Copper nanofiber-networked cobalt oxide composites for high performance Li-ion batteries

We prepared a composite electrode structure consisting of copper nanofiber-networked cobalt oxide (CuNFs@CoOx). The copper nanofibers (CuNFs) were fabricated on a substrate with formation of a network structure, which may have potential for improving electron percolation and retarding film deformation during the discharging/charging process over the electroactive cobalt oxide. Compared to bare CoOxthin-film (CoOxTF) electrodes, the CuNFs@CoOxelectrodes exhibited a significant enhancement of rate performance by at least six-fold at an input current density of 3C-rate. Such enhanced Li-ion storage performance may be associated with modified electrode structure at the nanoscale, improved charge transfer, and facile stress relaxation from the embedded CuNF network. Consequently, the CuNFs@CoOxcomposite structure demonstrated here can be used as a promising high-performance electrode for Li-ion batteries

Outcomes of endovascular treatment for aortic pseudoaneurysm in Behcet's disease

ObjectiveTo evaluate the effectiveness of endovascular stent grafting for surgical management of aortic pseudoaneurysm in patients with Behcet's disease (BD).MethodsWe present a single-institution retrospective cohort of patients with aortic pseudoaneurysm and BD treated with aortic stent grafting. Computed tomography imaging was obtained preoperatively in all patients and once within 2 weeks postoperatively, and then annually. Clinical follow-up and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were used to follow BD activity. Immunosuppressant therapy was instituted prior to endovascular treatment unless a contraindication existed.ResultsFrom 1998 to 2012, 10 patients (eight male, two female; median age, 39) with BD and aortic pseudoaneurysm were treated with endovascular stent grafting at this institution. Ninety percent of these patients received immunosuppressive therapy before and after surgical treatment. The median follow-up period was 57 months (interquartile range, 43-72). The locations of the 12 pseudoaneurysms treated in this cohort were infrarenal abdominal aorta (seven), descending thoracic aorta (four), and aortic arch (one). Median pseudoaneurysm size was 4.5 cm (interquartile range, 3.4-5.9). At long-term follow-up, complete resolution of the aortic pseudoaneurysm was noted in all patients. No endoleaks occurred. Newly developed pseudoaneurysm at the distal margin of the stent graft was noted in one patient 17 months after the stent graft procedure. One patient required a subsequent stent graft placement for an expanding pseudoaneurysm of the subclavian artery. No patient deaths occurred during the follow-up period.ConclusionsEndovascular treatment of aortic pseudoaneurysm with stent-grafting in patients with BD is safe and effective with long-term durability

Validation of a CT-guided intervention robot for biopsy and radiofrequency ablation: experimental study with an abdominal phantom

PURPOSE:We aimed to evaluate the accuracy of a needle-placement robot for biopsy and radiofrequency ablation on an abdominal phantom.METHODS:A master-slave robotic system has been developed that includes a needle-path planning system and a needle-inserting robot arm with computed tomography (CT) and CT fluoroscopy guidance. For evaluation of its accuracy in needle placement, a commercially available abdominal phantom (Model 057A; CIRS Inc.) was used. The liver part of the phantom contains multiple spherical simulated tumors of three different size spheres. Various needle insertion trials were performed in the transverse plane and caudocranial plane two nodule sizes (10 mm and 20 mm in diameter) to test the reliability of this robot. To assess accuracy, a CT scan was performed after each trial with the needle in situ.RESULTS:The overall error was 2 mm (0–2.6 mm), which was calculated as the distance from the planned trajectory before insertion to the actual needle trajectory after insertion. The standard deviations of the insertions on two nodules (10 mm and 20 mm in diameter) were 0.5 mm and 0.2 mm, respectively.CONCLUSION:The CT-compatible needle placement robot for biopsy and radiofrequency ablation shows relatively acceptable accuracy and could be used for radiofrequency ablation of nodules ≥10 mm under CT fluoroscopy guidance

Side Channel Attacks and Countermeasures on Pairing Based Cryptosystems over Binary Fields

Pairings on elliptic curves have been used as cryptographic primitives for the development of new applications such as identity based schemes. For the practical applications, it is crucial to provide efficient and secure implementations of the pairings. There have been several works on efficient implementations of the pairings. However, the research for secure implementations of the pairings has not been thoroughly investigated. In this paper, we investigate vulnerability of the pairing used in some pairing based protocols against side channel attacks. We propose an efficient algorithm secure against such side channel attacks of the eta pairing using randomized projective coordinate systems for the pairing computation

Serum high mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) is closely associated with the clinical and pathologic features of gastric cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>High mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) is a newly recognized factor regulating cancer cell tumorigenesis, expansion and invasion. We investigated the correlation between the serum HMGB1 levels and the clinical and pathologic features of gastric cancer and evaluated the validity of HMGB1 as a potential biomarker for the early diagnosis of gastric cancer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 227 subjects were classified into 5 disease groups according to the 'gastritis-dysplasia-carcinoma' sequence of gastric carcinogenesis and their serum levels of HMGB1 were analyzed by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Clinical parameters, International Union Against Cancer (UICC) TNM stage, cancer size, differentiation or lymphatic invasion, vascular or perineural invasion and prognosis were used as analysis variables.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The serum HMGB1 levels were significantly different among disease groups (ANOVA, <it>p < 0.05</it>) and HMGB1 levels tended to increase according to the progression of gastric carcinogenesis. Serum HMGB1 levels were significantly associated with depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, tumor size, and poor prognosis (<it>p < 0.05</it>). However, HMGB1 levels were not associated with patient gender or age, differentiation of tumor cells, or lymphatic, vascular and perineural invasion, or the existence of distant metastasis in advanced cancer (<it>p > 0.05</it>). The sensitivity and specificity of serum HMGB1 was 71% and 67% (cut-off value of 5 ng/ml) for the diagnosis of early gastric cancer, and 70% and 64% (cut-off value of 4 ng/ml) for the diagnosis of high-risk lesions, respectively. These values were greater than those for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) (30–40% of sensitivity).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>HMGB1 appears to be a useful serological biomarker for early diagnosis as well as evaluating the tumorigenesis, stage, and prognosis of gastric cancer.</p

CD4+T-CELL-DEPENDENT GOBLET CELL PROLIFERATION AND EXPULSION OF GYMNOPHALLOIDES SEOI FROM THE INTESTINE OF C57BL/6 MICE

Mechanisms for the spontaneous worm expulsion from the host intestine are not well understood in gastrointestinal trematode models. We studied the role of CD4+ T-helper cells in mediating goblet cell hyperplasia and expulsion of Gymnophalloides seoi from the intestines of C57BL/6 (resistant) and ICR (susceptible) mice. C57BL/6 mice expelled all G. seoi. worms within 4 days post-infection (PI), while ICR mice did not completely expel worms until day 7 PI. This difference in worm expulsion was associated with high numbers of mucosal goblet cells in C57BL/6 mice along with alteration of the mucin quality, with changes in the terminal sugar chain and high levels of IL-4 and IL-5 mRNA expression in mesenteric lymph nodes. Adoptive transfer Of mucosal CD4+ T-helper cells to syngeneic mice elicited strong goblet cell hyperplasia and a notably accelerated worm expulsion. However, this T-helper cell transfer had no relationship with the alteration of mucin quality. The results showed that CD4+ T-helper cells play an important role as a mediator of goblet cell hyperplasia, but not for functional activation of goblet cells. It is Suggested that both T-cell dependent and independent mechanisms operate for expulsion of G. seoi front the mouse intestine.

Association of Plasma Retinol-Binding Protein 4, Adiponectin, and High Molecular Weight Adiponectin with Insulin Resistance in Non-Diabetic Hypertensive Patients

∙The authors have no financial conflicts of interest. Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine whether retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4), adiponectin and high molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin are associated with insulin resistance (IR) and metabolic parameters in non-diabetic hypertensive patients. Also, we sought to compare the predictive values of these adipocytokines for IR in non-diabetic hypertensive patients. Materials and Methods: Analyses of RBP4, adiponectin, and HMW adiponectin were performed on 308 non-diabetic hypertensives (148 males, age 58 ± 10 years, 189 non-metabolic syndrome and 119 metabolic syndrome). The homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) index for IR, lipid profiles, and anthropometric measure-ments were assessed. Results: There was no significant difference in RBP4 levels according to the presence of metabolic syndrome, although adiponectin and HMW adiponectin were significantly lower in metabolic syndrome. Correlation analysis of log RBP4 with IR and metabolic indices revealed that there was no significant correlation of RBP4 with wais

Plant growth promotion and Penicillium citrinum

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Endophytic fungi are known plant symbionts. They produce a variety of beneficial metabolites for plant growth and survival, as well as defend their hosts from attack of certain pathogens. Coastal dunes are nutrient deficient and offer harsh, saline environment for the existing flora and fauna. Endophytic fungi may play an important role in plant survival by enhancing nutrient uptake and producing growth-promoting metabolites such as gibberellins and auxins. We screened roots of <it>Ixeris repenes </it>(L.) A. Gray, a common dune plant, for the isolation of gibberellin secreting endophytic fungi.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We isolated 15 endophytic fungi from the roots of <it>Ixeris repenes </it>and screened them for growth promoting secondary metabolites. The fungal isolate IR-3-3 gave maximum plant growth when applied to waito-c rice and <it>Atriplex gemelinii </it>seedlings. Analysis of the culture filtrate of IR-3-3 showed the presence of physiologically active gibberellins, GA₁, GA₃, GA₄and GA₇(1.95 ng/ml, 3.83 ng/ml, 6.03 ng/ml and 2.35 ng/ml, respectively) along with other physiologically inactive GA₅, GA₉, GA₁₂, GA₁₅, GA₁₉, GA₂₀and, GA₂₄. The plant growth promotion and gibberellin producing capacity of IR-3-3 was much higher than the wild type <it>Gibberella fujikuroi</it>, which was taken as control during present study. GA₅, a precursor of bioactive GA₃was reported for the first time in fungi. The fungal isolate IR-3-3 was identified as a new strain of <it>Penicillium citrinum </it>(named as <it>P. citrinum </it>KACC43900) through phylogenetic analysis of 18S rDNA sequence.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Isolation of new strain of <it>Penicillium citrinum </it>from the sand dune flora is interesting as information on the presence of <it>Pencillium </it>species in coastal sand dunes is limited. The plant growth promoting ability of this fungal strain may help in conservation and revegetation of the rapidly eroding sand dune flora. <it>Penicillium citrinum </it>is already known for producing mycotoxin citrinin and cellulose digesting enzymes like cellulase and endoglucanase, as well as xylulase. Gibberellins producing ability of this fungus and the discovery about the presence of GA₅will open new aspects of research and investigations.</p