Bee Venom Mitigates Cisplatin-Induced Nephrotoxicity by Regulating CD4 +

Cisplatin is used as a potent anticancer drug, but it often causes nephrotoxicity. Bee venom (BV) has been used for the treatment of various inflammatory diseases, and its renoprotective action was shown in NZB/W mice. However, little is known about whether BV has beneficial effects on cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity and how such effects might be mediated. In the present study, the BV-injected group showed a significant increase in the population of Tregs in spleen. Although there was no significant difference in the numbers of Tregs 3 days after cisplatin injection between the BV- and PBS-injected groups, more migration of Tregs into the kidney was observed 6 hours after cisplatin administration in BV group than in PBS group. In addition, BV-injected mice showed reduced levels of serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, renal tissue damage, proinflammatory cytokines, and macrophage infiltration into the kidney 3 days after cisplatin administration. These renoprotective effects were abolished by the depletion of Tregs. The anticancer effect of repeated administrations of cisplatin was not affected by BV injection. These results suggest that BV has protective effects on cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in mice, at least in part, through the regulation of Tregs without a big influence on the antitumor effects of cisplatin

The Effects of Maekmoondong-Tang on Cockroach Extract-Induced Allergic Asthma

Maekmoondong-tang (MMDT) has long been used in Asian countries to treat respiratory diseases. However, the precise mechanisms underlying its effects on asthma are unknown. This study was conducted to evaluate the protective effects of MMDT in a cockroach allergen (CKA-)induced animal model of allergic asthma. After being challenged with CKA, the number of macrophages, eosinophils, neutrophils, lymphocytes, and total cells in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was evaluated. The Th2 specific cytokines IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 were also analyzed in BALF along with IgE levels in serum. For histological analysis, hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining, and immunohistochemical staining were performed. In addition, airway hyperresponsiveness was assessed by noninvasive plethysmography. The cellular profiles and histopathologic analysis demonstrated that peribronchial and perivascular inflammatory cell infiltrates were significantly decreased in the MMDT-treated groups compared with the cockroach extract-injected (CKA) groups. In addition, the IgE, IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 levels were significantly decreased in the MMDT group. MMDT treatment also significantly attenuated airway hyperresponsiveness. These results demonstrated that MMDT significantly reduced the hallmark signs of asthma: elevated serum IgE, airway eosinophilia, airway remodeling, mucus hypersecretion, and airway hyperresponsiveness. The remarkable antiasthmatic effects of MMDT suggest its therapeutic potential in allergic asthma treatment

The Rolling Hills: ESG Metaverse Platform

The Rolling Hills is an ESG Metaverse Platform which was developed by Mingles & Co, Korea. The aim of the ‘The Rolling Hills’ project is to develop and test a new metaverse platform that would enable users to explore the Thermal Village Blumau (The Rolling Hills in Austria) with an ‘avatar’ in the metaverse space. This case study presents the details of the Rolling Hills, the ESG Metaverse Platform and also reports initial feedback from end users in early 2023 from a Proof Shot event with influencers on Zepeto. It also explains the future outlook of the Rolling Hills including the prospective business model and a road map for future development

Moving beyond the Influence of Neighbors on Policy Diffusion: Local Influences on Decisions to Conduct Property Tax Reassessment in New York

Over the past few decades, research on policy adoption and diffusion has grown rapidly. Despite the relatively large number of publications, however, little attention has been paid to the important question of why a policy is differently implemented or diffused across governments. To answer this question and improve our understanding of local policy choice beyond widely cited neighboring influences, we closely examine the roles of three main policy actors—internal actors, external actors, and go-betweens—in the local policy diffusion process, drawing particularly upon property tax reassessment scenarios. In addition, we focus on nested institutional arrangements, including form of government and type of property tax assessor, that affect the policy decisions of internal actors. Using data on cities and towns in New York State for 1993-2010, we estimate event history models of property tax reassessment activities. Our findings reveal that regional interactions with neighbors that have already adopted the policy and top-down go-betweens through positive inducements can help facilitate property tax reassessment across municipalities. Reformed municipal governments in the council-manager form, along with appointed assessors, are also most likely to adopt reassessment policy frequently, compared with other institutional arrangements. Overall, this study advances the policy diffusion literature by exploring the roles of different influences through a more detailed, broader approach.Accepted versio

Bridge deflection estimation using Kalman filter for data fusion

Measuring bridge deflection under dynamic loading is useful to understand structural behavior as well as to assess health condition. However, the conventional approaches for the deflection measurements in large-scale bridges are challenging as they typically require fixed reference points that may be often unavailable in the fields. Alternatively, indirect estimation methods have been developed; other measurements such as acceleration or strain are first obtained and subsequently transformed to displacement. As the acceleration and strain are conveniently measured, the indirect estimation methods are considered to be effective and practical while they have in general lower accuracy in estimation compared to the conventional direct measurement. This study proposes a multisensor fusion approach combining acceleration and strain for bridge deflection estimation with improved accuracy. A mathematical formulation based on Kalman filtering is presented for the fusion of the different physical quantities to estimation vertical deflections. Both numerical and experimental validations are presented to show the efficacy and accuracy of the proposed approach