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A novel Gram-stain-negative, motile, aerobic and rod-shaped alphaproteobacterium, designated strain KHS03T, was isolated from the intestinal tract of a Japanese flying squid, Todarodes pacificus, which was collected from the East Sea, Korea. The new isolate shared 97.4 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Sedimentitalea nanhaiensis NH52FT. The isolate grew optimally at 25 °C and pH 7 in the presence of 1–2 % (w/v) NaCl, and had an absolute requirement of sodium ions for growth. The major cellular fatty acid was C18 : 1 ω7c. The primary isoprenoid quinone was ubiquinone-10. Polar lipids comprised diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, an unidentified aminolipid and two unidentified lipids. Genotypic analyses indicated that the whole genomic DNA of the isolate had a G+C content of 59.9 mol%. DNA–DNA hybridization showed that the isolate shared 17.1±2.3 % (reciprocal 17.0±1.9 %) genomic relatedness with the closest related type strain, S. nanhaiensis NH52FT. Strain KHS03T is thus suggested to represent a novel species of the genus Sedimentitalea , for which the name Sedimentitalea todarodis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is KHS03T (=KCTC 42412T=JCM 31160T).

A novel Gram-staining-positive, aerobic, non-motile and coccus-shaped bacterium, designated strain TBS-100T, was isolated from the faeces of a crested ibis, Nipponia nippon. The phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the closest relative of TBS-100T was Flexivirga alba DSM 24460T with 97.11 % sequence similarity, and that strain TBS-100T belonged to the genus Flexivirga . The optimum growth conditions for strain TBS-100T were 30 °C, at a pH of 7 and in the presence of 0 % (w/v) NaCl. The primary cellular fatty acids of strain TBS-100T were anteiso-C17 : 0 and iso-C17 : 0. The predominant isoprenoid quinones were MK-8 (H4) (70.2 %) and MK-8 (H6) (29.7 %). The polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, seven unidentified lipids and an unidentified phospholipid. The whole-cell sugars of strain TBS-100T were ribose, glucose, galactose, rhamnose and mannose. The peptidoglycan contained alanine, lysine, glutamic acid, glycine and aspartic acid. The DNA G+C content was 64.8 mol%. The phenotypic, phylogenetic and genotypic analyses indicated that strain TBS-100T represents a novel species of the genus Flexivirga for which the name Flexivirga lutea sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is TBS-100T (=KCTC 39625T=JCM 31200T). In addition, an emended description of the genus Flexivirga is proposed.

// Wataru Nakajima 1, 2, * , Kanika Sharma 1, * , June Young Lee 1 , Nicolas T. Maxim 1 , Mark A. Hicks 1 , Thien-Trang Vu 1 , Angela Luu 1 , W. Andrew Yeudall 3 , Nobuyuki Tanaka 2 , Hisashi Harada 1 1 Phillips Institute for Oral Health Research, School of Dentistry, Massey Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA 2 Department of Molecular Oncology, Institute for Advanced Medical Sciences, Nippon Medical School, Kawasaki, Japan 3 Department of Oral Biology, Dental College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia, USA * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Hisashi Harada, email: hharada@vcu.edu Keywords: CDK2, MCL-1, Noxa, phosphorylation, chemotherapy Received: September 08, 2015 Accepted: April 24, 2016 Published: May 07, 2016 ABSTRACT Noxa, a BH3-only pro-apoptotic BCL-2 family protein, causes apoptosis by specifically interacting with the anti-apoptotic protein MCL-1 to induce its proteasome-mediated degradation. We show here that the DNA damaging agents cisplatin and etoposide upregulate Noxa expression, which is required for the phosphorylation of MCL-1 at Ser64/Thr70 sites, proteasome-dependent degradation, and apoptosis. Noxa-induced MCL-1 phosphorylation at these sites occurs at the mitochondria and is primarily regulated by CDK2. MCL-1 and CDK2 form a stable complex and Noxa binds to this complex to facilitate the phosphorylation of MCL-1. When Ser64 and Thr70 of MCL-1 are substituted with alanine, the mutated MCL-1 is neither phosphorylated nor ubiquitinated, and becomes more stable than the wild-type protein. As a consequence, this mutant can inhibit apoptosis induced by Noxa overexpression or cisplatin treatment. These results indicate that Noxa-mediated MCL-1 phosphorylation followed by MCL-1 degradation is critical for apoptosis induced by DNA damaging agents through regulation of the Noxa/MCL-1/CDK2 complex.

Purpose We evaluated the prevalence and characteristics of breakthrough cancer pain (BTcP) in Korean patients admitted with cancer pain. Materials and Methods In-hospital patients with cancer pain completed a questionnaire concerning severity of background cancer pain (BCP), prevalence and treatment for BTcP, sleep disorders, and satisfaction with cancer pain treatment. Medical records showing medications for BCP and BTcP were also evaluated. Results Total 609 patients with controlled BCP enrolled. Mean age of the patients was 59.5 years old, and 59% were male. Of all patients, 177 (29%) complained of BTcP. No clinical characteristic predicted BTcP. Of the 177 patients with BTcP, 56% did not receive treatment for BTcP. Patients with BTcP showed significant association with a sleep disorder and dissatisfaction with pain control, compared to those without BTcP (p < 0.0001 and p=0.0498, respectively). Oxycodone-immediate release was the most commonly used short-acting analgesic, followed by intravenous morphine. Conclusion The prevalence of BTcP was 29% in patients admitted with controlled BCP. Although the patients had well-controlled BCP, BTcP showed association with a lower quality of life in patients with cancer. More medical attention is needed for detection and management of BTcP.

A novel strain, designated AM23T, was isolated from the gut of a purple sea urchin Heliocidaris crassispina collected from the coastal waters of the Korean island Dokdo. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that strain AM23T belonged to the genus Arthrobacter in the family Micrococcaceae and shared highest sequence similarity with Arthrobacter agilis DSM 20550T (98.77 %). Strain AM23T was catalase-positive, oxidase-negative and grew optimally at 20 °C, in the presence of 1 % (w/v) NaCl and at pH 7. The isolate was a Gram-stain-positive, non-motile, strictly aerobic and coccus-shaped bacterium. The major cellular fatty acids were anteiso-C15 : 0 and iso-C15 : 0. The polar lipids of strain AM23T were phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, one unidentified glycolipid and four unidentified lipids. The components of the cell-wall peptidoglycan were lysine, glutamic acid and alanine and the predominant cell-wall sugars were galactose, mannose, rhamnose and ribose. The major respiratory quinone was identified as menaquinone MK-9(H2). The genomic DNA G+C content was 67.3 mol% and the DNA–DNA hybridization values showed the strain shared less than 29 % genomic relatedness with A. agilis DSM 20550T. The results of the phylogenetic, phenotypic and genotypic analysis indicate that strain AM23T represents a novel species in the genus Arthrobacter, for which the name Arthrobacter echini sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is AM23T ( = KACC 18260T = DSM 29493T).

A novel Gram-stain-negative, non-motile, non-spore-forming, non-flagellated, aerobic, beige-coloured and rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain KHS02T, was isolated from the intestinal tract of a Japanese flying squid, Todarodes pacificus, which was collected from the East Sea, Korea. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain KHS02T formed a monophyletic clade with Pseudahrensia aquimaris HDW-32T, with which it had the highest sequence similarity (98.67 %). Strain KHS02T grew optimally at pH 7 with 2 % (w/v) NaCl at 25 °C on marine broth 2216, but could not grow without Na+. The predominant isoprenoid quinone was ubiquinone-10 (Q-10). The major fatty acids (>10 % of the total) were summed feature 8 (C18 : 1ω6c and/or C18 : 1ω7c) and 11-methyl C18 : 1ω7c. The polar lipids of strain KHS02T comprised phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, two unidentified aminolipids, an unidentified phospholipid and an unidentified lipid. The genomic DNA G+C content was 58.6 mol%. DNA–DNA hybridization showed that the isolate shared 16.2 ± 1.3 % (reciprocal, 15.7 ± 2.8 %) genomic relatedness with the type strain of the closest species. In conclusion, this isolate is suggested to represent a novel species of the genus Pseudahrensia, for which the name Pseudahrensia todarodis is proposed. The type strain is KHS02T ( = KACC 18257T = JCM 30419T).

This study suggests a post-evaluation model for future and emerging technologies identified by previous foresight activities to determine whether their potential has been maintained, extended, or minimized due to rapid technological and social changes in the research and development environment occurring after the technology item was selected. Moreover, the proposed model is based on specialist insight, and can measure whether the selected technology is still promising and socially and technically feasible at the current time domestically and worldwide based on a technology growth curve. The results of the case study suggest which technology items have been implemented or unimplemented due to particular accelerators or obstacles, which items are still promising, and the technology level of the items. The proposed model focuses on the technology items themselves, whereas previous evaluation activities have focused only on the process and impacts of foresight projects. Moreover, this post-evaluation model can be applied to various emerging technology items that are continuously selected and reported around the world, allowing for the monitoring of changes in the brightness and realization status of previously selected items. Thus, the model can provide feedback for the future selection process to improve the reliability of emerging technology selections and suggest the information for decision-making with related to a particular emerging technology item.

A novel Gram-stain-negative, obligately aerobic, non-motile and coccus-shaped bacterium, designated strain CN1T, was isolated from the intestine of a Korean rockfish, Sebastes schlegelii. The optimum growth condition for strain CN1T was 25 °C, pH 7 and 0–1 % (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain CN1T was in the genus Comamonas and that the nearest type strain was Comamonas koreensis YH12T with 98.65 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity. The primary cellular fatty acids of strain CN1T were summed feature 3 (comprised of C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c), C16 : 0 and summed feature 8 (comprised of C18 : 1ω6c and/or C18 : 1ω7c). The predominant isoprenoid quinone was ubiquinone Q-8. The polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, an unidentified lipid, an unidentified phospholipid and two aminophospholipids. The DNA G+C content was 65.5 mol%. The phenotypic, phylogenetic and genotypic analyses indicated that strain CN1T represents a novel species of the genus Comamonas, for which the name Comamonas piscis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CN1T ( = KACC 18403T = JCM 30718T).

A novel Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, motile and rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain RSG39T, was isolated from the gut of a Korean rockfish, Sebastes schlegelii. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that strain RSG39T belonged to the genus Simplicispira in the class Betaproteobacteria and its highest sequence similarity was shared with S. psychrophila (98.4 %). The isolate grew optimally at 20 °C, at pH 7 and with 0 % (w/v) NaCl. The main respiratory quinone of the isolate was ubiquinone Q-8. The major cellular fatty acids were C16 : 0, summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c) and summed feature 8 (C18 : 1ω7c and/or C18 : 1ω6c). The polar lipids of the isolate were phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol and six unidentified lipids. The DNA–DNA hybridization values showed T represents a novel species of the genus Simplicispira, for which the name Simplocospira piscis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is RSG39T ( = KACC 17539T = JCM 19291T).

Kushneria konosiri X49T is a member of the Halomonadaceae family within the order Oceanospirillales and can be isolated from salt-fermented larval gizzard shad. The genome of K. konosiri X49T reported here provides a genetic basis for its halophilic character. Diverse genes were involved in salt-in and -out strategies enabling adaptation of X49T to hypersaline environments. Due to resistance to high salt concentrations, genome research of K. konosiri X49T will contribute to the improvement of environmental and biotechnological usage by enhancing understanding of the osmotic equilibrium in the cytoplasm. Its genome consists of 3,584,631 bp, with an average G + C content of 59.1%, and 3261 coding sequences, 12 rRNAs, 66 tRNAs, and 8 miscRNAs.

Abnormalities in the human microbiota are associated with the etiology of allergic diseases. Although disease site-specific microbiota may be associated with disease pathophysiology, the role of the nasal microbiota is unclear. We sought to characterize the microbiota of the site of allergic rhinitis, the inferior turbinate, in subjects with allergic rhinitis ( n = 20) and healthy controls ( n = 12) and to examine the relationship of mucosal microbiota with disease occurrence, sensitized allergen number, and allergen-specific and total IgE levels. Microbial dysbiosis correlated significantly with total IgE levels representing combined allergic responses but not with disease occurrence, the number of sensitized allergens, or house dust mite allergen-specific IgE levels. Compared to the populations in individuals with low total IgE levels (group IgE low ), low microbial biodiversity with a high relative abundance of Firmicutes phylum ( Staphylococcus aureus ) and a low relative abundance of Actinobacteria phylum ( Propionibacterium acnes ) was observed in individuals with high total serum IgE levels (group IgE high ). Phylogeny-based microbial functional potential predicted by the 16S rRNA gene indicated an increase in signal transduction-related genes and a decrease in energy metabolism-related genes in group IgE high as shown in the microbial features with atopic and/or inflammatory diseases. Thus, dysbiosis of the inferior turbinate mucosa microbiota, particularly an increase in S. aureus and a decrease in P. acnes , is linked to high total IgE levels in allergic rhinitis, suggesting that inferior turbinate microbiota may be affected by accumulated allergic responses against sensitized allergens and that site-specific microbial alterations play a potential role in disease pathophysiology.

A Gram-stain-positive, facultatively aerobic, spore-forming, oxidase-positive, catalase- and DNase-negative, rod-shaped and motile bacterial strain, AR23208T, was isolated from the gut of a cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus), collected at Seoul Grand Park Zoo (Republic of Korea). Strain AR23208T grew optimally at 25–30 °C, at pH 7 and in the absence of NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that strain AR23208T shared 98.2 and 97.1 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Tumebacillus algifaecis THMBR28T and Tumebacillus lipolyticus NIO-S10T, respectively. The predominant fatty acids (>10 %) of strain AR23208T were iso-C15 : 0, summed feature 4 (anteiso-C17 : 1 B and/or iso-C17 : 1 I) and anteiso-C15 : 0 and the primary isoprenoid quinone was menaquinone-7. The polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, six unidentified phospholipids, an unidentified aminophospholipid and ten unidentified lipids. The sugar components of the cell wall peptidoglycan were ribose and arabinose. The amino acids of the cell wall peptidoglycan were l-alanine, aspartic acid, meso-diaminopimelic acid, l-glutamic acid, glycine and l-lysine. The OrthoANI value based on the complete genome sequence of strain AR23208T and the closest related strain, T. algifaecis THMBR28T, was 80.4 %. The genomic DNA G+C content of strain AR23208T was 56.0 mol%. Based on the data presented in the current study, strain AR23208T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Tumebacillus , for which the name Tumebacillus avium sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is AR23208T (=KCTC 33929T=JCM 32188T).

A novel Gram-staining-negative, non-spore-forming, non-flagellated, non-motile, aerobic, saffron-coloured, rod-shaped bacterium that did not produce flexirubin-type pigments was designated strain EM7T and was distinct from other members of the genus Bizionia by produce carotenoid-type pigments and being able to grow independently of NaCl. Strain EM7T was isolated from the intestinal tract of an egg cockle, Fulvia mutica, which had been collected from the West Sea in Korea. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that strain EM7T belonged to the genus Bizionia, and showed sequence similarity to Bizionia paragorgiae KMM 6029T (97.9 %) and Bizionia saleffrena HFDT (97.73 %). Growth occurred on marine agar 2216 at 0–25 °C (optimum, 20 °C) and at pH 6–9 (optimum, pH 7). Growth occurred in the presence of 0–10 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 2 %, w/v, NaCl). The major cellular fatty acids were anteiso-C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 1 G, summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c), iso-C17 : 0 3-OH and iso-C16 : 0 3-OH. The major respiratory quinone was menaquinone MK-6. The polar lipids of strain EM7T comprised phosphatidylethanolamine, three unidentified aminolipids, an unidentified aminophospholipid and two unidentified lipids. The genomic DNA G+C content was 34.8 mol%. Bizionia paragorgiae KMM 6029T and Bizionia saleffrena HFDT to Bizionia paragorgiae KCTC 12304T and Bizionia saleffrena CIP 108534T, respectively. Thus, it is proposed that the isolate represents a novel species, Bizionia fulviae sp. nov., with strain EM7T ( = KACC 18255T = JCM 30417T) as the type strain.

Three strains, CBM1T, CBH23 and LAH16T, belonging to the genus Paenibacillus were isolated from the midgut and hindgut of Apis mellifera. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses and phenotypic characteristics, the three strains represent two novel species. Strains CBM1T and CBH23 formed a group with Paenibacillus puldeungensis CAU 9324T, and strain LAH16T belonged to the Paenibacillus amylolyticus NRRL NRS-290T subgroup of the genus Paenibacillus . The DNA G+C contents of strains CBM1T, CBH23 and LAH16T were 47.7, 48.1 and 46.1 mol%, respectively. The three strains possessed diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylethanolamine as polar lipids. The predominant quinone in the three strains was MK-7, but strains CBM1T and CBH23 contained an additional major quinone, MK-8(H2). While strain LAH16T and most species of the genus Paenibacillus possessed anteiso-C15 : 0, iso-C16 : 0 and C16 : 0 as major cellular fatty acids, strains CBM1T and CBH23 possessed C16 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0, C18 : 1ω7c and C19 : 0cyclo ω8c. Based on phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic data, strains CBM1T and CBH23 and the strain LAH16T represent novel species in the genus Paenibacillus , for which the names Paenibacillus apis sp. nov. and Paenibacillus intestini sp. nov. are proposed, with CBM1T (=KCTC 33844T=JCM 31620T) and LAH16T (=KCTC 33832T=JCM 31621T) as the type strains, respectively.

A central concern for an optimizing compiler is the design of its intermediate representation (IR) for code. The IR should make it easy to perform transformations, and should also afford efficient and precise static analysis. In this paper we study an aspect of IR design that has received little attention: the role of undefined behavior. The IR for every optimizing compiler we have looked at, including GCC, LLVM, Intel's, and Microsoft's, supports one or more forms of undefined behavior (UB), not only to reflect the semantics of UB-heavy programming languages such as C and C++, but also to model inherently unsafe low-level operations such as memory stores and to avoid over-constraining IR semantics to the point that desirable transformations become illegal. The current semantics of LLVM's IR fails to justify some cases of loop unswitching, global value numbering, and other important "textbook" optimizations, causing long-standing bugs. We present solutions to the problems we have identified in LLVM's IR and show that most optimizations currently in LLVM remain sound, and that some desirable new transformations become permissible. Our solutions do not degrade compile time or performance of generated code.

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography is widely used for diagnosis and treatment of pancreatobiliary diseases and associated with a spectrum of complications such as pancreatitis, hemorrhage, and so on. Endoscopic papillary balloon dilatation (EPBD) has an advantage over endoscopic sphincterotomy in complication of bleeding. We report here on a 68-year-old woman who developed metabolic encephalopathy due to massive bleeding after EPBD. Massive bleeding was controlled after selective embolization and metabolic encephalopathy was improved after conservative management. Metabolic encephalopathy due to massive bleeding after EPBD has not been reported. We report on this unusual case along with a review of the related literatures.

Epidermoid cyst in the intrapancreatic accessory spleen is extremely rare condition which could be mistaken for pancreatic cystic neoplasm. We report two cases of epidermoid cysts of intrapancreatic accessory spleen which mimicking pancreatic cystic neoplasm. Two patients, both male, aged 47 and 53 respectively were referred to our department for pancreatic mass. One was asymptomatic, whereas the other presented worsening abdominal pain and progressive weight loss. In both cases, the mass with cystic component was detected in the pancreatic tail in a computed tomography scan. Under a suspicion of pancreatic cystic neuronendocrine tumor, they underwent a distal pancreatectomy. Pathologic feature of resected specimens were shown to benign squamous lined cyst with splenic tissue in and around cyst wall which suggested that epidermoid cysts in the accessory spleen. We should take into account the possibility of epidermoid cyst in the intrapancreatic accessory spleen in the differential diagnosis of pancreatic cystic lesion. Korean J Pancreatobiliary 2014;19(1):52-58

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs), though exceedingly rare in the blood, are nonetheless becoming increasingly important in cancer diagnostics. Despite this keen interest and the growing number of potential clinical applications, there has been limited success in developing a CTC isolation platform that simultaneously optimizes recovery rates, purity, and cell compatibility. Herein, a novel tracheal carina-inspired bifurcated (TRAB) microfilter system is reported, which uses an optimal filter gap size satisfying both 100% theoretical recovery rate and purity, as determined by biomechanical analysis and fluid-structure interaction (FSI) simulations. Biomechanical properties are also used to clearly discriminate between cancer cells and leukocytes, whereby cancer cells are selectively bound to melamine microbeads, which increase the size and stiffness of these cells. Nanoindentation experiments are conducted to measure the stiffness of leukocytes as compared to the microbead-conjugated cancer cells, with these parameters then being used in FSI analyses to optimize the filter gap size. The simulation results show that given a flow rate of 100 μL min(-1), an 8 μm filter gap optimizes the recovery rate and purity. MCF-7 breast cancer cells with solid microbeads are spiked into 3 mL of whole blood and, by using this flow rate along with the optimized microfilter dimensions, the cell mixture passes through the TRAB filter, which achieves a recovery rate of 93% and purity of 59%. Regarding cell compatibility, it is verified that the isolation procedure does not adversely affect cell viability, thus also confirming that the re-collected cancer cells can be cultured for up to 8 days. This work demonstrates a CTC isolation technology platform that optimizes high recovery rates and cell purity while also providing a framework for functional cell studies, potentially enabling even more sensitive and specific cancer diagnostics.

Subgraph enumeration is important for many applications such as subgraph frequencies, network motif discovery, graphlet kernel computation, and studying the evolution of social networks. Most earlier work on subgraph enumeration assumes that graphs are resident in memory, which results in serious scalability problems. Recently, efforts to enumerate all subgraphs in a large-scale graph have seemed to enjoy some success by partitioning the data graph and exploiting the distributed frameworks such as MapReduce and distributed graph engines. However, we notice that all existing distributed approaches have serious performance problems for subgraph enumeration due to the explosive number of partial results. In this paper, we design and implement a disk-based, single machine parallel subgraph enumeration solution called DualSim that can handle massive graphs without maintaining exponential numbers of partial results. Specifically, we propose a novel concept of the dual approach for subgraph enumeration. The dual approach swaps the roles of the data graph and the query graph. Specifically, instead of fixing the matching order in the query and then matching data vertices, it fixes the data vertices by fixing a set of disk pages and then finds all subgraph matchings in these pages. This enables us to significantly reduce the number of disk reads. We conduct extensive experiments with various real-world graphs to systematically demonstrate the superiority of DualSim over state-of-the-art distributed subgraph enumeration methods. DualSim outperforms the state-of-the-art methods by up to orders of magnitude, while they fail for many queries due to explosive intermediate results.

Long-acting injectable testosterone undecanoate (TU, Nebido(®)), a new parenteral testosterone preparation, has recently been introduced to avoid frequent injections of the conventional injectable esters.To assess the efficacy and safety of long-acting injectable testosterone undecanoate (TU, Nebido(®)) in Korean patients with testosterone deficiency syndrome (TDS).One hundred thirty-three patients who complain of erectile dysfunction with serum testosterone level less than 3.5 ng/mL were injected with 1,000 mg of TU (4 mL/ample) on day 1, followed by another injection after 6 weeks and 18 weeks. For the safety profiles, serum hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (Hct), glucose, lipid profile, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) were measured.Body mass index (BMI) was measured at the time of the first visit and after 12, 24 weeks. Primary efficacy was evaluated according to changes in the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) from the initial visit to the final visit (24 weeks) and from the initial visit to each visit. Secondary efficacy was assessed with changes of the Aging Males' Symptoms (AMS) Scale and the Global Efficacy Question (GEQ) for improvement of erectile function.Mean age of patients was 54 ± 9.6 years. Compared with pretreatment, no significant improvement in BMI was observed. Serum total testosterone and free testosterone were significantly increased at 12 weeks and were maintained until 24 weeks (P0.001). TU significantly decreased cholesterol (P0.0001). TU significantly improved total IIEF, all five domain scores of IIEF (P0.0001) and total AMS, all three domain scores of AMS (P0.0001). On GEQ, TU improved erectile function in 76.9% of subjects. On safety profile, TU significantly elevated Hb, Hct, and PSA at 24 weeks but within normal range. No serious adverse reactions were observed. Drop-out rate was 15.0%.In this prospective multicenter study, TU was effective, safe, and tolerable until 24 weeks in Korean TDS patients. Further well-controlled, long-term study should follow.

Application areas of Knowledge Discovery in Database(KDD) have been expanded to many R&D management processes including technology trends analysis, forecasting and evaluation etc. Established research field such as informetrics (or scientometrics) has utilized techniques or methods of KDD. Various systems have been developed to support works of analyzing large-scale R&D related databases such as patent DB or bibliographic DB by a few researchers or institutions. But extant systems have some problems for korean users to use. Their prices is not moderate, korean language processing is impossible, and user`s demands not reflected. To solve these problems, Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information(KISTI) developed stand-alone type information analysis system named as KnowledgeMatrix. KnowledgeMatrix system offer various functions to analyze retrieved data set from databases. KnowledgeMatrix`s main operation unit is composed of user-defined lists and matrix generation, cluster analysis, visualization, data pre-processing. Matrix generation unit help extract information items which will be analyzed, and calculate occurrence, co-occurrence, proximity of the items. Cluster analysis unit enable matrix data to be clustered by hierarchical or non-hierarchical clustering methods and present tree-type structure of clustered data. Visualization unit offer various methods such as chart, FDP, strategic diagram and PFNet. Data pre-processing unit consists of data import editor, string editor, thesaurus editor, grouping method, field-refining methods and sub-dataset generation methods. KnowledgeMatrix show better performances and offer more various functions than extant systems.

This paper presents the efficient hull shape of a Tension Leg Platform (TLP) developed by a fully automated hull optimization procedure. Optimization algorithms vary selected form parameters of the desired hull shape and find an optimum of the objective function within the provided constraints ensuring the resulting design to be technically feasible. As an initial design, a TLP installed in the Gulf of Mexico was is selected for the hull shape optimization. The TLP hull shape was optimized with regard to fatigue damage of the most loaded tendon due to top tension. The resulting design shows remarkably enhanced design qualities with minimized wave loads and motions as well as fatigue damage compared to the initial design. As a verification, the improved hydrodynamic performance of the optimized hull shape of TLP was investigated by a fully coupled time domain dynamic analysis considering second-order wave forces and nonlinear viscous forces as well as nonlinear tendon dynamics.

We present a model to explain the electric spring effect of a silicon comb actuator deformed by the footing effect in the deep reactive ion etching process. A deformed comb actuator generally has L-shaped comb electrodes and these mean that the actuator shows undesired nonlinear characteristics under differential driving conditions. According to the model, the resonant frequency is estimated to increase as the bias voltage increases, and the static displacement curve shows an 'S' shape. A test comb-drive actuator has been fabricated by the silicon-on-glass process to verify the validity of our modeling. Static and dynamic responses of the fabricated microactuator have been measured for the various bias voltages. The measured resonant frequency of the actuator increases from 93 to 128 Hz when the bias voltage increases from 1 to 5 V. The nonlinearity of static displacement increases as the bias voltage increases. The measured static displacements for the same fixed control voltage of 0.5 V are 1.6, 3.2, 4 and 4.6 μm, respectively, when the bias voltage is 1, 2, 3 and 4 V. The incremental displacement for each bias voltage change is 1.6 μm for 1–2 V, 0.8 μm for 2–3 V, and 0.6 μm for 3–4 V. The increasing rate of measured displacement becomes lower as the bias voltage increases due to the electric spring effect.

Ti–48Al specimens were coated with Al–21Ti–23Cr film of approximately 10 μm thickness at 200 W, 0.8 Pa and 300 °C using RF magnetron sputtering. The oxidation behavior of the coated specimens was investigated through isothermal and cyclic oxidation tests, and the effect of coating on the mechanical properties of TiAl alloy was, in particular, assessed by means of focusing on the tensile properties, which also provided the key to investigate the adhesion between TiAl substrate and Al–21Ti–23Cr coating and between Al–21Ti–23Cr coating and Al 2 O 3 scale. The isothermal and cyclic oxidation curves showed that the Al–21Ti–23Cr coating was very effective in improving the oxidation resistance of Ti–48Al at 1000 °C. This excellent oxidation resistance is attributable to the formation of a protective Al 2 O 3 scale on the surface of the Al–21Ti–23Cr film. Although extensive cracking in a transverse direction was observed on the surface of the film, the delamination of the coating from the substrate and the spallation of the Al 2 O 3 scale were not found. From the tensile test, it was confirmed that the Al–21Ti–23Cr coating enabled Ti–48Al to maintain its tensile properties regardless of exposure to oxidizing atmosphere. In addition, the result of the microhardness test indicated that the Al–21Ti–23Cr coating was very effective in suppressing the embrittlement of the Ti–48Al when exposed at 1000 °C. Thus, it could be suggested that the Al–21Ti–23Cr coating provides the key, not only to improve oxidation resistance, but also to maintain the mechanical properties of TiAl alloy.

A novel strain, designated strain W113T, was isolated from the gut of an abalone, Haliotis discus hannai, which was collected from the northern coast of Jeju in Korea. The isolate was a Gram-staining-negative, facultatively anaerobic, non-motile, rod-shaped bacterium producing yellow-to-orange carotenoid-type pigments. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that the isolate belonged to the genus Actibacter in the family Flavobacteriaceae and it shared the highest sequence similarity with the type strain of Actibacter sediminis (98.8 % similarity). Optimal growth occurred at 25 °C, at pH 7 and with 2 % (w/v) NaCl. The major cellular fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0 and iso-C15 : 1 G. Menaquinone-6 was the main respiratory quinone. The polar lipids of the isolate were phosphatidylethanolamine, three unidentified amino lipids, and three unidentified lipids. The genomic DNA G+C content was 42.6 mol% and DNA–DNA hybridization values indicated that the strain shared T represents a novel species in the genus Actibacter , for which the name Actibacter haliotis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is W113T ( = KACC 17209T = JCM 18868T).

Full automation with high purity for circulating tumor cell (CTC) isolation has been regarded as a key goal to make CTC analysis a "bench-to-bedside" technology. Here, we have developed a novel centrifugal microfluidic platform that can isolate the rare cells from a large volume of whole blood. To isolate CTCs from whole blood, we introduce a disc device having the biggest sample capacity as well as manipulating blood cells for the first time. The fully automated disc platform could handle 5 mL of blood by designing the blood chamber having a triangular obstacle structure (TOS) with lateral direction. To guarantee high purity that enables molecular analysis with the rare cells, CTCs were bound to the microbeads covered with anti-EpCAM to discriminate density between CTCs and blood cells and the CTCs being heavier than blood cells were only settled under a density gradient medium (DGM) layer. To understand the movement of CTCs under centrifugal force, we performed computational fluid dynamics simulation and found that their major trajectories were the boundary walls of the DGM chamber, thereby optimizing the chamber design. After whole blood was inserted into the blood chamber of the disc platform, size- and density-amplified cancer cells were isolated within 78 min, with minimal contamination as much as approximately 12 leukocytes per milliliter. As a model of molecular analysis toward personalized cancer treatment, we performed epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation analysis with HCC827 lung cancer cells and the isolated cells were then successfully detected for the mutation by PCR clamping and direct sequencing.

This study suggests a way to utilize the map of technology as a guide to find new technology component. Recent studies of mapping knowledge mainly focused on analyzing the map as a result of technological innovation rather than utilizing the map for exploring the world of technological innovation. The preliminary result of a case study suggests that a firm can find possible technology components that can be combined with own technology component. The map of technology comprises the nodes of International Patent Classification (IPC) main groups and the links presenting the co-assign relationship between the IPC main groups.

OBJECTIVE This study examined the differences in psychiatric comorbidities and behavioral aspects in accordance with the severity of Internet addiction in male adolescents. METHODS One hundred and twenty-five adolescents from four middle and high schools in Seoul were enrolled in this study. The subjects were divided into non-addict, abuse, and dependence groups according to a diagnostic interview by psychiatrists. The psychiatric comorbidities and behavioral aspects of subjects were evaluated through psychiatric clinical interviews based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edition), the Children's Depression Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Internet Addiction Test, and a self-reported questionnaire about behavioral aspects. RESULTS The psychiatric comorbidity distributions were significantly different in the abuse and dependence groups, particularly in terms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and mood disorder items. The Children's Depression Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Internet Addiction Test scores were also significantly different among the three groups. There were significant differences in 10 of the 20 items of the Internet Addiction Test between the non-addict, abuse, and dependence groups. There were significant differences in seven items between the non-addict and abuse groups, but no differences between subjects in the abuse and dependence groups. Significant differences were observed in three items between the abuse and dependence groups, but there were no significant differences between the non-addict and abuse groups. In terms of behavioral aspects, scores for abusive, sexual, and decreased social interest behaviors were highest in the dependence group, and lowest in the non-addict group. However, the behavioral aspects of decreased interpersonal relationships did not show this difference between groups. CONCLUSION This study suggests that there are differences in psychiatric comorbidities and behavioral aspects between adolescent males with characteristics of Internet abuse and Internet dependence.

This paper describes a novel microchip filter device incorporating slit arrays and 3-dimensional flow that can separate rare cells with high efficiency and throughput. The proposed device has several tens of times increased throughput, and has a unique pressure distribution along the filter pore, inducing target cells to be captured and gently lined up at the end of the slit in relatively low shear stress condition. With the enhanced capture yield and throughput, the proposed device can be used as an efficient rare-cell-analyzing tool for blood-based diagnostics.

We present a novel method for separating circulating tumor cells (CTCs) with high recovery and purity at the same time using a micro-slit filter chip and a fully automated fluidic system. Considering white blood cells (WBCs) as big as CTCs are also captured with CTCs during filtration, we amplified the size of CTCs specifically using microbeads (3 μm) coated with anti-Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule (anti-EpCAM) to increase the size difference between WBCs and CTCs. The average diameter of MCF-7 cells was increased from 16.5 μm to 23.1 μm. A micro filter chip having an extremely high aspect ratio (AR=3488) rectangular slit was designed to prevent clogging which induces unwanted aggregation, capturing of other small blood cells and consequently decreasing purity. A fully automated fluid control system was implemented for the better reproducibility and the minimization of handling errors. The procedures from blood loading to staining, prior to analysis, were performed automatically. With the optimized condition, separation experiments using 5ml of normal whole blood spiked with 100 MCF-7 cells have demonstrated the reduction of clogging, high recovery (91.1 %) and high purity (52.0 %) at the same time.

Isolation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) by size exclusion can yield poor purity and low recovery rates, due to large variations in size of CTCs, which may overlap with leukocytes and render size-based filtration methods unreliable. This report presents a very sensitive, selective, fast, and novel method for isolation and detection of CTCs. Our assay platform consists of three steps: (i) capturing CTCs with anti-EpCAM conjugated microbeads, (ii) removal of unwanted hematologic cells (e.g., leukocytes, erythrocytes, etc.) by selective sedimentation of CTCs within a density gradient medium, and (iii) simple microfiltration to collect these cells. To demonstrate the efficacy of this assay, MCF-7 breast cancer cells (average diameter, 24 μm) and DMS-79 small cell lung cancer cells (average diameter, 10 μm) were used to model CTCs. We investigated the relative sedimentation rates for various cells and/or particles, such as CTCs conjugated with different types of microbeads, leukocytes, and erythrocytes, in order to maximize differences in the physical properties. We observed that greater than 99% of leukocytes in whole blood were effectively removed at an optimal centrifugal force, due to differences in their sedimentation rates, yielding a much purer sample compared to other filter-based methods. We also investigated not only the effect of filtration conditions on recovery rates and sample purity but also the sensitivity of our assay platform. Our results showed a near perfect recovery rate (~99%) for MCF-7 cells and very high recovery rate (~89%) for DMS-79 cells, with minimal amounts of leukocytes present.

The Porphyromonas gingivalis VimA protein has multifunctional properties that can modulate several of its major virulence factors. To further characterize VimA, P. gingivalis FLL406 carrying an additional vimA gene and a vimA -defective mutant in a different P. gingivalis genetic background were evaluated. The vimA -defective mutant (FLL451) in the P. gingivalis ATCC 33277 genetic background showed a phenotype similar to that of the vimA -defective mutant (FLL92) in the P. gingivalis W83 genetic background. In contrast to the wild type, gingipain activity was increased in P. gingivalis FLL406, a vimA chimeric strain. P. gingivalis FLL451 had a five times higher biofilm-forming capacity than the parent strain. HeLa cells incubated with P. gingivalis FLL92 showed a decrease in invasion, in contrast to P. gingivalis FLL451 and FLL406, which showed increases of 30 and 40%, respectively. VimA mediated coenzyme A (CoA) transfer to isoleucine and reduced branched-chain amino acid metabolism. The lipid A content and associated proteins were altered in the vimA -defective mutants. The VimA chimera interacted with several proteins which were found to have an LXXTG motif, similar to the sorting motif of Gram-positive organisms. All the proteins had an N-terminal signal sequence with a putative sorting signal of L(P/T/S)X(T/N/D)G and two unique signatures of EXGXTX and HISXXGXG, in addition to a polar tail. Taken together, these observations further confirm the multifunctional role of VimA in modulating virulence possibly through its involvement in acetyl-CoA transfer and lipid A synthesis and possibly by protein sorting.

A 62-year-old woman presented to the Emergency Department with right flank pain and decreased urine output for 3 days. She had a history of advanced gastric cancer. The patient had undergone radical total gastrectomy with Roux-en-Y esophagojejunostomy 4 months previously. She had pain and tenderness in the right flank area. On initial physical examination, she was alert but appeared chronically ill. The abdomen was soft and flat without palpable mass. She had no direct or rebound tenderness on the entire abdomen. However, she had tenderness on the right costovertebral angle. Her vital signs were as follows: temperature 36.4 C, blood pressure 130/85 mm Hg, pulse rate 108 beats/min, and respiratory rate 15 breaths/min. The laboratory results revealed the following: white blood cell count was 12,980/mm with 91.1% segmented neutrophil; the hemoglobin was 10.5 g/dL, blood urea was 14.4 mg/dL, and creatinine was 0.86 mg/dL. Electrolytes, hepatic function panel, coagulation studies, and lipase were within normal limits. The urinalysis showed 1+ red blood cells, trace leukocyte, and negative nitrite. The plain radiographs were unremarkable. An emergency ultrasound revealed fluid collection in the hepatorenal recess and hydronephrosis of the right kidney (Figure 1). A contrast-enhanced computed tomography

The paper describes two models of vacuum packaged single crystal silicon gyroscope. A design rule for low noise gyroscopes is suggested, and a lateral vibrating gyroscope was fabricated through a metal interlaid SiOG technology. High aspect ratio (20:1) silicon structures were fabricated without footing damage. An easy method for the electric connection of feed through holes that are 150 /spl mu/m in diameter is suggested for a vacuum package of SiOG structure. A comb model gyroscope exhibits a noise floor of 0.4 mdeg/s//spl radic/Hz, and a bias stability of 4.7 mdeg/s (17 deg/hour), where the scale factor is 68.5 mV/deg/s with 0.6% linearity error for the range of 200 deg/s. A parallel plate model exhibits a noise floor of 1.6 mdeg/s//spl radic/Hz, and a bias stability of 33.9 mdeg/s (122 deg/hour), where the scale factor is 68.5 mV/deg/s with 3.8% linearity error for the range of 200 deg/s.

The paper describes a two-mass system for SiOG (silicon on glass) vibratory gyroscope so as to increase the stability of the device with wide bandwidth. A two-mass mass system has more than two masses and separates the resonant peaks of each mass. The variation of bandwidth and driving displacement according to the mass ratio of the two-mass system was analyzed, using MATLAB. This result was compared with that of a conventional single mass system gyroscope. In the 7 kHz resonant frequency design, the two-mass system has 395.3 Hz bandwidth, which is six times larger than a single mass system bandwidth, 58.5 Hz. The fabricated spring width is 3.4-3.6 /spl mu/m, which is 4 /spl mu/m in the design. Since the resonant frequency is influenced by the spring width, the measured frequency is 5.2 kHz, which is 7 kHz in the design. But, the measured bandwidth is 450 Hz, similar to the designed bandwidth (500 Hz). Also, the frequency difference between the driving and sensing part (210 Hz) is smaller than the wide bandwidth.

This paper describes a vacuum packaged z-axis gyroscope with sub milli-deg/s//spl radic/Hz noise floor. A design rule for the low noise gyroscope is suggested, and lateral vibrating gyroscope was fabricated through a metal interlaid SiOG technology. High aspect ratio (20:1) silicon structures were fabricated without footing damage. The easy method for the electric connection of feed through holes that are 150 /spl mu/m in diameter is suggested for vacuum package of SiOG structure. The vacuum packaged gyroscope with a quality factor of 10,000 exhibits a noise floor of 0.4 mdeg/s//spl radic/Hz, and a bias stability of 4.7 mdeg/s (=17 deg/hour), where the scale factor is 68.5 mV/deg/s with 0.6% linearity error for the range of 200 deg/s.

This study investigated the feasibility of using low-dose multidetector dynamic computed tomography (CT) scan for imaging breast. We measured the radiation dose using a phantom at low- and standard-dose CT. To compare the image quality at low- and standard-dose CT, we evaluated normal breasts in 57 cases. In 44 cases with breast cancer, we assessed the staging and time-enhancement curves of breast cancer. In conclusion, the low-dose multidetector dynamic CT scan is feasible for the evaluation of the breast, with reduced radiation dose and with similar image quality when compared with standard-dose CT scan. In breast cancers, low-dose dynamic CT could be used for the staging of breast cancer before surgery.

For oil and gas production in deep water (> 500m) compliant structures are designed. By dedicated reduction of stiffness and optimization of mass (including added mass contributions) the fundamental period is tuned to about 30s, which is well above the period range of significant wave energy. This paper presents the results of a comprehensive numerical analysis of the hydroelastic behaviour of compliant towers in deep water, investigating the dynamic response of a flexible structure in a given sea state. The numerical program system is based on ADINA with an integrated hydrodynamic module for wave/structure interaction. Nonlinear effects of viscous forces are considered using Morison’s vector equation. In addition nonlinear characteristics of soil/structure interaction are also included according to API regulations. At first, for verification of the program system, the numerical results of a monotower are compared to analytical solutions obtained by modal analysis of the structure in regular and irregular seas. Based on the validated program a compliant tower installed in 503 m water in the Gulf of Mexico (Baldpate tower) is modeled in 3D, and the characteristic dynamic behavior is evaluated. Finally, the tower is exposed to a real “freak” wave (the 25.6m high New Year Wave which has been registered at the North Sea Draupner platform on January 1, 1995), and the associated loads and motions are evaluated.Copyright © 2003 by ASME

Background/Aims Few studies have investigated the prognosis of non-gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) under the modified National Institutes of Health (NIH) consensus criteria in Korea. This study aims to clarify the clinical usefulness of the modified NIH criteria for risk stratification. Methods From January 2000 through October 2012, 88 patients who underwent curative resection for primary GISTs were included in this study. The enrolled patients were stratified to predict recurrence by the original NIH criteria and modified NIH criteria. Results In all, 88 patients had non-gastric GISTs, including 82 and 6 patients with GISTs of the small intestine and colorectum, respectively. The mean age was 57.3±13.0 years, and the median follow-up duration was 3.40 years (range, 0.02-12.76 years). All patients who were placed in the intermediate-risk category according to the original NIH criteria were reclassified into the high-risk category according to the modified NIH criteria. Therefore, the proportion of cases in the intermediate-risk category declined to 0.0% from 25.0% (22/88), and the proportion of cases in the high-risk category increased to 43.2% (38/88) from 18.2% (16/88) under the modified NIH criteria. Among the 22 reclassified patients, 6 (27.3%) suffered a recurrence during the observational period, and the recurrence rate of high-risk category patients was 36.8% (14/38). Conclusions Patients in the high-risk category according to the modified NIH criteria had a high GIST recurrence rate. Therefore, the modified NIH criteria are clinically useful in selecting patients who need imatinib adjuvant chemotherapy after curative surgical resection.