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Abstract: Background: Bipolar, alternating current radiofrequency (RF) conduction using invasive noninsulated electrodes consecutively generates independent tissue coagulation around each electrode and then, the converged coagulation columns. Methods: Two pulsed‐type RF models at the on‐time pulse width/pulse pack of 30 and 40 milliseconds were designed to amplify the early stage of RF‐induced tissue reaction using hairless mouse skin in vivo. Then, structural and ultrastructural changes were evaluated in hairless mouse skin samples at baseline and immediately 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, and 14 days after treatment. Results: Immediately after pulsed‐RF treatment, a few chrysanthemum‐like zones of electrothermal coagulation and hypereosinophilic collagen fibers were found in the dermis and dermo‐subcutaneous fat junction. Histochemical staining for periodic acid‐Schiff and immunohistochemical staining for type IV collagen revealed marked thickening of basement membranes. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated that pulsed‐RF treatment resulted in higher electron‐dense and remarkably thicker lamina densa, as well as increases in anchoring fibrils, compared with untreated control specimens. Furthermore, CD31‐positive blood vessels were smaller in size with a slit‐like luminal appearance, without excessive damage to endothelial cells. Conclusion: Our data indicated that pulse‐type, bipolar RF energy induces structural and ultrastructural changes in basement membranes and vascular components in hairless mouse skin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the age and growth of damselfish, Chromis notate, from Jeju Island in Korea. Samples were collected monthly by lift net from September 2013 to August 2014. Total lengths of the damselfish ranged from 6.4 to 15.3 cm. The relationship between total length and wet weight was WW = 0.0125TL3.1631 for females, and WW = 0.0091TL3.2769 for males. The slopes in the relationship between length and weight were not significantly different between sexes, but were significantly different in the intercepts. There were more female than male specimens (1.3:1). Age determination was conducted using the otoliths. Marginal increment (MI) declined in summer and winter, which suggests that two rings are formed each year. Ages of sampled individuals ranged from 1 to 5 years. Length-at-age data were fitted using the von Bertalanffy growth model. The estimated growth functions were L t = 19.93 [1 − exp−0.21 ( t + 0.811)] total length and wet weight was females, and L t = 16.47 [1 − exp−0.32 ( t + 0.499)] for males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Following the recent elucidation of its pathogenic mechanisms involving reactive oxygen species, use of vitamins, folic acid and antioxidants as adjuvant therapy has been suggested. Objective To evaluate the long-term outcome of childhood facial vitiligo who were treated with nutritional education, vitamin E (α-tocopherol 100-400 IU/day), folic acid (1-2 mg/day) and multivitamin intake and antioxidant cosmetics as the mainstay of treatment as well as the conventional therapies including oral, topical and/or intralesional corticosteroid, topical macrolactam, Excimer laser and epidermal graft. Methods Medical data and photographs of 111 paediatric facial vitiligo patients who had been followed up for longer than 1 year from March 1, 2003 to June 30, 2013 were extracted from data warehouse of electric medical records. Photographic evaluation and final visual outcome assessment was performed. Result By investigator's assessment, 9% of patients demonstrated no improvement regardless of treatment modality, whereas 91% showed improvement of lesions. Among the latter, 33.3% resulted in >75% improvement; 18% in 50%-75% improvement; 26.1% in 25%-50% improvement; and 13.5% in <25% improvement. In the final visual outcome assessment, 'Looking excellent' was seen in 42.3%; 'looking very good' in 30.6%; 'looking good' in 17.1%; 'looking fair' in 9.0%; and 'looking bad' in 0.9%. Conclusion Although childhood facial vitiligo is quite refractory to treatment, the long-term outcome of this condition is not dismal with conventional vitiligo therapy along with basic nutritional therapeutic regimen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Different face mask designs can influence bag-valve-mask ( BVM) ventilation performance during resuscitation. We compared a single-use, air-cushioned face mask ( AM) with a reusable silicone face mask ( SM) for quality of BVM ventilation on a manikin simulating cardiac arrest. Methods Thirty-two physicians were recruited, and a prospective, randomized, crossover observational study was conducted after an American Heart Association-accredited basic life support provider course and standardized practice time were completed. Participants performed 12 cycles of BVM ventilation with both the AM and SM on a SmartMan lung simulator. Results Mean tidal volume was significantly higher in ventilations performed using the AM vs. the SM (548 ± 159 ml vs. 439 ± 163 ml, P < 0.01). In addition, the proportion of low-volume ventilation was significantly lower with the AM than the SM [6/12 (2-11) vs. 9/12 (5-12), P = 0.03]. Bag-valve- AM ventilation volume was not affected by the physical characteristics of the rescuers, except for sex. In contrast, bag-valve- SM ventilation volume was affected by most of the characteristics tested, including sex, height, weight, hand width, hand length, and grip power. Conclusion The AM seems to be a more efficient face mask than the SM at delivering sufficient ventilation volumes. The performance of the AM did not seem to be associated with the physical characteristics of the rescuers, whereas that of the SM was affected by these factors. The SM may not be an appropriate face mask for performing one-person BVM ventilation during resuscitation for rescuers who are smaller in stature, have a smaller hand size, or have weaker grip power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background Dose requirements of thiopental depend on patient characteristics and infusion rate. We determined thiopental dose requirements for induction of anaesthesia, and the effects of remifentanil on cardiovascular and bispectral index ( BIS) responses to tracheal intubation in spinal cord-injured ( SCI) patients undergoing general anaesthesia. Methods Twenty patients with traumatic complete SCI undergoing elective surgery were enrolled. Twenty patients without SCI served as control. Anaesthesia was induced with thiopental, followed by remifentanil 1 μg/kg and rocuronium 0.8 mg/kg, and maintained with 2% sevoflurane and 50% nitrous oxide in oxygen after tracheal intubation. Thiopental was administered at a rate of 50 mg/15 s until abolition of the eyelash reflex. Thiopental doses, BIS values, systolic arterial blood pressure ( SAP), heart rate ( HR) and plasma catecholamine concentrations were measured. Results Total thiopental dose required to abolish the eyelash reflex based on total body weight ( BW) (5.26 ± 0.87 vs. 3.91 ± 1.07 mg/kg, P < 0.001) or lean BW (6.56 ± 1.37 vs. 5.24 ± 1.36 mg/kg, P < 0.01) were significantly smaller in the SCI group than in the control. SAP was decreased by induction of anaesthesia with thiopental and remifentanil, and increased by tracheal intubation in both groups. However, the peak SAP after intubation was smaller in the SCI patients. HR increased significantly above baseline values following intubation in both groups with no significant intergroup differences. Hypertension was more frequent in the control group. Norepinephrine concentrations remained unaltered following intubation in both groups. Conclusions These results suggest that the dose requirements of thiopental for induction of general anaesthesia and subsequent tracheal intubation are reduced in the SCI patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary The knowledge on the dose-response relationships between cumulative phthalate exposure and reproductive hormones in human are lacking. To assess the characteristics of the associations between hazard index (HI) of cumulative di-n-butylphthalate (DBP) and di-2-ethylhexylphthalate (DEHP) exposures and serum concentrations of free testosterone (fT), estradiol, luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), we used restricted cubic spline function to characterize the dose-response curves between the HI values and reproductive hormones for 74 male workers occupationally exposed to high levels of DBP and DEHP, and 63 male construction workers as comparison group matched for age and smoking status. The median of HI value was 5.30 for exposed workers, 53.0-fold that of unexposed workers (0.10). 89.2% of exposed workers and 1.6% of unexposed workers have HI over 1.00. We observed a borderline significantly negative association between HI and fT in exposed workers ( r = −0.195, p = 0.096), but not in unexposed workers. The exposed workers showed inverted long-tailed J-shaped fT and FSH curves, and small changes in the LH curve, whereas unexposed workers had inverted and flattened-S-shaped fT and mirror-S-shaped LH and FSH curves. Both T production and hypothalamo-pituitary-testis (HPT) axis function were damaged in workers with high HI of phthalate exposures. HPT feedback function was activated in workers with both high and low HI, and plays an important role in preventing fT level from further decreasing with a rise in HI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intense pulsed light (IPL) has been widely used for photorejuvenation. Although previous literature has shown clinical effectiveness of IPL treatments on cutaneous photoaging, the associated changes in the biophysical properties of the skin following IPL treatments have not been fully elucidated. The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in skin biophysical properties in patients with photoaging after IPL treatments, using non-invasive, objective skin measuring devices. A total of 26 Korean women with facial dyschromias underwent three sessions of IPL treatment at 4-week intervals. Outcome assessments included standardized photography, global evaluation by blinded investigators, patients' self-assessment and objective measurements of colour (Mexameter MX18, Chromatometer), elasticity (Cutometer), roughness (Visiometer), sebum (Sebumeter) and skin hydration (Corneometer). Intense pulsed light treatments produced a 15% decrease in the size of representative pigmented lesions ( P < 0.05). Patients' self-assessment revealed that 84% and 58% of subjects considered their pigmented lesions and wrinkles were improved respectively. Objective colorimetric measurement demonstrated significant improvements following IPL treatments that were most remarkable after one session of IPL. Moreover, skin elasticity showed significant improvements at the end of the study. Skin wrinkles as measured using Visiometer showed a mild improvement without statistical significance. Sebum secretion and water content of skin remained unchanged. Intense pulsed light provided significant improvement in the appearance of facial pigmented lesions in Korean patients. These effects appeared to be more remarkable in improving pigmentation, skin tone and elasticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new blockwise collaborative representation-based classification with L2-norm of test data for accurate face recognition is presented. For training we divide images into several blocks and estimate representation coefficients of each block via L2-norm minimisation. For testing, the L2-norm of test image blocks are scaled by the trained representation coefficients. A novel classification scheme based on the L2-norm of test blocks is proposed and this scheme is jointly applied with conventional reconstruction error-based classification. Experimental results show that the proposed methods outperform other representation-based methods for face recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and endorsement of honour. We studied the SES-honour link in 5 studies (N = 13,635) with participants recruited in different world regions (the Mediterranean and MENA, East Asian, South-East Asian, and Anglo-Western regions) using measures that tap into various different facets of honour. Findings from these studies revealed that individuals who subjectively perceived themselves as belonging to a higher (vs. lower) SES endorsed various facets of honour more strongly (i.e. defence of family honour values and concerns, self-promotion and retaliation values, masculine honour beliefs, emphasis on personal and family social image, the so-called street code). We discuss implications of these findings for the cultural dynamics linked to SES., (© 2025 British Psychological Society.)

Aim: To evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of enavogliflozin 0.3 mg/day added to metformin in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus., Materials and Methods: After 24 weeks of a randomized, double-blind treatment period with enavogliflozin 0.3 mg/day (n = 101) or dapagliflozin 10 mg/day (n = 99) added to metformin, all patients received enavogliflozin 0.3 mg/day plus metformin for an additional 28 weeks during the open-label extension period., Results: Eighty-two patients continued enavogliflozin (maintenance group), and 77 were switched from dapagliflozin to enavogliflozin (switch group). All adverse drug reactions (ADR) were mild in severity. In the maintenance group, ADRs (cystitis and vaginal infection) were reported in two patients (2.44%) during 52 weeks. In the switch group, ADR (hypoglycaemia) was reported in one patient (1.30%) during a 28-week open-label extension period. At week 52, glycated haemoglobin and fasting plasma glucose were significantly lower than at the baseline, by 0.85% and 29.08 mg/dl, respectively, in the maintenance group (p < .0001 for both), and by 0.81% and 32.77 mg/dl, respectively, in the switch group (p < .0001 for both). At week 52, 68.92% of patients from the maintenance group and 64.29% from the switch group achieved glycated haemoglobin <7%. A significant increase in the urine glucose-creatinine ratio was observed at week 52, by 58.81 g/g and 63.77 g/g in the maintenance and switch groups, respectively (p < .0001)., Conclusions: Enavogliflozin added to metformin was tolerated well for up to 52 weeks and provided continual glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus, along with a significant increase in the urine glucose-creatinine ratio., (© 2024 The Authors. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objectives: Some newborns that are not small-for-gestational-age (non-SGA, birthweight ≥10th percentile for a given gestational age) may have pathologic growth restrictions. This study examined the association of adverse obstetric and neonatal outcomes with chest/head circumference ratio at birth in non-SGA and SGA newborns., Methods: This study was a cross-sectional evaluation of data from a nationwide prospective birth cohort study, the Japan Environment and Children's Study. We analyzed 93 690 non-anomalous singletons born at 34-41 gestational weeks. We defined low, normal, and high chest/head circumference ratio as <10th percentile, 10th-90th percentile, and >90th percentile, respectively, according to the internally constructed chest/head circumference percentile chart. Modified Poisson regression was used to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) for the outcomes studied., Results: Compared with non-SGA newborns with a normal ratio, those with a low ratio had an increased occurrence of low birthweight (1.75, 1.58-1.94 [aPR, 95% confidence interval]), cesarean delivery (1.34, 1.29-1.38), Apgar score <7 at 5 min (1.57, 1.14-2.17), respiratory complications (1.20, 1.04-1.39), and prolonged hospitalization (1.36, 1.30-1.42). In contrast, the high-ratio group had a lower rate of low birthweight (0.71, 0.59-0.86), cesarean delivery (0.82, 0.77-0.87), and prolonged hospitalization (0.83, 0.78-0.89). In SGA newborns, a low ratio was associated with increased aPRs for low birthweight, cesarean delivery, hypoglycemia, and prolonged hospitalization, whereas a high ratio showed no such association., Conclusions: Findings indicate that the chest/head circumference ratio at birth influence obstetric and neonatal outcomes regardless of the birthweight status., (© 2023 The Authors. American Journal of Human Biology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) is a newly introduced photosensitizer of photodynamic therapy (PDT) for acne, presenting sebum-reducing, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activity., Objective: This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of IAA-PDT in the treatment of facial seborrhoeic dermatitis., Method: In this prospective, single-blinded, 6-week trial, 23 patients with facial seborrhoeic dermatitis were treated with IAA-PDT with green light (520 nm) three times with 1-week intervals. Patients were evaluated at baseline, week 1, 2, 3 and week 6 (3 weeks after last treatment). Efficacy was determined by Seborrhoeic dermatitis Area and Severity Index (SASI), patient's assessment of the symptoms (4-point scale of itchiness, burning, erythema, scale and tightness), sebum secretion rate (measured with Sebumeter(®)), Erythema Index (EI, measured with Mexameter(®)) and physician's photographic assessment. Safety was evaluated by questionnaire at each visit., Result: For the 22 subjects completing the trial, SASI and total symptom significantly improved at week 2, which lasted until week 6. Sebum excretion was significantly reduced at week 2 and stayed reduced until week 6. EI presented continuous reduction throughout the study. Photographic assessment showed significant improvement at each visit. The procedure was painless, and no adverse event was observed during and after the treatment., Conclusion: IAA-PDT is a safe and effective therapeutic option for facial seborrhoeic dermatitis., (© 2013 The Authors. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology © 2013 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.)

Background: Melasma is associated with epidermal hyperpigmentation, weak basement membrane, vascular proliferation and increased numbers of mast cell. Tranexamic acid (TXA), a plasmin inhibitor, is reported to improve melasma when injected locally. However, the effects of oral and topical TXA on melasma have not been well studied and the underlying mechanism remains unclear., Objectives: To elucidate the effects of oral and topical TXA on melasma., Methods: A clinical study was conducted with 25 women for 8 weeks from March to July 2010. Volunteers were instructed to take two TXA tablets three times a day and apply a TXA topical agent twice a day for 8 weeks. Skin pigmentation and erythema was measured using a Mexameter(®) during each visit and skin biopsies were collected from eight subjects before and 8 weeks after treatment. Fontana-Masson, anti-CD31, antitryptase and antitype IV collagen staining was performed., Results: Twenty-two subjects completed the study and no serious adverse events occurred during the study period. The mean lesional melanin index (MI) scores decreased significantly. Interestingly, the MI scores for the perilesional skin increased. The erythema index scores of lesional and perilesional skin also showed a similar pattern. Histological analysis showed significant reduction of epidermal pigmentation, vessel numbers and mast cell counts. Type IV collagen staining was not observed in all specimens., Conclusion: TXA decreased epidermal pigmentation associated with melasma and also reversed melasma-related dermal changes, such as vessel number and increased numbers of mast cells., (© 2012 The Authors. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology © 2012 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.)

The quaternary title compound, caesium chromium(III) hepta-thio-diphosphate(V), CsCrP(2)S(7), has been synthesized using the reactive halide flux method. It is isotypic with other AMP(2)S(7) (A = alkali metal; M = Cr, V or In) structures and consists of two-dimensional (∞) (2)[CrP(2)S(7)](-) layers extending parallel to (001) which are separated from each other by Cs(+) ions (symmetry 2). The layer is built up from slightly distorted octa-hedral [CrS(6)] units (symmetry 2) and bent [P(2)S(7)] units consisting of two corner-sharing [PS(4)] tetra-hedra. The [CrS(6)] octa-hedra share two edges and two corners with the [PS(4)] tetra-hedra. There are only van der Waals inter-actions present between the layers. The Cs(+) ions are located in this van der Waals gap and stabilize the structure through weak ionic inter-actions. The classical charge balance of the title compound can be expressed as [Cs(+)][Cr(3+)][P(5+)](2)[S(2-)](7.).

To investigate telomere changes in patients with aplastic anaemia (AA) and clinical factors influencing the telomere dynamics, telomere length (TL) was measured in peripheral blood mononuclear cells using Southern blot analysis of 42 patients with AA and 39 healthy normal controls. Nineteen patients received supportive treatment only, while the remaining 23 patients received immunosuppressive therapy with anti-thymocyte globulin or anti-lymphocyte globulin +/- cyclosporin A. In AA patients, TL was on average 1.41 kb shorter than that of age-matched normal controls (P < 0.001). In patients treated with immunosuppression, the mean TL of non-responders was significantly shorter than that of age-matched normal controls (P < 0.001), while no difference in TL was detected in responders compared with controls. Positive correlation was observed between the extent of telomere shortening, the severity of neutropenia (P = 0.05) and the degree of mean corpuscular volume elevation (P = 0.005) at the time of the study. However, there was no correlation with time elapsed since diagnosis (P = 0.214). These findings suggest that haematopoietic stem cells in patients with AA rapidly lose TL at the onset of the disease. The TL shortening may reflect the severity of impairment of haematopoiesis.

Specific tests of early motor development and cerebral cortical morphology were studied in rats born from alcohol-fed mothers, pair-fed mothers, and ad libitum controls (either liquid or pellet diets). Liquid Bio-Serv diets were used. Alcohol feeding began on day 5 of pregnancy and ended on day 10 postpartum. The weight gain of the pups after birth was drastically reduced compared with pair-fed and other control groups; however, removal of the alcohol on day 10 postpartum resulted in an upswing of the growth curve that paralleled control groups. Between days 2 and 21 (postnatal) three behavioral tests of motor function were performed. Righting reflex (time for an animal to return to all four feet after being placed on its dorsum) was slightly delayed but the delay was not significant. Negative geotaxis (time for an animal to rotate 180 degrees from a head-down position on an inclined plane), and reflex suspension (time an animal maintained its grip on a crossbar) were significantly delayed (approximately 2 days) in offspring from alcohol-fed mothers. In the frontal cortex the offspring of alcohol-treated mothers, a marked decrease (approximately 25%) in thickness of Lamina VI was found while the other Lamina (I-V) were less altered. These results indicate that the effect of alcohol on the frontal cortex is related to a significant delay in motor development of reflex suspension and negative geotaxis since both of these require frontal integration.