An optically pumped semiconductor disk laser was mode-locked for the first time by employing a single-walled carbon nanotube saturable absorber. Stable passive fundamental mode-locking was obtained ...at a repetition rate of 613 MHz with a pulse length of 1.23 ps. The mode-locked semiconductor disk laser in a compact geometry delivered a maximum average output power of 136 mW at 1074 nm.
Abstract Background Human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A, HLA-B, and HLA-DR matching has beneficial long-term effects on renal allograft survival. However, the gene dosage effect of mismatched HLA on ...transplant outcomes is not known. We investigated the HLA gene dosage effects on allograft survival in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs). Methods We analyzed HLA typing of KTRs and kidney donors at Kyungpook National University Hospital from January 1982 to December 2012. KTRs were divided into 2 groups: recipients from homozygous HLA donors and recipients from heterozygous HLA donors. Death-censored graft survival of KTRs was compared according to allele state of kidney donors. Results In this study, 697 KTRs were enrolled. According to Kaplan-Meier analysis, graft survival in KTRs of HLA-DR and HLA-B heterozygous donors was longer than that in KTRs of HLA-DR and HLA-B homozygous donors ( P = .007 and P < .0001, respectively). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards model analysis showed that HLA-DR and HLA-B donor homozygosity was an independent risk factor for death-censored graft survival ( P = .019 and P = .022, respectively). Death-censored graft survival was not associated with HLA-A and HLA-A, B, DR allele states. Conclusions Compared with HLA donor mismatch caused by HLA-DR and HLA-B heterozygosity, HLA donor mismatch caused by HLA-DR and HLA-B homozygosity was associated with significantly increased risk of graft failure. In addition to the number of HLA mismatch between KTRs and donors, the donor allele state should be considered to predict transplant outcomes.
Background and Purpose
GPCRs undergo both homologous and heterologous regulatory processes in which receptor phosphorylation plays a critical role. The protein kinases responsible for each pathway ...are well established; however, other molecular details that characterize each pathway remain unclear. In this study, the molecular mechanisms that determine the differences in the functional roles and intracellular trafficking between homologous and PKC‐mediated heterologous internalization pathways for the dopamine D2 receptor were investigated.
Experimental Approach
All of the S/T residues located within the intracellular loops of D2 receptor were mutated, and the residues responsible for GRK‐ and PKC‐mediated internalization were determined in HEK‐293 cells and SH‐SY5Y cells. The functional role of receptor internalization and the cellular components that determine the post‐endocytic fate of internalized D2 receptors were investigated in the transfected cells.
Key Results
T134, T225/S228/S229 and S325 were involved in PKC‐mediated D2 receptor desensitization. S229 and adjacent S/T residues mediated the PKC‐dependent internalization of D2 receptors, which induced down‐regulation and desensitization. S/T residues within the second intracellular loop and T225 were the major residues involved in GRK‐mediated internalization of D2 receptors, which induced receptor resensitization. ARF6 mediated the recycling of D2 receptors internalized in response to agonist stimulation. In contrast, GASP‐1 mediated the down‐regulation of D2 receptors internalized in a PKC‐dependent manner.
Conclusions and Implications
GRK‐ and PKC‐mediated internalizations of D2 receptors occur through different intracellular trafficking pathways and mediate distinct functional roles. Distinct S/T residues within D2 receptors and different sorting proteins are involved in the dissimilar regulation of D2 receptors by GRK2 and PKC.
Seawater desalination of interest is rising to overcome water scarcity. Especially, desalination using RO membranes is increasingly being used for production of drinking water for brackish and/or ...seawater. SWRO has operational problems that can be caused by various membranes fouling including particulate, inorganic, organic and bio-fouling. Membrane-based pretreatment for particle fouling and the integrated membrane systems with MF, NF, and RO were recently introduced to SWRO. However, little information is known for SWRO processes combined with various pretreatments. Eff ects of various pretreatments on performance of SWRO were evaluated in this study.
The RO membrane flux was substantially improved by nanofi ltration pretreatment resulting in the highest flux regardless of pretreatment for particle fouling. However, the water flux with the other pretreatments including MF with antiscalant addition is severely decreased during a few hours. The microfi ltration pretreatment showed greater flux than the coagulation pretreated water. Coagulation pretreated waters was observed to have relatively high MFI resulting from residuals such as flocs and colloidal particles. The correlations of turbidity, normalized flux ratio and MFI were substantial indicating feasibility of the use of MFI for particle fouling index. The conductivity removal was signifi cant, but the cation removal was not great by NF. The results of the inorganic ions removal indicate that pretreatment process aff ects properties of feed water to RO. The application of inorganic scaling control pretreatment has shown no influence on the crystal structure but there were changes in the intensity related with calcium scale inhibition in the XRD analyses.
Abstract Background The aim of this study was to compare anti-ABO antibody levels as measured by means of flow cytometry (FCM) with the levels measured with the use of the column agglutination test ...(CAT), and to evaluate the clinical outcome as it relates to the baseline mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) ratio obtained by FCM. Methods We reviewed 21 cases of ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation (ABO-i KT). In these patients, baseline IgG titers were measured with the use of both FCM and CAT methods. We investigated the correlation between levels measured by FCM and those by CAT with the use of correlation coefficients. Patients were classified into a high MFI ratio group (≥200; n = 7) or low MFI ratio group (<200; n = 14). Results The MFI ratio for the FCM-based method was highly correlated with the titer measured by CAT ( r = 0.890; P = .01). The relationship between MFI ratio and CAT titer can be expressed as follows: log (MFI ratio) = 0.879 × log (CAT titer) + 0.298. The number of pre-transplantation rounds of plasmapheresis significantly increased as the baseline MFI ratio increased. The allograft function was immediately recovered and stable. A single case of acute cellular rejection was observed in the low MFI ratio group. Conclusions Anti-ABO antibody levels measured by means of the FCM-based method were highly correlated with the levels measured with the use of CAT in cases of ABO-i KT. The decreased level of anti-ABO antibody measured by means of FCM after plasmapheresis suggests its potential as an effective and objective method for assessment of anti-ABO antibody levels.
The conventional procedure of ingestion of an entire dose of polyethylene glycol solution on the day before early-morning colonoscopy may result in poor bowel preparation. The aim of this study was ...to evaluate the efficacy and effect of a split-dose ingestion of polyethylene glycol for early-morning colonoscopy.
A total of 303 age- and sex-matched consecutive individuals presenting for medical check-ups were randomly assigned to receive either 4 L of polyethylene glycol solution with a soft diet on the day before colonoscopy (n = 152; group A), or 3 L of polyethylene glycol solution with a soft diet on the preceding day and then 1 L of the solution on the day of colonoscopy (n = 151; group B). The quality of bowel preparation was evaluated using the Ottawa scale, and the time to cecal intubation and the technical difficulty during the procedure were also recorded.
There was no difference in compliance between group A (single-dose) and group B (split-dose). The quality of bowel preparation was better in group B compared with group A. When the participants were categorized according to compliance (good compliance, 116 in group A, 119 in group B; poor compliance, 36 in group A, 32 in group B), the quality of the bowel preparation had a higher score in the good compliance compared with the poor compliance group, and in group B this difference was usually significant.
Split-dose bowel preparation with polyethylene glycol solution provided a better quality preparation than the conventional method for patients undergoing early-morning colonoscopy.
Although coiling has been favorably comparable with clipping for treatment of most intracranial aneurysms, there is a controversy on which modality is safer for anterior choroidal artery (AchoA) ...aneurysm. We retrospectively evaluated the clinical outcomes and treatment-related complications after surgical clipping and endovascular coiling of AchoA aneurysms.
Seventy-three AchoA aneurysms were recruited from 1895 intracranial aneurysms, which were treated either by surgical clipping or by endovascular coiling in 4 institutions between May 1999 and December 2006. The AchoA aneurysms were dichotomized according to the modality of treatment, the coil group (37 patients; 38 aneurysms) and the clip group (35 patients; 35 aneurysms). Clinical outcomes and incidence of treatment-related complications between 2 groups and the factors influencing the clinical outcomes were evaluated.
There was no rebleeding in both groups during follow-up, for 4-72 months (mean, 27 months) in the coil group and for 3-84 months (mean, 34 months) in the clip group. In the coil group, 31 patients (83.8%) had favorable outcome (modified Rankin Scale score mRS, 0-3). In the clip group, 31 patients (88.6%) had favorable outcome. The complication of coiling was transient contralateral hemiparesis in 2 patients, who recovered completely. The complications of clipping were permanent contralateral hemiparesis due to AchoA infarction in 4 patients and third-nerve palsy in 1 patient. Hunt and Hess grade 4 or 5 and AchoA infarction were significantly correlated with poor outcome (mRS, < or =4). Clipping had significantly higher incidence of AchoA infarction than coiling (P < .05).
Coiling of AchoA aneurysms appears comparable with clipping in clinical outcome and prevention of rebleeding, with significantly lower incidence of AchoA infarction than clipping.
Indirectly puffed snacks were produced by an extrusion process with partially defatted (12% fat) peanut flour (30%, 40%, 50%) at different levels of screw speed (200, 300, 400 rpm) and feed rate (4, ...5, 6 kg/h). Extrudates were dried to obtain half-products (11% to 12% MC) followed by puffing with deep-fat frying. The puffed snack prototypes were subjected to consumer acceptance test. Consumers rated higher than 6.0 (= like slightly) for all products produced within the experimental factor ranges on the attributes of crispness and texture, whereas consumer scores for appearance, color, flavor, and overall liking were lower than 6.0 for the product containing 50% peanut flour regardless of screw speed and feed rate. The product extruded with 50% peanut flour at screw speed of 400 rpm and feed rate of 6 kg/h received the lowest score of 5.5 on overall liking in a 9-point hedonic score. Predicted regression models indicated that feed rate had the largest effect on consumer attributes followed by peanut flour and screw speed. From the superimposed contour plot of individual contour plot of consumer attributes, the optimum region was identified as the area beginning at the 42.0% to 43.0% peanut flour and 4.0 kg/h feed rates, rising to a maximum at 45% peanut flour and 4.6 kg/h feed rates and decreasing to the 33.0% to 34.0% peanut flour and 6.0 kg/h feed rates. Verification confirmed the ability of predictive regression models to identify peanut-based snacks, which would be scored higher than 6.0 by consumer evaluation.
To investigate the correlation between serum anti-ABO immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgG subclasses, anti-ABO IgG subclasses were measured by flow cytometry (FCM) in ABO-incompatible (ABOi) kidney ...transplant recipients. We also evaluated baseline anti-ABO C1q antibody.
Baseline anti-ABO IgG titers were measured by both FCM and column agglutination technique methods in 18 ABOi kidney transplant recipients. The mean florescence intensity (MFI) ratios of baseline anti-ABO IgG subclasses and anti-ABO C1q antibody were obtained by FCM and followed-up after rituximab treatment, each plasmapheresis (PP) session, and kidney transplantation. Correlation between the values of IgG subclass and total IgG titer was analyzed.
The baseline MFI ratios of total IgG, IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, and IgG4 were 202.46, 62.41, 30.01, 1.04, and 1.13, respectively. The MFI ratios of IgG1, IgG2, and total IgG measured at baseline and pre-PP were positively correlated with the baseline ABO titer was measured using the column agglutination technique. The numbers of PP sessions to reach the target titer were correlated with the baseline IgG and IgG1 levels. IgG1 and IgG2 as well as total IgG were removed effectively after serial PP. Anti-ABO C1q antibody was neither detected nor correlated with total IgG and any IgG subclasses.
Our findings suggest that IgG1 and IgG2 are the dominant IgG subclass in ABOi kidney transplant recipients. Baseline levels of IgG1 and IgG2 were correlated with baseline total IgG titer. However, anti-ABO C1q antibody was not detected in the present study.
Desiccation of the vocal tract can cause many voice problems. Therefore, we aimed to investigate whether patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) with dry mouth have more voice-related problems ...than controls without the disease and to determine the factors affecting voice in pSS patients.
Patients with pSS and controls complaining of voice-related symptoms underwent acoustic analysis, aerodynamic study and stroboscopic analysis. They also completed the voice handicap index (VHI) questionnaire and perceptual voice analysis (GRBAS). Various disease-related parameters were obtained from pSS registry data.
Fifty-five pSS patients and 52 controls were analysed. The subjects were all female, and mean age was 53.9 years. VHI score was significantly higher in the pSS patient group (median interquartile range, 11 3-30 vs. 5.5 0- 15.75, p=0.014). However, the results of acoustic analysis aerodynamic study and stroboscopic findings were not different between the two groups. Disease-related parameters were available in 47 pSS patients. Correlation analysis revealed that jitter value positively correlated with ESSDAI (spearman's rho = 0.29, p=0.048) and patient global assessment (rho=0.3, p= 0.04). High VHI score was associated with low quality of life measured by EQ5D (rho=-0.493, p=0.0001). Of note, patients with longer disease duration (≥ 40 months) showed higher noise-to-harmonics ratio (NHR).
Patients with pSS had higher VHI score, which was associated with low quality of life and longer disease duration was associated with increased noise in pSS patients. The likelihood of voice problems should be addressed with pSS patients, and vocal hygiene education will be important in those patients.
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