To determine the preoperative computed tomography (CT) parameters that predict portal vein/superior mesenteric vein (PV-SMV) invasion in patients with pancreatic head cancer, and to assess whether ...PV-SMV invasion affects patient survival.
Sixty patients with PV-SMV invasion, and 60 randomly selected patients without it, who had undergone preoperative CT and subsequent surgery for pancreatic head cancer were enrolled. The following CT parameters were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic analyses to predict vessel invasion (tumour size and margin, length of involved vessel, distance from the tumour to the vessel, vessel irregularity, the teardrop sign, and tumour–vein interface TVI). The Cox proportional hazard model was used to evaluate the effects of PV-SMV invasion on survival.
In multivariate analysis, tumour size (odds ratio OR=1.99) and TVI (OR=3.79 ≤90°, 20.66 >90°, ≤180°, and 47.24 >180°) were independent CT predictors of PV-SMV invasion (p<0.05); they achieved a sensitivity of 87%, a specificity of 75%, and an accuracy of 81%; however, PV-SMV invasion did not affect patient survival after surgery (p=0.374).
In patients with pancreatic head cancer, preoperative CT parameters can predict PV-SMV invasion with high accuracy. PV-SMV invasion did not affect treatment outcome after surgery.
•Tumour size and TVI were independent CT predictors of PV-SMV invasion.•These criteria can predict venous invasion pre-operatively with high accuracy.•PV-SMV invasion did not cause any significant difference in overall survival.
Micro-gear extrusion of the fine-grained equal channel angular pressed (ECAPed) AZ31 alloy was successfully performed. High strength gears (yield stress >350
MPa) could be produced by effective ...grain-refinement through ECAP and texture restoration to the original state before ECAP by subsequent extrusion.
Eustoma (Eustoma grandiflorum), also called lisianthus, belongs to the family Gentianaceae and is cultivated for flower production globally (1), including in Korea. At least 10 viruses can infect ...eustoma, including Cucumber mosaic virus (genus Cucumovirus), Tobacco mosaic virus (genus Tobamovirus), Tomato spotted wilt virus (genus Tospovirus), and Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV, genus Begomovirus) (1,2). In December 2012, disease symptoms such as leaf curling and stunting were observed on eustoma plants grown in Gumi, Korea, where TYLCV outbreak was reported on tomato farms. In a eustoma greenhouse, about 5% of eustoma plants showed the leaf curling and stunting symptoms. Total DNA was isolated from 15 symptomatic eustoma plants with a Viral Gene-spin Viral DNA/RNA Extraction Kit (iNtRON Biotechnology, Seongnam, Korea) and viral DNA was amplified by rolling circle amplification (TempliPhi Amplification Kit, GE Healthcare Life Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden) following the manufacturer's instructions. All amplicons were digested with the restriction enzyme SacI (TaKaRa Bio, Shiga, Japan) and 2.8-kb DNA fragments were verified on an agarose gel. Fifteen digested DNA fragments were purified from the gel, ligated into pGEM-T easy vector (Promega, Madison, WI), and sequenced (Macrogen, Seoul, Korea, GenBank Accession No. KF225312.1). A BLAST search exhibited a 99% identity to TYLCV previously reported in Korea (GenBank HM856911.1). This is the first report of TYLCV in eustoma plants in Korea. To identify the movement and replication of TYLCV in infected eustoma plants, PCR and Southern hybridization analysis were performed with samples from four organs (flower, leaf, stem, and root) of three individual TYLCV-infected plants. TYLCV TYL DNA from each organ sample was amplified using 2× Taq PCR MasterMix (Bioneer, Daejeon, Korea) with TYLCV-specific primers (TYLCV-F: 5'-ATATTACCGGATGGCCGCGCCT-3', CV-R: 5'-TCCACGGGGAACATCAGGGCTT-3'). Single-stranded as well as double-stranded TYLCV DNA were identified from all organs of symptomatic eustoma, indicating TYLCV can replicate and move systemically in eustoma plants. Whitefly (Bemisia tabaci)-mediated plant-to-plant viral transmission was performed with one TYLCV-infected eustoma plant and five healthy eustoma plants and revealed that 80% (4 of 5) of the eustoma plants were infected by whitefly-mediated transmission. These results indicate that TYLCV-infected eustoma plants could act as virus reservoirs to healthy eustoma plants as well as other potential TYLCV hosts, such as tomatoes. In Korea, TYLCV has been the most notorious plant virus since 2008 (3), but, until now, TYLCV infection in eustoma plants has not been reported in Korea. References: (1) C. C. Chen et al. Plant Dis. 84:506, 2000. (2) A. Kritzman et al. Plant Dis. 84:1185, 2000. (3) H. Lee et al. Mol. Cells 30:467, 2010.
Vapor‐phase polymerization is used for the first time to prepare ultrathin, polycrystalline conducting films of poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT). The polarized optical microscopy images (see ...figure) display the progress of crystalline growth at 30 °C: a) initial step of self‐assembled PEDOT film formation (amorphous shape); b) nucleation; c) crystalline growth; and d) dendritic growth. The scale is 100 × 100 μm2.
•CZTS thin films have been prepared by pulsed electrodeposition (PED) method.•Effects of pulse potential on the properties of CZTS films have been investigated.•The CZTS films deposited at pulse ...potentials V1 – −0.9V/SCE and V2 – −1.1V/SCE have shown prominent CZTS phase with compact morphology.
Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films are electrodeposited on Mo substrate using pulsed electrodeposition (PED) at different pulse potentials. The pulse potential (V1) is varied from 0V/SCE to −0.9V/SCE and V2 fixed at −1.1V/SCE. The effects of pulse potentials on the properties of CZTS thin films are investigated. Formation of secondary phases along with CZTS phase is evident for films deposited at low pulse potentials. The secondary phases seem to be reduced with increase in pulse potentials. The morphology of CZTS films is systematically evolved from agglomerated grains to compact one with increase in pulse potentials. The film deposited using optimized pulse potentials (V1 – −0.9V/SCE and V2 – −1.1V/SCE) exhibit prominent CZTS phase with nearly stoichiometric composition and has compact morphology with optical band gap energy of 1.46eV.
Bovine mastitis can be diagnosed by abnormalities in milk components and somatic cell count (SCC), as well as by clinical signs. We examined raw milk in Korea by analyzing SCC, milk urea nitrogen ...(MUN), and the percentages of milk components (milk fat, protein, and lactose). The associations between SCC or MUN and other milk components were investigated, as well as the relationships between the bacterial species isolated from milk. Somatic cell counts, MUN, and the percentages of milk fat, protein, and lactose were analyzed in 30,019 raw milk samples collected from 2003 to 2006. The regression coefficients of natural logarithmic-transformed SCC (SCCt) on milk fat (−0.0149), lactose (−0.8910), and MUN (−0.0096), and those of MUN on milk fat (−0.3125), protein (−0.8012), and SCCt (−0.0671) were negative, whereas the regression coefficient of SCCt on protein was positive (0.3023). When the data were categorized by the presence or absence of bacterial infection in raw milk, SCCt was negatively associated with milk fat (−0.0172), protein (−0.2693), and lactose (−0.4108). The SCCt values were significantly affected by bacterial species. In particular, 104 milk samples infected with Staphylococcus aureus had the highest SCCt (1.67) compared with milk containing other mastitis-causing bacteria: coagulase-negative staphylococci (n = 755, 1.50), coagulase-positive staphylococci (except Staphylococcus aureus; n = 77, 1.59), Streptococcus spp. (Streptococcus dysgalactiae, n = 37; Streptococcus uberis, n = 12, 0.83), Enterococcus spp. (n = 46, 1.04), Escherichia coli (n = 705, 1.56), Pseudomonas spp. (n = 456, 1.59), and yeast (n = 189, 1.52). These results show that high SCC and MUN negatively affect milk components and that a statistical approach associating SCC, MUN, and milk components by bacterial infection can explain the patterns among them. Bacterial species present in raw milk are an important influence on SCC in Korea.
We measured photoinduced charge separation in isolated individual C60-tethered 2,5-dithienylpyrrole triad (C60 triad) molecules with submolecular resolution using a custom-built laser-assisted ...scanning tunneling microscope. Laser illumination was introduced evanescently into the tunneling junction through total internal reflection, and the changes in tunneling current and electronic spectra caused by photoexcitation were measured and spatially resolved. Photoinduced charge separation was not detected for all C60 triad molecules, indicating that the conformations of the molecules may affect the excitation probability, lifetime, and/or charge distribution. A photoinduced signal was not observed for dodecanethiol molecules in the surrounding matrix or for control molecules without C60 moieties, as neither absorbs incident photons at this energy. This spectroscopic imaging technique has the potential to elucidate detailed photoinduced carrier dynamics, which are inaccessible via ensemble-scale (i.e., averaging) measurements, which can be used to direct the rational design and optimization of molecular p–n junctions and assemblies for energy harvesting.
This article uses linguistic analysis to help users discern the authenticity of online reviews. Two related studies were conducted using hotel reviews as the test case for investigation. The first ...study analyzed 1,800 authentic and fictitious reviews based on the linguistic cues of comprehensibility, specificity, exaggeration, and negligence. The analysis involved classification algorithms followed by feature selection and statistical tests. A filtered set of variables that helped discern review authenticity was identified. The second study incorporated these variables to develop a guideline that aimed to inform humans how to distinguish between authentic and fictitious reviews. The guideline was used as an intervention in an experimental setup that involved 240 participants. The intervention improved human ability to identify fictitious reviews amid authentic ones.
•Anomalous Hall and anomalous Nernst effects are measured in CoSiB/Pt films.•Temperature dependences of the two effects show clear distinction.•Sharp decrease of Nernst effect can be understood from ...Mott relation.
We report experiments on the temperature dependence of anomalous Hall and anomalous Nernst effects in amorphous CoSiB/Pt multilayer films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy down to low temperatures. The Hall resistance decreases slowly with decrease in temperature, remaining at about 88% of the room temperature value at 25K. On the other hand, the Nernst coefficient decreases rapidly with decreasing temperature and becomes about 10% of the room temperature value even at 100K. The coercive field determined from these measurements also shows a strong change with temperature, increasing by a factor of two at 25K as compared with that at room temperature.
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