A Proposal for a Standardized Fault Description Format to Study Active Intraplate Tectonics in the Korean Peninsula

Intraplate faulting and the resultant earthquakes are not well understood because of their complex distribution, long period of seismic recurrence, and poor exposure of surface rupture. Pre-existing weaknesses should be studied to understand intraplate faulting and earthquakes. We are developing a long-term project to understand Korean-type intraplate fault behavior and recurrence intervals. As the first step, we will establish an integrated system for production, analysis, and management of fault data related to active crustal deformation. Here we propose a new format for fault data description and management

Mesoarchaean collision of Kapisilik terrane 3070Ma juvenile arc rocks and \u3e3600Ma Isukasia terrane continental crust (Greenland)

The Mesoarchaean Kapisilik and Eoarchaean Isukasia terranes in the Nuuk region of southern West Greenland were tectonically juxtaposed in the Archaean. The north of the Isukasia terrane is distal from the Kapisilik terrane and has only rare growth of ~2690Ma metamorphic zircon and no 2980-2950Ma metamorphic zircon. The southern part of the Isukasia terrane lies between two ~2690Ma shear zones, and has locally preserved high pressure granulite facies assemblages and widespread growth of 2980-2950Ma metamorphic zircon and also sporadic growth of ~2690Ma metamorphic zircon. Within this southern part of the Isukasia terrane there is a folded klippe of mylonitised Mesoarchaean detrital meta-sedimentary rocks (carrying \u3e3600 and ~3070Ma detrital zircons), mafic and ultramafic rocks, with ~2970Ma metamorphic zircon overgrowths. South of the Isukasia terrane is the Kapisilik terrane, containing ~3070Ma arc-related volcanic rocks, gabbro-anorthosites and meta-tonalites, intruded by 2970-2960Ma granites. Zircons of an Ivisârtoq supracrustal belt ~3075Ma intermediate volcanic rock have initial e{open}Hf values of +2 to +5 thus are juvenile crustal additions. ~3070Ma tonalites along the northern edge of the Kapisilik terrane have whole rock positive initial e{open}Nd values and thus are also juvenile crustal additions. In contrast, igneous zircons in 2960Ma granites intruded into juvenile ~3075Ma supracrustal rocks of the Kapisilik terrane have initial e{open}Hf values of -5 to -10, and must have involved the partial melting of \u3e3600Ma Isukasia terrane rocks.The integrated structural and zircon U-Th-Pb-Hf isotopic data show that at 2980-2950. Ma the Kapisilik terrane juvenile arc components collided with, and over-rid, the Isukasia terrane. The southern edge of the Isukasia terrane came to lie in the deep crust under the Ivisârtoq supracrustal belt and melted at 2970-2960. Ma to produce granites. These granites derived from ancient crust rose into the upper crust, where they intruded the overlying allochthonous juvenile ~3075. Ma Ivisârtoq supracrustal belt arc assemblages. The southern edge of the Isukasia terrane is interpreted as an interior nappe of Eoarchaean basement rocks interfolded with a klippe of Mesoarchaean metasedimentary and mafic/ultramafic rocks, both of which are affected by 2980-2950. Ma metamorphism. The mixed Eoarchaean-Mesoarchaean detrital provenance suggests that the klippe could be dismembered components of an accretionary prism or forearc crust. The northern part of the Isukasia terrane is interpreted as foreland, free of 2980-2950. Ma high-grade metamorphic overprint. This shows that the Isukasia terrane is not a coherent block, but contains ancient rocks that are parautochthonous or allochthonous to each other, with contrasting later metamorphic history.At ~2690. Ma the crustal architecture arisen from Mesoarchaean collision between an older continental block and an island arc was reworked along intra-crustal shear zones, coeval with amphibolite facies metamorphism. This reworking followed on from major terrane assembly at 2710-2700. Ma in the southern part of the Nuuk region, when the Eoarchaean Færingehavn terrane was juxtaposed with 2840-2825. Ma arc rocks. Thus the 2980-2950. Ma assembly of the Isukasia and Kapisilik terranes is distinct from the later 2710-2700. Ma terrane assembly further south in the Nuuk region

Inorganic Arsenite Potentiates Vasoconstriction through Calcium Sensitization in Vascular Smooth Muscle

Chronic exposure to arsenic is well known as the cause of cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension. To investigate the effect of arsenic on blood vessels, we examined whether arsenic affected the contraction of aortic rings in an isolated organ bath system. Treatment with arsenite, a trivalent inorganic species, increased vasoconstriction induced by phenylephrine or serotonin in a concentration-dependent manner. Among the arsenic species tested—arsenite, pentavalent inorganic species (arsenate), monomethylarsonic acid (MMA(V)), and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA(V))—arsenite was the most potent. Similar effects were also observed in aortic rings without endothelium, suggesting that vascular smooth muscle plays a key role in enhancing vasoconstriction induced by arsenite. This hypercontraction by arsenite was well correlated with the extent of myosin light chain (MLC) phosphorylation stimulated by phenylephrine. Direct Ca(2+) measurement using fura-2 dye in aortic strips revealed that arsenite enhanced vasoconstriction induced by high K(+) without concomitant increase in intracellular Ca(2+) elevation, suggesting that, rather than direct Ca(2+) elevation, Ca(2+) sensitization may be a major contributor to the enhanced vasoconstriction by arsenite. Consistent with these in vitro results, 2-hr pretreatment of 1.0 mg/kg intravenous arsenite augmented phenylephrine-induced blood pressure increase in conscious rats. All these results suggest that arsenite increases agonist-induced vasoconstriction mediated by MLC phosphorylation in smooth muscles and that calcium sensitization is one of the key mechanisms for the hypercontraction induced by arsenite in blood vessels

Pregnancy outcomes of different methods for multifetal pregnancy reduction: a comparative study

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of various methods of multifetal pregnancy reduction (MFPR) and to determine which method produces better outcomes. One hundred and forty-eight patients with multiple pregnancies resulting from assisted reproduction programs and underwent MFPR were included. According to the use of potassium chloride (KCl), patients were divided into 'KCl', and 'non- KCl' groups, and based on gestational age at the time of procedures, patients were divided into 'Early' (before 8 weeks of gestation) and 'Late' (at 8 weeks or later) groups. Firstly, to clarify the effect of each component of MFPR procedure, data were analyzed between 'KCl' and 'non-KCl' groups, and between 'Early' and 'Late' groups with adjustments. Secondly, comparison between 'Early, non-KCl' and 'Late, KCl' groups was performed to evaluate the combinative effect of both components. Non-KCl groups showed a significantly higher take-home-baby rate, and lower risk of extreme prematurity and preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) than KCl groups. Early groups showed a lower immediate loss rate than Late groups. As compared with 'Late, KCl' group, 'Early, non-KCl' group was superior in terms of immediate loss, pregnancy loss, take-home-baby, and PPROM rates. Our data suggest that the 'early, non-KCl' method may be a better option for MFPR

Discrepancies in Perception of Urinary Incontinence between Patient and Physician after Robotic Radical Prostatectomy

PURPOSE: Reported incidence of urinary incontinence after a radical prostatectomy (RP) varies between studies. This may be due not only to the definition of incontinence applied, but also how the information is acquired. We investigated the differences in perception of post robot-assisted laparoscopic RP (RALP) urinary incontinence acquired through doctor interviews and patient-reported questionnaires. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Of 238 consecutive men who underwent RALP by a single surgeon between July 2005 and February 2008, we evaluated 66 men using the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire (ICIQ) at various time points after surgery. Each patient's ICIQ results were considered to be the patient's perceptions of urinary incontinence. The physician at the same time directly interviewed the patients about the number of pads used and considered complete continence to be equivalent to the use of no pads or safety liners. RESULTS: Of the 66 patients, the physician reported that 34 (51.5%) had obtained complete continence. However, analysis of the questionnaires of these 34 patients revealed that only 5 (14.7%) patients reported that they never leaked during the past 4 weeks. Most patients (11 patients, 32.4%) who did not use any pad did in fact reported leakage of a small or moderate amount of urine about once a day. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that there are discrepancies in the perception of urinary incontinence between doctor and patient after RALP. Nonuse of pads is not equivalent to obtaining complete urinary continence. Therefore, the number of pads used is not a good measure to determine the status of complete urinary continence.ope

Perfusable micro-vascularized 3D tissue array for high-throughput vascular phenotypic screening

Microfluidic organ-on-a-chip technologies have enabled construction of biomimetic physiologically and pathologically relevant models. This paper describes an injection molded microfluidic platform that utilizes a novel sequential edge-guided patterning method based on spontaneous capillary flow to realize three-dimensional co-culture models and form an array of micro-vascularized tissues (28 per 1 × 2-inch slide format). The MicroVascular Injection-Molded Plastic Array 3D Culture (MV-IMPACT) platform is fabricated by injection molding, resulting in devices that are reliable and easy to use. By patterning hydrogels containing human umbilical endothelial cells and fibroblasts in close proximity and allowing them to form vasculogenic networks, an array of perfusable vascularized micro-tissues can be formed in a highly efficient manner. The high-throughput generation of angiogenic sprouts was quantified and their uniformity was characterized. Due to its compact design (half the size of a 96-well microtiter plate), it requires small amount of reagents and cells per device. In addition, the device design is compatible with a high content imaging machine such as Yokogawa CQ-1. Furthermore, we demonstrated the potential of our platform for high-throughput phenotypic screening by testing the effect of DAPT, a chemical known to affect angiogenesis. The MV-IMPACT represent a significant improvement over our previous PDMS-based devices in terms of molding 3D co-culture conditions at much higher throughput with added reliability and robustness in obtaining vascular micro-tissues and will provide a platform for developing applications in drug screening and development.This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (No. 2021R1A3B1077481). This study was also supported by a grant of the Korean Health Technol‑ ogy R&D Project, Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (Grant No. HP20C0146010020), and by National Institutes of Health (R01HL141857 to YKH)

Evaluating the Allergic Risk of Genetically Modified Soybean

Genetically modified (GM) soybean (carrying the EPSPS transgene) is the most common GM food in Korea. In order to assess whether genetic modification increases the allergenic risk of soybeans, the allergenicity and IgE-reactive components of wild-type and GM soybean extracts were compared in allergic adults who had been sensitized to soybeans. We enrolled 1,716 adult allergy patients and 40 healthy, non-atopic controls. Skin prick tests and IgE enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) were performed using wild-type and GM soybean extracts, along with other common inhaled allergens. The specificities of serum IgE antibodies from allergic patients and the identities of the IgE-reactive components of the soybean extracts were compared using ELISA inhibition testing, 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis, and IgE immunoblotting. To evaluate the effects of digestive enzymes and heat treatment, the soybean extracts were heated or pre- incubated with or without simulated gastric and intestinal fluids. The IgE sensitization rates to wild-type and GM soybeans were identical (3.8% of allergic adults), and circulating IgE antibodies specific for the two extracts were comparable. The results of the ELISA inhibition test, SDS-PAGE, and IgE immunoblotting showed a similar composition of IgE-binding components within the wild-type and GM extracts, which was confirmed using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, IgE immunoblotting, and amino acid sequencing. None of the subjects had a positive response to purified EPSPS protein in the skin prick test, ELISA, or IgE immunoblot analysis. These findings suggest that the IgE sensitization rate to GM soybean extracts is identical to that of wild-type soybean extracts in adult allergy patients. In addition, based on both in vivo and in vitro methods, the allergenicity of wild type and GM soybean extracts was identical

Early detection of cardiac involvement in Miyoshi myopathy: 2D strain echocardiography and late gadolinium enhancement cardiovascular magnetic resonance

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Miyoshi myopathy (MM) is an autosomal recessive distal myopathy characterized by early adult onset. Cardiomyopathy is a major clinical manifestation in other muscular dystrophies and an important prognostic factor. Although dysferlin is highly expressed in cardiac muscle, the effect of dysferlin deficiency in cardiac muscle has not been studied. We hypothesized that early myocardial dysfunction could be detected by 2D strain echocardiography and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR).</p> <p>Method</p> <p>Five consecutive MM patients (3 male) in whom we detected the DYSF gene mutation and age-matched healthy control subjects were included. None of the patients had history of cardiac disease or signs and symptoms of overt heart failure. Patients were studied using 2D strain echocardiography and CMR, with 2D strain being obtained using the Automated Function Imaging technique.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>All patients had preserved left ventricular systolic function. However, segmental Peak Systolic Longitudinal Strain (PSLS) was decreased in 3 patients. Global PSLS was significantly lower in patients with MM than in control subjects (p = 0.005). Basal anterior septum, basal inferior septum, mid anterior, and mid inferior septum PSLS were significantly lower in patients with MM than in control subjects (P < 0.0001, < 0.0001, 0.038 and 0.003, respectively). Four patients showed fibrosis by LGE. The reduced PSLS lesion detected by 2D strain tended to be in the same area as that which showed fibrosis by LGE.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Patients with MM showed subclinical involvement of the heart. 2D strain and LGE are sensitive methods for detecting myocardial dysfunction prior to the development of cardiovascular symptoms. The prognostic significance of these findings warrants further longitudinal follow-up.</p