Epigenome-wide association of liver methylation patterns and complex metabolic traits in mice.

Heritable epigenetic factors can contribute to complex disease etiology. Here we examine the contribution of DNA methylation to complex traits that are precursors to heart disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis. We profiled DNA methylation in the liver using bisulfite sequencing in 90 mouse inbred strains, genome-wide expression levels, proteomics, metabolomics, and 68 clinical traits and performed epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS).

Effect of visceral fat area on outcomes of laparoscopyassisted distal gastrectomy for gastric cancer: subgroup analysis by gender and parameters of obesity.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the visceral fat area (VFA) of patients with gastric cancer undergoing laparoscopic surgery on operative outcomes such as number of retrieved lymph nodes (LNs) and operative time.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records and the CT scans of 597 patients with gastric cancer who underwent laparoscopy assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) with partial omentectomy and LN dissection (>D1 plus beta). Patients were stratified by gender, VFA, and body mass index (BMI), and the clinicopathologic characteristics and operative outcomes were evaluated.

Smad1 expression in follicular lymphoma.

Background: Follicular lymphomas present with various immunohistologic patterns. The immunohistochemical markers used in the diagnosis of follicular lymphoma show variable degrees of sensitivity and specificity, and thus, additional germinal center markers are required. Smad1 has been reported to be overexpressed in follicular lymphoma, but little is known regarding the expression patterns of Smad proteins in human lymphoid tissue.

Deoxycholate-Based Glycosides (DCGs) for Membrane Protein Stabilisation.

Detergents are an absolute requirement for studying the structure of membrane proteins. However, many conventional detergents fail to stabilise denaturation-sensitive membrane proteins, such as eukaryotic proteins and membrane protein complexes. New amphipathic agents with enhanced efficacy in stabilising membrane proteins will be helpful in overcoming the barriers to studying membrane protein structures.

Thermoelastic characteristics of thermal barrier coatings with layer thickness and edge conditions through mathematical analysis.

The thermoelastic behaviors of such as temperature distribution, displacements, and stresses in thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) are seriously influenced by top coat thickness and edge conditions, which were investigated based on the thermal and mechanical properties of plasma-sprayed TBCs. A couple of governing partial differential equations were derived based on the thermoelastic theory. Since the governing equations are too involved to solve analytically, a finite volume method was developed to obtain approximations.

Neuroprotective effects of fermented soybean products (Cheonggukjang) manufactured by mixed culture of Bacillus subtilis MC31 and Lactobacillus sakei 383 on trimethyltin-induced cognitive defects mice.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the beneficial effects of Cheonggukjang (CGK) manufactured by mixed culture of Bacillus subtilis MC31 and Lactobacillus sakei 383 on neurotoxic damages.

Methods: The specific aspects of brain functions were measured in Institute for Cancer Research (ICR) mice that had been pretreated for 4 weeks with three difference doses of CGK before trimethyltin (TMT) treatment.

Results: The short- and long-term memory loss induced by TMT treatment was significantly improved in the CGK-pretreated group in a dose-dependent manner.

Bacterial cellulose membrane produced by Acetobacter sp. A10 for burn wound dressing applications.

Bacteria cellulose membranes (BCM) are used for wound dressings, bone grafts, tissue engineering, artificial vessels, and dental implants because of their high tensile strength, crystallinity and water holding ability. In this study, the effects of BCM application for 15 days on healing of burn wounds were investigated based on evaluation of skin regeneration and angiogenesis in burn injury skin of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. BCM showed a randomly organized fibrils network, 12.

Anatomical confirmation of computed tomography-based diagnosis of the atherosclerosis discovered in 17th century Korean mummy.

In the present study on a newly discovered 17th century Korean mummy, computed tomography (CT) revealed multiple aortic calcifications within the aortic wall that were indicative of ancient atherosclerosis. The CT-based findings were confirmed by our subsequent post-factum dissection, which exhibited possible signs of the disease including ulcerated plaques, ruptured hemorrhages, and intimal thickening where the necrotic core was covered by the fibrous cap. These findings are strong indicators that the mummy suffered from aortic atherosclerosis during her lifetime.

Maltose neopentyl glycol-3 (MNG-3) analogues for membrane protein study.

Detergents are typically used to both extract membrane proteins (MPs) from the lipid bilayers and maintain them in solution. However, MPs encapsulated in detergent micelles are often prone to denaturation and aggregation. Thus, the development of novel agents with enhanced stabilization characteristics is necessary to advance MP research.

Development of a capacitive ice sensor to measure ice growth in real time.

This paper presents the development of the capacitive sensor to measure the growth of ice on a fuel pipe surface in real time. The ice sensor consists of pairs of electrodes to detect the change in capacitance and a thermocouple temperature sensor to examine the ice formation situation. In addition, an environmental chamber was specially designed to control the humidity and temperature to simulate the ice formation conditions.

Beneficial effects of ethanol extracts of Red Liriope platyphylla on vascular dysfunction in the aorta of spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Some biological effects of Red Liriope platyphylla (RLP) on various chronic diseases including Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and obesity were suggested after a report of the production from Liriope platyphylla (L. platyphylla, LP) roots using a steaming process. To examine the beneficial effects of ethanol extracts RLP (EEtRLP) on the vascular dysfunction of hypertension, alterations in key factors related to vascular regulation and antioxidant conditions were investigated in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) after EEtRLP treatment for 2 weeks.

Extended longevity and robust early-stage development of Caenorhabditis elegans by a soil microbe, Lysinibacillus sphaericus.

Caenorhabditis elegans, originally isolated from soil, is a nematode used in various fields of biological research including host–microbe interaction. While bacterial pathogens responsible for human infections have been actively studied in C. elegans, very few bacterial species that provide beneficial effects on C.

A case report of two different skull base pathologies causing hearing loss in the same ear: vestibular schwannoma and superior semicircular canal dehiscence.

Vestibular schwannoma and superior semicircular canal dehiscence are both uncommon entities, especially when present in the same ear. Here we illustrate how both of these pathologies can be repaired through the same surgical exposure, of the middle cranial fossa, with complete preservation of the cochlear nerve function and relief of symptoms caused by canal dehiscence.

Evaluation of cardiac function using transthoracic echocardiography in patients with myocardial injury secondary to methomyl poisoning.

Generally, the mortality rate for cases of carbamate poisoning is low, but fatalities secondary to methomyl poisoning have been reported including a case report of cardiac toxicity following short-term exposure to methomyl. There have been no reports, however, regarding patterns of cardiac toxicity after exposure to methomyl. Therefore, we investigated the prevalence and patterns of myocardial injury using a biochemical marker, troponin I (TnI), and evaluated cardiac function using transthoracic echocardiography (TTE).

Characterization of allergic response induced by repeated dermal exposure of IL-4/Luc/CNS-1 transgenic mice to low dose formaldehyde.

Although formaldehyde (FA) is known to be a major allergen responsible for allergic contact dermatitis, there are conflicting reports regarding correlation between FA exposure and interleukin (IL-4) expression. To investigate whether allergic responses including IL-4 expression were induced by repeated dermal exposure to low dose FA, alterations in the luciferase signal and allergic phenotypes were measured in IL-4/Luc/CNS-1 transgenic (Tg) mice containing luciferase cDNA under control of the IL-4 promoter after exposure to 4% FA for 2 weeks. High levels of luciferase were detected in the abdominal region of the whole body and submandibular lymph node (SLN) of FA treated mice.

A host beetle pheromone regulates development and behavior in the nematode Pristionchus pacificus.

Nematodes and insects are the two most speciose animal phyla and nematode-insect associations encompass widespread biological interactions. To dissect the chemical signals and the genes mediating this association, we investigated the effect of an oriental beetle sex pheromone on the development and behavior of the nematode Pristionchus pacificus. We found that while the beetle pheromone is attractive to P.

Paradoxical embolism: role of imaging in diagnosis and treatment planning.

Paradoxical embolism (PDE) is an uncommon cause of acute arterial occlusion that may have catastrophic sequelae. The possibility of its presence should be considered in all patients with an arterial embolus in the absence of a cardiac or proximal arterial source. Despite advancements in radiologic imaging technology, the use of various complementary modalities is usually necessary to exclude other possibilities from the differential diagnosis and achieve an accurate imaging-based diagnosis of PDE.

Magnetic resonance imaging of infectious meningitis and ventriculitis in adults.

Magnetic resonance imaging findings of meningitis are usually nonspecific with respect to the causative pathogen because the brain response to these insults is similar in most cases. In this article, we will use a few representative cases to describe the characteristic magnetic resonance findings of meningitis and its complications, including ventriculitis.

Identification of the responsible proteins for increased selenium bioavailability in the brain of transgenic rats overexpressing selenoprotein M.

The present study was conducted to investigate whether the high antioxidant activity induced by selenium (Sel) treatment and selenoprotein M (SelM) overexpression affected the protein profile of the brain cortex. To accomplish this, the changes in global protein expression were measured in transgenic (Tg) rats expressing human SelM (CMV/hSelM) and non‑Tg rats using two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE). The results revealed that: ⅰ) CMV/hSelM Tg rats showed a high level of enzyme activity for antioxidant protein in the brain cortex compared to non-Tg rats; ⅱ) the high activity of these enzymes induced a decrease in total antioxidant concentration and γ-secretase activity in CMV/hSelM Tg rats; ⅲ) five proteins were upregulated and three were downregulated by SelM overexpression; ⅳ) among the five upregulated proteins, two associated with creatine kinase B-type (B-CK) and E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase RING1 (RING finger protein 1) were further increased in the two groups following Sel treatment, whereas synaptotagmin-15 (SytXV), eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4H (eIF-4H) and lactate dehydrogenase B (LDH-B) were increased or decreased under the same conditions; ⅴ) the three downregulated proteins did not induce a significant change in expression following Sel treatment; and ⅵ) the protein expression level alterations of the two selected spots (B-CK and SytXV) identified by 2-DE were extremely similar to the results from western blot analysis.

Delayed onset of acute limb compartment syndrome with neuropathy after venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy.

Acute limb compartment syndrome (ALCS) is defined as compound symptoms resulting from poor oxygenation and decreased nutrition supply to muscles and nerves in a tightly confined compartment. The most common cause of ALCS is tibia fracture, followed by blunt trauma to soft tissue. However, non-traumatic causes are rare.

Cerebellopontine angle and intracanalicular masses mimicking vestibular schwannomas.

Objective: To describe the clinical and radiographic characteristics in a series of patients with non-vestibular schwannoma cerebellopontine angle (CPA) and intracanalicular (IAC) masses, who underwent microsurgery for presumed vestibular schwannoma (VS).

Study Design: Retrospective case series.

Setting: Tertiary neurotologic referral center.

Neurofibromatosis 2 invasion of the internal auditory canal wall: clinical significance.

Objective: To describe the infiltration of severe phenotype ("Wishart") neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2)-related vestibular nerve schwannomas (VSs) into the internal auditory canal wall in contrast to sporadic VS and the milder ("Gardner") phenotype NF2-related VS.

Study Design: Retrospective case series involving microscopic examination and review of clinical history.

Setting: Temporal bone laboratory, harboring 849 documented pairs of decalcified, formalin-fixed, celloidin-embedded, sectioned human temporal bones (hTBs) with clinical history.

Features of myocardial injury in severe organophosphate poisoning.

Background: In organophosphate (OP) poisoning cardiac complications may occur. However, the current body of knowledge largely consists of limited studies, and case reports are mainly on electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities. As definite myocardial injury is difficult to assess through ECG, we investigated the prevalence of myocardial injury through cardiac biochemical markers such as troponin I (TnI) in severe OP poisoning.

Selenium treatment significantly inhibits tumor necrosis factor-α-induced cell death and tau hyperphosphorylation in neuroblastoma cells.

The hyperphosphorylation of the protein tau disrupts its normal function on regulating axonal transport and leads to the accumulation of neurofibrillary tangles (NFT), which are involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study was performed to investigate whether sodium selenite may inhibit the hyperphosphorylation of tau induced by treatment with tumor necrosis factor‑α (TNF‑α). For this purpose, we studied the changes in cell viability, tau phosphorylation and activity of tau kinases in TNF‑α+selenite-treated neuroblastoma cells.