413 research outputs found
Cost of Rehabilitation Treatment of Patients With Cerebral Palsy in Korea
Objective To investigate rehabilitation treatment cost of patients with cerebral palsy (CP) according to age. Methods We analyzed the cost of rehabilitation treatment from 2007 to 2013 for patients diagnosed with CP by sourcing data from the National Health Information Database. Results While the number of recently born children requiring rehabilitation treatment has decreased, the number of patients requiring this treatment in other age groups has gradually increased. In addition, annual physical therapy, occupational therapy, hydrotherapy, and botulinum toxin injection treatment costs per person have increased. On the other hand, the number of orthopedic surgeries and selective dorsal rhizotomy performed has decreased. Conclusion This study investigated trends in the cost of treatment for patients with CP. This study can be used as a basis to provide treatment support for patients with CP
Chlorin e6 Prevents ADP-Induced Platelet Aggregation by Decreasing PI3K-Akt Phosphorylation and Promoting cAMP Production
A number of reagents that prevent thrombosis have been developed but were found to have serious side effects. Therefore, we sought to identify complementary and alternative medicinal materials that are safe and have long-term efficacy. In the present studies, we have assessed the ability of chlorine e6 (CE6) to inhibit ADP-induced aggregation of rat platelets and elucidated the underlying mechanism. CE6 inhibited platelet aggregation induced by 10 µM ADP in a concentration-dependent manner and decreased intracellular calcium mobilization and granule secretion (i.e., ATP and serotonin release). Western blotting revealed that CE6 strongly inhibited the phosphorylations of PI3K, Akt, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and different mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) including extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) as well as p38-MAPK. Our study also demonstrated that CE6 significantly elevated intracellular cAMP levels and decreased thromboxane A2 formation in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, we determined that CE6 initiated the activation of PKA, an effector of cAMP. Taken together, our findings indicate that CE6 may inhibit ADP-induced platelet activation by elevating cAMP levels and suppressing PI3K/Akt activity. Finally, these results suggest that CE6 could be developed as therapeutic agent that helps prevent thrombosis and ischemia
Lowering the energy threshold in COSINE-100 dark matter searches
COSINE-100 is a dark matter detection experiment that uses NaI(Tl) crystal
detectors operating at the Yangyang underground laboratory in Korea since
September 2016. Its main goal is to test the annual modulation observed by the
DAMA/LIBRA experiment with the same target medium. Recently DAMA/LIBRA has
released data with an energy threshold lowered to 1 keV, and the persistent
annual modulation behavior is still observed at 9.5. By lowering the
energy threshold for electron recoils to 1 keV, COSINE-100 annual modulation
results can be compared to those of DAMA/LIBRA in a model-independent way.
Additionally, the event selection methods provide an access to a few to sub-GeV
dark matter particles using constant rate studies. In this article, we discuss
the COSINE-100 event selection algorithm, its validation, and efficiencies near
the threshold
Development of ultra-pure NaI(Tl) detectors for the COSINE-200 experiment
The annual modulation signal observed by the DAMA experiment is a
long-standing question in the community of dark matter direct detection. This
necessitates an independent verification of its existence using the same
detection technique. The COSINE-100 experiment has been operating with 106~kg
of low-background NaI(Tl) detectors providing interesting checks on the DAMA
signal. However, due to higher backgrounds in the NaI(Tl) crystals used in
COSINE-100 relative to those used for DAMA, it was difficult to reach final
conclusions. Since the start of COSINE-100 data taking in 2016, we also have
initiated a program to develop ultra-pure NaI(Tl) crystals for COSINE-200, the
next phase of the experiment. The program includes efforts of raw powder
purification, ultra-pure NaI(Tl) crystal growth, and detector assembly
techniques. After extensive research and development of NaI(Tl) crystal growth,
we have successfully grown a few small-size (0.610.78 kg) thallium-doped
crystals with high radio-purity. A high light yield has been achieved by
improvements of our detector assembly technique. Here we report the ultra-pure
NaI(Tl) detector developments at the Institute for Basic Science, Korea. The
technique developed here will be applied to the production of NaI(Tl) detectors
for the COSINE-200 experiment.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figure
First Results from the AMoRE-Pilot neutrinoless double beta decay experiment
The Advanced Molybdenum-based Rare process Experiment (AMoRE) aims to search
for neutrinoless double beta decay (0) of Mo with
100 kg of Mo-enriched molybdenum embedded in cryogenic detectors
with a dual heat and light readout. At the current, pilot stage of the AMoRE
project we employ six calcium molybdate crystals with a total mass of 1.9 kg,
produced from Ca-depleted calcium and Mo-enriched molybdenum
(CaMoO). The simultaneous detection of
heat(phonon) and scintillation (photon) signals is realized with high
resolution metallic magnetic calorimeter sensors that operate at milli-Kelvin
temperatures. This stage of the project is carried out in the Yangyang
underground laboratory at a depth of 700 m. We report first results from the
AMoRE-Pilot search with a 111 kgd live exposure of
CaMoO crystals. No evidence for
decay of Mo is found, and a upper limit is set for the
half-life of 0 of Mo of y at 90% C.L.. This limit corresponds to an effective
Majorana neutrino mass limit in the range eV
Efficacious Recombinant Influenza Vaccines Produced by High Yield Bacterial Expression: A Solution to Global Pandemic and Seasonal Needs
It is known that physical linkage of TLR ligands and vaccine antigens significantly enhances the immunopotency of the linked antigens. We have used this approach to generate novel influenza vaccines that fuse the globular head domain of the protective hemagglutinin (HA) antigen with the potent TLR5 ligand, flagellin. These fusion proteins are efficiently expressed in standard E. coli fermentation systems and the HA moiety can be faithfully refolded to take on the native conformation of the globular head. In mouse models of influenza infection, the vaccines elicit robust antibody responses that mitigate disease and protect mice from lethal challenge. These immunologically potent vaccines can be efficiently manufactured to support pandemic response, pre-pandemic and seasonal vaccines
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