In-stent restenosis-prone coronary plaque composition: A retrospective virtual histology-intravascular ultrasound study

  Background: The mechanism of in-stent restenosis (ISR) is multifactorial, which includes biological, mechanical and technical factors. This study hypothesized that increased inflammatory reaction, which is known to be an important atherosclerotic process, at a culprit lesion may lead to higher restenosis rates. Methods: The study population consisted of 241 patients who had undergone percutaneous coronary intervention with virtual histology-intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS) and a 9-month follow-up coronary angiography. Compared herein is the coronary plaque composition between patients with ISR and those without ISR. Results: Patients with ISR (n = 27) were likely to be older (66.2 ± 9.5 years vs. 58.7 ± 11.7 years, p = 0.002) and have higher levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP, 1.60 ± 3.59 mg/dL vs. 0.31 ± 0.76 mg/dL, p < 0.001) than those without ISR (n = 214). VH-IVUS examination showed that percent necrotic core volume (14.3 ± 8.7% vs. 19.5 ± 9.1%, p = 0.005) was higher in those without ISR than those with ISR. Multivariate analysis revealed that hs-CRP (odds ratio [OR] 3.334, 95% con­fidence interval [CI] 1.158–9.596, p = 0.026) and age (OR 3.557, 95% CI 1.242–10.192, p = 0.018) were associated with ISR. Conclusions: This study suggests that ISR is not associated with baseline coronary plaque composition but is associated with old age and increased expression of the inflammatory marker of hs-CRP. (Cardiol J 2018; 25, 1: 7–13

Application of CRISPR-Based C-to-G Base editing in rice protoplasts

Recently, new types of base editors, C-to-G base editors (CGBEs), that enable cytosine transversions that are unachievable with cytosine base editors (CBEs) and adenosine base editors (ABEs), have been developed in human cells. However, despite their importance in crop genome editing, the efficacy of CGBEs has not yet been extensively evaluated. In our study, based on the previously reported plant-compatible CBE and human CGBE, we demonstrated that our monocot plant-compatible CGBEs (PcCGBEs) enable cytosine transversions (C-to-G) in rice protoplasts. For all targets tested, PcCGBEs (monocot plant-compatible CGBEs) appeared to have substantial levels of C-to-G editing activity. PcCGBE showed a much higher C-to-G base editing activity and C-to-G specificity among C-to-D conversions than the mini-version of PcCGBE. Our demonstration of PcCGBE could provide a platform for the further development of enhanced CGBEs for reliable application as a new crop breeding technology.This work was supported by the Creative-Pioneering Researchers Program of Seoul National University, National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Grant (2019R1F1A1046305), and New Breeding Technologies Development Program (PJ016542) through the Rural Development Administration (RDA), Republic of Korea

Smart contact lens and transparent heat patch for remote monitoring and therapy of chronic ocular surface inflammation using mobiles

Wearable electronic devices that can monitor physiological signals of the human body to provide biomedical information have been drawing extensive interests for sustainable personal health management. Here, we report a human pilot trial of a soft, smart contact lens and a skin-attachable therapeutic device for wireless monitoring and therapy of chronic ocular surface inflammation (OSI). As a diagnostic device, this smart contact lens enables real-time measurement of the concentration of matrix metalloproteinase-9, a biomarker for OSI, in tears using a graphene field-effect transistor. As a therapeutic device, we also fabricated a stretchable and transparent heat patch attachable on the human eyelid conformably. Both diagnostic and therapeutic devices can be incorporated using a smartphone for their wireless communications, thereby achieving instantaneous diagnosis of OSI and automated hyperthermia treatments. Furthermore, in vivo tests using live animals and human subjects confirm their good biocompatibility and reliability as a noninvasive, mobile health care solution

The Effects of Longitudinal White Matter Hyperintensity Change on Cognitive Decline and Cortical Thinning over Three Years

White matter hyperintensity (WMH) has been recognised as a surrogate marker of small vessel disease and is associated with cognitive impairment. We investigated the dynamic change in WMH in patients with severe WMH at baseline, and the effects of longitudinal change of WMH volume on cognitive decline and cortical thinning. Eighty-seven patients with subcortical vascular mild cognitive impairment were prospectively recruited from a single referral centre. All of the patients were followed up with annual neuropsychological tests and 3T brain magnetic resonance imaging. The WMH volume was quantified using an automated method and the cortical thickness was measured using surface-based methods. Participants were classified into WMH progression and WMH regression groups based on the delta WMH volume between the baseline and the last follow-up. To investigate the effects of longitudinal change in WMH volume on cognitive decline and cortical thinning, a linear mixed effects model was used. Seventy patients showed WMH progression and 17 showed WMH regression over a three-year period. The WMH progression group showed more rapid cortical thinning in widespread regions compared with the WMH regression group. However, the rate of cognitive decline in language, visuospatial function, memory and executive function, and general cognitive function was not different between the two groups. The results of this study indicated that WMH volume changes are dynamic and WMH progression is associated with more rapid cortical thinning

Pre-Engraftment Syndrome after Unrelated Cord Blood Transplantation: A Predictor of Engraftment and Acute Graft-versus-Host Disease

AbstractPre-engraftment syndrome (PES) is poorly characterized, and its clinical significance and the prognostic impact after unrelated cord blood transplantation (CBT) are unclear. To address these issues, we retrospectively analyzed the incidence, risk factors, and clinical outcomes of PES in unrelated CBT recipients. Data of 381 patients who received unrelated CBT from 18 medical centers in Korea were reviewed. PES was defined as unexplained fever >38.3°C not associated with infection, and/or unexplained skin rash with or without evidence of fluid retention before neutrophil recovery. PES developed in 102 patients (26.8%) at a median of 7 days after CBT. Of these patients, 74 patients (72.5%) received intravenous corticosteroid at a median dose of 1 mg/kg/day, and of these, 95% showed clinical improvement. Risk factors for developing PES included low risk disease, myeloablative conditioning, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis without methotrexate or corticosteroid, and >5.43 x 107/kg infused nucleated cells. Absence of PES was one of the risk factors for graft failure in multivariate analysis. The cumulative incidence of grade II to grade IV acute GVHD by 100 days after CBT was higher in patients with PES than in those without PES (56.0% versus 34.4%, P < .01). PES was not associated with chronic GVHD, treatment-related mortality, relapse, or overall survival. PES seems to be common after CBT and may be associated with enhanced engraftment without significant morbidity

Clinical features and outcomes of gastric variceal bleeding: retrospective Korean multicenter data

Background/AimsWhile gastric variceal bleeding (GVB) is not as prevalent as esophageal variceal bleeding, it is reportedly more serious, with high failure rates of the initial hemostasis (>30%), and has a worse prognosis than esophageal variceal bleeding. However, there is limited information regarding hemostasis and the prognosis for GVB. The aim of this study was to determine retrospectively the clinical outcomes of GVB in a multicenter study in Korea.MethodsThe data of 1,308 episodes of GVB (males:females=1062:246, age=55.0±11.0 years, mean±SD) were collected from 24 referral hospital centers in South Korea between March 2003 and December 2008. The rates of initial hemostasis failure, rebleeding, and mortality within 5 days and 6 weeks of the index bleed were evaluated.ResultsThe initial hemostasis failed in 6.1% of the patients, and this was associated with the Child-Pugh score [odds ratio (OR)=1.619; P<0.001] and the treatment modality: endoscopic variceal ligation, endoscopic variceal obturation, and balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration vs. endoscopic sclerotherapy, transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt, and balloon tamponade (OR=0.221, P<0.001). Rebleeding developed in 11.5% of the patients, and was significantly associated with Child-Pugh score (OR=1.159, P<0.001) and treatment modality (OR=0.619, P=0.026). The GVB-associated mortality was 10.3%; mortality in these cases was associated with Child-Pugh score (OR=1.795, P<0.001) and the treatment modality for the initial hemostasis (OR=0.467, P=0.001).ConclusionsThe clinical outcome for GVB was better for the present cohort than in previous reports. Initial hemostasis failure, rebleeding, and mortality due to GVB were universally associated with the severity of liver cirrhosis

AJK2011-31014 CREATION OF TRANSPARENT FLOW PASSAGE TO MEASURE THE BIOMEDICAL FLOW INSIDE HUMAN BODY BY PIV

ABSTRACT Knowledge of flow characteristics in human airway and blood vessel is essential to understand the physiological and pathological aspects of respiratory and circulatory systems. Creating an accurate transparent flow passage is indispensable for the successful investigation on the flow inside a complex flow passage of human organ by PIV. The Web-based communication system between multi-researchers and medical doctors is established for making the post-surgery models and to discuss surgery plans. We also introduced a semi-automatic segmentation technique to reconstruct accurate three dimensional computer models from CT data rapidly and conveniently

Molecular characterization of an unusual new plant RNA virus reveals an evolutionary link between two different virus families.

An unusual novel plant virus provisionally named goji berry chlorosis virus (GBCV) was isolated from goji berry plants (Lycium chinense Miller) showing chlorosis symptoms and its complete genome sequence was determined. The viral genome consists of a positive-sense single-stranded RNA of 10,100 ribonucleotides and contains six open reading frames (ORFs). Electron microscopy showed that the viral genome is packaged as a filamentous particle with an average length of approximately 850 nm. Phylogenetic analysis and amino acid similarity analysis of the encoded ORFs revealed that this new virus could be classified in an intermediate position between the families Benyviridae and Virgaviridae. The GBCV 200-kDa replicase (ORF1) is more similar to benyvirus replicases than to virgavirus replicases, while its 17-kDa coat protein (CP, ORF2) is more closely related with virgavirus CPs than benyvirus CPs. ORF3 was predicted to produce a C-terminally extended protein from ORF2 via frameshifting. While ORF4 (45-kDa), ORF5 (44-kDa), and ORF6 (16-kDa) have no apparent sequence homology with other known viruses, ORF5 is predicted to encode a movement protein (MP) that is phylogenetically related to the furovirus MP and ORF6 was experimentally proven to encode a viral suppressor of RNA silencing. These unusual characteristics suggest that GBCV may represent an evolutionary link between the families Benyviridae and Virgaviridae and indicate the existence of a novel, unidentified virus group