Search

Valproic acid is one of the most common antiepileptic drugs used for the treatment of several seizure disorders. A 20-year-old man presented with a sudden decline of consciousness. He had a neurosurgery operation for intracranial and intraventricular hemorrhage. Following surgery, antiepileptic medication was administered to the patient in order to control his seizure events. On valproic acid treatment, he began to complain of fever and dyspnea. His symptoms persisted despite receiving empirical antibiotic treatment. All diagnostic tests for infectious causes were negative. A high-resolution computed tomography scan of the chest revealed predominantly dependent consolidation and ground-glass opacities in both lower lobes. The primary differential was drug associated with interstitial lung disease. Therefore, we discontinued valproic acid treatment and began methylprednisolone treatment. His symptoms and radiologic findings had significantly improved after receiving steroid therapy. We propose that clinicians should be made aware of the potential for valproic acid to induce lung injury.

This paper dealt with a retrofit high power LED searchlight to replace conventional 1kW halogen searchlights. The design specification meets KDS 6230-1046-1 and KS V 8469. An optical lens with the beam angle of 6° was used to meet the luminous intensity of 800,000cd at 0° in horizontal line. Heat dis-sipation of the LED searchlight adopted a free air cooling type which does not use a fan or a heat-pipe. From the test results, power consumption of the prototype LED searchlight was 148W which was saved by 85% comparing a halogen searchlight of 1kW. Luminous intensity was 945,000cd at 0° in horizontal line, sat-isfying KS V 8469. Luminous efficacy was improved by 4.7 times higher than that of the halogen searchlights. Beam angle, color temperature, and color rendering index(CRI) was 5.4°, 5,500K, and 70, respectively. Surface temperature of the LED searchlight was below 60and surrounding temperature of the ℃ SMPS installed inside was below 50℃ which were satisfied with the IEC 60092-306.

Background and objective The initial peripheral eosinophil count (PEC) is rarely elevated but tends to increase during the clinical course of acute eosinophilic pneumonia (AEP). We evaluated whether initial peripheral eosinophilia is an indicator of mild disease in patients with AEP. Methods We retrospectively examined associations between initial peripheral absolute eosinophil count, inflammatory markers and clinical characteristics in 85 patients with AEP. Results Of 85 patients, 24 (28%) had initial peripheral eosinophilia (>500/μL). Initial peripheral absolute eosinophil count was inversely correlated to white blood cell (WBC) count (ρ = −0.386, P

Cisplatin is an effective antineoplastic drug that is widely used to treat various cancers; however, it causes side effects such as ototoxicity via the induction of apoptosis of hair cells in the cochlea. Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) has been reported to exert a protective effect against both antibiotic-induced and cisplatin-induced hearing loss. Therefore, this study was conducted to (1) elucidate the mechanism of the protective effects of ALA against cisplatin-induced ototoxicity using in vitro and ex vivo culture systems of HEI-OC1 auditory cells and rat cochlear explants and (2) to gain additional insight into the apoptotic mechanism of cisplatin-induced ototoxicity. ALA pretreatment significantly reduced apoptotic cell death of the inner and outer hair cells in cisplatin-treated organ of Corti explants and attenuated ototoxicity via marked inhibition of the increase in the expression of IL-1β and IL-6, the phosphorylation of ERK and p38, the degradation of IκBα, the increase in intracellular levels of ROS, and the activation of caspase-3 in cisplatin-treated HEI-OC1 cells. This study represents the first histological evaluation of the organ of Corti following treatment with ALA, and these results indicate that the protective effects of ALA against cisplatin-induced ototoxicity are mediated via the regulation of MAPKs and proinflammatory cytokines.

Quetiapine is regarded as an effective and safe treatment for delirium. An 82-year-old man presented with a 1-week history of violent behavior and dizziness accompanied by weakness on the left side of his body. He was diagnosed with acute cerebral cortical infarction and delirium associated with alcohol abuse. After quetiapine treatment, he complained of fever and coughed up sputum, whereas his aggressive behavior improved. His symptoms persisted despite empirical antibiotic treatment. All diagnostic tests for infectious causes were negative. High-resolution computed tomography revealed bilateral consolidations and ground-glass opacities with predominantly peribronchial and subpleural distributions. The primary differential diagnosis was drug-associated interstitial lung disease, and therefore, we discontinued quetiapine and began methylprednisolone treatment. His symptoms and radiologic findings significantly improved after receiving steroid therapy. We propose that clinicians need to be aware of the possibility that quetiapine is associated with lung injury.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………This study is aimed to represent the streetscape in 1960s’ focused on Seong-An street of Cheong-ju through the existing business types and buildings, literature, photo details, and interview of the longest-term householders. Results of this study are as follows : Firstly, the types of 1st-floor shops were diverse with general merchandise, apparel, medical, bank, restaurant, and etc in 1960s’. The present shops of them are 'Dong-kwang lasa', ‘Jung-geum dang’, ‘Cheong-ju pharmacy’ including the existing ‘the Korea development’, ‘Korea first’, and ‘Woori’ bank. Secondly, the streetscape around post office looks just as it did in the old 1960s’. In the other section the present typical buildings are ‘Namseon pharmacy ’, ‘Kukje department’, ‘Samyang shop’, ‘Daeyang shop’, ‘Park shop’, and etc. These old 3-4story buildings are reinforced concrete in contrasted with the former wooden and masonry in structure, and converted in use and appearance. Thirdly, the streetscape of Seong-An is ultimately represented by presuming the other buildings and equipments through aerial and street photograph in the old 1960s’.………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The peroxisome is an intracellular organelle that responds dynamically to environmental changes. Various model organisms have been used to study the roles of peroxisomal proteins in maintaining cellular homeostasis. By taking advantage of the zebrafish model whose early stage of embryogenesis is dependent on yolk components, we examined the developmental roles of the D-bifunctional protein (Dbp), an essential enzyme in the peroxisomal β-oxidation. The knockdown of dbp in zebrafish phenocopied clinical manifestations of its deficiency in human, including defective craniofacial morphogenesis, growth retardation, and abnormal neuronal development. Overexpression of murine Dbp rescued the morphological phenotypes induced by dbp knockdown, indicative of conserved roles of Dbp during zebrafish and mammalian development. Knockdown of dbp impaired normal development of blood, blood vessels, and most strikingly, endoderm-derived organs including the liver and pancreas - a phenotype not reported elsewhere in connection with peroxisome dysfunction. Taken together, our results demonstrate for the first time that zebrafish might be a useful model animal to study the role of peroxisomes during vertebrate development.

The original version of this Article incorrectly matched the supplementary files with their titles. This has been corrected. The following information has also been added to the Methods section.

The optical properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) dispersed in aqueous solutions of ribonucleic acids (RNA) purified from Escherichia coli were studied using photoluminescence (PL), Raman, and absorption spectroscopy. SWCNT-RNA complexes, down to a single isolated nanotube level, were successfully synthesized. SWCNT signatures in Raman, PL, and absorption spectroscopy were observed from the SWCNT-RNA complexes. Observation of two distinct PL peaks, one at 1.248 eV and the other at 1.392 eV, confirmed the existence of isolated (6,5) and (6,4) SWCNTs, respectively. Atomic force microscope images and height profiles also showed evidence of isolated SWCNT-RNA complex.

Ricania sp. lay eggs into the new twigs of blueberry and suck nutrients causing growth retardation and a sooty mold symptom. This study was conducted to investigate the emergence success and developmental period of overwintered eggs of Ricania sp. under the seven constant temperatures from 10 to by intervals (14L:10D). We also monitored the emergence time of the Ricania sp. nymph at blueberry by 3 ~ 4 day interval using a modified leaf clip cage. Development times from the overwintered egg to nymph were 107.1, 54.5, 33.9, 25.3, 25.1 and 16.7 days and the emergence successes were 23.1, 30.8, 13.8, 21.7, 11.9, and 0.6% at 14, 18, 22, 26, 30 and , respectively except at . The developmental periods were decreased with increasing temperatures. First emergence date of the nymphs in the field was between 19 and 22 May, and the average emergence success was 19.6%. The present study might be helpful to establish the management strategy of Ricania sp. based on the biological characteristic.

In this paper, we proposed new path selection for two-hop cellular systems called energy efficient path selection (EEPS) scheme to enhance downlink system throughput and reduce transmission energy consumption. In the EEPS scheme, a base station determines either a single-hop or two-hop path that uses less energy consumption. The simulation results show that the EEPS scheme outperforms a conventional path selection scheme which uses high signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) strength based path selection in terms of system throughput and energy consumption. Also, we suggest the appropriate relay station position and optimal resource allocation for access and relay communications.

This paper dealt with the development of a LED floodlight for naval vessels to replace the conventional floodlight using an incandescent and a halogen lamp. We found a technical solution for current problems of conventional lights and also improved optical characteristics by developing a LED floodlight which has a typical long-lived light source with high efficiency. To satisfy the requirements specified in Korea Standard Vessels (KS V), the optical structure was designed with selected LED package and lens. A LED module was composed of 10 LEDs in series for stable luminous output, and an aluminium heat sink was adopted for effective heat-radiation design. The LED floodlight was fabricated as a module type so that it can easily replace the conventional light source. The power consumption of the prototype floodlight was only a tenth of a conventional one with the same optical performance. Also, a test showed the floodlight satisfied the electrical, optical and environmental requirements of the standards.

In order to develop a LED luminaire for naval-submarines which can replace a conventional one with two-compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) of 18 W, we analyzed the electrical and optical performance of the conventional luminaire. A LED luminaire was fabricated as compact as possible based on the analyzed data. The weight of the prototype LED luminaire is 1.8 kg, reducing up to 58% of the conventional one. The use of LED package for the submarine luminaire could reduce the power consumption from 38 W to 14.5 W with the same optical performance. The reason is that the optical efficacy of the LED luminaire improved by 2.47 times as 61.9 lm/W, compared to 25.1 lm/W for the conventional one.

In this letter, we propose a novel dynamic channel assignment scheme considering interference mitigation to improve the downlink system performance for femtocell networks based on OFDMA. The proposed scheme consists of two steps: the first step aims to group femtocell access points (FAPs) using graph coloring algorithm while the second step dynamically assigns channels according to the channel state of femtocell user equipments (FUEs). Through simulation results, we show that the proposed scheme outperforms other schemes in terms of mean FUE capacity and probability of FUEs which have capacities less than a given FUE traffic load.

In this paper, we proposed a Dynamic Channel Assignment (DCA) scheme called Graph Coloring based DCA (GC-DCA) to improve system performance for downlink femtocell networks with high density femto Access Point (AP) deployments. The proposed scheme consists of two steps: one is a femto AP grouping step considering interference and the other is a DCA step considering Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR) for femto User Equipments (UEs). Simulation results show that the proposed GC-DCA outperforms other schemes in terms of the mean femto UE capacity and probability of femto UEs which have capacities less than a given transmit rate.

This paper proposes the switched trans Z-source inverter(STZSI) which combined the characteristics of the trans Z-source inverter(TZSI) and the switched inductor Z-source inverter(SLZSI). The proposed STZSI has the same performance compared with the SLZSI which is improved the voltage boost performance of the conventional typical X-shaped ZSI, and it has advantage that circuit structure of Z-impedance network is more simple. And, in order to step up the voltage boost factor under the condition of the same duty ratio, unlike the SLZSI adding the inductors and diodes, the proposed method is dune by changing the turn ratio of trans primary winding of Z-impedance network. To confirm the validity of the proposed method, PSIM simulation and a DSP(TMS320F28335) based experiment were performed using trans with turn ratio 1 and 2 under the condition of the input DC voltage VI

This paper proposes a ST(Switched Trans) quasi Z-source inverter using a Switched Trans Cell combing the characteristics of a Switched Inductor Cell and Trans. A DC link inductor of the conventional quasi Z-source inverter is alternated with Switched Trans Cell of the proposed ST quasi Z-source inverter. Trans Cell of the proposed method consists of one Trans and two diodes, and the proposed method has higher and more various boost function than the conventional quasi Z-source inverter by simply changing the turns ratio of primary and secondary of the Trans. The validity of the proposed ST Z-source inverter was confirmed by PSIM simulation and a DSP based experiment under the input voltage 48V and output phase voltage 30V. As a result, when compared with the traditional quasi Z-source inverter, the proposed method has the advantage of the low voltage stress under the same output voltage condition of the voltage.

In this paper, we proposes the three-phase embedded Z-source inverter consisting of the three embedded Z-source converters and it`s the output voltage control method. Each embedded Z-source converter can produce the bipolar output capacitor voltages according to duty ratio D such as single-phase PWM inverter. The output AC voltage of the proposed system is obtained as the difference in the output capacitor voltages of each converter, and the L-C output filter is not required. Because the output AC voltage can be stepped up and down, the boost DC converter in the conventional two-stage inverter is unnecessary. To confirm the validity of the proposed system, PSIM simulation and a DSP based experiment were performed under the condition of the input DC voltage 38V, load , and switching frequency 30kHz. Each converter is connected by Y-connection for three-phase loads. In case that the output phase voltage is the same as the input DC voltage and is the 1.5 times(), the simulation and experimental results ; capacitor voltages, output phase voltages, output line voltages, inductor currents, and switch voltages were verified and discussed.

Phenolic tetrabromobisphenol-A (TBBPA) and its derivatives are commonly used flame-retardants, in spite of reported toxic effects including neurotoxicity, immunotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, and hepatotoxicity. However, the effects of TBBPA on ototoxicity have not yet been reported. In this study, we investigated the effect of TBBPA on hearing function in vivo and in vitro. Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) threshold was markedly increased in mice after oral administration of TBBPA, indicating that TBBPA causes hearing loss. In addition, TBBPA induced the loss of both zebrafish neuromasts and hair cells in the rat cochlea in a dose-dependent manner. Mechanistically, hearing loss is largely attributed to apoptotic cell death, as TBBPA increased the expression of pro-apoptotic genes but decreased the expression of anti-apoptotic genes. We also found that TBBPA induced oxidative stress, and importantly, pretreatment with NAC, an anti-oxidant reagent, reduced TBBPA-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and partially prevented cell death. Our results show that TBBPA-mediated ROS generation induces ototoxicity and hearing loss. These findings implicate TBBPA as a potential environmental ototoxin by exerting its hazardous effects on the auditory system.

Purpose To evaluate the clinical and functional outcomes of arthroscopic debridement arthroplasty with the release of the posterior band of the medial collateral ligament in patients with primary osteoarthritis. Methods We evaluated 43 patients treated with arthroscopic debridement arthroplasty for elbow osteoarthritis from February 2006 to February 2014. In group A (n = 19), the posterior band of the medial collateral ligament was released, and in group B (n = 24), it was not released. The mean follow-up period in groups A and B was 55.4 months (range, 24-100 months) and 62.2 months (range, 24-103 months), respectively. Clinical results were evaluated by measuring the preoperative and postoperative range of motion (ROM) of the elbow, visual analog scale score, and Mayo Elbow Performance Score. Results Both groups showed significant improvement in clinical outcome (visual analog scale and Mayo Elbow Performance Score) at the final follow-up compared with preoperative evaluation (group A, P = .009 and .013, respectively; group B, P = .015 and .008, respectively). Group A showed significant improvement in increased flexion at 6 months of follow-up ( P = .043). However, there was no statistically significant difference in postoperative ROM and clinical results between the 2 groups at the final follow-up ( P = .482). Conclusions Arthroscopic debridement arthroplasty with the release of the posterior band of the medial collateral ligament was associated with improved flexion at the 6-month postoperative follow-up, but no significant difference between the groups was observed at the final follow-up. Therefore, the additional release of the posterior band of the medial collateral ligament may be unnecessary for improving postoperative ROM. Level of Evidence Level IV, therapeutic case series.

The purpose of this study was to compare functional outcomes and tendon integrity between the suture bridge and modified tension band techniques for arthroscopic rotator cuff repair. A consecutive series of 128 patients who underwent the modified tension band (MTB group; 69 patients) and suture bridge (SB group; 59 patients) techniques were enrolled. The pain visual analogue scale (VAS), Constant, and American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) scores were determined preoperatively and at the final follow-up. Rotator cuff hypotrophy was quantified by calculating the occupation ratio (OR). Rotator cuff integrity and the global fatty degeneration index were determined by using magnetic resonance imaging at 6 months postoperatively. The average VAS, Constant, and ASES scores improved significantly at the final follow-up in both groups (p

Very long chain fatty acids are required for sphingolipid synthesis, lipid homeostasis, myelin formation, epidermal permeability, and retinal function. Seven different enzymes are known to be involved in the elongation cycle of fatty acids, with different chain-length specificities. Elovl1 is one of those enzymes whose function has been linked mainly to the synthesis of sphingolipids and the epidermal barrier. However, the role of Elovl1 in organogenesis is not clear. In zebrafish, 2 Elovl1 genes, elovl1a and elovl1b, are highly expressed in the swim bladder, and elovl1b is also expressed in the kidney. We found that both elovl1 knockdown embryos contain increased levels of long chain fatty acids from carbon number 14 to 20 as compared to control embryos. Oil-Red-O staining shows that yolk lipid consumption is greatly reduced, whereas lipid droplets accumulate within the swim bladder. Notably, knockdown of either elovl1a or elovl1b affects the expression of genes involved in swim bladder development and impairs inflation of the swim bladder. Consistent with its expression in the pronephros, knockdown of elovl1b alone affects the expression of genes required for kidney development and reduces renal clearance. Our findings strongly suggest that both elovl1 genes are a key determinant of swim bladder and kidney development in zebrafish, which may be comparatively applicable to lung and kidney development in humans.

Fenofibrate, an activator of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), has been shown to protect the kidneys and brain cells from oxidative stress; however, its role in preventing hearing loss has not been reported to date, at least to the best of our knowledge. In this study, we demonstrated the protective effects of fenofibrate against gentamicin (GM)-induced ototoxicity. We found that the auditory brainstem response threshold which was increased by GM was significantly reduced by pre-treatment with fenofibrate in rats. In cochlear explants, the disruption of hair cell layers by GM was also markedly attenuated by pre-treatment with fenofibrate. In addition, fenofibrate almost completely abolished GM-induced reactive oxygen species generation, which seemed to be mediated at least in part by the restoration of the expression of PPAR‑α‑dependent antioxidant enzymes, including catalase and superoxide dismutase (SOD)-1. Of note, fenofibrate markedly increased the expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) which was also induced to a certain degree by GM alone. The induced expression of HO-1 by fenofibrate appeared to be essential for mediating the protective effects of fenofibrate, as the inhibition of HO-1 activity significantly diminished the protective effects of fenofibrate against the GM-mediated death of sensory hair cells in cochlea explant culture, as well as in zebrafish neuromasts. These results suggest that fenofibrate protects sensory hair cells from GM-induced toxicity by upregulating PPAR‑α-dependent antioxidant enzymes, including HO-1. Our results provide insight into the preventive therapy for hearing loss caused by aminoglycoside antibiotics.

Vehicle accidents on a bridge deck under cross wind have been reported in the past decades. This is one of bridge design issues, especially for sea-crossing bridges. Prior to determining any measure such as the use of windscreen, the safety of running vehicle should be assessed with a systematic procedure.The purpose of this study is developing an assessment procedure of vehicle safety under cross wind with consideration of the wind direction, the shape of bridge deck, and the type of vehicle. The stochastic approach is applied for the long-term wind data. The procedure consists of three steps: 1) estimation of cumulative distribution function of wind data, 2) estimation of critical wind speeds, and 3) estimation of the number of days for traffic control. The proposed procedure is applied to an example bridge and several factors affecting the vehicle safety are discussed.

In case of the conventional DC-AC inverter using two DC-DC converters with unipolar output capacitor voltages, for generating the AC output voltage, the output capacitor voltages of its each DC-DC converter must be higher than the DC input voltage. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a single-phase DC-AC inverter using two embedded Z-source converters with bipolar output capacitor voltages. The proposed inverter is composed of two embedded Z-source converters with common DC source and output AC load. The AC output voltage is obtained by the difference of the output capacitor voltages of each converter. Though the output capacitor voltage of converter is relatively low compared to the conventional method, it can be obtained the same AC output voltage. Moreover, by controlling asymmetrically the output capacitor voltage, the AC output voltage of the proposed system is higher than the DC input voltage. To verify the validity of the proposed system, a DSP(TMS320F28335) based single-phase embedded Z-source DC-AC inverter was made and the PSIM simulation was performed under the condition of the DC source 38V. As controlled symmetrically and asymmetrically the output capacitor voltages of each converter, the proposed inverter could produce the AC output voltage with sinusoidal waveform. Particularly, in case of asymmetric control, a higher AC output voltage was obtained. Finally, the efficiency of the proposed system was measured as 95% and 97% respectively in case of symmetric and asymmetric control.

This paper proposes a quasi Z-source converter(QZSC) with a diode-capacitor output filter to improve the output DC voltage boost ability. The proposed converter has the same quasi Z-source network topology compared with the conventional converter. But the proposed method is adopted a diode-capacitor filter as its output filter, since the conventional method is used an inductor-capacitor as its output filter. Under the condition of the same input-output DC voltage, the proposed method has more lower shoot-through duty ratio than the conventional method. Also, because the proposed converter has same voltage boost factor under lower shoot-through duty ratio compared with the conventional converter, the proposed converter can be operated with the lower capacitor voltage of Z-source network and the lower input current. To confirm the validity of the proposed method, PSIM simulation and a DSP based experiment were performed to acquire the output DC voltage 120[V] under the input DC voltage 80[V]. And the capacitor voltage and inductor current in Z-source network, the output voltage of each converter were compared and discussed.

When typical Z-source DC/AC inverter(ZSI) is operated in high voltage gain area, because of its high duty ratio, voltage and current stress in Z-network of typical ZSI are increased. This paper proposes a new switched trans ZSI(STZSI) with two switched trans cells which consist of one trans and two diodes. To confirm the operation performance of the proposed system, the PSIM simulation is performed for typical ZSI, switched inductor ZSI and the proposed STZSI. Voltage / current stress and transient state characteristics of each method are compared under the condition of DC input voltage 100[V] and output phase voltage 66[Vrms]. As a result, we confirmed that transient state of the proposed STZSI is short compared with the conventional ZSI because the high voltage gain is obtained using the same duty ratio, also a low duty ratio is required for the same output voltage. Finally, we could know the proposed system have low voltage and current stress in Z-network compared with the conventional ZSI.

In this letter, we introduce two different resource allocation and Tx power management schemes, called resource control and fixed power (RCFP) and fixed resource and power control (FRPC), in an LTE-Advanced femtocell network. We analyze and compare the two schemes in terms of the system throughput for downlink and energy consumption of home evolved NodeB (HeNB) Tx power according to the number of HeNBs and home user equipment (HUE)'s user traffic density (C). The simulation results show that the FRPC scheme has better performance in terms of system throughput for macro user equipments (MUEs) and energy consumption in low C.

This paper proposes the algorithm for the output AC voltage control of Z-source inverter by the detection of the input DC voltage and Z-network capacitor voltage. The actual modulation index of the proposed method is detected by the capacitor voltage in Z-network and input DC voltage of three-phase Z-source inverter. Control modulation index for the output voltage control is calculated by the detected actual modulation index and reference modulation index. And, calculated control modulation index is applied to the modified space vector modulation (SVM) for control the output voltage of Z-source inverter. To verify the validity of the proposed method, PSIM simulation was achieved and a DSP controlled 1[kW] three-phase Z-source inverter was producted. The simulation and experiment were performed under the condition that the load was changed in case of the constant input DC voltage and the input DC voltage was changed in case of the load was constant. As a result, we could know that the output phase voltage of Z-source inverter followed to the reference voltage 70[VRMS] despite the load or the input DC voltage were suddenly changed.Key Words : Z-source inverter, Output voltage control, Detection of the input DC voltage and Z-network capacitor voltage, Modulation index, Modified space vector modulation(SVM)*정 회 원 : 전남대학교 전기공학과 박사과정** 정 회 원 : 전남대학교 전기공학과 교수***정 회 원 : 전남대학교 전기공학과 부교수† 교신저자, 정회원 : 대불대학교 융합기술학부 부교수E-mail : jyg@mail.daebul.ac.kr 접수일자 : 2011년 4월 18일 최종완료 : 2011년 7월 19일

In this paper, we evaluate the downlink performance of Transparent mode (T-mode) and Non-Transparent mode (NT-mode) in a two-hop cellular system based on IEEE 802.16j. In particular, we evaluate the performance in terms of the system capacity, optimal resource allocation, and outage probability using Monte Carlo simulation with various system parameters such as different Frequency Reuse Factors (FRFs) and the distance between Base Station (BS) and Relay Station (RS). To analyze the Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR) of the access and relay links, an SINR model is introduced for cellular multihop systems considering intra- and inter-cell interferences. Then, we present a method of optimal resource allocation for the Access Zone (AZ) and Relay Zone (RZ) to maximize the system capacity. Consequently, the simulation results provide an insight into choosing the appropriate RS position and optimal resource allocation. Through numerical examples, it is found that the FRFs of two and three are good choices to achieve the highest capacity with low outage in T- and NT-modes, respectively.

The IEEE802.16j standard uses non-transparent relay stations to extend coverage. There are two types of non-transparent relay modes, that is, the time-division transmit and receive (TTR) relay mode which can operate with one of two types of frame structures, a single-frame and multiframe structure, and the simultaneous transmit and receive (STR) relay mode. In this paper, we analyze the relay performance of TTR and STR relay modes in IEEE 802.16j MMR system. We also propose a fair resource allocation scheme for the downlink relay frame. Numerical results show that relay performance of the TTR with a single-frame or a multiframe structure and that of the STR relay modes are almost the same in a two-hop system. However, in a three-hop system, the TTR mode with a single-frame structure outperforms other relay modes.

In our previous study, we clearly demonstrated the roles of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and IL-6, and subsequent reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation on the pathogenesis of cisplatin ototoxicityin vitroandin vivo. ROS generation in cisplatin-treated HEI-OC1 auditory cells was also correlated with changing mitochondrial membrane potential. However, the roles of NADPH oxidase in cisplatin-induced ROS generation and ototoxicity have not been fully elucidated. Herein, immunohistochemical studies demonstrated that treatment of cisplatin induced the expression of NADPH oxidase isoforms NOX-1 and NOX-4 in HEI-OC1 auditory cells. Expression of mRNA for NOX-1, NOX-4, NOXO1, NOXA1, p47phox, and p67phoxwas also increased. Inhibition of NADPH oxidase with diphenyleniodonium chloride or apocynin abolished ROS production and the subsequent apoptotic cell death in cisplatin-treated cells. Furthermore, suppression of NOX1 and NOX4 expression by small interfering RNA transfection markedly abolished the cytotoxicity and ROS generation by cisplatin. Together, our data suggest that ROS generated, in part, through the activation of NADPH oxidase plays an essential role in cisplatin ototoxicity.

Aspergillus tracheobronchitis is one form of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis which is characterized by ulcers and pseudomembrane formation in tracheobronchial tree. In Aspergillus tracheobronchitis, the infection is often limited to the mucosa and it accounts for less than 10 percents of invasive disease. Invasive aspergillosis mainly occurs in immunocompromized patients with prolonged neutropenia, advanced AIDS, organ transplantation, high-dose glucocorticoid therapy or cytotoxic therapy although it can occur in less immunocompromised patients, such as after influenza, COPD, old age, and diabetes. We report a case of Aspergillus tracheobronchitis in a 61 year-old patient with diabetes and Child Pugh class A liver cirrhosis. He presented with cough and purulent sputum for 10 days. He was diagnosed by bronchoscopy and successfully treated with antifungal therapy.

Rapid and simple analysis for the multiple target pathogens is critical for patient management. CE-SSCP analysis on a microchip provides high speed, high sensitivity, and a portable genetic analysis platform in molecular diagnostic fields. The capability of separating ssDNA molecules in a capillary electrophoretic microchannel with high resolution is a critical issue to perform the precise interpretation in the electropherogram. In this study, we explored the potential of poly(ethyleneoxide)-poly (propyleneoxide)-poly(ethyleneoxide) (PEO-PPO-PEO) triblock copolymer as a sieving matrix for CE-SSCP analysis on a microdevice. To demonstrate the superior resolving power of PEO-PPO-PEO copolymers, 255-bp PCR amplicons obtained from 16S ribosomal RNA genes of four bacterial species, namely Proteus mirabilis, Haemophilus ducreyi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Neisseria meningitidis, were analyzed in the PEO-PPO-PEO matrix in comparison with 5% linear polyacrylamide and commercial GeneScan ™ gel. Due to enhanced dynamic coating and sieving ability, PEO-PPO-PEO copolymer displayed fourfold enhancement of resolving power in the CE-SSCP to separate same-sized DNA molecules. Fivefold input of genomic DNA of P. aeruginosa and/or N. meningitidis produced proportionally increased corresponding amplicon peaks, enabling correct quantitative analysis in the pathogen detection. Besides the high-resolution sieving capability, a facile loading and replenishment of gel in the microchannel due to thermally reversible gelation property makes PEO-PPO-PEO triblock copolymer an excellent matrix in the CE-SSCP analysis on the microdevice.

Here we present telomerase activity screening using a capillary electrophoretic (CE) microdevice for human cancer diagnostics. The telomerase enzyme, a contributor to the maintenance of telomere length in cancer cells, was extracted from various human cells including MCF-7 (Human breast cancer cells), A549 (Human lung cancer cells), and SK-N-SH (Human neuroblastoma cells), and then telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP)-based genetic analysis was performed to evaluate the activity of telomerase enzyme. The resultant 6-bp tandem repeat PCR amplicons derived from cancer cells were separated and detected on the 6 cm-long CE microdevice within 5 min. A limit of detection of 5 cells was achieved to analyze the telomerase activity on a CE microchip. In comparison with a conventional PAGE method, micro-fabricated CE-based analysis has many advantages in terms of high speed, low sample consumption, and high sensitive detection. The successful demonstration of telomerase activity screening on a chip implies great potential of a complete integration of a sample preparation and PCR unit in a single format for high-performance cancer diagnostics in a clinical arena.

This letter proposes a wakeup-on-demand scheme based on the idea that a device should be awakened just when it has to receive a packet from a neighboring device. To prove this scheme, this letter proposes a mathematical model based on the busy cycle of M/G/1 queuing systems to obtain a battery lifetime of one-hop cluster-topology shaped W-WSN.

We present an adaptive power saving (APS) scheme to reduce downlink energy consumption of the transmit power in the cellular relay network (CRN). In the APS scheme, some cell topologies operating in 2-hop mode using relay stations (RSs) are converted to that of 3-hop mode and others are simultaneously converted to that of single-hop mode when the offered traffic load becomes very low, especially during night periods. By this means, we show the APS scheme outperforms the conventional CRN (CCRN) scheme in terms of energy consumption.

Specific mutations in the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome have been reported to be associated with the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The goal of this study was to determine whether mutations in the HBV X gene are associated with the development of HCC in hepatitis B patients with cirrhosis. Forty-two patients infected with HBV genotype C2 with cirrhosis and HCC were compared with 46 patients with cirrhosis but without HCC. X gene mutations were determined by direct sequencing in all patients. The HCC and non-HCC groups were similar with respect to clinical characteristics, and the presence of T1762/A1764, T1653, and V1753 mutations was not significantly different between the two groups (P = 0.068, P = 0.097, P = 0.442, respectively). Only the B1499 mutation was associated significantly with HCC (P = 0.015) (odds ratio: 3.42, 95% CI: 1.24–9.48). In hepatitis Be antigen (HBeAg)-positive patients, advanced age was associated significantly with HCC (P = 0.038), whereas in HBeAg-negative patients, the B1499 mutation was associated more significantly with HCC (P = 0.01). Patients in the B1499 mutation group exhibited significantly higher AST and ALT levels compared with patients infected the wild-type virus. In conclusion, B1499 is a novel mutation associated with HCC in Korean patients with cirrhosis infected with HBV genotype C2. J. Med. Virol. 81:1721–1725, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

In this paper, we propose the mobile object tracking algorithm based on the feature vector using particle filter. To do this, first, we detect the movement area of mobile object by using RGB color model and extract the feature vectors of the input image by using the KLT-algorithm. And then, we get the first feature vectors by matching extracted feature vectors to the detected movement area. Second, we detect new movement area of the mobile objects by using RGB and HSI color model, and get the new feature vectors by applying the new feature vectors to the snake algorithm. And then, we find the second feature vectors by applying the second feature vectors to new movement area. So, we design the mobile object tracking algorithm by applying the second feature vectors to particle filter. Finally, we validate the applicability of the proposed method through the experience in a complex environment.