Diabetes following acute pancreatitis (AP) is becoming increasingly recognized. It is unclear what subtype of diabetes mellitus (DM) occurs; however, type 3c diabetes mellitus (T3cDM) is gaining ...increasing recognition. T3cDM has differing pathophysiology than other subtypes of DM and therefore differing disease course and treatment. Current studies have examined the incidence and prevalence of DM following AP, and meta-analyses have shown around 15% develop DM at 1 year with an increasing proportion developing DM at 5 years. It has been observed that some patients have transient hyperglycemia following AP episode with a subset developing persistent impaired glucose metabolism; however, the exact timeline is not well defined. The data on risk factors for developing DM after AP is limited and mixed; however, it is likely that severity of AP may impact the propensity to develop DM. Screening guidelines have not been established following AP; however, screening 1-year post-event will likely capture a sizable proportion of newly developed DM. The endocrine and exocrine pancreas are closely linked, and studies have found significant overlap in dysfunction of both after AP. Finally, there are some data to suggest that diabetes predisposes patients to structural changes in the pancreas and increased risk of developing AP.
Background
While device‐based acne treatments are widely applied for patients not tolerating conventional medications, related controlled studies have been still limited. Recently, non‐ablative ...1450‐nm diode laser (DL) and fractional microneedling radiofrequency (FMR) have been effectively used for acne, in addition to well‐recognized dermal remodelling effects.
Objective
To compare the clinical course of acne treatment between DL and FMR.
Methods
Twenty‐five Korean patients with mild‐to‐moderate facial acne completed treatments with DL and FMR through a 20‐week, randomized split‐face study. One randomly assigned half side of each patient's face received DL and the other side by FMR. Treatments were scheduled to receive three consecutive sessions at 4‐week intervals. Objective assessments including revised Leeds grades, lesion counts, sebum output measurements, and patients’ subjective satisfaction were investigated.
Results
Both DL and FMR demonstrated steady improvement of acne and seborrhoea during treatment sessions. While results between two devices were similar during treatment sessions, FMR was superior to DL in the 12‐week follow‐up. Patients’ subjective assessments for seborrhoea improvement were similar between two devices, while those for acne, skin texture, and acne scars were more satisfactory for FMR. For safety profile, no significant difference was observed between two regimens, while mild postinflammatory hyperpigmentation was observed only in DL side.
Conclusion
Both DL and FMR demonstrated efficacies for acne and seborrhoea, with reasonable safety profile. FMR was more effective than DL for the long‐term maintenance, and subjective assessments for texture and scar improvements. Therefore, a few sessions of these devices would be a viable option for acne treatments.
The KMTNet/K2-C9 (Kepler) Data Release Kim, H.-W.; Hwang, K.-H.; Kim, D.-J. ...
The Astronomical journal,
05/2018, Letnik:
155, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
We present Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) light curves for microlensing-event candidates in the Kepler K2 C9 field having peaks within three effective timescales of the Kepler ...observations. These include 181 "clear microlensing" and 84 "possible microlensing" events found by the KMTNet event finder, plus 56 other events found by OGLE and/or MOA that were not found by KMTNet. All data for the first two classes are immediately available for public use without restriction.
Background
The Breslow depth is an important parameter to determine the excision margin and prognosis of melanoma. However, it is difficult to accurately determine the actual Breslow depth before ...surgery using the existing ocular micrometer and biopsy technique.
Objectives
To evaluate the use of 3D wide‐field multispectral photoacoustic imaging to non‐invasively measure depth and outline the boundary of melanomas for optimal surgical margin selection.
Methods
Six melanoma patients were examined in vivo using the 3D multispectral photoacoustic imaging system. For five cases of melanomas (one in situ, three nodular, and one acral lentiginous type melanoma), the spectrally unmixed photoacoustic depths were calculated and compared against histopathological depths.
Results
Spectrally unmixed photoacoustic depths and histopathological depths match well within a mean absolute error of 0.36 mm. In particular, the measured minimum and maximum depths in the in situ and nodular type of melanoma were 0.6 and 9.1 mm, respectively. In the 3D photoacoustic image of one metastatic melanoma, feeding vessels were visualized in the melanoma, suggesting the neovascularization around the tumour.
Conclusions
The 3D multispectral photoacoustic imaging not only provides well‐measured depth and sizes of various types of melanomas, it also visualizes the metastatic type of melanoma. Obtaining accurate depth and boundary information of melanoma before surgery would play a useful role in the complete excision of melanoma during surgery.
Abstract Background We previously showed that ringed polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) grafts combined with small allograft patches showed high patency rates similar to those of iliac vein grafts and ...therefore that they can be used for middle hepatic vein (MHV) reconstruction. Although such use of PTFE graft showed high patency rates, its long-term safety regarding infection and other types of complications were not presented. In this study, we investigated the actual risk of complications directly associated with PTFE graft interposition for MHV reconstruction. Methods During the study period of 30 months, we performed 215 cases of adult living-donor liver transplantation with modified right lobe graft and PTFE grafts. We classified the potential complications directly associated with PTFE graft interposition as infectious and surgical complications. The medical records of study patients were retrospectively reviewed. Results MHV graft patency rate was 76.3% at 6 months and 36.7% at 12 months. Their 1-year graft and patient survival rates were 92.6% and 93.5%, respectively. The 1-year actual incidences of infectious complication and surgical complication were near zero and 1 case (0.5%), respectively. In 1 recipient, the PTFE graft penetrated into the stomach wall 6 months after transplantation, but the patient did not complain of any specific symptoms. The PTFE graft was removed with the use of laparotomy, and the patient recovered uneventfully. Conclusions Although the incidence of PTFE graft–associated complication rate is very low, we suggest that it is necessary to closely monitor the PTFE graft, because unexpected complications can happen during long-term follow-up.
Lithium‐ion batteries have remained a state‐of‐the‐art electrochemical energy storage technology for decades now, but their energy densities are limited by electrode materials and conventional liquid ...electrolytes can pose significant safety concerns. Lithium metal batteries featuring Li metal anodes, solid polymer electrolytes, and high‐voltage cathodes represent promising candidates for next‐generation devices exhibiting improved power and safety, but such solid polymer electrolytes generally do not exhibit the required excellent electrochemical properties and thermal stability in tandem. Here, an interpenetrating network polymer with weakly coordinating anion nodes that functions as a high‐performing single‐ion conducting electrolyte in the presence of minimal plasticizer, with a wide electrochemical stability window, a high room‐temperature conductivity of 1.5 × 10−4 S cm−1, and exceptional selectivity for Li‐ion conduction (tLi+ = 0.95) is reported. Importantly, this material is also flame retardant and highly stable in contact with lithium metal. Significantly, a lithium metal battery prototype containing this quasi‐solid electrolyte is shown to outperform a conventional battery featuring a polymer electrolyte.
An anionic porous aromatic framework consists of immobile weakly coordinating borate anions, which facilitate sole Li+ mobility, connected through butenediol linkers, which enable post‐synthetic crosslinking. The framework exhibits remarkable Li+ ion selectivity and room‐temperature conductivity, flame retardancy, and stability toward Li metal and high‐potential cathode materials. This material endows outstanding power performance and cycling stability in a battery prototype.
Abstract ABO-incompatible (ABOi) adult living donor liver transplantation (ALDLT) is a feasible therapeutic option for countries with a scarcity of deceased donors. This report presents our initial ...experiences in ABOi ALDLT in 10 patients between December 2008 and September 2009. The mean age of recipients was 48.5 ± 5.7 years (range, 40–54 years). The mean Model for End-stage Liver-Disease score was 13.9 ± 4.0 (range, 9–22). All patients were administered preoperative rituximab once and plasma exchanges according to the hemagglutinin titer. The spleen was preserved in all cases. For local infusion therapy, hepatic arterial infusion was performed in 9 patients and portal vein infusion in 1 subject. The 10 patients experienced no in-hospital mortality. At a mean follow-up period of 31.8 ± 2.9 months (range, 4.1–34.9 months), 1 patient has died (postoperative month 4 due to sepsis following a biliary stricture. The 3-month patient and graft survivals were 100%, and 1- and 2-year survivals, 90.0%. There was no episode of antibody-mediated rejection. The promising results of our initial experience may have been due to the use of preoperative rituximab and the good preoperative conditions of the patients.
This article examines how patent protection in developing countries affects the technology licensing strategy of US multinational firms and the associated technology transfer flows. Strengthening ...patent rights lowers appropriability hazards and so reduces the firms' reliance on affiliated licensing as the more secure means of transfer (the internalization effect). However lower appropriability hazards also encourage the firms to increase of teachnology transfer via licensing both within and outside the firm (the appropriability effect). Which effect prevails depends on the underlying technological complexity of the firms' product. We find that a strengthening of patent protection in the host country increases the incentive to license innovations to unaffiliated parties. While unaffiliated licensing rises among all firms, the volume of affiliated licensing falls among complex-technology firms but rises among simple-technology firms. The positive appropriability effect on affiliated licensing is strong enough among simple-technology firms that the entire composition of their licensing further shifts towards affiliated parties. The results are significant for recent work on the internalization theories of multinational firms and the interaction between firm strategy and the institutional environment, as well as for patent policy in the developing world, where access to knowledge is critical.