Violet-light spontaneous and stimulated emission from ultrathin In-rich InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

We investigated the spontaneous and stimulated emission properties of violet-light-emitting ultrathin In-rich InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) with indium content of 60%-70%. The Stokes shift was smaller than that of In-poor InGaN MQWs, and the emission peak position at 3.196 eV was kept constant with increasing pumping power, indicating negligible quantum confined Stark effect in ultrathin In-rich InGaN MQWs despite of high indium content. Optically pumped stimulated emission performed at room temperature was observed at 3.21 eV, the high-energy side of spontaneous emission, when the pumping power density exceeds ???31 kW/ cm2.open6

Effect of Floor Space Allowance on Pig Productivity across Stages of Growth: A Field-scale Analysis

A total of 152 pig farms were randomly selected from the five provinces in South Korea. During the experiment, the average temperature and relative humidity was 24.7°C and 74% in summer and 2.4°C and 53% in winter, respectively. The correlation between floor space allowance (FSA) and productivity index was analyzed, including non-productive sow days (NPD), number of weaners (NOW), survival rate (SR), appearance rate of A-grade pork (ARA), and days at a slaughter weight of 110 kg (d-SW) at different growth stages. The objectives of the present study were i) to determine the effect of FSA on the pig productivity index and ii) to suggest the minimum FSA for pigs based on scientific baseline data. For the pregnant sow, NPD could be decreased if pregnant sows were raised with a medium level (M) of FSA (3.10 to 3.67 m2/head) while also keeping the pig house clean which improves hygiene, and operating the ventilation system properly. For the farrowing sows, the NOW tended to decrease as the FSA increased. Similarly, a high level of FSA (H) is significantly negative with weaner SR of farrowing sows (p-value = 0.017), indicating this FSA tends to depress SR. Therefore, a FSA of 2.30 to 6.40 m2/head (very low) could be appropriate for weaners because a limited space can provide a sense of security and protection from external interruptions. The opposite trend was observed that an increase in floor space (>1.12 m2/head) leads to increase the SR of growing pigs. For the fattening pigs, H level of FSA was negatively correlated with SR, but M level of FSA was positively correlated with SR, indicating that SR tended to increase with the FSA of 1.10 to 1.27 m2/head. In contrast, ARA of male fattening pigs showed opposite results. H level of FSA (1.27 to 1.47 m2/head) was suggested to increase productivity because ARA was most affected by H level of space allowance with positive correlation (R2 = 0.523). The relationship between the FSA and d-SW of fattening pigs was hard to identify because of the low R2 value. However, the farms that provided a relatively large floor space (1.27 to 1.54 m2/head) during the winter period showed d-SW was significantly and negatively affected by FSA

Membranous expression of Her3 is associated with a decreased survival in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) still remains a lethal malignancy benefiting from the identification of the new target for early detection and/or development of new therapeutic regimens based on a better understanding of the biological mechanism for treatment. The overexpression of Her2 and Her3 receptors have been identified in various solid tumors, but its prognostic relevance in HNSCC remains controversial.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Three hundred eighty-seven primary HNSCCs, 20 matching metasis and 17 recurrent HNSCCs were arrayed into tissue microarrays. The relationships between Her2 and Her3 protein expression and clinicopathological parameters/survival of HNSCC patients were analyzed with immunohistochemistry.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Her3 is detected as either a cytoplasmic or a membranous dominant expression pattern whereas Her2 expression showed uniform membranous form. In primary tumor tissues, high membranous Her2 expression level was found in 104 (26.9%) cases while positive membranous and cytoplasmic Her3 expression was observed in 34 (8.8%) and 300 (77.5%) samples, respectively. Membranous Her2 expression was significantly associated with histological grade (<it>P </it>= 0.021), as grade 2 tumors showed the highest positive expression. Membranous Her3 over-expression was significantly prevalent in metastatic tissues compared to primary tumors (<it>P </it>= 0.003). Survival analysis indicates that membranous Her3 expression is significantly associated with worse overall survival (<it>P </it>= 0.027) and is an independent prognostic factor in multivariate analysis (hazard ratio, 1.51; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-2.23; <it>P </it>= 0.040).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results suggest that membranous Her3 expression is strongly associated with poor prognosis of patients with HNSCC and is a potential candidate molecule for targeted therapy.</p

Serum Cystatin C Is a Major Predictor of Vancomycin Clearance in a Population Pharmacokinetic Analysis of Patients with Normal Serum Creatinine Concentrations

We developed a population pharmacokinetic model of vancomycin by integrating the effects of cystatin C and other demographic factors in a large population of Korean patients with normal serum creatinine concentrations to elucidate the precise role of serum cystatin C concentrations in the prediction of vancomycin clearance. A population pharmacokinetic model of vancomycin was developed using NONMEM software from a total of 1,373 vancomycin concentration measurements in 678 patients whose serum creatinine concentrations were lower than 1.2 mg/dL. Covariate selection revealed that cystatin C was the most influential factor and had negative influence ((-0.78)) in the relationship. Total body weight, sex, age, and serum creatinine were also significantly correlated with the clearance. The estimated intersubject variabilities of clearance and volume of distribution were 24.7% and 25.1%, respectively. A 14-fold difference in predicted trough concentrations was observed according to only cystatin C concentrations in a population of simulated individuals with median demographic characteristics. The use of serum cystatin C as marker of vancomycin clearance for more accurate predictions of serum vancomycin concentrations could be useful, particularly among patients with normal serum creatinine concentrations.OAIID:oai:osos.snu.ac.kr:snu2013-01/102/0000050045/1SEQ:1PERF_CD:SNU2013-01EVAL_ITEM_CD:102USER_ID:0000050045ADJUST_YN:YEMP_ID:A078941DEPT_CD:801CITE_RATE:.993FILENAME:vancomycin cystatin c model_jkms 2013.pdfDEPT_NM:의학과EMAIL:[email protected]_YN:YCONFIRM:

Clinicopathological Risk Factors and Biochemical Predictors of Safe Discharge after Total Thyroidectomy and Central Compartment Node Dissection for Thyroid Cancer: A Prospective Study

To determine the clinicopathological risk factors and reliable biochemical predictors of the development of hypocalcemic symptoms after total thyroidectomy on the basis of serum calcium and intact parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels measured 1 hour after surgery, a prospective study was performed on 817 patients who underwent a total thyroidectomy with central compartment node dissection (CCND) due to well-differentiated thyroid cancer. We evaluated the correlations between hypocalcemic symptom development and clinicopathological factors. And the predictability for hypocalcemic symptom development of intact PTH cut-offs (<10 pg/mL and <20 pg/mL, resp.) according to serum calcium level subgroup was analyzed. Female gender (P<0.001) was the only independent risk factor for hypocalcemic symptom development in multivariate regression analysis. The negative predictive value (NPV) of intact PTH, signifying nondevelopment of hypocalcemic symptoms, was higher than the positive predictive value (PPV) which signified development of hypocalcemic symptoms. In addition, when we applied the different adoption of the intact PTH cut-off according to serum calcium level, we could obtain more increased NPVs. A female gender and the application of more specific cut-offs for intact PTH according to the serum calcium levels measured 1 hour after surgery may help the patients to be more safely discharged

Clinical and Radiological Manifestations of Osteogenesis Imperfecta Type V

We reviewed clinical manifestation of 12 patients from three Korean families. They showed mild to moderate bone fragility, and suggested an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern. Significant intrafamilial phenotype variability was obvious. Clinical, radiological, and histopathologic characteristics that distinguished this subtype from others include ossification of interosseous membrane of the forearm with radial head dislocation, hyperplastic callus formation, no evidence of type I collagenopathy and an abnormal histopathologic pattern. Severity of the interosseous membrane ossification was correlated with increasing age (p<0.01) and the radial head dislocation was thought to be a developmental problem rather than a congenital problem. Four children who had bisphosphonate treatment showed improved bone mineral density, radiological changes, and biochemical responses. Osteogenesis imperfecta type V was a distinctive subtype of osteogenesis imperfecta, which caused mild to moderate disability clinically

Crab shaped Antenna for RFID Tag at UHF Band

A crab shaped tag antenna which has a better performance than conventional label type of tag antenna is proposed for UHF band RFID systems. The proposed antenna is a dipole with T-matching network, and parasitic loop is inserted to the T-matching network. The antenna is analyzed by simulator, Ansoft HFSS software, and the measured results based on backscattering method are presented