Relation between Obesity and Bone Mineral Density and Vertebral Fractures in Korean Postmenopausal Women

PURPOSE: The traditional belief that obesity is protective against osteoporosis has been questioned. Recent epidemiologic studies show that body fat itself may be a risk factor for osteoporosis and bone fractures. Accumulating evidence suggests that metabolic syndrome and the individual components of metabolic syndrome such as hypertension, increased triglycerides, and reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol are also risk factors for low bone mineral density. Using a cross sectional study design, we evaluated the associations between obesity or metabolic syndrome and bone mineral density (BMD) or vertebral fracture. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 907 postmenopausal healthy female subjects, aged 60-79 years, were recruited from woman hospitals in Seoul, South Korea. BMD, vetebral fracture, bone markers, and body composition including body weight, body mass index (BMI), percentage body fat, and waist circumference were measured. RESULTS: After adjusting for age, smoking status, alcohol consumption, total calcium intake, and total energy intake, waist circumference was negatively related to BMD of all sites (lumbar BMD p = 0.037, all sites of femur BMD p < 0.001) whereas body weight was still positively related to BMD of all sites (p < 0.001). Percentage body fat and waist circumference were much higher in the fracture group than the non-fracture group (p = 0.0383, 0.082 respectively). Serum glucose levels were positively correlated to lumbar BMD (p = 0.016), femoral neck BMD (p = 0.0335), and femoral trochanter BMD (p = 0.0082). Serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) was positively related to femoral trochanter BMD (p = 0.0366) and was lower in the control group than the fracture group (p = 0.011). CONCLUSION: In contrast to the effect favorable body weight on bone mineral density, high percentage body fat and waist circumference are related to low BMD and a vertebral fracture. Some components of metabolic syndrome were related to BMD and a vertebral fractureope

Application of Filters to Multiway Joins in MapReduce

Joining multiple datasets in MapReduce may amplify the disk and network overheads because intermediate join results have to be written to the underlying distributed file system, or map output records have to be replicated multiple times. This paper proposes a method for applying filters based on the processing order of input datasets, which is appropriate for the two types of multiway joins: common attribute joins and distinct attribute joins. The number of redundant records filtered depends on the processing order. In common attribute joins, the input records do not need to be replicated, so a set of filters is created, which are applied in turn. In distinct attribute joins, the input records have to be replicated, so multiple sets of filters need to be created, which depend on the number of join attributes. The experimental results showed that our approach outperformed a cascade of two-way joins and basic multiway joins in cases where small portions of input datasets were joined

Ubi-RKE: A Rhythm Key Based Encryption Scheme for Ubiquitous Devices

As intelligent ubiquitous devices become more popular, security threats targeting them are increasing; security is seen as one of the major challenges of the ubiquitous computing. Now a days, applying ubiquitous computing in number of fields for human safety and convenience was immensely increased in recent years. The popularity of the technology is rising day by day, and hence the security is becoming the main focused point with the advent and rising popularity of the applications. In particular, the number of wireless networks based on ubiquitous devices has increased rapidly; these devices support transmission for many types of data traffic. The convenient portability of ubiquitous devices makes them vulnerable to security threats, such as loss, theft, data modification, and wiretapping. Developers and users should seriously consider employing data encryption to protect data from such vulnerabilities. In this paper, we propose a Rhythm Key based Encryption scheme for ubiquitous devices (Ubi-RKE). The concept of Rhythm Key based Encryption has been applied to numerous real world applications in different domains. It provides key memorability and secure encryption through user touching rhythm on ubiquitous devices. Our proposed scheme is more efficient for users than existing schemes, by providing a strong cipher

Genetic variants of interferon lambda-related genes and chronic kidney disease susceptibility in the Korean population

Background Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a common condition leading to renal dysfunction and is closely related to increased cardiovascular and mortality risk. CKD is an important public health issue, and recent genetic studies have verified common CKD susceptibility variants. This research examines the interrelationship between candidate genes polymorphisms of interferon lambda (IFNL) induction, its signaling pathway, and CKD. Methods Seventy-five patients with advanced CKD and 312 healthy subjects (as controls) participated in this research. A replication set composed of 172 patients with advanced CKD and 365 controls was used for additional analysis. The genotype of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was determined by the Axiom Genome-Wide Human Assay and SNaPshot assay. Results The SNP of IFNL3 was significantly associated with CKD in the codominant (p = 0.02) and dominant models (p = 0.02). In addition, the SNPs of IFNL2 were significantly associated with CKD in the dominant model (p = 0.03), and the SNP of interferon alpha receptor 2 (IFNAR2) was significantly associated with CKD in the log-additive model (p = 0.03). Concerning rs148543092, in the IFNL3 gene, a significant association was observed after pooling the original and replication sets. Conclusion These results indicate that SNPs in the IFNL induction and signal pathway may be associated with CKD risk in the Korean population. Finally, our results also show that the IFNL3 gene variant may be associated with CKD risk

Pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine expression and histopathological characteristics in canine brain with traumatic brain injury

We analyzed the expression level and cellular localization of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and histopathologically characterized canine traumatic brain injury (TBI). Canine TBI brains revealed subarachnoid and cerebral cortical hemorrhage, neutrophilic infiltration, neuronal necrosis, astrocytosis, and vasogenic edema. Immunohistochemical evaluations suggested that both pro-inflammatory cytokines [interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α] and anti-inflammatory cytokines [IL-10 and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β)] were highly expressed in neurons and neutrophils. In particular, the highest magnitude of expression was identified for IL-1β and TGF-β. This data helps describe the pathologic characteristics of canine TBI, and may help in the design of potential therapeutic approaches to control secondary damage by inflammatory cytokines

Carbon-free high-performance cathode for solid-state Li-O-2 battery

The development of a cathode for solid-state lithium-oxygen batteries has been hindered in practice by a low capacity and limited cycle life despite their potential for high energy density. Here, a previously unexplored strategy is proposed wherein the cathode delivers a specific capacity of 200 milliampere hour per gram over 665 discharge/charge cycles, while existing cathodes achieve only similar to 50 milliampere hour per gram and similar to 100 cycles. A highly conductive ruthenium-based composite is designed as a carbon-free cathode by first-principles calculations to avoid the degradation associated with carbonaceous materials, implying an improvement in stability during the electrochemical cycling. In addition, water vapor is added into the main oxygen gas as an additive to change the discharge product from growth-restricted lithium peroxide to easily grown lithium hydroxide, resulting in a notable increase in capacity. Thus, the proposed strategy is effective for developing reversible solid-state lithium-oxygen batteries with high energy density

Clinical features and outcomes in spontaneous intramural small bowel hematoma: cohort study and literature review

Background/Aims Spontaneous intramural small bowel hematoma (SISBH) is an extremely rare complication of anticoagulant or antiplatelet therapy. We assessed the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with SISBH according to the anatomical location of the hematoma. Methods From January 2003 to February 2016, medical records for all patients hospitalized for SISBH at 2 tertiary referral hospitals were retrospectively reviewed. The primary outcome was requirement for surgery. Results A total of 37 patients were enrolled. The mean age was 74.1 years. Among them, 33 patients (89.2%) were taking anticoagulant and/or antiplatelet agents. Duodenal intramural hematoma was detected in 4 patients (10.8%), jejunal in 16 (43.2%), and ileal in 17 (45.9%). Compared to jejunal and ileal involvement, duodenal intramural hematoma was significantly associated with high Charlson comorbidity index and low levels of white blood cells, hemoglobin, and platelets in the blood. SISBH in the duodenum was related to thrombocytopenia in 3 patients following systemic chemotherapy for malignancy. All patients with SISBH showed clinical improvement with conservative therapy. Mean length of hospital stay was 9.35 days. Independent predictors of a hospital stay of more than 7 days were body weight less than 60 kg (odds ratio [OR], 12.213; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.755–84.998; P=0.011) and a history of cerebrovascular accidents (OR, 6.667; 95% CI, 1.121–39.650; P=0.037). Conclusions Compared to jejunal and ileal involvement, thrombocytopenia may result in spontaneous duodenal intramural hematoma among patients who are treated with systemic chemotherapy for malignancies. Patients with SISBH have excellent clinical outcomes with conservative therapy regardless of the anatomical location of the hematoma

Successful Retrieval of a Fractured and Entrapped 0.035-Inch Terumo Wire in the Femoral Artery Using Biopsy Forceps

A 0.035-inch guide wire fracture and entrapment in a peripheral artery is a very rare complication, but when it does occur it may lead to life-threatening complications, such as perforation, thrombus formation, embolization, and subsequent limb ischemia. We describe our experience of successfully retrieving a fractured 0.035-inch Terumo guide wire in the external iliac artery using a biopsy forcep

Optimization of Shortest-Path Search on RDBMS-Based Graphs

Calculation of the shortest path between two nodes in a graph is a popular operation used in graph queries in applications such as map information systems, social networking services, and biotechnology. Recent shortest-path search techniques based on graphs stored in relational databases are able to calculate the shortest path efficiently, even in large data using frontier-expand-merge operations. However, previous approaches used a sequential bidirectional search method that causes a bottleneck, thus degrading performance. The repeated use of an aggregate SQL function also degrades performance. This paper proposes a parallel bi-directional search method using multithreading. In addition, an efficient optimization method is proposed that uses B-tree indexing instead of an aggregate SQL function. Various experiments using synthetic and real data reveal that the proposed optimization technique performs more efficiently than conventional methods. As the size of data in practical applications continues to grow, these optimizations will enable the shortest path in a graph to be found quickly and accurately

한국인 여성 II급 2류 부정교합 환자의 측모두부방사선 형태학적 특징

이 연구의 목적은 강화지역의 한국인 아동의 유치열기에서의 공극과 총생의 빈도를 조사하고, 치아 크기와 치열궁간의 관계를 조사하는 것이다. 102개의 취학전 아동(남자 57명, 여자 45명, 세)의 석고모형을 조사하여 치아의 크기, 견치간 폭경, 구치부 폭영, 치열궁 장경을 측정하였다. 유치열기의 공극 빈도는 남자에서 63.2%, 여자에서 57.8%로 나타났다. 공극의 빈도는 남자에서, 하악보다는 상악에서 더 높게 나타났다. 공극이 있는 경우보다 총생을 보이는 치열에서 치아 크기는 크고 치열궁 폭경은 더 작게 나타났다 (p<0.05). 전치부 공극의 존재 여부는 치아의 크기, 견치간 폭경과 관련이 있었다. The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of spaced, closed, and crowded primary dentitions by sex and arch in Korean children from Kanghwa, and to determine the frequency of the primate and developmental spaces. The differences in the mesiodistal crown diameters and the arch dimensions between the spaced, closed, and crowded primary dentitions were also evaluated. Dental casts of 102 preschool children (57 males and 45 females, aged years) were studied. The prevalence of spacing in the primary dentition was 63.2% In males and 57.8% in females. The frequency of spacing was greater in males than in females, and greater in the maxillary arch than in the mandibular arch. The crowns were significantly larger and the arches significantly narrower in closed and crowded dentitions than in those with spacing (p<0.05). The results showed that the prevalence of spacing was lower than that found in previous studies and the presence of spacing in the anterior region was related to the mesiodistal crown diameter and the intercanine width