Prognostic Factors for Successful Percutaneous Disc Decompression Using the Navigable Device L'DISQ™ in Patients with Lumbar Discogenic Pain.

Background: The navigable percutaneous disc decompression (PDD) device L'DISQ is an effective and safe option for the treatment of lumbar discogenic pain. However, few studies have evaluated the prognostic factors of successful PDD using this device.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic factors associated with the successful outcome of PDD using the L'DISQ for treating lumbar discogenic pain by following up patients before and one, 2, 3, and 6 months after the procedure.

Enhanced production of 2'-fucosyllactose from fucose by elimination of rhamnose isomerase and arabinose isomerase in engineered Escherichia coli.

2'-Fucosyllactose (2-FL), one of the most abundant oligosaccharides in human milk, has been spotlighted for its neutraceutical and pharmaceutical potentials. Microbial production of 2-FL is promising since it is efficient as compared to other production methods. In 2-FL microbial production via the salvage pathway for biosynthesis of guanosine 5'-diphosphate (GDP)-l-fucose from fucose, the conversion yield from fucose is important because of the high price of fucose.

Production of 3-Fucosyllactose in Engineered Escherichia coli with α-1,3-Fucosyltransferase from Helicobacter pylori.

3-Fucosyllactose (3-FL), one of the major oligosaccharides in human breast milk, is produced in engineered Escherichia coli. In order to search for a good α-1,3-fucosyltransferase, three bacterial α-1,3-fucosyltransferases are expressed in engineered E. coli deficient in β-galactosidase activity and expressing the essential enzymes for the production of guanosine 5'-diphosphate-l-fucose, the donor of fucose for 3-FL biosynthesis.

Thermal degradation of refractory layered metamaterial for thermophotovoltaic emitter under high vacuum condition.

Emissivity-tunable metamaterials of layered refractory metal and dielectric have great potentials as a simple thermophotovoltaic (TPV) selective emitter due to its near-omnidirectional, polarization-independent, and broadband selective emissivity. However, it is known that the stability of the layered structure is limited by the oxidation of metals. While there still exists ambiguity concerning the main source of oxygen between adjacent oxide layers and external residual oxygen, most reports focus on the adjacent layers.

L-Fucose production by engineered Escherichia coli.

L-Fucose (6-deoxy-L-galactose) is a major constituent of glycans and glycolipids in mammals. Fucosylation of glycans can confer unique functional properties and may be an economical way to manufacture L-fucose. Research can extract L-fucose directly from brown algae, or by enzymatic hydrolysis of L-fucose-rich microbial exopolysaccharides.

Liver Donation After Brain Death Following Intentional Ingestion of 99% E-Cigarette Liquid Nicotine 10 mL.

Incidences of brain death due to nicotine overdose by e-cigarettes have been increasing. In such cases, liver donation has been not reported because of the secondary damage to the liver due to metabolism of large amounts of nicotine. However, kidneys have been considered acceptable for transplant.

Engineering of α-1,3-fucosyltransferases for production of 3-fucosyllactose in Escherichia coli.

Fucosyllactoses (FLs), present in human breast milk, have been reported to benefit human health immensely. Especially, 3-fucosyllactose (3-FL) has numerous benefits associated with a healthy gut ecosystem. Metabolic engineering of microorganisms is thought to be currently the only option to provide an economically feasible route for large-scale production of 3-FL.

Optical signal suppression by a cascaded SOA/RSOA for wavelength reusing reflective PON upstream transmission.

An optical signal suppression technique based on a cascaded SOA and RSOA is proposed for the reflective passive optical networks (PONs) with wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). By suppressing the downstream signal of the optical carrier, the proposed reflective PON effectively reuses the downstream optical carrier for upstream signal transmission. As an experimental demonstration, we show that the proposed optical signal suppression technique is effective in terms of the signal bandwidth and bit-error-rate (BER) performance of the remodulated upstream transmission.

Optical pulse division multiplexing-based OBI reduction for single wavelength uplink multiple access in IM/DD OFDMA-PON.

Orthogonal frequency division multiple access-based passive optical network (OFDMA-PON) is considered as a strong candidate for next-generation optical access network. In intensity modulation/direct detection system, OFDMA-PON downlink transmission is relatively stable, but critical issues exist in uplink multiple access. Because of different optical paths, optical beat interference (OBI) and timing offset effect are generated, which seriously disturb signal detection.

Improved production of 2'-fucosyllactose in engineered Escherichia coli by expressing putative α-1,2-fucosyltransferase, WcfB from Bacteroides fragilis.

2'-Fucosyllactose (2-FL) is one of most abundant oligosaccharides in human milk, which is involved in many biological functions for infant health. Since 2-FL has a great potential in application to functional food materials and pharmaceuticals, several microbial systems for mass production of 2-FL have been developed in recent years. Microbial production of 2-FL was suggested to be influenced by a number of factors including fucosylation activity of α-1,2-fucosyltransferase.

Fatty acid hydration activity of a recombinant Escherichia coli-based biocatalyst is improved through targeting the oleate hydratase into the periplasm.

Whole-cell biotransformation of fatty acids can be influenced by the activities of catalytic enzymes and by the efficiency of substrate transport into host cells. Here, we improved fatty acid hydration activity of the recombinant Escherichia coli expressing an oleate hydratase of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia by targeting the catalytic enzyme into the periplasm instead of the cytoplasm. Recombinant E.

Changes in arterial blood gases after use of high-flow nasal cannula therapy in the ED.

Introduction: A high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) has been used to treat patients with dyspnea. We identified changes in arterial blood gas (ABG) of patients visiting the emergency department (ED) with hypercapnic and nonhypercapnic respiratory failure after use of an HFNC.

Methods: This study was a retrospective chart review of patients with respiratory failure who visited the hospital and used an HFNC in the ED.

Mitigation of timing offset effect in IM/DD based OFDMA-PON uplink multiple access.

In orthogonal frequency division multiple access based passive optical network (OFDMA-PON) uplink, synchronization between optical network units (ONUs) is very important to maintain orthogonality. The synchronization among uplink signals is considered as one of the main challenges in OFDMA-PON due to optical path difference. In this paper, the performance degradation according to timing offset between ONUs is experimentally analyzed.

Optical beat interference noise reduction by using out-of-band RF clipping tone signal in remotely fed OFDMA-PON link.

A novel technique for mitigating the optical beat interference (OBI) noise in an optical orthogonal frequency division multiple access passive optical network (OFDMA-PON) uplink transmission is presented. By using an out of signal band RF clipping tone to the optical seed carrier, the OBI noise has been reduced and the resulting throughput and spectral efficiency has been improved. As an experimental verification, we demonstrate that the spectral efficiency of 23 km and 50 km have been doubled in the OFDMA-PON uplink transmission.

Enhanced lignin biodegradation by a laccase-overexpressed white-rot fungus Polyporus brumalis in the pretreatment of wood chips.

The laccase gene of Polyporus brumalis was genetically transformed to overexpress its laccase. The transformants exhibited increased laccase activity and effective decolorization of the dye Remazol Brilliant Blue R than the wild type. When the transformants were pretreated with wood chips from a red pine (softwood) and a tulip tree (hardwood) for 15 and 45 days, they showed higher lignin-degradation activity as well as higher wood-chip weight loss than the wild type.

Production of resveratrol from tyrosine in metabolically engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Resveratrol, a polyphenol compound found in grape skins, has been proposed to account for the beneficial effects of red wine against heart disease. To produce resveratrol in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, four heterologous genes were introduced: the phenylalanine ammonia lyase gene from Rhodosporidium toruloides, the cinnamic acid 4-hydroxylase and 4-coumarate:coenzyme A ligase genes both from Arabidopsis thaliana, and the stilbene synthase gene from Arachis hypogaea. When this recombinant yeast was cultivated by batch fermentation in YP medium containing 2% galactose, it produced 2.

Effects of Trx2p and Sec23p expression on stable production of hepatitis B surface antigen S domain in recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The S domain of hepatitis B virus surface antigen (sHBsAg) is the primary component for vaccine development against virus infection. For stable expression of sHBsAg in recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae, new accessory genes necessary for foreign protein expression were screened by DNA microarray. Among 600 genes of interest, genes coding for an activating protein of ATPase in Hsp90 (Aha1p), S.

Dual action of apolipoprotein E-interacting HCCR-1 oncoprotein and its implication for breast cancer and obesity.

Obese women have an increased risk for post-menopausal breast cancer. The physiological mechanism by which obesity contributes to breast tumourigenesis is not understood. We previously showed that HCCR-1 oncogene contributes to breast tumourigenesis as a negative regulator of p53 and detection of HCCR-1 serological level was useful for the diagnosis of breast cancer(.

Oncoprotein HCCR-1 expression in breast cancer is well correlated with known breast cancer prognostic factors including the HER2 overexpression, p53 mutation, and ER/PR status.

Background: Oncoprotein HCCR-1 functions as a negative regulator of the p53 and contributes breast tumorigenesis. The serum HCCR-1 assay is useful in diagnosing breast cancer and mice transgenic for HCCR developed breast cancers. But it is unknown how HCCR-1 contributes to human breast tumorigenesis.

Both plasma retinol-binding protein and haptoglobin precursor allele 1 in CSF: candidate biomarkers for the progression of normal to mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) may be of valuable for exploring protein markers for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The prospect of early detection and treatment, to slow progression, holds hope for aging populations with increased average lifespan. The aim of the present study was to investigate candidate CSF biological markers in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD and compare them with age-matched normal control subjects.