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In protein biotechnology, large soluble fusion partners are widely utilized for increased yield and solubility of recombinant proteins. However, the production of additional large fusion partners poses an additional burden to the host, leading to a decreased protein yield. In this study, we identified two highly disordered short peptides that were able to increase the solubility of an artificially engineered aggregation-prone protein, GFP-GFIL4, from 0.6% to 61% (D3-DP00592) and 46% (D4-DP01038) selected from DisProt database. For further confirmation, the peptides were applied to two insoluble E. coli proteins (YagA and YdiU). The peptides also enhanced solubility from 52% to 90% (YagA) and from 27% to 93% (YdiU). Their ability to solubilize recombinant proteins was comparable with strong solubilizing tags, maltose-binding protein (40 kDa) and TrxA (12 kDa), but much smaller (7 kDa) in size. For practical application, the two peptides were fused with a restriction enzyme, I-SceI, and they increased I-SceI solubility from 24% up to 75%. The highly disordered peptides did not affect the activity of I-SceI while I-SceI fused with MBP or TrxA displayed no restriction activity. Despite the small size, the highly disordered peptides were able to solubilize recombinant proteins as efficiently as conventional fusion tags and did not interfere with the function of recombinant proteins. Consequently, the identified two highly disordered peptides would have practical utility in protein biotechnology and industry.

Background: Shoulder subluxation occurs in 17–64% of hemiplegic patients after stroke and develops mostly during the first three weeks of hemiplegia. A range of shoulder orthoses has been used in rehabilitation to prevent subluxation. However, there is little evidence of their efficacy. AIM: This study aimed to investigate whether there is a difference in the subluxation distance, pain, and functional level of the hemiplegic upper extremity among patients with two different shoulder orthoses. Design: This is a prospective, randomized controlled trial with intention-to-treat analysis. SETTING: Multicenter, rehabilitation medicine department of two university hospitals in South Korea. Population: Forty-one patients with subacute stroke with shoulder subluxation with greater than 0.5 finger width within 4 weeks of stroke were recruited between January 2016 and October 2021. Methods: The experimental group used an elastic dynamic sling while sitting and standing to support the affected arm for eight weeks. The control group used a Bobath sling while sitting and standing. The primary outcome was to assess the distance of the shoulder subluxation on radiography. The secondary outcomes were upper-extremity function, muscle power, activities of daily living, pain and spasticity. Result: The horizontal distance showed significant improvement in the elastic dynamic sling group, but there were no significant differences in the vertical distance between the elastic dynamic and Bobath sling groups. Both groups showed improvements in upper-extremity movements and independence in daily living after 4 and 8 weeks of using shoulder orthoses, and the differences within the groups were significant (p < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences in upper-extremity movements and independence in daily living between the two groups. Conclusions: The subluxation distance showed better results in the elastic dynamic sling, which has both proximal and distal parts, than in the Bobath sling, which holds only the proximal part. Both shoulder orthoses showed improvements in the modified Barthel index, upper-extremity function, and manual muscle testing.

Although rheological properties are essential in scaling up fermenters, there has been no report on hydrogen fermentation of organic solid wastes. In the present work, hydrogen fermentation of food waste (FW) was conducted at various substrate concentrations (10–50 g Carbo. COD/L) and operational pHs (4.5–6.5), and rheological properties were attained. High hydrogen production performance showing over 1.7 mol H2/mol hexoseadded was achieved at 10–40 g Carbo. COD/L and pH 5.5 and 6.0. The viscosity tended to increase with substrate concentration increase, and fermentation led to a significant reduction of viscosity. Before fermentation, zero viscosity and infinite viscosity of FW ranged 6.8–1274.1 mPa s and 2.2–58.1 mPa s, which were reduced to 10.4–346.2 mPa s and 1.1–5.3 mPa s after fermentation, respectively. Compared to substrate concentration, operational pH showed a less effect on rheological properties. At the similar volatile solids concentration range, hydrogen-fermented FW showed lower values of rheological properties than that of anaerobic digester sludge. Based on the agitation speed values assuring turbulent condition (complete mixing), the energy required for agitation can be reduced by 30–67% by lowering the applied agitation speed with fermentation time.

Age-related degenerative changes lead to a gradual decrease in bone mineral density (BMD) and muscle mass. We aimed to assess the effects of decreased BMD and lumbar denervation on lumbar spinal muscle morphometry and the relationship between BMD and lumbar spinal muscular morphometry, respectively. Eighty-one patients, aged 50–85 years, diagnosed with unilateral lumbosacral radiculopathy based on electrodiagnostic studies between January 2016 and April 2021 were enrolled. BMD T scores in the lumbar spine and hip were measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. The cross-sectional area (CSA) of the psoas, multifidus, and erector spinae located in the middle of the lumbar spine, between the L3 and L4 and between the L4 and L5 levels, respectively, was measured using axial MRI. Functional CSA (FCSA) was defined as the CSA of lean muscle mass. Pearson correlation analyses were performed to evaluate the association between BMD T scores and the CSA, FCSA, and the ratio of the FCSA to the CSA (functional ratio) for each side. The CSA of lumbar spinal muscles showed no significant correlation with lumbar BMD. The FCSA and functional ratio of lumbar spinal muscles were significantly correlated with lumbar BMD. There was no correlation between femur BMD and lumbar spinal muscle morphometry.

Various pretreatment methods have been combined and employed for maximizing the solubilization of waste-activated sludge (WAS). However, the question “by changing the series of applied combined pretreatments (CPs), can the solubilization efficiency of WAS be affected?” has never been addressed. In this study, firstly, thermal (T), alkaline (A), and ultrasonic (U) pretreatments were individually applied at broad strengths (T = 80–120 °C for 30 min, A = pH 9–12, and U = 5–60 min at 300 W). Then, pretreatment conditions that caused similar solubilization (13.0%) (120 °C, pH 11, and 30 min for T, A, and U, respectively), were adopted for CP with reverse sequences of T&A, U&A, and T&U. A similar disintegration degree was observed in U→A and A→U, while a meaningful difference was found in T&A and T&U: T→A (28.3%), A→T (42.9%), T→U (22.9%), and U→T (27.1%). The difference in pretreatment series also affected the characteristics of soluble matters, which was analyzed by excitation emission matrix and molecular weight distribution. Due to these differences, the highest methane yield of 68.8% (based on (chemical oxygen demand) CODinput) was achieved at A→T, compared to T→A (62.3%). Our results suggested a simple strategy for increasing solubilization, at the same expense of energy, which might be beneficial in the following treatment process, such as dewatering and transportation.

The difficult oral healthcare in intellectually disabled patients with poor behavioral control has led to debate over the cost-effectiveness and validity of implant treatment in these patients. The patient in the present report had schizophrenia that had led to poor oral care and severe dental caries in the full mouth. Tooth extraction and a removable prosthesis were planned, but the guardian wanted an implant procedure. Since the guardian showed strong will and cooperation with regard to the patient's oral healthcare, extraction followed by immediate implant placement was performed across two rounds of general anesthesia. Since the outcome appears successful, we present this case report. Immediate implant placement after tooth extraction requires fewer surgeries and rounds of general anesthesia, reduces horizontal bone resorption, and can achieve better esthetic results. Therefore, as long as a certain degree of oral care is possible, this can be a positive option for restoration of a partially edentulous mouth, even in intellectually disabled patients.

International audience; Among the various biological routes for H2 production, dark fermentation is considered the most practically applicable owing to its capability to degrade organic wastes and high H2 production rate. Food waste (FW) has high carbohydrate content and easily hydrolysable in nature, exhibiting higher H2 production potential than that of other organic wastes. In this review article, first, the current status of H2 production from FW by dark fermentation and the strategies applied for enhanced performance are briefly summarized. Then, the technical and economic limitations of dark fermentation of FW are thoroughly discussed. Economic assessment revealed that the economic feasibility of H2 production from FW by dark fermentation is questionable. Current efforts to further increase H2 yield and waste removal efficiency are also introduced. Finally, future perspectives along with possible routes converting dark fermentation effluent to valuable fuels and chemicals are discussed.

Citation Kim M-G, Shim J-Y, Pak JH, Jung B-K, Won H-S, Lee P-R, Kim A. Progesterone modulates the expression of interleukin-6 in cultured term human uterine cervical fibroblasts. Am J Reprod Immunol 2012; 67: 369–375 Problem The preventative value of progesterone in preterm labor has been recently recognized, especially when it is administered via vaginal suppository. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of progesterone on interleukin-6 (IL-6) production in human uterine cervical fibroblasts (UCFs) treated with lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Method of study Human uterine cervical tissue was obtained at term, prior to the onset of labor, during the scheduled cesarean section or cesarean hysterectomy. Primary UCF cultures were established and confirmed by immunohistochemistry. IL-6 mRNA and protein expressions were examined by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. Results Lipopolysaccharides stimulation induced a clear time- and dose-dependent increase in IL-6 mRNA and protein levels in UCFs (P

In general, shear walls are employed as lateral resistance system. Most of shear wall structures require openings in shear walls and thus shear walls are linked by floor slabs or coupling beams resulting in the coupled shear wall structures. In this study, an LRB (lead rubber bearing) was introduced in the middle of the coupling beam of the coupled shear wall structures and the wind-induced response reduction effect of this system was investigated. In order to evaluate the control performance of the proposed method, 20- and 30-story building structures were used as example structures and boundary nonlinear time history analyses have been performed using artificial wind excitation. Japanese vibration evaluation criteria was employed to evaluate whether the proposed system could improve the serviceability of the tall coupled shear wall structures under wind excitation. Based on analytical results, it has been shown that the proposed method that connects shear walls with LRBs can improve the wind-induced response control effect.

Effect of substitution of Mn for Ni on transformation behavior, shape memory characteristics and superelasticity of Ti45Ni-5Cu alloy has been investigated by means of electrical resistivity measurements, X-ray diffraction, thermal cycling tests under constant load and tensile tests. The one-stage B2-B19' transformation occurred when Mn content was 0.5 at%, above which the two-stage B2-B19-B19' transformation occurred. A temperature range where the B19 martensite exists was expanded with increasing Mn content because decreasing rate of Ms (60 K / % Mn) was larger than that of Ms' (40 K / % Mn). Ti-(45-x)Ni-5Cu-xMn alloys were deformed in plastic manner with a fracture strain of 60 % ~ 32 % depending on Mn content. Clear superelasticity was found in fully annealed Ti-(45-x)Ni-5Cu-xMn alloys with Mn content more than 1.0 at%, which was ascribe to a solid solution hardening by substitution of Mn for Ni.

Most of shear wall structures require openings in shear walls and thus shear walls are linked by floor slabs or coupling beams resulting in the coupled shear wall structures. When these structures are subjected to seismic excitations, excessive shear forces are induced in coupling beams. Accordingly, brittle failure of coupling beams may occur or shear walls may yield first. To avoid this problem, damping devices can be installed in coupling beams. It can increase the vibration control effect and improve the seismic resistance performance of the coupled shear wall structure by avoiding stress concentration and the brittle failure of coupling beams. Based on this background research, an LRB (lead rubber bearing) was introduced in the middle of the coupling beam in this study and the authors investigated the seismic response control effect and stress distribution of the proposed system. To this end, a modeling technique that can effectively predict the structural behavior of coupled shear wall structures has been proposed. With this proposed technique, time history analyses of the example coupled shear wall structure subjected to seismic excitation were performed and the vibration control effects of the seismic responses were investigated.

Ni and Ti sulfides are formed on the surface of a Ti 50 Ni 50 alloy by annealing the alloy at 873 K for 0.24-72 ks under the sulfur pressure of 160 kPa, and then microstructures, martensitic transformation behavior, shape memory characteristics, superelasticity and electrochemical properties are investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, thermal cycling tests under constant load and tensile tests. NiS 2 particles are formed first on the surface of the alloy, and then are grown and coalesced with increasing annealing time. When annealing time is longer than 1.2ks, in addition to NiS 2 , Ti 8.2 S 11 sulfide is formed, and therefore the surface sulfide layers is consisted of NiS 2 and Ti 8.2 S 11 . A Ti 50 Ni 50 alloy with the surface sulfide layers shows the shape memory effect and superelasticity clearly. A Ti 50 Ni 50 alloy with the surface sulfide layers shows clear discharge behavior with an increase of annealing time. Multi-voltage plateaus of 1.89, 1.70 and 1.42 V are observed at a cell with electrode annealed for 1.2 ks and an additional plateau at 2.0 V appeared at cells of 3.6 and 10.8 ks. NiS 2 is not transformed into pure Ni and Li 2 S during discharging process directly but is transformed by way of intermediate phases such as NiS and Ni 3 S 2 .

The preventative value of progesterone in preterm labor has been recently recognized, especially when it is administered via vaginal suppository. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of progesterone on interleukin-6 (IL-6) production in human uterine cervical fibroblasts (UCFs) treated with lipopolysaccharides (LPS).Human uterine cervical tissue was obtained at term, prior to the onset of labor, during the scheduled cesarean section or cesarean hysterectomy. Primary UCF cultures were established and confirmed by immunohistochemistry. IL-6 mRNA and protein expressions were examined by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively.Lipopolysaccharides stimulation induced a clear time- and dose-dependent increase in IL-6 mRNA and protein levels in UCFs (P0.05). Progesterone treatment significantly attenuated LPS-induced increases in IL-6 mRNA and protein expressions in UCFs (P0.05). Estrogen exposure had no effect on LPS-induced IL-6 up-regulation and did not modulate the effects of progesterone.Our preliminary results suggest that vaginal progesterone might prevent spontaneous preterm labor through a mechanism involving anti-inflammatory effects on UCFs, particularly suppression of IL-6 production.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between cisplatin resistance and histone deacetylase (HDAC) isoform overexpression in ovarian cancer cell lines. METHODS: Expression of four HDAC isoforms (HDAC 1, 2, 3, and 4) in two ovarian cancer cell lines, SKOV3 and OVCAR3, exposed to various concentrations of cisplatin was examined by western blot analyses. Cells were transfected with plasmid DNA of each HDAC. The overexpression of protein and mRNA of each HDAC was confirmed by western blot and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analyses, respectively. The cell viability of the SKOV3 and OVCAR3 cells transfected with HDAC plasmid DNA was measured using the cell counting kit-8 assay after treatment with cisplatin. RESULTS: The 50% inhibitory concentration of the SKOV3 and OVCAR3 cells can be determined 15-24 hours after treatment with 15 µg/mL cisplatin. The expression level of acetylated histone 3 protein in SKOV3 cells increased after exposure to cisplatin. Compared with control cells at 24 hours after cisplatin exposure, the viability of SKOV3 cells overexpressing HDAC 1 and 3 increased by 15% and 13% (p

Objective: To determine whether the duration and timing of prophylactic antibiotics influence maternal postoperative infectious morbidity in cesarean section performed at tertiary center. Methods: This study was a prospective, randomized trial. Pregnant women who underwent cesarean section between December 2008 and September 2009 at tertiary center were enrolled and divided into two groups: Group A, antibiotic prophylaxis was applied for 24 hours and Group B, antibiotic prophylaxis was applied for 48 hours. First generation of cephalosporin was administrated within 30 minutes prior skin incision or after cord clamping. The occurrence of postoperative infectious morbidity such as febrile morbidity, wound infection, endometritis, urinary track infection, pneumonia, sepsis and pelvic abscess and hospital stays were compared. Results: There were 413 pregnant women enrolled and then randomized into 220 for group A and 197 for group B. No demographic differences were observed between two groups. The infectious morbidity was 1.9% (8/413) and wound infection was the most common postoperative infections morbidity. No significant difference was found between the groups for infectious morbidity and hospital stays. Also timing of prophylactic antibiotics did not result in significant difference for infectious morbidity. Conclusion: Short course of prophylactic antibiotics has been shown to be as efficacious as multidose of prophylactic antibiotics for preventing infectious morbidity in cesarean section and timing did not influence on infections morbidity. Further studies focusing on duration and timing of prophylactic antibiotics for cesarean section are needed.

Pseudo-Meigs’ syndrome is a syndrome that includes hydrothorax and ascites secondary to ovarian tumors other than solid benign fibroma. In this report, we present the case of a 29-years-old female who complained of abdominal distension with peripheral edema during her third trimester. Two solid masses of 15 cm dimension in the left abdomen and 7 cm dimension in the right abdomen were detected by ultrasound and chest X-ray revealed right pleural effusion. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) confirmed the ovarian masses and ascites. As the patient had regular uterine contractions, we decided to perform emergency cesarean section because of previous cesarean section history. A laparotomy was performed and pathologists confirmed the presence of a metastatic adenocarcinoma. Four days following the surgery, gastroduodenoscopy revealed a huge ulcerofungating mass was visible in greater curvature of stomach. The final diagnosis was metastatic adenocarcinoma from gastric cancer. Although pseudo-Meigs’ syndrome is very rare, it should be carefully considered when evaluating female complaining with ascites in ovarian tumor.

Purpose: Penile fracture is a rare but serious urological condition. Immediate surgical repair is widely accepted as the treatment of choice in penile fracture. The aim of this study is to investigate the long-term outcome of immediate surgical treatment of penile fracture. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study of 12 men with penile fracture who were treated in the Department of Urology, Sanggyepaik Hospital, Seoul, Korea from January 2000 to June 2005. Diagnosis was made clinically and was confirmed by cavernosography in all our patients. All patients underwent immediate surgical repair, within two days after trauma, using a degloving incision. The long term results of the immediate surgical repair were evaluated using questionnaire on outpatient department visiting or telephoning. Results: The median patient age was 43 years (range, 18 to 57 years). The median follow-up was 32 months (range, 14 to 60 months). Of these patients, 8 (66.7%) patients were injured during sexual intercourse, whereas 4 (33.3%) patients were injured during masturbation. All patients were treated by immediate surgery. All patients reported satisfactory, painless erectile function; two developed penile curvature and one had a penile nodule. Conclusions: Immediate surgical repair of penile fracture is effective, restores erectile function, and the incidence of complications is low. (Korean J Urol 2009;50:165-168) 󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏

Han Min Kim, Joon Myoung Park, Seung Wan Yang, Young Ho In, Min Gyun Kim, Won Jae Yang, Luck Hee Sung, Jae Yong Chung, Hyun-Jung Kim, Soo Hyun Kim From the Departments of Urology, Pathology and Diagnostic Radiology, Sanggye Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Department of Urology, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Epithelioid renal angiomyolipoma is a recently recognized pathologic variant of angiomyolipoma, which represents a more malignant course than a classical renal angiomyolipoma. We report a case of histologically proven renal angiomyolipoma. The patient presented with the symptoms and signs of spontaneous rupture of the kidney. On surgical exploration, the ruptured kidney with upper pole kidney mass was resected. The enlarged regional lymph nodes were also removed, which showed the same pathology. (Korean J Urol 2007;48:655-658) 󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏

Background This study aimed to analyze and describe the morbidity and mortality associated with tracheostomy in patients with oral cancer and to identify the risk factors associated with tracheostomy complications. Methods We performed a retrospective chart review of patients who underwent tracheostomy during a major oral cancer resection between March 2001 and January 2016 at the National Cancer Center, Korea. Overall, we included 51 patients who underwent tracheostomy after oral cancer surgery. We assessed the morbidity and mortality of tracheostomy and determined the risks associated with tracheostomy complications. Results Twenty-two tracheostomy-related complications occurred in 51 patients. The morbidity and mortality rates were 35.2 % (n = 18) and 0 % (n = 0), respectively. Tracheostomy-related complications were tracheitis (n = 4), obstructed tracheostomy (n = 9), displaced tracheostomy (n = 5), air leakage (n = 1), stomal dehiscence (n = 1), and decannulation failure (n = 2). Most complications (19/22) occurred during the early postoperative period. Considering the risk factors for tracheostomy complications, the type of tube used was associated with the occurrence of tracheitis (p

Background Noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) to detect fetal aneuploidy using next-generation sequencing on ion semiconductor platforms has become common. There are several sequencers that can generate sufficient DNA reads for NIPT. However, the approval criteria vary among platforms and countries. This can delay the introduction of such devices and systems to clinics. A comparison of the sensitivity and specificity of two different platforms using the same sequencing chemistry could be useful in NIPT for fetal chromosomal aneuploidies. This would improve healthcare authorities’ confidence in decision-making on sequencing-based tests. Methods One hundred and one pregnant women who were predicted at high risk of fetal defects using conventional prenatal screening tests, and who underwent definitive diagnosis by full karyotyping, were enrolled from three hospitals in Korea. Most of the pregnant women (69.79 %) received NIPT during weeks 11–13 of gestation and 30.21 % during weeks 14–18. We used Ion Torrent PGM and Proton semi-conductor-based sequencers with 0.3× sequencing coverage depth. The average total reads of 101 samples were approximately 4.5 and 7.6 M for PGM and Proton, respectively. A Burrows-Wheeler Aligner (BWA) algorithm was used for the alignment, and a z-score was used to decide fetal trisomy 21. Interactive dot diagrams from the sequencing data showed minimal z-score values of 2.07 and 2.10 to discriminate negative versus positive cases of fetal trisomy 21 for the two different sequencing systems. Results Our z-score-based discrimination method resulted in 100 % positive and negative prediction values for both ion semiconductor PGM and Proton sequencers, regardless of their sequencing chip and chemistry differences. Both platforms performed well at an early stage (11–13 weeks of gestation) compared with previous studies. Conclusions These results suggested that, using two different sequencers, NIPT to detect fetal trisomy 21 in early pregnancy is accurate and platform-independent. The data suggested that the amount of sequencing and the application of common, simple, and robust statistical analyses are more important than sequencing chemistry and platform types. This result has practical implications in countries where PGM is approved for NIPT but the Proton system is not.

Background Osteoradionecrosis is a delayed complication from radiation therapy which causes chronic pain, infection and constant deformity after necrosis. Most of the osteoradionecrosis occurs spontaneously or after the primary oncologic surgery, dental extraction or by trauma of prosthesis. The treatment of osteoradionecrosis relies on both conservative measures and surgical measures. The fibular osteocutaneous free flap has become more popular choice for reconstruction of maxillofacial defects as a treatment of osteoradionecrosis. Methods We presented our experiences from 7 patients with osteoradionecrosis who have had reconstruction surgery with fibular osteocutaneous free flap at National Cancer Center during the recent 5 years. We performed segmental mandibular resection with fibular osteocutaneous free flap for all 7 patients of advanced osteoradionecrosis who were not controlled by conservative treatment such as wound irrigation, debridement, and antibiotics. Results A wide range of techniques were available for the reconstruction of composite defects resulted from the treatment of advanced mandibular osteoradionecrosis. Significant improvement was noted in relieving pain and treating trismus after the surgery however difficulty in swallowing and xerostomia showed less improvement. Conclusions We concluded that fibular osteocutaneous free flap can be performed safely in patients with osteoradionecrosis and yields positive outcomes with significantly increased success rate. The fibular osteocutaneous free flap was our preferred choice for the mandibular reconstruction due to its versatility and predictability.