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Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity of action naming tests when using a chatbot-based online platform. The performance of healthy young adults and healthy middle-aged adults on action naming tests was compared between online assessment platforms.Methods: A total of 81 participants were included in this study (40 young adults, 41 middle-aged adults). Participants were divided into two groups according to the online assessment platforms, 40 individuals (20 young adults, 20 middle-aged adults) receiving the action naming tests via Zoom and 41 individuals (20 young adults, 21 middle-aged adults) via chatbot.Results: The results indicated that there was no significant difference in action naming performance across online assessment platforms. In addition, young adults showed statistically higher performance compared to the middle-aged adults. There was a significant main effect of verb argument structure on action naming performance, with one- and two-place verbs having a higher correct response rate than three-place verbs.Conclusion: Although the younger group performed better than the middle-aged group, there were no significant differences in action naming performance between chatbot and Zoom groups, suggesting that chatbot-based action naming tests can be used interchangeably with the established online platforms. Accordingly, it is expected that we will be able to provide appropriate online language assessment services for each client in a future clinical setting.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate age related changes in articulatory control by examining whether there were differences between young and elderly adults in their voice onset time (VOT). Methods: 16 adults over the age of 65 and 16 adults aged between 18-39 years old participated in this study. The experimental task consisted of 9 plosives, categorized by place of articulation and phonation type, paired with the vowel /a/ to form 2 syllable VCV non-words. Participants’ voice samples were analyzed using Praat. VOT mean was used to examine group differences in VOT and coefficient of variation (CoV) was used to examine group differences in VOT variability. Results: There were significant differences in VOT mean according to age group, phonation type, and place of articulation. The elderly adults had a longer VOT compared to the young adults with significant differences for place of articulation in velar plosives and significant differences for phonation type in aspirated plosives. There were significant differences in VOT CoV according to age group and phonation type. The elderly adults had higher VOT and CoV compared to the young adults with a significant difference in lenis plosives. Conclusion: The results of this study show that elderly adults have longer VOT durations and irregular articulatory control, reflected by higher VOT variability, compared to younger adults. These results may reflect age related declines in the coordination of the speech mechanism and reduced oral motor control.

Purpose To determine whether six cycles of FEC3-D3 has a comparable efficacy to eight of AC4-D4. Methods The enrolled patients (pts) were clinically diagnosed with stage II or III breast cancer. The primary endpoint was a pathologic complete response (pCR), and the secondary endpoints were 3-year disease-free survival (3Y DFS), toxicities, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Results Among the 248 pts enrolled, one case was ineligible for screening; 10 discontinued treatment due to progressive disease (7 and 3 in the AC4-D4 and FEC3-D3 arms), 16 dropped out due to a withdrawal of consent, and 3 were unable to complete the study (2 and 1 in the AC4-D4 and FEC3-D3 arms). The 218 pts who completed the surgery were included in the current analysis. The baseline characteristics of these subjects were well balanced between the two arms. By ITT analysis, pCR was achieved in 15/121 (12.4%) pts in the FEC3-D3 arm and 18/126 (14.3%) in the AC4-D4 arm (P = 0.40). With a median follow up of 64.1 months, the 3-year DFS was comparable between the two arms (77.0% in FEC3-D3 vs. 74.9% in AC4-D4; P = 0.82). The most common adverse event (AE) was Grade 3/4 neutropenia, which arose in 27/126 (21.4%) AC4-D4 arm pts vs 23/121 (19.0%) FEC3-D3 arm cases. The primary HRQoL domains were similar between the two groups (FACT-B scores at baseline, P = 0.35; at the midpoint of NACT, P = 0.20; at the completion of NACT, P = 0.44). Conclusion Both NACT AC4-D4 and FEC3-D3 show comparable outcomes in terms of pCR, three-year DFS, toxicities, and QoL Shorter neo-adjuvant FEC3-D3 could be an alternative to AC4-D4 for stage II or III operable breast cancer. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02001506. Registered December 5,2013 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02001506

Bilateral axillary Paget's disease in men is a rare occurrence with limited reports on its diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. Here, we report the case of a 55-year-old Korean male, who presented with a palpable mass and eczematous skin lesion on the left axilla. An incisional biopsy and histopathologic examination indicated invasive ductal carcinoma with Paget's disease arising in the accessory breast. Magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography revealed no malignancy in the normal breast and other organs. The patient was subjected to a wide excision, wherein the left axillary lymph node was dissected, followed by the administration of adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy. After 17 months of disease-free survival, the patient was diagnosed with Paget's disease of the contralateral accessory breast. He underwent wide excision surgery along with radiation therapy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of bilateral extramammary Paget's disease in a male.

Immune checkpoint blockade therapy can induce immune-related toxicity, but cutaneous lymphoma development has not been reported. A 56-year-old woman presented with two well-demarcated erythematous macules on the right sole and vitiligo on her extremities. Her facial melanoma had been treated with combination therapy (ipilimumab and pembrolizumab), followed by pembrolizumab monotherapy, a year prior. Microscopy revealed small-to-medium-sized lymphocytes permeating along with the basal epidermal layer. These were immuno-positive for CD2, CD3, and CD5, and showed complete CD7 loss; CD30, TCR-beta F1, and PD-1 were also detected. They exclusively expressed CD8, not CD4, and had a Ki-67 labeling index of 30-40%. Epstein-Barr virus in-situ hybridization was negative. Clonal T-cell receptor beta and gamma chain gene rearrangements were detected. Hence, the lesions were diagnosed as mycosis fungoides. This is the first report of mycosis fungoides development after anti-melanoma immunotherapy. The patient is currently on steroid ointments and phototherapy.

Both basic and clinical research support the use of tactile stimulation to rescue several neurobiobehavioral consequences that follow early life stress. Here, using a translational rodent model of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), we tested the individual prophylactic potential of a variety of sensory interventions including tactile (brushing pups with a paint brush to mimic maternal licking), auditory (a simulated lactating rat dam heart beat), and olfactory (a series of aroma therapy scents) stimulation. The NICU model was developed to mimic not only the reduced parental contact that sick infants receive (by isolating rat pups from their litters), but also the nosocomial infections and medical manipulations associated with this experience (by utilizing a dual lipopolysaccharide injection schedule). Each of the neurobiobehavioral consequences observed were dissociable between isolation and inflammation, or required a combined presentation ('two hits') of the neonatal stressors. Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to these early life stressors presented with sex-specific disruptions in both separation-induced ultrasonic vocalization (USV) distress calls (males & females) and juvenile social play USVs (males only). All three sensory enhancement interventions were associated with the rescue of potentiated distress calls while olfactory stimulation was protective of social vocalizations. Female rats exposed to early life stress experienced precocious puberty and shifts in the hypothalamic GnRh axis; sensory enrichment counter-acted the advanced pubertal onset. Animals that underwent the NICU protocol also displayed maturational acceleration in terms of the loss of the rooting reflex in addition to hyperalgesia, a reduced preference for a novel conspecific, blunted basal plasma corticosterone and reduced hippocampal glucocorticoid receptor expression. These alterations closely simulated the clinical effects of early life adversity in terms of disruptions in the hypothalamic pituitary "stress" axis, social communication and engagement, tactile system processing, and accelerated maturation. Moreover, sensory enrichment attenuated many of these behavioral and neurophysiological alterations, and even slowed maturation. Overall, this supports the translatability of our novel rodent model and its potential utility in understanding how brain maturation and quality of early life experiences may interact to shape the integrity of stress and sensory system development. Future work must determine the appropriate modalities and parameters (e.g. patterning, timing) for effective sensory enrichment interventions.

Although venous invasion (VI) is a poor prognostic factor for patients with pancreatobiliary tract cancers, its histopathologic characteristics have not been well described. We evaluated the patterns of VI and the added benefit provided by CD31, desmin, and dual CD31‒desmin immunolabeling for identification of VI. We included 120 surgically resected pancreatobiliary tract cancer cases—59 cases as a test set with known VI and 61 cases as a validation set without information of VI. VI was classified into three patterns: intraepithelial neoplasia-like (IN-like), conventional, and destructive. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining and CD31, desmin, and dual CD31‒desmin immunolabeling were performed. Foci number and patterns of VI were compared with the test and validation sets. More foci of VI were detected by single CD31 (P = 0.022) than H&E staining in the test set. CD31 immunolabeling detected more foci of the conventional pattern of VI, and desmin immunolabeling detected more foci of the destructive pattern (all, P < 0.001). Dual CD31‒desmin immunolabeling identified more foci of VI (P = 0.012) and specifically detected more foci of IN-like (P = 0.045) and destructive patterns (P < 0.001) than H&E staining in the validation set. However, dual CD31‒desmin immunolabeling was not helpful for detecting the conventional pattern of VI in the validation set. Patients with VI detected by dual CD31‒desmin immunolabeling had shorter disease-free survival (P P = 0.009). More foci of VI could be detected with additional single CD31 or dual CD31‒desmin immunolabeling. The precise evaluation of VI with dual CD31‒desmin immunolabeling can provide additional prognostic information for patients with surgically resected pancreatobiliary tract cancers.

Background Primary breast sarcoma (PBS) is rare, comprising approximately 1% of breast malignancies. Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) accounts for an extremely small proportion of PBSs, often leading to delayed histologic confirmation. Methods Upon reviewing Asan Medical Center's pathology database between 2000 and 2018, 41 PBS cases were retrieved, including three cases of primary RMS of the breast. Their clinicopathological features were analyzed, and the literature related to PBS and primary RMS of the breast was reviewed. Results We identified three primary breast RMS cases from our institution database, comprising 7.3% of PBS: one case each of spindle cell/sclerosing RMS (ssRMS), alveolar RMS (aRMS), and embryonal RMS (eRMS). All cases involved adolescents or young adults (14, 16, and 25 years, respectively) who underwent mastectomy or radiotherapy and were confirmed using immunohistochemical testing for myogenin, desmin, and myogenic differentiation. The ssRMS patient experienced recurrence at the operation site 4 months post-surgery despite undergoing concurrent chemoradiotherapy. The aRMS patient had multiple metastases at diagnosis and showed FAX3-FOXO1 fusion transcripts; she died 22 months after the diagnosis. The eRMS patient had enlarged axillary lymph nodes; post-radiotherapy, the lesion recurred as multiple metastases to the bone and lung. She died 18 months post-diagnosis. Conclusions Our experience on RMS cases suggests that spindle cell or small round cell malignancy in breasts of young female should raise suspicion for the possibility of primary or secondary RMS. To our knowledge, this is the second report of primary breast ssRMS and it may help clinicians who encounter this rare disease in the future.

Ahead of Print article withdrawn by publisher.

Vertically aligned long TiO2 nanotube (NT) electrodes with optimized structures for photovoltaic application were prepared by a two-step anodization method. The structures of the conventional TiO2 NT electrodes prepared by one-step anodization became severely bundled and disordered for tube lengths exceeding 20 μm. On the other hand, two-step anodization resulted in uniform and bundle-free TiO2 NT electrodes, with tube lengths of up to 38 μm. When used in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) as photoanodes, the two-step TiO2 NT electrodes exhibited enhanced short-circuit current density (Jsc) with increasing tube length, owing to an increased roughness factor, which resulted in high dye loading. However, the dark current and open-circuit voltage decay (OCVD) curves confirmed that the electron recombination rate increased, and the electron lifetime decreased, with increasing tube length. This reduced electron lifetime resulted in sharp reductions in the open-circuit voltage (Voc) with increasing tube length. Owing to the trade-off between the enhanced current density and the reduced electron lifetime, an optimal conversion efficiency of 4.56 % was obtained for a tube length of 29 μm.

Nanostructured electrodes with vertical alignment have been considered ideal structures for electron transport and interfacial contact with redox electrolytes in photovoltaic devices. Here, we report large-scale vertically aligned SnO2 nanochannel arrays with uniform structures, without lateral cracks fabricated by a modified anodic oxidation process. In the modified process, ultrasonication is utilized to avoid formation of partial compact layers and lateral cracks in the SnO2 nanochannel arrays. Building on this breakthrough, we first demonstrate the photovoltaic application of these vertically aligned SnO2 nanochannel arrays. These vertically aligned arrays were directly and successfully applied in quasi-solid state dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) as photoanodes, yielding reasonable conversion efficiency under back-side illumination. In addition, a significantly short process time (330 s) for achieving the optimal thickness (7.0 μm) and direct utilization of the anodized electrodes enable a simple, rapid and low-cost fabrication process. Furthermore, a TiO2 shell layer was coated on the SnO2 nanochannel arrays by the atomic layer deposition (ALD) process for enhancement of dye-loading and prolonging the electron lifetime in the DSSC. Owing to the presence of the ALD TiO2 layer, the short-circuit photocurrent density (Jsc) and conversion efficiency were increased by 20% and 19%, respectively, compared to those of the DSSC without the ALD TiO2 layer. This study provides valuable insight into the development of efficient SnO2-based photoanodes for photovoltaic application by a simple and rapid fabrication process.

Methods for understanding the neurocircuitry of ethologically relevant behaviors have advanced substantially; however renovations to standard animal laboratory housing, in the form of enhanced enrichment, have lagged behind. This is despite evidence that environmental enrichment (EE) reduces stress, stereotypy, and promotes healthy species typical behaviors. While many scientists express interest for increased EE as a standard for animal caging systems, there are concerns that its effects on brain, behavior, and cognition are not well characterized. In the present study, male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were housed for six weeks in either EE, Colony Nesting (CN), or Standard Housing (SD) conditions. We show that adolescent exposure to environmental complexity changed the dynamics of social interactions, sensory processing, and underlying basal stress neurocircuitry, in a sex- and enrichment-type-dependent manner. Specifically, EE and CN increased prosocial engagement and the social saliency of male and female rats while the profile of hippocampal Crhr2 expression was affected only in EE males. Hippocampal Crh was associated with anxiety-like behavior in SD males - this did not extend to EE or CN groups, nor to females. Observations such as these are an important consideration for the validity of translational research investigating the neurocircuitry of stress resiliency, and for understanding the mechanisms of psychiatric disorders. Future work must focus on characterizing how individual environmental enhancements (e.g. novelty, social enrichment, physical activity) shape phenotypic differences, how they vary as a function of species, strain and sex, and (if warranted) how to meaningfully implement this knowledge into biomedical research designs.

The complex-free kinetic method (CFKM), a novel variant of the kinetic method, was developed for direct quantification of isomeric O-diglycosyl flavonoids using electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Direct isomeric quantification of O-diglycosyl flavonoids by the developed CFKM was presented for the first time. The detailed fragmentation behaviours of these flavonoids, which are tightly related to their structures, were also proposed with the help of molecular modelling. The calibration curves enable the quantification of these isomeric pairs by the linear relationship of lnR vs. molar fractions of hesperidin and eriocitrin with good accuracy and good correlation coefficient(r2). High isomeric selectivity was achieved with Riso = 6.5349 and Riso = 3.5257 for hesperidin/neohesperidin and eriocitrin/neoeriocitrin, respectively by our developed CFKM. The CFKM represents a promising and practical mass spectrometric method for direct stereochemical analysis of flavonoid compounds as well as other multiple chiral center compounds.

Photovoltaic performances of TiO2 nanoparticle (NP) electrodes and TiO2 nanotube (NT) electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) employing a cobalt bipyridyl redox electrolyte were compared. The TiO2 NP electrodes had pore sizes ranging from 15 to 20 nm while the NT electrodes had a lager pore size of 80 nm. Highly ordered and vertically oriented TiO2 NT electrodes were prepared by a two-step anodization method. In application to DSSCs employing the cobalt redox electrolyte, the 11-μm-thick NP electrode exhibited an efficiency of 1.60% with a Jsc of 3.96 mA/cm2. Meanwhile, despite nearly half of the amount of adsorbed dye molecules, the 11-μm-thick NT electrode exhibited a slightly enhanced efficiency of 1.84% with a Jsc of 5.86 mA/cm2. In addition, the 35-μm-thick NT electrode showed an efficiency of 2.38% with a Jsc of 9.80 mA/cm2. Compared to the 11-μm-thick NP electrode, the 35-μm-thick NT electrode exhibited a 1.5 times higher efficiency with a 2.5 times higher Jsc in spite of having a similar ...

The mechanism of chromium metal deposition from a trivalent chromium bath containing formic acid and polyethylene glycol 1000 (PEG) was studied on an electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM), electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and a technique for measuring pH on the cathode surface. Reactions of PEG molecules with trivalent chromium ions and their influence on the plating process of trivalent chromium were investigated. EQCM studies at low trivalent chromium ion concentrations show that chromium electrodeposition occurs via the formation of an adsorption layer on the electrode surface, which is called a cathodic film. Cathodic films hinder the penetration of ions from bulk solution to the cathode surface. In the inner portion of the cathodic film and at the cathode surface, intermediate complexes were formed during the deposition process. ESI-MS revealed that the PEG molecules were stable in a trivalent chromium bath containing potassium formate. During electroplating, the PEG molecules decreased the reductive current of hydrogen compared with solutions without PEG; an effect that was also observed due to the pH on the electrode surface. PEG plays a decisive role in the formation of intermediate compounds during electrodeposition.

Esophageal fibrovascular polyps are rare, benign, submucosal tumors of the upper digestive tract that usually have an indolent course until the lesion attains a very large size. The most frequent complaints associated with these tumors include dysphagia and foreign body sensation. However, a long pedunculated polyp can regurgitate into the pharynx or oral cavity and cause asphyxia and sudden death if the larynx is occluded. We describe the case of a 51-year-old man who experienced snoring and occasional asphyxia during sleep. Upper endoscopy was performed, which indicated the presence of a pedunculated esophageal polyp that regurgitated into the vocal cords. The polyp was removed using a polypectomy snare and was confirmed to be a fibrovascular polyp based on pathologic examination findings. Three months after the excision of the polyp, the patient was found to be doing well without any further occurrence of asphyxia or sleep disturbances.

The surface of long TiO2 nanotube (NT) electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) was modified without post-annealing by using atomic layer deposition (ALD) for the enhancement of photovoltage. Vertically oriented TiO2 NT electrodes with highly ordered and crack-free surface structures over large areas were prepared by a two-step anodization method. The prepared TiO2 NTs had a pore size of 80 nm, and a length of 23 μm. Onto these TiO2 NTs, an Al2O3 shell of a precisely controlled thickness was deposited by ALD. The conformally coated shell layer was confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The open-circuit voltage (V(oc)) of the DSSCs was gradually enhanced as the thickness of the Al2O3 shell of the TiO2/Al2O3 NT electrodes was increased, which resulted from the enhanced electron lifetime. The enhanced electron lifetime caused by the energy barrier effect of the shell layer was measured quantitatively by the open-circuit voltage decay technique. As a result, 1- and 2-cycle-coated samples showed enhanced conversion efficiencies compared to the bare sample.

A facile and green process was developed for the synthesis of MoS2 nanospheres by an L-cysteine-assisted hydrothermal method. These MoS2 nanospheres exhibited high specific capacity and good cycle stability because of efficient lithium ion diffusion and the accommodation of mechanical stress owing to their unique structure.

The simple preparations of vertically aligned iron oxide nanotube arrays and porous magnetite nanostructures and their application as three-dimensional electrodes for lithium ion microbatteries are introduced. Nanotube arrays are well formed across a very large area with a ∼40 nm nanotube diameter. The nanotubes change to be porous nanostructures like nano-pillar arrays after heat treatment under 10% H2. These two structures allow the omission of conductive agents and binder in the battery assembly. In addition, the structural advantages for lithium ion and electron transport are exhibited through excellent cyclic stability and rate capability even at very high current density, which can complete one charge/discharge in a few minutes.

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