Decreased Interleukin-4 Release from the Neurons of the Locus Coeruleus in Response to Immobilization Stress

It has been demonstrated that immobilization (IMO) stress affects neuroimmune systems followed by alterations of physiology and behavior. Interleukin-4 (IL-4), an anti-inflammatory cytokine, is known to regulate inflammation caused by immune challenge but the effect of IMO on modulation of IL-4 expression in the brain has not been assessed yet. Here, it was demonstrated that IL-4 was produced by noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus (LC) of the brain and release of IL-4 was reduced in response to IMO. It was observed that IMO groups were more anxious than nontreated groups. Acute IMO (2 h/day, once) stimulated secretion of plasma corticosterone and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in the LC whereas these increments were diminished in exposure to chronic stress (2 h/day, 21 consecutive days). Glucocorticoid receptor (GR), TH, and IL-4-expressing cells were localized in identical neurons of the LC, indicating that hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal- (HPA-) axis and sympathetic-adrenal-medullary- (SAM-) axis might be involved in IL-4 secretion in the stress response. Accordingly, it was concluded that stress-induced decline of IL-4 concentration from LC neurons may be related to anxiety-like behavior and an inverse relationship exists between IL-4 secretion and HPA/SAM-axes activation

Public Higher Education Governing Boards Composition and Regional Difference in U.S

[EN] Using The Public Higher Education Boards Database designed by Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) in 2008, this paper reviewed prior studies of governing boards and investigated regional differences of boards' characteristics including board type, selection method, board composition, provision condition, term length, supervision, and meeting frequency. The results show tha: (1) highly centralized state university governance with more political control exist in West and Middle West; (2) governing boards in Northeast are more autonomous with high percentage of alumni and self-perpetuating members and less political affiliations; (3) more faculty participations appear in South and West, and most Middle West boards do not have removal process and longer length of term.Park, HJ.; Zhu, Q. (2017). Public Higher Education Governing Boards Composition and Regional Difference in U.S. En Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Higher Education Advances. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1085-1094. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD17.2017.5519OCS1085109

Clinicopathological features of infiltrating lobular carcinomas comparing with infiltrating ductal carcinomas: a case control study

BACKGROUND: Infiltrating lobular carcinoma (ILC) is the second most common type of invasive breast cancers and it has been reported to have some unique biologic and epidemiologic characteristics. METHODS: Clinicopathological features of 95 patients with ILC, their relapse free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were retrospectively investigated and compared with those of 3,621 patients with infiltrating ductal carcinoma-not otherwise specified (IDC-NOS) between January 1984 and December 2005. RESULTS: ILC constitutes 2.3% of all invasive breast cancers. There were no difference between the ILC and the IDC-NOS groups regarding age at diagnosis, tumor size, nodal status, and treatment modalities except hormone therapy. The ILC group showed more estrogen receptor expression, less HER-2 expression and higher bilaterality. RFS and OS of the ILC patients were similar to those of the IDC. IDC-NOS metastasized more frequently to the lung and bone, whereas, ILC to the bone and ovary. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of ILC was relatively low in Korean breast cancer patients. Comparing to IDC-NOS ILC showed some different features such as higher estrogen receptor expression, less HER-2 expression, higher bilaterality and preferred metastatic sites of bone and ovary. Contralateral cancers and bone and ovary evaluation should be considered when monitoring ILC patients

Bayesian Density Regression and Predictor-Dependent Clustering

Mixture models are widely used in many application areas, with finite mixtures of Gaussian distributions applied routinely in clustering and density estimation. With the increasing need for a flexible model for predictor-dependent clustering and conditional density estimation, mixture models are generalized to incorporate predictors with infinitely many components in the semiparametric Bayesian perspective. Much of the recent work in the nonparametric Bayes literature focuses on introducing predictor-dependence into the probability weights. In this dissertation we propose three semiparametric Bayesian methods, with a focus on the applications of predictor-dependent clustering and condition density estimation. We first derive a generalized product partition model (GPPM), starting with a Dirichlet process (DP) mixture model. The GPPM results in a generalized Polya urn scheme. Next, we consider the problem of density estimation in cases where predictors are not directly measured. We propose a model that relies on Bayesian approaches to modeling of the unknown distribution of latent predictors and of the conditional distribution of responses given latent predictors. Finally, we develop a semiparametric Bayesian model for density regression in cases with many predictors. To reduce dimensionality of data, our model is based on factor analysis models with the number of latent variables unknown. A nonparametric prior for infinite factors is defined

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School of Energy and Chemical Engineering (Chemical Engineering)Crystalline solids are prevalent materials used in industrial applications and daily life. By controlling the crystal structure and morphology of the materials, the manufacturing process of high-value-added products can be improved. Crystal structure and morphology are influenced by both internal and external factors, where internal factors refer to the modification of the chemistry at a molecular level and external factors refer to the aspects beyond the crystal itself (i.e., temperature, pressure, concentration, solvent types, and ligand interaction). Depending on the specific molecular chemistry, the crystal structure and morphology of a material can be altered. Meanwhile, external factors can be manipulated to change the structure or morphology of a substance during crystallization. Moreover, they influence the thermodynamics (i.e., interaction between crystal surface and ligand) and kinetics (i.e., reaction rate) of reaction, resulting in different crystallization paths. During crystallization process composed of nucleation and crystal growth stages, numerous physicochemical properties of the materials are determined. Consequentially, thermodynamic, electronic, optical, and catalytic properties are dependent on the crystal structure and morphology. In this dissertation, the crystal structure and morphology of semiconductor nanomaterials applied in electrochemical energy storage and optoelectronic fields were extensively studied. Various processes were used for the modification of these properties and in each case the principal mechanisms involved was investigated using multiscale simulation. In Chapter 1, a brief background on crystallization is given, including information on internal and external factors that influence the crystal structure and morphology during crystallization. We discuss how a variety of physicochemical phenomena can be investigated using a multiscale simulation approach that includes density functional theory (DFT) calculation, Monte Carlo (MC) simulation, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, and morphology model. In Chapter 2, we designed the crystal structures of these nanomaterials (i.e., solid solution and co-crystal methods) by focusing on contorted hexabenzocoronene (cHBC), fluorinated cHBC, and fullerene (C60) molecules. Also, the detailed Li-ion storage mechanisms of each electrode materials were explored. Crystal structures vary depending on the molecules and the specific elemental composition, which results in materials exhibiting different electrochemical behaviors. These differences can be attributed to the difference in adsorption sites of Li-ions. In Chapter 3, using solvent engineering, the crystal structure and morphology were controlled by manipulating the crystallization process in perovskite materials. In dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent environment, DMF molecules have a relatively strong coordination with PbI2 due to the carbonyl group, resulting in PbI2??DMF intermediate phase. Through slow nucleation and crystal growth in closed system, the intermediate phase of PbI2??DMF crystal exhibited the one dimensional (1D) granular wire shape. From this granular wire morphology, many defects and grain boundaries appeared on the surface. Due to its surface characteristics of granular wire morphology, the ultrahigh photo-detectivity can be obtained from the easy generation of deep trap states at surface and upward band bending at grain boundaries. In Chapter 4, the morphological changes of zinc-blended structures in ZnSe, the shell material of quantum dots, were ascribed to the interaction of Zn with the oleate ligand. Due to the strong adsorption of oleate on the (111) surface, a tetrahedron shape around the (111) surface was formed. As the reaction temperature increased by heating-up method, the stabilization effect of the oleate decreased, resulting in morphological changes in the form of a truncated tetrahedron. Depending on the morphology, different optical performance of QDs can be expected due to morphology-dependent quantum confinement effect. Overall, these studies demonstrated the design and control strategies of crystal structure and morphology of semiconductor materials. Crystal engineering, solvent engineering, and morphological engineering are expected to improve the electrical and optical performances of each semiconductor material.ope

Entropic measure of directional emissions in microcavity lasers

We propose a noble notion of the directional emission in microcavity lasers. First, Shannon entropy of the far-field profiles in the polar coordinate can quantify the degree of unidirectionality of the emission, while previous notions about the unidirectionality can not efficiently measure in the robust range against a variation of the deformation parameter. Second, a divergence angle of the directional emission is defined phenomenologically in terms of full width at half maximum, and it is barely applicable to a complicated peak structure. However, Shannon entropy of semi-marginal probability of the far-field profiles in the cartesian coordinate can present equivalent results, and moreover it is applicable to even the cases with a complicated peak structure of the emission

Effect of a Er, Cr:YSGG laser and a Er:YAG laser treatment on oral biofilm-contaminated titanium

Implant surface decontamination is a challenging procedure for therapy of peri-implant disease. Objective: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of decontamination on oral biofilm-contaminated titanium surfaces in Er:YAG laser, Er, Cr:YSGG laser, and plastic curette. Methodology: For oral biofilms formation, six participants wore an acrylic splint with eight titanium discs in the maxillary arch for 72 hours. A total of 48 contaminated discs were distributed among four groups: untreated control; decontamination with plastic curettes; Er, Cr:YSGG laser; and Er:YAG laser irradiation. Complete plaque removal was estimated using naked-eye and the time taken was recorded; the residual plaque area was measured and the morphological alteration of the specimen surface was observed by scanning electron microscopy. The total bacterial load and the viability of adherent bacteria were quantified by live or dead cell labeling with fluorescence microscopy. Results: The mean treatment time significantly decreased based on the treatment used in the following order: Er:YAG, Er, Cr:YSGG laser, and plastic curettes (234.9±25.4 sec, 156.1±12.7 sec, and 126.4±18.6 sec, P=0.000). The mean RPA in the Er, Cr:YSGG laser group (7.0±2.5%) was lower than Er:YAG and plastic curettes groups (10.3±2.4%, 12.3±3.6%, p=0.023). The viable bacteria on the titanium surface after Er, Cr:YSGG laser irradiation was significantly lower compared to the decontamination with plastic curette (P=0.05) but it was not significantly different from the Er:YAG laser irradiation. Conclusion: We found that Er:YAG laser and Er, Cr:YSGG laser irradiation were effective methods for decontaminations without surface alterations

Nano-mechanical behavior of ultra-stable amorphous metallic thin films

Metallic glass has amorphous structure that behave mechanically like solids but show catastrophic failure due to shear band propagation induced by short range order structure, and they are generally produced by quenching. Recently, it is observed that the slower cooling rate provides the larger time available for atoms to rearrange structure before freezing in glassy state, leading to glass transition temperature and thermal stability. These glasses with enhanced thermal stability synthesized by controlled cooling rate make it useful in various field such as mechanical or oxidation protection material. However, mechanical behavior for metallic glass with extraordinary thermodynamic and kinetic stability has not been studied. In this research, we developed a ultrastable metallic glass thin film by physical vapor deposition process at ambient temperature. Thermal stability is investigated using acceleration testing. Mechanical properties are measured using in-situ tensile testing and discuss thermal stability and fracture behavior dependent on compositio

Conventional Vickers and true instrumented indentation hardness determined by instrumented indentation tests

We evaluate Vickers hardness and true instrumented indentation test (IIT) hardness of 24 metals over a wide range of mechanical properties using just IIT parameters by taking into account the real contact morphology beneath the Vickers indenter. Correlating the conventional Vickers hardness, indentation contact morphology, and IIT parameters for the 24 metals reveals relationships between contact depths and apparent material properties. We report the conventional Vickers and true IIT hardnesses measured only from IIT contact depths; these agree well with directly measured hardnesses within ±6% for Vickers hardness and ±10% for true IIT hardness

Social Network Analysis of Global Value Chain: Focused on Fabric Cotton

Companies try to establishing optimal production networks that can perform all stages of production activities at competitive cost and quality around the world. In this study, we try to determine the structure of the global value chain in the apparel industry using social network analysis. Data for analysis were created a matrix using 2005 and 2015 trade data about the top 10 trading partners in the import and export countries of cotton fabric (hs code 5208, 5209). China was the largest exporting country. Comparing the betweenness centrality and closeness centrality of exports of cotton fabrics, India and China are playing their role as mediating countries. Vietnamese cotton imports have increased significantly. The role of mediators in the importation of cotton fiber was continued by China, the United States, and European countries. We identified the part of the fashion industry structure by investigating the international trade patterns of cotton fabric