Comparison of the Plasma Metabolome Profiles Between the Internal Thoracic Artery and Ascending Aorta in Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery Using Gas Chromatography Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry.

BackgroundThe left internal thoracic artery (LITA) has been used as the first conduit of choice in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) because of excellent long-term patency and outcomes. However, no studies have examined substances other than nitric oxide that could be beneficial for the bypass conduit, native coronary artery or ischemic myocardium. This study was conducted to evaluate differences in metabolic profiles between the LITA and ascending aorta using gas chromatography-time of flight-mass spectrometry (GC-TOF-MS).MethodsTwenty patients who underwent CABG using the LITA were prospectively enrolled. Plasma samples were collected simultaneously from the LITA and ascending aorta. GC-TOF-MS based untargeted metabolomic analyses were performed and a 2-step volcano plot analysis was used to identify distinguishable markers from two plasma metabolome profiles. Semi-quantitative and quantitative analyses were performed using GC-TOF-MS and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively, after selecting target metabolites based on the metabolite set enrichment analysis.ResultsInitial volcano plot analysis demonstrated 5 possible markers among 851 peaks detected. The final analysis demonstrated that the L-cysteine peak was significantly higher in the LITA than in the ascending aorta (fold change = 1.86). The concentrations of intermediate metabolites such as L-cysteine, L-methionine and L-cystine in the 'cysteine and methionine metabolism pathway' were significantly higher in the LITA than in the ascending aorta (2.0-, 1.4- and 1.2-fold, respectively). Quantitative analysis showed that the concentration of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) was significantly higher in the LITA.ConclusionThe plasma metabolome profiles of the LITA and ascending aorta were different, particularly higher plasma concentrations of L-cysteine and H₂S in the LITA

Seismic evaluation of asymmetric wall systems using a modified three-dimensional capacity spectrum method

This paper proposes a modified three-dimensional capacity spectrum method to efficiently evaluate the seismic behavior of a building structure with asymmetric walls, where twisting is induced due to lateral loading. This method utilizes the demand surfaces and capacity curves that are created based on the inelastic earthquake response and seismic capacity of the asymmetric wall system, respectively. These two parameters are calculated from the displacement, torsional rotation angle and force coordinates of the structure under seismic loading. The seismic retrofit strategy of existing structures can be effectively determined by applying the proposed three-dimensional capacity spectrum method. In this procedure, a new performance point indicating the enhanced performance of the structure can be easily found by the modification of demand surfaces or capacity curves. The seismic evaluation and retrofitting strategies based on this approach are also discussed

Development of a bycatch reduction device (BRD) for shrimp beam trawl using flexible materials

This study aimed to design a bycatch reduction device (BRD) for shrimp beam trawl, which is manufactured by flexible materials to reduce bycatch for the gear in the South Sea of Korea. The model test was carried out to understand the shape of the gear in the water and to measure the variation of flow speed due to the BRD in a circulating water channel. Catches were compared between a shrimp beam trawl without BRD (control gear) and others with BRD (treatment gears) in the field. BRDs were two different types in this study. In the case of BRD (a), a square-shaped grid net and a funnel-shaped net were installed in the front part of the cod end to help fish sorting and expelling through the outlet at the bottom. BRD (b) has one more outlet which is added at the upper part of the BRD (a). On the model test, water speed was reduced a little in the gear by installing the BRD. At the results of comparing with a control gear, the bycatch (%) of fish excluding shrimp was reduced between 17 and 68% using BRD (a) and 5 and 66% for BRD (b) respectively. By the signed test of significant level 0.05, the quantity of shrimp catches for BRD (a) was not different in comparison to the control gear but it decreased for the gear installing BRD (b)

Violet-light spontaneous and stimulated emission from ultrathin In-rich InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

We investigated the spontaneous and stimulated emission properties of violet-light-emitting ultrathin In-rich InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) with indium content of 60%-70%. The Stokes shift was smaller than that of In-poor InGaN MQWs, and the emission peak position at 3.196 eV was kept constant with increasing pumping power, indicating negligible quantum confined Stark effect in ultrathin In-rich InGaN MQWs despite of high indium content. Optically pumped stimulated emission performed at room temperature was observed at 3.21 eV, the high-energy side of spontaneous emission, when the pumping power density exceeds ???31 kW/ cm2.open6

Overexpression of CFH gene in pterygiumv patients

Purpose: To investigate the expression of complement factors in pterygium tissues compared to normal conjunctival samples, using next-generation RNA sequencingMethods: Twenty pterygium and 20 healthy conjunctival samples were obtained from 19 patients who consented to pterygium excision and conjunctival autograft surgery. Tissues (pterygium and normal conjunctiva) were analyzed using next-generation RNA sequencing. Significant gene lists were obtained using DAVID, GSEA, and KEGG for enriched pathway analyses of differentially expressed genes. Realtime polymerase chain reaction was performed to validate differential expressions of complement factors.Results: There was 3.15 ± 2.6, 3.21 ± 4.6, 3.03 ± 1.83, 4.28 ± 6.12, and 4.96 ± 1.89-fold increase in the expression of CFH, C2, C1QB, C1QC, and MASP1, respectively, in pterygium samples compared to normal conjunctival samples. Pterygium size correlated well with the expression of CFH, C1QB, C1QC and MASP1.Conclusion: Alternative and lectin complement systems are activated in pterygia samples compared to normal conjunctival samples.Keywords: Pterygium; Complement factor; RNA sequencin

2D solar wind speeds from 6 to 26 solar radii in solar cycle 24 by using Fourier filtering

Measurement of the solar wind speed near the Sun is important for understanding the acceleration mechanism of the solar wind. In this study, we determine 2D solar wind speeds from 6 to 26 solar radii by applying Fourier motion filters to \textit{SOHO}/LASCO C3 movies observed from 1999 to 2010. Our method successfully reproduces the original flow speeds in the artificially generated data as well as streamer blobs. We measure 2D solar wind speeds from 1-day to 1-year timescales and their variation in solar cycle 24. We find that the solar wind speeds at timescales longer than a month in the solar maximum period are relatively uniform in the azimuthal direction, while they are clearly bimodal in the minimum period, as expected from the \textit{Ulysses} observations and IPS reconstruction. The bimodal structure appears at around 2006, becomes most distinctive in 2009, and abruptly disappears in 2010. The radial evolution of the solar wind speeds resembles the Parker's solar wind solution.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures; accepted by PR