The importance of Se in human health has received much attention due to its antioxidant properties when it is consumed at an appropriate level. However, the existing evidence is limited to obtain an effective conclusion for colorectal cancer (CRC). Notably, an adequate intake of Se was reported for Koreans. Furthermore, cytokine secretion and immune function may be affected by dietary Se. Our study aimed to explore whether Se potentially reduces CRC risk and whether the IL10 rs1800871 polymorphism has an effect on this association. We designed a case–control study with 1420 cases and 2840 controls. A semi-quantitative FFQ was used to obtain information on Se intake. We determined IL10 rs1800871 through genetic analysis. Different models were developed to explore Se intake related to CRC risk by calculating OR and 95 % CI using unconditional logistic regression. A reduced risk of CRC was found as Se intake increased, with an OR (95 % CI) of 0·44 (0·35, 0·55) (Pfor trend < 0·001). However, this association seems to be allele-specific and only present among risk variant allele carriers (GA/GG) with a significant interaction between dietary Se and IL10 rs1800871 (Pfor interaction = 0·043). We emphasised that a reduction in CRC risk is associated with appropriate Se intake. However, the IL10 rs1800871 polymorphism has an impact on this reduction, with a greater effect on variant allele carriers. These findings suggest the importance of considering an individual’s genetic characteristics when developing nutritional strategies for CRC prevention.

Activity biosensors have been used recently to measure and diagnose the physiological status of dairy cows. However, owing to the variety of commercialized activity biosensors available in the market, activity data generated by a biosensor need to be standardized to predict the status of an animal and make relevant decisions. Hence, the objective of this study was to develop a standardization method for accommodating activity measurements from different sensors. Twelve Holstein dairy cows were monitored to collect 12 862 activity data from four types of sensors over five months. After confirming similar cyclic activity patterns from the sensors through correlation and regression analyses, the gamma distribution was employed to calculate the cumulative probability of the values of each biosensor. Then, the activity values were assigned to three levels (i.e., idle, normal and active) based on the defined proportion of each level, and the values at each level from the four sensors were compared. The results showed that the number of measurements belonging to the same level was similar, with less than a 10% difference at a specific threshold value. In addition, more than 87% of the heat alerts generated by the internal algorithm of three of the four biosensors could be assigned to the active level, suggesting that the current standardization method successfully integrated the activity measurements from different biosensors. The developed probability-based standardization method is expected to be applicable to other biosensors for livestock, which will lead to the development of models and solutions for precision livestock farming.

Acid–base disequilibrium is a contributor to cancer development because it affects molecular activities such as insulin-like growth factor 1 levels and adiponectin production. However, evidence of an association of diet-induced acid–base imbalance with colorectal cancer (CRC) is limited. We examined whether colorectal carcinogenesis is attributable to a diet with a high acid load. We recruited a total of 923 CRC cases and 1846 controls at the National Cancer Center in Korea for inclusion in a case–control study. We collected information on nutrient intake and specific clinical parameters of CRC by using a semiquantitative FFQ and medical records, respectively. Potential renal acid load (PRAL) and net endogenous acid production (NEAP) were used to estimate diet-dependent acid load. We used an unconditional logistic regression model to analyse the association. Dietary acid load scores had a positive association with the odds of CRC (OR = 2·31 (95 % CI 1·79, 2·99) and OR = 2·14 (95 % CI 1·66, 2·76) for PRAL and NEAP, respectively, Pfor trend < 0·001). A stronger positive association was observed for females (OR = 3·09, 95 % CI 1·93, 4·94) than for males (OR = 1·71, 95 % CI 1·27, 2·31). Furthermore, acidogenic diets appeared to affect rectal cancer more strongly than colon cancer in females. Our study contributes to reinforcing epidemiological evidence regarding a detrimental effect of acidogenic diets on colorectal carcinogenesis. Thus, it is important to pay attention to the balance of acidogenic (e.g. poultry and red meat) and alkalinogenic foods (e.g. fruits and vegetables) in CRC prevention, especially for females.

Age is a risk factor for numerous diseases. Although the development of modern medicine has greatly extended the human lifespan, the duration of relatively healthy old age, or ‘healthspan’, has not increased. Targeting the detrimental processes that can occur before the onset of age-related diseases can greatly improve health and lifespan. Healthspan is significantly affected by what, when and how much one eats. Dietary restriction, including calorie restriction, fasting or fasting-mimicking diets, to extend both lifespan and healthspan has recently attracted much attention. However, direct scientific evidence that consuming specific foods extends the lifespan and healthspan seems lacking. Here, we synthesized the results of recent studies on the lifespan and healthspan extension properties of foods and their phytochemicals in various organisms to confirm how far the scientific research on the effect of food on the lifespan has reached.

The aim of this study is to examine the empirical insulinemic potential consisting of dietary and lifestyle factors and the interactive effect with the common genetic susceptibility locus rs2423279 on the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). This case–control study was conducted with 923 CRC patients and 1846 controls. The empirical measures for assessing the insulinemic potential, namely, the empirical dietary index for hyperinsulinemia (EDIH), for insulin resistance (EDIR), the empirical lifestyle index for hyperinsulinemia (ELIH), and for insulin resistance (ELIR), were calculated based on semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire and lifestyle questionnaire. A genetic variant of rs2423279 was genotyped. The CRC patients were more likely to score in the highest quartile for the ELIH (OR 2·90, Q4 v. Q1, 95 % CI (2·01, 4·19), P for trend < 0·001), EDIR (OR 3·32, Q4 v. Q1, 95 % CI (2·32, 4·74), P < 0·001) and ELIR (OR 2·79, Q4 v. Q1, 95 % CI (1·96, 3·97), P < 0·001) than the controls. The significant effect between the ELIR, which assesses dietary and lifestyle patterns related to insulin resistance, and C allele carriers of rs2423279 was stronger than that for homozygous T allele carriers (OR 2·50, 95 % CI (1·78, 3·51), P for interaction = 0·034). The empirical insulinemic potential for insulin resistance might have interactive effects with the rs2423279 polymorphism on the risk of CRC. The results of this study suggest the basis of the metabolic impact of the insulin response on colorectal carcinogenesis.

Maslinic acid is found in various natural sources, most notably in pomace olive oil, and exerts pro-apoptotic activities in various cancer cells in vitro. In the present study, DU145 human prostate cancer cells were cultured with 0–25 μm-maslinic acid to examine the effects of maslinic acid on the metastatic capacity of prostate cancer cells. Maslinic acid significantly (P <0·05) inhibited the basal and epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induced migration (27–64 %), invasion (23–60 %) and adhesion (8–40 %) of DU145 cells. Maslinic acid significantly (P <0·05) down-regulated both basal and EGF-stimulated secretion of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 (25–67 %), MMP-2 (50–86 %), urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA, about 100 %), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF, 98–100 %) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP)-1, as well as expression of uPA receptor (uPAR), intercellular adhesion molecules (22–33 %), vascular cell adhesion molecules (23–46 %) and E-cadherin, whereas it increased TIMP-2 secretion. Maslinic acid dramatically reduced the levels of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) protein and mRNA; the reduction was accompanied by reduced stability, nuclear levels and transcriptional activity of HIF-1α. The levels of phospho-Akt and phospho-extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK) were reduced in cells treated with maslinic acid, and the phosphoinositide 3-kinase inhibitor LY294002 and the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase inhibitor PD98059 reduced HIF-1α levels and VEGF secretion. The results show that maslinic acid markedly inhibited the migration, invasion and adhesion of DU145 prostate cancer cells. Suppressing HIF-1α activation by inhibiting Akt and ERK activation may be part of the mechanism by which maslinic acid inhibited uPAR, E-cadherin, VEGF and MMP expression in DU145 cells.

The Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRiment (CIBER) is a rocket-borne absolute photometry imaging and spectroscopy experiment optimized to detect signatures of first-light galaxies present during reionization in the unresolved IR background. CIBER-I consists of a wide-field two-color camera for fluctuation measurements, a low-resolution absolute spectrometer for absolute EBL measurements, and a narrow-band imaging spectrometer to measure and correct scattered emission from the foreground zodiacal cloud. CIBER-I was successfully flown in February 2009 and July 2010 and four more flights are planned by 2014, including an upgrade (CIBER-II). We propose, after several additional flights of CIBER-I, an improved CIBER-II camera consisting of a wide-field 30 cm imager operating in 4 bands between 0.5 and 2.1 microns. It is designed for a high significance detection of unresolved IR background fluctuations at the minimum level necessary for reionization. With a FOV 50 to 2000 times larger than existing IR instruments on satellites, CIBER-II will carry out the definitive study to establish the surface density of sources responsible for reionization.

We investigated the pressure dependence of the inductive coupled plasma (ICP) oxidation on the electrical characteristics of the thin oxide films. Activation energies and electron temperatures with different pressures were estimated. To demonstrate the pressure effect on the plasma oxide quality, simple N type metal-oxide-semiconductor (NMOS) transistors were fabricated and investigated in a few electrical properties. At higher pressure than 200mTorr, plasma oxide has a slightly higher on-current and a lower interfacial trap density. The on-current gain seems to be related to the field mobility increase and the lower defective interface to the electron temperature during oxidation.

The miniature pig is regarded as a better organ donor breed for xenotransplantation than other pig breeds because the size of their organs is similar to that of humans. To improve efficiency of cloned miniature pig production, we analysed the effect of breed difference between donor cells and embryo recipients on pregnancy rate and delivery rate. Cloned porcine embryos derived from domestic or miniature pig donor cells were transferred to domestic or miniature recipient pigs. Delivery rate was significantly higher when embryos reconstructed with miniature pig donor cells were transferred to miniature pig recipients as compared with that of embryos transferred to domestic pig recipients. However, pregnancy rates were similar between the two groups. The breed of donor cells, but not of embryo recipients, seems likely to affect litter size. From a 13 610 gene cDNA microarray, 1551 (11.7%) genes showed significantly different levels of expression between the fetuses of the two breeds. Vascular endothelial growth factor and c-kit ligand genes related to implantation and maintenance of pregnancy were significantly down-regulated in miniature pigs. In conclusion, the differential gene expression in fetuses interferes with proper fetal/maternal interactions, and results in late-stage pregnancy loss. Our results indicate that the miniature pig is the preferred embryo recipient breed than domestic pig for producing cloned miniature piglets.

In this paper, an approach to modelling of a robotic assembly cell is proposed and a method for managing the cell operation is described using a knowledge base. Since the modelling structure is based on the concept of the state variable, the relationships between states are described by the state transition map (STM). The knowledge-bases for state transition and assembly job information are obtained from the STM and the assembly job tree (AJT), respectively. Using the knowledge-base, the System structure is discussed in relation to both managing the cell operation and evaluating the performances. Finally, a simulation algorithm is presented with the simulation results to show the significance of the proposed modelling approach.

We studied oxygen migration in calcia-stabilized cubic zirconia (CSZ) using density functional theory. A Ca atom was substituted for a Zr atom in a 2×2×2 ZrO2 cubic supercell, and an oxygen vacancy was produced to satisfy the charge neutrality condition. We found that the formation energies of an oxygen vacancy, as a function of its location with respect to the Ca atom, were varied. The relative formation energies of the oxygen vacancies located at the first-, second-, third-, and fourth-nearest-neighbors were 0.0, −0.07, 0.19, and 0.19 eV, respectively. Therefore, the oxygen vacancy located at the second-nearest-neighbor site of the Ca atom was the most favorable, the oxygen vacancy located at the first-nearest-neighbor site was the second most favorable, and the oxygen vacancies at the third- and fourth-nearest-neighbor sites were the least favorable. We also calculated the energy barriers for the oxygen vacancy migration between oxygen sites. The energy barriers between the first and the second nearest sites, the second and third nearest sites, and the third and fourth nearest sites were 0.11, 0.46, and 0.23 eV, respectively. Therefore, the oxygen vacancies favored the first- and second-nearest-neighbor oxygen sites when they drifted under an electric field.

The thermal degradation behavior of indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films coated on glass substrates using radio frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering was investigated over the temperature range of 100–400 °C in air. The resistivity of ITO films increases abruptly after the thermal degradation temperature of 250 °C is reached, with a slight increase from 200 to 250 °C. The x-ray photoelectron spectrometry intensity ratio of O/(In + Sn) in thermally degraded ITO films is higher than that in normal films. The carrier concentration gradually decreases up to 200 °C, sharply drops between 200 and 250 °C with increasing temperature, and then saturates from 275 °C. The Hall mobility drops suddenly at 275 °C. The diffusion of oxygen into oxygen interstitials and oxygen vacancies and the chemisorption of oxygen into grain boundaries decrease the carrier concentration and the Hall mobility, respectively. The former mainly affects the resistivity of ITO films below 250 °C, and the later above 250 °C.

We observed the H2 absorption lines in the far-UV band toward HD 37903, which is the central star of the reflection nebula NGC 2023, and ran the radiative-collisional equilibrium program CLOUDY to simulate the UV radiation process of NGC 2023. The input parameters are chosen to generate the same ionization and excitation distribution of atoms and molecules as observed, so that we can create a physical model for NGC 2023.

We analyze CO and H2 absorption lines of the foreground molecular cloud in the Carina nebula. We use HST-STIS (Hubble Space Telescope - Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph) & IUE (International Ultraviolet Explorer) INES data to analyze the A-X (v=0→2) absorption band of CO for several hot stars toward the Carina nebula, while 9 stars of them have FUSE (Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer) spectra to analyze the (v=0→4) vibrational band in the Lyman series of H2. The column densities of CO and H2 varies in the vicinity of N(CO) ~ 1013cm−2 and N(H2) ~ 1019cm−2, respectively. The resultant CO-to-H2 abundance ratio is about 10−6. We investigate the variation of the abundance ratio according to the relative position of the target stars to morphology the molecular cloud in the Carina nebula.

The present study was designed to define how dietary fat type regulates body adiposity in dietary obesity-susceptible (DOS) Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats. Eighty-three SD rats received a purified diet containing 50 g maize oil (MO)/kg for 3 weeks and then thirty-nine of the rats, designated as the DOS rats, were allotted to diets containing 160 g MO (DOS-MO), beef tallow (DOS-BT) or fish oil (DOS-FO)/kg for 9 weeks. As a result of the experiment, the DOS-FO rats had significantly (P<0·05) reduced weight gain and abdominal and epididymal fat-pad mass than the DOS-MO and DOS-BT rats. Serum leptin level was also significantly (P<0·05) lower in the DOS-FO rats; however, hypothalamic leptin receptor (a and b) mRNA and neuropeptide Y expressions were not altered by dietary fat sources. A lower acetyl-CoA carboxylase mRNA expression in the liver was observed in the DOS-FO group, whereas hepatic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ mRNA and protein expressions were markedly elevated in the DOS-FO group compared with those in the other groups. We did not observe differences in acetyl-CoA carboxylase and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ expressions in epididymal fat of the DOS rats consuming MO, BT or FO. It is concluded from our present observations that dietary fat type, especially that rich in FO, plays a potential role in down-regulation of adiposity by altering hepatic lipogenic genes, rather than feeding behaviour, in the DOS-SD rats.

The Far-ultraviolet IMaging Spectrograph (FIMS) is a small spectrograph optimized for the observations of diffuse hot interstellar medium in far-ultraviolet wavebands (900–1150Å and 1335–1750Å). The instrument is expected to be sensitive to emission line fluxes an order of magnitude fainter than any previous missions. FIMS is currently under development and is scheduled for launch in 2002.