Calcium pyrophosphate crystal deposition with rotator cuff tear-A case report.

Calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate (CPPD) deposition disease is an inflammatory arthritis induced by calcium pyrophosphate (CPP) crystals and clinically it is called pseudogout. It usually deposits in articular cartilage and in periarticular soft tissues. But no cases of pseudogout in the rotator cuff without cartilage deposition or destruction have been reported so far. We present a case of a 57-year-old woman who was diagnosed as pseudogout with rotator cuff tear.

Aromatic and Aliphatic Apiuronides from the Bark of Cinnamomum cassia.

Cinnamomum cassia Presl (Cinnamon) has been widely cultivated in the tropical or subtropical areas, such as Yunnan, Fujian, Guandong, and Hainan in China, as well as India, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia. Four new glycosides bearing apiuronic acid (1, 4, 6, and 7) and their sodium or potassium salts (2, 3, and 5), together with 31 known compounds, were isolated from a hot water extract of the bark of C. cassia via repeated chromatography. The structures of the new compounds (1-7) were determined by NMR, IR, MS, and ICP-AES data and by acid hydrolysis and sugar analysis. This is the first report of the presence of apiuronic acid glycosides. Some of the isolates were evaluated for their analgesic effects on a neuropathic pain animal model induced by paclitaxel. Cinnzeylanol (8), cinnacaside (9), kelampayoside A (10), and syringaresinol (11) showed analgesic effects against paclitaxel-induced cold allodynia.

Histogram compensation algorithm for an efficient phase-only hologram calculation.

A fast computer-generated phase-only hologram (POH) calculation is needed to realize a holographic display. Existing iterative methods require many iterations and thus require speed improvement, and noniterative methods add constraints to the image, resulting in restrictions on quality or range of expression. In this paper, we propose an efficient iteration algorithm without using a feedback process. For the several initial iterations among the entire iteration process, the image constraint was replaced by a histogram adjusted image. This pre-iteration can compensate for the loss of bright and dark pixels in the image reconstructed by the POH, resulting in a more accurate POH. The quality of image reconstructed by the proposed method was compared with that of existing algorithms by computer simulation and optical regeneration. Compared to the previous method, a 1.17dB increase in peak signal-to-noise ratio was obtained, and the number of iterations to achieve the same image quality has been reduced by 23%. The proposed method hardly increased the amount of computation and could be used simultaneously with the existing feedback methods.

Comparison of the Change in the Prevalence and Intensity of Schistosoma haematobium Infection Between High and Low Prevalence Areas of White Nile State, Sudan.

This study aimed to investigate whether mass drug administration (MDA) intervention has an equivalent effect on reducing the prevalence and intensity of Schistosoma haematobium infection regardless of the baseline values. A repeated cross-sectional survey was performed targeting students of 12 primary schools in Al Jabalain and El Salam districts of White Nile State, Sudan, at both 1 week before and 8 months after the MDA. Prior to the baseline survey, school-aged children in Al Jabalain had received MDA interventions twice in 4 years, while those in El Salam had not. The baseline prevalence was 9.1% in Al Jabalain and 35.2% in El Salam, which were reduced to 1.8% and 5.5% at 8 months after the MDA, respectively. The corresponding reduction rates were 80.3% and 84.4%, not significant difference between both districts. However, changes in the geometric mean intensity (GMI) of egg counts were significantly different between both districts. The baseline GMIs were 14.5 eggs per 10 ml of urine (EP10) in Al Jabalain and 18.5 EP10 in El Salam, which were reduced to 7.1 and 11.2 EP10 after treatment, respectively. The corresponding reduction rates were 51.0% and 39.5%. In conclusion, MDA interventions were found to bring about similar relative reduction in prevalence regardless of the baseline value; however, the relative reduction in infection intensity was more salient in the district with a low baseline value for both prevalence and intensity. This clearly points to the importance of repeated MDA interventions in endemic areas, which will eventually contribute to schistosomiasis elimination.

Enhanced see-through near-eye display using time-division multiplexing of a Maxwellian-view and holographic display.

In this paper, we suggest the improved integration of a holographic display and a Maxwellian-view display using time-division multiplexing and describe an image rendering process for the proposed system. In general, the holographic displays have a resolution limit when used to represent a virtual 3D scene. In the proposed system, the holographic display processed relatively few layers of the virtual 3D scene, while the remaining objects were processed with a Maxwellian-view display to which was applied a Gaussian smoothing filter. Hence, we obtained the retaining holographic image quality, expanding the field of view, and reducing the computation time of the proposed system. The holographic display of the proposed system had an image size of 28 mm × 28 mm with a field of view of 1.02° and a 10.8 mm eye box. The Maxwellian-view display had an image size of 230 mm × 230 mm with a field of view of 22.6 ° and a 0.9 mm eye box diameter. Each display was integrated in time-division multiplexing of 40 Hz, and the proposed system was successfully verified.

Low-noise high-efficiency double-phase hologram by multiplying a weight factor.

This Letter describes a method of generating a phase-only hologram, which improves the lack of diffraction efficiency and peripheral noise phenomenon, which is a problem of the existing double-phase hologram (DPH) method. The proposed weight factor DPH method can be obtained by a simple matrix operation, so there is no need for additional computing power. The optimal weight factor value depends on the image size, so we have found the optimal value for each image size. The numerical simulation and optical experiments were conducted to compare the images generated using the proposed weigh factor DPH method, the existing DPH method, and the random phase method. The peak signal-to-noise ratio of the images obtained through the proposed weight factor is improved by 14.6% compared to the existing DPH.

Optical Sensing Properties of ZnO Nanoparticles Prepared by Spray Pyrolysis.

We studied the optical sensing properties of ZnO nanoparticles prepared by spray pyrolysis. To investigate their optical sensing performance, we incubated peptides on ZnO nanoparticles. The photoluminescence (PL) peak intensity of peptides on the ZnO nanoparticles was higher than that of peptides on the ZnO film or on the glass plate. This observed PL enhancement is attributed to the optical confinement of ZnO nanoparticles. The low-temperature spectra displayed a strong exciton emission peak with multiple sidebands, attributed to the bound exciton and its longitudinal optical phonon sidebands. The strong exciton emission is thought to be the combined effect of optical confinement due to the nanoparticle geometry, reduction of defect emission by thermal annealing, and reduction of non-radiative relaxation at low temperatures.

Epidemiological Survey on Schistosomiasis and Intestinal Helminthiasis among Village Residents of the Rural River Basin Area in White Nile State, Sudan.

There have been some reports on schistosomiasis of school children in Sudan's Nile River basin area; however, information about the infection status of Schistosoma species and intestinal helminths among village residents of this area is very limited. Urine and stool samples were collected from the 1,138 residents of the Al Hidaib and Khour Ajwal villages of White Nile State, Sudan in 2014. The prevalence of overall schistosomiasis and intestinal helminthiasis was 36.3% and 7.7%, respectively. Egg positive rates were 35.6% for Schistosoma haematobium, 2.6% for S. mansoni, and 1.4% were mixed. The prevalence of schistosomiasis was significantly higher in men (45.6%) than in women (32.0%), in Khou Ajwal villagers (39.4%) than in Al Hidaib villagers (19.2%), and for age groups ≤15 years old (51.5%) than for age groups >15 years old (13.2%). The average number of eggs per 10 ml urine (EP10) of S. haematobium infections was 18.9, with 22.2 eggs in men vs 17.0 in women and 20.4 in Khou Ajwal villagers vs 8.1 in Al Hidaib villagers. In addition to S. mansoni eggs, 4 different species of intestinal helminths were found in the stool, including Hymenolepis nana (6.6%) and H. diminuta (1.0%). Collectively, urinary schistosomiasis is still prevalent among village residents in Sudan's White Nile River basin and was especially high in men, children ≤15 years, and in the village without a clean water system. H. nana was the most frequently detected intestinal helminths in the 2 villages.

See-through display combined with holographic display and Maxwellian display using switchable holographic optical element based on liquid lens.

We report a switchable holographic optical element based on a liquid lens for a see-through display. For the switchable holographic optical element, we recorded two optical components in the holographic film in two steps. A numerical simulation was also done to define the recording and reconstruction conditions. After the recording process, the entire system was changed from 4f optics to Maxwellian optics by changing wavefront of the reference wave using a liquid lens. The diffraction efficiency was 0.46 for a single element recording and around 0.14 for a double element recording. The holographic display and the Maxwellian display were successfully switched without any crosstalk. The field of view and eye box of the holographic display were 1° and 4.36 mm, respectively, and the field of view and the eye box of the Maxwellian display were 3.8° and 23.2 um, respectively. In the proposed system, spatial frequency filtering by the liquid lens and image shape distortion seriously affected the hologram image. However, we successfully verified the feasibility of our proposed switchable holographic optical element using a liquid lens.

Time multiplexing technique of holographic view and Maxwellian view using a liquid lens in the optical see-through head mounted display.

We report a liquid lens based optical see-through head mounted display that can simultaneously display both a maxwellian view and a hologram. Holograms are reconstructed by an angular spectrum layer based synthesis method. A hologram and Maxwellian view are simultaneously displayed by focusing the liquid lens from 0 D to 20 D with 60 Hz. The hologram is reconstructed at a position 1.5 m from the eye, and it is confirmed that the Maxwellian view is clear, even if the focus of the eye changes from 50 cm to 1.7 m. In the proposed system, the liquid lens acts as a low-pass filter. Since the PSNR is about 23 dB in the currently used 10 mm diameter liquid lens, the image quality is not adequate. However, we successfully verify the feasibility of our proposed system. In addition, if a large diameter liquid lens of 30 mm or more is applied, excellent image quality of 30 dB or more can be realized.

Iridoids from the Roots of Patrinia scabra and Their Inhibitory Potential on LPS-Induced Nitric Oxide Production.

An activity-guided fractionation procedure of the 70% aqueous EtOH extract from the roots of Patrinia scabra led to the isolation and characterization of five new iridoids, patriscabrins A-E (1-5), along with 13 known compounds. The structures of 1-5 were determined by interpretation of spectroscopic data, particularly by 1D and 2D NMR, ECD, and VCD studies. Thereafter, isolates were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide production in RAW 264.7 cells. Of these, the new iridoids 2 and 5 and the known lignan patrineolignan B (6) exhibited IC50 values of 14.7 to 17.8 µM.

(-)-Asarinin from the Roots of Asarum sieboldii Induces Apoptotic Cell Death via Caspase Activation in Human Ovarian Cancer Cells.

Two tetrahydrofurofurano lignans (1 and 2), four phenylpropanoids (3⁻6), and two alkamides (7 and 8) were isolated from the EtOAc-soluble fraction of the roots of Asarum sieboldii. The chemical structures of the isolates were identified by analysis of spectroscopic data measurements, and by a comparison of their data with published values. The isolates (1, 2, 4⁻8) were evaluated for their cytotoxicity against human ovarian cancer cells (A2780 and SKOV3) and immortalized ovarian surface epithelial cells (IOSE80PC) using a MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide) assay. Of the isolates, (-)-asarinin (1) exhibited the most potent cytotoxicity to both A2780 and SKOV3 cells. A propidium iodide/annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate (V-FITC) double staining assay showed that (-)-asarinin (1) induces apoptotic cell death in ovarian cancer cells. In addition, (-)-asarinin (1) increased the activation of caspase-3, caspase-8, and caspase-9 in ovarian cancer cells. Pretreatment with caspase inhibitors attenuated the cell death induced by (-)-asarinin (1). In conclusion, our findings show that (-)-asarinin (1) from the roots of A. sieboldii may induce caspase-dependent apoptotic cell death in human cancer cells.

A New Canthinone-Type Alkaloid Isolated from Ailanthus altissima Swingle.

The present investigation of the chemical constituents of the stem barks of Ailanthus altissima has resulted in the isolation of six canthinone-type alkaloids, including a new compound, (R)-5-(1-hydroxyethyl)-canthine-6-one (1), and five known compounds (2-6). Moreover, four phenyl propanoids (7-10), two lignans (11 and 12), two triterpenoids (13 and 14) and a fatty acid (15) having previously known chemical structures were isolated during the same course of this study. The structure of the new compound was elucidated by physical (m.p., [α]D) and spectroscopic data (¹H-NMR, (13)C-NMR, 2D NMR, and HR-DART-MS) interpretation and its absolute configuration was determined by electronic circular dichroism (ECD) data and quantum chemical calculations. The inflammatory activities of the isolates were screened on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO), a proinflammatory mediator, in RAW 264.7 cells. Among these isolated compounds, six compounds exhibited significant inhibition of NO production, with IC50 values in the range of 5.92 ± 0.9 to 15.09 ± 1.8 µM.

Schisandrosides A-D, Dibenzocyclooctadiene Lignan Glucosides from the Roots of Schisandra chinensis.

Four new dibenzocyclooctadiene lignan glucosides, schisandrosides A-D (1-4), as well as two known rare nortriterpenoids, micrandilactone C (5) and propindilactone Q (6), were isolated from the roots of Schisandra chinensis BAILLON (Schisandraceae). The structure of compounds 1-4 were elucidated by physical and spectroscopic data interpretation. To the best of our knowledge, schisandrosides A-D (1-4) represent the first example of a dibenzocyclooctadiene lignan glycoside.

Prevalence of Cryptosporidium Infection among Inhabitants of 2 Rural Areas in White Nile State, Sudan.

Cryptosporidium , a protozoan parasite that causes watery diarrhea, is found worldwide and is common in areas with low water hygiene. In February 2014, 866 stool samples were collected from the inhabitants of 2 rural areas in White Nile State, Sudan. These stool samples were assessed by performing modified acid-fast staining, followed by examination under a light microscope. The overall positive rate of Cryptosporidium oocysts was 13.3%. Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected in 8.6% stool samples obtained from inhabitants living in the area having water purification systems and in 14.6% stool samples obtained from inhabitants living in the area not having water purification systems. No significant difference was observed in the prevalence of Cryptosporidium infection between men and women (14.7% and 14.1%, respectively). The positive rate of oocysts by age was the highest among inhabitants in their 60s (40.0%). These findings suggest that the use of water purification systems is important for preventing Cryptosporidium infection among inhabitants of these rural areas in Sudan.

Genetic Diversity of Schistosoma haematobium Eggs Isolated from Human Urine in Sudan.

The genetic diversity of Schistosoma haematobium remains largely unstudied in comparison to that of Schistosoma mansoni. To characterize the extent of genetic diversity in S. haematobium among its definitive host (humans), we collected S. haematobium eggs from the urine of 73 infected schoolchildren at 5 primary schools in White Nile State, Sudan, and then performed a randomly amplified polymorphic DNA marker ITS2 by PCR-RFLP analysis. Among 73 S. haematobium egg-positive cases, 13 were selected based on the presence of the S. haematobium satellite markers A4 and B2 in their genomic DNA, and used for RFLP analysis. The 13 samples were subjected to an RFLP analysis of the S. haematobium ITS2 region; however, there was no variation in size among the fragments. Compared to the ITS2 sequences obtained for S. haematobium from Kenya, the nucleotide sequences of the ITS2 regions of S. haematobium from 4 areas in Sudan were consistent with those from Kenya (> 99%). In this study, we demonstrate for the first time that most of the S. haematobium population in Sudan consists of a pan-African S. haematobium genotype; however, we also report the discovery of Kenyan strain inflow into White Nile, Sudan.

Association between osteoporotic fractures and quality of life based on the Korean Community Health Survey of 2010.

[Purpose] To assess the relationship between fractures and quality of life (QOL) of osteoporosis patients as well as the treatment methods and locations of fractures following osteoporosis diagnosis. [Subjects and Methods] Participants were selected from a cohort consisting of 229,229 subjects who participated in the Korean Community Health Survey. Those who were not diagnosed with osteoporosis by a doctor were excluded from the study (326) and the final analysis included 17,387 previously diagnosed participants with osteoporosis. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted. [Results] The QOL was significantly lower for subjects receiving treatment for osteoporosis compared to those who had not previously received treatment. Subjects who experienced a fracture similarly had a lower QOL compared to those who did not have a fracture. In addition, the QOL of subjects who experienced a fracture in the pelvis, spine, or wrists was significantly lower compared to those without fractures in these areas. [Conclusion] Better knowledge of osteoporosis leads to early recognition of symptoms and timely treatment. This results in better treatment outcomes and improved QOL for patients. Therefore, the need for physical therapy that is based on research evidence of osteoporosis treatment methods should be presented.

The relationship between stroke and quality of life in Korean adults: based on the 2010 Korean community health survey.

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the status of stroke in the Republic of Korea and its relationship with QOL based on standardized data. [Subjects and Methods] This study utilized raw data from the 2010 KCHS. In total, 229,229 individuals participated in the 2010 survey. The final analysis identified 4,604 individuals who had been diagnosed by a doctor with stroke. To identify the correlation between the aftereffect-related characteristics of stroke patients and QOL, a multiple linear regression analysis was performed. [Results] Participants experiencing aftereffects had a statistically significantly lower QOL than participants who had not experienced aftereffects. Regarding the types of aftereffects, participants experiencing palsy in the arms and legs, facial palsy, communication disabilities, swallowing or eating disabilities, and visual disabilities had a statistically significantly lower QOL than participants without aftereffects. The QOL of participants with one, two, three, four, or five aftereffects was statistically significantly less than that of participants without aftereffects [Conclusion] Stroke directly influences QOL and the number of types of aftereffects experienced by patients. Therefore, it is highly important that physical therapists seek to end the occurrence of one or more types of aftereffects in stroke patients.

Structuring poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) towards enhancing hole collection efficiency.

To date, organic photovoltaic devices (OPVs) have obtained relatively low power conversion efficiency, mostly because of the low charge carrier mobility of the polymers to be used. This limits the optimal film thickness for efficient absorption of the solar spectrum. The capability of efficient charge carrier collections is a main factor for utilizing thick OPVs, consequently enhancing the power conversion efficiency. In this report, we demonstrate a facile approach for enhancing the hole carrier collection by possibly shortening the hole collection path via structuring poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) ( PEDOT: PSS), which is widely used as a hole collecting intermediate layer in OPVs. For structuring the PEDOT: PSS, the nanosphere lithographic method was used. Furthermore, the effects of the structuring of PEDOT: PSS on optical properties were also investigated.