In tetraplegia patients, activities of daily living are highly dependent on the remaining upper limb functions. In other countries, upper limb reconstruction surgery to improve function has been ...applied to diverse cases, but few cases have been reported in Korea. The current authors experienced a case of posterior deltoid-to-triceps tendon transfer and rehabilitation in a complete spinal cord injury with a C6 neurologic level, and we introduce the case-a 36-year-old man-with a literature review. The patient's muscle strength in C5 C6 muscles were normal, but C7 muscles were trace, and the Spinal Cord Independence Measure III (SCIM III) score was 24. The tendon of the posterior deltoid was transferred to the triceps brachii muscle, and then the patient received comprehensive rehabilitative treatment. His C7 muscle strength in the right upper extremity was enhanced from trace to fair, and his SCIM III score improved to 29.
A monobasic and a dibasic phosphate salt are usually added to water to form a standard phosphate buffer solution. The solution pH depends primarily on the concentration ratio
R of the two salts, and ...secondarily on their concentrations and on the concentrations of the supporting electrolytes such as NaCl or KCl. Various ideal and non-ideal solution thermodynamic models are presented. The ideal solution model predicts that the pH should depend only on
R, and underestimates the pH at physiological osmolarities by 0.3–0.5 pH units at both 298
K and 310
K, depending on the phosphate, NaCl, and KCl concentrations. Model predictions using the non-ideal extended Debye–Hückel (D–H) equation agree with the data up to ca. ±0.1 pH units at 298
K and 310
K. The pH predictions for the standard isotonic phosphate buffer saline, containing 2
mM of monobasic and 8
M of dibasic sodium phosphate, 137
mM of NaCl, and 2.7
mM of KCl agree well with the data. When CaCl
2 is added, up to 3
mM, a phosphate salt often precipitates, affecting the free Ca
2+ ion concentration, the phosphate ion concentrations, and the pH. The conditions for the formation at equilibrium of hydroxyapatite (Ca
5(PO
4)
3(OH)), or dicalcium phosphate dehydrate (CaHPO
4·2H
2O), or tricalcium phosphate (Ca
3(PO
4)
2), are predicted. The results are important in determining and predicting electrolyte concentrations for achieving desirable pH values while avoiding precipitation for various biological or biomedical applications.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
We report a rare case of traumatic abdominal wall hernia (TAWH) caused by a traffic accident. A 47-year-old woman presented to the emergency room soon after a traffic accident. She complained of ...diffuse, dull abdominal pain and mild nausea. She had no history of prior abdominal surgery or hernia. We found a bulging mass on her right abdomen. Plain abdominal films demonstrated a protrusion of hollow viscus beyond the right paracolic fat plane. Computed tomography (CT) showed intestinal herniation through an abdominal wall defect into the subcutaneous space. She underwent an exploratory surgery, followed by a layer-by-layer interrupted closure of the wall defect using absorbable monofilament sutures without mesh and with no tension, despite the large size of the defect. Her postoperative course was uneventful.
Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and MoS 2 , the most representative two-dimensional (2D) materials, are receiving significant attention for the fabrication of sensing devices owing to their high surface ...area, many abundant sites, and excellent mechanical flexibility. Herein, we demonstrated chemoresistive humidity sensors with fast response, excellent selectivity, and ultrahigh sensitivity based on 2D rGO and 2D MoS 2 hybrid composites (RGMSs). The RGMSs were fabricated by simple ultrasonication without the addition of additives and additional heating. Compared to pristine rGO, the RGMS exhibited a 200 times higher response to humidity at room temperature. The significant enhancement in the sensing performance of the composite was attributed to electronic sensitization due to p–n heterojunction formation and porous structures between rGO and MoS 2 . The synergistic combination of rGO and MoS 2 could be applied to construct a flexible humidity sensor. The sensing performance of an RGMS flexible device remains the same before and after bending; this indicates that the use of rGO and MoS 2 is a viable new and simple strategy to realize a humidity sensor for use in wearable electronics.
Abstract The current study explored if α-iso-cubebene, a novel cubebene sesquiterpene compound purified from Schisandra chinensis , could attenuate the activities of adhesion molecules in tumor ...necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)-stimulated human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The study was performed on HUVECs that were pretreated with 25 μg/ml of α-iso-cubebene before TNF-α treatment. Treatment of HUVECs with α-iso-cubebene for 6 h significantly inhibited TNF-α-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation. HUVECs treated with α-iso-cubebene showed markedly suppressed TNF-α-induced mRNA expression of VCAM-1 and E-selectin, but little alteration in ICAM-1 mRNA expression. α-iso-Cubebene treatment also significantly decreased the TNF-α-induced cell surface and total protein expression of VCAM-1 and E-selectin without affecting ICAM-1 expression. In addition, treatment of HUVECs with α-iso-cubebene markedly reduced U937 monocyte adhesion to TNF-α-stimulated HUVECs. α-iso-Cubebene treatment did not affect translocation of NF-κB transcription factor from the cytosol into the nucleus. However, α-iso-cubebene significantly inhibited NF-κB transcription factor activation in TNF-α-stimulated HUVECs. The new anti-inflammatory agent α-iso-cubebene attenuates TNF-α-stimulated endothelial adhesion to monocytes by inhibiting intracellular ROS production, the activation of redox-sensitive NF-κB transcription factor and expression of VCAM-1 and E-selectin. Based on these findings, α-iso-cubebene is proposed as an effective new anti-inflammatory agent that may have a potential therapeutic use for the prevention and treatment of vascular diseases.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is one of the promising sensing elements for high-performance chemoresistive sensors because of its remarkable advantages such as high surface-to-volume ratio, ...outstanding transparency, and flexibility. In addition, the defects on the surface of rGO, including oxygen functional groups, can act as active sites for interaction with gaseous molecules. However, the major drawback of rGO-based sensors is the extremely sluggish and irreversible recovery to the initial state after a sensing event, which makes them incapable of producing repeatable and reliable sensing signals. Here, we show that pristine GO can be used as the active sensing material with reversible and high response to NO sub(2) at room temperature. First-principles calculations, in conjunction with experimental results, reveal the critical role of hydroxyl groups rather than epoxy groups in changing metallic graphene to the semiconducting GO. We show that the adaptive motions of the hydroxyl groups, that is, the rotation of these groups for the adsorption of NO sub(2) molecules and relaxation to the original states during the desorption of NO sub(2) molecules, are responsible for the fast and reversible NO sub(2) sensing behavior of GO. Our work paves the way for realizing high-response, reversible graphene-based room-temperature chemoresistive sensors for further functional convergence.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
This study evaluated the clinical outcomes of balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (BRTO) for the treatment of hemorrhage from gastric varices (GV) in Korean patients with liver ...cirrhosis (LC).
We retrospectively analyzed data from 183 LC patients who underwent BRTO for GV bleeding in 6 university-based hospitals between January 2001 and December 2010.
Of the 183 enrolled patients, 49 patients had Child-Pugh (CP) class A LC, 105 had CP class B, and 30 had CP class C at the time of BRTO. BRTO was successfully performed in 177 patients (96.7%). Procedure-related complications (e.g., pulmonary thromboembolism and renal infarction) occurred in eight patients (4.4%). Among 151 patients who underwent follow-up examinations of GV, 79 patients (52.3%) achieved eradication of GV, and 110 patients (72.8%) exhibited marked shrinkage of the treated GV to grade 0 or I. Meanwhile, new-appearance or aggravation of esophageal varices (EV) occurred in 54 out of 136 patients who underwent follow-up endoscopy (41.2%). During the 36.0±29.2 months (mean±SD) of follow-up, 39 patients rebled (hemorrhage from GV in 7, EV in 18, nonvariceal origin in 4, and unknown in 10 patients). The estimated 3-year rebleeding-free rate was 74.8%, and multivariate analysis showed that CP class C was associated with rebleeding (odds ratio, 2.404; 95% confidence-interval, 1.013-5.704; P=0.047).
BRTO can be performed safely and effectively for the treatment of GV bleeding. However, aggravation of EV or bleeding from EV is not uncommon after BRTO; thus, periodic endoscopy to follow-up of EV with or without prophylactic treatment might be necessary in LC patients undergoing BRTO.
Mode conversion of high-power electromagnetic microwave (HPEM) was successfully accomplished using a coaxial-beam rotating antenna (COBRA) in an X-band relativistic backward-wave oscillator (RBWO). ...The mode conversion from the TM 01 mode to the circularly polarized TE 11 -likeness mode was identified by both cold test and hot test. To observe whether mode conversion is effective or not, the radiation pattern of TE 11 -likeness mode by COBRA lens was compared with the case of the radiation pattern of TM 01 mode using simple horn antenna. Their radiation patterns could be described by fluorescent lamps. The experimental results of radiation pattern measurements are shown to be in a reasonable agreement with the simulated one. The maximum value of RF output power appeared at the center of COBRA lens from the experimental results.
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