Diagnostic performance and image quality of iterative model-based reconstruction of coronary CT angiography using 100 kVp for heavily calcified coronary vessels.

ObjectivesTo evaluate the diagnostic performance and image quality of an iterative model-based reconstruction (IMR) using a 100-kVp protocol for the assessment of heavily calcified coronary vessels, compared to those of filtered back projection (FBP) and hybrid iterative technique (iDose4), and also compared to those of IMR with standard 120 kVp protocol.MethodsAmong patients with Agatston scores ≥ 400 who had undergone both coronary CT angiography (CCTA) and invasive coronary angiography (ICA), age- and sex-matched patients with body mass index 50% in luminal reduction as compared with ICA) were assessed.ResultsIMR showed better objective and subjective image quality than FBP and iDose4 in both 100 kVp and 120 kVp groups (all p Conclusions100 kVp IMR may be useful for the assessment of heavily calcified coronary vessels, providing better diagnostic performance than FBP or iDose4 at the same dose, while maintaining similar diagnostic accuracy to 120 kVp IMR

Acupotomy for Osteoarthritis of the Knee; A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupotomy for the treatment of patients with knee osteoarthritis. There were 9 databases searched to retrieve randomized controlled trials until August 3, 2019 regarding acupotomy versus conventional Western medicine, conventional Western medicine treatment with and without acupotomy, and Korean medicine treatment with and without acupotomy, and meta-analysis was performed. Of 303 potentially relevant studies retrieved, 43 were systematically reviewed. All studies were conducted in China. Effective rate, visual analogue scale, and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis index were used as the evaluation scales. The Ashi point was selected most frequently. In all studies, the intervention group was more effective than the control group. Meta-analysis revealed that acupotomy showed statistically significant beneficial results. Although acupotomy had a beneficial effect on knee osteoarthritis, the risk of bias of the included studies was not low. The majority of the results from the evaluation scales used were highly heterogeneous (> 50%) which reduced confidence in the estimation of effect, or had a small sample size. Further clinical research and development is required in the future

Schizophrenia-associated Mitotic Arrest Deficient-1 (MAD1) regulates the polarity of migrating neurons in the developing neocortex

AbstractAlthough large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified an association between MAD1L1 (Mitotic Arrest Deficient-1 Like 1) and the pathology of schizophrenia, the molecular mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. In the present study, we aimed to address these mechanisms by examining the role of MAD1 (the gene product of MAD1L1) in key neurodevelopmental processes in mice and human organoids. Our findings indicated that MAD1 is highly expressed during active cortical development and that MAD1 deficiency leads to impairments in neuronal migration and neurite outgrowth. We also observed that MAD1 is localized to the Golgi apparatus and regulates vesicular trafficking from the Golgi apparatus to the plasma membrane, which is required for the growth and polarity of migrating neurons. In this process, MAD1 physically interacts and collaborates with the kinesin-like protein KIFC3 (kinesin family member C3) to regulate the morphology of the Golgi apparatus and neuronal polarity, thereby ensuring proper neuronal migration and differentiation. Consequently, our findings indicate that MAD1 is an essential regulator of neuronal development and that alterations in MAD1 may underlie schizophrenia pathobiology.11Nsciescopu

Systematic Review of Hominis Placenta Pharmacopuncture in English and Korean Literature

Background Hominis placenta (HP) is used in Korean medicine to tonify qi and blood, and enrich yin and tonify yang. HP has been reported to have therapeutic effects. Methods A survey of international and Korean electronic databases was conducted using the search terms “hominis placenta pharmacopuncture” and “hominis placenta extract”. The search was limited to material published up to May 31, 2017. Results A total of 83 studies were included in this systematic review: 50 were clinical studies, 25 were basic studies, and 8 were other types of study. Among clinical studies, the most frequently treated disease groups were musculoskeletal diseases and nervous system diseases. In vitro studies were conducted mainly on anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and anti-cell necrosis models. Most of the in vivo studies were performed in rheumatoid arthritis or diabetic complications models. Conclusions HP pharmacopuncture has effects in the treatment of various diseases. Further large-scale randomized controlled trials are needed to improve the level of evidence for HP pharmacopuncture. It would be helpful if future in vitro and in vivo studies could identify the mechanism of action of HP pharmacopuncture

Gcap14 is a microtubule plus-end-tracking protein coordinating microtubule–actin crosstalk during neurodevelopment

Regulation of microtubule dynamics is required to properly control various steps of neurodevelopment. In this study, we identified granule cell antiserum-positive 14 (Gcap14) as a microtubule plus-end-tracking protein and as a regulator of microtubule dynamics during neurodevelopment. Gcap14 knockout mice exhibited impaired cortical lamination. Gcap14 deficiency resulted in defective neuronal migration. Moreover, nuclear distribution element nudE-like 1 (Ndel1), an interacting partner of Gcap14, effectively corrected the downregulation of microtubule dynamics and the defects in neuronal migration caused by Gcap14 deficiency. Finally, we found that the Gcap14–Ndel1 complex participates in the functional link between microtubule and actin filament, thereby regulating their crosstalks in the growth cones of cortical neurons. Taken together, we propose that the Gcap14–Ndel1 complex is fundamental for cytoskeletal remodeling during neurodevelopmental processes such as neuronal processes elongation and neuronal migration.11Nsciescopu

Gcap14 is a microtubule plus-end-tracking protein coordinating microtubule–actin crosstalk during neurodevelopment

Regulation of microtubule dynamics is required to properly control various steps of neurodevelopment. In this study, we identified granule cell antiserum-positive 14 (Gcap14) as a microtubule plus-end-tracking protein and as a regulator of microtubule dynamics during neurodevelopment. Gcap14 knockout mice exhibited impaired cortical lamination. Gcap14 deficiency resulted in defective neuronal migration. Moreover, nuclear distribution element nudE-like 1 (Ndel1), an interacting partner of Gcap14, effectively corrected the downregulation of microtubule dynamics and the defects in neuronal migration caused by Gcap14 deficiency. Finally, we found that the Gcap14–Ndel1 complex participates in the functional link between microtubule and actin filament, thereby regulating their crosstalks in the growth cones of cortical neurons. Taken together, we propose that the Gcap14–Ndel1 complex is fundamental for cytoskeletal remodeling during neurodevelopmental processes such as neuronal processes elongation and neuronal migration. 11Nsciescopu

Development of plasma sources and diagnostics for the simulation of fusion edge plasmas

© 2022, The Korean Physical Society.Although the research on divertors and scrape-off layers (SOLs) has been not as focused on as the recent success of the Korean fusion program, a few linear plasma devices have been developed for simulating divertor and SOL plasmas: (1) diversified plasma simulator (DiPS), a versatile linear machine, has been developed for simulations of divertor and space plasmas with various electric probes, such as single, triple, and Mach Probes and gridded energy analyzer. DiPS consists of two major parts: a divertor plasma simulator with a LaB 6 DC plasma source and a space plasma simulator with a helicon RF plasma source, (2) divertor plasma simulator-1 (DiPS-1) is a part of DiPS with only a LaB 6 cathode, where a low-power laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) is added and more electric probe diagnostics are augmented; it is dedicated only for fusion edge and divertor plasmas, (3) Divertor Plasma Simulator-2 (DiPS-2) has been modified from the DiPS-1 by adding a magnetic nozzle with a limiter structure and by removing the helicon source and space chamber. DiPS-2 is a linear plasma device with a 4-inch LaB 6 cathode, the same as DiPS-1, and it is focused on the development of various diagnostics, such as those used for LIF and laser Thomson scattering (LTS) along with various electric probes, on the divertor and scrape-off plasmas and on the plasma-material interaction (PMI) research, such as that of tungsten and graphite as plasma-facing components (PFCs), (4) A Multi-Purpose Plasma (MP 2) device is a renovation of the Hanbit mirror device [Kwon et al., Nucl. Fusion 43, 686 (2003)] with the installation of two plasma sources: LaB 6 (DC) and helicon (RF) plasma sources. A honeycomb-like large-area LaB 6 (HLA-LaB 6) cathode has been developed for the divertor plasma simulation to improve the resistance against the thermal shock fragility for large (8-inch) and high density plasma generation, (5) DiPS-2 has been augmented by adding another cylindrical device, called the Dust interaction with Surfaces Chamber (DiSC) for the generation and diagnostics of dusts. This combined system (DiPS-2+DiSC) has added two more diagnostics: Laser Photo-Detachment (LPD) for dust density and laser Mie Scattering (LMS) for dust size. Moreover, dusts or negative ions have been analyzed by using electric probes and capacitive diagram gauges in Transport and Removal of Dusts (TReD) device.N

Simulations of fusion edge plasmas by linear plasma devices: physics and plasma–material interactions

© 2022, The Korean Physical Society.Because a fusion edge plasma contains various atomic and molecular processes, along with various plasma–material interactions (PMIs) for post-mortem analyses, a linear plasma device can simulate divertor and scrape-off layer (SOL) plasmas with DC edge relevant parameters, although it cannot generate a high ion temperature and toroidicity with much less power density compared to toroidal devices. The Divertor Plasma Simulator-2 (DiPS-2), a linear device with an LaB6 DC cathode, has been used for a few fusion-relevant physics experiments, including edge localized mode (ELM) simulation and edge transport of diffusion and convection. An ELM simulation has been performed by modulating the magnetic field relevant to the pressure modulation of a toroidal device, and the diffusion coefficients of free and bound presheaths have been measured in simulations of divertor or limiter transport. Moreover, the convection of the filament or the bubble expansion to the first wall has also been analyzed. In addition to various atomic and molecular processes in SOL and divertor plasmas, PMIs must be analyzed both on and beneath the surface of the plasma-facing components (PFCs) because of surface modification. Using DiPS-2 and other linear devices along with Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR), PMIs have been analyzed in terms of the following elements or processes: (1) boronizations, both for dust interactions with the surface chamber (DiSC) and KSTAR device, are analyzed; (2) carbon damage by the dense heat flux of DiPS-2 is experimentally investigated; (3) the density profile of the lithium injection gettering of hydrogen and its transport experiments (LIGHT-1) device is analytically calculated; (4) the effect of nitrogen on the relaxation of the heat flux to the divertor tile is experimentally analyzed; and (5) tungsten as the divertor tile material is analyzed via laser ELM simulations in terms of dust generation and surface modification.N