Prognostic utility of ADAMTS13 activity for the atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) and comparison of complement serology between aHUS and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura

Background Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) involves dysregulation of the complement system, but whether this also occurs in thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) remains unclear. Although these conditions are difficult to differentiate clinically, TTP can be distinguished by low (<10%) ADAMTS13 activity. The aim was to identify the differences in complement activation products between TTP and aHUS and investigate ADAMTS13 activity as a prognostic factor in aHUS. Methods We analyzed patients with thrombotic microangiopathy diagnosed as TTP (N=48) or aHUS (N=50), selected from a Korean registry (N=551). Complement activation products in the plasma samples collected from the patients prior to treatment and in 40 healthy controls were measured by ELISA. Results The levels of generalized (C3a), alternate (factor Bb), and terminal (C5a and C5b-9) markers were significantly higher (all P<0.01) in the patients than in the healthy controls. Only the factor Bb levels significantly differed (P=0.008) between the two disease groups. In aHUS patients, high normal ADAMTS13 activity (≥77%) was associated with improved treatment response (OR, 6.769; 95% CI, 1.605–28.542; P=0.005), remission (OR, 6.000; 95% CI, 1.693–21.262; P=0.004), exacerbation (OR, 0.242; 95% CI, 0.064–0.916; P=0.031), and disease-associated mortality rates (OR, 0.155; 95% CI, 0.029–0.813; P=0.017). Conclusion These data suggest that complement biomarkers, except factor Bb, are similarly activated in TTP and aHUS patients, and ADAMTS13 activity can predict the treatment response and outcome in aHUS patients

Nano encapsulation of Drug-loaded Lipid by Temperature induced Phase Transition

Pluronic nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by means of a temperature-induced phase transition in the mixture composed of Pluronic F-68 and liquid Tween 80/soybean oil containing model drugs such as orlistat, caffeine, and ibuprofen sodium salt. Liquid soybean oil/Tween 80 was used as a solubilizer for model drugs, and Pluronic F-68 was the polymer that stabilizes liquid soybean oil/Tween 80 containing model drugs. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy and particle size analyzer were used to observe the morphology and size distribution of the prepared NPs. X-ray diffractometer was used to understand relationship between the crystalline state of the model drug and its solubility in the aqueous media. To observe the feasibility of Pluronic NPs as a drug delivery system, the release pattern of model drugs was observed

Nano encapsulation of Drug-loaded Lipid by Temperature induced Phase Transition

Pluronic nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by means of a temperature-induced phase transition in the mixture composed of Pluronic F-68 and liquid Tween 80/soybean oil containing model drugs such as orlistat, caffeine, and ibuprofen sodium salt. Liquid soybean oil/Tween 80 was used as a solubilizer for model drugs, and Pluronic F-68 was the polymer that stabilizes liquid soybean oil/Tween 80 containing model drugs. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy and particle size analyzer were used to observe the morphology and size distribution of the prepared NPs. X-ray diffractometer was used to understand relationship between the crystalline state of the model drug and its solubility in the aqueous media. To observe the feasibility of Pluronic NPs as a drug delivery system, the release pattern of model drugs was observed

Clinical effect of IRT-5 probiotics on immune modulation of autoimmunity or alloimmunity in the eye

Background: Although the relation of the gut microbiota to a development of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases has been investigated in various animal models, there are limited studies that evaluate the effect of probiotics in the autoimmune eye disease. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the effect of IRT-5 probiotics consisting of Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus reuteri, Bifidobacterium bifidum, and Streptococcus thermophilus on the autoimmunity of uveitis and dry eye and alloimmunity of corneal transplantation. Methods: Experimental autoimmune uveitis was induced by subcutaneous immunization with interphotoreceptor-binding protein and intraperitoneal injection of pertussis toxin in C57BL/6 (B6) mice. For an autoimmune dry eye model, 12-weeks-old NOD.B10.H2b mice were used. Donor cornea of B6 mice was transplanted into BALB/C mice. IRT-5 probiotics or phosphate buffered saline (PBS) were administered for three weeks immediately after induction of uveitis or transplantation. The inflammation score of the retinal tissues, dry eye manifestations (corneal staining and tear secretion), and graft survival were measured in each model. The changes of T cells were evaluated in drainage lymph nodes using fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Results: Retinal histology score in IRT-5 group of uveitis was lower than that in PBS group (p = 0.045). Ocular staining score was lower (p &lt; 0.0001) and tear secretion was higher (p &lt; 0.0001) in the IRT-5 group of NOD.B10.H2b mice than that in the PBS group. However, the graft survival in the IRT-5 group was not different from those of PBS group. The percentage of regulatory T cells was increased in the IRT-5-treated dry eye models (p = 0.032). The percentage of CD8+IL-17hi (p = 0.027) and CD8+ interferon gamma (IFN��)hi cells (p = 0.022) were significantly decreased in the IRT-5-treated uveitis models and the percentage of CD8+IFN��hi cells was markedly reduced (p = 0.036) in IRT-5-treated dry eye model. Conclusion: Our results suggest that administration of IRT-5 probiotics may modulate clinical manifestations of autoimmunity in the eye, but not on alloimmunity of corneal transplantation. ? 2017 by the authors.112Nsciescopu

Time and Amplitude of Afterpulse Measured with a Large Size Photomultiplier Tube

We have studied the afterpulse of a hemispherical photomultiplier tube for an upcoming reactor neutrino experiment. The timing, the amplitude, and the rate of the afterpulse for a 10 inch photomultiplier tube were measured with a 400 MHz FADC up to 16 \ms time window after the initial signal generated by an LED light pulse. The time and amplitude correlation of the afterpulse shows several distinctive groups. We describe the dependencies of the afterpulse on the applied high voltage and the amplitude of the main light pulse. The present data could shed light upon the general mechanism of the afterpulse.Comment: 11 figure

Temperature-dependent Raman spectroscopy in BaRuO3_3 systems

We investigated the temperature-dependence of the Raman spectra of a nine-layer BaRuO$_3$ single crystal and a four-layer BaRuO$_3$ epitaxial film, which show pseudogap formations in their metallic states. From the polarized and depolarized spectra, the observed phonon modes are assigned properly according to the predictions of group theory analysis. In both compounds, with decreasing temperature, while $A_{1g}$ modes show a strong hardening, $E_g$ (or $E_{2g}$) modes experience a softening or no significant shift. Their different temperature-dependent behaviors could be related to a direct Ru metal-bonding through the face-sharing of RuO$_6$. It is also observed that another $E_{2g}$ mode of the oxygen participating in the face-sharing becomes split at low temperatures in the four layer BaRuO$_3$. And, the temperature-dependence of the Raman continua between 250 $\sim$ 600 cm$^{-1}$ is strongly correlated to the square of the plasma frequency. Our observations imply that there should be a structural instability in the face-shared structure, which could be closely related to the pseudogap formation of BaRuO$_3$ systems.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures. to be published in Phys. Rev.

Effect of stress-triaxiality on void growth in dynamic fracture of metals: a molecular dynamics study

The effect of stress-triaxiality on growth of a void in a three dimensional single-crystal face-centered-cubic (FCC) lattice has been studied. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using an embedded-atom (EAM) potential for copper have been performed at room temperature and using strain controlling with high strain rates ranging from 10^7/sec to 10^10/sec. Strain-rates of these magnitudes can be studied experimentally, e.g. using shock waves induced by laser ablation. Void growth has been simulated in three different conditions, namely uniaxial, biaxial, and triaxial expansion. The response of the system in the three cases have been compared in terms of the void growth rate, the detailed void shape evolution, and the stress-strain behavior including the development of plastic strain. Also macroscopic observables as plastic work and porosity have been computed from the atomistic level. The stress thresholds for void growth are found to be comparable with spall strength values determined by dynamic fracture experiments. The conventional macroscopic assumption that the mean plastic strain results from the growth of the void is validated. The evolution of the system in the uniaxial case is found to exhibit four different regimes: elastic expansion; plastic yielding, when the mean stress is nearly constant, but the stress-triaxiality increases rapidly together with exponential growth of the void; saturation of the stress-triaxiality; and finally the failure.Comment: 35 figures, which are small (and blurry) due to the space limitations; submitted (with original figures) to Physical Review B. Final versio

The in-plane paraconductivity in La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4 thin film superconductors at high reduced-temperatures: Independence of the normal-state pseudogap

The in-plane resistivity has been measured in $La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4$ (LSxCO) superconducting thin films of underdoped ($x=0.10,0.12$), optimally-doped ($x=0.15$) and overdoped ($x=0.20,0.25$) compositions. These films were grown on (100)SrTiO$_3$ substrates, and have about 150 nm thickness. The in-plane conductivity induced by superconducting fluctuations above the superconducting transition (the so-called in-plane paraconductivity, $\Delta\sigma_{ab}$) was extracted from these data in the reduced-temperature range 10^{-2}\lsim\epsilon\equiv\ln(T/\Tc)\lsim1. Such a $\Delta\sigma_{ab}(\epsilon)$ was then analyzed in terms of the mean-field--like Gaussian-Ginzburg-Landau (GGL) approach extended to the high-$\epsilon$ region by means of the introduction of a total-energy cutoff, which takes into account both the kinetic energy and the quantum localization energy of each fluctuating mode. Our results strongly suggest that at all temperatures above Tc, including the high reduced-temperature region, the doping mainly affects in LSxCO thin films the normal-state properties and that its influence on the superconducting fluctuations is relatively moderate: Even in the high-$\epsilon$ region, the in-plane paraconductivity is found to be independent of the opening of a pseudogap in the normal state of the underdoped films.Comment: 35 pages including 10 figures and 1 tabl

Search for sterile neutrino oscillation using RENO and NEOS data

We present a reactor model independent search for sterile neutrino oscillation using 2\,509\,days of RENO near detector data and 180 days of NEOS data. The reactor related systematic uncertainties are significantly suppressed as both detectors are located at the same reactor complex of Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant. The search is performed by electron antineutrino\,($\overline{\nu}_e$) disappearance between six reactors and two detectors with baselines of 294\,m\,(RENO) and 24\,m\,(NEOS). A spectral comparison of the NEOS prompt-energy spectrum with a no-oscillation prediction from the RENO measurement can explore reactor $\overline{\nu}_e$ oscillations to sterile neutrino. Based on the comparison, we obtain a 95\% C.L. excluded region of $0.1<|\Delta m_{41}^2|<7$\,eV$^2$. We also obtain a 68\% C.L. allowed region with the best fit of $|\Delta m_{41}^2|=2.41\,\pm\,0.03\,$\,eV$^2$ and $\sin^2 2\theta_{14}$=0.08$\,\pm\,$0.03 with a p-value of 8.2\%. Comparisons of obtained reactor antineutrino spectra at reactor sources are made among RENO, NEOS, and Daya Bay to find a possible spectral variation.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures: This manuscript has been significantly revised by the joint reanalysis by RENO and NEOS Collaborations. (In the previous edition, the RENO collaboration used publicly available NEOS data to evaluate the expected neutrino spectrum at NEOS.