Fabrication and Encapsulation of a Short‐Period Wire Grid Polarizer with Improved Viewing Angle by the Angled‐Evaporation Method

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/101761/1/adom201300276-sup-0001-S1.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/101761/2/adom201300276.pd

Identification of cDNA Encoding a Serine Protease Homologous to Human Complement C1r Precursor from Grafted Mouse Skin

We isolated a cDNA clone from grafted mouse skin that encodes a serine protease homologous to human C1r. The C1r protease is involved in the activation of the first component of the classical pathway in the complement system. In order to identify novel transcripts whose expression is regulated in grafted mouse skin, we first perfomed differential display reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis and obtained 18 partial cDNA clones whose protein products are likely to play an important role in allograft rejection. One of these showed significant sequence homology with human complement C1r precursor. The other clones displayed no homology to any known sequences, however. Northern blot analysis demonstrated that the level of this transcript was upregulated in day 8 postgrafted skin. The full-length cDNA 2121 nucleotides in length obtained from screening a mouse skin cDNA library contained a single open reading frame encoding 707 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular weight of 80,732 Da. Its deduced amino acid sequence revealed an 81% identity and 89% similarity to the human C1r counterpart. In particular, mouse C1r contained His501, Asp559, and Ser656, which were conserved among this group of serine proteases. This protein was thus designated as mouse C1r. We have expressed a truncated fragment of C1r protein without the N-terminal hydrophobic sequence in Escherichia coli and generated a polyclonal antibody against it. Subsequent immunohistochemical analysis confirmed that mouse C1r was significantly expressed 8 d after the skin graft in both allografted and autografted skins, compared with normal skins. These collective data suggest that a component of the complement system, C1r, might contribute to the graft versus host immune responses in mice

Integrative genome-scale metabolic analysis of Vibrio vulnificus for drug targeting and discovery

Chromosome 1 of Vibrio vulnificus tends to contain larger portion of essential or housekeeping genes on the basis of the genomic analysis and gene knockout experiments performed in this study, while its chromosome 2 seems to have originated and evolved from a plasmid.The genome-scale metabolic network model of V. vulnificus was reconstructed based on databases and literature, and was used to identify 193 essential metabolites.Five essential metabolites finally selected after the filtering process are 2-amino-4-hydroxy-6-hydroxymethyl-7,8-dihydropteridine (AHHMP), D-glutamate (DGLU), 2,3-dihydrodipicolinate (DHDP), 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate (DX5P), and 4-aminobenzoate (PABA), which were predicted to be essential in V. vulnificus, absent in human, and are consumed by multiple reactions.Chemical analogs of the five essential metabolites were screened and a hit compound showing the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 2 μg/ml and the minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) of 4 μg/ml against V. vulnificus was identified

Remodeling Pattern of Spinal Canal after Full Endoscopic Uniportal Lumbar Endoscopic Unilateral Laminotomy for Bilateral Decompression: One Year Repetitive MRI and Clinical Follow-Up Evaluation

Objective: There is limited literature on repetitive postoperative MRI and clinical evaluation after Uniportal Lumbar Endoscopic Unilateral Laminotomy for Bilateral Decompression. Methods: Clinical visual analog scale, Oswestry Disability Index, McNab's criteria evaluation and MRI evaluation of the axial cut spinal canal area of the upper end plate, mid disc and lower end plate were performed for patients who underwent single-level Uniportal Lumbar Endoscopic Unilateral Laminotomy for Bilateral Decompression. From the evaluation of the axial cut MRI, four types of patterns of remodeling were identified: type A: continuous expanded spinal canal, type B: restenosis with delayed expansion, type C: progressive expansion and type D: restenosis. Result: A total of 126 patients with single-level Uniportal Lumbar Endoscopic Unilateral Laminotomy for Bilateral Decompression were recruited with a minimum follow-up of 26 months. Thirty-six type A, fifty type B, thirty type C and ten type D patterns of spinal canal remodeling were observed. All four types of patterns of remodeling had statistically significant improvement in VAS at final follow-up compared to the preoperative state with type A (5.59 +/- 1.58), B (5.58 +/- 1.71), C (5.58 +/- 1.71) and D (5.27 +/- 1.68), p < 0.05. ODI was significantly improved at final follow-up with type A (49.19 +/- 10.51), B (50.00 +/- 11.29), C (45.60 +/- 10.58) and D (45.60 +/- 10.58), p < 0.05. A significant MRI axial cut increment of the spinal canal area was found at the upper endplate at postoperative day one and one year with type A (39.16 +/- 22.73; 28.00 +/- 42.57) mm(2), B (47.42 +/- 18.77; 42.38 +/- 19.29) mm(2), C (51.45 +/- 18.16; 49.49 +/- 18.41) mm(2) and D (49.10 +/- 23.05; 38.18 +/- 18.94) mm(2), respectively, p < 0.05. Similar significant increment was found at the mid-disc at postoperative day one, 6 months and one year with type A (55.16 +/- 27.51; 37.23 +/- 25.88; 44.86 +/- 25.73) mm(2), B (72.83 +/- 23.87; 49.79 +/- 21.93; 62.94 +/- 24.43) mm(2), C (66.85 +/- 34.48; 54.92 +/- 30.70; 64.33 +/- 31.82) mm(2) and D (71.65 +/- 16.87; 41.55 +/- 12.92; 49.83 +/- 13.31) mm(2) and the lower endplate at postoperative day one and one year with type A (49.89 +/- 34.50; 41.04 +/- 28.56) mm(2), B (63.63 +/- 23.70; 54.72 +/- 24.29) mm(2), C (58.50 +/- 24.27; 55.32 +/- 22.49) mm(2) and D (81.43 +/- 16.81; 58.40 +/- 18.05) mm(2) at postoperative day one and one year, respectively, p < 0.05. Conclusions: After full endoscopic lumbar decompression, despite achieving sufficient decompression immediately postoperatively, varying severity of asymptomatic restenosis was found in postoperative six months MRI without clinical significance. Further remodeling with a varying degree of increment of the spinal canal area occurs at postoperative one year with overall good clinical outcomes

Impact of Alcohol Consumption on Quality of Life, Depressive Mood and Metabolic Syndrome in Obstructive Lung Disease Patients: Analysis of Data from Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2014 and 2016

Background The objective of this study was to investigate whether alcohol consumption might affect the quality of life (QOL), depressive mood, and metabolic syndrome in patients with obstructive lung disease (OLD). Methods Data were obtained from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2014 and 2016. OLD was defined as spirometry of forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity <0.7 in those aged more than 40 years. QOL was evaluated using the European Quality of Life Questionnaire-5D (EQ-5D) index. Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was used to assess the severity of depressive mood. Alcohol consumption was based on a history of alcohol ingestion during the previous month. Results A total of 984 participants with OLD (695 males, 289 females, age 65.8±9.7 years) were enrolled. The EQ-5D index was significantly higher in alcohol drinkers (n=525) than in non-alcohol drinkers (n=459) (0.94±0.11 vs. 0.91±0.13, p=0.002). PHQ-9 scores were considerably lower in alcohol drinkers than in non-alcohol drinkers (2.15±3.57 vs. 2.78±4.13, p=0.013). However, multiple logistic regression analysis showed that alcohol consumption was not associated with EQ-5D index or PHQ-9 score. Body mass index ≥25 kg/m2, triglyceride ≥150 mg/dL, high-density lipoprotein <40 mg/dL in men and <50 mg/dL in women, and blood pressure ≥130/85 mm Hg were significantly more common in alcohol drinkers than in non-alcohol drinkers (all p<0.05). Conclusion Alcohol consumption did not change the QOL or depressive mood of OLD patients. However, metabolic syndrome-related factors were more common in alcohol drinkers than in non-alcohol drinkers

Extrasinonasal infiltrative process associated with a sinonasal fungus ball: does it mean invasive fungal sinusitis?

PURPOSE:Invasive fungal sinusitis (IFS) has rarely been reported to develop from non-IFS. The purpose of this study was to disclose the nature of the extrasinonasal infiltrative process in the presence of a sinonasal fungus ball (FB).METHODS:We retrospectively reviewed the medical records, computed tomography, magnetic resonance images of 13 patients with sinonasal FB and the extrasinonasal infiltrative process. Based on histology and clinical course, we divided the extrasinonasal infiltrative process into IFS and the nonfungal inflammatory/infectious process (NFIP). The images were analyzed with particular attention to the presence of cervicofacial tissue infarction (CFTI).RESULTS:Of the 13 patients, IFS was confirmed in only one, while the remaining 12 were diagnosed to have presumed NFIP. One patient with IFS died shortly after diagnosis. In contrast, all 12 patients with presumed NFIP, except one, survived during a mean follow-up of 17 months. FB was located in the maxillary sinus (n=4), sphenoid sinus (n=8), and both sinuses (n=1). Bone defect was found in five patients, of whom four had a defect in the sphenoid sinus. Various sites were involved in the extrasinonasal infiltrative process, including the orbit (n=10), intracranial cavity (n=9), and soft tissues of the face and neck (n=7). CFTI was recognized only in one patient with IFS.CONCLUSION:In most cases, the extrasinonasal infiltrative process in the presence of sinonasal FB did not seem to be caused by IFS but probably by NFIP. In our study, there were more cases of invasive changes with the sphenoid than with the maxillary FB

Genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation patterns in horse

Background: DNA methylation is an epigenetic regulatory mechanism that plays an essential role in mediating biological processes and determining phenotypic plasticity in organisms. Although the horse reference genome and whole transcriptome data are publically available the global DNA methylation data are yet to be known. Results: We report the first genome-wide DNA methylation characteristics data from skeletal muscle, heart, lung, and cerebrum tissues of thoroughbred (TH) and Jeju (JH) horses, an indigenous Korea breed, respectively by methyl-DNA immunoprecipitation sequencing. The analysis of the DNA methylation patterns indicated that the average methylation density was the lowest in the promoter region, while the density in the coding DNA sequence region was the highest. Among repeat elements, a relatively high density of methylation was observed in long interspersed nuclear elements compared to short interspersed nuclear elements or long terminal repeat elements. We also successfully identified differential methylated regions through a comparative analysis of corresponding tissues from TH and JH, indicating that the gene body regions showed a high methylation density. Conclusions: We provide report the first DNA methylation landscape and differentially methylated genomic regions (DMRs) of thoroughbred and Jeju horses, providing comprehensive DMRs maps of the DNA methylome. These data are invaluable resource to better understanding of epigenetics in the horse providing information for the further biological function analyses.open1

Exploring the pore fluid origin and methane-derived authigenic carbonate properties in response to changes in the methane flux at the southern Ulleung Basin, South Korea

We investigated the geochemistry of gas, pore fluid, and methane-derived authigenic carbonate (MDAC) from four sites in the southern Ulleung Basin, South Korea. In contrast to Sites 16GH-P1 and 16GH-P5, Sites 16GH-P3, and 16GH-P4 are characterized by acoustic chimney structures associated with gas flux. The composition of gas and isotopic signatures of methane (CH4) (C1/C2+ &gt; 300, δ13CCH4 &lt; -60‰, δDCH4 ≤ -190‰) indicate microbial source CH4 at all sites. The upward migration of CH4 can affect the chemical and isotopic properties of pore fluid and gas-related byproducts (e.g., gas hydrate (GH) and MDAC) within the shallow sediments including the current sulfate-methane transition (SMT) (&lt; 5 meters below seafloor). Although no GH was found, elevated Cl- concentrations (maximum = 609 mM) with low δD and δ18O values in Site 16GH-P4 pore fluids delineate the influence of massive GH formation in deeper sediment. In contrast, relatively constant Cl-, δD, and δ18O values in fluids from Sites 16GH-P1, 16GH-P3, and 16GH-P5 indicate a predominant origin from seawater. Pore fluids also exhibit higher concentrations of H4SiO4, B, Mg2+, and K+, along with increasing alkalinity compared to seawater. These observations suggest that marine silicate weathering alters fluid chemistry within the sediment, affecting element and carbon cycles. High alkalinity (up to 60 mM) and Mg2+/Ca2+ ratios (&gt; 6) alongside decreasing Ca2+ and Sr2+ concentrations imply carbonate precipitation. MDACs with diverse morphologies, mainly composed of aragonite and magnesian calcite, and characterized by low carbon isotopic values (δ13CMDAC &lt; -31.3‰), were found at Sites 16GH-P3 and 16GH-P4. Interestingly, δ13CMDAC values at Site 16GH-P3 are clearly differentiated above and below the current SMT. High δ13CMDAC values above the SMT (&gt; -34.3‰) suggest the combined influence of seawater and CH4 migrating upward on MDAC precipitation, whereas low δ13CMDAC values below it (&lt; -41.6‰) indicate a predominant impact of CH4 on MDAC formation. Additionally, the vertical variation of δ18OMDAC values at Site 16GH-P4, compared to the theoretical values, reflects an association with GH dissociation and formation. Our findings improve the understanding of fluid, gas, and MDAC geochemistry in continental margin cold seeps, providing insights into global carbon and element cycles