The value of type IV collagen immunohistochemical staining in the differential diagnosis of autoimmune subepidermal bullous diseases

Autoimmune subepidermal bullous diseases (AISBDs) exhibit various clinical presentations, histological appearances, prognoses, and responses to treatment. Many diagnostic techniques, such as direct immunofluorescence (IF), indirect salt-split skin IF, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, are used in the differential diagnoses of AISBDs. However, these techniques require fresh frozen tissue, expensive laboratory equipment, and sophisticated laboratory techniques. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the value of type IV collagen immunohistochemical (IHC) staining for the differential diagnosis of AISBDs. Paraffin-embedded blocks of skin biopsies were selected from 28 patients with autoimmune subepidermal bullous diseases. Among these 28 cases, 24 patients exhibited bullous pemphigoid (BP), 2 exhibited epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA), 1 exhibited linear immunoglobulin A dermatosis (LAD), and 1 exhibited bullous systemic lupus erythematosus (BSLE). Sections were stained for type IV collagen and examined to determine the location of type IV collagen in the subepidermal blister. Type IV collagen positivity was observed on the base of the subepidermal blister in patients with BP (24 of 24 cases) and LAD (1 of 1 case). Staining was observed on the roof of the blister in patients with EBA (2 of 2 cases) and BSLE (1 of 1 case), and irregular staining was also observed on the base in patients with EBA. In conclusion, type IV collagen IHC staining is a simple and useful diagnostic technique for the differential diagnosis of AISBDs. .042) compared with controls. The filiform papillae had partially or completely regenerated in 85.7% of cases in the test group and in 23.1% of the controls (P=0.001). Red patches with raised keratotic rims may have healed spontaneously and reappeared in constantly changing patterns that are typical for MG. This phenomenon was not observed in patients supplemented with zinc, and new atrophy areas occurred in only one case. Low-dose zinc gluconate supplementation may have a positive therapeutic effect on tongue epithelium regeneration and symptomatology in patients with MG.   in our region were consistent with those from other studies. </p

The value of type IV collagen immunohistochemical staining in the differential diagnosis of autoimmune subepidermal bullous diseases

Autoimmune subepidermal bullous diseases (AISBDs) exhibit various clinical presentations, histological appearances, prognoses, and responses to treatment. Many diagnostic techniques, such as direct immunofluorescence (IF), indirect salt-split skin IF, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, are used in the differential diagnoses of AISBDs. However, these techniques require fresh frozen tissue, expensive laboratory equipment, and sophisticated laboratory techniques. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the value of type IV collagen immunohistochemical (IHC) staining for the differential diagnosis of AISBDs. Paraffin-embedded blocks of skin biopsies were selected from 28 patients with autoimmune subepidermal bullous diseases. Among these 28 cases, 24 patients exhibited bullous pemphigoid (BP), 2 exhibited epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA), 1 exhibited linear immunoglobulin A dermatosis (LAD), and 1 exhibited bullous systemic lupus erythematosus (BSLE). Sections were stained for type IV collagen and examined to determine the location of type IV collagen in the subepidermal blister. Type IV collagen positivity was observed on the base of the subepidermal blister in patients with BP (24 of 24 cases) and LAD (1 of 1 case). Staining was observed on the roof of the blister in patients with EBA (2 of 2 cases) and BSLE (1 of 1 case), and irregular staining was also observed on the base in patients with EBA. In conclusion, type IV collagen IHC staining is a simple and useful diagnostic technique for the differential diagnosis of AISBDs. .042) compared with controls. The filiform papillae had partially or completely regenerated in 85.7% of cases in the test group and in 23.1% of the controls (P=0.001). Red patches with raised keratotic rims may have healed spontaneously and reappeared in constantly changing patterns that are typical for MG. This phenomenon was not observed in patients supplemented with zinc, and new atrophy areas occurred in only one case. Low-dose zinc gluconate supplementation may have a positive therapeutic effect on tongue epithelium regeneration and symptomatology in patients with MG.   in our region were consistent with those from other studies. </p

Monte Carlo Few-Group Constant Generation for CANDU 6 Core Analysis

The current neutronics design methodology of CANDU-PHWRs based on the two-step calculations requires determining not only homogenized two-group constants for ordinary fuel bundle lattice cells by the WIMS-AECL lattice cell code but also incremental two-group constants arising from the penetration of control devices into the fuel bundle cells by a supercell analysis code like MULTICELL or DRAGON. As an alternative way to generate the two-group constants necessary for the CANDU-PHWR core analysis, this paper proposes utilizing a B1 theory augmented Monte Carlo (MC) few-group constant generation method (B1 MC method) which has been devised for the PWR fuel assembly analysis method. To examine the applicability of the B1 MC method for the CANDU 6 core analysis, the fuel bundle cell and supercell calculations are performed using it to obtain the two-group constants. By showing that the two-group constants from the B1 MC method agree well with those from WIMS-AECL and that core neutronics calculations for hypothetical CANDU 6 cores by a deterministic diffusion theory code SCAN with B1 MC method generated two-group constants also agree well with whole core MC analyses, it is concluded that the B1 MC method is well qualified for both fuel bundle cell and supercell analyses

Five-Year Subjective Outcomes of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Surgery: A Multiinstitutional Study

ObjectivesTo evaluate the effect of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) surgery on long-term (5-year) subjective outcomes, including sleep disordered breathing (SDB) symptoms and other complications, in patients with OSA.MethodsWe enrolled patients who underwent diagnostic polysomnography for OSA between January 2006 and December 2006 in ten hospitals. Patients either were treated for OSA or were not treated for OSA. All patients completed a brief telephone survey regarding their SDB signs and symptoms (e.g., snoring, apnea, nocturnal arousals, and daytime sleepiness), positive airway pressure (PAP) compliance, and any adverse effects of either the surgery or PAP. A positive subjective outcome for either surgery or no treatment was taken to be the alleviation of apnea, defined as a ≥50% increase in score. A positive subjective outcome (compliance) for PAP was defined as a PAP usage of ≥4 hours per night and ≥5 days per week.ResultsA total of 229 patients were included in this study. Patients were divided into three groups: a surgery group (n=87), a PAP group (n=68), and a control (untreated) group (n=74). The surgery group exhibited significant improvement in all SDB symptoms compared with the control group. The long-term subjective outcomes of the surgery (52.9%) and PAP (54.4%) groups were significantly better than those of the control group (25.0%). The subjective outcome of the surgery group was not significantly different from that of the PAP group. The overall surgical complication rate was 23.0% (20 of 87) in the surgery group, and 55.0% (22 of 40) of all patients with PAP experienced adverse effects.ConclusionThe extent of SDB symptoms was consistently improved in patients with OSA at 5 years postsurgery. Information about the potential long-term subjective outcomes should be provided to patients when considering surgery

A Validation Study of the Korean Version of SPAN

Purpose: The SPAN, which is acronym standing for its four components: Startle, Physiological arousal, Anger, and Numbness, is a short post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) screening scale. This study sought to develop and validate a Korean version of the SPAN (SPAN-K). Materials and Methods: Ninety-three PTSD patients (PTSD group), 73 patients with non-psychotic psychiatric disorders (psychiatric control group), and 88 healthy participants (normal control group) were recruited for this study. Participants completed a variety of psychiatric assessments including the SPAN-K, the Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS), the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Results: Cronbach&#39;s alpha and test-retest reliability values for the SPAN-K were both 0.80. Mean SPAN-K scores were 10.06 for the PTSD group, 4.94 for the psychiatric control group, and 1.42 for the normal control group. With respect to concurrent validity, correlation coefficients were 0.87 for SPAN-K vs. CAPS total scores (p&lt;0.001) and 0.86 for SPAN-K vs. DTS scores (p&lt;0.001). Additionally, correlation coefficients were 0.31 and 0.42 for SPAN-K vs. STAI-S and STAI-T, respectively. Receiver operating characteristic analysis of SPAN-K showed good diagnostic accuracy with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.87. The SPAN-K showed the highest efficiency at a cutoff score of 7, with a sensitivity of 0.83, a specificity of 0.81, positive predictive value (PPV) of 0.88, and negative predictive value (NPV) of 0.73. Conclusion: These results suggest that the SPAN-K had good psychometric properties and may be a useful instrument for rapid screening of PTSD patients.This study was supported by a grant of the Korean Academy of Anxiety Disorders, Korean Neuropsychiatric Association, and Korean Research Foundation (2006-2005152), Republic of Korea

Psychometric Validation of the Korean Version of Structured Interview for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (K-SIP)

For diagnosis and management of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the easily administered assessment tool is essential. Structured Interview for PTSD (SIP) is a validated, 17-item, simple measurement being used widely. We aimed to develop the Korean version of SIP (K-SIP) and investigated its psychometric properties. Ninety-three subjects with PTSD, 73 subjects with mood disorder or anxiety disorder as a psychiatric control group, and 88 subjects as a healthy control group were enrolled in this study. All subjects completed psychometric assessments that included the K-SIP, the Korean versions of the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) and other assessment tools. The K-SIP presented good internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.92) and test-retest reliability (r=0.87). K-SIP showed strong correlations with CAPS (r=0.72). Among three groups including PTSD patients, psychiatric controls, and normal controls, there were significant differences in the K-SIP total score. The potential cut-off total score of K-SIP was 20 with highest diagnostic efficiency (91.9%). At this point, the sensitivity and specificity were 95.5% and 88.4%, respectively. Our result showed that K-SIP had good reliability and validity. We expect that K-SIP will be used as a simple but structured instrument for assessment of PTSD

Electrical Properties of Cement-Based Composites with Carbon Nanotubes, Graphene, and Graphite Nanofibers

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of the carbon-based nanomaterial type on the electrical properties of cement paste. Three different nanomaterials, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), graphite nanofibers (GNFs), and graphene (G), were incorporated into the cement paste at a volume fraction of 1%. The self-sensing capacity of the cement composites was also investigated by comparing the compressive stress/strain behaviors by evaluating the fractional change of resistivity (FCR). The electrical resistivity of the plain cement paste was slightly reduced by adding 1 vol % GNFs and G, whereas a significant decrease of the resistivity was achieved by adding 1 vol % MWCNTs. At an identical volume fraction of 1%, the composites with MWCNTs provided the best self-sensing capacity with insignificant noise, followed by the composites containing GNFs and G. Therefore, the addition of MWCNTs was considered to be the most effective to improve the self-sensing capacity of the cement paste. Finally, the composites with 1 vol % MWCNTs exhibited a gauge factor of 113.2, which is much higher than commercially available strain gauges

Effects of Hooked-End Steel Fiber Geometry and Volume Fraction on the Flexural Behavior of Concrete Pedestrian Decks

This study investigates the effects of hooked-end fiber geometry and volume fraction on the flexural behavior of concrete pedestrian decks. To achieve this, three different fiber geometries, i.e., three-dimensional (3D), four-dimensional (4D), and five-dimensional (5D), and volume fractions of 0.37%, 0.6%, and 1.0% were considered. Test results indicate that a higher number of hook ends can more effectively enhance the flexural strength and flexural strength margin at all volume fractions than a lower number, so that the order of effectiveness of hooked-end fibers on the flexural strength parameters was as follows: 5D &gt; 4D &gt; 3D. To satisfy the ductility index of 0.39, the amounts of 3D, 4D, and 5D hooked steel fibers should be in the range of 0.98%‒1.10%. Moreover, at a fiber volume fraction of 1.0%, only multiple cracking behaviors were observed, and the numerical results indicated that the volume fraction should be equal to 1.0% to guarantee a deflection-hardening response of pedestrian decks, regardless of the hooked-end fiber geometry. Consequently, a 1.0% by volume of hooked-end steel fiber is recommended to replace the minimum longitudinal steel rebars and guarantee a ductile flexural behavior with multiple cracks for pedestrian decks made of high-strength concrete

Bond Behavior of Pretensioned Strand Embedded in Ultra-High-Performance Fiber-Reinforced Concrete

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the bond properties of prestressing strands embedded in ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC). Toward this end, two types of prestressing strands with diameters of 12.7 and 15.2 mm were considered, along with various concrete cover depths and initial prestressing force magnitudes. The average bond strength of the strands in UHPFRC was estimated by using pullout tests, and the transfer length was evaluated based on a 95% average maximum strain method. Test results indicated that the average bond strength of the pretensioned strand reduced as the diameter of the strand increased, and was between the bond strengths of round and deformed steel rebars. Higher bond strength was also obtained with a lower embedment length. Based on a comparison of p value, the bar diameter and embedment length most significantly influenced the bond strength of strands in UHPFRC, compared to a ratio of cover depth to diameter and initial prestressing force. Pretensioned strands in UHPFRC exhibited much higher bond strength and shorter transfer length compared with strands embedded in ordinary high-strength concrete. Lastly, ACI 318 and AASHTO LRFD codes significantly overestimated the transfer length of the strands embedded in UHPFRC