Hydroxyapatite Humidifier Vibrator Housing Fabrication and Characteristics

The humidifier vibrator housing is difficult to clean and prone to contamination due to its metallic material. To overcome these shortcomings, the humidifier vibrator housing was manufactured using Hydroxyapatite as a raw material. Although hydroxyapatite has excellent antibacterial properties and biocompatibility, it is difficult to manufacture a sintered body due to its weak fracture toughness. Therefore, hydroxyapatite sintered compacts were prepared according to the amount of plasticizer added and their physical properties were compared. The average compressive strength was 395.1 N·mm-2 at 8 % of the amount of added plasticizer, and the average bending strength was 61.8 N·mm-2 at 6 % of the amount of added plasticizer. The hydroxyapatite sintered compact showed the effect of inhibiting the production of bacteria regardless of the amount of plasticizer added. As a result of this physical property study, it was possible to develop a humidifier vibrator housing with excellent antibacterial properties and maintaining mechanical strength

Transcriptional regulatory networks underlying the reprogramming of spermatogonial stem cells to multipotent stem cells

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) are germline stem cells located along the basement membrane of seminiferous tubules in testes. Recently, SSCs were shown to be reprogrammed into multipotent SSCs (mSSCs). However, both the key factors and biological networks underlying this reprogramming remain elusive. Here, we present transcriptional regulatory networks (TRNs) that control cellular processes related to the SSC-to-mSSC reprogramming. Previously, we established intermediate SSCs (iSSCs) undergoing the transition to mSSCs and generated gene expression profiles of SSCs, iSSCs and mSSCs. By comparing these profiles, we identified 2643 genes that were up-regulated during the reprogramming process and 15 key transcription factors (TFs) that regulate these genes. Using the TF-target relationships, we developed TRNs describing how these TFs regulate three pluripotency-related processes (cell proliferation, stem cell maintenance and epigenetic regulation) during the reprogramming. The TRNs showed that 4 of the 15 TFs (Oct4/Pou5f1, Cux1, Zfp143 and E2f4) regulated cell proliferation during the early stages of reprogramming, whereas 11 TFs (Oct4/Pou5f1, Foxm1, Cux1, Zfp143, Trp53, E2f4, Esrrb, Nfyb, Nanog, Sox2 and Klf4) regulated the three pluripotency-related processes during the late stages of reprogramming. Our TRNs provide a model for the temporally coordinated transcriptional regulation of pluripotency-related processes during the SSC-to-mSSC reprogramming, which can be further tested in detailed functional studies.111Ysciescopuskc

Automatic classification using concept knowledge of web documents

In order to classify web documents, we suggest a method using concept knowledge of category.In our study, the concept relations between keywords are extracted using hyperlink information and after the extracted keywords are classified into each category, these are used as an index.Then TFIDF for each category is extended to determine index weight value.The system is constructed for experimenting and estimating,which is consist of web robot, indexer, concept knowledge database for each category and the document classifier.Our system to be applied the extended TFIDF method shows an accuracy of 88% in automatic classifying of web documents

Acute Effect of Moderate-Intensity Aerobic Exercise on Arterial Stiffness in Fine Particulate Matter Environment: A Pilot Study

Abstracts PURPOSE This study aimed to examine the effect of one bout of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise on arterial stiffness under ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure. METHODS In a randomized crossover design, seven healthy young men performed 30 minutes of treadmill running at 70% of heart rate peak under high PM2.5 and low PM2.5 exposure. Arterial stiffness was assessed by measuring the carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity and augmentation index, a measure of pulse wave reflection before and after each exercise intervention. RESULTS Regardless of the PM2.5 exposure, brachial systolic blood pressure and heart rate increased in response to one bout of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (p<.05). However, the augmentation index adjusted at a heart rate of 75 beats/min, central diastolic blood pressure, central mean arterial pressure, and brachial diastolic blood pressure were increased after one bout of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise under the high PM2.5 condition (p<.05). CONCLUSIONS Moderate-intensity aerobic exercise at the high PM2.5 level may result in acute negative arterial stiffness and blood pressure responses even in healthy young men

The Influence of Preoperative Bladder Outlet Obstruction on Continence and Satisfaction in Patients with Stress Urinary Incontinence after Midurethral Sling

Purpose We studied the influence of preoperative bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) on postoperative continence rates and patient satisfaction after the midurethral sling procedure. Methods A total of 159 women who underwent the midurethral sling procedure were evaluated. Using the Blaivas-Groutz nomogram, we assigned the patients were assigned to Group I (n=37, no obstruction), Group II (n=89, mild obstruction), or Group III (n=33, moderate to severe obstruction). Continence rates, patient satisfaction, urinary sensation scale and uroflowmetry were evaluated postoperatively. Results There were no significant differences in continence rates, satisfaction, or postoperative maximal flow rate between the 3 groups. Postoperative urgency was improved after surgery in Groups I and II (P<0.05) but not in Group III. Conclusions BOO does not seem to be a risk factor for failure after the midurethral sling procedure. However, BOO may be considered as a potential factor for persistent storage symptoms after the midurethral sling

The effect of high-speed power training on physical frailty in older adults: Effect of a visual-guided exercise program in South Korean rural areas

Objective. Exercise has been shown to be an effective intervention; the difficulty still lies in providing exercise programs to the older adults in rural areas. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the effects of a 12-week exercise program provided with visual guidelines (prerecorded video) on frailty among older adults in rural areas. Methods. Fifty participants (71.7 ± 4.9 years) from 5 different rural areas were recruited and divided into two groups: the exercise group (EX, n = 24 (male: 8, female: 18)) and the control group (CON, n = 26 (male: 7, female: 17)). With the commencement of the exercise intervention, a prerecorded high-speed power training program for frail older adults was distributed to the EX group. A new prerecorded exercise program was delivered to the EX group every 4 weeks. Frailty status was diagnosed with Fried’s criteria before and after the intervention. Muscle strength was measured in the upper and lower limb strength (hand-grip strength and leg extension and flexion), and physical function was measured using a short physical performance battery and gait speed. Fasting blood was collected before and after the intervention and analyzed for blood lipid profile. Results. After 12 weeks of the intervention period, a significant difference in frailty status () and score () favoring the EX group was observed. Physical functions (gait speed () and time for sit to stand ()) were significantly improved in the EX group with a significant increase in knee extensor strength (). A significant difference in serum high-density lipoprotein levels favoring the EX group () was also observed. Conclusions. This study confirmed the positive effect of a visual-guided exercise program on older adults’ residents in rural areas and provided alternative methods to effectively provide exercise program for the older adults with limited resources