Predicting the isotopic modification of ice by melting processes is important for improving the accuracy in paleoclimate reconstruction. To this end, we present results from cold room laboratory observations of changes in the isotopic ratio (D/H and 18O/16O) of ice cubes by isotopic exchange between liquid water and ice in nearly isothermal conditions. A 1-D model was fit to the isotopic results by adjusting the values of two parameters, the isotopic exchange rate constant (kr) and the fraction of ice participating in the exchange (f). We found that the rate constant for hydrogen isotopic exchange between liquid water and ice may be greater (up to 40%) than that for the oxygen isotopic exchange. The range of the rate constant obtained from four melt experiments is from 0.21 to 0.82 h–1. The model results also suggest that f decreases with the increasing wetness of the ice. This is because with increasing water saturation in ice, water may be present only in the small pores or some of the water that was exchanged with ice may be bypassed, decreasing the effective surface area over which the isotopic exchange can occur. The relationship between the two water isotopes (δ18O vs δD) was observed and modeled and the slope was <8, which is significantly different from the slope of the meteoric waterline. We note that these slopes were obtained without considering the sublimation process.

We previously demonstrated that the chronic consumption of a high-fat diet (HFD) promotes lung and liver metastases of 4T1 mammary carcinoma cells in obesity-resistant BALB/c mice. To examine early transcriptional responses to tumour progression in the liver and lungs of HFD-fed mice, 4-week-old female BALB/c mice were divided into four groups: sham-injected, control diet (CD)-fed; sham-injected, HFD-fed (SH); 4T1 cell-injected, CD-fed (TC); 4T1 cell-injected, HFD-fed (TH). Following 16 weeks of either a CD or HFD, 4T1 cells were injected into the mammary fat pads of mice in the TC and TH groups and all mice were continuously fed identical diets. At 14 d post-injection, RNA was isolated from hepatic and pulmonary tissues for microarray analysis of mRNA expression. Functional annotation and core network analyses were conducted for the TH/SH Unique gene set. Inflammation in hepatic tissues and cell mitosis in pulmonary tissues were the most significant biological functions in the TH/SH Unique gene set. The biological core networks of the hepatic TH/SH Unique gene set were characterised as those genes involved in the activation of acute inflammatory responses (Orm1, Lbp, Hp and Cfb), disordered lipid metabolism and deregulated cell cycle progression. Networks of the pulmonary Unique gene set displayed the deregulation of cell cycle progression (Cdc20, Cdk1 and Bub1b). These HFD-influenced alterations may have led to favourable conditions for the formation of both pro-inflammatory and pro-mitotic microenvironments in the target organs that promote immune cell infiltration and differentiation, as well as the infiltration and proliferation of metastatic tumour cells.

Background: The influences of demographics, culture, language, and environmental changes on Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores are considerable.

Methods: Using a sample of 7452 healthy, community-dwelling elderly Koreans, aged 55 to 94 years, who participated in the four ongoing geriatric cohorts in Korea, we investigated demographic influences on MMSE scores and derived normative data for this population. Geropsychiatrists strictly excluded subjects with cognitive disorders according to the protocol of the Korean version of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Packet (CERAD-K) Clinical Assessment Battery (CERAD-K-C).

Results: Education (standardized β = 0.463), age (standardized β = −0.303), and gender (standardized β = −0.057) had significant effects on MMSE scores (p < 0.001). The score of MMSE increase 0.379 point per 1-year education, decrease 0.188 per 1-year older, and decrease 0.491 in women compared to men. Education explained 30.4% of the scores’ total variance, which was much larger than the variances explained by age (8.4%) or gender (0.3%). Accordingly, we present normative data for the MMSE stratified by education (0, 1–3, 4–6, 7–9, 10–12, and ≥ 13 years), age (60–69, 70–79, and 80–89 years), and gender.

Conclusions: We provide contemporary education-, age-, and gender-stratified norms for the MMSE, derived from a large, community-dwelling elderly Korean population sample, which could be useful in evaluating individual MMSE scores.

Background: Agraphia in Korean patients may be different from agraphia in other patients who use alphabetical writing systems due to the “visuoconstructional script” characteristics of the Korean writing system, Hangul. Patients with early onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD) have a severe degree of hypometabolism in the parietal area, which is known to be involved in processing visuospatial function. Thus, we explored the diverse error patterns manifested in writing single syllables in Korean patients with EOAD.

Methods: A study sample of 35 patients with EOAD and 18 healthy controls (HC) performed a Hangul writing task. We analyzed the erroneous responses of the subjects according to visuoconstructional and linguistic characteristics. In addition, we evaluated the relationship between Hangul writing and the neuropsychological variables as well as the severity of dementia.

Results: When comparing the total number of erroneous responses between EOAD and HC groups, the performances of EOAD patients were significantly worse than those of HC. EOAD patients demonstrated visuoconstructional errors even in the early stages of the disease. Severity of dementia and multiple cognitive domains such as attention, language, immediate memory, and frontal executive functions significantly correlated with the performance of Hangul writing.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that patients with EOAD exhibit not only linguistic errors but also visuoconstructional manifestations of agraphia, which are associated with cognitive impairments in the multiple domains.

Decision making in an emotionally conflicting situation is important in social life. We aimed to address the similarity and disparity of neural correlates involved in processing ambivalent stimuli in patients with schizophrenia and patients with depression. Behavioral task-related hemodynamic responses were measured using [15O]H2O positron emission tomography (PET) in 12 patients with schizophrenia and 12 patients with depression. The task was a modified word-stem completion task, which was designed to evoke ambivalence in forced and non-forced choice conditions. The prefrontal cortex and the cerebellum were found to show increased activity in the healthy control group. In the schizophrenia group, activity in these two regions was negligible. In the depression group, the pattern of activity was altered and a functional compensatory recruitment of the inferior parietal regions was suggested. The prefrontal cortex seems to be associated with the cognitive control to resolve the conflict toward the ambivalent stimuli, whereas the cerebellum reflects the sustained working memory to search for compromise alternatives. The deficit of cerebellar activation in the schizophrenia group might underlie the inability to search and consider compromising responses for conflict resolution. (JINS, 2009, 15, 990–1001.)

Human complement regulatory protein hCD46 may reduce the hyperacute rejection (HAR) in pig-to-human xenotransplantation. In this study, an hCD46 gene was introduced into porcine embryonic germ (EG) cells. Treatment of human serum did not affect the survival of hCD46-transgenic EG cells, whereas the treatment significantly reduced the survival of non-transgenic EG cells (p < 0.01). The transgenic EG cells presumably capable of alleviating HAR were transferred into enucleated oocytes. Among 235 reconstituted oocytes, 35 (14.9%) developed to the blastocyst stage. Analysis of individual embryos indicated that 80.0% (28/35) of embryos contained the transgene hCD46. The result of the present study demonstrates resistance of hCD46-transgenic EG cells against HAR, and the usefulness of the transgenic approach may be predicted by this cytolytic assessment prior to actual production of transgenic pigs. Subsequently performed EG cell nuclear transfer gave rise to hCD46-transgenic embryos. Further study on the transfer of these embryos to recipients may produce hCD46-transgenic pigs.

The internal stress distribution in multilayer actuator was analyzed by a numerical simulation. Around the edge of conventional inter-digital electrodes, the non-uniform electric field generated the stress concentration, which caused the ceramic to crack. Various electrode configurations were presented to decrease this stress concentration. Especially the float electrode type is a promising design because this can be fabricated using almost the same process as the conventional multilayer actuator, and the simulated results indicted that the float electrode type decreased the stress concentration of inter-digital type in approximately 1/3.

There have been increasing interests in lithium rechargeable batteries, especially microbatteries, with rapid development of portable electronic equipments and MEMS(Micro electromechanical systems) technology. In this work, lithium manganese oxide, as a strong candidate for the battery materials, which is more abundant, stable in ambient state and less toxic than the other oxides such as lithium nickel oxides and lithium cobalt oxides, was deposited by rf magnetron sputter. The effect of thermal treatment on the microstructure and electrode characteristics of lithium manganese oxide cathode was investigated. In electrochemical experiment using liquid electrolyte, half-cell failure would be caused by manganese dissolution, degradation of electrolyte materials during charging/discharging process and so on. In this research we focus on interface reaction problem that would affect the cyclability and lifetime of microbattery. In order to reduce the interface reaction during operation, we introduce DLC(Diamond-like-Carbon) film that has high electrical resistivity, mechanical hardness and chemical stability. DLC film was deposited on sputtered lithium manganese oxide electrode by ECRCVD(Electron Cyclotron Resonance Chemical Vapor Deposition). DLC-top-layer LiMn2O4 film was more stable during charging/discharging reaction and higher discharge capacity in wide voltage windows than LiMn2O4 film.

Aging processes are time-dependent, deteriorative functional changes. These functional changes lead to a progressive loss of the organism’s ability to withstand both internal and environmental stresses, causing the failure of cellular homeostasis. Among the modern hypotheses, the ‘Oxidative Stress Hypothesis’ offers the best mechanistic elucidation of aging phenomena. Based on the ‘Free Radical Theory of Aging’, this hypothesis has gained popularity among researchers in the field of gerontology as well as other biomedical fields. Its primary premise proposes that aging and its related disease processes are the net result of free radical-induced damage, asserting further that an organism’s inability to produce counterbalancing antioxidative defences, i.e. defences that offset disturbances in the redox state, underlies its cause.