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Abstract Aortic aneurysm is a chronic disease characterized by localized expansion of the aorta, including the ascending aorta, arch, descending aorta, and abdominal aorta. Although aortic aneurysms are generally asymptomatic, they can threaten human health by sudden death due to aortic rupture. Aortic aneurysms are estimated to lead to 150,000 ~ 200,000 deaths per year worldwide. Currently, there are no effective drugs to prevent the growth or rupture of aortic aneurysms; surgical repair or endovascular repair is the only option for treating this condition. The pathogenic mechanisms and therapeutic targets for aortic aneurysms have been examined over the past decade; however, there are unknown pathogenic mechanisms involved in cellular heterogeneity and plasticity, the complexity of the transforming growth factor-β signaling pathway, inflammation, cell death, intramural neovascularization, and intercellular communication. This review summarizes the latest research findings and current pathogenic mechanisms of aortic aneurysms, which may enhance our understanding of aortic aneurysms.

We present an algorithm for C1 Hermite interpolation using Möbius transformations of planar polynomial Pythagoreanhodograph (PH) cubics. In general, with PH cubics, we cannot solve C1 Hermite interpolation problems, since their lack of parameters makes the problems overdetermined. In this paper, we show that, for each Möbius transformation, we can introduce an extra parameter determined by the transformation, with which we can reduce them to the problems determining PH cubics in the complex plane ℂ. Möbius transformations preserve the PH property of PH curves and are biholomorphic. Thus the interpolants obtained by this algorithm are also PH and preserve the topology of PH cubics. We present a condition to be met by a Hermite dataset, in order for the corresponding interpolant to be simple or to be a loop. We demonstrate the improved stability of these new interpolants compared with PH quintics.

In this study, we investigated whether p-anisaldehyde (PAA), the main component of essential oils derived from anise seeds, influences the differentiation of mouse C2C12 myoblasts. Cells were induced to differentiate over 5 days using a differentiation medium with or without PAA (50 or 200 mg/mL). Myotube length and diameter were measured, and the expressions of myogenic markers (myoblast determination protein 1, myogenin, myocyte enhancer factor 2, muscle creatine kinase, and myosin heavy chain) and atrophy-related genes (atrogin-1 and muscle ring finger-1 [MuRF-1]) were assessed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Additionally, protein kinase B (Akt) phosphorylation was monitored by western blotting. PAA significantly induced the formation of smaller and thinner myotubes and reduced myogenic marker expression. Furthermore, PAA increased the expressions of atrogin-1 and MuRF-1 and simultaneously reduced Akt phosphorylation. Our findings indicate that PAA inhibits the myogenic differentiation of C2C12 cells by reducing the phosphorylation and activation of Akt.

BackgroundThe risk of disasters and infectious diseases continues to persist in modern times. Children are a vulnerable group in disaster prevention and management due to their limited ability to cope on their own. Hence, the role and disaster preparedness capacity of early childhood teachers (ECTs) is vital for children’s protection.ObjectivesThis study aims to explore how ECTs can improve their personal resilience to adapt to and overcome disasters as part of early childhood education and care (ECEC). To this end, this study examined the effects of ECTs’ self-efficacy, resilience, disaster awareness, COVID-19 stress, and work-related stress on their disaster preparedness.ResultsAccording to the outcomes of disaster preparedness of ECTs based on their general and job characteristics, full-time employees and principals scored significantly higher in work-related disaster preparedness (WrDP) compared to part-time workers and general and assistant teachers, respectively. Resilience and WrDP were identified as influencing factors of general disaster preparedness (GdP), with an explanatory power of 26.4%. GdP and self-efficacy were identified as influencing factors of WrDP, with an explanatory power of 25.7%.DiscussionAccording to the findings, ECTs’ self-efficacy and GdP must be improved, followed by developing strategies to strengthen their resilience and WrDP. Doing so would ensure the safety and disaster preparedness of ECTs and infants who have low self-care capacity.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the needs for children’s health promotion education programs as perceived by child care center teachers and mothers. Methods: This study conducted a survey of 88 child care center teachers and 70 mothers of preschool children in Seoul from January 4 to February 5, 2016. This study aimed to characterize the current conditions of health promotion education for preschool children and the needs for health promotion education as perceived by child care center teachers and mothers of preschool children. Results: Areas of high need for health promotion education included lifestyle improvements for preventing diseases in children and awareness of the importance of health in educational objectives, standardized educational manuals, health educators as educators, child care centers as educational places, local health centers as educational support organizations, regular class hours as educational time, role play for training, and actual models in the educational medium. The educational subjects for which a high need was reported included safety and accident prevention, the role of smartphones and TV watching in mental health, and personal hygiene and disease prevention. Conclusion: These findings suggest that it is necessary to develop a health promotion education program for preschool children.

Dental implants positioned in severely atrophied anterior maxillae require esthetic or functional compromises. This case report describes the rehabilitation of a severely atrophied alveolar ridge with a three-dimensional (3D) computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacture (CAD/CAM) surgical guide. A 50-year-old woman had a severely atrophied anterior maxilla with unfavorably positioned dental implants. Functional and esthetic prosthodontic restoration was difficult to achieve. An anterior segmental osteotomy was planned to reposition the dental implants. A 3D surgical guide was designed for precise relocation of the segment. The surgical guide firmly grasped the impression copings of the dental implants, minimizing surgical errors. Three-dimensional gingival simulation was used preoperatively to estimate the appropriate position of the gingiva. Rigid fixation to the surrounding bone allowed immobilization of the implant-bone segment. Satisfactory esthetic and functional outcomes were attained 6 months after surgery. Finally, a severely atrophied alveolar ridge with unfavorably positioned dental implants was recovered with minimal esthetic and functional deterioration using gingival simulation and a 3D CAD/CAM surgical guide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we performed the hazard assessment, vulnerability assessment, and risk analysis of debris flows using a digital elevation model (DEM) obtained from a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor, a numerical analysis model, and a geographic information system (GIS) spatial analysis technique to evaluate the debris flow disaster risk in Bukhansan National Park, which is located in an urban area of Seoul. The debris flow disaster risk analysis involved analyzing the debris flow disaster hazard zones and the exposure and vulnerability to risk elements for different rainfall frequency scenarios, and we determined the risks for two watersheds. We identified the potential risk elements at the watersheds and estimated the total amount of risk to buildings that could occur annually from debris flow disasters. Risk maps were drawn by determining the targets exposed to debris flow hazards at each watershed and by measuring the degree of vulnerability and loss at the watersheds. The findings of this study suggest that it is possible to provide important information to support efficient decision-making processes, such as establishing a hazard zone management plan and preparing structural and non-structural measures to minimize the damage through disaster risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CD137 (4-1BB), a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily, has been reported to be expressed in atherosclerotic plaques, and to promote lesion formation. However, the role of CD 137 in mediating atherosclerotic plaque stability and the possible underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoET-/-) and CD137-deficient ApoET-/- (ApoE-/-CD137-/-) mice fed a chow diet for 66 wk were used. CD 137 induces plaque instability, which is characterized by increased plaque necrosis, decreased collagen content, decreased vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) content, and increased macrophage infiltration. CD137 also increases the infiltration of effector T (Teff) cells into plaque lesion sites, resulting in increased interferon-γ (IFN-γ) expression. Interestingly, Teff-cell-derived IFN-γ inhibits collagen synthesis in atherosclerotic plaques. Furthermore, CD137 activation increases the apoptosis of VSMCs, possibly by decreasing the antiapoptotic regulator, Bcl-2, and subsequently up-regulating cleaved caspase-3. In macrophages, activation of CD137 signaling boosted the oxidized low density lipoprotein-induced expression of matrix metalloproteinase 9 via the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and extracellular signal-regulated kinase1/2 signaling pathways. In summary, activation of CD137 signaling decreases the stability of advanced atherosclerotic plaques via its combined effects on Teff cells, VSMCs, and macrophages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) has generally demonstrated that a differentiated cell can convert into a undifferentiated or pluripotent state. In the SCNT experiment, nuclear reprogramming is induced by exposure of introduced donor nuclei to the recipient cytoplasm of matured oocytes. However, because the efficiency of SCNT still remains low, a combination of SCNT technique with the ex-ovo method may improve the normal development of SCNT embryos. Here we hypothesized that treatment of somatic cells with extracts prepared from the germinal vesicle (GV) stage Siberian sturgeon oocytes prior to their use as nuclear donor for SCNT would improve in vitro development. A reversible permeability protocol with 4 μg/mL of digitonin for 2 min at 4°C in order to deliver Siberian sturgeon oocyte extract (SOE) to porcine fetal fibroblasts (PFFs) was carried out. As results, the intensity of H3K9ac staining in PFFs following treatment of SOE for 7 h at 18°C was significantly increased but the intensity of H3K9me3 staining in PFFs was significantly decreased as compared with the control (p<0.05). Additionally, the level of histone acetylation in SCNT embryos at the zygote stage was significantly increased when reconstructed using SOE-treated cells (p<0.05), similar to that of IVF embryos at the zygote stage. The number of apoptotic cells was significantly decreased and pluripotency markers (Nanog, Oct4 and Sox2) were highly expressed in the blastocyst stage of SCNT embryos reconstructed using SOE-treated cells as nuclear donor (p<0.05). And there was observed a better development to the blastocyst stage in the SOE-treated group (p<0.05). Our results suggested that pre-treatment of cells with SOE could improve epigenetic reprogramming and the quality of porcine SCNT embryos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Permeable Reactive Barriers (PRBs) are relatively simple, promising technology for groundwater remediation. A PRBs consisting of two reactive barriers (zero valent iron-barrier and bio-barrier) were designed to evaluate the application and feasibility of the barriers for the removal of wide range of pollutants from synthetic water. After 470 days of Multi-PRBs column operation, the pH level in the water sample is increased from 4 to 7, whereas the oxidation reduction potential (ORP) is decreased to −180 mV. Trichloroethylene (TCE), heavy metals, and nitrate were completely removed in the zero valent iron-barrier. Ammonium produced during nitrate reduction is removed in the biologically reactive zone of the column. The results of the present study suggest that Multi-PRBs system is an effective alternate method to confine wide range of pollutants from contaminated groundwater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AMP- activated protein kinase (AMPK) plays an important role in regulating whole body energy homeostasis. Recently, it has been demonstrated that berberine (BBR) exerts antiobesity and antidiabetic effects in obese and diabetic rodent models through the activation of AMPK in peripheral tissues. Here we show that BBR improves lipid dysregulation and fatty liver in obese mice through central and peripheral actions. In obese db/db and ob/ob mice, BBR treatment reduced liver weight, hepatic and plasma triglyceride, and cholesterol contents. In the liver and muscle of db/db mice, BBR promoted AMPK activity and fatty acid oxidation and changed expression of genes involved in lipid metabolism. Additionally, intracerebroventricular administration of BBR decreased the level of malonyl-CoA and stimulated the expression of fatty acid oxidation genes in skeletal muscle. Together, these data suggest that BBR would improve fatty liver in obese subjects, which is probably mediated not only by peripheral AMPK activation but also by neural signaling from the central nervous system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, the potential of selenium to enhance stem cell behavior through improvement of human adipose tissuederived stromal cells (ATSCs) and the associated molecular mechanism was evaluated. Selenium-induced improvement in stem cell behavior of human ATSCs caused expression of several genes, indicating downregulated mature cell marker proteins coupled with increased cell growth and telomerase activities after the overexpression of Rex1, Nanog, OCT4, SOX2, KLF4, and c-Myc. Also, selenium-treated ATSCs significantly downregulated p53 and p21 tumor suppressor gene products. Selenium induced active growth and growth enhanced by the activation of signal proteins in ATSCs via the inhibition of reactive oxygen species-mediated phospho-stressactivated protein kinase/c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase activation. The selenium-induced activation of extracellular regulated kinases 1/2 and Akt in ATSCs resulted in a subsequent induction of the expression of stemness transcription factors, particularly Rex1, Nanog, and Oct4, along with definitive demethylation on regulatory regions of Rex-1, Nanog, and Oct4. The results of our small interfering RNA knockdown experiment showed that Rex1 plays a major role in the proliferation of selenium-induced ATSCs. Selenium-treated ATSCs also exhibited more profound differentiation into mesodermal and neural lineages. We performed a direct comparison of gene expression profiles in control ATSCs and selenium-treated ATSCs and delineated specific members of important growth factor, signaling, cell adhesion, and transcription factor families. The observations of improved life span and multipotency of selenium-treated ATSCs clearly indicate that seleniumtreated ATSCs represent an extraordinarily useful candidate cell source for tissue regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yeast is a good system for studying molecular mechanisms of metal tolerance. Using a mini-Tn mutagenized yeast pool, we isolated a chromate-tolerant mutant, CrT9. that displayed metal-specific tolerance since it was only tolerant to Cr(VI), not to Cr(lll), Cd, As, or Fe, The Cr-tolerance of CrT9 appeared to he due to reduced Cr accumulation as it accumulated only 56% as much as VVT (Y800). Using IPCR (inverse PCR). we found that the mini-Tn had been inserted at nt 741 of the transcriptional activator, MSM1. MSN1 is a multifunctional protein involved in invertase activity, iron uptake, starch degradation, pseudohyphal growth, and osmotic gene expression. We found that there was only one mini-Tn insertion in CrT9 since MSN1 and mini-Tn probes hybridized to the same DNA fragment, and the MSN1 probe detected an enlarged MSN1 mRNA. When we over-expressed MSN1 in CrT9 and WT, both accumulated larger amounts of Cr. We conclude that Cr accumulation in S. cerevisiae is promoted by the transcriptional activator MSN1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recombinant human growth hormone (GH) has been used for the treatment of growth hormone deficiency (GHD) and diverse short stature state, and its physiological and therapeutic effects are well documented. However, since the effect of GH treatment on metabolic disorders has not been well characterized, we injected GH to Western diet-fed low-density lipoprotein receptor-deficient (Ldlr−/−) mice to understand the exact effect of GH on metabolic diseases including atherosclerosis, hepatic steatosis, and obesity. Exogenous GH treatment increased plasma IGF-1 concentration and decreased body weight without affecting serum lipid profiles. GH treatment changed neither atherosclerotic lesion size nor collagen and smooth muscle cells accumulation in the lesion. GH treatment reduced macrophage accumulation in adipose tissue. Importantly, GH treatment attenuated hepatic steatosis and inflammation. The hepatic expression IL-1β mRNA were decreased by GH treatment. The mRNA and protein levels of CD36 were markedly decreased in GH treated mice without significant changes in other molecules related to lipid metabolism. Therefore, the treatment of GH treatment could attenuate hepatic steatosis and inflammation with downregulation of CD36 expression in hyperlipidemic condition.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze 1) who created and distributed fake news, 2) the distribution channels of fake news, 3) who fake news has targeted, and 4) the effects on voting and the impact of fake news on Korean politics. In South Korea, fake news was mainly created by candidates or election campaigns. The reason is that in the wake of the impeachment of President Park Guen Hye, all the political parties in Korea used fake news as a means of mobilizing supporters for each of their candidates or parties to gain an advantage in situations involving political divisions and confrontations between the pro-impeachment, progressive young generation and anti-impeachment, conservative senior generation. Voters’ media usage patterns were polarized through social network services (SNS) media and television. Fake news was mostly received through these two media outlets. According to the spreading structure of fake news in Korea, the younger generation generally uses SNS posts intended for unspecified individuals, and the older generation uses closed SNS like KakaoTalk or Naver’s BAND. In the end, it is typically characteristic of the older generation to spread fake news through existing offline human networks. In the 2017 presidential election, fake news has been confirmed to have the effect of mobilizing supporters for each political party. In the presidential election, an increase in voter turnout was confirmed among those in their 20s and those in their 60s or older. Evidently, fake news influenced the election of Moon Jae-In. The influence of fake news is expected to grow further as ideological polarization and consequent political polarization continues to intensify in South Korea.

Resistin-like molecule alpha (Retnla), also known as 'Found in inflammatory zone 1', is a secreted protein that has been found in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid of ovalbumin (OVA)-induced asthmatic mice and plays a role as a regulator of T helper (Th)2-driven inflammation. However, the role of Retnla in the progress of Th2-driven airway inflammation is not yet clear. To better understand the function of Retnla in Th2-driven airway inflammation, we generated Retnla-overexpressing (Retnla-Tg) mice. Retnla-Tg mice showed increased expression of Retnla protein in BAL fluid and airway epithelial cells. Retnla overexpression itself did not induce any alteration in lung histology or lung function compared to non-Tg controls. However, OVA-sensitized/challenged Retnla-Tg mice had decreased numbers of cells in BAL and inflammatory cells accumulating in the lung. They also showed a reduction in mucus production in the airway epithelium, concomitant with a decreased Muc5ac level. These results were accompanied by reduced levels of Th2 cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, and IL-13, with no effect on levels of OVA-specific immunoglobulin isotypes. Furthermore, phosphorylation of ERK was markedly reduced in the lungs of OVA-challenged Retnla-Tg mice. Taken together, these results indicates that Retnla protects against Th2-mediated inflammation in an experimental mouse model of asthma, suggesting that therapeutic approaches to enhance the production of Retnla or Retnla-like molecules could be valuable for preventing allergic lung inflammation.