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Absorbable wedge-shaped polydioxanone (PDO) sutures are currently available for facial rejuvenation, and they are extremely popular in the aesthetic clinics in Korea. Other than face lifting, threads also can be used for nonsurgical rhinoplasty. The Asian nose is typified by a flat nasal bridge, indistinct nasal dorsum, underprojected and broad nasal tip, and a short columella. In the past, Asian rhinoplasty mainly focused on dorsal augmentation. At present, augmentation of the nasal tip is very popular and is considered an important aspect of achieving a natural and balanced nose.To describe a novel technique with PDO threads in nonsurgical rhinoplasty. In addition, the authors aimed to assess the overall safety and efficacy of nonsurgical rhinoplasty combining both fillers and threads.A retrospective analysis was performed on Korean patients who received rhinoplasty with PDO threads and fillers. All participants underwent a single treatment session. The results were assessed objectively by 2 independent dermatologists using serial photography and subjectively based on the patients' satisfaction scores at 6-month follow-up.A total of 31 patients were evaluated, and 93.5% considered the results satisfactory. Consensus ratings at the 6-month follow-up were largely categorized as very much improved (38.7%), much improved (35.5%), and improved (25.8%). An average increase of 6.3° (percentage increase by 7.6) in the nasolabial angle (p.05) was measured at follow-up. The incidence of the complications was low, and the ones reported were minor.Nonsurgical rhinoplasty combining PDO threads and fillers can be safe and effective, maintaining good results at 6 months after the procedure. Threads are especially useful for lifting-up the nasal tip, contributing to a more harmonious and pleasing nasal appearance by modifying the columella-labial angle.

The GBAR (Gravitational Behaviour of Antihydrogen at Rest) experiment at CERN has been proposed to measure the gravitational acceleration of the ultracold antihydrogen atoms. This experiment produces antihydrogen ions through interactions between antiprotons and positronium atoms. Then, antihydrogen atoms are produced for the free-fall experiment after the photo-detachment of an excess positron from the cold antihydrogen ions. The energy of the antiproton beam before the positronium target chamber will be in the range of 1–10 keV. The cross-section for the reaction between the antiprotons and positroniums depends mainly on the energy of the antiprotons. Hence, to maximize the productivity of antihydrogen ions, a sufficient number of antiprotons should be provided with well-controlled energy. In this regard, an antiproton trap is considered to accumulate and slow down antiproton beams, and cool them utilizing the electron cooling technique. This trap is designed based on the Penning-Malmberg trap, which consists of a superconducting solenoid magnet and a series of ring electrodes including high-voltage electrodes to trap antiprotons. In addition, a set of extraction electrodes and optics for beam transport are used. Each electrode has been designed and optimized using the WARP PIC simulations. In this study, the design and simulation results of each trap component are presented.

For modern high-intensity linear accelerators , the well-known envelope instability and recently reported fourth-order particle resonance impose a fundamental operational limit (i.e., zero-current phase advance should be less than 90 ° ). Motivated by the stability of spinning flying objects, we propose a novel approach of using spinning beams to surpass this limit. We discovered that spinning beams have an intrinsic characteristic that can suppress the impact of the fourth-order resonance on emittance growth and the associated envelope instability.

Malignant gliomas are the most common primary brain tumor in adults. A number of genes have been impli- cated in glioblastoma including mutation and deletion of PTEN. PTEN is a regulator of PI3K-mediated Akt signaling pathways and has been recognized as a therapeutic target in glioblastoma. To achieve potent therapeutic inhibition of the PI3K-Akt pathway in glioblastoma, it is essential to under- stand the interplay between the regulators of its activation. Here, ectopic expression of PTEN in the U-87MG human glioblastoma-astrocytoma cell line is shown to result in the depletion of glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs) and to cause growth retardation and senescence. These effects are likely to be associated with PTEN-mediated cooperative perturba- tion of Akt and Stat3 signals. Using an in vivo rat model of glioblastoma, we showed that PTEN-overexpressing U-87MG cells failed to induce tumor formation, while untreated U-87MG cells did so. Furthermore, cells expressing the phos- phorylated form of Stat3 were completely absent from the brain of rats implanted with PTEN-overexpressing U-87MG cells. Based on these results, PTEN appears to function as a crucial inhibitor of GSCs and as an inducer of senescence, suggesting that functional enhancement of the PTEN pathway will be useful to provide a therapeutic strategy for targeting glioblastoma.

We investigated the prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms in elementary school children in Jeju Island, Korea. The study participants were 2305 children enrolled in elementary schools in Jeju-si, Seogwipo-si, Namjeju-gun, and Bukjeju-gun and their parents who completed questionnaires about sociodemographics, health habits, family relationship information, and the Korean form of the Kovac's children's depression inventory (CDI) in September to December 2005. Multiple logistic regression showed that higher age (OR = 1.259, 95% CI 1.098-1.445), short time spent developing a relationship with the mother (OR = 2.770, 95% CI 1.280-5.944), and a low level of body image satisfaction (OR = 3.397, 95% CI 1.823-6.330) were correlates of depressive symptoms in children. Our results suggest that the following are essential to prevent depressive symptoms in elementary school children in Jeju, Korea: advanced education and social activity programs at home, in school, and in the community to help children have a positive self-image, and much time spent building a relationship with the mother.

Ell3 is a testis-specific RNA polymerase II elongation factor whose cellular function is not clear. The present study shows that Ell3 is activated during the differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). Furthermore, Ell3 plays a critical role in stimulating lineage differentiation of mESCs by promoting epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and suppressing apoptosis. Mouse ESCs engineered to stably express Ell3 were rapidly differentiated compared with control cells either under spontaneous differentiation or neural lineage-specific differentiation conditions. Gene expression profile and quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that the expression of EMT markers, such as Zeb1 and Zeb2, two major genes that regulate EMT, was upregulated in Ell3-overexpressing mESCs. Remarkably, knockdown of Zeb1 attenuated the enhanced differentiation capacity of Ell3-overexpressing mESCs, which indicates that Ell3 plays a role in the induction of mESC differentiation by inducing EMT. In contrast to Ell3-overexpressing mESCs, Ell3-knock down mESCs could not differentiate under differentiation conditions and, instead, underwent caspase-dependent apoptosis. In addition, apoptosis of differentiating Ell3-knock out mESCs was associated with enhanced expression of p53. The present results suggest that Ell3 promotes the differentiation of mESCs by activating the expression of EMT-related genes and by suppressing p53 expression.

Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling is implicated in the control of pluripotency and lineage differentiation of both human and mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). FGF4 dependent stimulation of ERK1/2 signaling triggers transition of pluripotent ESCs from self-renewal and lineage commitment. In this study, Sprouty 1 (Spry1) expression was observed in undifferentiated mESCs, where it modulated ERK1/2 activity. Spry1 was confirmed as dispensable for the maintenance of self-renewal. However, suppression of Spry1 expression and subsequent activation of ERK1/2 signaling promoted neural differentiation and inhibited endothelial differentiation of mESCs. Moreover, evidence is presented which indicates that SHP2, a major determinant of balance between mESC self-renewal and differentiation, directly regulates Spry1 activity to modulate ERK1/2 signaling and lineage-specific differentiation in mESCs. Our results show that Spry1 has an essential role in the lineage specific differentiation of mESCs.

Histologically, nodular fasciitis is observed as similar to sarcoma in soft tissues, and it is referred to as pseudosarcomatous fasciitis. Its histologic findings can be summarized as spindle-shaped fibroblasts, intercellular space between fibroblasts, red blood cells released to the extravascular area, and deposition of mucus within the interstitium. The lesion looks similar to sarcoma histologically and shows the characteristic of rapid growth, which in result is readily misdiagnosed as malignancy. It occurs preferentially in the upper extremities, whereas rarely occurring in the head and neck region. When we encounter subcutaneous nodules of the head and neck region, it is important to keep nodular fasciitis in mind as a differential diagnosis to avoid unnecessary wide resection. In this article, we report a rare case of nodular fasciitis on the forehead and some reviews of the literature.