A memory cell consisting of a Pt/VO2/Pt switch element and a Pt/NiO/Pt memory element connected in series. By applying a voltage higher than Vth of 0.6 V, the switch element reaches the on state and ...the cell can be accessed. Since reset and set voltages are higher than Vth, information can be written by simply applying an appropriate voltage to a selected cell. By applying a voltage lower than Vth to the other cells, we can keep the other cells in the off state and prevent interference between the selected cell and the others.
Objectives
High salt intake results in various harmful effects on human health including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and reduced bone density. Despite this, there are very few studies in ...the literature that have investigated the association between sodium intake and osteoarthritis (OA). Therefore, we aimed to explore these associations in a Korean population.
Methods
This study used cross-sectional data from adult subjects aged 50–75 years from two consecutive periods of the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey V–VII (2010–2011 and 2014–2016). The estimated 24-hour urinary sodium excretion (24HUNa) was used as a surrogate marker of salt intake. In the 2010–2011 dataset, knee OA (KOA) was defined as the presence of the radiographic features of OA and knee pain. The association between KOA and salt intake was analysed using univariable and multivariable logistic regression methods. For the sensitivity analysis, the same procedures were conducted on subjects with self-reported OA (SR-OA) with knee pain in the 2010–2011 dataset and any site SR-OA in the 2014–2016 dataset.
Results
Subjects with KOA had significantly lower energy intake, but higher 24HUNa than those without KOA. The restricted cubic spline plots demonstrated a J-shaped distribution between 24HUNa and prevalent KOA. When 24HUNa was stratified into five groups (<2, 2–3, 3–4, 4–5 and ≥5 g/day), subjects with high sodium intake (≥5 g/day) had a higher risk of KOA (odds ratio OR = 1.64, 95% confidence interval CI 1.03–2.62) compared to the reference group (3–4 g/day) after adjusting for covariates. The sensitivity analysis based on SR-OA with knee pain showed that high sodium intake was also significantly associated with increased prevalence of OA (OR = 1.84, 95% CI 1.10–3.10) compared with the reference group. Regarding SR-OA at any site in the 2014–2016 dataset, estimated 24HUNa showed a significantly positive association with the presence of SR-OA after adjusting for potential confounders.
Conclusions
This nationwide Korean representative study showed a significant association between symptomatic KOA and high sodium intake (≥5 g/day). Avoidance of a diet high in salt might be beneficial as a non-pharmacologic therapy for OA.
Summary Surveillance of healthcare-associated infection has been associated with a reduction in surgical site infection (SSI). Our aim was to evaluate the Korean Nosocomial Infection Surveillance ...System (KONIS) in order to assess its effects on SSI since it was introduced. SSI data after gastrectomy, total hip arthroplasty (THA), and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) between 2008 and 2012 were analysed. The pooled incidence of SSI was calculated for each year; the same analyses were also conducted from hospitals that had participated in KONIS for at least three consecutive years. Standardized SSI rates for each year were calculated by adjusting for SSI risk factors. SSI trends were analysed using the Cochran‒Armitage test. The SSI rate following gastrectomy was 3.12% (522/16,918). There was a significant trend of decreased crude SSI rates over five years. This trend was also evident in analysis of hospitals that had participated for more than three years. The SSI rate for THA was 2.05% (157/7656), which decreased significantly from 2008 to 2012. The risk factors for SSI after THA included the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance risk index, trauma, reoperation, and age (60–69 years). The SSI rate for TKA was 1.90% (152/7648), which also decreased significantly during a period of five years. However, the risk-adjusted analysis of SSI did not show a significant decrease for all surgical procedures. In conclusion, the SSI incidence of gastrectomy and prosthetic joint replacement declined over five years as a result of active surveillance by KONIS.
Abstract
We investigated how weather conditions and environmental factors affect the spatiotemporal variability in Culex pipiens population using the data collected from a surveillance program in ...Ontario, Canada, from 2005 to 2008. This study assessed the relative influences of temperature and precipitation on the temporal patterns of mosquito abundance using harmonic analysis and examined the associations with major landscape predictors, including land-use type, population density, and elevation, on the spatial patterns of mosquito abundance. The intensity of trapping efforts on the mosquito abundance at each trap site was examined by comparing the spatial distribution of mosquito abundance in relation to the spatial intensity of trapping efforts. The authors used a mixed effects modeling approach to account for potential dependent structure in mosquito surveillance data due to repeated observations at single trap sites and/or similar mosquito abundance at nearby trap sites each week. The model fit was improved by taking into account the nested structure of mosquito surveillance data and incorporating the temporal correlation in random effects.
Background and purpose
Reduction of metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) uptake has been observed in almost all patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), associated with hyposmia, orthostatic hypotension and ...rapid eye movement sleep behavioral disorder (RBD). In contrast, a subgroup of patients with PD with normal MIBG uptake have been reported to have milder disease and preserved cognition compared with those with lower MIBG. The aim of this study was to investigate whether non‐motor manifestations of PD differ between patients with normal and abnormal myocardial MIBG uptake.
Methods
Among 160 de‐novo cases of PD, 44 had normal MIBG uptake. Twelve candidate non‐motor features were evaluated using questionnaires and laboratory tests.
Results
Patients with decreased MIBG uptake had more constipation, RBD, cognitive impairment, hyposmia and orthostatic hypotension than did those with normal MIBG uptake. On linear regression analysis, orthostatic hypotension, olfactory function and probable RBD were significantly associated with MIBG uptake in PD. The principal component analysis showed that the group with normal MIBG was not associated with non‐motor impairments.
Conclusions
These results suggest that patients with PD with normal MIBG scans have a relatively low disease burden compared with those with abnormal MIBG. Fewer synuclein pathologies in the myocardia and sympathetic ganglia in PD with preserved MIBG uptake might be associated with lower threshold patterns of Braak synuclein pathology for non‐motor manifestations compared with PD with decreased MIBG.
This work was designed to investigate the removal efficiency as well as the ratios of toluene and xylene transported from air to root zone via the stem and by direct diffusion from the air into the ...medium. Indoor plants (Schefflera actinophylla and Ficus benghalensis) were placed in a sealed test chamber. Shoot or root zone were sealed with a Teflon bag, and gaseous toluene and xylene were exposed. Removal efficiency of toluene and total xylene (m, p, o) was 13.3 and 7.0 μg·m⁻³·m⁻² leaf area over a 24-h period in S. actinophylla, and was 13.0 and 7.3 μg·m⁻³·m⁻² leaf area in F. benghalensis. Gaseous toluene and xylene in a chamber were absorbed through leaf and transported via the stem, and finally reached to root zone, and also transported by direct diffusion from the air into the medium. Toluene and xylene transported via the stem was decreased with time after exposure. Xylene transported via the stem was higher than that by direct diffusion from the air into the medium over a 24-h period. The ratios of toluene transported via the stem versus direct diffusion from the air into the medium were 46.3 and 53.7 % in S. actinophylla, and 46.9 and 53.1 % in F. benghalensis, for an average of 47 and 53 % for both species. The ratios of m,p-xylene transported over 3 to 9 h via the stem versus direct diffusion from the air into the medium was 58.5 and 41.5 % in S. actinophylla, and 60.7 and 39.3 % in F. benghalensis, for an average of 60 and 40 % for both species, whereas the ratios of o-xylene transported via the stem versus direct diffusion from the air into the medium were 61 and 39 %. Both S. actinophylla and F. benghalensis removed toluene and xylene from the air. The ratios of toluene and xylene transported from air to root zone via the stem were 47 and 60 %, respectively. This result suggests that root zone is a significant contributor to gaseous toluene and xylene removal, and transported via the stem plays an important role in this process.
Summary Background For all countries, information on pathogens causing healthcare-associated infections is important in order to develop proper strategies for preventing and treating nosocomial ...infections. Aim To assess the change in frequencies and antimicrobial resistance of pathogens causing device-associated infections (DAIs) in intensive care units (ICUs) in South Korea between July 2006 and June 2014. Methods Data from the Korean Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System (KONIS) were analysed, including three major DAI types in ICUs. Findings The frequency of Gram-negative bacteria gradually increased for central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) (from 24.6% to 32.6% and from 52.8% to 73.5%, respectively). By contrast, the frequency of Gram-positive bacteria decreased from 58.6% to 49.2% for CLABSI, and from 44.3% to 23.8% for VAP ( P < 0.001). Staphylococcus aureus was the most frequent causative pathogen in CLABSI throughout the surveillance period, but for VAP was replaced as the most frequent pathogen by Acinetobacter baumannii as of 2010. Candida albicans was the most frequent pathogen for catheter-associated urinary tract infection. The meticillin resistance rate in S. aureus decreased from 95% to 90.2% ( P < 0.001); amikacin resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli decreased from 43.8% to 14.7% and from 15.0% to 1.8%, respectively ( P < 0.001); imipenem resistance in A. baumannii increased from 52.9% to 89.8% ( P < 0.001). Conclusion The proportion of Gram-negative bacteria as nosocomial pathogens for CLABSI and VAP has increased. The prevalence of A. baumannii causing DAIs in Korean ICUs has increased rapidly, as has the rate of carbapenem resistance in these bacteria.
Nitric oxide is produced enzymatically by the nitric oxide synthase (NOS), which converts
l-arginine in the presence of oxygen to
l-citrulline and NO. Moreover, it has been reported that asymmetric ...dimethylarginine (ADMA) acts as is an endogenous inhibitor of endothelial NOS (eNOS) by competing with the enzyme for
l-arginine.
In this study, we measured
l-arginine and ADMA in normal and preeclamptic women, and also investigated the association between the Glu298Asp
eNOS gene polymorphism and preeclampsia. Finally, we assessed eNOS expression levels in the placentas of both normal and preeclamptic patients, using Western blot and immunohistochemistry.
l-arginine levels were found to be significantly lower in the preeclamptic women than in the normal pregnant women (
p
=
0.02) but there were no significant differences in ADMA levels between the normal and preeclamptic women. We also determined there to be no association between the Glu298Asp
eNOS gene and preeclampsia. With regard to placental eNOS expression, we detected a lower degree of eNOS expression in the preeclamptic syncytiotrophoblasts than in the normal syncytiotrophoblasts. We suggest that reduced
l-arginine levels, rather than increased ADMA levels, contribute to the development of preeclampsia, and also that decreased placental eNOS expression constitutes a characteristic finding in preeclamptic placentas.
Presently, co-culture of human umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stem cells (hUCB-MSCs) with BV2 microglia under amyloid-β42 (Aβ42) exposure induced a reduction of Aβ42 in the medium as well as an ...overexpression of the Aβ-degrading enzyme neprilysin (NEP) in microglia. Cytokine array examinations of co-cultured media revealed elevated release of soluble intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) from hUCB-MSCs. Administration of human recombinant ICAM-1 in BV2 cells and wild-type mice brains induced NEP expression in time- and dose-dependent manners. In co-culturing with BV2 cells under Aβ42 exposure, knockdown of ICAM-1 expression on hUCB-MSCs by small interfering RNA (siRNA) abolished the induction of NEP in BV2 cells as well as reduction of added Aβ42 in the co-cultured media. By contrast, siRNA-mediated inhibition of the sICAM-1 receptor, lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1), on BV2 cells reduced NEP expression by ICAM-1 exposure. When hUCB-MSCs were transplanted into the hippocampus of a 10-month-old transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease for 10, 20, or 40 days, NEP expression was increased in the mice brains. Moreover, Aβ42 plaques in the hippocampus and other regions were decreased by active migration of hUCB-MSCs toward Aβ deposits. These data suggest that hUCB-MSC-derived sICAM-1 decreases Aβ plaques by inducing NEP expression in microglia through the sICAM-1/LFA-1 signaling pathway.
The tribological properties of FKM fluorocarbon elastomer were investigated with the aim of developing suitable accelerated wear test conditions for this type of seal material. The wear pattern of ...the specimen under normal operating conditions was monitored over a test time of 1000 h to be used as a reference. The results were compared with experiments performed under accelerated testing conditions. It was found that by mixing alumina particles of ∼1 μm with the lubricant, the wear of a FKM specimen could be accelerated by a factor of 58, while maintaining similar wear behavior as that of the normal test conditions. The results of this work are expected to aid in the prediction of life FKM elastomer seals.
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