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Mycotoxins produced by Fusarium plant pathogen species have harmful effects on humans and livestock by natural contamination in food and feed. Zearalenone, one of the well-known Fusarium mycotoxins, causes hyperestrogenism and toxicosis resulting in reproductive dysfunction in animals. This study investigated the occurrence of zearalenone in feedstuffs (compound feeds, feed ingredients) between 2009 and 2016 in South Korea to obtain information on zearalenone contamination in feeds for management. A total of 653 animal feed samples (494 compound feeds, 159 feed ingredients) produced domestically were sampled five times from 2009 to 2016 (2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016) from feed factories in South Korea. The levels of zearalenone were analyzed every year by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) after pretreatment with an immunoaffinity column showing limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) of 0.1–3 μg/kg and 0.3–8 μg/kg, respectively. Four feed samples out of 494 compound feeds exceeded the EU and South Korea commission regulations over the eight-year test period, and no feed ingredients exceeded the guidelines.

Although studies have shown that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and hypertension are linked as comorbidities, it remains unclear whether COPD is independently associated with the risk of hypertension or is caused by common risk factors such as age and smoking. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between COPD and hypertension by using nationally representative data. This cross-sectional study analyzed data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey V conducted during 2010 to 2012. Hypertension was defined as a mean systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mm Hg and/or a diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mm Hg, or current consumption of antihypertensive medications. A diagnosis of COPD was defined as a smoking history of at least 10 pack-years with airflow limitation on spirometry. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to investigate the independent association between COPD and hypertension after adjusting for covariates. Survey design analyses were conducted for all analyses. Among 4043 men (aged ≥ 40 years) who underwent spirometry, 2190 (54.2%) had hypertension. Even after adjusting for age, body mass index, smoking status, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and stroke, COPD was independently associated with hypertension (adjusted odds ratio, 1.71; 95% confidence interval, 1.37–2.13; P

Background The first line of anti-tuberculosis (TB) drugs are the most effective standard of drugs for TB. However, the use of these drugs is associated with hepatotoxicity. Silymarin has protective effects against hepatotoxicity of anti-TB drugs in animal models. This study aims to investigate the protective effect of silymarin on hepatotoxicity caused by anti-TB drugs. Methods This is a prospective, randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study. Patients were eligible if they were 20 years of age or order and started the first-line anti-tuberculosis drugs. Eligible patients were randomized for receiving silymarin or a placebo for the first 4 weeks. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients who showed elevated serum liver enzymes more than 3 times the upper normal limit (UNL) or total bilirubin (TBil) > 2× UNL within the first 8 weeks of anti-TB treatment. Results We enrolled a total of 121 patients who silymarin or a placebo to start their anti-TB treatment, for the first 8 weeks. The proportions of elevated serum liver enzymes more than 3 times of UNL at week 2, week 4, and week 8 did not show any significant difference between the silymarin and placebo groups, at 0% versus 3.6% (p>0.999); 4.4% versus 3.6% (p>0.999); and 8.7% versus 10.8% (p=0.630), respectively. However, patients with TBil >2× ULN at week 8 were significantly low in the silymarin group (0% versus 8.7%, p=0.043). Conclusion Our findings did not show silymarin had any significant preventive effect on the hepatotoxicity of anti-TB drugs.

To investigate factors that might hamper early identification of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), the present study examined differences between comorbid conditions and adaptive functions measured by the BASC-2 PRS in an epidemiologically ascertained group of children with ASD (Clinical and Non-clinical ASD groups), those who were screened positive but confirmed not to have ASD (No-ASD), and a group of typical, community children (N = 5222). Results indicate that the Clinical ASD group scored lower on the Externalizing Problems composite, Aggression, and Conduct Problems scales than did the No-ASD group whereas the Non-clinical ASD group did not differ from the other two groups except on the Conduct Problem scale. Further, the Clinical ASD group significantly scored lower than the other two groups the Adaptive Skills composite. The scores of the Clinical ASD group on the Social Skills and Leadership scales were lower than those in the No-ASD group, but not those in the Non-clinical ASD group. Results suggest that the frequent comorbid behavioral problems and higher adaptive skills of children in a non-clinical population, compared to a clinical population could mask their core ASD symptoms, resulting in a delay for caretakers to seek appropriate services for these children.

In this study we examined whether or not early maladaptive schemas regarding disconnection and rejection influenced peer connectedness of university students in emerging adulthood. We also investigated the mediating role of interpersonal orientation on these relationships. The participants were 304 students at universities in Korea, aged between 18 and 25 years. Results of structural equation modeling demonstrated that the defectiveness/shame schema had an indirect, negative effect on peer connectedness via interpersonal orientation, and the abandonment/instability schema had an indirect, positive influence on peer connectedness. The social isolation/alienation schema negatively and directly affected peer connectedness. Our findings suggest that when a sense of disconnection and rejection develops during childhood and adolescence, individuals show a relatively stable tendency to either avoid or overvalue interpersonal relationships. This may lead to difficulties in establishing peer relationships in emerging adulthood.

The present study aimed to examine the influences of four aspects of family friendliness (i. e., safety, accessibility, convenience, and amenity) and diversity of services designed to support children`s development and parenting on parental satisfaction with services. The participants of this study comprised 259 parents (214 mothers and 45 fathers) who had at least one child aged 0 to 11 and lived in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, Chungcheong-do, or Gyeongsang-do Provinces. The data were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics and multiple regression analyses. Our results indicated that the effects of family friendliness and diversity of services on parental service satisfaction differed by children`s developmental level. For parents of elementary school-aged children, the safer the services and the more services they used, the more they were likely to be satisfied with the services provided. In contrast, the safety and the amenity of services had positive influences on parental satisfaction with support services for parents with toddlers while the safety had a significant effect for those who had preschoolers.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the time spent on violent internet games and game overindulgence on aggressive behavior exhibited by elementary school-aged boys and to investigate the mediating effects of self-control on the relationship between children's game overindulgence and their aggressive behavior. The subjects of this study were 118 fourth to sixth grade boys from five elementary schools. The instruments used were the aggression subscale of the Korean-Youth Self Report (Oh, Ha, Lee, & Hong, 2001), a questionnaire of the time spent playing violent internet games developed by the authors, the Internet Game Addiction Scale for Children (Kim, Lee, Kim, Kim, & Kim, 2006) and the Self-Control Scale (Nam, 1999). The data were analyzed by means of a Structural Equation Model (SEM). The results were as follows. First, children's self-control mediated the relationship between game overindulgence and aggressive

In this paper, the new smart dimming algorithm which is mixed with PWM and PAM control method is proposed for reducing the power consumption of LED TV Backlight. The proposed technique is using the curve characteristics of LED forward voltage and current which is proportionally changing LED forward voltage as changing LED forward current. Therefore, each PWM and PAM control method has different LED forward voltage and current in the same brightness condition. The PWM control method adjusts the brightness of LED TV Backlight by only varying the duty ratio of PWM and constantly sustaining the amplitude of LED forward current and voltage. So, the level of LED forward current and voltage in the PWM control method is relatively high and constant regardless of duty ratio of PWM. On the other hand, the PAM control method adjusts the brightness of LED TV Backlight by directly varying the level of LED forward current. So, the level of LED forward current and voltage in the PAM control method is lowered according to the brightness level. For the above-mentioned reason, the PAM control method has the advantage of reducing the total power consumption of LED TV Backlight at the brightness condition of below 100%, compared with PWM control method. By implementing this characteristic to LED driver circuit with control algorithm in MCU, the power consumption of LED TV Backlight can expect to be reduced. The effectiveness of the proposed method, new smart dimming algorithm, CPWAM(

This study investigated the effects of acculturative stress and resilience on the depression of university students from North Korea, and examined the moderating effect of resilience on the relation between acculturative stress and depression. The participants of this study were 116 university students from North Korea (53 males and 63 females) aged between 20 and 35 years. The participants were asked to respond either to a written questionnaire or to an online survey system designed to measure research variables. The data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and a hierarchical regression. The moderating effect of resilience was examined by means of a hierarchical regression. The major findings were as follows: first, an increase in the level of acculturative stress increased that of depression, whereas an increase in the level of resilience decreased that of depression. Second, the moderating effect of resilience on the relation between acculturative stress and depression was statistically significant. That is, the negative influence of acculturative stress on depression was greater when the level of resilience was low, compared to when it was high. In summary, both acculturative stress and resilience had significant effects on the depression of university students from North Korea. Moreover, resilience buffered the detrimental effect of acculturative stress on their depression.

This study examined the influences of parent-child conflict and conflict resolution on behavior problems experienced in early adolescence by both boys and girls, and investigated whether conflict resolution had any moderating effects upon the relation between parent-child conflict and these behavior problems. The participants of this study were 397 first and second graders (193 boys and 204 girls) from three middle schools located in Seoul and Gyoung-gi province. To measure the research variables, the Korean-Youth Self Report by Oh et al. (2010), the short version of Conflict Behavior Questionnaire (Homes, 2012), and the Thomas Kilman Conflict Mode Instrument (Cha & Cheon, 2011) were used. The data were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics, t-test, multiple regression analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis. The results indicated that both for boys and girls, the level of parent-child conflict increased the levels of both externalizing and internalizing behavior problems whereas conflict resolution had no significant effect on behavior problems. In addition, in the case of boys only, conflict resolution moderated the effect of father-child conflict on internalizing behavior problems. Korean J. of Child Studies Vol. 35, No. 2, 171-189, April 2014 DOI:dx.org/10.5723/KJCS.2014.35.2.171 www.childkorea.or.kr pISSN1226-1688 eISSN2234-408X 2 Korean J. of Child Studies Vol. 35, No. 2, 2014 172

Purpose Bronchiectasis is the main cause of hemoptysis. When patients with bronchiectasis develop hemoptysis, clinicians often perform bronchoscopy and bronchial washing to obtain samples for microbiological and cytological examinations. Bronchial washing fluids were analyzed from patients with bronchiectasis who developed hemoptysis, and the clinical impacts of these analyses were examined. Materials and methods A retrospective observational study of patients who underwent fiberoptic bronchoscopy for hemoptysis in Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, a university affiliated tertiary referral hospital, between January 2006 and December 2010 were reviewed. Among them, patients who had bronchiectasis confirmed by computed tomography and had no definite cause of hemoptysis other than bronchiectasis were reviewed. The demographic characteristics, bronchoscopy findings, microbiological data, pathology results and clinical courses of these patients were retrospectively reviewed. Results A total of 130 patients were reviewed. Bacteria, non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), and Mycobacterium tuberculosis were isolated from bronchial washing fluids of 29.5%, 21.3%, and 0.8% patients, respectively. Suspected causal bacteria were isolated only from bronchial washing fluid in 19 patients, but this analysis led to antibiotics change in only one patient. Of the 27 patients in whom NTM were isolated from bronchial washing fluid, none of these patients took anti-NTM medication during the median follow-up period of 505 days. Malignant cells were not identified in none of the patients. Conclusion Bronchial washing is a useful method to identify microorganisms when patients with bronchiectasis develop hemoptysis. However, these results only minimally affect clinical decisions.

In this study, we investigated spatial and temporal changes in precipitation over the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) East Asia domain, for present (1986–2005) and future (2031–2050) periods using the Regional Climate Model version 4 (RegCM4). Future meteorology produced by the Hadley Center Global Environmental Model version 2 coupled with the Atmosphere–Ocean (HadGEM2-AO) following global climate change scenarios (Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5) was used as meteorological boundary conditions for the RegCM4. Six subregions (South Korea, North China, South China, Japan, Mongolia, and India) in the CORDEX East Asia domain were considered for analysis. The RegCM4 simulated spatial distributions of precipitation over East Asia with a correlation coefficient of 0.7 against Climate Research Unit data. The simulation skills of its temporal variability varied based on geographical regions and seasons, showing relatively poorer performance (underestimation in rainfall amount) in summer than in winter, in general. The future climate simulations by the RegCM4 presented that the East Asian continental regions will be warmer and more humid, leading to increased precipitation amounts, especially in the summer. The summer precipitation amount was projected to increase by about 5%, on average, over the East Asian domain, 5−15% in most subregions, and even higher (44% and 24%) in the South Korean region for the RCP 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios, respectively. It was also expected that heavy rainfall (> 50 mm/d) events may occur more frequently in the future possibly owing to meteorological changes that are favorable to convective heavy precipitation.

Blood lactate levels and central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO(2)) are known to be useful indicators of global tissue hypoxia. However, it is unclear whether ScvO(2) correlates with lactate levels when measured simultaneously and whether changes in ScvO(2) or lactate levels in serial measurements have prognostic value. We investigated the correlation between ScvO(2) and lactate levels measured simultaneously and their association with clinical outcomes.We performed a prospective observational study of patients with severe systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and severe sepsis who were admitted to the medical intensive care unit. ScvO(2) and lactate levels were measured simultaneously at the time of study enrollment, every 6 h for 24 h, and then every 24 h until the goal was reached.Twenty-five patients were enrolled in the study; 13 have died and 12 have survived. There was no correlation between lactate levels and ScvO(2). Neither lactate levels nor ScvO(2) at the time of admission differed between nonsurvivors and survivors. Normalization of lactate levels within 48 h was significantly associated with survival.In patients with severe SIRS and severe sepsis, simultaneously measured ScvO(2) and lactate levels showed no correlation, and normalization of lactate levels within 48 h was a predictive factor for survival.

Addressing challenging behavior in young children with special needs is an important issue. This study analyzed the results of literature on parent-implemented behavioral interventions designed to manage the challenging behavior of children with developmental disabilities under 8 years of age. Seventeen relevant studies published in peer-reviewed English journals during the last 15 years were selected for review. The literature review showed that adequately trained parents can serve as a competent intervention agent, thereby making significant contributions to mitigating children`s behavior problems. The reviewed studies also demonstrated that parents could play a variety of important roles such as informants and trainers in behavioral interventions. However, the conclusions on parent-implemented behavioral intervention may be tentative rather than conclusive due to previous research limitations including the lack of treatment integrity and social validity data. In addition, this review discussed several implications for practitioners, indicated the limitations of the reviewed studies, and presented suggestions for future research.

Herein, we report a case of multiple systemic arteries to pulmonary artery fistulas without any underlying causes, presenting recurrent hemoptysis. Transcatheter embolization was successfully performed several times on multiple systemic feeding arteries. Multiple systemic arteries to pulmonary fistulas can be a source of uncontrolled bleeding, and embolization may be a reasonable therapeutic option to control the bleeding.

This study examined the effects of academic stress and response styles on depression in adolescents, focusing on the moderating role of responses styles. The subjects of this study comprised 419 high school students (185 boys and 234 girls) in two high schools. In order to measure the level of depression, the CES-D Scale (Radloff, 1977) was used. Academic stress and response styles were assessed by the Academic Stress Scale for adolescents (Lee & Kim, 2000) and the Response Styles Questionnaire (Kim, 1991) respectively. The data were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics, t-test, and multiple regressions. The results indicated that for both boys and girls, the levels of academic stress and rumination response style increased the level of depression, whereas the distraction response style decreased the level of depression. Second, both the rumination and distraction styles for girls moderated the effect of academic stress on their depression. On the contrary, there was no moderating effect of the response styles for boys.

The structure of bubble holdups was investigated in a viscous slurry bubble column (0.105 m ID × 1.5 m in height) with low surface tension media. It was found that the bubble holdup was composed of three kinds of holdups of bubbles such as large, small and fine bubbles. The individual holdups of three kinds of bubbles were measured by using the static pressure drop (SPD) and dynamic gas disengagement (DGD) methods simultaneously. Effects of gas velocity (U G ), solid content in the slurry phase (C S ) and viscosity (μ L ) and surface tension (σ L ) of liquid media on the holdups of three kinds of bubbles were determined. The bubble size demarcating the fine and small bubbles was found to be in the range of 2.5–3.0 × 10 − 3 m within these experimental conditions. The total bubble holdup measured by means of DRP method was lower than that obtained by using the SPD method but higher than that using the DGD method. The holdup of fine bubbles increased with increasing U G , but decreased with increasing C S , σ L of μ L . The holdups of large, small and fine bubbles were well correlated in terms of operating conditions, respectively.

[1] The impact of boundary conditions (BCs) on simulations of precipitation characteristics using the Regional Climate Model version 4 (RegCM4) driven by two BCs (ERA-Interim: ERA, NCEP/DOE 2: R2) was investigated using 18 years (1989–2006) of simulations from the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) East Asia region. The RegCM4 adequately simulated spatial distribution of precipitation over the East Asia region and its temporal variations, irrespective of the BC used. It overestimated precipitation over the central region of the model domain except for India and South Korea and underestimated precipitation over equatorial ocean regions. The RegCM4's simulation skills were better in winter than in summer regardless of the BC, which can be related to the low spatial resolution (50 km) of the model, but detailed simulations of precipitation are significantly impacted by the BCs, although the impact varies with geographical location and season. Driven by ERA, the RegCM4 reproduces more precipitation in the central inland region of the model's domain and less precipitation in the southern coastal areas than when driven by R2. The differences occur because RegCM4 driven by ERA simulated the lower troposphere as being warmer and more humid and the upper troposphere as being cooler than that by R2. The transport of moisture into the central region of the model domain is also enhanced when the RegCM4 is driven by ERA. Although the RegCM4 accurately simulated the seasonal variations in precipitation, it failed to capture diurnal variations over South Korea, particularly when driven by R2, and overestimated and underestimated light precipitation ( 50 mm/day), respectively.

Investigating the effect of electrospun fiber diameter on endothelial cell proliferation provides an important guidance for the design of a fabric scaffold. In this study, we prepared biodegradable poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) fibrous nonwoven mats with different fiber diameters ranged from 200 nm to 5 µm using the electrospinning technique. To control the fiber diameters of PLGA mats, 4 mixture solvents [hexafluoro-2-propanol, 2,2,2,-trifluoroethanol:dimethylformamide (9:1), 2,2,2,-trifluoroethanol:hexafluoro-2-propanol (9:1), chloroform] were used. Average diameters were 200 nm, 600 nm, 1.5 µm, and 5.0 µm, respectively. Stereoscopic structure and spatial characterization of fibrous PLGA mats were analyzed using atomic force microscopy and a porosimeter. The mechanical properties of PLGA mats were analyzed using a universal testing machine. The spreading behavior and infiltration of endothelial cells on PLGA mats were visualized by field emission scanning electron microscopy and hematoxylin and eosin staining. Cell proliferation on different PLGA fibers with different diameters was quantified using the MTT assay. Cells on 200 nm diameter PLGA mats showed rapid attachment and spreading. However, the cells did not penetrate the PLGA mat. Cells cultured on 600 nm and 1.5 µm diameter fibers could infiltrate the pores and cell proliferation was dramatically increased after 14 days. Secreted prostacyclin from endothelial cells on each mat was measured to examine the ability to inhibit platelet activation. This basic study on cell proliferation and fiber diameter with physical characterization provides a foundation for studies examining nonwoven fibrous PLGA mats as a tissue engineering scaffold.

This study aimed to investigate how mothers` Korean fluency and children`s experiences in child-care centers influenced the communication ability of children from multi-cultural families. The subjects were 600 children from multi-cultural families who enrolled in child-care centers in Gyeonggi province, their mothers, and 350 teachers caring for these children. The data were collected by administrating a questionnaire and analyzed with descriptive statistics and hierarchical regressions. The results of this study were as follows. The mothers` Korean fluency, number of years children had attended child-care centers, and language guidance provided by child-care centers for children from multi-cultural families all had positive effects on children`s general and oral communication ability. On the other hand, the number of years that the children had attended child-care centers had no significant effect on the children`s written communication ability, but the mothers` Korean fluency and language guidance provided by child-care centers for children from multi-cultural families had positive effects on children`s written communication ability. Finally, the mothers` Korean fluency moderated the effects of children`s child-care experiences on their communication ability. Specifically, the more fluent the mothers` Korean, the stronger the effects of children`s child-care experiences on their communication ability.

Phase I clinical trials are designed to identify an appropriate dose; the maximum tolerated dose, which assures safety of a new drug by evaluating the toxicity at each dose-level. The adjusted maximum tolerated dose estimation is presented by stopping rule in phase I clinical trial on this research. The suggested maximum tolerated dose estimation is compared to the standard method3 and NM method using a Monte Carlo simulation study.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of role satisfaction and role strain of employed wives on their marital satisfaction. Data were collected from 297 employed wives who are also mothers and reside in the city of Seoul and the province of Gyeonggi-do. Our findings are also as follows: First, employed wives showed a relatively high level of marital satisfaction. Second, when employed wives experienced less role strain, they experienced more role satisfaction. At the same time, when employed wives experienced greater role satisfaction, they also experienced greater marital satisfaction. It was also found that when employed wives experienced greater role strain they experienced less marital satisfaction. Third, our analysis partially confirmed that there were only three variables that significantly affected marital satisfaction; the age of the employed wife, the level of role satisfaction and the level of role strain.

Purpose: Modifications of implant design have been related to improving initial stability. The purpose of this study was to investigate their respective effect on initial stability between two tapered implant systems (selftapping vs. non-self-tapping) in medium density bone using three different analytic methods. Materials and Methods: Self-tapping implant (GS Ⅲ ® ; Osstem Implant Co., Busan, Korea) and non-selftapping implant (Replace Select ® ; Nobel Biocare, G?teborg, Sweden) were investigated. In Solid rigid polyurethane blocks of artificially simulated Quality 2 bone, each of the 5 implants was inserted according to the manufacturer’s instructions for medium-bone drilling protocol. Evaluation of initial stability was carried out by recording the maximum insertion torque (IT) and performing the resonance frequency analysis (RFA), and the pull-out test. Results: The IT and RFA values of self-tapping implant were significantly higher than those of non selftapping implant (P=.009 and P=.047, respectively). In the pull-out values, no significant differences were found in implants between two groups (P=.117). Within each implant system, no statistically significant correlation was found among three different outcome variables. Conclusions: These findings suggest that design characteristics of implant geometry significantly influence the initial stability in medium bone density.

In this study, consumer awareness and safety perceptions of food additives were identified via survey questionnaire. A total of 430 consumers living in Seoul, Korea participated. The results showed that the respondents were very concerned about preservatives, colorants, and artificial sweeteners in foods. More than two thirds expressed that information on food additives was insufficient. They attributed this lack of information to difficulties understanding the subject of food additives and insufficient education and public relations. Almost half of the respondents chose leaflets and pamphlets as preferable mediums of information transmission. This study also evaluated the impacts of information transmission (e.g., leaflet and pamphlet) on consumers’ knowledge, behavior, and safety perceptions of preservatives using matched pre- and post-surveys. Overall, knowledge scores were improved from 67.3% to 91.9% before and after the campaign, respectively. Safety perception scores significantly increased showing a 60% difference between the pre- and post-tests. The participants indicated that leaflets and posters were useful to understand both the types and functions of preservatives. The results of the pilot pre- and post-surveys implied that safety perceptions of food additives were affected by consumer awareness and knowledge. This study suggests that communication programs familiarizing consumers with various types of food additives must be developed in order to increase safety perceptions and to respond to consumers’ information needs on food additives.

Two smooth and textured surfaced HDPE geomembranes (GMs) were cut into dumbbell shape and notched where depth of the notch produced a ligament thickness of 10% to 90% of the nominal thickness with the specimen at 10% interval. A series of laboratory simulation test for installation damage were carried out at different loading cycles on HDPE GMs in accordance with ISO 10722 test method and the effect of number of loading cycle on installation damage was compared. It was found that yield stress and elongation at yield point decreased gradually as the notch depth was increased. Both installation damaged and notched, GMs were used to understand stress crack behavior and this behavior was observed through NCTL test at 50±1 ℃ at different yield stresses immerging in pH 4 and pH 12 buffer solutions. Over 35% tensile load, GMs became vulnerable to stress cracking. Both damaged and notched GMs showed the same trend. Especially, notched GMs showed less strength than installation damaged GMs at every stress cracking test condition.

The oncolytic adenovirus (Ad) is currently being advanced as a promising antitumor remedy as it selectively replicates in tumor cells and can transfer and amplify therapeutic genes. Interleukin (IL)-12 induces a potent antitumor effect by promoting natural killer (NK) cell and cytotoxic T cell activities. IL-18 also augments cytotoxicity of NK cells and proliferation of T cells. This effect further enhances the function of IL-12 in a synergistic manner. Therefore, we investigated for the first time an effective cancer immunogene therapy of syngeneic tumors via intratumoral administration of oncolytic Ad co-expressing IL-12 and IL-18, RdB/IL-12/IL-18. Intratumoral administration of RdB/IL-12/IL-18 improved antitumor effects, as well as increased survival, in B16-F10 murine melanoma model. The ratio of T-helper type 1/2 cytokine as well as the levels of IL-12, IL-18, interferon-γ and granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor was markedly elevated in RdB/IL-12/IL-18-treated tumors. Mice injected with RdB/IL-12/IL-18 also showed enhanced cytotoxicity of tumor-specific immune cells. Consistent with these results, immense necrosis and infiltration of NK cells, as well as CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, were observed in RdB/IL-12/IL-18-treated tumor tissues. Importantly, tumors treated with RdB/IL-12/IL-18 showed an elevated number of T cells expressing IL-12Rβ2 or IL-18Rα. These results provide a new insight into therapeutic mechanisms of IL-12 plus IL-18 and provide a potential clinical cancer immunotherapeutic agent for improved antitumor immunity.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to compare the translucency and color changes of ceramic laminate veneers of different composition following glazing process. MATERIALS AND METHODS 10 mm × 10 mm square specimens of 0.6 mm and 1.0 mm thicknesses were fabricated with IPS e.max Press (EM) and IPS e.max ZirPress (ZP) (n=10 per group). The color coordinates (CIE L* a* b*) of the specimens were recorded with a colorimeter before and after glazing. The color changes and translucency parameter (TP) were calculated. For the comparisons with the composition and thicknesses between the ‘not glazed’ and ‘glazed’ groups, statistical analyses were done through paired T-test, independent two-sample T-test, and multiple regression analysis using SPSS 18.0 (P

The purpose of this study is to consider the characteristics of 'slow' fashion style expressed on fashion mag-azine in pursuit of sociocultural paradigm change towards 'slowness'. As for the research methodology, content analysisfor Vogue magazine has been undertaken. The results of this study can be summarized as followings. First, the concerntoward eco-friendly ethics has been involving simple style which is long-lasting, junky style which is reused or recycled,and sustainable style which is motived by nature. Second, the interest toward local diversity has been involving ethnicexotic style which is inspired by global culture and vintage retro style which is applied the old tradition. Third, the atten-tion toward self-made has been involving personal style which is produced through the process such as made-to-measure,made-to-order and reform. Also, anonymous dresses can be personalized easily under mix-n-match. In Conclusion, the'slow' fashion characteristics has been expressed on contemporary mass fashion in various way and the 'slow' fashionwould be expected to improve in accordance with the change toward sociocultural paradigm of 'slowness'.Key words:slow fashion, slowness, eco-friendly ethics, local diversity, self-made

This study examined the effects of mother-implemented Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) training on the independent communication of three young children with autism spectrum disorders. Three mothers were trained to teach their child PECS Phases 1 through 3B, which they did with high integrity. Moreover, all three children successfully acquired independent picture exchanges that were generalized to a different communication partner and maintained for at least 1 month. Vocalizations across participants showed limited or no improvement. These findings systematically extend previous PECS research by training mothers to be the primary implementers of PECS training. In addition, this research provides practitioners with insight into the feasibility and necessity of parent-implemented PECS training.

Background and Aims: The adjuvant effects of probiotic-containing yogurt on second-line triple therapy for Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection have not been evaluated. Methods: A total of 337 patients with persistent H. pylori infection, after first-line triple therapy, were randomly assigned to receive either triple therapy with (yogurt group, n = 151) or without (control group, n = 186) Will yogurt. Triple therapy consisted of 400 mg moxifloxacin q.d., 1000 mg amoxicillin b.i.d., and 20 mg esomeprazole b.i.d. for 14 days. Will yogurt contains Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Bifidobacterium longum, and Streptococcus thermophilus. H. pylori eradication was evaluated by the 13C-urea breath test, histology, or the rapid urease test. Results: The eradication rates by intention-to-treat analysis were 66.7% and 68.9% in the control and yogurt groups, respectively (P = 0.667). The eradication rates by per-protocol analysis were 78.5% and 86% in the control and the yogurt groups, respectively (P = 0.110). The adverse event rates were 25.3% and 28.5% in the control group and yogurt group, respectively (P = 0.508). Conclusions: The addition of yogurt containing probiotics to moxifloxacin-containing second-line treatment neither improved H. pylori eradication rates nor reduced the adverse events of treatment.

Background We sought to investigate risk factors for recurrence of vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia (VAIN) in the vaginal vault after laser vaporization. Materials and Methods Among 162 patients treated with laser vaporization in the vaginal vault after hysterectomy between March 1998 and August 2007, the clinical data of 68 patients were reviewed retrospectively. They underwent hysterectomy before laser vaporization due to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage Ia1–Ib1 cervical cancer (n = 17), cervical carcinoma in situ (CIS, n = 18), cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) (CIN I, n = 4; CIN II, n = 9; CIN III, n = 12), leiomyoma (n = 5) and endometrial polyp (n = 3). All patients were diagnosed as VAIN I (n = 24), VAIN II (n = 18) and VAIN III (n = 26) in the vaginal vault before laser vaporization. Risk factors for recurrence of VAIN in the vaginal vault after laser vaporization were investigated by multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results The median age was 48 years (range, 32–74 years), and the median duration of follow-up was 33 months (range, 10–115 months). Among all patients, 18 (26.5%) showed disease recurrence. Age (≤48 years) and VAIN III in the vaginal vault before laser vaporization were risk factors for recurrence after laser vaporization (age ≤48 years, adjusted OR, 2.07, 95% CI, 1.18–7.01; VAIN III in the vaginal vault before laser vaporization, adjusted OR, 8.42, 95% CI, 1.63–18.56). Conclusion Laser vaporization may be a feasible method for the treatment of VAIN in the vaginal vault after hysterectomy. However, age (≤48 years) and VAIN III in the vaginal vault before laser vaporization should be considered as risk factors for recurrence after laser vaporization. Lasers Surg. Med. 41:196–202, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

In order to understand how mothers develop their parenting styles under rapidly changing cultural contexts, this study examines and compares Korean upper-middle-class mothers' parental goals and real parenting practices as they reported. For this purpose, face-to-face in-depth interviews with 20 Korean mothers were conducted. By analyzing the data, we found that Korean mothers' parenting beliefs focused on `raising a child with good social and emotional characteristics', while their reported practices mainly concentrated on children's academic achievements. Korean mothers failed to connect their beliefs and behaviors because they tended to compare their parenting practices with those of other mothers. Although the mothers followed expectations from current Korean society, they constantly had to deal with guilty and uncomfortable feelings of not corresponding with their personal parental beliefs and goals.

The prevalence and clinical implications of discordance between Xpert MTB/RIF assays and the AdvanSure TB/NTM real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for bronchial washing specimens have not been studied in pulmonary TB (PTB) patients. The discordant proportion and its clinical impact were evaluated in 320 patients from the bronchoscopy registry whose bronchial washing specimens were tested simultaneously with Xpert MTB/RIF and the TB/NTM PCR assay for three years, and the accuracy of the assays, including the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV), were studied. The clinical risk factors for discordance and false positivity of assays were also studied. Among 130 patients who were clinically diagnosed with PTB, 64 patients showed positive acid-fast bacilli culture results, 56 patients showed positive results in molecular methods and clinician diagnosed PTB without results of microbiology in 10 patients. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were 80.0%, 98.95%, 98.1%, and 87.9%, respectively, for Xpert MTB/RIF and 81.5%, 92.6%, 88.3%, and 88.0%, respectively, for TB/NTM PCR. The discordant proportion was 16.9% and was higher in culture-negative PTB compared to culture-confirmed PTB (24.3% vs. 9.4%, p = 0.024). However, there were no significant differences in the clinical characteristics, regardless of the discordance. The diagnostic yield increased with an additional assay (7.7% for Xpert MTB/RIF and 9.2% for TB/NTM PCR). False positivity was less common in patients tested with Xpert MTB/RIF (1.05% vs. 7.37%, p = 0.0035). No host-related risk factor for false positivity was identified. The Xpert MTB/RIF and TB/NTM PCR assay in bronchial washing specimens can improve the diagnostic yields for PTB, although there were considerable discordant results without any patient-related risk factors.

Charge-trap flash- (CTF) memory structures have been fabricated by employing IrO2 nanodots (NDs) grown by atomic-layer deposition. A band of isolated IrO2NDs of about 3 nm lying almost parallel to Si/SiO2 interface is confirmed by transmission electron microscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The memory device with IrO2NDs shows much larger capacitance–voltage (C–V) hysteresis and memory window compared with the control sample without IrO2NDs. After annealing at 800 °C for 20 min, the ND device shows almost no change in the width of C–V hysteresis and the ND distribution. These results indicate that the IrO2NDs embedded in SiO2 can be utilized as thermally stable, discrete charge traps, promising for metal oxide-ND-based CTF memory devices.

Four new cytochalasin derivatives (I), (II), (III), and (IV) are isolated from the jellyfish-derived fungus Phoma sp.

Our purpose was to compare the normal fertilization rate, multi-pronuclei (PN) formation rate, and embryonic development of in vitro-matured oocytes between conventional insemination and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).A total of 213 stimulated in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles were selected, in which at least one immature oocyte was obtained (from 2010 to 2014). Immature oocytes were assigned to germinal vesicle (GV)-stage or metaphase I (MI)-stage oocyte groups. Cycles with obligatory ICSI due to male-factor infertility were excluded. Cycles were divided into two groups according to fertilization method: there were 97 cycles with conventional insemination and 116 cycles with ICSI. After in vitro maturation of 324 GV-stage oocytes and 341 MI-stage oocytes, the fertilization rate, multi-PN formation rate, and embryonic development were compared according to the fertilization method.The normal fertilization rate was similar in the conventional insemination and the ICSI both in GV-derived and MI-derived oocytes. Both fertilization methods resulted in a similar multi-PN formation rate in GV-derived oocytes; however, in MI-derived oocytes, the multi-PN formation rate was zero with ICSI and this was significantly lower than that with conventional insemination (9.6%, P = 0.001).In non-male-factor infertility, ICSI should be considered when MI oocytes are matured.

To examine changes in the performance of physicians after working in busy outpatient clinics, we conducted a prospective study, involving full-time clinicians who held morning and afternoon outpatient clinics on the same day. The participants completed three measures of attention, the psychomotor vigilance task, two-back test, and trail-making test, and a measure of emotion, the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI), before and after the two clinic sessions. The physicians saw a mean of 91.3 patients in the two outpatient clinics on the day of testing. Overall, performance in the attention test did not deteriorate after the two successive outpatient sessions. However, we observed an increased STAXI score in 24 (54.3%) participants and saw a significant overall increase in STAXI scores. Our results indicate that busy outpatient sessions may increase physicians’ anger although their attentional capacity appears to be maintained.

The design of gate-all-around (GAA) MOSFETs was optimized and compared with that of double-gate MOSFETs. We discussed the optimal ratio of the fin width to the gate length and investigated short-channel effects of GAA MOSFETs. Using three-dimensional simulations, we confirmed that short-channel effects were properly suppressed although the fin width was the same as the gate length in GAA MOSFETs. Finally, we compared cubical channel GAA MOSFETs with cylindrical-channel ones. As a result, it was observed that the latter showed the maximized ratio of the fin width to the gate length up to 1.2.

Acute exacerbation(s) of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) tend to be critical and debilitating events leading to poorer outcomes in relation to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) treatment modalities, and contribute to a higher and earlier mortality rate in COPD patients. Besides pro-active preventative measures intended to obviate acquisition of AECOPD, early recovery from severe AECOPD is an important issue in determining the long-term prognosis of patients diagnosed with COPD. Updated GOLD guidelines and recently published American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society clinical recommendations emphasize the importance of use of pharmacologic treatment including bronchodilators, systemic steroids and/or antibiotics. As a non-pharmacologic strategy to combat the effects of AECOPD, noninvasive ventilation (NIV) is recommended as the treatment of choice as this therapy is thought to be most effective in reducing intubation risk in patients diagnosed with AECOPD with acute respiratory failure. Recently, a few adjunctive modalities, including NIV with helmet and helium-oxygen mixture, have been tried in cases of AECOPD with respiratory failure. As yet, insufficient documentation exists to permit recommendation of this therapy without qualification. Although there are too few findings, as yet, to allow for regular andr routine application of those modalities in AECOPD, there is anecdotal evidence to indicate both mechanical and physiological benefits connected with this therapy. High-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy is another supportive strategy which serves to improve the symptoms of hypoxic respiratory failure. The therapy also produced improvement in ventilatory variables, and it may be successfully applied in cases of hypercapnic respiratory failure. Extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal has been successfully attempted in cases of adult respiratory distress syndrome, with protective hypercapnic ventilatory strategy. Nowadays, it is reported that it was also effective in reducing intubation in AECOPD with hypercapnic respiratory failure. Despite the apparent need for more supporting evidence, efforts to improve efficacy of NIV have continued unabated. It is anticipated that these efforts will, over time, serve toprogressively decrease the risk of intubation and invasive mechanical ventilation in cases of AECOPD with acute respiratory failure.

p53 mutations and the Ki-67 protein are frequently observed in various types of human cancer; the abnormal expression of p53 and Ki-67 in the tumor is associated with poor survival of lung cancer patients. We aimed to assess the prognostic role of immunohistochemical (IHC) expression of p53 and Ki-67 in lung adenocarcinoma tissue.Tumor samples from 136 patients who had undergone surgical resection for lung adenocarcinoma were retrospectively evaluated for p53 and Ki-67 expression by immunohistochemistry. Associations of clinical and pathologic variables with p53 and Ki-67 were determined using the χ(2) test. After excluding two patients (follow-up loss), 134 cases were evaluated for associations between p53, Ki-67, clinical and pathologic variables, and survival by using the Cox proportional hazards regression model and Kaplan-Meier method.In the 136 patients, p53 was positive in 71.0% (93/131), and Ki-67 showed high in 49.2% (61/124). Unlike p53, Ki-67 was associated with male sex, smoking, and poor tumor differentiation (P=0.004, P=0.001 and P=0.006). Of these, poor tumor differentiation strongly was correlated with high level of Ki-67 expression (P=0.008). Neither p53 nor Ki-67 was associated with increased risk of death (P=0.318, P=0.053); however, age ≥60 years and lymph node involvement were significant predictors of death (P=0.039 and P=0.042). The log-rank test revealed a significant association between Ki-67 and lower survival in all patients (χ(2)=5637; P=0.018); however, the risk was limited to stage III cases (χ(2)=5.939; P=0.015). Unlike p53, patients with high level of Ki-67 expression showed lower 3-year actuarial survival than those without (log-rank test, χ(2)=4.936; P=0.026).IHC expression of Ki-67 in lung adenocarcinoma tissue shows stronger association with poor tumor differentiation, and negatively affects patients' survival in advanced-stage lung cancer; however, the role of p53 on patient outcome needs further study.

Hippophae rhamnoides L. (HL) exerts antioxidant activities against various oxidative stress conditions. In this study, we investigated effects of extract from HL leaves (HLE) on cell proliferation and neuroblast differentiation in the subgranular zone (SGZ) of the dentate gyrus (DG) of aged gerbils.Aged gerbils (24 months) were divided into vehicle (saline)-treated- and HLE-treated-groups. The vehicle and HLE were orally administered with 200 mg/kg once a day for 20 days before sacrifice. Cell proliferation and neuroblast differentiation were examined in the DG using Ki67 and doublecortin (DCX), respectively. We also observed changes in immunoreactivities of superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) and superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and phospho-glycogen synthase kinase-3-beta (p-GSK-3β) to examine their relation with neurogenesis using immunohistochemistry.The administration of HLE significantly increased the number of Ki67-positive cells and DCX-positive neuroblasts with well-developed processes in the SGZ of the DG of the HLE-treated-group. In addition, immunoreactivities of SOD1, SOD2, BDNF, and p-GSK-3β were significantly increased in granule and polymorphic cells of the DG in the HLE-treated-group compared with those in the vehicle-treated-group.HLE treatment significantly increased cell proliferation and neuroblast differentiation, showing that immunoreactivities of SOD1, SOD2, BDNF, and p-GSK-3β were significantly increased in the DG. These indicate that increased neuroblast differentiation neurogenesis may be closely related to upregulation of SOD1, SOD2, BDNF, and p-GSK-3β in aged gerbils.

Endobronchial metastasis of leiomyosarcoma is rare, but it can cause life-threatening complications, such as massive hemoptysis, respiratory failure or even death. The development of new endoscopic modalities allows for effective endobronchial management. We report three patients with endobronchial metastases from advanced leiomyosarcomas which caused bronchial obstruction. The bronchoscopic examinations revealed masses obstructing the left main bronchus in all three patients. After removing the endobronchial tumor via interventional bronchoscopy, there was symptomatic and radiologic improvement. Moreover, the patients were able to undergo additional palliative chemotherapy. Therefore, endobronchial management of endobronchial tumors should be considered in the treatment of endobronchial metastasis, even in patients with advanced malignancies.