Estimation of utility weights for human papilloma virus-related health states according to disease severity

Scenarios for the different HPV-related health states. (DOCX 38 kb

When sex doesn’t sell to men: Mortality salience, disgust and the appeal of products and advertisements featuring sexualized women

Although men typically hold favorable views of advertisements featuring female sexuality, from a Terror Management Theory perspective, this should be less the case when thoughts of human mortality are salient. Two experiments conducted in South Korea supported this hypothesis across a variety of products (e.g., perfume and vodka). Men became more negative towards advertisements featuring female sexuality, and had reduced purchase intentions for those products, after thinking about their own mortality. Study 2 found that these effects were mediated by heightened disgust. Mortality thoughts did not impact women in either study. These findings uniquely demonstrate that thoughts of death interact with female sex-appeal to influence men’s consumer choices, and that disgust mediates these processes. Implications for the role of emotion, and cultural differences, in terror management, for attitudes toward female sexuality, and for marketing strategies are discussed

Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase expression and pyranocoumarin accumulation in Angelica gigas plantlets exposed to light-emitting diodes

Angelica gigas (Dang Gui) is an important medicinal plant. In this study, we examined the accumulation of pyranocoumarin (decursin and decursinol angelate) and the expression of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) in Korean angelica plantlet grown under different light-emitting diodes (LEDs) (red, orange, green, blue, and white). Three weeks after LED exposure (WAE), the transcript levels of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase mRNA in seedlings grown under orange LEDs were 4-, 18-, and 7-fold higher than those in seedlings grown under green, blue, and white LEDs, respectively. The decursinol angelate content was almost double than the decursin content. The highest levels of decursin (3.2 mg/g dry weight) and decursinol angelate (6 mg/g dry weight) were detected in plants grown under orange LEDs, at 2 WAE. Therefore, we suggest that orange LEDs may affect decursin and decursinol angelate accumulation. The findings of this study could help to determine an effective strategy for producing secondary metabolites in A. gigas using LED technology

Orthogonal Stability of an Additive-quartic Functional Equation in Non-Archimedean Spaces

Using fixed point method, we prove the Hyers-Ulam stability of the orthogonally additive-quartic functional equation f(2x+y)+ f(2x-y)=4 f(x+y)+ 4 f(x-y) + 10 f(x) + 14f(-x) - 3 f(y)-3f(-y) for all $x, y$ with $xperp y$, in non-Archimedean Banach spaces. Here $perp$ is the orthogonality in the sense of Rätz

Self-Isolated Dual-Mode High-Pass Birdcage RF Coil for Proton and Sodium MR Imaging at 7 T MRI

This study presents the feasibility of a dual-mode high-pass birdcage RF coil to acquire MR images at both 1H and 23Na frequencies at ultra-high-field MR scanner, 7 T. A dual-mode circuit (DMC) in the dual-mode birdcage (DMBC) RF coil operates at two frequencies, addressing the limitations of sensitivity reduction and isolation between two frequencies as in traditional dual-tuned RF coil. Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) based electromagnetic (EM) simulations were performed to verify the RF coil at each frequency on the three-dimensional human head model. The DMBC RF coil resonated at proton (1H) and sodium (23Na) frequencies, and also single-tuned high-pass birdcage RF coils were constructed for both 1H and 23Na frequencies. The bench test performance of the RF coils was evaluated using network analysis parameters, including the measurement of scattering parameters (S-parameters) and quality factors (Q-factors). Q-factor of the DMBC coil at 1H port was 10.2% lower than that of 1H single-tuned birdcage (STBC) coil, with a modest SNR reduction of 6.5%. Similarly, the Q-factor for the DMBC coil at 23Na port was 12.3% less than that of 23Na STBC coil, and the SNR showed a minimal reduction of 5.4%. Utilizing the DMBC coil, promising 1H and 23Na MR images were acquired compared to those by using STBC coils. In conclusion, deploying a DMBC 1H/23Na coil has been demonstrated to overcome traditional constraints associated with dual-tuned RF coils, achieving this with only nominal signal attenuation across both nuclei operational frequencies

Cinnamaldehyde enhances in vitro parameters of immunity and reduces in vivo infection against avian coccidiosis

The effects of cinnamaldehyde (CINN) on in vitro parameters of immunity and in vivo protection against avian coccidiosis were evaluated. In vitro stimulation of chicken spleen lymphocytes with CINN (25-400ng/ml) induced greater cell proliferation compared with the medium control (P<0·001). CINN activated cultured macrophages to produce higher levels of NO at 1·2-5·0μg/ml (P<0·001), inhibited the growth of chicken tumour cells at 0·6-2·5μg/ml (P<0·001) and reduced the viability of Eimeria tenella parasites at 10 and 100μg/ml (P<0·05 and P<0·001, respectively), compared with media controls. In chickens fed a diet supplemented with CINN at 14·4mg/kg, the levels of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-15 and interferon-γ transcripts in intestinal lymphocytes were 2- to 47-fold higher (P<0·001) compared with chickens given a non-supplemented diet. To determine the effect of CINN diets on avian coccidiosis, chickens were fed diets supplemented with CINN at 14·4mg/kg (E. maxima or E. tenella) or 125mg/kg (E. acervulina) from hatch for 24d, and orally infected with 2·0×104 sporulated oocysts at age 14d. CINN-fed chickens showed 16·5 and 41·6% increased body-weight gains between 0-9d post-infection (DPI) with E. acervulina or E. maxima, reduced E. acervulina oocyst shedding between 5-9 DPI and increased E. tenella-stimulated parasite antibody responses at 9 DPI compared with control

Underestimation of atypical ductal hyperplasia at sonographically guided core biopsy of the breast

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the rate of underestimation of atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) at sonographically guided core biopsy of the breast and to identify the factors involved. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 3,563 lesions con secutively evaluated with sonographically guided core biopsy between January 2002 and June 2006. Histologic analysis yielded ADH in 60 of the 3,563 lesions (1.7%). The rate of underestimation of ADH was determined by dividing the number of lesions that proved to be carcinoma at surgical excision by 44, the total number of lesions evaluated with excisional biopsy. Clinical, sonographic, and core biopsy features were analyzed to identify factors that affect the rate of underestimation of ADH. RESULTS: The rate of underestimation of ADH was found to be 48% (21 of 44 lesions). Underestimation of ADH was significantly less frequent for lesions evaluated with 11-gauge vacuum-assisted biopsy than for lesions evaluated with 14-gauge automated gun biopsy (22% [four of 18 lesions] vs 65% [17 of 26 lesions], p = 0.012). The other clinical, sonographic, and biopsy features examined did not affect the rate of underestimation of ADH. CONCLUSION: For sonographically guided core biopsy of the breast, the rate of underestimation of ADH was 48%. This rate was lower for lesions evaluated with 11-gauge vacuum-assisted biopsy (22%) than for those evaluated with 14-gauge automated gun biopsy (65%). This finding was particularly true of smaller lesions (< or = 2.0 cm) and for lesions of the mass-only type.Supported by grant A062260 from the Innovative Research Institute for Cell Therapy, Republic of Korea

Interferometric detection of prostate specific antigen based on enzyme immunoassay

AbstractInterferometric detection of Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) based on enzyme immunoassay are investigated. Refractive index changes of substrate are measured for PSA detection. Michelson scheme of optical interferometer was used so as to be applicable to a disposable fluidic chip. When interferometer is used for the measurements of refractive index changes, the detection is over 8 times more sensitive than that of absorbance changes for the same amount of target protein