The majority of strokes are caused by ischemia and result in brain tissue damage, leading to problems of the central nervous system including hemiparesis, dysfunction of language and consciousness, and dysfunction of perception. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase(PARP) on necrosis in neuronal cells that have undergone needle electrode electrical stimulation(NEES) prior to induction of ischemia. Ischemia was induced in male SD rats(body weight 300g) by occlusion of the common carotid artery for 5 min, after which the blood was reperfused. After induction of brain ischemia, NEES was applied to Zusanli(ST 36), at 12, 24 and 48 hours. Protein expression was investigated using immuno-reactive cells, which react to PARP antibodies in cerebral nerve cells, and Western blotting. The results were as follows: In the cerebral cortex, the number of PARP reactive cells after 24 hours significantly decreased(p<.05) in the NEES group compared to the GI group. PARP expression after 24 hours significantly decreased(p<.05) in the NEES group compared to the GI group. As a result, NEES showed the greatest effect on necrosis- related PARP immuno-reactive cells 24 hours after ischemia, indicating necrosis inhibition, blocking of neural cell death, and protection of neural cells. Based on the results of this study, NEES can be an effective method of treating dysfunction and improving function of neuronal cells in brain damage caused by ischemia.

Alginate-chitosan blend containing coconut-based activated carbon was prepared as a drug delivery carrier in order to improve the loading and releasing capacity of the drug. The activated carbon was incorporated as effective adsorbent for drug due to the extremely high surface area and pore volume, high adsorption capacity, micro porous structure and specific surface activity. Alginate-chitosan blend containing coconut-based activated carbon showed the sustained release for a longer period. Alginate-chitosan blend showed higher release of drug as the pH increased and higher release of drug as the content of chitosan decreased due to the pH-dependent solubility of blend components.

Activated carbon (AC) is one of the most effective adsorbents for organic compounds because of their extended surface area, high adsorption capacity, microporous structure and special surface reactivity. The composites of pH-sensitive hydrogel and activated carbon were prepared in order to improve the loading capacity of drug. The pH-sensitive hydrogel matrix swelled well in the basic condition to release the drug loaded in AC. The release of drug was controlled depending on both the pH due to the ionization of the carboxylic acid group and the AC due to the surface properties.

Cementum is the mineralized tissue of the tooth. It is similar to bone in several aspects but it differs from bone. Human bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) and human cementum derived cells (HCDC) (10,000 cells/cm²) were plated in 6 well plates as feeder cells. The next day, mouse bone marrow cells (1.5 million cells/cm²) were added. One group of these plates were incubated in serum-free conditioned medium (SFCM) generated from BMSC or HCDC supplemented with 2% FBS, parathyroid hormone (PTH), 1, 25 dihydroxyvitamin D₃ (Vit. D₃) and dexamethasone, or plain medium with the same supplements. Another group of plates were cocultured with BMSC or HCDC in plain medium supplemented with 2% FBS, PTH, Vit. D₃and dexamethasone. Plates grown without SFCM or coculture were used as controls. After 10 days, the cells were stained for tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP). BMSC were found to support osteoclast formation under normal conditions. This was inhibited however by both SFCM generated from HCDC and also by coculture with HCDC. In addition, HCDC themselves did not support osteoclast formation under any conditions. Our results thus indicate that HCDC do not support osteoclast formation in vitro and that soluble factor (s) from HCDC may inhibit this process. In addition, we show that this inhibition also involves an active mechanism that is independent of osteoprotegerin, a feature that may distinguish cementoblasts from other cells present in periodontium.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether addition of porcine epididymal fluid (pEF) into culture medium during in vitro maturation influences the nuclear maturation of porcine germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes. Porcine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) from follicles were cultured in tissue culture medium 199 (TCM 199) containing pEF. After 48 hr of culture, oocytes were examined for evidence of GV breakdown, metaphase I, anaphase-telophase I, and metaphase II. The proportion of oocytes reaching at metaphase II (M II) stage was significantly (p<0.05) increased in oocytes cultured in the media supplemented with 10% pEF during in vitro maturation than in those without pEF regardless of cumulus presence or absence (54.6% vs 22.5%，51.7% vs 24.2%). The supplementation of pEF during maturation of oocyte enhanced oocytes maturation in a dose-dependent manner in vitro. Also significant differences (p<0.05) in the percentage of MII oocytes were observed according to exposure period in pEF. Present study suggests that pEF contains a enhancing component(s) for nuclear maturation of porcine immature oocytes in vitro.

The inhibition of cell recovery might be proceeded via either the damage of the mechanism of the recovery itself or via the formation of irreversible damage which could not be repaired at all. Both these processes may take place at the same time. Any of t

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of internationalization on the business performance of firms in Laos as a transition economy. Using a panel dataset collected by the World Bank for 285 firms during the period 2009, 2012, and 2016 in the service and manufacturing industries, the two-steps Heckman regression results found robust evidence for the fact that the S-curve tie exists between the degree of internationalization and business performance of firms in Laos while controlling other factors. Specifically, if firms have a degree of internationalization lower than 0.4374, they will suffer losses due to the high cost of preparing for phase 1 which is market penetration. Then, when the degree of internationalization continues to increase from 0.4374 to 0.9131, firms will gain benefits from internationalization (phase 2), however, these benefits will deteriorate when the degree of internationalization is greater than 0.9131 (phase 3), meaning that firms will no longer be able to exploit economies of scale or advantages in target markets, or product cycles will fall into a state of decline. Interestingly, we also found that firms with a high concentration level of ownership and internationalization activities may achieve better performance than those with a low concentration of ownership and one which carried out internationalization activities.

In order to avoid the high cost and high risk of demonstration mission of rendezvous-docking technology, missions using nanosatellites have recently been increasing. However, there are few successful mission cases due to many limitations of nanosatellites like small size, power limitation, and limited performances of sensor, thruster, and controller. To improve the probability of rendezvous-docking mission success using nanosatellite, a rendezvous-docking phase analysis tool for nanosatellites is developed. The tool serves to analyze the relative position and attitude control of the chaser satellite at the docking phase. In this tool, the Model Predictive Controller (MPC) is implemented as a controller, and Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is adopted as a filter for noise filtering. To verify the performance and effectiveness of the developed tool for nanosatellites, simulation study was conducted. Consequently, we confirmed that this tool can be used for the analysis of relative position and attitude control for nanosatellites in the rendezvous-docking phase.

The study aims to assess factors affecting intention to purchase green products in Vietnam. The study employs samples from customers who have actually experienced green consumption in Vietnam. The samples were collected by convenient sampling methods. The survey obtained 206 responses with full information. The survey was conducted from October 2019 to January 2020. The measurement scale was a 5-point scale with 1- completely disagree and 5- strongly agree. This study employs factor analysis and structural equation modelling analysis. The results showed that the social and environment sustainability awareness have positive effects on altruism of customers who are interested in green consumption. Altruism also has the same direction on green purchase intention. Besides, the attitude toward buying green and health consciousness affects green purchase intention. At the same time, the altruism and attitude towards buying green products also influence positively on green purchase intention. Besides, the health consciousness positively affects attitude towards buying green products. The results show that the health consciousness has a negative impact on intention to purchase green products. The findings suggest that it is necessary to raise customers' health consciousness, customers' altruism from disseminating knowledge about environmental protection as well as society to enhance the green consumption in Vietnam.

This study was conducted to investigate the antibacterial, antioxidant, and in vitro greenhouse gas mitigation activities of fermented Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi extract. Seven starter cultures were used, comprising four of lactic acid bacteria and three of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Ten grams of S. baicalensis Georgi powder was diluted in 90 mL autoclaved MRS broth. Each seed culture was inoculated with 3-10% (v/v) S. baicalensis Georgi MRS broth and incubated at 30℃ for 48 h. Among the starter cultures used, only Lactobacillus plantarum EJ43 could withstand the fermentation conditions. This fermentation broth was dried and extracted with ethanol to assess its antibacterial, antioxidant, and in vitro methane mitigation activities. The extract of S. baicalensis Georgi fermented by L. plantarum EJ43 (SBLp) showed higher antibacterial activity (bigger clear zone) compared to the unfermented S. baicalensis Georgi extract (SB0). SBLp also presented 1.2 folds higher antioxidant activity than SB0. During in vitro rumen fermentation, SBLp showed reduction in methane production compared to SB0 or the control. In conclusion, fermentation by L. plantarum EJ43 may enhance antibacterial and antioxidant activities of S. baicalensis Georgi and decrease enteric methane production.

Breast specific gamma imaging (BSGI) is a nuclear medicine breast imaging technique. The sensitivity of BSGI is unaffected by post-operative scars or implants, and thus, BSGI is helpful for the differential diagnosis of postoperative recurrence. Here, the authors report a case of diffuse chest wall recurrence on the side of radical mastectomy that was not detected by BSGI, but was detected using other nuclear medicine imaging techniques.

Different biotic agents such as bacteria, fungi, nematode and virus interact with plants, and causes significant annual crop loss. The plants interact with these pathogen and undergo various changes at physiological, biochemical and molecular levels. The omics technique is a powerful way which provides important information related to molecular changes occurring during plant-pathogen interaction. Several studies have been conducted and revealed either up or down-regulation of many genes involved in metabolism, energy, photosynthesis, signaling, defense and ROS upon pathogen interaction. In this review, we highlight recent progress in proteomic studies of plant-pathogen interaction, which could be useful for controlling disease and development of molecular markers for early detection of different diseases.

A case of three primary malignancies in one patient is rare. We report on a case of three primary malignancies including myxofibrosarcoma, renal cell cancer, and prostate cancer in one 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/ computed tomography (PET/CT) evaluation of a 75-year-old man. PET/CT showed different FDG meabolism in each tumor.

The seed shattering played a key role in the crucial step of rice domestication. Because it has been important to increase the yield human had to select the rice varieties and species with low shattering degree. The shattering habit of rice is considered to be under the relatively simple genetic control compared with other characteristics related to domestication. Several recessive genes associated with the formation of an abscission layer, sh2, sh4 and sh-h on chromosomes 1, 3 and 7, have been reported. In addition, the grain shattering of rice is considered to be caused by seed abscission. The morphology of the abscission layer can differ in many different rice varieties that show varying degrees of shattering. Accordingly, it is important to elucidate the molecular mechanism to determine why some varieties do not have abscission layers and have an easy-shattering trait. In this study, analysis of QTL for grain shattering was performed to determine the location of QTLs on the whole chromosomes of rice. Also, we tried to construct a physical map for qPs6

We compared the results of early follow-up of F-18 FDG PET/CT and MRI performed within one month after radiation therapy for cervix cancer patients. We conducted a retrospective review of the clinical data of cervix cancer patients whose PET/CT and pelvic MRI performed at staging and within one month from the end of RTx. SUVmax on PET/CT and size on MRI of the primary tumor were analyzed. We compared %change of SUVmax and size between staging and follow-up. A total of 27 patients were enrolled. At staging, larger tumor showed high SUVmax. At follow-up, no significant correlation was observed between size and SUVmax. In 77.8% of patients, changes in SUVmax were well correlated with changes in size. No correlation was observed between % change and value at staging in both SUVmax and size. Except for six patients who showed significant FDG uptake without evidence of a mass on MRI, % changes of size and SUVmax were well correlated. Metabolic change can be accessible on early follow-up PET/CT at±1 month from the end of the RTx of cervix cancer. However, careful interpretation of PET/CT is needed due to possible radiation-induced hypermetabolism even without a definite mass on MRI.

A 56 year-old women with a history of breast cancer underwent Tc-99m Hydroxymethylene Diphosphonate (HDP) bone scintigraphy at an annual follow-up, and abnormal focal uptake was observed in the right upper abdomen. However, subsequent single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) successfully delineated the uptake in a normal gallbladder. It was concluded that the abnormality had been caused by unusual Tc-99m HDP excretion and not by a metastatic lesion. Follow-up studies confirmed this diagnosis. This case demonstrates the usefulness of SPECT/CT in patients with unusual gallbladder uptake by bone scintigraphy.