Thermoresponse of Odd-Even Effect in n-Alkanethiolate Self-Assembled Monolayers on Gold Substrates.

This study examines thermoresponse of odd-even effect in self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of n-alkanethiolates (SCn , n=3-18) formed on template-stripped gold (AuTS ) using macro- and microscopic analytical techniques, contact angle goniometry (CAG) and vibrational sum frequency generation (VSFG) spectroscopy, respectively. Both CAG and VSFG analyses showed that the odd-even effect in liquid-like SAMs (n=3-9) disappeared upon heating at 50-70 °C, indicating that the heating led to increased structural disorder regardless of odd and even carbon numbers. In contrast, the opposite thermoresponse was observed for odd and even SCn molecules in wax- and solid-like SAMs (n=10-18). Namely, temperature-dependent orientational change of terminal CH3 relative to the surface normal was opposite for the odd and even molecules, thereby leading to mitigated odd-even effect. Our work offers important insights into thermoresponse of supramolecular structure in condensed organic matter.

Anthocyanin oligomer (grape skin extract) administration improves dry eye disease: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

BACKGROUND: Dry eye disease is a chronic, progressive ocular disease characterised by ocular discomfort and is one of the most common ophthalmological disorders that affects people's lives. METHODS: This study investigated the clinical efficacy of anthocyanin oligomers (grape skin extract) for the treatment of dry eye. One hundred and eight patients with dry eye were randomly divided into placebo and treatment groups, each with 54 cases. The placebo group received maltodextrin (800 mg/day) and the treatment group received anthocyanin oligomers (800 mg/day). Clinical efficacy, clinical indices, and occurrence of adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Anthocyanin oligomers were safe and effective in mild-to-moderate dry eye disease, improving the tear break-up time, intraocular pressure, ocular surface disease, and patient symptomatology. CONCLUSIONS: The use of oral anthocyanin oligomers in the treatment of dry eye patients can enhance the therapeutic effect and improve the quality of life of patients while ensuring the safety of treatment, making this therapeutic option suitable for wider application.

The Assessment of Intermaxillary Fixation and Open Reduction Using Skeletal Anchorage System Compared With Arch Bar in Mandible Fracture Based on CT Image.

BACKGROUND: There are many different techniques to achieve intermaxillary fixation (IMF) for open reduction of mandible fractures. The arch bar has long been used as the gold standard of IMF to assist open reduction. However, owing to its long operating time, risk of needle stick injury, and gingival trauma, surgeons looked into different treatment options for IMF, such as the skeletal anchorage system (SAS). Therefore, this study aimed to compare the stability between IMF with arch bar and IMF with SAS based on computed tomography image. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, postoperative computed tomography and panoramic radiographs were taken 1 week and 6 months after surgery, respectively. The treatment of mandibular fractures using IMF with arch bar and SAS were compared by evaluating changes in the dental midlines and condyle positions. Thirty patients with mandibular fractures were enrolled into 2 groups-IMF with arch bar and IMF with SAS. RESULTS: The arch bar showed slightly more deviation in dental midline. In SAS, the condyle moved more medially compared with the arch bar. CONCLUSIONS: Skeletal anchorage system could be used for IMF with reliable stability in mandible fracture. There were no significant differences in the treatment outcome between the 2 groups.

Association between long working hours and unmet dental needs in wage workers.

BACKGROUND: Many previous studies on the reasons behind unmet dental needs focus on economic issues. However, in this research, we aimed to investigate the relationship between long working hours and unmet dental needs while considering the influence of occupational factors in wage workers. METHODS: This study used data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2012-2018) and analyzed a sample of 12,104 wage workers. Unmet dental needs were defined as cases in which individuals did not receive dental care, despite their need for examination or treatment, within the last year. Long working hours were defined as exceeding 52 h per week, based on the standard working hours stipulated by the Labor Standards Act. A binomial model was applied to calculate the prevalence ratio through multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The prevalence of unmet dental needs was observed in 3,948 cases (32.5%), among which 1,478 attributed their presence to lack of time. The prevalence of unmet dental needs showed an inverse relationship with the education level and household income. The wage workers who worked long hours had the highest prevalence of unmet dental needs. Long working hours were found to be 1.18 times (95% CI 1.07-1.29) more likely to result in unmet dental care compared to working less than 40 h. The relationship between long working hours and unmet dental needs were statistically significant only in men (PR 1.24, 95% CI 1.07-1.43). However, the relationship between long working hours and unmet dental needs owing to time were in both men and women (men: PR 1.59, 95% CI 1.20-2.11, women: PR 1.90, 95% CI 1.48-2.43). CONCLUSIONS: This study confirmed that long working hours and unmet dental needs are related when occupational factors are taken into consideration, despite the absence of oral health indicators. Using this study as a reference, further research is necessary to identify the underlying causes of unmet dental care and to improve access to dental services in the future.

Comparison of mortality prediction models for road traffic accidents: an ensemble technique for imbalanced data.

BACKGROUND: Injuries caused by RTA are classified under the International Classification of Diseases-10 as 'S00-T99' and represent imbalanced samples with a mortality rate of only 1.2% among all RTA victims. To predict the characteristics of external causes of road traffic accident (RTA) injuries and mortality, we compared performances based on differences in the correction and classification techniques for imbalanced samples. METHODS: The present study extracted and utilized data spanning over a 5-year period (2013-2017) from the Korean National Hospital Discharge In-depth Injury Survey (KNHDS), a national level survey conducted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, A total of eight variables were used in the prediction, including patient, accident, and injury/disease characteristics. As the data was imbalanced, a sample consisting of only severe injuries was constructed and compared against the total sample. Considering the characteristics of the samples, preprocessing was performed in the study. The samples were standardized first, considering that they contained many variables with different units. Among the ensemble techniques for classification, the present study utilized Random Forest, Extra-Trees, and XGBoost. Four different over- and under-sampling techniques were used to compare the performance of algorithms using "accuracy", "precision", "recall", "F1", and "MCC". RESULTS: The results showed that among the prediction techniques, XGBoost had the best performance. While the synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE), a type of over-sampling, also demonstrated a certain level of performance, under-sampling was the most superior. Overall, prediction by the XGBoost model with samples using SMOTE produced the best results. CONCLUSION: This study presented the results of an empirical comparison of the validity of sampling techniques and classification algorithms that affect the accuracy of imbalanced samples by combining two techniques. The findings could be used as reference data in classification analyses of imbalanced data in the medical field.

Effects of mechanical washing and drying on the removal of pet allergens.

Background: In Korea, the number of households with indoor pets is rapidly increasing in parallel with changes in cultural lifestyles. The sensitization rate of pet allergens is also increasing in Korea. Objective: We evaluated the effectiveness of washing machines to remove dog and cat hair and their allergens. In addition, this study aimed to investigate whether only a mechanical dryer without mechanical washing could be used for pet allergen removal. Method: We brushed cats and dogs, and thereafter collected their hair and used a residential vacuum cleaner to obtain dust and other particulate matter from a household. The contents of the vacuum bag were sifted through a 300-µm sieve filter. Some of the contents were placed in phosphate-buffered saline solution with 0.5% Tween 20 to make a liquid extract. Hair, dust, and liquid extract-contaminated fabric samples after mechanical washing or after drying without mechanical washing were analyzed for pet allergens (Fel d l [cat], Can f 1 [dog]) by using a two-site enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We assessed the remaining allergens in the contaminated fabrics after mechanical drying and washing. Results: The mean Fel d l and mean Can f 1 removal ratios after mechanical washing with detergent were > 99.99% for the dust, hair, and liquid extract. The removal ratios after mechanical washing without a detergent were lower for both Fel d 1 and Can f 1, for hair, dust, and their respective liquid extracts (p < 0.05). Mechanical drying was just as effective as mechanical washing with detergent for removing Can f 1 but was less effective for Fel d 1 (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Mechanical washing with detergent is important to remove pet allergens from contaminated fabrics. If washing is difficult, then using just a dryer without washing can be an alternative method to remove allergens from contaminated bedding or clothing.

Increased sensitization rates to tree pollens in allergic children and adolescents and a change in the pollen season in the metropolitan area of Seoul, Korea.

INTRODUCTION: Children with allergies are at greater risk of becoming sensitized to allergenic pollens in response to environmental changes. This study investigated the relationship between changes in pollination associated with meteorologic changes and the sensitization rates of children to tree pollen allergens in the metropolitan area of Seoul, Korea. METHODS: The study population consisted of 8,295 children who visited the pediatric allergy clinics at Hanyang University Seoul and Guri Hospital for allergy symptoms between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2019. Pollen was collected at the two hospitals during the study using a Burkard 7-day sampler. Meteorologic data were obtained from the National Weather Service. RESULTS: Among the major tree pollens, the largest increase in allergic sensitization was to oak, hazel, and alder pollens (0.28% annually). The pollen-sensitization rates increased annually within younger age groups. The duration of the pollen season was 98 days in 1998 and 140 days in 2019. Positive correlations were determined between the duration of the pollen season and the rates of sensitization to tree pollens, as well as between the pollen-sensitization rates and increasing temperature. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated the correlation between weather changes and the resulting changes in the pollen season with sensitization rates to allergenic pollens in children living in the Seoul metropolitan area. An annual increase in sensitization rates in younger children was determined. This pattern is expected to continue due to continuing climate change.

A Knitted Sensing Glove for Human Hand Postures Pattern Recognition.

In recent years, flexible sensors for data gloves have been developed that aim to achieve excellent wearability, but they are associated with difficulties due to the complicated manufacturing and embedding into the glove. This study proposes a knitted glove integrated with strain sensors for pattern recognition of hand postures. The proposed sensing glove is fabricated at all once by a knitting technique without sewing and bonding, which is composed of strain sensors knitted with conductive yarn and a glove body with non-conductive yarn. To verify the performance of the developed glove, electrical resistance variations were measured according to the flexed angle and speed. These data showed different values depending on the speed or angle of movements. We carried out experiments on hand postures pattern recognition for the practicability verification of the knitted sensing glove. For this purpose, 10 able-bodied subjects participated in the recognition experiments on 10 target hand postures. The average classification accuracy of 10 subjects reached 94.17% when their own data were used. The accuracy of up to 97.1% was achieved in the case of grasp posture among 10 target postures. When all mixed data from 10 subjects were utilized for pattern recognition, the average classification expressed by the confusion matrix arrived at 89.5%. Therefore, the comprehensive experimental results demonstrated the effectiveness of the knitted sensing gloves. In addition, it is expected to reduce the cost through a simple manufacturing process of the knitted sensing glove.

Effects of Mechanical Drying on the Removal of Pollen Allergens.

PURPOSE: Pollen may spread indoors through clothes contaminated during outdoor activities. This study aimed to evaluate the pollen removal efficacy of a mechanical dryer. METHODS: Cotton clothes served as laundry, and fabrics measuring 2 × 5 cm served as test samples. Pollen was spread evenly on the test fabrics. The fabrics were then fixed on the cloth and left for 8 h to imitate real-life conditions. This experiment was conducted under 2 conditions, wet (after washing clothes) and dry (without washing). After drying, we counted pollen on the test fabrics to evaluate the pollen removal rate. We measured the remaining allergens in extracts from the contaminated fabrics after mechanical drying. The concentrations of allergens (Amb a 1, Bet v 1, Crp j 1, and Phl p 1) in each extracted solution were measured using 2-site ELISA. RESULTS: For ragweed, Japanese cedar, birch, and timothy grass, the mean pollen removal ratios for the dry samples were 99.88 ± 0.09%, 99.96 ± 0.03%, 99.89 ± 0.02%, and 99.82 ± 0.11%, respectively, and those for the wet samples were 98.83 ± 0.87%, 97.91 ± 1.81%, 97.29 ± 1.19%, and 96.3 ± 0.92%, respectively. Further, for the pollen allergens Amb a 1 [ragweed], Crp j 1 [Japanese cedar], Bet v 1 [birch], and Phl p 1 [timothy grass], the mean pollen allergen removal ratios for the dry samples were 99.81 ± 0.06%, 99.94 ± 0.23%, 99.90 ± 0.11%, and 99.84 ± 0.17%, respectively, and those for the wet samples were 98.11 ± 0.14%, 96.04 ± 1.52%, 97.21 ± 0.83%, and 95.23 ± 0.92%, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference for each species. CONCLUSIONS: Mechanical drying effectively removed pollen and allergens from dry and wet fabrics. We expect that further studies on the removal of other indoor allergens would contribute to improved environmental control for allergy patients.

Sulforaphane mitigates mast cell-mediated allergic inflammatory reactions in in silico simulation and in vitro models.

Objectives: Sulforaphane, a major ingredient isolated from Brassica oleracea var. italica (broccoli), is known to exhibit anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-diabetic effects. In this study, we employed an in vitro model of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and a23187 (PMACI)-stimulated human mast cells (HMC-1 cells) to investigate the anti-allergic inflammatory effects and mechanisms of sulforaphane and Brassica oleracea var. italica extracts.Methods: Cytokine levels were measured by ELISA and quantitative real-time-PCR methods. Caspase-1 activity was determined by caspase-1 assay. Binding mode of sulforaphane within caspase-1 was determined by molecular docking simulation. Protein expression was determined by Western blotting.Results: Water extract of Brassica oleracea var. italica (WE) significantly reduced thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) secretion and caspase-1 activity on activated HMC-1 cells. In the molecular docking simulation and in vitro caspase-1 assays, sulforaphane regulated caspase-1 activity by docking with the identical binding site of caspase-1. Sulforaphane significantly inhibited the levels of inflammatory mediators including TSLP, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-6, and IL-8 in a dose-dependent manner. Immunoblotting experiments revealed that sulforaphane and WE reduced translocation of NF-κBp65 into the nucleus and phosphorylation of IκBα in the cytosol. Furthermore, phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) was down-regulated by treatment with sulforaphane or WE.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that sulforaphane and WE have anti-allergic inflammatory effects by intercepting caspase-1/NF-κB/MAPKs signaling pathways.

Robust Control for the Detection Threshold of CFAR Process in Cluttered Environments.

The constant false alarm rate (CFAR) process is essential for target detection in radar systems. Although the detection performance of the CFAR process is normally guaranteed in noise-limited environments, it may be dramatically degraded in clutter-limited environments since the probabilistic characteristics for clutter are unknown. Therefore, sophisticated CFAR processes that suppress the effect of clutter can be used in actual applications. However, these methods have the fundamental limitation of detection performance because there is no feedback structure in terms of the probability of false alarm for determining the detection threshold. This paper presents a robust control scheme for adjusting the detection threshold of the CFAR process while estimating the clutter measurement density (CMD) that uses only the measurement sets over a finite time interval in order to adapt to time-varying cluttered environments, and the probability of target existence with finite measurement sets required for estimating CMD is derived. The improved performance of the proposed method was verified by simulation experiments for heterogeneous situations.

Fabric Vest Socket with Embroidered Electrodes for Control of Myoelectric Prosthesis.

Myoelectric prostheses assist users to live their daily lives. However, the majority of users are primarily confined to forearm amputees because the surface electromyography (sEMG) that understands the motion intents should be acquired from a residual limb for control of the myoelectric prosthesis. This study proposes a novel fabric vest socket that includes embroidered electrodes suitable for a high-level upper amputee, especially for shoulder disarticulation. The fabric vest socket consists of rigid support and a fabric vest with embroidered electrodes. Several experiments were conducted to verify the practicality of the developed vest socket with embroidered electrodes. The sEMG signals were measured using commercial Ag/AgCl electrodes for a comparison to verify the performance of the embroidered electrodes in terms of signal amplitudes, the skin-electrode impedance, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). These results showed that the embroidered electrodes were as effective as the commercial electrodes. Then, posture classification was carried out by able-bodied subjects for the usability of the developed vest socket. The average classification accuracy for each subject reached 97.92%, and for all the subjects it was 93.2%. In other words, the fabric vest socket with the embroidered electrodes could measure sEMG signals with high accuracy. Therefore, it is expected that it can be readily worn by high-level amputees to control their myoelectric prostheses, as well as it is cost effective for fabrication as compared with the traditional socket.

Exploring the Role of a Novel Peptide from Allomyrina dichotoma Larvae in Ameliorating Lipid Metabolism in Obesity.

The aim of this study was to identify an anti-obesity peptide from Allomyrina dichotoma and investigate the lipid metabolic mechanism. Enzymatically hydrolyzed A. dichotoma larvae were further separated using tangential flow filtration and consecutive chromatographic processes. Finally, an anti-obesity peptide that showed the highest inhibitory effect on lipid accumulation was obtained, and the sequence was Glu-Ile-Ala-Gln-Asp-Phe-Lys-Thr-Asp-Leu (EIA10). EIA10 decreased lipid aggregation in vitro and significantly reduced the accumulation of body weight gain, liver weight, and adipose tissue weight in high-fat-fed mice. Compared with the control group, the levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), insulin, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in the high-fat diet (HFD) group increased significantly, and the content of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) in the serum decreased significantly. On the contrary, the levels of TC, TG, and insulin in the EIA10 group decreased significantly, and the HDL content increased significantly compared with the HFD group. Additionally, EIA10 dramatically decreased mRNA and protein levels of transcription factors involved in lipid adipogenesis. Taken together, our results suggest that EIA10 could be a promising agent for the treatment and prevention of obesity.

Metabolomic Analysis of Morus Cultivar Root Extracts and Their Ameliorative Effect on Testosterone-Induced Prostate Enlargement in Sprague-Dawley Rats.

We investigated the metabolite changes of Morus roots (MRs) according to different cultivar families (Simheung, Daesim, Cheong-il, Sangchon, Daeseong, Suhong, Suwon, and Igsu) using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS) to understand the relationship between different cultivars and metabolite changes. Data were analyzed by partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), and samples were successfully separated in PLS-DA scores. Eight metabolites in the electrospray ionization (ESI)-positive mode and 16 metabolites in the ESI-negative mode contributed to the separation in PLS-DA. Our data suggest that comparative analysis of MR metabolites according to different cultivars is useful to better understand the relationship between the different cultivars and metabolite changes. Furthermore, we analyzed the MRs for their ability to improve benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). LNCaP cells were used to evaluate the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) inhibitory activity of MRs, and, amongst them, the extract with the highest activity was selected. Igsu demonstrated the highest inhibition effect of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) expression among the MR cultivars. Igsu was also evaluated by administration in a testosterone-induced benign prostatic hyperplasia model in Sprague-Dawley rats. Igsu was shown to ameliorate BPH as evidenced by the prostate index, expression of androgen receptor (AR) signaling-related protein, growth factors, cell proliferation-related proteins, apoptosis-related proteins, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling proteins, and histological analysis. Hence, this study strongly suggests that Igsu may have a beneficial effect of on BPH.

A facile approach to enhance antigen response for personalized cancer vaccination.

Existing strategies to enhance peptide immunogenicity for cancer vaccination generally require direct peptide alteration, which, beyond practical issues, may impact peptide presentation and result in vaccine variability. Here, we report a simple adsorption approach using polyethyleneimine (PEI) in a mesoporous silica microrod (MSR) vaccine to enhance antigen immunogenicity. The MSR-PEI vaccine significantly enhanced host dendritic cell activation and T-cell response over the existing MSR vaccine and bolus vaccine formulations. Impressively, a single injection of the MSR-PEI vaccine using an E7 peptide completely eradicated large, established TC-1 tumours in about 80% of mice and generated immunological memory. When immunized with a pool of B16F10 or CT26 neoantigens, the MSR-PEI vaccine eradicated established lung metastases, controlled tumour growth and synergized with anti-CTLA4 therapy. Our findings from three independent tumour models suggest that the MSR-PEI vaccine approach may serve as a facile and powerful multi-antigen platform to enable robust personalized cancer vaccination.

Critical combination of initial markers for predicting refractory Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia in children: a case control study.

BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether the responses of refractory and common Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) pneumonia to macrolides differ. Hence, this study aimed to identify biomarkers that may be used to distinguish refractory and common pneumonias caused by MP in children at hospital admission. METHODS: The study included 123 children divided into five groups according to infection agent and treatment protocol: Group I included those with MP infection without documented viral infection, treated with only macrolides; Group II included those with MP infection without documented viral infection, treated with a combination of macrolides and methylprednisolone; Group III included those with MP infection and documented viral infection, treated with only macrolides; Group IV included those with viral pneumonia without documented MP infection; Group V was the control group composed of admitted children without MP or a documented viral infection. These five groups were further subdivided into Groups A (including Groups I, III, IV, and V) and B (Group II) according to the responses to macrolide treatment. Concentrations of cytokines interleukin 6, interleukin 17, interleukin 18, and tumor necrosis factor-α, and lactate dehydrogenase, and ferritin of all children were evaluated, and these levels were compared among the groups. Statistical comparisons were made using Kruskal Wallis test and Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: Serum lactate dehydrogenase, interleukin 18, and ferritin concentrations were significantly higher in Group II than in Groups I, III, IV, and V and were significantly higher in Group B than in Group A. When the serum lactate dehydrogenase concentration was 350 IU/L or higher, the sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing refractory MP pneumonia were 73 and 80%, respectively. When the interleukin 18 level was 360 pg/mL or higher, the sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing refractory MP pneumonia were 93 and 70%, respectively. When the ferritin level was 230 pg/mL or higher, the sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing refractory MP pneumonia were 67 and 67%, respectively. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that serum lactate dehydrogenase, interleukin 18, and ferritin constitute the critical combination of biomarkers useful for predicting refractory MP pneumonia in children at hospital admission.

Sika deer (Cervus nippon) velvet antler extract attenuates prostate cancer in xenograft model.

The present study determines whether antler extract (AE) possesses inhibitory effects in a prostate cancer (PC) xenograft model and explores the underlying mechanism. After therapeutic intervention for two weeks, AE significantly inhibited prostate cancer xenograft tumor growth by 65.08%, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and serum dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels. However, AE increased the serum testosterone level compared to the vehicle control group. Furthermore, our investigation of the inhibitory effects on angiogenesis and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related genes revealed that AE downregulated matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP)-2, (MMP)-9, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), zinc finger protein (SNAIL1), twist-related protein 1 (TWIST1), and zinc-finger E-box-binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1) in vivo. In contrast, AE increased tissue inhibitor of MMP (TIMP)-1, (TIMP)-2, and E-cadherin. The results suggest that AE possesses potent anti-PC activity, and this is the first report on the anti-PC effect of AE in vivo.

SLIT3 regulates endochondral ossification by ß-catenin suppression in chondrocytes.

Previously, we noted that SLIT3, slit guidance ligand 3, had an osteoprotective role with bone formation stimulation and bone resorption suppression. Additionally, we found that global Slit3 KO mice had smaller long bone. Skeletal staining showed short mineralized length in the newborn KO mice and wide hypertrophic chondrocyte area in the embryo KO mice, suggesting delayed chondrocyte maturation. The recombinant SLIT3 did not cause any change in proliferation of ATDC5 cells, but stimulated expressions of chondrocyte differentiation markers, such as COL2A1, SOX9, COL10A1, VEGF, and MMP13 in the cells. SLIT3 suppressed ß-catenin activity in the cells, and activation of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling by lithium chloride attenuated the SLIT3-stimulated differentiation markers. ATDC5 cells expressed only ROBO2 among their 4 isotypes, and the Robo2 knock-down with its siRNA reversed the SLIT3-stimulated differentiated markers in chondrocytes. Taken together, these indicate that SLIT3/ROBO2 promotes chondrocyte maturation via the inhibition of ß-catenin signaling.

Comparative evaluation of the Omniplex-HPV and RFMP HPV PapilloTyper for detecting human papillomavirus genotypes in cervical specimens.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a major cause of cervical neoplasia development. HPV screening is very important because early treatment can prevent cervical cancer. Omniplex-HPV is a polymerase chain reaction followed by Luminex xMAP bead microarray technology that is designed for detecting 40 HPV genotypes. The aim of this study is to evaluate the analytical and clinical performance of the Omniplex-HPV in comparison with that of the commercially available RFMP (restriction fragment mass polymorphism) HPV PapilloTyper. A total of 2,808 cervical swab specimens were obtained. Of these, only 1799 specimens had a cytology result. A type-specific direct sequencing test was performed using the reference method in case of discrepancies between the two test results. The overall percent agreement (OPA) between Omniplex-HPV and RFMP HPV PapilloTyper was 97.9% (κ=0.84; 95% CI: 0.81-0.88). The positive percent agreement (PPA) and the negative percent agreement (NPA) were 98.0% and 96.2%, respectively. The Omniplex-HPV and RFMP HPV PapilloTyper showed comparable sensitivities (90.2% and 91.9%, respectively) and specificities (91.3% each), while the Omniplex-HPV produced more accurate results and required less turnaround time and labor. The agreement between these two methods was excellent for HPV genotyping (P>0.05; McNemar's test), and clinical sensitivity, specificity, and odds ratio of the two assays were comparable to the result of cytology tests in identifying high risk HPV. In conclusion, Omniplex-HPV and RFMP HPV PapilloTyper were highly comparable with regard to detection and genotyping analysis of HPV.

Differences in cytokine levels between the nasal polyps of adolescents with local allergic and adolescents with allergic or nonallergic rhinitis.

BACKGROUND: Local allergic rhinitis (LAR) is rhinitis with a localized nasal allergic response in the absence of systemic allergy. This study aimed to evaluate the pathogenesis specific to LAR compared with allergic rhinitis (AR) and nonallergic rhinitis (NAR) by using cytokines from polypous tissues. METHODS: We recruited 43 patients with AR (n = 15; mean age, 17.4 years), LAR (n = 12; mean age, 15.9 years), and NAR (n = 16; mean age, 15.6 years) who underwent polypectomy. Atopic status was defined as presenting a sufficiently high total immunoglobulin E (IgE) serum concentration and skin-prick test or serum allergen test. Immunoassays were performed by using polyp tissue homogenates to quantify the levels of regulated on activation of normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES), tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha, interleukin (IL) 5, and sera to assess total IgE and eosinophil cationic protein. RESULTS: RANTES levels were higher in patients with LAR than in patients with AR and NAR. There was a significant correlation in the concentration of RANTES between polyp tissue homogenates and serum (R2 = 0.51, p < 0.05). The levels of IL-5, TNF alpha, and interferon gamma also demonstrated positive correlations between polyp tissue homogenates and serum; however, they were not significantly different. CONCLUSION: Results of our study indicated that RANTES may play an important role and contribute to allergic reaction in LAR, and RANTES may be related to the pathogenesis of LAR.