Tinnitus is a common condition in adults; however, the pathophysiology of tinnitus remains unclear, and no large population-based study has assessed the associated risk factors. The aim of this study ...was to analyze the prevalence and associated risk factors of tinnitus.
We conducted a cross-sectional study using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, with 19,290 participants ranging in age from 20 to 98 years old, between 2009 and 2012. We investigated the prevalence of tinnitus using a questionnaire and analyzed various possible factors associated with tinnitus using simple and multiple logistic regression analysis with complex sampling.
The prevalence of tinnitus was 20.7%, and the rates of tinnitus associated with no discomfort, moderate annoyance, and severe annoyance were 69.2%, 27.9%, and 3.0%, respectively. The prevalence of tinnitus and the rates of annoying tinnitus increased with age. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of tinnitus was higher for females, those with a smoking history, those reporting less sleep (≤ 6 h), those with more stress, those in smaller households, those with a history of hyperlipidemia osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, depression, thyroid disease, an abnormal tympanic membrane, unilateral hearing loss, bilateral hearing loss, noise exposure from earphones, noise exposure at the workplace, noise exposure outside the workplace, and brief noise exposure. Additionally, unemployed individuals and soldiers had higher AORs for tinnitus. The AOR of annoying tinnitus increased with age, stress, history of hyperlipidemia, unilateral hearing loss, and bilateral hearing loss.
Tinnitus is very common in the general population and is associated with gender, smoking, stress, sleep, hearing loss, hyperlipidemia, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, depression, and thyroid disease history.
To elucidate the effects of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), we conduct whole transcriptome profiling coupled with histopathology analyses of a longitudinal breast cancer cohort of 146 patients ...including 110 pairs of serial tumor biopsies collected before treatment, after the first cycle of treatment and at the time of surgery. Here, we show that cytotoxic chemotherapies induce dynamic changes in the tumor immune microenvironment that vary by subtype and pathologic response. Just one cycle of treatment induces an immune stimulatory microenvironment harboring more tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and up-regulation of inflammatory signatures predictive of response to anti-PD1 therapies while residual tumors are immune suppressed at end-of-treatment compared to the baseline. Increases in TILs and CD8+ T cell proportions in response to NAC are independently associated with pathologic complete response. Further, on-treatment immune response is more predictive of treatment outcome than immune features in paired baseline samples although these are strongly correlated.
Vitamin A and carotenoids are fat-soluble micronutrients that play important role as powerful antioxidants modulating oxidative stress and cancer development. Breast cancer is the most common ...malignancy in women. As the risk of breast cancer is dependent on various lifestyle factors such as dietary modifications, there is increasing interest surrounding the anti-cancerous properties of vitamin A and carotenoids. Despite the suggested protective roles of vitamin A and carotenoids in breast cancer development, their clinical application for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer is limited. In this narrative review, we discuss the roles of vitamin A and carotenoids along with the evaluation method of vitamin A status. We also exhibit the association of genetic variations involved in metabolism of vitamin A and carotenoids with cancers and other diseases. We demonstrate the epidemiological evidence for the relationship of vitamin A and carotenoids with breast cancer risk, their effects on cancer mechanism, and the recent updates in clinical practice of vitamin A or carotenoids as a potential therapeutic agent against breast cancer. This review provides insight into the preventive and therapeutic roles of vitamin A and carotenoids in breast cancer development and progression.
We investigated the correlation between the flavonoid content and NO production inhibitory activity of fruit peel extracts using 20 citrus plants. The contents of seven flavonoids (naringin, ...naringenin, hesperidin, hesperetin, rutin, nobiletin, and tangeretin) were determined by HPLC analysis. Each citrus peel extract varied in flavonoid content, but the contents of nobiletin and tangeretin, which were contained in all 20 fruit peels, showed a positive and significant correlation with each other (r=0.879, p<0.0005 for immature fruit peels; r=0.858, p<0.0005 for mature fruit peels). All citrus peel extracts dose-dependently inhibited LPS-induced NO production in RAW 264.7 cells. This inhibitory effect was significantly and positively correlated with the content of nobiletin and tangeretin. Nobiletin showed a more potent NO production inhibitory activity (IC50=26.5 μM) compared to tangeretin (IC50=136.6 μM). This result supports the premise that nobiletin-rich citrus may provide protection against disease resulting from excessive NO production.
This article presents an ultra-low power counter structure for a column-parallel single-slope analog-to-digital converter (SS-ADC) in CMOS image sensors. The proposed counter employs a two-step ...logical shift algorithm-based correlated double sampling (CDS) scheme. The logical shift algorithm can reduce parasitic capacitances, driving frequency, and inner toggling nodes by using the minimum number of transistors and a single-direction counter structure. Moreover, the two-step counting and double data rate scheme in the LSB counter can halve the operating clock frequency, resulting in further decreased power consumption. A prototype sensor was fabricated using a 110 nm CMOS image sensor process. The measurement results show that the proposed SS-ADC with a two-step counter consumes <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">2.4~\mu \text{W} </tex-math></inline-formula> power per column and shows a differential nonlinearity of +0.38/−0.25 LSB and an integral nonlinearity of +0.75/−0.5 LSB. The total power consumption is 2.25 mW for <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">640 \times 480 </tex-math></inline-formula> effective image resolution at 60 frame rates with 3.3 V/1.5 V supply voltage.
Summary
Background
The association between NUDT15 polymorphisms and thiopurine‐induced leucopenia is well known.
Aim
To investigate the association between NUDT15 polymorphisms and time‐to‐leucopenia ...in paediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) receiving azathioprine and to determine the relationship between NUDT15 polymorphisms and 6‐thioguanine nucleotide (6‐TGN) levels.
Methods
This retrospective observational study included Korean paediatric patients with IBD who were treated with azathioprine and underwent NUDT15 and TPMT genotyping. Azathioprine doses were adjusted by regular thiopurine metabolite monitoring. Factors associated with time‐to‐leucopenia and the relationship between NUDT15 polymorphisms and 6‐TGN levels were analysed.
Results
Among the 167 patients included, leucopenia was observed in 16% (19/119), 44% (20/45) and 100% (3/3) of the NUDT15 normal, intermediate and poor metabolisers respectively (P < 0.001). NUDT15 polymorphism was significantly associated with time‐to‐leucopenia (HR = 5.26, 95% CI = 2.74‐10.09, P < 0.001). There was a positive association between 6‐TGN levels and leucopenia among the NUDT15 intermediate/TPMT normal metabolisers (median 361.3 vs 263.8 pmol/8 × 108 RBC, P = 0.013). The most accurate 6‐TGN cut‐off level associated with leucopenia was 308.2 pmol/8 × 108 RBC (AUC = 0.742, 95% CI = 0.569‐0.915, sensitivity 80.0%, specificity 72.7%, P < 0.001) in this subgroup. When the specificity was set to <15%, the 6‐TGN cut‐off level was 167.1 pmol/8 × 108 RBC (sensitivity 93.3%, specificity 13.6%).
Conclusions
NUDT15 polymorphisms were associated with time‐to‐leucopenia during azathioprine treatment in Korean paediatric patients with IBD. In order to reduce the development of thiopurine‐induced leucopenia (<15%) in NUDT15 intermediate metabolisers, adjustment of azathioprine doses should be based on a lower 6‐TGN target level (<167.1 pmol/8 × 108 RBC).
Purple perilla (PE) is a medicinal plant that has several health benefits. In this study, the antiobesity effect of PE was studied in 3T3‐L1 preadipocytes and C57BL/6J mice fed high‐fat diets. ...Triglyceride quantification and Oil Red O staining in matured adipocytes revealed that PE reduced lipid accumulation in differentiated adipocytes by downregulating adipogenic gene and upregulating lipolytic gene expressions. Mice were fed normal diet, high‐fat diet and high‐fat diet supplemented with different concentrations of PE. Treatment with PE significantly prevented body weight gain, improved serum lipids, hepatic lipids and reduced the epididymal fat. Furthermore, in the adipose tissue and liver, expression of genes related to lipolysis and fatty acid β‐oxidation were upregulated in PE‐ treated mice. Thus, our results suggested that PE has antiobesity effects in rodents and can be effective in obesity management.
Practical Application
Purple perilla, rich in polyphenols such as rosmarinic acid, showed lipid lowering in adipocyte cells and prevented body weight gain in mice. Therefore we conclude that purple perilla may be a potential candidate for the development of functional foods or nutraceuticals in managing obesity in humans.
Vitamin D deficiency is a common health issue; however, the effect of vitamin D deficiency on the survival of T‐cell lymphoma is still not clear. We evaluated the impact of serum vitamin D level of ...patients with peripheral T‐cell lymphoma (PTCL) and extranodal natural killer/T‐cell lymphoma (ENKTL) on survival outcome. Pretreatment levels of 25‐hydroxyvitamin D 25(OH)D and inflammatory cytokines were measured in serum samples that were archived at diagnosis, and we evaluated their association with survival in newly diagnosed patients with PTCL (n = 137) and ENKTL (n = 114) at a university‐based hospital in Korea. An independent cohort from Rui Jin Hospital (Shanghai, China) was used for validation. The median 25(OH)D serum level was 12.0 ng/mL (1.3‐60.0 ng/mL), and 40% had less than 10 ng/mL, which was defined as vitamin D deficiency. Median serum 25(OH)D levels were similar between PTCL (11.5 ng/mL) and ENKTL (12.9 ng/mL); however, vitamin D deficiency was associated with inferior survival in ENKTL but not with PTCL. The independent validation cohort (n = 115) also showed a significant association of vitamin D deficiency with poor survival in ENKTL. The 25(OH)D level had an inverse relation with inflammatory cytokines; this association had a negative effect only on survival of ENKTL, and not on PTCL. In conclusion, vitamin D deficiency was associated with inferior survival outcome of patients with ENKTL.
Vitamin D deficiency was associated with inferior survival of extranodal NK/T‐cell lymphoma but not with peripheral T‐cell lymphoma. Poor prognosis of vitamin D deficiency was related with increased inflammatory cytokines in extranodal NK/T‐cell lymphoma.
Since the majority of patients with pancreatic cancer (PC) develop insulin resistance and/or diabetes mellitus (DM) prior to PC diagnosis, PC-induced diabetes mellitus (PC-DM) has been a focus for a ...potential platform for PC detection. In previous studies, the PC-derived exosomes were shown to contain the mediators of PC-DM. In the present study, the response of normal pancreatic islet cells to the PC-derived exosomes was investigated to determine the potential biomarkers for PC-DM, and consequently, for PC. Specifically, changes in microRNA (miRNA) expression were evaluated. The miRNA specimens were prepared from the untreated islet cells as well as the islet cells treated with the PC-derived exosomes (from 50 patients) and the healthy-derived exosomes (from 50 individuals). The specimens were subjected to next-generation sequencing and bioinformatic analysis to determine the differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNAs) only in the specimens treated with the PC-derived exosomes. Consequently, 24 candidate miRNA markers, including IRS1-modulating miRNAs such as hsa-miR-144-5p, hsa-miR-3148, and hsa-miR-3133, were proposed. The proposed miRNAs showed relevance to DM and/or insulin resistance in a literature review and pathway analysis, indicating a potential association with PC-DM. Due to the novel approach used in this study, additional evidence from future studies could corroborate the value of the miRNA markers discovered.
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