Intercomparison study of fragmentation pathways and fragment ion structures for screening of illegal drugs and their novel analogues used to adulterate dietary supplements using liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

RATIONALE: As public interest in health and immunity has increased in recent years, so has the demand for dietary supplements. However, supplements adulterated with illegal drugs and their novel analogues are being sold even as the pharmacological efficacies of these drugs are being advertised. Since the use of these illegal compounds can have serious side effects, they pose a risk to public health. Hence, in this study, we propose a strategy for proactively testing drugs and novel analogues that may be added to dietary supplements illegally. METHODS: The optimal conditions for liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry were explored to determine the fragmentation patterns for 60 compounds. The optimal conditions were established by comparing the areas and heights of the precursor ion peaks at a fragmentor voltage of 125 or 175 V. Furthermore, the optimized spectra were acquired using collision energies of 1 to 50 eV. The energy value was selected based on the condition that the mass error of the precursor ions is 10 ppm or lower. RESULTS: The fragmentation pathway of each product ion and its chemical structure were predicted and determined. In addition, the obtained structural information was used to screen 18 seized samples. Based on the precursor ions and the corresponding fragmentation patterns, the unknown compounds present in the samples were identified as desulfonylchlorosildenafil and propoxyphenylthiohydroxy homosildenafil. CONCLUSIONS: We obtained mass spectrometry-based information for various compounds by predicting the fragmentation pathways and chemical structures of their fragment ions. Subsequently, based on the obtained structural information, we tested several seized samples and were able to detect two novel analogues in four of the samples. Therefore, the proposed approach is suitable for quickly and accurately identifying the unknown compounds detected in real-world samples.

Application of predicted fragmentation pathways and fragment ion structures for detecting steroids and selective androgen receptor modulators in dietary supplements using liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

RATIONALE: Dietary supplements advertised to strengthen muscles have earned fame among athletes. However, several products containing unauthorized compounds are often detected, which can cause a public health risk. Particularly, steroids and selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) can cause serious side effects as hormone modulators. In this study, we analyzed 15 steroids and 20 SARMs using liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC/QTOFMS) to provide fundamental information about fragmentation pathways and fragment ion structures. METHODS: The optimal conditions of LC/QTOFMS were explored to obtain fragmentation patterns for each compound. The optimal conditions were established by comparing the area and height of the precursor ion peak at 125 or 175 V as a fragmentor energy. Furthermore, the optimized spectra were acquired by applying collision energy ranging from 1 to 50 eV. The energy value was selected under the condition that the mass error of precursor ions was less than 10 ppm. RESULTS: The 35 compounds were classified on the basis of their chemical core structures: arylpropionamide (3 compounds), quinolinone (2), pyrrolidinylbenzonitrile (1), indole (2), tropanol (2), phenylaxadaizole (1), hydantoin (2), phenylthiazole (1), nitrothiophene (1) and steroidal derivative (20). Fragmentation pathways and the chemical structure of each product ion were predicted and identified. Furthermore, the obtained structural information was applied to screen seized samples. As a result, 10 seized samples were confirmed to contain one or more SARMs by comparing each precursor ion and fragmentation pattern. CONCLUSIONS: The application to real samples for accurate screening indicated that the same fragmentation patterns and product ions as one or more SARM standards were detected and identified in the seized samples advertised as muscle building. Therefore, this study can contribute to ensuring the safety of public health through providing fundamental information about the risk of illegal adulteration.

Simultaneous screening of 21 potential adulterants in dietary supplements for the treatment of prostate diseases using ultra-performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry.

Reports of the number of adulteration cases using illegal therapeutic substances in dietary supplements have increased. In recent years, various dietary supplements are being distributed that exaggerate the efficacy of treatment for prostate-related diseases. To develop the preemptive monitoring method, we selected 21 prostate-related therapeutic substances and optimized the simultaneous ultra-performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry and pretreatment procedures for various types of matrices including solid, liquid, and soft capsule samples. The methods were validated by determining the specificity, linearity, limit of detection, limit of quantification, method detection limit, method quantitation limit, precision, accuracy, recovery, stability, and matrix effect. The simultaneous methods were validated according to the international guidelines. In addition, using the validated methods, 81 real samples, which were searched and purchased by focusing on promotional phrases, such as prostate and prostatic hyperplasia, were successfully screened. As a result, sildenafil and tadalafil were detected in one seized capsule sample (5.15 and 14.6 mg/g, respectively). Synthetically, our approach could be useful for the determination of illegal therapeutic substances potentially adulterated in various types of dietary supplements.

Visual outcomes of epiretinal membrane removal after diffractive-type multifocal intraocular lens implantation.

BACKGROUND: To assess visual outcomes of epiretinal membrane (ERM) removal in multifocal intraocular lens (MIOL)-implanted eyes, according to ERM stage. METHODS: Retrospective chart reviews were undertaken in patients with diffractive-type MIOL implants, each undergoing pars plana vitrectomy and ERM removal between February 2018 and November 2020 at Gyeongju St. Mary's Eye Clinic and KEYE Eye Center. Assessments focused on monocular uncorrected and corrected values of distant visual acuity (UDVA and CDVA) and uncorrected near visual acuity (UNVA) at postoperative 12 months according to the stage of ERM. RESULTS: The present study included a total of 49 MIOL-implanted eyes from 49 enrollees, 25 undergoing pars plana vitrectomy for ERM removal (11 eyes with Stage 2 and 14 eyes with Stage 3), and 24 acting as age-matched controls. There was a significant difference in UDVA and UNVA between control and Stage 3 ERM (UDVA; 0.01 ± 0.04 for control, and 0.07 ± 0.08 for stage 3 ERM, p = 0.035, UNVA; 0.03 ± 0.05 for control, and 0.13 ± 0.16 for Stage 3 ERM, p = 0.029). There were no significant differences in CDVA between groups (p = 0.121, ANOVA test). CONCLUSIONS: Eyes with Stage 3 ERM did not achieve visual acuity comparable to control eyes, suggesting the necessity of an early intervention for ERM in eyes with diffractive type MIOL. A meticulous preoperative retinal evaluation for ERM development is mandatory when planning diffractive-type MIOL implantation.

Entropy-Aware Model Initialization for Effective Exploration in Deep Reinforcement Learning.

Effective exploration is one of the critical factors affecting performance in deep reinforcement learning. Agents acquire data to learn the optimal policy through exploration, and if it is not guaranteed, the data quality deteriorates, which leads to performance degradation. This study investigates the effect of initial entropy, which significantly influences exploration, especially in the early learning stage. The results of this study on tasks with discrete action space show that (1) low initial entropy increases the probability of learning failure, (2) the distributions of initial entropy for various tasks are biased towards low values that inhibit exploration, and (3) the initial entropy for discrete action space varies with both the initial weight and task, making it hard to control. We then devise a simple yet powerful learning strategy to deal with these limitations, namely, entropy-aware model initialization. The proposed algorithm aims to provide a model with high initial entropy to a deep reinforcement learning algorithm for effective exploration. Our experiments showed that the devised learning strategy significantly reduces learning failures and enhances performance, stability, and learning speed.

Assessing Distraction Potential of Augmented Reality Head-Up Displays for Vehicle Drivers.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a framework for quantifying the visual and cognitive distraction potential of augmented reality (AR) head-up displays (HUDs). BACKGROUND: AR HUDs promise to be less distractive than traditional in-vehicle displays because they project information onto the driver's forward-looking view of the road. However, AR graphics may direct the driver's attention away from critical road elements. Moreover, current in-vehicle device assessment methods, which are based on eyes-off-road time measures, cannot capture this unique challenge. METHOD: This article proposes a new method for the assessment of AR HUDs by measuring driver gaze behavior, situation awareness, confidence, and workload. An experimental user study (n = 24) was conducted in a driving simulator to apply the proposed method for the assessment of two AR pedestrian collision warning (PCW) design alternatives. RESULTS: Only one of the two tested AR interfaces improved driver awareness of pedestrians without visually and cognitively distracting drivers from other road elements that were not augmented by the display but still critical for safe driving. CONCLUSION: Our initial human-subject experiment demonstrated the potential of the proposed method in quantifying both positive and negative consequences of AR HUDs on driver cognitive processes. More importantly, the study suggests that AR interfaces can be informative or distractive depending on the perceptual forms of graphical elements presented on the displays. APPLICATION: The proposed methods can be applied by designers of in-vehicle AR HUD interfaces and be leveraged by designers of AR user interfaces in general.

Simultaneous screening of dietary supplements for 25 anti-hyperlipidemic substances using ultra-performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry.

RATIONALE: Recently, illegal dietary supplements containing unauthorized compounds have been seized and internationally publicized with a warning to avoid their consumption. This adulteration can be a serious threat to public health because of insufficient and reliable safety data as well as their undesirable side effects. It is, therefore, essential to rapidly and accurately develop and simultaneously validate analytical methods for these unauthorized anti-hyperlipidemic substances. METHODS: Dietary supplements were screened simultaneously for 25 anti-hyperlipidemic drugs using an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) system with a photodiode array (PDA) detector and LC/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS). The method validation, according to ICH guidelines, considered specificity, linearity, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), precision, accuracy, matrix effects, and stability for solid and liquid blank samples. The established UPLC-PDA and LC/ESI-MS/MS methods were applied to screen 103 dietary supplements for 25 anti-hyperlipidemic substances. RESULTS: Using the validated methods, the screened samples were found to contain peaks with similar retention times and PDA spectra. By comparing the calculated precursor-product ion ratios with those of standards, lovastatin and lovastatin acid were detected at concentrations from LOQ to 4.12 mg/g and LOQ to 9.65 mg/g, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The developed UPLC-PDA and LC/ESI-MS/MS analytical methods were applied to 103 real samples, of which 13 samples were found to contain lovastatin and lovastatin acid. In view of the increasing demand for dietary supplements in the treatment of hyperlipidemic diseases, widespread use of these methods will contribute to consumer health by ensuring the safety of dietary supplements.

Application of a simultaneous screening method for the detection of new psychoactive substances in various matrix samples using liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

RATIONALE: Recently, new psychoactive substances (NPS) have emerged as a public health risk. Particularly, their chemical structures are modified to avoid detection. Synthetic NPS with effects similar to those of illegal drugs have been recently detected and synthesized worldwide, including MDMB-FUBINACA and APINAC, making it essential to rapidly and accurately detect NPS. METHODS: Fourteen NPS with similar structures were selected and their structures identified using 1 H and 13 C NMR spectroscopy. Additionally, we proposed the fragmentation pattern of each compound using liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC/QTOF-MS). A simultaneous analytical method using liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS) was also developed and applied to real samples to detect the 14 NPS. The method was validated based on the specificity, linearity, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), precision, accuracy, matrix effect, and stability according to international validation guidelines. RESULTS: The established method was used to screen 65 different matrix samples using LC/ESI-MS/MS. By comparing the calculated product ion ratios with those of standards, 2C-B in one of the real samples and 5F-MDMB-PICA in 20 samples were identified. For re-confirmation of detected compounds, the fragmentation pattern of each compound was compared with that of each standard using LC/QTOF-MS. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, LC/QTOF-MS data were used to elucidate the structures and fragmentation patterns of 14 NPS. A simultaneous method was developed using LC/ESI-MS/MS, which was applied to 65 real samples. The presented method and results can assist in ensuring the safety of public health from illegal adulteration.

Hypothermia Induced by Oxcarbazepine after Transient Forebrain Ischemia Exerts Therapeutic Neuroprotection through Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid Type 1 and 4 in Gerbils.

In the present study, we investigated the neuroprotective effect of post-ischemic treatment with oxcarbazepine (OXC; an anticonvulsant compound) against ischemic injury induced by transient forebrain ischemia and its mechanisms in gerbils. Transient ischemia was induced in the forebrain by occlusion of both common carotid arteries for 5 min under normothermic conditions (37 ± 0.2 °C). The ischemic gerbils were treated with vehicle, hypothermia (whole-body cooling; 33.0 ± 0.2 °C), or 200 mg/kg OXC. Post-ischemic treatments with vehicle and hypothermia failed to attenuate and improve, respectively, ischemia-induced hyperactivity and cognitive impairment (decline in spatial and short-term memory). However, post-ischemic treatment with OXC significantly attenuated the hyperactivity and the cognitive impairment, showing that OXC treatment significantly reduced body temperature (to about 33 °C). When the hippocampus was histopathologically examined, pyramidal cells (principal neurons) were dead (lost) in the subfield Cornu Ammonis 1 (CA1) of the gerbils treated with vehicle and hypothermia on Day 4 after ischemia, but these cells were saved in the gerbils treated with OXC. In the gerbils treated with OXC after ischemia, the expression of transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1; one of the transient receptor potential cation channels) was significantly increased in the CA1 region compared with that in the gerbils treated with vehicle and hypothermia. In brief, our results showed that OXC-induced hypothermia after transient forebrain ischemia effectively protected against ischemia-reperfusion injury through an increase in TRPV1 expression in the gerbil hippocampal CA1 region, indicating that TRPV1 is involved in OXC-induced hypothermia.

Populus tomentiglandulosa Extract Is Rich in Polyphenols and Protects Neurons, Astrocytes, and the Blood-Brain Barrier in Gerbil Striatum Following Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury.

Transient ischemia in brains causes neuronal damage, gliosis, and blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown, which is related to ischemia-induced brain dysfunction. Populus species have various pharmacological properties including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. In this study, we found that phenolic compounds were rich in Populus tomentiglandulosa extract and examined the effects of Populus tomentiglandulosa extract on neuronal damage/death, astrogliosis, and BBB breakdown in the striatum, which is related to motor behavior, following 15-min transient ischemia in the forebrain in gerbils. The gerbils were pre-treated with 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg of the extract. The latter showed significant effects against ischemia-reperfusion injury. Ischemia-induced hyperactivity using spontaneous motor activity test was significantly attenuated by the treatment. Striatal cells (neurons) were dead at five days after the ischemia; however, pre-treatment with the extract protected the striatal cells from ischemia/reperfusion injury. Ischemia-induced reactive astrogliosis was significantly alleviated, in particular, astrocyte end feet, which are a component of BBB, were significantly preserved. Immunoglobulin G, which is not found in intact brain parenchyma, was apparently shown (an indicator of extravasation) in striatal parenchyma at five days after the ischemia, but IgG leakage was dramatically attenuated in the parenchyma by the pre-treatment. Based on these findings, we suggest that Populus tomentiglandulosa extract rich in phenolic compounds can be employed as a pharmaceutical composition to develop a preventive material against brain ischemic injury.

High-throughput single-molecule imaging system using nanofabricated trenches and fluorescent DNA-binding proteins.

DNA curtain is a high-throughput system, integrating a lipid bilayer, fluorescence imaging, and microfluidics to probe protein-DNA interactions in real-time and has provided in-depth understanding of DNA metabolism. Especially, the microfluidic platform of a DNA curtain is highly suitable for a biochip. In the DNA curtain, DNA molecules are aligned along chromium nanobarriers, which are fabricated on a slide surface, and visualized using an intercalating dye, YOYO-1. Although the chromium barriers confer precise geometric alignment of DNA, reuse of the slides is limited by wear of the barriers during cleaning. YOYO-1 is rapidly photobleached and causes photocleavage of DNA under continuous laser illumination, restricting DNA observation to a brief time window. To address these challenges, we developed a new nanopatterned slide, upon which carved nanotrenches serve as diffusion barriers. The nanotrenches were robust under harsh cleaning conditions, facilitating the maintenance of surface cleanliness that is essential to slide reuse. We also stained DNA with a fluorescent protein with a DNA-binding motif, fluorescent protein-DNA binding peptide (FP-DBP). FP-DBP was slowly photobleached and did not cause DNA photocleavage. This new DNA curtain system enables a more stable and repeatable investigation of real-time protein-DNA interactions and will serve as a good platform for lab-on-a-chip.

A case of gastric cancer metastasis to the breast in a female with BRCA2 germline mutation and literature review.

INTRODUCTION: Gastric cancer is a deadly disease. Common sites of distant metastasis of gastric cancer are the peritoneum, liver, lymph nodes, and lung. The breast is a rare site of metastasis in gastric cancer which occurs in males dominantly. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Here, we report the first case of metastatic gastric cancer to the breast in a patient with the breast cancer 2 (BRCA2) germline mutation. A 34-year-old female was admitted to the hospital with dyspepsia and a palpable mass in the left breast. Gastric cancer was confirmed to be signet ring cell adenocarcinoma. The breast mass exhibited histological properties consistent with gastric cancer. Immunohistochemistry results showed the breast tumor was CDX-2 and CK20-positive, but ER-, CK7-, and GATA3-negative. The BRCA1 gene had a wild-type sequence, but a heterozygous variant was discovered in BRCA2 in exon 10 (c.1744A > C, p.T582P); the significance of this variant is unknown. RESULTS: The patient received palliative XELOX (capecitabine + oxaliplatin) with radiation therapy to the stomach. The breast tumor resolved completely, but the overall response was partial. CONCLUSION: Gastric cancer metastasis to the breast is rare, but should be considered in young female patients with signet ring cell type gastric cancer.

Staging for Remnant Gastric Cancer: The Metastatic Lymph Node Ratio vs. the UICC 7th Edition System.

BACKGROUND: Unlike primary gastric cancer, a remnant gastric cancer (RGC) staging system has not been established. The retrieved lymph node counts (RLN) in RGC is generally lower than that in primary gastric cancer, so it is unclear whether positive lymph node count reflects the RGC patient's survival. Therefore, the lymph node ratio (LR) may be more useful for RGC staging than the 7th edition UICC classification. METHODS: Patients (n = 191) who underwent gastrectomy with curative intent for RGC participated in this study. LR was classified as LR = 0, 0 < LR ≤ 0.1, 0.1 < LR ≤ 0.4, and 0.4 < LR. Modified TNM staging (mTNM-LR) was established by combining the pT (7th UICC) with LR. The predictive accuracy of LR and mTNM-LR was compared with that of the pN (7th UICC) and TNM (7th UICC), respectively. RESULTS: The mean RLN was 14.4 and that of 128 patients (67 %) was ≤15. Fifty-one patients (27 %) had metastatic lymph nodes. Multivariable analyses revealed that pT (7th UICC) (p < 0.001) and pN (7th UICC) (p = 0.001), but not LR, were independent risk factors for overall survival. The overall c-index (95 % confidence interval) of each staging system was as follows: pN (7th UICC): 0.700 (0.627-0.771); LR: 0.701 (0.627-0.775), TNM (7th UICC): 0.808 (0.761-0.870); mTNM-LR: 0.807 (0.737-0.871). There were no significant differences in the predictive accuracy between pN (7th UICC) and LR, and TNM (7th UICC) and mTNM-LR. CONCLUSIONS: LR was not superior to pN (7th UICC). Thus, the 7th edition UICC classification is a practical and reliable staging system for RGC.

Difficulty of predicting the presence of lymph node metastases in patients with clinical early stage gastric cancer: a case control study.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between pathological factors and lymph node metastasis of pathological stage early gastric cancer has been extensively investigated. By contrast, the relationship between preoperative factors and lymph node metastasis of clinical stage early gastric cancer has not been investigated. The present study was to investigate discrepancies between preoperative and postoperative values. METHODS: From January 2011 to December 2013, 1042 patients with clinical stage early gastric cancer who underwent gastrectomy with lymphadenectomy were enrolled. Preoperative and postoperative values were collected for subsequent analysis. Receiver operating characteristics curves were computed using independent predictive factors. RESULTS: Several discrepancies were observed between preoperative and postoperative values, including existence of ulcer, gross type, and histology (all McNemar p-values were <0.001). Multivariate analyses identified the following independent predictive factors for lymph node metastasis: postoperative values including age (p = 0.002), tumor size (p < 0.001), and tumor depth (p < 0.001); preoperative values including age (p = 0.017), existence of ulcer (p = 0.037), tumor size (p = 0.009), and prediction of the presence of lymph node metastasis in computed tomography scans (p = 0.002). These postoperative and preoperative independent predictive factors produced areas under the receiver operating characteristics curves of 0.824 and 0.660, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Surgeons need to be aware of limitations in preoperative predictions of the presence of lymph node metastasis for clinical stage early gastric cancer.

Is microsatellite instability a prognostic marker in gastric cancer? A systematic review with meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The relationship between survival in gastric cancer patients and the status of microsatellite instability (MSI) has not yet been established. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to obtain integrated and more precise data for the value of MSI as a prognostic marker in gastric cancer. METHODS: A comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted using major electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central) with keywords related to "microsatellite instability," "gastric cancer," and "prognosis." RESULTS: Twenty-four studies with 5,438 participants (712 cases were MSI gastric cancer) were included for pooling risk estimates of MSI in gastric cancer. Seventeen studies reported overall survival. The pooled hazard ratio (HR) for overall survival of MSI vs. non-MSI was 0.72 (95%CI: 0.59-0.88, P = .001) in a random-effects model. In the sensitivity analysis, the result from the most recent study showed the most heterogeneity. CONCLUSION: MSI gastric cancer was associated with good prognosis but there was heterogeneity in the recent studies. Changed epidemiology and effects of chemotherapy are potential causes of heterogeneity. Establishing a consensus for defining MSI in gastric cancer should be preferred for future studies.

Characteristics of men and premenopausal women with burning mouth symptoms: a case-control study.

OBJECTIVES: To identify possible clinical differences between male, premenopausal, and postmenopausal female patients with burning mouth symptoms. BACKGROUND: Burning mouth symptoms are known to occur predominantly in postmenopausal women. In some rare cases, however, such symptoms may also appear in men and younger premenopausal women. There is no information on the characteristics of male and premenopausal female patients with burning mouth symptoms. METHODS: A total of 22 male patients (no age limit) and 19 relatively younger premenopausal female patients (age: ≤45 years) with a burning sensation in the mouth without any visible signs of oral mucosal diseases were included in the experimental groups. Sixty burning mouth patients (postmenopausal females, age: ≥50 years) without oral mucosal diseases were included as a typical older postmenopausal group for comparison. All individuals in the 3 groups were subjected to clinical evaluations including an interview, a comprehensive questionnaire, a simplified psychological evaluation (Symptom Checklist-90-Revision [SCL-90-R]), blood tests, and a measurement of salivary flow rate. RESULTS: The male group reported taste problems less commonly (40.9%, P = .009) and less severely (median visual analog scale [VAS] = 0.00, P = .004) than the postmenopausal group (73.3%, median VAS = 4.50). The younger premenopausal group complained of paresthesia more commonly (68.4%, P = .006) and more severely (median VAS = 0.50, P = .007) than the postmenopausal group (30.0%, median VAS = 0.00). The male group (81.8%) reported discomfort of the tongue less commonly than the postmenopausal group (100.0%, P = .004). The percentage of patients with a symptom triad of oral mucosal pain, dysguesia, and xerostomia was significantly higher in the premenopausal (73.7%, P = .005) and postmenopausal (60.0%, P = .012) groups than the male group (27.3%). The flow rate of unstimulated whole saliva was significantly higher in the premenopausal group (0.27 ± 0.18 mL/min) than the postmenopausal group (0.17 ± 0.16 mL/min, P = .006). None of the 9 symptom dimensions of the SCL-90-R were significantly different among the 3 groups. The percentage of patients with abnormal blood tests and taking medications due to comorbid diseases was the lowest in the premenopausal group. CONCLUSIONS: Male and premenopausal female patients with burning mouth symptoms showed different characteristics compared with typical postmenopausal female patients.

Comparison between Early Clinical Results of Dual-Linear and Conventional Foot-Pedal Control in Phacoemulsification.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to compare early clinical results regarding the safety and efficacy of dual-linear vs. conventional foot-pedal control in cataract surgery. METHODS: This was a paired-eye contralateral, retrospective, observational study. Each patient underwent cataract surgery in both eyes: one eye with dual-linear foot-pedal control (study group) and the other eye with conventional foot-pedal control (control group). Absolute phaco time (APT), average phaco power, effective phaco time (EPT), and surgical complications were analyzed and compared. Corneal endothelial cell count, corneal thickness, corneal volume, and best-corrected distance visual acuity (BCDVA) were measured preoperatively and at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months postoperatively. RESULTS: A total of 94 patients (188 eyes) were enrolled. The respective APT, average phaco power, and EPT values were 7.05 ± 5.31 s, 28.4 ± 1.00, and 2.05 ± 1.56 s in the study group and 6.82 ± 6.48 s, 18.9 ± 1.74, and 1.35 ± 1.35 s in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: The average phaco power and EPT values were significantly higher in the study group. The safety of the dual-linear foot pedal was comparable to that of a conventional pedal in terms of endothelial cell loss, central corneal thickness, and surgical complications.

Simultaneous Detection Method of 11 Respiratory Drug Substances Including Theobromine, Oxymetazoline, etc. in Adulterated Dietary Supplements Using Liquid Chromatography-Electrospray Ionization-Tandem Mass Spectrometry and Liquid Chromatography-Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry Analysis.

Recently, the demand for respiratory disease-related products has surged due to the influence of coronavirus disease 2019, prompting warnings about illegal dietary supplements containing unauthorized substances. Additionally, adulterated dietary supplements are continuously detected in open markets, posing significant public health safety problem. In this study, we developed and validated an analytical method for 11 respiratory drug substances using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) and proposed optimal conditions for LC-quadrupole time-of-flight MS (LC-QTOF-MS) to determine the fragmentation patterns of each substance. This method underwent thorough validation considering specificity, linearity, limits of detection and quantification, accuracy, precision, matrix effect, stability, etc. All results met international guidelines. These validated methods were applied to 52 dietary supplements advertised for treating respiratory diseases and enhancing respiratory function, among which one sample was found to contain 313.7 mg/g of theobromine. This determination was made by comparing the product ion ratios with the standards and subsequent quantification. To re-confirm the detected substances, their fragmentation patterns were compared with those of the standards using LC-QTOF-MS. In conclusion, the mass-based information, coupled with the LC-ESI-MS/MS method development, can be successfully applied to rapidly identify 11 respiratory drug substances in illegal dietary supplements used for respiratory disease treatment. The developed simultaneous detection method contributes to public health and safety improvements.

Mechanical properties of composite resins light-cured using a blue DPSS laser.

Lasers have many favorable features as a light source owing to their monochromaticity and coherence. This study examined the mechanical properties of composite resins that were light-cured using a diode-pumped solid state (DPSS) laser. Eight composite resins were light-cured using four different light sources (one quartz-tungsten-halogen (QTH), two light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and one DPSS laser with a wavelength of 473 nm). The light intensity of the DPSS laser and remaining light-curing units were approximately 500 and 900 mW/cm(2), respectively. The microhardness, flexural properties, and compressive properties were evaluated using the Vickers hardness test, three-point bending test, and compression test, respectively. In most cases, the microhardness, flexural properties, and compressive properties of the specimens light-cured using the DPSS laser were similar to those obtained using the other light-curing units. Within the limits of the study, the microhardness, flexural modulus, and compressive strength were linearly correlated with the filler content (in weight percent). The flexural modulus and compressive modulus were also linearly correlated with the microhardness. Even with a much lower light intensity, the DPSS laser with a wavelength of 473 nm can polymerize composite resins and give comparable mechanical properties to those obtained using the other light-curing units.

Stereoscopic Vision Recalling Memory for Monocular 3D Object Detection.

Monocular 3D object detection has drawn increasing attention in various human-related applications, such as autonomous vehicles, due to its cost-effective property. On the other hand, a monocular image alone inherently contains insufficient information to infer the 3D information. In this paper, we propose a new monocular 3D object detector that can recall the stereoscopic visual information about an object, given a left-view monocular image. Here, we devise a location embedding module to handle each object by being aware of its location. Next, given the object appearance of the left-view monocular image, we devise Monocular-to-Stereoscopic (M2S) memory that can recall the object appearance of the right-view and depth information. For this purpose, we introduce a stereoscopic vision memorizing loss that guides the M2S memory to store the stereoscopic visual information. Furthermore, we propose a binocular vision association loss to guide the M2S memory that can associate the information of the left-right view about the object when estimating the depth. As a result, our monocular 3D object detector with the M2S memory can effectively exploit the recalled stereoscopic visual information in the inference phase. The comprehensive experimental results on two public datasets, KITTI 3D Object Detection Benchmark and Waymo Open Dataset, demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. We claim that our method is a step-forward method that follows the behaviors of humans that can recall the stereoscopic visual information even when one eye is closed.