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Background Myofibroblasts are known to play a key role in the development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Two drugs, pirfenidone and nintedanib, are the only approved therapeutic options for IPF, but their applications are limited due to their side effects. Thus, curative IPF drugs represent a huge unmet medical need. Methods A mouse hepatic stellate cell (HSC) line was established that could robustly differentiate into myofibroblasts upon treatment with TGF-β. Eupatilin was assessed in diseased human lung fibroblasts from IPF patients (DHLFs) as well as in human lung epithelial cells (HLECs). The drug's performance was extensively tested in a bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis model (BLM). Global gene expression studies and proteome analysis were performed. Findings Eupatilin attenuated disease severity of BLM in both preventative and therapeutic studies. The drug inhibited the in vitro transdifferantiation of DHLFs to myofibroblasts upon stimulation with TGF-β. No such induction of the in vitro transdifferantiation was observed in TGF-β treated HLECs. Specific carbons of eupatilin were essential for its anti-fibrotic activity. Eupatilin was capable of dismantling latent TGF-β complex, specifically by eliminating expression of the latent TGF-β binding protein 1 (LTBP1), in ECM upon actin depolymerization. Unlike eupatilin, pirfenidone was unable to block fibrosis of DHLFs or HSCs stimulated with TGF-β. Eupatilin attenuated phosphorylation of Smad3 by TGF-β. Eupatilin induced myofibroblasts to dedifferentiate into intermediate HCS-like cells. Interpretation Eupatilin may act directly on pathogenic myofibroblasts, disarming them, whereas the anti-fibrotic effect of pirfenidone may be indirect. Eupatilin could increase the efficacy of IPF treatment to curative levels.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography in the detection of mild pneumothorax using computed tomography (CT) in dogs. Nine adult healthy beagles were included in the study. A thoracic tube was inserted into pleural space at the left thoracic wall, and each dog underwent the examinations in the order of CT, lung ultrasonography, and radiography before the infusion of room air into the pleural space. Two, 3, and 5 mL/kg infusions of room air were sequentially introduced into the pleural space and CT, lung ultrasound, and radiography examinations were performed. Sonographic signs included A-lines, stratosphere, lung sliding, lung point, lung pulse, and reverse sliding signs. Radiographs were evaluated for the absence or presence of a pneumothorax. Lung ultrasound results were more accurate than radiography results for the detection of mild pneumothorax. The overall sensitivity of the sonographic reverse sliding sign was higher than that of other sonographic signs, and its specificity was 100% for detection of mild pneumothorax. Thus, the reverse sliding sign is useful when using lung ultrasonography for diagnosis of mild pneumothorax.

This study was carried out to derive and evaluate reference computed tomography (CT)-based indices for normal canine spine. CT and magnetic resonance images were acquired from 12 clinically normal Beagle dogs (normal group) and 50 dogs with 56 spinal disorders (patient group). Image acquisition regions were cervical spine (C2-T1), thoracic spine (T1-T13), and lumbar spine (L1-L7). Measured indices were: the ratios of width to height of the spinal cord including the dura matter (CR) and of the vertebral foramen (FR), and the ratio of the cross-sectional area of the spinal cord to that of the vertebral foramen (CFAR). Reliability analysis was performed to evaluate intermodality agreement. Student's t-tests and receiver operating characteristic curves were used to discriminate the normal and patient groups on CT. Intermodality agreements of the normal and patient groups were acceptable to excellent. The highest discriminating levels of CR at the vertebral body level and the intervertebral disc space level were 1.25 or more and 1.44 or more, respectively. FR and CFAR had the highest discriminating level at the cervical region. This report presents quantitative information on canine spinal morphometry; the obtained indices may be helpful for CT screening of dogs with spinal disorders.

Capacity mapping for health promotion in Peru is said to have been done in 2001 and 2010 by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization through a regional exercise, but n...

A 1-year-old castrated male Schnauzer dog was presented with heart murmur. Auscultation revealed systolic murmur located at the left heart base (grade 5/6). There were no remarkable findings on thoracic radiographs. Two-dimensional echocardiography revealed subaortic tunnel-like obstruction at the entrance to the left ventricular outflow tract. Anterior mitral valve leaflet appeared to be tethered to septum with minimal motion. Chordae tendineae was abnormally thickened. Color Doppler analysis revealed turbulent flow starting below the aortic valve. Mitral regurgitation was presented during systole. Spectral Doppler recordings revealed high velocity flow through the aorta and mitral regurgitation. Based on echocardiographic examination, the dog was diagnosed with subaortic stenosis concurrent with mitral dysplasia. The patient was medicated with β-blocker and diuretics. It has been doing well without apparent clinical signs at 2 year after the diagnosis.

This study evaluated the feasibility of using texture analysis and machine learning to distinguish radiographic lung patterns. A total of 1200 regions of interest (ROIs) including four specific lung patterns (normal, alveolar, bronchial, and unstructured interstitial) were obtained from 512 thoracic radiographs of 252 dogs and 65 cats. Forty-four texture parameters based on eight methods of texture analysis (first-order statistics, spatial gray-level-dependence matrices, gray-level-difference statistics, gray-level run length image statistics, neighborhood gray-tone difference matrices, fractal dimension texture analysis, Fourier power spectrum, and Law's texture energy measures) were used to extract textural features from the ROIs. The texture parameters of each lung pattern were compared and used for training and testing of artificial neural networks. Classification performance was evaluated by calculating accuracy and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Forty texture parameters showed significant differences between the lung patterns. The accuracy of lung pattern classification was 99.1% in the training dataset and 91.9% in the testing dataset. The AUCs were above 0.98 in the training set and above 0.92 in the testing dataset. Texture analysis and machine learning algorithms may potentially facilitate the evaluation of medical images.

Polycaprolactone (PCL) is a biodegradable polyester that is bioresorbable and biocompatible, and is widely used in medical fields. This study examines in vitro and in vivo osteogenic activities of cultured human periosteum-derived osteoblasts (POs) seeded into growth factor (bone morphogenic protein 2 [BMP-2] or vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF])-releasing scaffolds of PCL beads coated with Pluronic F127. Each growth factor immobilized in the PCL/F127 is cumulatively released from the beads for more than 40 days (up to 3.04 ± 0.08 ng mg-1 BMP-2 and 3.41 ± 0.18 ng mg-1 VEGF in 42 days). Long-term (∼2 years) experimental results obtained in a miniature pig model suggest that POs seeded into BMP-2 + VEGF-releasing PCL/P-F127 beads are the most effective for bone repair. In in vitro assays, osteogenic activities were higher in POs seeded into BMP-2-releasing PCL/Pluronic F127 beads at earlier time points and in POs seeded into BMP-2 + VEGF-releasing PCL/Pluronic F127 beads at later time points. These results suggest that the combination of BMP-2 and VEGF more sufficiently stimulates (in particular at late time points) osteoblast differentiation of POs seeded in the PCL/F127 in vitro and in vivo, and thus allows effective bone regeneration. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 363-376, 2017.

Background The Japanese and Korean healthcare systems are very similar and thus, they have the same problems and weaknesses. This study discusses the problems and proposes complementary solutions based on the results of a comparative analysis of conditions in the healthcare systems of the two countries. Methods This article presents a comparative analysis of the healthcare status of the two countries based on certain health criteria used worldwide, a literature review, and data from the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, World Health Organization (WHO), World Bank, and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Results The scores of the healthcare systems were calculated for quantitative comparison. The performance of the Japanese health system was the best, followed by the Korean health system. Both countries observed an increased life expectancy and decreased infant and under-five mortality rates during the last 14 years. However, lower fertility rates were found, which could lead to a decreased working population and a subsequent increase in the economic burden of governments and households. A higher alcohol consumption rate was found in Korea, which was related to the establishment of interpersonal relationships. Conclusion The reform of the healthcare systems in Korea and Japan led to an increased life expectancy; concurrently, reduced fertility rates led to an increasing aging population. As a result, increasing health costs require additional measures to improve health equity and strengthen health promotion.

To the Editor, Secondary amyloidosis is an important complication of several chronic inflammatory conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), and ankylosing spondylitis [1]. It has been demonstrated biochemically that amyloidosis results from abnormal binding of proteins, which are deposited as insoluble fibrils in tissue, leading to disruption of their normal function. An underlying disease of long duration and high activity is the most important factor associated with development of secondary amyloidosis [1]. Treatment of secondary amyloidosis involves suppression of the underlying inflammatory condition. Cytotoxic agents such as cyclophosphamide, chlorambucil, and azathioprine have been shown to have activity against secondary amyloidosis. Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) inhibitor is reportedly effective in controlling the progression of renal amyloids in patients with RA and JIA [2]. Recent biochemical research revealed that synthesis of serum amyloid A (SAA) is controlled by proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 6 (IL-6), TNF-α, and IL-1. Control of SAA synthesis could be beneficial to the treatment of amyloidosis, and anti-cytokine therapies are effective in this regard. In particular, inhibition of IL-6 is critical to suppression of SAA production [3]. Recently, the use of biologic agents instead of cytotoxic agents has increased due to their enhanced tolerability and effectiveness [3]. In this paper, we report the use of cyclophosphamide therapy for secondary amyloidosis in a patient with JIA unresponsive to TNF-α inhibitor therapy. A 32-year-old woman was hospitalized for generalized edema and chronic diarrhea. At 12 years of age, she had been diagnosed, based on the International League of Associations for Rheumatology classification criteria, with JIA of the polyarticular, rheumatoid factor-negative type. She had been treated with several disease-modifying RA drugs, including the TNF-α inhibitor adalimumab, 6 months prior. These failed to achieve complete suppression of disease activity. She presented with clinical symptoms of gradually increasing generalized edema and continuous diarrhea of several weeks’ duration. Her medical history was negative for hypertension and renal disease other than JIA. She did not smoke or drink alcohol. Upon physical examination, the patient was normotensive with a regular pulse rate, her lung sounds were clear, her heart sounds were regular, and her abdomen was soft; however, her bowel sounds were mildly increased. She had grade 3 pitting edema on a pretibial lesion. Neurologic examination was normal, and an electrocardiogram showed a normal sinus rhythm. Laboratory test results revealed the following: proteinuria (+++), blood (trace), erythrocytes in the urine (1 to 4/high power field), and a 24-hour quantitative protein level of 3,782 mg/day. Her serum creatinine level was elevated to 2.70 mg/dL, and her fractional excretion of sodium was 2.34. Her hemoglobin level was 11.5 g/dL, hematocrit concentration was 37.8%, white blood cell count was 9,590/mm3 (neutrophils, 79.6%), platelet count was 537,000/mm3, sodium level was 138 mEq/L, potassium level was 4.0 mEq/L, total protein level was 5.2 mg/dL, albumin level was 1.7 mg/dL, and procalcitonin level was 0.264 ng/mL (reference range, 0 to 0.5). No white blood cells were evident upon microscopic examination of the patient’s stool. The results of other tests were as follows: antinuclear antibody (−), rheumatoid factor 10.4 IU/mL (reference range, 0 to 15), anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (−), free kappa light chain 67 mg/L, free lambda light chain 229 mg/dL, hepatitis B surface antigen (−), hepatitis B surface antibody (+), anti-hepatitis C virus antibody (−), and human immunodeficiency virus test (−). The patient had nephritic-range proteinuria and an elevated serum creatinine; therefore, she underwent a renal biopsy. Light microscopy showed homogenous amorphous material in the glomerular mesangium and interstitium. Congo red staining was positive with birefringence in the arteries, arterioles, interstitial areas, and mesangium of the glomeruli (Fig. 1). Duodenal endoscopy and colonoscopy were performed to identify involvement of other organs. Amorphous material was seen in the mucosa and submucosa of the duodenum and in the muscular layer of the wall of the rectum (Fig. 2). Neither cardiac wall thickness nor a granular sparkling appearance was identified by echocardiogram. Figure 1. Pathologic findings of renal biopsy. Deposition of amyloid in glomerular mesangium and interstitium (arrows) (A, HE B, Congo Red staining, ×400). Figure 2. Pathologic findings of endoscopic biopsy. (A) Deposition of amyloid in mucosa and submucosa of duodenum and (B) in muscular layer of rectum (arrows; H&E, ×40). Based on the results of renal, duodenal, and rectal biopsies, we diagnosed secondary systemic amyloidosis as a result of long-standing JIA. Due to the resistance to previous TNF-α inhibitor therapy and elevation of the serum creatinine level, treatment with cyclophosphamide and a glucocorticoid was started. Cyclophosphamide pulse therapy at a dose of 500 mg/m2 was administered intravenously at 1-month intervals for a 6-month period. After 6 months of treatment, the serum creatinine had normalized, proteinuria had been reduced (1,119 mg/day), the C-reactive protein level was 0.1 mg/dL, and the edema had disappeared. Additionally, the patient’s disease activity was improved after 6 months of cyclophosphamide treatment. Based on the European League Against Rheumatism response criteria, the patient showed a good response range. Her laboratory findings on admission and at the 6-month follow-up from the nephrology clinic are presented in Table 1. At the time of this writing, the patient was undergoing treatment with an oral steroid at 30 mg/day and hydroxychloroquine at 400 mg/day. Table 1. Laboratory findings from baseline to 6 months after cyclophosphamide plus glucocorticoid treatment in secondary amyloidosis patient Secondary systemic amyloidosis is a serious complication of chronic inflammatory disease and results in the deposition of amyloid fibrils in various organs [4]. These fibrils are derived from circulating acute-phase reactant SAA protein. Currently, the most common cause of amyloidosis is inflammatory arthritis; e.g., RA and JIA. It is estimated that 5% of adults with RA will develop secondary amyloidosis. The main feature of amyloidosis at diagnosis is renal dysfunction, and the most common finding is proteinuria, which is not necessarily present at disease onset. Traditional management of secondary amyloid has been to target the disease underlying the inflammation [4]. Several case studies have shown benefits with the use of methotrexate and azathioprine or prednisolone in patients with rheumatoid-associated amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis, but the response is often slow. Cytotoxic agents, such as chlorambucil and cyclophosphamide, have been shown to be beneficial in clinical trials, but these drugs are associated with myelotoxicity, leukemia, and sterility. Moreover, several trials have reported that the TNF-α inhibitor etanercept is more effective than cyclophosphamide [3]. In recent years, the use of biologics with activities against proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-1, and IL-6 for diseases such as RA, psoriatic arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis has increased. This class of drugs has become more clinically available. TNF-α may be involved in the deposition of amyloid and the development of nephrotic syndrome. TNF-α stimulates hepatocytes to produce SAA and has also been shown to have a direct inflammatory effect on the glomerular basement membrane. Elevated levels of SAA in RA are known to predispose to amyloidosis. Anti-TNF-α therapy suppresses SAA, and maintaining an SAA level of < 10 mg/L is associated with potential recovery of amyloidotic organs in AA amyloidosis. IL-6 blockade using the humanized anti-IL-6 receptor antibody tocilizumab may be more effective than TNF blockade in terms of normalizing SAA levels in patients with rheumatic disease, suggesting it to be a more effective strategy for treating AA amyloidosis in these disorders [5]. Our patient exhibited marked resistance to treatment with a steroid and TNF-α inhibitor, and she had nephrotic-range proteinuria and reduced renal function. We administered cyclophosphamide plus a glucocorticoid instead of other biologic agents and achieved a good outcome. Use of biological modifiers represents an important therapeutic strategy for secondary amyloidosis, but cases unresponsive to TNF-α treatment are frequently reported. In such cases, cyclophosphamide should be considered as a second-line therapy.

A 16-month-old intact female Maltese dog was referred for examination of depression and vomiting. Ultrasonography revealed dilated right renal pelvis containing echogenic fluid with free gas. A hyperechoic material suspected of urolith was identified in the right ureter. Computed tomography revealed emphysematous change of the right kidney associated with ureteral obstruction and extrahepatic portosystemic shunt (EHPSS). Ureteronephrectomy and surgical correction were performed for the EHPSS. Escherichia coli was isolated from pus from the right kidney. Quantitative analysis revealed that the urolith was an ammonium urate stone. After 5 months follow-up, no complication was observed. This is the first report of emphysematous pyonephrosis associated with EHPSS in a dog.

We synthesized a boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY)/Nile Red hybrid probe capable of selectively recognizing fluidity changes in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane due to its preferential localization to the ER and strong energy transfer from BODIPY to the Nile Red moiety, emitting only in nonaqueous environments. ER membrane fluidity in HepG2 cells was markedly reduced by a cell model of metabolic syndrome.

Radiation characteristics of a probe-fed rectangular microstrip patch antenna printed on a finite grounded high permittivity substrate are investigated systematically for various square grounded dielectric substrate sizes with several thicknesses and dielectric constants by experiment and full wave simulation. The effect of the substrate size on the radiation characteristics of a rectangular patch antenna is mainly determined by the effective dielectric constant of surface waves on a grounded dielectric substrate. As the effective dielectric constant of surface waves increases, the substrate sizes for the maximum broadside gain and the required onset for a large magnitude of squint angle decrease, while the variations of the broadside gain, the front-to-back ratio, and the magnitude of squint angle versus the substrate size increase due to the increase of the power of the surface wave.

Mutual coupling between antenna elements of a linear microstrip patch antenna array positioned along the H-plane including the effect of edge reflections is investigated. Simple formulas are presented for the estimation of the grounded dielectric substrate size with minimum mutual coupling. The substrate sizes calculated by these formulas are in good agreement with those obtained by the full-wave simulation and experimental measurement. The substrate size with minimum mutual coupling is a function of the effective dielectric constant for surface waves and the distance between the antenna centers. The substrate size with minimum mutual coupling decreases as the effective dielectric constant for surface waves on a finite grounded dielectric substrate increases.

This study evaluated the feasibility of bag-of-features (BOF) and convolutional neural networks (CNN) for computer-aided detection in distinguishing normal from abnormal radiographic findings. Computed thoracic radiographs of dogs were collected. For the purposes of this study, radiographic findings were used to distinguish between normal and abnormal in the following areas: (1) normal cardiac silhouette vs. cardiomegaly, (2) normal lung vs. abnormal lung patterns, (3) normal mediastinal position vs. mediastinal shift, (4) normal pleural space vs. pleural effusion, and (5) normal pleural space vs. pneumothorax. Images for training and testing the models consisted of ventrodorsal and lateral projection images of the same scale. The number of images used for each finding are as follow: 3142 for cardiomegaly (1571 normal and 1571 abnormal from 1143 dogs), 2086 for lung pattern (1043 normal and 1043 abnormal from 1247 dogs), 892 for mediastinal shift (446 normal and 446 abnormal from 387 dogs), 940 for pleural effusion (470 normal and 470 abnormal from 284 dogs), and 78 for pneumothorax (39 normal and 39 abnormal from 61 dogs). All data samples were divided so that 60% would be used for training the algorithms and 40% for testing the two models. The performance of the classifiers was evaluated by calculating the accuracy, sensitivity and specificity. The accuracy of both models ranged from 79.6% to 96.9% in the testing set. CNN showed higher accuracy (CNN; 92.9-96.9% and BOF; 79.6-96.9%) and sensitivity (CNN; 92.1-100% and BOF; 74.1-94.8%) than BOF. In conclusion, both BOF and CNN have potential to be useful for improving work efficiency by double reading.

A 3-year-old intact mixed hunting dog was referred to Gyeongsang Animal Medical Center with the clinical signs of vomiting, dyspnea, anorexia. The dogs had traumatic history that wounded at abdominal wall during the wild boar hunting 2 week ago. The dogs was diagnosed as extrahepatic biliary tract obstruction (EHBO) secondary to traumatic hernia. Diagnosis was based on radiographic features of a diaphragmatic hernia on survey radiography, dilated bile duct in abdominal ultrasonography and complete recovery due to the return of displaced organs into the peritoneal cavity and repair of the diaphragmatic rent. Diagnostic imaging and surgical intervention may result in a favorable outcome in dog with post hepatic obstruction secondary to diaphragmatic hernia. This case emphasizes the strangulation of bile duct by diaphragmatic rupture could be the cause of EHBO.

This study evaluated the effects of a gamma ray (GR), electron beam (EB), and X-ray (XR) to improve the safety of black pepper powder. The black pepper powder was irradiated by GR, EB, and XR at 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 kGy. The results of the total bacterial populations in the black pepper power sample showed a similar effect on microbial decontamination for radiation sources. Radiation sensitivity (D10 value) on the initial bacteria loads in the sample was 2.24 kGy in GR, 2.37 kGy in EB, and 2.75 kGy in XR. In addition, there were no differences among the radiation sources. The color values, such as L (lightness), a (redness), and b (yellowness), were not changed significantly. The sensory characteristics of GR, EB, and XR irradiated black pepper powder were decreased when the radiation dose increased, but there was no significant changes among the radiation sources. The results can be applied to investigate the effects of radiation sources on the microbiological and sensory characteristics of black pepper powder.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the change of volatile compounds in Dakgalbi cooked by charcoal broiling. Fresh deboned and marinated chicken meat was cooked by electric-pan frying or charcoal broiling and subsequently irradiated with a dose of 0, 10 and 20 kGy. Volatile components from Dakgalbi were analyzed using solid phase micro-extraction gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (SPME GC-MS) and identified through the comparison of mass spectrum database. SPME GC-MS analysis shows that a total of 32 volatiles were identified. Among them, aldehydes such as hexanal and octanal, which have relevance to off-flavors such as green, paint, metallic, bean and rancid were detected in Dakgalbi cooked by both methods. However, the contents were less detected in the Dakgalbi cooked by charcoal broiling than in the Dakgalbi cooked by electric-pan frying. Gamma-irradiation caused the change in the formation of these aldehydes in cooked Dakgalbi. The irradiation significantly increased the contents of hexanal and octanal in Dakgalbi cooked by electric-pan frying and a similar increase was found in Dakgalbi cooked by charcoal broiling. However, the contents of the off-flavors were much less in the latter. The results suggest that charcoal broiling might be more effective than electric-pan frying for the reduction of the contents of off-flavor such as hexanal and octanal increased in Dakgalbi by gamma-irradiation.

We propose the mirror active element pattern (AEP) method for the radiation pattern computation of linear array antennas versus scan angles. The computation time for the radiation pattern of linear array antennas using the mirror AEP method is reduced by almost half compared to that using the AEP method because the number of AEPs of elements obtained by the full-wave simulation necessary for the radiation pattern computation of linear array antennas is reduced by almost half. The difference between the radiation patterns of linear array antennas obtained by the full-wave simulation and mirror AEP method is very small for wide scan angle range when the radiation pattern of an antenna element is symmetric.

The effect of the finite substrate size on the radiation characteristics of H-plane linear microstrip array antennas is investigated. The radiation characteristics versus scan angle are systematically analyzed for 5-element H-plane linear array antennas with various substrate sizes and element spacings for the substrates with different dielectric constants. The distance between the antenna center and the substrate edge on the E-plane for the enhancement of the radiation characteristics of the array antenna is presented.

Polycaprolactone (PCL) is a biodegradable polyester that is bioresorbable and biocompatible, and is widely used in medical fields. This study examines in vitro and in vivo osteogenic activities of cultured human periosteum-derived osteoblasts (POs) seeded into growth factor (bone morphogenic protein 2 [BMP-2] or vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF])-releasing scaffolds of PCL beads coated with Pluronic F127. Each growth factor immobilized in the PCL/F127 is cumulatively released from the beads for more than 40 days (up to 3.04 ± 0.08 ng mg

It is commonly accepted that the sustained release of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) can enhance bone regeneration and minimize its safety issues. However, little is known regarding the appropriate duration of BMP-2 stimulation for sufficient osteogenic differentiation and new bone formation because of the short half-life of BMP-2 in the physiological environment and the lack of a well-defined delivery matrix that can regulate the release period of BMP-2. In this study, we prepared porous poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) beads with different surface pore sizes that can regulate the release period of BMP-2 (i.e., 7, 17, and 30 days) while providing the BMP-2 concentration required for bone regeneration. Our findings in both in vitro cell culture and in vivo animal studies using these BMP-2-loaded beads demonstrate that release of BMP-2 within 7 days affects only the initial differentiation of human periosteum-derived cells (hPDCs) and does not significantly enhance their subsequent differentiation into mature functional cells. However, extending the duration of BMP-2 stimulation over 17 days can provide a suitable environment for osteogenic differentiation of hPDCs and new bone formation.

An inductive loaded microstrip patch antenna using aperture coupled feeding is designed and an impedance bandwidth enhancement method using a shunt stub is investigated. The -10 dB impedance bandwidth of the AIMPA with a shunt stub is increased up to about 5.51 %. The impedance bandwidth of the corresponding AIMPA without a shunt stub is 2.4 %. The increase of the impedance bandwidth of the AIMPA with a shunt stub is about 129.6 % compared to that of the corresponding AIMPA without a shunt stub.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of gamma irradiation on the total bacterial population and the sensory quality of Dakgalbi irradiated before and after cooking. Fresh chicken meat was cut into small pieces and used to prepare Dakgalbi. For the preparation of Dakgalbi cooked with gamma-irradiated chicken meat and sauce (IBC), raw chicken meat and Dakgalbi sauce were irradiated and then stir-fried. For the preparation of Dakgalbi irradiated after cooking with raw chicken meat and sauce (IAC), raw chicken meat and Dakgalbi sauce were first cooked and subsequently irradiated. Under the accelerated storage condition of 35 °C for 7 days, bacteria in IBC were below the detection limit (1 log CFU/g) on day 1 but were detected on day 2 and gradually increased hereafter. In IAC, on the other hand, bacteria were not detected at all. Evaluation of sensory quality also decreased on both samples. However, IAC showed a better trend. Our results indicate that IAC protocol was a more effective method for reducing bacterial growth in Dakgalbi.

Mutual coupling of a two-element linear microstrip patch antenna array positioned along the E-plane including the effect of edge reflections is investigated by the experiment and full-wave simulation. The optimum substrate sizes calculated by the simple formulas using geometrical optics are in good agreement with those obtained by the experiment and full-wave simulation. Experimental results show that the effect of edge reflections on the mutual coupling of microstrip patch antennas is mainly determined by the effective dielectric constant for surface waves on a grounded dielectric substrate.

Radiation characteristics of an inductive loaded patch phased array antenna (PAA) are compared to those of a conventional patch PAA. The performance of an inductive loaded patch PAA is significantly improved compared to that of a conventional patch PAA because the mutual coupling between the adjacent inductive loaded patch antennas is very small compared to that between the adjacent conventional patch antennas. The radiation characteristics of an inductive loaded patch PAA show superior performance such as low variations of the main beam gain and sidelobe level over the variation of the main beam direction.

The purpose of this study was to verify the reliability of photostimulated luminescence (PSL) and thermoluminescence (TL) methods for identifying irradiated foods, described in the European standards EN 13751:2002 and EN 1788:2001, respectively, which were established solely through interlaboratory studies on gamma-irradiated food. Red pepper powder samples irradiated with electron-beams (e-beams), gamma rays and high-energy X-rays were used as model foods. Samples irradiated with each radiation type at ⩾4 kGy could be correctly identified by the PSL method, whereas samples irradiated at ⩾0.5 kGy with each radiation type could be correctly recognized by the TL method when e-beams, gamma rays, or high-energy X-rays were used as normalization sources. However, different TL intensities were observed for minerals separated from red pepper powder for different irradiation sources, which was confirmed using pure quartz and K-feldspar minerals. Further interlaboratory studies are required to verify this phenomenon.

BACKGROUND Adolescent obesity and hypertension are global public health issues. The burden of adolescent obesity and hypertension in Peru is unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of obesity and hypertension and their relationship among school-attending adolescents and to assess the need for health-promoting school programs in the study area. METHODS A cross-sectional school-based survey was conducted in a randomly selected sample of 952 secondary school adolescents from 11 schools in Lima or Callao, Peru, in 2014. Weight, height, and blood pressure (BP) were measured and categorized. Obesity was defined as ≥ 95(th) percentile in body mass index (BMI) for age and sex. Hypertension was defined as average systolic blood pressure and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥95(th) percentile in BP for sex, age, and height. Chi-square test and univariate logistic regressions were used at a 5% significance level to determine the relationship between BMI and BP category. RESULTS The mean age of subjects was 14.6 years; 46.4% were boys and 53.6% were girls. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 20.2% and 9.5% overall, 17.4% and 11.1% for boys, and 22.5% and 8.0% for girls, respectively. The prevalence of hypertension was 26.7% overall, 34.8% for boys, and 19.6% for girls. In both sexes, BMI was strongly associated with BP (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION The prevalence of obesity and hypertension observed in the study area is relatively high. Overweight and obesity are strongly associated with BP status among adolescents. Health-promoting school programs may reduce the burdens of obesity and hypertension among school-going adolescents.