Serial Magnetic Resonance Imagings of Multiple Brain Abscesses in a Patient with Pneumococcal Meningoencephalitis

We report a 43-yr-old man manifesting bacterial meningoencephalitis and multiple abscesses by Streptococcus pneumoniae. Serial magnetic resonance (MR) imagings and MR spectroscopy showed the evolution of multiple brain abscesses over 4 weeks: the enhanced rings became thicker and the dimension of whole lesions larger despite shrinkage of the ring-enhanced regions. These findings may be evidence of active inflammation working to sequestrate the lesion and protect the surrounding normal brain parenchyma from additional damage, even in the final stage of the brain abscess

Identification of a novel ubiquitin binding site of STAM1 VHS domain by NMR spectroscopy

AbstractInteraction between the signal-transducing adapter molecule 1 (STAM1) Vps27/Hrs/Stam (VHS) domain and ubiquitin was investigated by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. NMR evidence showed that the structure of STAM1 VHS domain resembles that of other VHS domains, especially the homologous domain of STAM2. We found that the VHS domain binds to ubiquitin via its hydrophobic patch consisting of N-terminus of helix 2 and C-terminus of helix 4 in which Trp26 on helix 2 plays a pivotal role in the binding. The binding between VHS and ubiquitin seems to be very similar to that between ubiquitin associated domain (UBA) and ubiquitin, however, the direction of α-helices involved in the ubiquitin binding is opposite. Here, we propose a novel ubiquitin binding site and the manner of ubiquitin recognition of the STAM1 VHS domain.Structured summaryMINT-6804185:STAM1 (uniprotkb:Q92783) binds (MI:0407) to ubiquitin (uniprotkb:P62988) by nuclear magnetic resonance (MI:0077

spatio temporal contextualization of queries for microtexts in social media mathematical modeling

Abstract In this paper, we present our ongoing project on query contextualization by integrating all possible IoT-based data sources. Most importantly, mobile users are regarded as the IoT sensors which can be the textual data sources with spatio-temporal contexts. Given a large amount of text streams, it has been difficult for the traditional information retrieval systems to conduct the searching tasks. The goal of this work is i ) to understand and process microtexts in social media (e.g., Twitter and Facebook), and ii ) to reformulate the queries for searching for relevant microtexts in these social media

Entanglement dynamics of two-qubit system in different types of noisy channels

In this paper, we study entanglement dynamics of a two-qubit extended Werner-like state locally interacting with independent noisy channels, i.e., amplitude damping, phase damping and depolarizing channels. We show that the purity of initial entangled state has direct impacts on the entanglement robustness in each noisy channel. That is, if the initial entangled state is prepared in mixed instead of pure form, the state may exhibit entanglement sudden death (ESD) and/or be decreased for the critical probability at which the entanglement disappear.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

Percutaneous aspiration of lumbar zygapophyseal joint synovial cyst under fluoroscopic guidance -A case report-

A 51-year-old man with a 1-month history of lower back pain and radiating pain visited to our pain clinic. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan demonstrated a cyst like mass at the level of the L4-5 interspace and compression of the thecal sac and the nerve root on the right side. We performed percutaneous needle aspiration of the lumbar zygapophyseal joint synovial cyst under fluoroscopic guidance. The patient felt an immediate relief of symptoms after the aspiration, and had no signs or symptoms of recurrence at the follow-up 6 months later. No demonstrable lesion was found in the 6 months follow-up MRI

Hydrauric Analysis On Water Stage Change Along The Submerged Weir And Tides Effect In Han River

Sinkok submerged weir in Han river, Seoul Korea was built in early 1980’s for the purpose of water level maintenance and protection from sea water intrusion from the estuary. Its length is almost 1 km and 2.4 meter height which has two composite structures of rigid and movable weir. Huge wetland developed as the results of weir construction just down to the weir. However, recently social conflicts for the weir removal occurred for the river rehabilitation and aqua-eco system recover. This study focused on hydraulic analysis, especially water level changes in terms of with and without submerged weir along the tides where the height has 9 meters difference between ebb and high tide. HEC-RAS for the 1-D simulation and SMS for 2-D analysis were used covering 25 km river length and tributaries. Tides time series records and discharge records from upstream dam of 1-year were and 2 submerged weirs as well as 25 bridges were considered in boundaries. Hydraulic data in the 4 gauging stations were collected for the model calibration. Water level changes were reviewed along 4 cases – with/without weir and flood/dry season - The results showed that more than 3 meter difference of water surface fluctuation along up and downstream including wetland as tide changes in a day. The wetland dimension and water quality were also affected along the water level. The contraction of wetland area might cause the changes of aqua habitat to plants and animals. These results make it difficult to make a decision of removal of the submerged weir. A comprehensive analysis of not only hydraulic but also water quality and environmental effect should be considered. Achknowledgement : This research was supported by a grant (12-TI-C01) from Advanced Water Management Research Program funded by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Korean governmen

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

Safety and optimal neuroprotection of neu2000 in acute ischemic stroke with reCanalization: study protocol for a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, phase-II trial

BACKGROUND: The potential of neuroprotective agents should be revisited in the era of endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) for acute large-artery occlusion because their preclinical effects have been optimized for ischemia and reperfusion injury. Neu2000, a derivative of sulfasalazine, is a multi-target neuroprotectant. It selectively blocks N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors and scavenges for free radicals. This trial aimed to determine whether neuroprotectant administration before EVT is safe and leads to a more favorable outcome. METHODS: This trial is a phase-II, multicenter, three-arm, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, blinded-endpoint drug trial that enrolled participants aged ≥ 19 years undergoing an EVT attempt less than 8 h from symptom onset, with baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score ≥ 8, Alberta Stroke Program Early CT score ≥ 6, evidence of large-artery occlusion, and at least moderate collaterals on computed tomography angiography. EVT-attempted patients are randomized into control, low-dose (2.75 g), and high-dose (5.25 g) Neu2000KWL over 5 days. Seventy participants per group are enrolled for 90% power, assuming that the treatment group has a 28.4% higher proportion of participants with functional independence than the placebo group. The primary outcome, based on intention-to-treat criteria is the improvement of modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores at 3 months using a dichotomized model. Safety outcomes include symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage within 5 days. Secondary outcomes are distributional change of mRS, mean differences in NIHSS score, proportion of NIHSS score 0-2, and Barthel Index > 90 at 1 and 4 weeks, and 3 months. DISCUSSION: The trial results may provide information on new therapeutic options as multi-target neuroprotection might mitigate reperfusion injury in patients with acute ischemic stroke before EVT

Measuring abutment convergence angles using stereovision dental image processing system

PURPOSE. The purpose of this study was to develop a dental image processing system using a three-dimensional (3D) camera and stereovision technology. The reliability of the system for measuring axial wall convergence angles was evaluated. MATERIALS AND METHODS. The new system predicted 3D coordinate points from 2D images and calculated distances and angles between points. Two examiners measured axial wall convergence angles for seven artificial abutments using a traditional tracing-based method (TBM) and the stereovision-based method (SVBM). Five wax abutment models of simplified abutment forms were made and axial wall convergence angles of wax models were measured by both methods. The data were statistically analyzed at the level of significance, 0.05. RESULTS. Intraclass correlation coefficients showed excellent intra-examiner and inter-examiner reliabilities for both methods. Bland-Altman plots and paired t-tests showed significant differences between measurements and true values using TBM; differences were not significant with SVBM. CONCLUSION. This study found that the SVBM reflected true angle values more accurately than a TMB and illustrated an example of 3D computer science applied to clinical dentistry.OAIID:oai:osos.snu.ac.kr:snu2014-01/102/2008003883/6SEQ:6PERF_CD:SNU2014-01EVAL_ITEM_CD:102USER_ID:2008003883ADJUST_YN:YEMP_ID:A078517DEPT_CD:861CITE_RATE:.631DEPT_NM:치의학과SCOPUS_YN:YCONFIRM: