixture solvent at 25°C. Chemical compositions, molecular weight, and structure of the obtained PFCPSQs were characterized using 1H NMR, 29Si NMR, FT-IR, and GPC. Dielectric values were examined by a HP-4190 system and a dielectric constant k of 1.92 was obtained.

A series of polyurethane acrylate oligomers having different molar ratio of diol and diisocyanate has been synthesized from isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI), mixture of poly(ethylene-co-1,2-butylene)diol (PEBD) and 2-butyl-2-ethyl-1,3-propanediol (BEPD) and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) using dibutyl tin dilaurate (DBTL) as a catalyst. Then, the UV curable adhesives were fabricated by mixing the prepared oligomers, acrylate monomers, photo initiators, and other additives. Subsequently, the physical and mechanical properties such as coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), elastic modulus (E′), glass transition temperature (Tg), adhesion strength and water absorption were measured. Electrochemical migration of Ag electrodes, which was resulted in the degradation of surface insulation resistance, was also investigated by measuring insulation resistance during 100 hours of 50°C, 90%RH storage test.

Silver (Ag) nanoparticles were incorporated into poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) up to 90 wt% (15.3 vol%) via melt mixing. The addition of Ag nanoparticles slightly increased the crystallization temperature and heat of crystallization of PVDF by 1.2°C and 5.1 J/g at 90 wt% loading, respectively. In the thermal degradation behaviors, high contents of Ag nanoparticles more than 50 wt% induced a negative effect on the thermal stability of the matrix by decreasing the onset temperature of the degradation as much as 40°C. Thermal conductivity was slightly increased with Ag content up to 5 wt%, but further addition of Ag induced a notable increase because of the high thermal conductivity of Ag nanoparticles. In the WAXD (Wide Angle X-ray Diffraction) patterns, all the samples presented only α-phase crystal regardless of Ag loading. Both tensile strength and elongation at break were decreased from 5 wt% loading with increasing Ag content.

Multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT)/Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) composites with various loading levels (0.01 ∼ 10 wt%) have been prepared by the simple melt-compounding approach. Morphology and electrical properties of the composites were investigated. The experimental percolation threshold for the electrical conductivity was estimated and clearly occurred between 2 and 2.5 wt%. MWNT/PVDF composites presented a shoulder posterior to the main melting peak and an increased endpoint of the peak. In the WAXD profiles, the incorporation of MWNT produced a larger shoulder at 2θ = 20.7° with increase in the loading levels, corresponding to the β-form crystal of PVDF. In the rheological properties, dynamic viscosity, the extent of shear thinning behaviors and relaxation time were notably increased with the MWNT content.