Sensitivity Enhancement of Bead-based Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (BEIS) biosensor by electric field-focusing in microwells.

This paper reports a novel electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) biosensors that uses magnetic beads trapped in a microwell array to improve the sensitivity of conventional bead-based EIS (BEIS) biosensors. Unloading the previously measured beads by removing the magnetic bar enables the BEIS sensor to be used repeatedly by reloading it with new beads. Despite its recyclability, the sensitivity of conventional BEIS biosensors is so low that it has not attracted much attentions from the biosensor industry.

Crack-release transfer method of wafer-scale grown graphene onto large-area substrates.

We developed a crack-release graphene transfer technique for opening up possibilities for the fabrication of graphene-based devices. Graphene film grown on metal catalysts/SiO2/Si wafer should be scathelessly peeled for sequent transferring to a target substrate. However, when the graphene is grown on the metal catalyst on a silicon substrate, there is a large tensile stress resulting from the difference of the coefficient of thermal expansion in the catalyst and silicon.

The ethnic differences of the damage of hair and integral hair lipid after ultra violet radiation.

Background: Genetic factors account for the majority of differences in skin color and hair morphology across human populations. Although many studies have been conducted to examine differences in skin color across populations, few studies have examined differences in hair morphology.

Objective: To investigate changing of integral hair lipids after ultraviolet (UV) irradiation in three human ethnic groups.

Clinical Correlation between Gastric Cancer Type and Serum Selenium and Zinc Levels.

Purpose: We conducted this study to study the clinical correlation between the characteristics of gastric cancer and serum selenium and zinc levels.

Materials And Methods: The following data were measured in the baseline serum selenium and zinc levels of 74 patients with curative gastrectomy subsequent to confirmed gastric cancer, from March 2005 to August 2012.

Results: Among the 74 gastric cancer patients, 53 patients were male.

Reliability of the pattern hair loss classifications: a comparison of the basic and specific and Norwood-Hamilton classifications.

Pattern hair loss (PHL) is the most common form of baldness in both sexes. The Norwood-Hamilton classification is the most commonly used classification worldwide, but it has many limitations. The basic and specific (BASP) classification was introduced as an improvement over the Norwood-Hamilton classification.

Analysis of familial factors using the basic and specific (BASP) classification in Korean patients with androgenetic alopecia.

Background: The mechanisms and inheritance of androgenetic alopecia (AGA) have yet to be elucidated. Several clinical studies suggest that a predisposition to AGA is affected by a variety of paternal and/or maternal hereditary factors. No previous study has addressed the association of AGA with family history based on the pattern of hair loss.

Expression of antimicrobial peptides such as LL-37 and hBD-2 in nonlesional skin of atopic individuals.

Recurrent skin infection is one of the major complications of atopic dermatitis and can be partly explained by decreased expression of antimicrobial peptides such as human beta-defensin-2 and cathelicidin (LL-37). In the human epidermis, human beta-defensin-2 is packed in the lamellar body and LL-37 is co-localized with intercellular lipid lamellae of the stratum corneum; together, these antimicrobial peptides constitute the primary defense system. IL-1alpha, a potent inducer of LL-37 and human beta-defensin-2, is also secreted from the disrupted epidermis for barrier homeostasis.

Efficacy, safety, and tolerability of dutasteride 0.5 mg once daily in male patients with male pattern hair loss: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase III study.

Background: Dutasteride (Avodart) is a dual inhibitor of both type I and type II 5 alpha reductases, and thus inhibits conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone, a key mediator of male pattern hair loss.

Objectives: The aim of this randomized double-blind phase III study was to compare the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of dutasteride (0.5 mg) and placebo for 6 months of treatment in male patients with male pattern hair loss.

A case of membranous lipodystrophy observed in lichen amyloidosis.

Membranous lipodystrophy is characterized by the presence of microcysts lined by amorphous, eosinophilic material with an arabesque appearance. We experienced a case of a 72-year-old man who had dark brownish, pruritic papules on the arms, legs, and back. Histopathologic examination of a biopsied lesion showed homogeneous, eosinophilic material in the papillary dermis, as well as membranous lipodystrophy.

Development of a classification system for extrinsic hair damage: standard grading of electron microscopic findings of damaged hairs.

Human hairs experience damage and restoration processes consistently because of various external and internal factors. To analyze degrees of hair damage, morphological studies based on electron microscopy (EM), and biochemical studies based on protein and lipid analysis have been proposed and are widely used. Among them, morphological analysis through EM is a fundamental method in understanding the degree of damage and restoration.