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‘Goha’, ‘Gangha’, ‘Gwanha’, and ‘Yeolha’ are newly-developed Korean everbearing strawberry (Fragaria ananassa Duch.) cultivars. Bioactive phytochemicals play a crucial role in the prevention of cancer, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, and metabolic diseases. We examined the free radical scavenging activity and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity in these four cultivars and a junebearing cultivar ‘Seolhyang’ for comparison. ‘Gwanha’ showed the strongest 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) free radical scavenging activities, and ‘Gwanha’ and ‘Goha’ had the most potent α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. Total anthocyanin content (TAC) was the highest in ‘Gwanha’. The major anthocyanin components of everbearing strawberry were determined to be pelargonidin-3-O-glucoside (Pg3G), pelargonidin-3-O-rutinoside, and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (C3G). A correlation study between activity and components revealed that TAC was highly correlated with antioxidant and antihyperglycemic activities, and in principal component analysis, C3G is highly correlated with antioxidant activity and Pg3G is highly correlated with the antihyperglycemic effect of everbearing strawberries. Among the four everbearing strawberry cultivars, ‘Gwanha’ and ‘Goha’ are rich sources of pelargonidin showing strong α-glucosidase inhibitory activity and are promising dietary sources to prevent diabetes.

The existing piloti buildings with supported reinforced concrete columns were very vulnerable to earthquake ground motions. Since piloti buildings are composed of the wall structure system in the upper part of the building and a relatively flexible beam-column system in the lower part of the building, piloti buildings are structurally vulnerable in the event of large transverse vibrations and cause collapses during an earthquake. This study aims to analyze the dynamic response behavior and capacity estimation of piloti buildings with a steel reinforced concrete column system on the first floor. To investigate the earthquake response of piloti buildings, the time history and pushover increment analyses are used to analyze the collapse pattern and capacity estimation of piloti buildings. The present piloti buildings constructed by reinforced concrete experienced most of the deformation on the first floor when an earthquake occurred, as shown in the yielding fracture of the columns on the first floor. From the results of this study, the piloti buildings supported by SRC reinforced concrete columns have enough strength and safety for a five-story building, but also have the required strength and safety for a ten-story building.

Vascular occlusive disease is a chronic disease with significant morbidity and mortality. Although a variety of therapies and medications have been developed, the likelihood of disease re-emergence is high and this can be life-threatening. Based on a previous screening experiment related to vascular obstructive diseases using 34 types of essential oils, cold-pressed oil (CpO) from Citrus aurantifolia (lime) has been demonstrated to have the best effect for the inhibition of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) proliferation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of lime CpO on the pathological changes of VSMCs. To determine this, the effect of lime CpO on VSMC proliferation, a major cause of vascular disease, was investigated. To determine the safe concentration interval for toxicity of CpO during VSMC culture, a dilution of 1x10-5 was determined using Cell Counting Kit-8 assay, which was confirmed to be non-toxic using a lactate dehydrogenase assay. To examine the effect of lime CpO in cellular signaling pathways, changes in phosphorylation of both the PI3K/AKT/mTOR and extracellular signal-regulated MEK/ERK signaling pathways with serum were investigated. Furthermore, lime CpO with FBS also significantly decreased the expression levels of the cell cycle regulators cyclin D1 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen. Additionally, lime CpO with FBS significantly inhibited the sprouting of VSMCs in an ex vivo culture system. These results suggested that lime CpO inhibited the abnormal proliferation of VSMCs and can be developed as a nature-based therapeutic agent for obstructive vascular disease.

The present study investigated the anti‑melanogenic activity of 10 essential oils using the B16F10 cell model. Initially, a wide range of concentrations of these essential oils were screened in order to determine their toxicity levels. The assigned non‑toxic concentrations of the tested essential oils were then used to evaluate their effects on melanogenesis. The effects of the essential oils with potent anti‑melanogenic activity on cell proliferation, protection against H

Objective: Somatic pain is an important risk factor for suicide and suicidal behaviors. However, the association between the number of somatic pain conditions and lifetime suicide attempts (LSA) has not been well established yet. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine associations between LSA and multiple somatic pain (MSP), singe pain, and no pain in a nationwide survey. Methods: A total of 12,532 adults were randomly selected from the population using the one-person-per-household method. Each participant completed a face-to-face interview using the Korean Composite International Diagnostic Interview (K-CIDI) with Suicide Module, and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale 11 (BIS-11). The MSP was defined as pain in two or more parts of one's body, including abdominal pain, back pain, arthralgia, arm or leg pain, chest pain, headache, menstrual pain, dysuria, genital pain, and other pain. Results: Among 12,532 subjects, 858 (6.85%) had MSP. Among the three groups (MSP, single pain, and no pain) of subjects, the MSP group had higher percentages of females, those with lower education, and divorced/widowed/separated individuals. However, there were no significant differences in monthly income or residence among the three groups. The MSP group showed four times higher suicide attempts and six times higher multiple attempts than did the no pain group. The BIS total score of the MSP group was the highest among the three groups. Genital pain showed the highest odds ratio for LSA. The higher the number of somatic pain, the higher the odds ratios were for LSA, major depressive disorder (MDD), and anxiety disorders. Subjects having both MSP and MDD showed a significant association with LSA (AOR = 14.78, 95% CI 10.08–21.67, p

In a previous study, we demonstrated the anti-inflammatory activity of the essential oil extracted from Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis, Sieb. et Zucc.) wood. This study aims to investigate the active anti-inflammatory constituents of P. koraiensis oil. The essential oil was extracted from P. koraiensis wood by hydrodistillation and was divided into six fractions (A–F) through fractional distillation. Then, the anti-inflammatory activities of the fractions (A–F) were determined. Fractions A and F markedly downregulated the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines as well as the secretion of β-hexosaminidase in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RBL-2H3 cells. The main constituents of the active anti-inflammatory A and F fractions were (+)-α-pinene, (−)-β-pinene, (+)-α-terpineol, 3-carene, (+)-limonene, and longifolene. These six single compounds decreased the expression of inflammatory-related genes (i.e., IL-4 and IL-13) as well as the secretion of β-hexosaminidase in LPS-stimulated RBL-2H3 cells. (+)-α-Pinene, (−)-β-pinene, (+)-α-terpineol, and longifolene exhibited the strongest effects, these effects were comparable to those of the positive control (i.e., dexamethasone). The findings indicate that the interactions between these components exhibit potential for the management and/or treatment of inflammatory conditions as well as base structures for the development of novel anti-inflammatory drugs.

Herein, deep blue strong microcavity top‐emitting organic light‐emitting diodes (TEOLEDs) optimized by a low absorbed silver cathode and a narrow bandwidth emitter are reported for realizing high‐efficiency and narrow spectral characteristics. Usually, the Mg:Ag cathode is widely used as a semitransparent cathode in TEOLED devices due to its favorable reflectivity and proper electron injection ability. However, the high extinction coefficient of Mg causes a decrease in the microcavity effect, causing a low optical efficiency of devices. A Ag cathode is applied as a semitransparent cathode to modify the high absorption property for a strong microcavity blue OLED. At optimal conditions, the optically calculated device efficiency of TEOLEDs using a BPPyA emitter is 70.2 and 91.1 cd (A * y)−1 for Mg:Ag and Ag TEOLEDs, respectively. To further improve the device efficiency, an alternative emitter (DABNA‐NP‐TB) is applied which has a narrow bandwidth of 25 nm. The optically calculated efficiency enhancement in the TEOLED is about 23% compared with a control emitter, which is well correlated with the result of fabricated TEOLEDs.

The biotechnological applications of the programmable DNA-cleaving enzymes known as clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) continue to expand from agricultural trait development to therapeutic gene therapies. The Cas9 CRISPR system isolated from Streptococcus pyogenes (SpyCas9) is classified as class II, which is popular due to high efficiency and robustness. Antibodies that specifically detect SpyCas9 could expand the applicability of this enzyme. Here, we report on the development of monoclonal antibodies against SpyCas9. Four hybridoma cells were selected for their expression of anti-SpyCas9. Hybridoma supernatant contained reactive and highly specific antibodies to SpyCas9. Anti-SpyCas9 antibody was purified and was non-selective against six other bacterial Cas9 proteins. SpyCas9 protein could be detected in HEK293T cells in decreasing amounts over a 48 hour period, indicating the antibody could be used to detect residual levels of SpyCas9 remaining following cell treatment with a CRISPR/SpyCas9 system. The anti-SpyCas9 antibody may help researchers facilitate Cas9 for further study for the use of techniques such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), western blot, immunoprecipitation, and immunohistochemical staining.

Smartphone is one of the essential items. However, it may negatively affect a user's mental health when it is overused. The study aimed to investigate associations of smartphone overuse with depression, anxiety, and the relationship with other addictive behaviors and disorders. A total of 2,509 subjects were randomly selected through a one-person-per-household method. Smartphone Overuse Screening Questionnaire (SOS-Q) and the Korean version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (K-CIDI) were used. Linear regression and Pearson correlation analyses were performed to evaluate associations of smartphone overuse with depression, anxiety, and relationship with other addictive psychiatric disorders respectively. Among 2509 participants, 138 (14.76%) demonstrated smartphone overuse. Participants who used their smartphones for more than three hours a week were more likely to be single and females compared to those who used their smartphones for less than three hours a week. Smartphone overuse showed significant associations with depression, anxiety disorder, and a significant relationship with internet and game overuse, alcohol dependence, and nicotine dependence disorder. Internet-related behavior showed the strongest relationship with smartphone overuse. Although the sample size was adequate, a large number of subjects did not complete the questionnaire. People with psychiatric disorders should be advised to use smartphones in moderation.

Oxygen deprivation (hypoxia), which frequently occurs in the tumour microenvironment, is a strong driver of the phenotypic transition of cancer cells. An increase in metastatic potential such as cell invasion is a well-known phenotypical change induced in hypoxia. The present study demonstrated that lysine demethylase 3A (KDM3A), a Jumonji C domain-containing KDM, is involved in the hypoxia-induced invasion of MCF7 breast cancer cells. KDM3A depletion inhibits the induction of cell invasion without affecting MCF7 cell survival rate or proliferation under hypoxic conditions, whereas KDM3A overexpression enhances MCF7 cell invasion even under normoxic conditions. KDM3A suppresses E-cadherin expression, which is associated with epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-mediated cell invasion in hypoxia. In addition, KDM3A promotes the expression of Slug, an EMT transcription factor that negatively regulates E-cadherin expression. Consistent with this finding, the removal of the repressive transcription marker, dimethylated histone H3 at lysine 9 from the Slug promoter is dependent on hypoxia-induced recruitment of KDM3A. Collectively, the results of the present study suggest that KDM3A is a crucial transcriptional coactivator of Slug expression to induce MCF7 breast cancer cell invasion in hypoxia, and that inhibition of KDM3A may efficaciously prevent metastatic cancer development.

IntroductionAlthough people who attempted suicide tend to repeat suicide attempts, there is a lack of evidence on the association between psychiatric service factors and suicide reattempt among them.MethodsWe used a nationwide, population-based medical record database of South Korea to investigate the use of psychiatric services before and after the index suicide attempt and the association between psychiatric service factors after the index suicide attempt with the risk of suicide reattempt.ResultsAmong 5,874 people who had attempted suicide, the all-cause mortality within 3 months after the suicide attempt was 11.6%. Among all subjects who attempted suicide, 30.6% of them had used psychiatric services within 6 months before the suicide attempt; 43.7% of them had used psychiatric services within 3 months after the suicide attempt. Among individuals who had visited clinics following attempted suicide, the cumulative incidence of suicide reattempt over a mean follow-up period of 5.1 years was 3.4%. About half of suicide reattempts occurred within 1 year after the index suicide attempt. Referral to psychiatric services within 7 days was associated with a decreased risk of suicide reattempt (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.51; 95% confidence intervals, 0.29–0.89).ConclusionAn early psychiatric referral within 1 week after a suicide attempt was associated with a decreased risk of suicide reattempt.

BACKGROUND Prioritizing patients in need of intensive care is necessary to reduce the mortality rate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although several scoring methods have been introduced, many require laboratory or radiographic findings that are not always easily available. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to develop a machine learning model that predicts the need for intensive care for patients with COVID-19 using easily obtainable characteristics—baseline demographics, comorbidities, and symptoms. METHODS A retrospective study was performed using a nationwide cohort in South Korea. Patients admitted to 100 hospitals from January 25, 2020, to June 3, 2020, were included. Patient information was collected retrospectively by the attending physicians in each hospital and uploaded to an online case report form. Variables that could be easily provided were extracted. The variables were age, sex, smoking history, body temperature, comorbidities, activities of daily living, and symptoms. The primary outcome was the need for intensive care, defined as admission to the intensive care unit, use of extracorporeal life support, mechanical ventilation, vasopressors, or death within 30 days of hospitalization. Patients admitted until March 20, 2020, were included in the derivation group to develop prediction models using an automated machine learning technique. The models were externally validated in patients admitted after March 21, 2020. The machine learning model with the best discrimination performance was selected and compared against the CURB-65 (confusion, urea, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and 65 years of age or older) score using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). RESULTS A total of 4787 patients were included in the analysis, of which 3294 were assigned to the derivation group and 1493 to the validation group. Among the 4787 patients, 460 (9.6%) patients needed intensive care. Of the 55 machine learning models developed, the XGBoost model revealed the highest discrimination performance. The AUC of the XGBoost model was 0.897 (95% CI 0.877-0.917) for the derivation group and 0.885 (95% CI 0.855-0.915) for the validation group. Both the AUCs were superior to those of CURB-65, which were 0.836 (95% CI 0.825-0.847) and 0.843 (95% CI 0.829-0.857), respectively. CONCLUSIONS We developed a machine learning model comprising simple patient-provided characteristics, which can efficiently predict the need for intensive care among patients with COVID-19.

Background: More than 13,000 cases were reported to be infected with COVID-19 by RT-PCR in South Korea. Most studies report clinical characteristics of hospitalized patients with COVID-19; the full spectrum of disease severity has thus not yet been well described. Methods: Using retrospective observational methods, this study analyzed factors affecting early clinical symptoms, clinical progress, and severity of disease for COVID-19 positive patients released from quarantine to provide information on establishing optimized care for new patients. The medical data of 7803 laboratory-confirmed patients who had been discharged or died by April 30, 2020 were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Findings: On admission, 7383 (94•5%) patients were asymptomatic or showed mild illness, and 372 (4•8%) patients were severe illness. Also, 48 (0 0•6%) were hospitalized with critically ill when diagnosed. Most patients with asymptomatic or mild illness on admission remained mild until discharge, 253 (3•4%) progressed to severe illness, and 83 (1•1%) died in hospital. However, the case fatality were 29•8% and 62•5% in severe and critically ill patients, respectively. At admission, 73•0% of hospitalized patients had symptoms; most common were cough (42•5%), sputum (28•8%), and fever (20•1%). Only 35•2% of laboratory confirmed patients admitted to the temporary care facility complained of symptoms. Increasing odds of being critically ill was associated with older age (OR 28•93, 95% CI 13•34–62•75 for age >70y, vs. age

Agrimonia pilosa L. (AP) showed potent &alpha, glucosidase inhibitory (AGI) activity, but it is uncertain what phytochemicals play a key factor. The phytochemical study of AP based on AGI activity led to the isolation of four isocoumarins, agrimonolide (1), agrimonolide-6-O-&beta, d-glucopyranoside (2), desmethylagrimonolide (3), desmethylagrimonolide-6-O-&beta, d-glucopyranoside (4), and four flavonoids, luteolin (5), quercetin (6), vitexin (7), and isovitexin (8). The four isocoumarins were isolated as &alpha, glucosidase inhibitors for the first time. Isocoumarins, compound 1 (agrimonolide) and 3 (desmethylagrimonolide) showed strong &alpha, glucosidase inhibitory activities with IC50 values of 24.2 and 37.4 &micro, M, respectively. Meanwhile, isocoumarin and flavonoid glycosides showed weak AGI activity. In the kinetic analysis, isocoumarins, compounds 1 and 3 showed non-competitive inhibition, whereas flavonoid, compound 6 showed competitive inhibition.

The functional quality of the inflow artery is one of the most important determinants of arteriovenous fistula (AVF) success. We evaluated the association of early optimal brachial arterial dilatation with a successful AVF maturation and assessed the role of peribrachial adipose tissue in determining brachial arterial distensibility. All patients underwent a preoperative vascular mapping with Doppler ultrasound (US), and only patients who had suitable vessels for AVF creation were enrolled (n = 162). Peribrachial fat thickness was measured using US. To evaluate the degree of brachial dilatation, follow-up US was performed at 1 month after surgery, and early brachial artery dilation was defined as the change in postoperative arterial diameter compared to the preoperative value. The primary outcome was failure to achieve a clinically functional AVF within 8 weeks. Nonfunctional AVF occurred in 21 (13.0%) patients, and they had a significantly lower brachial dilatation than patients with successful AVF during early period after surgery (0.85 vs. 0.43 mm, p = 0.003). Patients with a brachial dilatation greater than median level showed a 1.8-times higher rate of achieving a successful AVF than those without. Interestingly, the early brachial dilatation showed significant correlations with diabetes (r = −0.260, p = 0.001), peribrachial fat thickness (r = −0.301, p = 0.008), and the presence of brachial artery calcification (r = −0.178, p = 0.036). Even after adjustments for demographic factors, comorbidities, and baseline brachial flow volume, peribrachial fat thickness was an independent determinant for early brachial dilatation (β = −0.286, p = 0.013). A close interplay between the peri-brachial fat and brachial dilatation can be translated into novel clinical tools to predict successful AVF maturation.

Essential oils are volatile compounds extracted from various plants by distillation, hydrodiffusion or compression. In recent years, the use of essential oils has gained popularity. Many pharmaceutical, cosmetic, sanitary, food industry and agriculture studies have revealed that essential oils exert antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antiparasitic, insecticidal, anticancer, neuroprotective, psychophysiological and anti-aging effects. Despite their reported uses, recent studies of eukaryotic cells have demonstrated that essential oils exert prooxidant and cytotoxic effects. Therefore, for the effective clinical use of essential oils, an evaluation of their cytotoxicity and the identification of the mechanisms affecting cell viability are required. To evaluate cytotoxicity, the present study determined the IC50 values of 15 essential oils provided by the Korea Forest Research Institute (Pinus densiflora for. multicaulis Uyeki, Trifolium repens, Ligularia fischeri, Abies nephrolepis, Illicium anisatum, Zanthoxylum coreanum, Abies koreana, Lindera obtusiloba, Chamaecyparis obtuse, Pinus densiflora, Magnolia kobus, Picea koraiensis, Picea abies, Abies holophylla and Platycladus orientalis). Their effect was then assessed in human lung cells (A549) and human skin cells (Detroit 551) by performing cell counting kit-8 assays. To identify the mechanism associated with each oil's cytotoxicity, expressions of cytotoxicity-associated marker genes (cyclin A, cyclin B, cyclin D and cyclin E) involved in the cell cycle and caspase-3 (involved in cell death) were examined by performing reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and western blotting. In conclusion, plant essential oils can be used as a good source of medicine. However, without examining the safety of essential oils, they cannot be used in clinics. The results included estimates of the degree of cytotoxicity and the mechanism of cell death for each oil. It is expected that the data obtained from the current study will form guidelines for the clinically appropriate and safe use of these tested essential oils.

To compare the antioxidant properties and flavonols in various parts; dry skin (DS) and edible portion (EP), of 8 red onions (Allium cepa L, ROs), total content of phenolics (TPC), flavonoids (TFC), and anthocyanins (TAC) and DPPH radical scavenging properties were estimated and the content of six flavonols were quantified by HPLC–PDA analysis. The major component of DS and EP of RO was quercetin and quercetin-4′-glucoside, respectively. Score plots of the PCA and PLS-DA were segregated by flavonols content and antioxidant properties according to the EP and DS of ROs. Loading plot of the PCA showed that the quercetin and sum of flavonol content were highly correlated with antioxidant activity of ROs. Therefore, flavonol content and antioxidant activity can be used as markers for distinct parts of ROs.

In this paper, we report a highly efficient two-stack warm white organic light emitting diodes (WOLEDs) with three spectral peaks using all phosphorescent organic emitters. A multi-stack OLED architecture enhances the color stability along electric field variation by separating emissive layer despite its complex structure. Performances of two- and three-stack WOLEDs having three spectral peaks are theoretically evaluated using our optical structure design method. The theoretically designed two- and three-stack structures show power efficiency of 51.5 and 33.7 lm/W at a constant current density of 1 mA/cm2 with color rendering index (CRI) of 84 and 88, respectively. Two-stack WOLED is expected to have higher power efficiency due to its lower driving voltage and smaller blue portion than that of three-stack WOLED. An optically optimized and fabricated two-stack WOLED with red and co-doped green-blue emissive layers exhibits a power efficiency as high as 58.1 lm/W and CRI of 85. The driving voltage of fabricated WOLED is (5.9 V) well correlated with the expected value of connected unit devices. In addition, our two-stack WOLED with diffusive film and hemispherical structure shows an enhanced power efficiency of 71.0 and 101.3 lm/W, respectively.

본 연구의 목적은 지역사회복지관 사회복지사들이 지역사회 아웃리치를 어떻게 경험하고 있고, 이를 위해 사용하는 실천기술들이 무엇인지를 이해하고자 하는 것이다. 연구참여자는 지역사회 아웃리치 경험이 있는 지역사회 복지관에 근무하는 사회복지사 15명을 대상으로 하였다. 자료수집방법은 심층면접을 통해 이루어졌고, 질적연구방법중 Giorgi의 현상학적 분석방법을 활용하였다. 분석결과, 지역사회 아웃리치 실천과 기술에 대한 경험은 74개의 의미단위, 12개의 드러난 주제, 7개의 본질적 주제로 범주화되었다. 본질적 주제는 지역사회 아웃리치 개념, 필요성, 지역사회 아웃리치 장애요소, 지역사회 아웃리치 대상자, 지역사회 아웃리치 실천기술에 대한 개별적 접근 (클라이언트와 관계맺기, 동기부여하기), 조직적 접근(기관차원에서 정기적으로 하기, 기관정책 차원에서 체계마련하기), 지역적 접근(지역주민과 함께 하기, 지역사회 기관들과 함께 하기)으로 구분하였다. 또한 사회복지사들의 실천경험토대 지역사회 아웃리치 인식, 장애물, 기술 구조화를 제시하였다. 마지막으로 사회복지사들의 지역사회 아웃리치에 대한 개입과 실천방법에 대한 함의에 대해 논의하였다.

The steroid receptor coactivator (SRC)-1 isoform/estrogen receptor (ER)-β axis has an essential role in endometriosis progression. In this context, therefore, bufalin was employed as a ‘tool compound’ to evaluate inhibitors of SRC in alternative endometriosis treatment. Bufalin effectively suppressed the growth of primary human endometrial stroma cells isolated from endometriosis patients compared to women without endometriosis and immortalized human endometrial epithelial and stromal cells expressing the SRC-1 isoform compared to their parental cells in vitro. In vivo, compared to the vehicle, bufalin treatment significantly suppressed the growth of endometriotic lesions in mice with surgically induced endometriosis because bufalin disrupted the functional axis of SRC-1 isoform/ERβ by increasing SRC-1 isoform protein stability, hyperactivating the transcriptional activity of the SRC-1 isoform and degrading the ERβ protein by proteasome 26S subunit, non-ATPase 2 in endometriotic lesions. Bufalin treatment elevated the apoptosis signaling in epithelial cells of endometriotic lesions. In stromal cells of endometriotic lesions, bufalin treatment increased the levels of pyroptosis markers (caspase 1 and the active form of interleukin 1β) and reduced proliferation. In addition, bufalin treatment increased the expression levels of endoplasmic reticulum-stress (ERS) markers (PKR-like ER kinase, protein disulfide isomerase and binding immunoglobulin) in endometriotic lesions. Collectively, the bufalin-induced disruption of the SRC-1 isoform/ERβ axis might induce apoptosis, pyroptosis and ERS signaling in endometriotic lesions, causing the suppression of endometriosis. Therefore, future generations of SRC-modulators could be employed as an alternative medical approach for endometriosis treatment.

We present a low absorption semi-transparent cathode for top-emitting organic lighting diodes (TEOLEDs). To reduce the light loss by electrode absorption, transparent cathode materials with a high refractive index and low extinction coefficient characteristics at the visible light range are investigated for the highly efficient TEOLEDs. Molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) and tungsten trioxide (WO3) are considered as the transparent materials. Due to the low conductivity of MoO3 and WO3, a small amount of silver (Ag) is blended in order to enhance the electrical property as electrodes. Optimized MoO3:Ag mixed film shows the reduced extinction coefficient by half compared to Mg:Ag. With a general organic material (refractive index∼1.8) as a capping layer, the average absorption, transmittance and omnidirectional reflectance of 18.2, 65.9, and 25.6% are observed, respectively, with a sheet resistance of 12.7 Ω/□. The current efficiencies of fabricated red, green and blue TEOLEDs with optimized MoO3:Ag cathode are 32.4, 76.8, and 2.8 cd/A, respectively. The performance enhancement ratio is 9.8, 13.6, and 86.7% for red, green and blue devices compared with Mg:Ag cathode devices.

The human microbiome plays an important role in various diseases, including Behçet’s disease (BD). However, the effects of disease activity and covariates influencing the microbial composition have not yet been investigated. Therefore, we investigated the fecal and salivary microbiomes of BD patients compared to those of recurrent aphthous ulcer (RAU) patients, as well as dietary habit-matched healthy controls (HCs) selected from immediate family members using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The fecal microbiome alpha diversity of BD patients was not different from that of their matched HCs, although it was higher than that of unrelated HCs and decreased in BD patients with disease activity. A tendency toward clustering in the beta diversity of the fecal microbiome was observed between the active BD patients and their matched HCs. Active BD patients had a significantly higher abundance of fecal Bacteroides uniformis than their matched HCs and patients with the disease in an inactive state (p = 0.038). The abundance of salivary Rothia mucilaginosa group was higher in BD patients than in RAUs patients. BD patients with uveitis had different abundances of various taxa, compared to those without uveitis. Our results showed an association of fecal microbiome composition with BD disease activity and symptoms, suggesting the possible role of the gut microbiome in BD pathogenesis.

In this paper, we report an optical structure design method with the predicted performances of highly efficient three-stacked white organic light emitting diodes (WOLEDs) for solid state lighting applications. The efficiency and color properties of stacked WOLEDs are strongly affected by optical interference inside the thick cavity length; therefore appropriate emissive layer (EML) position is determined by thorough theoretical optical simulations to prevent such optical effect. The theoretically evaluated, three-stacked hybrid WOLED with entirely separated phosphorescent red and green as well as fluorescent blue EML has displayed a CRI and power efficiency of 91 and 33.5 lm/W, respectively. Based on our assumptions, design method, and optical simulation results, the fabricated three-stacked WOLEDs showed a CRI of 93, external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 49.4%, and power efficiencies of 33.4 lm/W. These experimentally measured characteristics are fully correlated with the performances of optically simulat...

Chronic periodontitis is caused by interactions between the oral polymicrobial community and host factors. Periodontal diseases are associated with dysbiotic shift in oral microbiota. Vaccination against periodontopathic bacteria could be a fundamental therapeutic to modulate polymicrobial biofilms. Because oral cavity is the site of periodontopathic bacterial colonization, mucosal vaccines should provide better protection than vaccines administered systemically. We previously reported that bacterial flagellin is an excellent mucosal adjuvant. In this study, we investigated whether mucosal immunization with a flagellin-adjuvanted polypeptide vaccine induces protective immune responses using a Porphyromonas gingivalis infection model. We used the Hgp44 domain polypeptide of Arg-gingipain A (RgpA) as a mucosal antigen. Intranasal (IN) immunization induced a significantly higher Hgp44-specific IgG titer in the serum of mice than sublingual (SL) administration. The co-administration of flagellin potentiated serum IgG responses for both the IN and SL vaccinations. On the other hand, the anti-Hgp44-specific IgA titer in the saliva was comparable between IN and SL vaccinations, suggesting SL administration as more compliant vaccination route for periodontal vaccines. The co-administration of flagellin significantly potentiated the secretory IgA response in saliva also. Furthermore, mice administered a mixture of Hgp44 and flagellin via the IN and SL routes exhibited significant reductions in alveolar bone loss induced by live P. gingivalis infections. An intranasally administered Hgp44-flagellin fusion protein induced a comparable level of Hgp44-specific antibody responses to the mixture of Hgp44 and flagellin. Overall, a flagellin-adjuvanted Hgp44 antigen would serve an important component for a multivalent mucosal vaccine against polymicrobial periodontitis.

Background.Neutrophils are involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis by neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation. We hypothesized that the NET formation of neutrophils might be changed in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients, explaining their higher incidence of coronary artery diseases (CAD).Method.A cross-sectional study was performed in 60 maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients, 30 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals (HV, negative control), and 30 patients with acute infection (positive control). Neutrophil activation and function were measured with reactive oxygen species (ROS) activity, degranulation, NET formation, and phenotypical changes.Result.Compared with HV, neutrophils extracted from MHD patients displayed significantly increased levels of basal NET formation, ROS production, and degranulation, suggesting spontaneous activation in uremia. Also, an increase in citrullinated histone H3 was detected in this group compared to the HV. And neutrophils from HV were normal CD16bright/CD62Lbrightcells; however, neutrophils from MHD were CD16bright/CD62Ldim, similar to those from patients with acute infections. Interestingly, multivariate analyses identified the prevalent CAD and neutrophil counts as independent determinants of baseline NET formation (β=0.323,p=0.016andβ=0.369,p=0.006, resp.).Conclusions.Uremia-associated-increased NET formation may be a sign of increased burden of atherosclerosis.

Behçet's disease (BD) is a rare disease characterised by recurrent mucocutaneous ulceration and chronic multi-systemic inflammation; however, its pathogenic mechanisms and biomarkers have not been fully discovered. Previously, we found that peripheral blood CD8+CD27-CD28- T cell frequency was higher in patients with BD than in healthy controls (HCs). In this study, we used global gene expression analysis to identify candidate genes that might be related to pathogenesis or developed as biomarkers in two CD8+ T cell subsets from BD patients and HCs.We performed RNA sequencing analysis in CD8+CD27-CD28- and CD8+CD27+CD28+ T cell subsets isolated from 18 patients with BD and healthy controls. Real time qPCR was used to validate the differential expression of genes in five patients with BD and healthy controls.We found that 1,103 genes and 652 genes were differentially expressed in the CD8+CD27-CD28- and CD8+CD27+CD28+ T cell subsets of patients with BD, respectively. We validated the differential expression of COL5A1 in CD8+CD27-CD28- T cells and TRPV3 and ARHGEF10 in CD8+CD27+CD28+ T cells. Furthermore, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis indicated that eleven pathways were more active in BD CD8+CD27-CD28- T cells and more suppressed in BD CD8+ CD27+CD28+ T cells than in the HCs.Our study is the first transcriptome analysis of CD8+ T cell subsets in patients with BD and our results provide novel genes that might be related to BD pathogenesis.

Estrogen receptor (ER) β plays a critical role in endometriosis progression because cytoplasmic ERβ stimulates proinflammatory signaling in ectopic lesions and prevents apoptosis to promote their survival. However, the role of “nuclear ERβ” in endometriosis progression is not known. This critical knowledge gap obscures our understanding of the full molecular etiology of ERβ-mediated endometriosis progression. To fill this void, we generated an ERβ-regulated transcriptome and ERβ cistrome in ectopic lesions and the eutopic endometrium of mice with endometriosis by using a new endometrium-specific FLAG-tagged human ERβ overexpression mouse model. The integration of these omics data sets revealed that ERβ stimulated the proliferation activities of ectopic lesions and the eutopic endometrium by directly upregulating MYC and E2 transcription factor target genes and genes associated with the G2/M transition. Additionally, ERβ stimulated gene expression associated with TNFα/nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, reactive oxygen species signaling, IL-6/Janus kinase (JAK)/signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)3 signaling, and hypoxia signaling and suppressed IFNα signaling in ectopic lesions to enhance endometriosis progression. ERβ also stimulated gene expression associated with the unfolded protein response and IL-6/JAK/STAT3 inhibitory signaling and suppressed TNFα/NF-κB signaling in the eutopic endometrium to cause endometriosis-associated endometrial dysfunction. Therefore, nuclear ERβ-regulated gene networks provide critical clues to understand the molecular etiology and complexity of endometriosis and endometriosis-associated endometrial dysfunction.

This study examined the effect of neighborhood factors on suicidal ideation of community-dwelling older adults in Korea. To understand the effect of neighborhood factors (neighborhood social cohesion, satisfaction with neighborhood safety, living environment, suicide rate, proportion of social welfare agencies, proportion of social welfare expenses) and individual factors (health, social relationships) on suicidal ideation of older adults, we conducted a multilevel logistic regression analysis. The 2017 Community Health Survey of Korea included data on 67,820 people aged 65 years or older and in 255 neighborhoods. At the individual level, the presence of suicidal ideation was associated with less education attainment, lower family income, not living with a spouse, fewer social networks, fewer social activities, more depressive symptoms, and lower health-related quality of life. At the neighborhood level, lack of social cohesion, a higher suicide rate, and a smaller social welfare budget were significantly effect related to the probability of suicidal ideation.