Mechanochemically functionalized and fibrillated microcrystalline cellulose as a filler in silicone foam: An integrated experimental and simulation investigation.

Fibrillated celluloses have gained significant attention due to their exceptional mechanical properties and eco-friendly characteristics, which make them suitable for various applications. In this study, we designed a precise approach for producing highly fibrillated microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) via ball-milling treatment using four typical silane coupling agents. The empirical data demonstrate that the fibrillization of MCC and the properties of fibrillated MCC are largely affected by the size and geometry of the functional groups of the silanes. After ball-milling, most MCC displayed enhanced e-beam tolerance and thermal stability, whereas the silane loading amount, surface area, and morphology of fibrillated MCC appeared to be random, which was exemplified by the proportional and non-proportional relationship between the loading amount and surface area of methyl silane- and phenyl silane-treated MCC, respectively. Density functional theory calculations and molecular dynamics simulations were employed to obtain the intricate details. The simulation results were in agreement with the experimental results. Finally, fibrillated MCC was incorporated into silicone foams as an additive. The thermal stability of fibrillated MCC with added silicone was greatly improved, and the tensile strength of fibrillated MCC-containing silicone foam was 44.1 and 5.4 times higher than that of the neat and MCC-containing silicone foams, respectively.

Substantial Improvement in Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Identification Using ASTA MicroIDSys Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry with an Upgraded Database.

Identifying Mycobacterium using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is challenging. We evaluated the performance of MALDI-TOF MS in identifying nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) using the ASTA MicroIDSys system (ASTA Inc., Suwon, Korea) with the MycoDB v1.95s and upgraded MycoDB v2.0-beta databases. We tested 124 NTM isolates collected from Ogawa medium at Severance Hospital, Seoul, Korea, between January and April 2019. MicroIDSys scores were categorized into three groups: ≥140, reliable identification; 130-139, ambiguous identification; and <130, invalid identification. To validate the results, we used the reverse blot hybridization assay (Molecutech REBA MycoID, YD Diagnostics Corp., Korea). Initial analysis using MycoDB v1.95s resulted in 26.6% (33/124) reliable, 43.5% (54/124) ambiguous, and 29.8% (37/124) invalid identifications. Re-analysis using the upgraded MycoDB v2.0-beta database resulted in 94.4% (117/124) reliable, 4.0% (5/124) ambiguous, and 1.6% invalid (2/124) identifications. The percentage of reliable identifications that matched with the reference increased from 26.6% (33/124) with MycoDB v1.95s to 93.5% (116/124) with MycoDB v2.0-beta. The upgraded databases enable substantially improved NTM identification through deep learning in the inference algorithm and by considering more axes in the correlation analysis. MALDI-TOF MS using the upgraded database unambiguously identified most NTM species. Our study lays a foundation for applying MALDI-TOF MS for the simple and rapid identification of NTM isolated from solid media.

Erratum to: Impacts of whey protein on starch digestion in rumen and small intestine of steers.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.5187/jast.2019.61.2.98.].

Impacts of whey protein on starch digestion in rumen and small intestine of steers.

Four Korean native steers (511 ± 17.2 kg; 2 × 2 replicated crossover design) fitted with duodenal cannulas were used to investigate the influence of oral administration of soluble whey protein (WP; 82.29% crude protein) on ruminal fermentation, gastrointestinal (GI) hormone secretion in the blood, pancreatic α-amylase activity in the duodenum, and disappearance rate in each segment of the GI tract. Steers were orally fed the basal diet (control; TMR [total mixed ration] 9 kg/d) or the basal diet with enriched WP (400 g/d) for 14 days. The apparent crude protein disappearance rate in the rumen of the WP was higher than in control (p < 0.05). However, no difference between groups was observed in the apparent crude protein disappearance rate in the intestine and the apparent starch disappearance rates in the rumen, GI tract. The level of cholecystokinin, secretin, and ghrelin in serum and pancreatic α-amylase activity in the duodenum of the WP also did not change. The changes in the level of blood urea nitrogen related to protein metabolism were higher in the WP than in the control (p < 0.05). However, the levels of total protein, lipid, carbohydrate and mineral metabolites did not change. Consequently, we suggest that the oral administration of WP in steers assisted in ruminal fermentation due to the population increase of microbes in the rumen but did not improve the starch digestion rate in the small intestine because GI hormone secretion in the blood and pancreatic α-amylase activity did not change.

The Gaps between Knowing and Doing in Hearing Aid Fitting Management.

Evidence based practice has become an important aspect in many healthcare provisions to improve patient outcomes. Investigating the gaps between knowing and doing in audiology practice will provide future directions for successful service delivery. The purpose of this study was to explore "know-do" gaps related to professional awareness and attitude in hearing aid fitting management (HAFM) by analyzing data of a questionnaire. It consisted of 22 questions focusing on 11 HAFM components. Each component had two sub-questions involving levels of the importance and practice for HAFM. Respondents answered each question based on subjective judgments for their own hearing aid fitting services with a Visual Analogue Scale. A total of 51 responses from hearing care professionals were collected and the scores for knowing and doing were compared. The results showed overall high scores in doing and knowing responses; however, there were significant "know-do" gaps demonstrating higher knowing scores than doing scores across all HAFM components. The largest "know-do" gaps were observed in three components mostly implemented during follow-up sessions which indicate the need to improve their corresponding services and practical guidelines emphasizing the follow-up services.

Shaofu Zhuyu decoction ameliorates obesity-mediated hepatic steatosis and systemic inflammation by regulating metabolic pathways.

Shaofu Zhuyu decoction (SFZYD, also known as Sobokchugeo-tang), a classical prescription drug in traditional East Asian medicine, has been used to treat blood stasis syndrome (BSS). Hepatic steatosis is the result of excess caloric intake, and its pathogenesis involves internal retention of phlegm and dampness, blood stasis, and liver Qi stagnation. To evaluate the effects of treatment with SFZYD on obesity-induced inflammation and hepatic steatosis, we fed male C57BL/6N mice a high fat diet (HFD) for 8 weeks and then treated them with SFZYD by oral gavage for an additional 4 weeks. The results of histological and biochemical examinations indicated that SFZYD treatment ameliorates systemic inflammation and hepatic steatosis. A partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) scores plot of serum metabolites showed that HFD mice began to produce metabolites similar to those of normal chow (NC) mice after SFZYD administration. We noted significant alterations in the levels of twenty-seven metabolites, alterations indicating that SFZYD regulates the TCA cycle, the pentose phosphate pathway and aromatic amino acid metabolism. Increases in the levels of TCA cycle intermediate metabolites, such as 2-oxoglutaric acid, isocitric acid, and malic acid, in the serum of obese mice were significantly reversed after SFZYD treatment. In addition to inducing changes in the above metabolites, treatment with SFZYD also recovered the expression of genes related to hepatic mitochondrial dysfunction, including Ucp2, Cpt1α, and Ppargc1α, as well as the expression of genes involved in lipid metabolism and inflammation, without affecting glucose uptake or insulin signaling. Taken together, these findings suggest that treatment with SFZYD ameliorated obesity-induced systemic inflammation and hepatic steatosis by regulating inflammatory cytokine and adipokine levels in the circulation and various tissues. Moreover, treatment with SFZYD also reversed alterations in the levels of metabolites of the TCA cycle, the pentose phosphate pathway and aromatic amino acid metabolism.

First Report of the Carbapenemase Gene blaOXA-499 in Acinetobacter pittii.

We identified the carbapenemase gene blaOXA-499, a variant of blaOXA-143, from a clinical isolate of Acinetobacter pittii for the first time. OXA-499 shared 93.1% amino acid identity with OXA-143, and the gene was located on the chromosome. By cloning the OXA-499-encoding gene into the pWH1266 vector and transforming it into susceptible Acinetobacter spp., we were able to show that OXA-499 confers resistance to carbapenems.

The Band-Importance Function for the Korean Standard Sentence Lists for Adults.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The band-importance function (BIF) refers to a value characterizing the relative importance of different frequencies to speech intelligibility. The purpose of this study was to derive the BIF for the Korean standard sentence lists for adults (KS-SL-A). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In this study, sentences from the KS-SL-A were used as the speech material. Twenty-six normal-hearing Korean listeners participated and intelligibility scores in 8 filters with 3 signal-to-noise ratio conditions were obtained. Based on the intelligibility score percentages, the BIF for the KS-SL-A was derived by using an established protocol. RESULTS: Band-importance weights varied across frequency bands. The most important frequency region was around 316 Hz (20.0%), and the importance of the frequency bands below the center frequency (CF) of 1,778 Hz was 59.6%. Therefore, low frequencies below the CF of 1,778 Hz were more important than high frequencies above the CF of 1,778 Hz. CONCLUSIONS: The BIF for KS-SL-A could be applied towards developing a hearing aid fitting formulae for Korean listeners.

Factors associated with radiologic progression of non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis during long-term follow-up.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Non-cystic fibrosis (CF) bronchiectasis is a chronic airway inflammatory disease, exhibiting a diverse array of clinical courses. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that predict radiologic progression of non-CF bronchiectasis during a long-term follow-up. METHODS: We reviewed the electronic medical records that included pulmonary function test data from non-CF bronchiectasis patients, who were older than 18 years of age with a follow-up of computerized tomography for more than 5 years. The original Bhalla score was used to determine the radiologic severity of non-CF bronchiectasis. RESULTS: A total of 155 patients (mean age, 59.6 years; male, 45.2%) were included for the final analysis. The mean follow up time was 7.11 ± 1.42 (5-10) years. The baseline Bhalla score was 9.52 ± 3.14 (4-19), and the change of Bhalla score was 0.55 ± 1.14 (-2 to 5). The Bhalla score was increased in 56 patients (36.1%) but not in 99 patients (63.9%). The Bhalla score change was significantly associated with the age at diagnosis (p = 0.037), body mass index (BMI, p = 0.012), chronic infection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (p = 0.005) or isolation of nontuberculous mycobacterium (p = 0.042) in respiratory specimens. In a multivariate analysis, BMI and isolation of P. aeruginosa were significantly related with the Bhalla score change. CONCLUSION: The radiologic progression of non-CF bronchiectasis was associated with lower BMI and isolation of P. aeruginosa in respiratory specimens.

Derivations of the band-importance function: A cross-procedure comparison.

The purpose of this study was to compare band-importance functions (BIFs) derived by two different procedures. Intelligibility data from native speakers of Korean were used. BIFs were derived using an established procedure reported by Studebaker and Sherbecoe [J. Speech Lang. Hear. Res. 34, 427-438 (1991)] and by a recently published method reported by Kates [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 134(5), EL459-EL464 (2013)]. The BIFs produced by the two different procedures were similar. These results indicate that the BIF calculation procedure by Kates is accurate for sentences as well as for the monosyllables used in its derivation.

Reference sound pressure level for Korean speech audiometry.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the reference sound pressure level (RSPL) for Korean speech audiometry which was defined as the reference speech recognition threshold level (RSRTL) equivalent to 0 dB HL at the audiometer. STUDY SAMPLE: Subjects consisted of 20 adults (40 ears) with normal hearing sensitivity. DESIGN: Puretone thresholds (PTs) were obtained in 2 dB steps at each octave band. The newly developed Korean bisyllabic words were used to establish the speech recognition thresholds (SRTs). The SRT was the level at 50% correct responses based on the psychometric function performed from -8 dB HL (12 dB SPL) up to the level at or above 90% correct responses in 2 dB steps. RESULTS CONCLUSIONS: The mean SRT was 23.44 dB SPL for sets comprised of 36 Korean bisyllabic words. Thus, the difference between English and Korean RSRTLs was about 3.44 dB. We recommend further study to recalculate the RSRTL for Korean speech audiometry with more subjects.