Collage and installations: Between the sky and the earth

My work comes from my feelings about abortion. It is a difficult situation for all involved. It is a painful decision for a woman to make, one which not only affects her life but also that of a fetus and other people close to her. I wanted to inform others about the chaotic and complicated sadness that abortion brings to one experiencing it. A woman may ask, Why do I have to make this decision? I have always tried to be a good person. Why me? Why woman? Why not men? Who\u27s fault is this? I feel trapped, but in who\u27s trap? It is a trap that exists between woman, God, and babies

L-Asparaginase delivered by Salmonella typhimurium suppresses solid tumors

Bacteria can be engineered to deliver anticancer proteins to tumors via a controlled expression system that maximizes the concentration of the therapeutic agent in the tumor. L-asparaginase (L-ASNase), which primarily converts asparagine to aspartate, is an anticancer protein used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia. In this study, Salmonellae were engineered to express L-ASNase selectively within tumor tissues using the inducible araBAD promoter system of Escherichia coli. Antitumor efficacy of the engineered bacteria was demonstrated in vivo in solid malignancies. This result demonstrates the merit of bacteria as cancer drug delivery vehicles to administer cancer-starving proteins such as L-ASNase to be effective selectively within the microenvironment of cancer tissue

Human Adipose Tissue-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Attenuate Atopic Dermatitis by Regulating the Expression of MIP-2, miR-122a-SOCS1 Axis, and Th1/Th2 Responses

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AdMSCs) on atopic dermatitis (AD) in the BALB/c mouse model. The AdMSCs attenuated clinical symptoms associated with AD, decreased numbers of degranulated mast cells (MCs), IgE level, amount of histamine released, and prostaglandin E2 level. Atopic dermatitis increased the expression levels of cytokines/chemokines, such as interleukin-5 (IL-5), macrophage inflammatory protein-1ß (MIP-1ß), MIP-2, chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 5 (CCL5), and IL-17, in BALB/c mouse. The AdMSCs showed decreased expression levels of these cytokines in the mouse model of AD. In vivo downregulation of MIP-2 attenuated the clinical symptoms associated with AD. Atopic dermatitis increased the expression levels of hallmarks of allergic inflammation, induced interactions of FcRIβ with histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) and Lyn, increased ß-hexosaminidase activity, increased serum IgE level, and increased the amount of histamine released in an MIP-2-dependent manner. Downregulation of MIP-2 increased the levels of several miRNAs, including miR-122a-5p. Mouse miR-122a-5p mimic inhibited AD, while suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS1), a predicted downstream target of miR-122a-5p, was required for AD. The downregulation of SOCS1 decreased the expression levels of MIP-2 and chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 13 (CXCL13) in the mouse model of AD. The downregulation of CXCL13 attenuated AD and allergic inflammation such as passive cutaneous anaphylaxis. The role of T cell transcription factors in AD was also investigated. Atopic dermatitis increased the expression levels of T-bet and GATA-3 [transcription factors of T-helper 1 (Th1) and T-helper 2 (Th2) cells, respectively] but decreased the expression of Foxp3, a transcription factor of regulatory T (Treg) cells, in an SOCS1-dependent manner. In addition to this, miR-122a-5p mimic also prevented AD from regulating the expression of T-bet, GATA-3, and Foxp3. Atopic dermatitis increased the expression of cluster of differentiation 163 (CD163), a marker of M2 macrophages, but decreased the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), a marker of M1 macrophages. Additionally, SOCS1 and miR-122a-5p mimic regulated the expression of CD163 and iNOS in the mouse model of AD. Experiments employing conditioned medium showed interactions between MCs and macrophages in AD. The conditioned medium of AdMSCs, but not the conditioned medium of human dermal fibroblasts, negatively inhibited the features of allergic inflammation. In summary, we investigated the anti-atopic effects of AdMSCs, identified targets of AdMSCs, and determined the underlying mechanism for the anti-atopic effects of AdMSCs

Differences of Clinical Characteristics and Phenotypes between Prepubertal- and Adolescent-Onset Bipolar Disorders

The aim of this study is to describe the clinical characteristics of prepubertal- and adolescent-onset bipolar disorder (BD) and to identify any clinical differences between patients with prepubertal- and adolescent-onset BD. We analyzed the clinical records of 53 inpatients with BD. These patients were divided into prepubertal-onset and adolescent-onset groups. We also divided the subjects into narrow, intermediate, and broad phenotypes according to the definitions proposed by Leibenluft and colleagues. Of the total sample, 16 patients (30.2%) were in the prepubertal-onset group and 37 (69.8%) were in the adolescent-onset group. Patients with prepubertal-onset BD were more likely to display an insidious clinical presentation, atypical features, and comorbid psychopathology. And the majority of the subjects, especially in the prepubertal-onset group, were classified under the intermediate and broad phenotypes. These results suggest that the clinical presentation of BD with prepubertal-onset is different from that of adolescent-onset BD. It is inferred that a significant number of patients with prepubertal- and adolescent-onset BD do not meet DSM-IV criteria for mania or hypomania from the results of this study

Nanoporous NiO plates with a unique role for promoted oxidation of carbonate and carboxylate species in the Li-O2 battery

We report a novel catalytic reaction to promote oxidation of carbonate and carboxylate species using nanoporous nickel oxide (NiO) in the lithium-oxygen (Li-O2) battery. These nanoporous NiO catalysts in the shape of two-dimensional (2-D) hexagonal plates are incorporated on the carbon nanotube (CNT) electrode, which remarkably enhances oxidation efficiency of carbonate and carboxylate species as representative side products in Li-O2 electrochemistry and greatly improves the cycleability to more than 70 cycles. The oxidation reaction predominantly occurs at the nanoporous NiO, toward which the carbonate and carboxylate species may migrate for the complete decomposition. This result is notably distinguished from a NiO-free CNT electrode, where such a passivation layer becomes thicker and precludes electron transfer, thus inducing poor cyclability. © 2015 American Chemical Society154521sciescopu

Wearable Device Control Platform Technology for Network Application Development

Application development platform is the most important environment in IT industry. There are a variety of platforms. Although the native development enables application to optimize, various languages and software development kits need to be acquired according to the device. The coexistence of smart devices and platforms has rendered the native development approach time and cost consuming. Cross-platform development emerged as a response to these issues. These platforms generate applications for multiple devices based on web languages. Nevertheless, development requires additional implementation based on a native language because of the coverage and functions of supported application programming interfaces (APIs). Wearable devices have recently attracted considerable attention. These devices only support Bluetooth-based interdevice communication, thereby making communication and device control impossible beyond a certain range. We propose Network Application Agent (NetApp-Agent) in order to overcome issues. NetApp-Agent based on the Cordova is a wearable device control platform for the development of network applications, controls input/output functions of smartphones and wearable/IoT through the Cordova and Native API, and enables device control and information exchange by external users by offering a self-defined API. We confirmed the efficiency of the proposed platform through experiments and a qualitative assessment of its implementation

Nanoporous NiO Plates with a Unique Role for Promoted Oxidation of Carbonate and Carboxylate Species in the Li–O₂ Battery

We report a novel catalytic reaction to promote oxidation of carbonate and carboxylate species using nanoporous nickel oxide (NiO) in the lithium–oxygen (Li–O₂) battery. These nanoporous NiO catalysts in the shape of two-dimensional (2-D) hexagonal plates are incorporated on the carbon nanotube (CNT) electrode, which remarkably enhances oxidation efficiency of carbonate and carboxylate species as representative side products in Li–O₂ electrochemistry and greatly improves the cycleability to more than 70 cycles. The oxidation reaction predominantly occurs at the nanoporous NiO, toward which the carbonate and carboxylate species may migrate for the complete decomposition. This result is notably distinguished from a NiO-free CNT electrode, where such a passivation layer becomes thicker and precludes electron transfer, thus inducing poor cyclability

Single-Component-Based White Light Photoluminescence Emission via Selective Photooxidation in an Organic–Polymer Hybrid System

White light-emitting phenothiazine-poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PTZ-PDMS) composites are formed by a photooxidation reaction. The oxidized PTZ species, i.e., PTZ cation radicals and dication species, are created by electron transfer from the PTZ molecules to PDMS under UV irradiation. In situ UV-vis and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopies are carried out after UV exposure of PTZ-PDMS, and the results provide evidence for the spontaneous ionization of PTZ. The spectral changes indicate the formation of PTZ(center dot+) (radical cation) and PTZ(2+) (dication) within the PDMS matrix. Moreover, a combination of PTZ, PTZ(center dot+), and PTZ(2+), together with the PDMS matrix, show an unexpected emission of white light with Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage coordinates of 0.34 and 0.32, which are close to those of pure white light. These findings potentially offer a new route and strategy for the development of flexible white light-emitting materials.11Nsciescopu

Patternable large-scale molybdenium disulfide atomic layers grown by gold-assisted chemical vapor deposition

A novel way to grow MoS2 on a large scale with uniformity and in desired patterns is developed.We use Au film as a catalyst on which [Mo(CO)6] vapor decomposes to form a Mo-Au surface alloy that is an ideal Mo reservoir for the growth of atomic layers of MoS2. Upon exposure to H2S, this surface alloy transforms into a few layers of MoS2, which can be isolated and transferred on an arbitrary substrate. By simply patterning Au catalyst film by conventional lithographic techniques, MoS2 atomic layers in desired patterns can be fabricated. © 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.149521sciescopu