On the near-wall accumulation of injectable particles in the microcirculation: smaller is not better

Although most nanofabrication techniques can control nano/micro particle (NMP) size over a wide range, the majority of NMPs for biomedical applications exhibits a diameter of ~100 nm. Here, the vascular distribution of spherical particles, from 10 to 1,000 nm in diameter, is studied using intravital microscopy and computational modeling. Small NMPs (≤100 nm) are observed to move with Red Blood Cells (RBCs), presenting an uniform radial distribution and limited near-wall accumulation. Larger NMPs tend to preferentially accumulate next to the vessel walls, in a size-dependent manner (~70% for 1,000 nm NMPs). RBC-NMP geometrical interference only is responsible for this behavior. In a capillary flow, the effective radial dispersion coefficient of 1,000 nm particles is ~3-fold larger than Brownian diffusion. This suggests that sub-micron particles could deposit within diseased vascular districts more efficiently than conventional nanoparticles

Comparison of self-reported and accelerometer-assessed measurements of physical activity according to socio-demographic characteristics in Korean adults

OBJECTIVES Previous studies have shown relatively low correlations between self-reported and accelerometer-assessed physical activity (PA). However, this association differs by socio-demographic factors, and this relationship has not been fully investigated in the general population. Thus, we investigated the correlation between self-reported and accelerometer-assessed PA and whether it differed by demographic and socioeconomic factors among the Korean general population. METHODS This cross-sectional study included 623 participants (203 men and 420 women) aged 30 to 64 years, who completed a PA questionnaire and wore a wrist-worn accelerometer on the non-dominant wrist for 7 days. We examined the agreement for metabolic equivalent task minutes per week (MET-min/wk) between the 2 measures and calculated Spearman correlation coefficients according to demographic and socioeconomic factors. RESULTS The kappa coefficient between tertiles of self-reported and accelerometer-assessed total MET-min/wk was 0.16 in the total population, suggesting overall poor agreement. The correlation coefficient between the 2 measurements was 0.26 (p<0.001) in the total population, and the correlation tended to decrease with increasing age (p for trend <0.001) and depression scores (p for trend <0.001). CONCLUSIONS We found a low correlation between self-reported and accelerometer-assessed PA among healthy Korean adults, and the correlation decreased with age and depression score. When studying PA using accelerometers and/or questionnaires, age and depression need to be considered, as should differences between self-reported and accelerometer-assessed PA

Switchable Lens Design for Multi-View 2D/3D Switching Display with Wide-Viewing Window

We improved the three-dimensional (3D) crosstalk level of multi-view 3D displays using a lens array with small f-number, thereby facilitating a wide 3D viewing window. In particular, we designed a polarization-dependent-switching liquid crystal (LC)-based gradient refractive index (GRIN) lens array that could be switched between 2D and 3D viewing modes. For the GRIN lens with a small f-number (1.08), we studied the effect of the interfacial curvature between the plano-concave isotropic polymer layer and the plano-convex birefringent LC layer on the aberration properties. We examined the conventional spherical, quadratic polynomial aspherical, and a high-order (fourth-order) polynomial aspherical curvature. For the high-order polynomial aspherical curvature, the achievable transverse spherical aberration (TSA = 10.2 &micro;m) was considerably lower than that with the spherical (TSA = 100.3 &micro;m) and quadratic polynomial aspherical (TSA = 30.4 &micro;m) curvatures. Consequently, the angular luminance distributions for each view were sharper for the high-order polynomial interfacial curvature. We designed multi-view (43-view) 3D displays using the arrays of switchable LC lenses with different curvatures, and the average adjacent crosstalk levels within the entire viewing window (50&deg;) were 68.5%, 73.3%, and 60.0% for the spherical, quadratic polynomial aspherical, and high-order polynomial aspherical curvatures, respectively

Five newly recorded species of the genus Streblocera Westwood (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Euphorinae) from Korea

Five species of the genus Streblocera (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Euphorinae) are reported for the first time from Korea: Streblocera (Eutanycerus) affinis Belokobylskij, Streblocera (E.) galinae Belokobylskij, Streblocera (E.) lienhuachihensis Chou, Streblocera (E.) major Belokobylskij, and Streblocera (Streblocera) spasskensis Belokobylskij. Diagnosis and photographs for the species are provided

Genus Pygostolus Haliday (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Euphorinae) new to Korea

The genus Pygostolus Haliday of the subfamily Euphorinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) with a newly recorded species, Pygostolus falcatus (Ness), is reported for the first time from Korea. Diagnosis and a photograph of the genus and species are provided

Taxonomic revision of the genus Aridelus Marshall (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Euphorinae) from Korea

In this paper, a total of six species of genus Aridelus Marshall are recognized from Korea. Among them, one species, Aridelus alternecolatus He, 1980 is reported for the first time from Korea. All the known species are enumerated with a taxonomic arrangement. Additionally, diagnosis, distribution, and photographs are provided. A key for the species is given

Four newly recorded species of the genus Meteorus Haliday (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Euphorinae) from Korea

Four species of the genus Meteorus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Euphorinae) are reported for the first time from Korea: Meteorus brevicauda Thomson, 1895, Meteorus colon Haliday, 1835, Meteorus kunashiricus Belokobylskij, 1995, and Meteorus vexator Haliday, 1835. Diagnosis, distribution, and host information are provided for each species. Keywords: Braconidae, Hymenoptera, Korea, Meteorus, New recor