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This article proposes a current-mode (CM) receiver for a wireless power transfer (WPT) application that receives both power and data from the transceiver. The proposed CM receiver decreases the voltage stress applied to transistors to store a larger amount of power in its LC tank, and this charges the battery without any residual power. Accordingly, the receiver achieves the highest maximum receiver efficiency of 92.6% among the state-of-the-art CM receivers at an input power of 10.89 mW. The proposed CM receiver receives data along with the power by using energy-shift keying (ESK), which is the proposed data transfer method for the CM receiver. Due to ESK, the receiver achieves a maximum data rate of 100 kb/s while consuming negligible power for receiving the data. A prototype chip fabricated in a 180-nm CMOS process occupied an area of 0.43 mm $\times $ 0.49 mm, and a receiver coil was implemented as a printed spiral coil with dimensions of 6 mm $\times $ 6 mm.

Objective : The COVID-19 is overwhelming health care systems globally. Hospital isolation may generate considerable psychological stress. However, there has been scarce evidence on psychological interventions for these patients due to maintain staff safety. We investigated the feasibility and effectiveness of telephone based interventions for psychological problems in hospital isolated patients with COVID-19. Methods Psychiatrists visited the ward where the patients were hospitalized and interventions were given by using a ward telephone for 30 minutes. All patients were approached to receive a two-week psychological intervention program and/or pharmacotherapy whenever needed. Psychological problems were assessed at baseline, one, and two weeks. For the assessment of anxiety and depressive symptoms, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was administered to patients once a week. Insomnia severity index and Beck Depression Inventory 9 item were checked weekly to assess insomnia and suicide idea. Results Of 33 enrolled, clinically meaningful psychological symptoms were found in 6 (18%) patients for anxiety; 13 (39%) for depression; 10 (30%) for insomnia; and 3 (9%) for suicidal ideation. In 9 patients (27%), psychotropic medications were prescribed to manage anxiety, agitation, depressed mood, insomnia, impulsivity, and suicide idea. Compared to baseline, significant improvements were found in anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation at one week. There were no statistical differences between the values evaluated at baseline and at two weeks. Conclusion Our report at least indicates potential usefulness of telephone based interventions in hospital isolated patients with COVID-19, and will hopefully form the basis for future randomized clinical trials.

Fingerprints are unique to primates and koalas but what advantages do these features of our hands and feet provide us compared with the smooth pads of carnivorans, e.g., feline or ursine species? It has been argued that the epidermal ridges on finger pads decrease friction when in contact with smooth surfaces, promote interlocking with rough surfaces, channel excess water, prevent blistering, and enhance tactile sensitivity. Here, we found that they were at the origin of a moisture-regulating mechanism, which ensures an optimal hydration of the keratin layer of the skin for maximizing the friction and reducing the probability of catastrophic slip due to the hydrodynamic formation of a fluid layer. When in contact with impermeable surfaces, the occlusion of the sweat from the pores in the ridges promotes plasticization of the skin, dramatically increasing friction. Occlusion and external moisture could cause an excess of water that would defeat the natural hydration balance. However, we have demonstrated using femtosecond laser-based polarization-tunable terahertz wave spectroscopic imaging and infrared optical coherence tomography that the moisture regulation may be explained by a combination of a microfluidic capillary evaporation mechanism and a sweat pore blocking mechanism. This results in maintaining an optimal amount of moisture in the furrows that maximizes the friction irrespective of whether a finger pad is initially wet or dry. Thus, abundant low-flow sweat glands and epidermal furrows have provided primates with the evolutionary advantage in dry and wet conditions of manipulative and locomotive abilities not available to other animals.

To provide power to the latest mobile applications that use functions with heavy loads, in this letter, we present a capacitorless low-dropout regulator (LDO) that supplies a large load current up to 600 mA. The proposed buffer and the feedforward paths are used to provide a stable operation and fast response along with a large load current. Owing to these schemes, the proposed LDO has a high unity gain frequency of 2.85 MHz at 100 mA with a total compensation capacitance of 5.1 pF. In addition, the LDO operates under a wide input voltage range of 1.5–5.0 V owing to the low-VDD structure. Also, a power supply rejection ratio was –52 dB at 100 kHz. The chip was implemented with a small size of 0.082 mm2 using the I/O devices of a 0.18 μ m CMOS process with a minimum length of 0.5 μ m.

For revision surgeries due to complications associated with alloplastic materials, autologous tissues including dermofat are considered. However, graft absorption, shaping, and donor site morbidity remain crucial challenges. This study aimed to present several surgical techniques of dermofat grafting for rhinoplasty to overcome these challenges. Patients who underwent autologous dermofat grafting from January 2015 to October 2019 were retrospectively studied, and those who underwent primary rhinoplasty were excluded. The mid-sacral dermis (with the thickest dermal layer) was selected as the main donor site. During dermal harvesting, fat was resected into a wedge shape, to minimize flap tension and dead space risk. A molding technique was applied to improve graft shape and height and minimize graft absorption. Patient records were reviewed for assessing preoperative evaluations, surgical methods, and complications. For evaluating aesthetic outcomes, three rhinoplasty surgeons, blinded to the study purpose, compared preoperative and postoperative photographs. Among 331 cases undergoing dermofat grafting for revision rhinoplasty, 25 underwent revisions; of these, five, one, and nine cases experienced over-absorption, over-correction, and deviation, respectively. One and eight cases underwent revision due to a widening scar at the dermofat donor site and wound dehiscence, respectively. Notably, one case had inflamed sinus formation. The advanced dermofat graft technique provided favorable results with selection of appropriate donor site and a dermofat graft with subdermal fat. The application of this molding technique and proper management of donor site ameliorated critical disadvantages, thereby providing a safe and effective alternative for revision rhinoplasty. Rhinoplasty

Objectives The effects of sleep disturbance and its treatment on the prognosis of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) are not well understood. This study investigated the impact of sleep disturbance on long-term all-cause mortality, according to depression comorbidity and treatment, in patients with ACS. Methods A cross-sectional baseline study and a nested 24-week double-blind escitalopram–placebo controlled trial were carried out from May 2007 to March 2013; 5–12-year follow-up for all-cause mortality was conducted. A total of 1152 patients with ACS were stratified by baseline depression comorbidity and treatment allocation into four groups: no depression (N = 706), depression on escitalopram (N = 149), depression on placebo (N = 151), and depression on medical care as usual (CAU; N = 146). Sleep disturbance was evaluated by the Leeds Sleep Evaluation Questionnaire. During the 5–12-year follow-up, Kaplan–Meyer event rates for all-cause mortality were calculated; hazard ratios (HRs) using Cox regression models were estimated after adjustment for a range of covariates. Results Worse sleep states at baseline increased long-term all-cause mortality in all patients (HRs 1.08–1.59). The associations between worse sleep states and long-term all-cause mortality were significant in patients without depression and in patients with depression who received CAU, but not in patients with depression who participated in the 24-week trial. Conclusions Routine evaluations of sleep disturbance in ACS and further treatment allocation may contribute to reducing long-term mortality associated with the disease. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier for the 24 week drug trial, NCT00419471 .

Background and Objectives Although patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) present a similar degree of olfactory dysfunction, their impairments in threshold, discrimination, and identification test results may vary. We investigated factors related to each of these components using the Korean version of the Sniffin’ Sticks test II in CRS patients.Subjects and Method A total of 120 CRS patients with olfactory dysfunction were enrolled and assigned to hyposmia and anosmia groups. Correlation between the three components were examined in both groups. We also subdivided patients into higher- and lower-score groups according to the threshold, discrimination, and identification scores within the hyposmia and anosmia groups to determine associated factors among the demographic factors, CRS severity on computed tomography (CT) and endoscopic findings.Results Threshold, discrimination, and identification scores were significantly correlated in hyposmia patients. Age [odds ratio (OR), 0.94] was associated with the threshold score, and the anterior olfactory cleft opacification score (OR, 1.31) on CT was associated with identification difficulties in hyposmia patients. The posterior olfactory cleft opacification score was associated with threshold (OR, 2.76) and identification difficulties (OR, 1.68) in anosmia patients. However, we could not identify significant risk factors for discrimination in both groups.Conclusion We demonstrated that the three components of the olfactory function test for CRS are significantly correlated in patients with hyposmia. Age was associated with threshold score in hyposmia patients and CRS severity, and with discrimination scores in both hyposmia and anosmia patients. These findings will help the understanding of pathophysiology of CRSrelated olfactory dysfunction.Korean J Otorhinolaryngol-Head Neck Surg 2020;63(8):358-68

Background: Only a few studies have evaluated the differences between varying concentrations of a fixed dose of local anesthetics. This study was conducted to compare the effects of two different concentrations of a fixed dose of ropivacaine used in ultrasound-guided interscalene brachial plexus block. Methods: This prospective, randomized, double-blind study included 62 patients who underwent arthroscopic surgery under general anesthesia. The patients were randomly assigned to receive ultrasound-guided interscalene block with 75 mg of ropivacaine at one of two concentrations: 0.75% (10 ml; group C) or 0.375% (20 ml; group V). Time to onset of sensory blockade, degree of blockade, pulmonary function changes, analgesic duration of the interscalene block, postoperative opioid requirement within 24 h, postoperative pain scores, satisfaction, and incidence of complications were recorded. Results: Although the time to onset of sensory blockade was shorter for group C (P = 0.015), successful blockade was achieved at 30 min after the interscalene block in both groups. The analgesic duration of the interscalene block was not significantly different between the groups. The amount of opioid used within 24 h after surgery was significantly reduced for group V compared with group C (P = 0.016). The rest of the parameters did not show any significant differences between the two groups.Conclusion: Compared with 10 ml of 0.75% ropivacaine, interscalene block with 20 ml of 0.375% ropivacaine could be effective for the reduction of postoperative opioid requirement within 24 h after surgery despite it might not prolong the analgesic duration.

Language disorganization, an objective component of formal thought process abnormality, has been regarded as a core symptom of schizophrenia from an evolutionary psychopathology perspective. However, to the best of our knowledge, the network structure of language disorganization has rarely been examined in patients with schizophrenia. Thus, our preliminary study aimed to evaluate the network structure using the Clinical Language Disorder Rating Scale (CLANG) in 167 inpatients with schizophrenia. All 17 of the CLANG items were considered to be ordered categorical variables ranging from 0 to 3. Our results indicated that disclosure failure, excess syntactic constraints, abnormal prosody, and aprosodic speech rank among the top five central domains within the network structure. We deemed that disclosure failure and prosody problems are the most important symptoms of language disorder in schizophrenia. Thus, reduced top-down processing of linguistic information may be a core neurobiological underpinning of language disorganization in schizophrenia. Further studies controlling for the potential effects of confounding factors (i.e., duration of illness) on network analyses of language disorder and formal thought disorder are warranted in patients with schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVES Application of transcartilage needle electrode for intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) during thyroidectomy has been considered an alternative method of electromyography (EMG) tube recording. However, needle electrodes must be inserted into both sides of the thyroid cartilage with exposure of the cartilage lamina. We sought to evaluate the feasibility of applying a single ipsilateral transcartilage needle electrode for IONM during unilateral hemithyroidectomy. METHODS Thirty-four patients underwent IONM during unilateral thyroidectomy. A dual disposable needle electrode was inserted obliquely into the inferior lower third of the ipsilateral lamina of the thyroid cartilage. Patients were classified as deep (≥ 5 mm) or superficial (

This article proposes a new boost converter topology called dual-path step-up dc–dc converter (DPUC). Unlike the conventional boost converter (CBC), the DPUC has a hybrid structure using one inductor and one flying capacitor to make dual current delivery paths. This allows continuous current delivering to the output, reducing both the dc level of the inductor current and the output voltage ripple. Therefore, the DPUC has higher efficiency and smaller output voltage ripple than those of the CBC. In addition, the feedforward characteristic of the flying capacitor can alleviate the effect of right-half-plane zero that degrades the transient response. Even with the inductor dc resistance of 200 mΩ, the DPUC achieves a high efficiency of 95.2% and a small ripple of up to 15 mV.

By simply adding a few components to a previous type-II voltage compensator, a single path inner feedback loop type-III voltage compensator is proposed. With the proposed compensator, a dc-dc converter achieves over / undershoot of 165/220 mV and 1% settling time of 8.5/8 μs when load current changes between 20 mA-1 A within 100 ns. Also, a seamless mode transition technique enables the converter to smoothly change the operation mode between continuous conduction mode and discontinuous conduction mode, without deterioration of the transient response. The measured efficiency reaches 95.3% and the size of integrated circuit is 0.46 mm 2 .

Objective To investigate the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences-15 item positive scale (CAPE-15) in college students.Methods This study had two stages: initial screening with self-report questionnaires including the CAPE-15, and semi-structured interviews to investigate the instrument’s diagnostic validity. The initial screening involved 1,749 college students. The modified Korean version of Prodromal Questionnaire-16 item (mKPQ-16) was also administered. The criteria for ultra-high risk (UHR) of psychosis in the Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States (CAARMS) were the gold standard for diagnosis.Results Twelve of the interviewed subjects met the CAARMS criteria for UHR of psychosis. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was highest (0.936) for the CAPE-15 distress score (p

Background Insomnia and depression have been known to be risk factors of several diseases, including coronary heart disease. We hypothesized that insomnia affects the out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) incidence, and these effects may vary depending on whether it is accompanied by depression. This study aimed to determine the association between insomnia and OHCA incidence and whether the effect of insomnia is influenced by depression. Methods This prospective multicenter case-control study was performed using Phase II Cardiac Arrest Pursuit Trial with Unique Registration and Epidemiology Surveillance (CAPTURES-II) project database for OHCA cases and community-based controls in Korea. The main exposure was history of insomnia. We conducted conditional logistic regression analysis to estimate the effect of insomnia on the risk of OHCA incidence and performed interaction analysis between insomnia and depression. Finally, subgroup analysis was conducted in the patients with insomnia. Results Insomnia was not associated with increased OHCA risk (0.95 [0.64—1.40]). In the interaction analysis, insomnia interacted with depression on OHCA incidence in the young population. Insomnia was associated with significantly higher odds of OHCA incidence (3.65 [1.29—10.33]) in patients with depression than in those without depression (0.84 [0.59—1.17]). In the subgroup analysis, depression increased OHCA incidence only in patients who were not taking insomnia medication (3.66 [1.15—11.66]). Conclusion Insomnia with depression is a risk factor for OHCA in the young population. This trend was maintained only in the population not consuming insomnia medication. Early and active medical intervention for patients with insomnia may contribute to lowering the risk of OHCA.

Supercapacitors are promising energy storage devices with high charging/discharging speeds and power densities. To improve their poor stability, we fabricated electrodes by integrating perovskite materials (La0.8Sr0.2Mn0.5Co0.5O3-δ, LSMCO) possessing redox reaction ability with graphene nanoplatelets exhibiting good electronic properties. One of the resultant composites (L25G70) demonstrated high capacitance and excellent capacitance retention (95% after 5000 cycles). These results are superior to other electrodes (L50G45 and L75G20) containing a larger ratio of LSMCO, even L75G20 did not exhibit supercapacitor behavior after 3000 cycles. GN can induce structural distortion in LSMCO, thereby the high amount of adsorbed oxygen per lattice oxygen can explain the best electrochemical performance of L25G70, while structural collapse rationalized the failure of L75G20. The findings of this study demonstrated that the use of LSMCO can improve the cycling stability of supercapacitors.

ObjectivesThe prolonged coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused individuals to suffer economic losses, in particular due to the implementation of intensive quarantine policies. Economic loss can cause anxiety and has a negative psychological impact on individuals, worsening their mental health and satisfaction with life. We examined the protective and risk factors that can influence the relationship between economic loss and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsPanel data from 911 participants were collected in April and May 2020 and again 6 months later. We analyzed the relationship between economic loss and anxiety and investigated the moderating effects of knowledge about COVID-19, gratitude, and perceived stress. Moreover, we investigated whether there were any changes in moderating effects over time or in different demographic groups.ResultsIn the early stages of the spread of COVID-19, gratitude (B = –0.0211, F = 4.8130, p < 0.05) and perceived stress (B = 0.0278, F = 9.3139, p < 0.01) had moderating effects on the relationship between economic loss and anxiety. However, after 6 months, only perceived stress had a significant moderating effect (B = 0.0265, F = 7.8734, p < 0.01).ConclusionIn the early stages of COVID-19, lower levels of gratitude and higher perceived stress led to greater anxiety. In later stages of the prolonged pandemic, only perceived stress had a continued moderating effect on the relationship between economic loss and anxiety. This study suggests that psychological interventions to reduce perceived stress are needed to treat the possible adverse effects of the spread of infectious diseases on mental health.

In this study, we investigated the impact of inflammatory cytokines on the cognitive performance of patients with schizophrenia. The included patients met the criteria for schizophrenia spectrum disorder and were aged between 15 and 40 years, with a duration of illness ≤1 year. Plasma tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α; interferon-γ; and interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and IL-12 levels were measured. A computerized neurocognitive battery, measures for social cognitive function, and clinical measures were administered. A total of 174 patients with first-episode psychosis were enrolled. The TNF-α level was negatively correlated with scores on the digit span, verbal learning, and Wisconsin card sorting tests, and the number of correct responses on the continuous performance test (CR-CPT), whereas a positive correlation was detected with the trail making test (TMT)-B time. The interferon-γ level was negatively correlated with performance on the false belief and visual learning tests. The IL-1β level was positively correlated with the TMT-A time and CPT reaction time, whereas it was negatively correlated with the CR-CPT and performance on the visual learning and social cognitive tests. The IL-12 level was negatively correlated with the CR-CPT and false belief test. Our results suggest that proinflammatory cytokines are associated with cognitive impairment in patients with schizophrenia.

Objective To investigate the predictors of remission by 4 treatment steps in depressive outpatients receiving 12-week psychopharmacotherapy.Methods Patients were consecutively recruited at a university hospital in South Korea from March 2012 to April 2017. At baseline, 1,262 patients were evaluated for sociodemographic and clinical data including assessments scales, and were received antidepressant monotherapy. For patients with an insufficient response or uncomfortable side effects, next treatment steps (1, 2, 3, and 4) with alternative strategies (switching, augmentation, combination, and mixtures of these approaches) were administered considering measurements and patient preference at every 3 weeks in the acute treatment phase (3, 6, 9, and 12 weeks). Remission was defined as a Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score of ≤7.Results In the multi-variate logistic regression analyses, remission was predicted by higher functional levels in patients received Step 1 and 2 treatment; by lower life stressors in Step 1; by higher social support in Step 3 and 4; and by lower suicidality in Step 1–3.Conclusion Differential associations were found between symptoms or functions and treatment steps, which suggested that multi-faceted evaluations at baseline could predict remission by treatment steps.

Background Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is associated with an increased risk of suicide. Although both diabetes and the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) pathway are closely related to ACS and suicide, the effects of these factors on suicidal behavior in ACS patients have not been assessed. The aim of this study was to investigate the individual and interaction effects of diabetes and BDNF-related markers, namely the serum BDNF (sBDNF) level and the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism, on suicidal ideation (SI) in ACS patients. Methods The presence of diabetes was ascertained, and sBDNF levels and the presence of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism were measured in 969 patients within 2 weeks after an ACS episode. Among these patients, 711 were followed up at 1 year after the ACS episode. SI was evaluated using the relevant items of the Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale at baseline (acute SI) and the 1-year follow-up (chronic SI). Results Significant individual effects of low sBDNF levels were found on acute SI. The presence of both diabetes and a low sBDNF level or the BDNF Met/Met genotype was associated with acute SI, with multivariate logistic regression analyses revealing significant interaction effects. The highest frequency of chronic SI was seen in diabetic patients with an sBDNF level in the lowest tertile or with the BDNF Met/Met genotype, although the interaction terms were not statistically significant. Conclusions Combining diabetes and BDNF-related markers, such as the sBDNF level and the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism, might provide a useful predictor of acute SI in patients with ACS.

Schizophrenia has a heritability of 60–80%1, much of which is attributable to common risk alleles. Here, in a two-stage genome-wide association study of up to 76,755 individuals with schizophrenia and 243,649 control individuals, we report common variant associations at 287 distinct genomic loci. Associations were concentrated in genes that are expressed in excitatory and inhibitory neurons of the central nervous system, but not in other tissues or cell types. Using fine-mapping and functional genomic data, we identify 120 genes (106 protein-coding) that are likely to underpin associations at some of these loci, including 16 genes with credible causal non-synonymous or untranslated region variation. We also implicate fundamental processes related to neuronal function, including synaptic organization, differentiation and transmission. Fine-mapped candidates were enriched for genes associated with rare disruptive coding variants in people with schizophrenia, including the glutamate receptor subunit GRIN2A and transcription factor SP4, and were also enriched for genes implicated by such variants in neurodevelopmental disorders. We identify biological processes relevant to schizophrenia pathophysiology; show convergence of common and rare variant associations in schizophrenia and neurodevelopmental disorders; and provide a resource of prioritized genes and variants to advance mechanistic studies.

Few studies have investigated functional connectivity (FC) in patients with psychotic disorder not otherwise specified (PNOS). We sought to identify distinct FC differentiating PNOS from schizophrenia (SZ).In total, 49 patients with PNOS, 42 with SZ, and 55 healthy controls (HC) matched for age, sex, and education underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain scans and clinical evaluation. Using six functional networks consisting of 40 regions of interest (ROIs), we conducted ROI to ROI and intra- and inter-network FC analyses using resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) data. Correlations of altered FC with symptomatology were explored.We found common brain connectomics in PNOS and SZ including thalamo-cortical (especially superior temporal gyrus) hyperconnectivity, thalamo-cerebellar hypoconnectivity, and reduced within-thalamic connectivity compared to HC. Additionally, features differentiating the two patient groups included hyperconnectivity between the thalamic subregion and anterior cingulate cortex in PNOS compared to SZ and hyperconnectivity of the thalamic subregions with the posterior cingulate cortex and precentral gyrus in SZ compared to PNOS.These findings suggest that PNOS and SZ exhibit both common and differentiating changes in neuronal connectivity. Furthermore, they may support the hypothesis that PNOS should be treated as a separate clinical syndrome with distinct neural connectomics.

We aimed to analyze the patient characteristics in accordance with white matter lesions and confirm whether white matter lesions affect final treatment outcomes in idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss.Medical records of 126 patients treated for unilateral idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss and who underwent magnetic resonance imaging of the brain at an otology clinic in a university hospital from 2013 to June 2019 were reviewed. The Fazekas scale was used to evaluate the severity of white matter lesions. Complete recovery was defined if final hearing at 3 months did not exceed 25 dB.Overall, 107 patients were enrolled in this study. A score of 0 on the Fazekas scale was most frequent (n=78, 72.9%), followed by 1 (n=17, 15.9%), and 2 (n=12, 11.2%). Prevalence of diabetes (P=.032) and/or hypertension (P=.006) and distribution of age (P.001) were different according to Fazekas scale scores. Hearing level in the affected side was significantly different between those with scores of 1 and 2 (P=.009). Contralateral hearing thresholds were not different according to Fazekas scale scores, but hearing on the contralateral side was significantly poorer in patients with hypertension than those without hypertension (P.001). Regression analysis revealed that Fazekas scale score and initial hearing thresholds of the affected side were significant prognostic factors for complete recovery.Although the prevalence of white matter lesions in idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss was not high, severe white matter lesions and accompanying cardiovascular risk factors may increase the possibility of initially worse hearing and decrease response to treatment in idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss. Therefore, it might be important to control cardiovascular abnormalities in idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss to achieve a better prognosis.

Numerical model updating using the data measured from the actual structure is required in order to minimize the error between the initial numerical model and the actual structure. Field load tests, which are conducted in order to assess the condition and safety of high-speed railway bridges, are generally expensive and restricted by railway control and weather conditions. Therefore, a method for evaluating the performance of high-speed railway bridges using updated numerical models without conducting field load tests is required. In this study, numerical model updating was performed by using the data measured from the ambient vibration test in order to assess the dynamic stability of high-speed railway bridges. In the ambient vibration test, the measurement point roaming method was applied in order to accurately measure high-speed railway bridges using a limited number of sensors. For numerical model updating, the univariate search method was used, and several measured parameters were updated and converted into the properties of the target bridges in the numerical models. The vertical and torsional modes of the updated numerical models differed by less than 5% from those estimated using the data measured from the target bridges. The responses of the updated numerical models were found to be similar to those measured from the high-speed railway bridges in operation. It was also shown that the updated numerical models could be used to assess the dynamic stability of the bridges.

Objectives: Dendritic cell (DC) based immunotherapies have been shown to be a potential treatment option for various cancers; however, the exact strategies in ovarian cancer remain unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of mouse CD8α+ dendritic cells (DCs), corresponding to human CD141+ DCs, derived from bone marrow (BM) hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in a syngeneic and orthotopic mouse ovarian cancer model. Methods: Stem-DCs from HSCs and Mono-DCs from monocytes were generated from the bone marrow mononuclear cells (BM-MNCs) of C57BL/6 mice in condition of pulsing with ID8 tumor cell lysates. C57BL/6 mice were intraperitoneally injected with 5 × 106 ID8 cells. They were treated with vehicle, low/medium/high dose pulsed Stem-DCs, Mono-DCs, and unpulsed Stem-DCs. At 8 to 9 weeks, the treated mice were sacrificed, and tumor responses and immune responses, such as lymphocyte proliferation and cytokine secretion, were analyzed. Results: Mono-DCs and Stem-DCs were characterized by CD11c+CD80+CD86+ and CD8α+Clec9a+ expression, respectively. They were confirmed by the secretion of immunostimulatory cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-12 and interferon (IFN)-γ, and T cell proliferation was observed after maturation. Despite a lower dose compared with Mono-DCs, mice treated with pulsed Stem-DCs showed a reduced amount of ascitic fluid and lower body weights compared with those of vehicle treated mice (P = 0.0021 and P = 0.0092, respectively). These mice treated with pulsed Stem-DCs appeared to have fewer tumor implants which were usually confined in the epithelium of ovaries, diaphragm and peritoneum. All mice injected with DCs demonstrated longer survival than the vehicle group (P = 0.0187), especially the medium/high dose pulsed Stem-DC treatment groups. Moreover, these favorable tumor responses were associated with a low proportion of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and regulatory T cells, high IL-12 and IFN-γ levels, and accumulation of several tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Conclusions: We demonstrated that mouse CD8α+ DCs derived from BM HSCs could decrease tumor progression and enhance antitumor immune responses against murine ovarian cancer. Further studies are necessary to develop potent DC vaccines using human CD141+ DCs. Citation Format: Shin-Wha Lee, Dasol Oh, Hyunah Lee, Kyung-Won Lee, Min-Je Kim, Sung Wan Kang, Young-Jae Lee, HyunSoo Kim, Yong-Man Kim. CD8α+ dendritic cells potentiate the antitumor and immune activities against murine ovarian cancers. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 6798.

Background: High-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 is the major etiological agent found in more than 60% of patients with cervical cancer and associated with cancer development and progression. Persistent expression HPV E6 and E7 oncoproteins are essential for the initiation and maintenance of cervical cancer. The therapeutic approaches targeting HPV E6 and E7 have been proved to be highly efficient in killing malignant cells. The suppression of HPV 16 E6/E7 expression by the short interfering RNA (siRNA) was more effective in combination therapy with cisplatin (CDDP) for cervical cancer. ENB101-LNP is an ionizable lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) encapsulating siRNA against E6/E7 of HPV 16 for delivery to the tumor cells. Methods: To investigate the anticancer efficacy and mechanism of ENB101-LNP combined with cisplatin in cervical cancer; the xenograft model was generated by the injection of CaSki cells subcutaneously into BALB/c nude mice. Mice were randomly divided into six groups: 1) blank control; 2) 1mg/kg ENB101-LNP; 3) 3mg/kg ENB101-LNP; 4) CDDP; 5) 1mg/kg ENB101-LNP-CDDP; 6) 3mg/kg ENB101-LNP-CDDP. ENB101-LNP was treated with intravenous injection three times weekly for 3 weeks and CDDP was treated with IP injection once a week for 3 weeks. Tumor growth curves were plotted to calculate the tumor inhibition rate. Mice were sacrificed one week after the last treatment and the tumor tissues were investigated using histopathology, immunohistochemical staining and western blotting. Results: Compared with the control and the other treatment groups, the tumor growth was significantly inhibited (P < 0.05). The tumor inhibition rate was 29.7% in 1mg/kg ENB101-LNP group, 29.6% in 3mg/kg ENB101-LNP group, 34.0% in CDDP group, 47.0% in 1mg/kg ENB101-LNP-CDDP group. At the dose of 3mg ENB101-LNP/kg combined with CDDP exhibited superior antitumor efficacy, the tumor inhibition rate was 68.8%. The successful ENB101-LNP mediated knockdown (with up to 80%) of HPV16 E6/E7 in tumors of both 1mg/kg and 3mg/kg groups was confirmed by RT-PCR. The ENB101-LNP increased p53 and p21 expression in tumors compared to control and CDDP alone groups and combination treatment with CDDP showed decreased expression of PD-L1 expression compared to CDDP alone group. The treatment of ENB101-LNP and combination with CDDP showed significant increase in apoptotic cells compared to control and single-agent groups respectively. Conclusions: The ENB101-LNP inhibiting E6 and E7 of HPV 16 in combination with CDDP showed promising anticancer activity in the cervical cancer cells xenograft mouse model. Citation Format: Sung Wan Kang, Shin-Wha Lee, Ji-young Lee, Ok Ju Kang, Hyejeong Kim, Yisak Kim, Yong-Man Kim. Evaluation of anti-cancer efficacy of lipid nanoparticles containing siRNA against HPV16 E6 and E7 combined with cisplatin in xenograft model of cervical cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 3779.