Excessive body fat and the related dysmetabolic diseases affect both developed and developing countries. The aim of this study was to investigate the beneficial role of a bacterial culture ...supernatant (hereafter: BS) of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium and their potential mechanisms of action on white-fat browning and lipolysis. For selection of four candidates among 55 Lactic acid producing bacteria (LAB) from human infant faeces, we evaluated by Oil Red O staining and Ucp1 mRNA quantitation in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. The expression of browning and lipolysis markers was examined along with in vitro assays. The possible mechanism was revealed by molecular and biological experiments including inhibitor and small interfering RNA (siRNA) assays. In a mouse model, physiological, histological, and biochemical parameters and expression of some thermogenesis-related genes were compared among six experimental groups fed a high-fat diet and one normal-diet control group. The results allow us to speculate that BS treatment promotes browning and lipolysis both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, the BS may activate thermogenic programs via a mechanism involving PKA-CREB signaling in 3T3-L1 cells. According to our data, we can propose that two LAB strains, Bifidobacterium longum DS0956 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus DS0508, may be good candidates for a dietary supplement against obesity and metabolic diseases; however, further research is required for the development as dietary supplements or drugs.
In this study, we aimed to identify demographic and clinical variables that correlate with perceived information provision among cancer patients and determine the association of information provision ...with decisional conflict (DC).
We enrolled a total of 625 patients with cancer from two Korean hospitals in 2012. We used the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) quality-of-life questionnaire (QLQ-INFO26) to assess patients' perception of the information received from their doctors and the Decisional Conflict Scale (DCS) to assess DC. To identify predictive sociodemographic and clinical variables for adequate information provision, backward selective logistic regression analyses were conducted. In addition, adjusted multivariate logistic regression analyses were carried out to identify clinically meaningful differences of perceived level of information subscales associated with high DC.
More than half of patients with cancer showed insufficient satisfaction with medical information about disease (56%), treatment (73%), other services (83%), and global score (80%). In multiple logistic regression analyses, lower income and education, female, unmarried status, type of cancer with good prognosis, and early stage of treatment process were associated with patients' perception of inadequate information provision. In addition, Information about the medical tests with high DCS values clarity adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 0.54; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.30–0.97 and support (aOR, 0.53; 95% CI 0.33–0.85) showed negative significance. For inadequate information perception about treatments and other services, all 5 DCS scales (uncertainty, informed, values clarity, support, and effective decision) were negatively related. Global score of inadequate information provision also showed negative association with high DCS effective decision (aOR, 0.43; 95% CI 0.26–0.71) and DCS uncertainty (aOR, 0.46; 95% CI 0.27–0.77).
This study found that inadequate levels of perceived information correlated with several demographic and clinical characteristics. In addition, sufficient perceived information levels may be related to low levels of DC.
The purpose of this prospective double blind clinical study was to evaluate the analgesic efficacy of meloxicam with/without a buprenorphine patch for pain management after ovariohysterectomy in ...cats. Cats were randomly divided into two groups: ten cats were treated with meloxicam s.c. after ovariohysterectomy (Group A), and eight cats were treated with s.c. meloxicam and a 20 µg/h buprenorphine transdermal patch (Group B). For patch treatment, the cat’s hair was clipped on the left side in the thoracic area. Pain scores were assessed at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 24 and 30 h post-ovariohysterectomy extubation. To evaluate postoperative pain, 4A-VET pain scale and visual analogue scale pain scores were used. In addition, blood was collected from all cats to determine the cortisol levels at –2 h and at 0.5, 4, 6 and 24 h after extubation. The 4A-VET scores for Group B were significantly lower at 1, 4, 6, 8, 24 and 30 h than the scores for Group A. The visual analogue scale pain scores for Group B were significantly lower at 4, 6, 24 and 30 h than the scores for Group A. Serum cortisol concentrations were not significantly different between Groups A and B at any of the measured intervals. There was a significant positive correlation between postoperative visual analogue scale and 4A-VET pain scores in both groups. Our results should be subject to careful interpretation as the study was limited by its small sample size and by observer subjectivity.
Epidemiologic data on the etiologic organisms is important for appropriate empirical antibiotic treatment of bacterial meningitis. We identified the etiologies of community-acquired bacterial ...meningitis in Korean adults and the associated epidemiological factors. A retrospective, multicenter nationwide study was carried out. Patients 18 years of age or older with community-acquired bacterial meningitis with a confirmed pathogen were enrolled. Demographic, clinical, and microbiological data were collected. One hundred and ninety-five cases were collected. Streptococcus pneumoniae was the most common pathogen (50.8%), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (10.3%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (7.7%), Listeria monocytogenes (6.7%), and group B Streptococcus (3.1%). The penicillin resistance rate of the S. pneumoniae was 60.3%; 40.0% of the organisms were not susceptible to third-generation cephalosporins. The combination of third-generation cephalosporin with vancomycin was used in 76.3% of cases. Steroids were given before or with the first dose of antibiotics in 37.4% of patients. The 30-day mortality rate was 20.5% and neurological sequelae developed in 15.6% of cases. S. pneumoniae was the most common organism identified in community-acquired bacterial meningitis among Korean adults. S. aureus, K. pneumoniae, L. monocytogenes, and group B Streptococcus were also common. S. pneumoniae had high rates of resistance to penicillin and third-generation cephalosporins.
The risk of locoregional recurrence in resected gastric adenocarcinoma is high, but the benefit of adjuvant treatment remains controversial. In particular, after extended lymph node dissection, the ...role of radiotherapy is questionable. Since 1995, we started a clinical protocol of adjuvant chemoradiotherapy after D2 gastrectomy and analysed the patterns of failure for 291 patients. Adjuvant chemotherapy consisted of five cycles of fluorouracil and leucovorin, and concurrent radiotherapy was given with 4500 cGy from the second cycle of chemotherapy. With a median follow-up of 48 months, 114 patients (39%) showed any type of failure, and the local and regional failures were seen in 7% (20 out of 291) and 12% (35 out of 291), respectively. When the recurrent site was analysed with respect to the radiation field, in-field recurrence was 16% and represented 35% of all recurrences. Our results suggest that adjuvant chemoradiotherapy has a potential effect on reducing locoregional recurrence. Moreover, low locoregional recurrence rates could give a clue as to which subset of patients could be helped by radiotherapy after D2 gastrectomy. However, in order to draw a conclusion on the role of adjuvant radiotherapy, a randomised study is needed.
summary The purpose of this study was to evaluate the geometry and surface characteristics of osseointegration after functional loading by radiographic, periodontal and histomorphometric analyses. ...We analysed three groups of implants with different geometry and surface characteristics using experimental dogs. The control group received Brånemark implants (group 1). Group 2 and group 3 implants each had a 0·5‐mm pitch height but differed in surface characteristics. Group 2 implants were machine surfaced and group 3 implants were thermally oxidized at 800 °C for 2 h in a pure oxygen atmosphere. For these experiments, which used a total of four healthy beagle dogs, the implants were randomly installed into the extracted first, second and third premolar positions. The animals received radiographic and clinical periodontal examinations at 6 and 12 months post‐loading, and were then killed for histomorphometric analysis. The radiographic analysis showed that mean crestal bone resorption in the control group was greater than that observed in the experimental groups (P < 0·05). The percentage of bone‐to‐implant contact for group 3 (83·7%) was significantly higher than in groups 1 (74·4%) and 2 (75·0%) (P < 0·05). Overall, implant geometry and surface treatment affected the rate of crestal bone resorption and bone healing surrounding the dental implants.
We investigate the influence of post-rolling heat treatment on the microstructural evolution and subsequent mechanical properties of a roll-bonded stainless steel (STS)-Al–Mg 3-ply clad sheet. ...Intermetallic compound (IMC) phases, γ (Mg17Al12) and β (Mg2Al3), were generated at the interface between the constituent Mg and Al alloys. The thickness of the IMC layers increased to more than 10μm with increasing annealing time up to 3h at 300°C. Upon extending the annealing time to 12h, the β phase at the interface between Al and Mg hardened significantly, which was verified by investigating the local mechanical properties of the γ and β phases using nanoindentation. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of the three constituent alloys and the 3-ply clad sheets were systematically investigated by uniaxial tensile and flexural bending tests. Taking both tensile strength and elongation into account, the 3-ply sample annealed for 1h at 300°C exhibited acceptable overall mechanical properties. The mechanism for retarding interfacial delamination in the direction perpendicular to the transverse loading was also confirmed by observation from the side surfaces of the 3-point-bending-tested specimens. Abrupt longitudinal crack propagation was observed within the annealing-hardened β phase, followed by the generation of short lateral cracks in the bending sample annealed for 3h, indicating that the overannealing-induced brittleness of a specific IMC phase at the interface may be detrimental to overall mechanical properties of the roll-bonded 3-ply clad sheet adopted in this study.
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► Annealing time is a key factor to generate distinctive layers at Mg–Al interface. ► Rapid hardening of β (Mg2Al3) phase takes place upon increasing annealing time. ► Uniaxial tensile test for a STS-Al–Mg 3-ply sheet results in interface hardening. ► Interface crack propagation by bending indicates the embrittlement of β phase.
The free radical scavenging activity of water soluble natural antioxidants from Sargassum thunbergii, which is a brown marine alga, was evaluated by examining the radical scavenging activities of the ...extracts of hydrolyzates from S. thunbergii on hydroxyl, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and alkyl radicals. A spin-trapping electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometer was employed, and the results were compared for their ESR signal intensity. S. thunbergii was enzymatically hydrolyzed to prepare water soluble extracts by five carbohydrases (AMG, Celluclast, Termamyl, Ultraflo, and Viscozyme) and proteases (Alcalase, Flavorzyme, Kojizyme, Neutrase, and Protamex). The scavenging activity of the radicals increased with increased concentrations of the extracts. The scavenging results were higher for hydroxyl and alkyl radicals and lower for DPPH radical as compared with vitamin C as a reference. The hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity of the extracts was also investigated; the Alcalase extract showed the highest scavenging activity among the extracts prepared with the five proteases and five carbohydrates. In addition, the DNA damage was determined by using the comet assay with alkaline electrophoresis and was quantified by measuring the tail length. The preventive effect of Alcalase extract from S. thunbergii against DNA damage increased with increments of concentration of the enzymatic extracts. Keywords: Enzymatic extract; Sargassum thunbergii; marine alga; electron spin resonance; radical scavenging activity; comet assay
In radiotherapy, point doses via surface dose measurement are confirmed using a dosimeter attached to the patient's skin. This results in an error margin of about 11.8% or higher because the ...attachment site is visually confirmed. Thus, a digital flexible array dosimeter that can analyse body surface area is needed. Here, a lead (II) iodide (PbI2)-based unit cell flexible dosimeter was developed, and its electrical properties were evaluated based on its mechanical flexibility by assessing its reproducibility and linearity for bending. The relative standard deviation (RSD) for measurement by the sensor over 10,000 cycles was 1.74% and 2.21% at 6 MV and 15 MV, respectively, which is higher than RSD's evaluation criterion (<1.5%). Although the linearity of measurement by the sensor over 10,000 cycles met the evaluation criteria of a coefficient of determination R2>0.9990, the sensitivity at 15 MV was lower than that at 6 MV. The results of this study confirm the applicability and usefulness of the PbI2-based flexible dosimeter in radiation measurements.
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