Hybrid verrucous squamous cell carcinoma of sinonasal tract: a case report

Verrucous carcinoma is a variant of squamous cell carcinoma and should be distinguished from benign papilloma and well-differentiated nonverrucous squamous cell carcinoma. It is rare tumor of the sinonasal tract. Occasionally, conventional squamous cell carcinomatous components may be seen in verrucous carcinoma. This entity is called a hybrid verrucous squamous cell carcinoma. We report a case of hybrid verrucous squamous cell carcinoma occurring in the nasal cavity and paranasal sinus of a 67-year-old male. The removed mass shows the typical feature of verrucous carcinoma, but focally conventional squamous cell carcinomatous area is also noted. The treatment of this case follows verrucous carcinoma, but close follow up is mandatory because it may potentially spread to regional lymph nodes in contrast to pure form of verrucous carcinoma.     

Intelligent copyright protection system using a matching video retrieval algorithm

Many video service sites headed by YouTube know what content requires copyright protection. However, they lack a copyright protection system that automatically distinguishes whether uploaded videos contain legal or illegal content. Existing protection techniques use content-based retrieval methods that compare the features of video. However, if the video encoding has changed in resolution, bit-rate or codec, these techniques do not perform well. Thus, this paper proposes a novel video matching algorithm even if the type of encoding has changed. We also suggest an intelligent copyright protection system using the proposed algorithm. This can serve to automatically prevent the uploading of illegal content. The proposed method has represented the accuracy of 97% with searching algorithm in video-matching experiments and 98.62% with automation algorithm in copyright-protection experiments. Therefore, this system could form a core technology that identifies illegal content and automatically excludes access to illegal content by many video service sites.     

Laser glazing of an Fe-C-Sn alloy

Morphology and geometry of melted zones, cooling rates, microstructure and microhardness in the laser-glazed Fe-4%C-10%Sn alloy have been investigated. The computer simulation on the basis of the moving gaussian source model was used successfully to predict the maximum width and depth of the melted zone and the cooling rate. The microstructure from the surface to the bottom of the laser-melted zone is a non-crystalline phase, dendritic grains and a microcrystalline zone successively. Values of the averaged-spacing of the non-crystalline phase are 0.205⁶ and 0.121⁹nm, respectively; twinned martensites, having an axial ratioc/a of 1.128, existed in dendritic grains, and carbides of Fe₃ C at the interdendritic regions; the microcrystalline zone was composed of -Fe and a new bet (a=0.415 nm,c=0.955 nm) phase. The different microstructure in the melted zone can be explained by the results of the heat flow calculation. A fine eutectic structure (-Fe + Fe₃C) was observed in heat-affected zones. Microhardness of the eutectic structure can be predicted by the empirical relation of fracture stress to the interlamellar spacing of pearlite.     

Biflavonoid-Induced Disruption of Hydrogen Bonds Leads to Amyloid-β Disaggregation

Deposition of amyloid β (Aβ) fibrils in the brain is a key pathologic hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. A class of polyphenolic biflavonoids is known to have anti-amyloidogenic effects by inhibiting aggregation of Aβ and promoting disaggregation of Aβ fibrils. In the present study, we further sought to investigate the structural basis of the Aβ disaggregating activity of biflavonoids and their interactions at the atomic level. A thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence assay revealed that amentoflavone-type biflavonoids promote disaggregation of Aβ fibrils with varying potency due to specific structural differences. The computational analysis herein provides the first atomistic details for the mechanism of Aβ disaggregation by biflavonoids. Molecular docking analysis showed that biflavonoids preferentially bind to the aromatic-rich, partially ordered N-termini of Aβ fibril via the π–π interactions. Moreover, docking scores correlate well with the ThT EC₅₀ values. Molecular dynamic simulations revealed that biflavonoids decrease the content of β-sheet in Aβ fibril in a structure-dependent manner. Hydrogen bond analysis further supported that the substitution of hydroxyl groups capable of hydrogen bond formation at two positions on the biflavonoid scaffold leads to significantly disaggregation of Aβ fibrils. Taken together, our data indicate that biflavonoids promote disaggregation of Aβ fibrils due to their ability to disrupt the fibril structure, suggesting biflavonoids as a lead class of compounds to develop a therapeutic agent for Alzheimer’s disease.     

Activation of Nrf2/HO-1 by Peptide YD1 Attenuates Inflammatory Symptoms through Suppression of TLR4/MYyD88/NF-κB Signaling Cascade

In this study, we investigate the immunomodulatory effects of a novel antimicrobial peptide, YD1, isolated from Kimchi, in both in vitro and in vivo models. We establish that YD1 exerts its anti-inflammatory effects via up-regulation of the Nrf2 pathway, resulting in the production of HO-1, which suppresses activation of the NF-κB pathway, including the subsequent proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α. We also found that YD1 robustly suppresses nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE₂) production by down-regulating the expression of the upstream genes, iNOS and COX-2, acting as a strong antioxidant. Collectively, YD1 exhibits vigorous anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity, presenting it as an interesting potential therapeutic agent.     

Effects of annealing at high pressure on structure and mechanical properties of Al87Ni7Gd6 metallic glass

The effects of annealing and annealing with a superimposed pressure of 940 MPa on the primary crystallization behaviour of α-Al and the resulting micro-hardness have been studied for as-quenched Al₈₇Ni₇Gd₆ metallic glass. Isothermal annealing experiments were conducted for 30 min at 188 °C, 191 °C, and 205 °C in silicone oil maintained either at atmospheric pressure (i.e. 0.1 MPa) or at 940 MPa. XRD analyses detected the evolution of structure with annealing at 0.1 MPa, while specimens annealed with 940 MPa pressure exhibited sharper diffraction peaks than those annealed at 0.1 MPa. DSC measurements were conducted on the as-received amorphous ribbons as well as ribbons annealed at different temperatures at either 0.1. MPa or with 940 MPa superimposed pressure. Specimens annealed with 940 MPa pressure exhibited higher onset temperatures (i.e. T_x1) and temperatures for the first exothermic peak (i.e. T_p1) for primary crystallization. TEM measurements revealed an increase in the volume fraction of α-Al with increases in annealing temperature, while micro-hardness measurements revealed an increase in hardness with increasing amounts of α-Al. Specimens annealed with 940 MPa pressure exhibited further increases in both the volume fraction of α-Al and resulting micro-hardness.     

MECHANISM OF NON-EQUILIBRIUM SEGREGATION OF SOLUTE TO GRAIN BOUNDARIES

本文以空位-溶质原子拖曳机制为基础,并考虑了空位、溶质原子和复合体三者的反应平衡及晶界平衡偏聚的作用,得到了溶质原子的非平衡晶界偏聚动力学方程。对硼在奥氏体中等温及连续冷却时所产生的非平衡晶界偏聚现象进行了理论计算,得到了与实验较为一致的结果。     

Effect of solution properties on nanofibrous structure of electrospun poly(lactic‐co‐glycolic acid)

Electrospinning of poly(lactic‐co‐glycolic acid) (PLGA) in chloroform or 1,1,1,3,3,3‐hexafluoro‐2‐propanol (HFIP) was investigated, focusing on its solution parameters, to develop nonwoven biodegradable nanofibrous structures for tissue engineering. PLGA nanofibers were obtained by electrospinning of 15 wt % PLGA solution and the resulting average fiber diameters were varied with the range of 270–760 nm, depending on solution property. When small amounts of benzyl triethylammonium chloride (BTEAC) was added to the PLGA/chloroform solution, the average diameter was decreased from 760 to 450 nm and the fibers were densely amounted in a straight shape. In addition, the average fiber diameter (270 nm) of nanofibers electrospun from polar HFIP solvent was much smaller than that (760 nm) of nanofibers electrospun from nonpolar chloroform solvent. Therefore, it could be concluded that conductivity or dielectric constant of the PLGA solution was a major parameter affecting the morphology and diameter of the electrospun PLGA fibers. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 99: 1214–1221, 2006     

Analysis of the correlation between acoustic noise and vibration generated by a multi-layer ceramic capacitor

Acoustic noise generated by a multi-layer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) makes users uncomfortable, so the problem must be analyzed to reduce the noise. There is a correlation between the acoustic noise and the vibration of MLCCs and the circuit board. Therefore, the acoustic noise problem must be investigated from a vibration perspective. In this study, the acoustic noise-generating mechanism was investigated, and the relationship between the characteristics of the noise and the dynamic characteristics of the circuit board with MLCC was analyzed. And a correlation criterion was proposed to predict the acoustic noise using the vibration response of the circuit board.