Cutaneous Disorders Associated with Castleman's Disease.

Castleman's disease is a rare disease of the lymph nodes and related tissues, presenting as angiofollicular or giant lymph node hyperplasia. Although various skin manifestations have been reported to occur in Castleman's disease, a comprehensive study of cutaneous disorders in Castleman's disease is lacking. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate Castleman's disease-associated cutaneous disorders. The medical records of 57 patients with Castleman's disease who visited our hospitals from January 2007 to May 2018 were analysed retrospectively. Patients were classified according to the presence of skin involvement. Plasma variant-type Castleman's disease and multicentric Castleman's disease were more commonly found in patients with Castleman's disease with a cutaneous disorder than in those without a cutaneous disorder. In addition, the skin disorders were classified according to pathomechanisms: immune complex-related (paraneoplastic pemphigus, xanthogranulomas), cytokine-related (vasculitis-like lesion, cherry angioma, hyperpigmentation), and non-specific (pruritus). This study builds on previous case reports of cutaneous disorders in Castleman's disease and proposes a new classification system.

Radiological diagnosis of congenital diaphragmatic hernia in 17th century Korean mummy.

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a birth defect of the diaphragm resulting in pulmonary sequelae that threaten the lives of infants. In computed tomography (CT) images of a 17th century middle-aged male mummy (the Andong mummy), we observed that the abdominal contents had protruded into the right thoracic cavity through the diaphragmatic defect, accompanied by a mediastinal shift to the left. On autopsy, the defect in the right posterolateral aspect of the diaphragm was reconfirmed, as was the herniation of the abdominal organs. The herniated contents included the right lobe of the liver, the pyloric part of the stomach, a part of the greater omentum, and the right colic flexure connecting the superior part of the ascending colon and the right part of the transverse colon. Taking our CT and autopsy results together, this case was diagnosed as the Bochdalek-type CDH. Herein we make the first ever report of a CT-assisted diagnosis of a pre-modern historical case of CDH. Our results show the promising utility of this modality in investigations of mummified human remains archaeologically obtained.

Enhanced bioactivity and osteoconductivity of hydroxyapatite through chloride substitution.

The effect of chloride-substitution on bioactivity and osteoconductivity of hydroxyapatite (OHAp) was newly investigated. Chloride-substituted hydroxyapatites (ClAp) with low and high chloride concentrations were synthesized by reacting Ca(OH)2 and H3 PO4 with NH4 Cl of low and high concentrations, with subsequent sintering. As a control, pure OHAp was prepared under the same conditions but without addition of NH4 Cl. The ClAp showed markedly enhanced bioactivity in simulated body fluid (SBF) as the chloride substitution was increased. In contrast, OHAp did not show any bioactivity at all within the testing period. The solubility tests in deionized water also showed that the higher the chloride-substituting amount, the higher the dissolution amounts of the constituent elements of apatite, which directly affect bioactivity by increasing the degree of supersaturation of apatite in SBF. In addition, ClAp also showed noticeably higher osteoconductivity within the 4 weeks of implantation in calvarial defects of New Zealand white rabbits, compared with that of OHAp. The total system energy of the apatite calculated by the ab initio method showed that the higher the chloride-substituting amount, the higher the total system energy, which suggests that the ClAp was energetically less stable compared with OHAp. This result demonstrates the higher solubility of ClAp over that of OHAp in SBF and deionized water. The improved solubility of the OHAp enhances its bioactivity and consequent osteoconductivity. Taken together, it can be concluded that ClAp has encouraging potential for use as a bone grafting material due to its highly enhanced bioactivity and osteoconductivity compared with pure OHAp.

Effects of in-plane magnetization orientation on magnetic and electronic properties in a Bcc Co (001)/rock salt MgO (001)/Bcc Co (001) magnetic tunnel junction system: ab initio calculations.

Ab initio calculations were performed on a fully epitaxial bcc Co (001)/rock salt MgO (001)/bcc Co (001) magnetic tunnel junction system for two cases where the magnetization is parallel to bcc Co [100] and to bcc Co [110]. Structural optimization reveals that the two cases are equivalent systems and that the Co electrodes contract in the z-direction whereas the MgO insulating barrier expands. The magnetic moments of each monolayer vary slightly in each case; furthermore, only the magnetic moment at the surface of the Co atom shows any enhancement (12%). The layer decomposed density of states profiles reveals that the bonding character of the junction interface is derived mainly from the 2p-3d hybridization of the MgO and Co interfacial atoms.

Si/Ge double-layered nanotube array as a lithium ion battery anode.

Problems related to tremendous volume changes associated with cycling and the low electron conductivity and ion diffusivity of Si represent major obstacles to its use in high-capacity anodes for lithium ion batteries. We have developed a group IVA based nanotube heterostructure array, consisting of a high-capacity Si inner layer and a highly conductive Ge outer layer, to yield both favorable mechanics and kinetics in battery applications. This type of Si/Ge double-layered nanotube array electrode exhibits improved electrochemical performances over the analogous homogeneous Si system, including stable capacity retention (85% after 50 cycles) and doubled capacity at a 3C rate. These results stem from reduced maximum hoop strain in the nanotubes, supported by theoretical mechanics modeling, and lowered activation energy barrier for Li diffusion. This electrode technology creates opportunities in the development of group IVA nanotube heterostructures for next generation lithium ion batteries.

Theoretical investigation of Ti-adsorbed graphene for hydrogen storage using the ab-initio method.

Based on first-principles plane wave calculations, it was shown that boron substituted graphene with Ti metal atom adsorption can be used as a high capacity hydrogen storage material. Boron substitution in graphene enhances the Ti metal adsorption energy, which is much larger than that in the case of pure graphene, and than the Ti cohesive energy. The Ti metal atom can be well dispersed on boron-substituted graphene and can form a 2 x 2 pattern because the clustering of the Ti atoms is hindered by the repulsive Coulomb interaction between them. The H2 adsorption behavior on Ti metal atoms was investigated, along with the H2 bonding characteristics and the open-metal states of Ti. It was found that one Ti adatom dispersed on the double sides of graphene can absorb up to eight H2 molecules, corresponding to a 7.9% hydrogen storage capacity. In addition, the adsorption behaviors of non-H2 atoms like C and B were calculated to determine if Ti atoms can remain in an open-metal state in boron-substituted graphene.

Objective assessment of involved surface area in patients with psoriasis.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Although difficult, it is essential to assess the disease severity of psoriasis objectively. The visual grading method currently used for assessing the involved surface area in patients with psoriasis, which is included on the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scoring system, is a subjective method. The aim of this study was to establish the reliable objective method, in estimating the involved surface area in patients with psoriasis. METHODS: Thirty patients with psoriasis participated in this study. The skin lesions of each patient were estimated using the visual grading method and an image analysis system. RESULTS: The differences between five dermatologists' estimates of the involved surface area obtained from the visual grading method were highly significant (P<0.05, Kruskal-Wallis test). The comparison between the visual grading method and the image analysis system showed that the involved areas measured by the visual grading method were significantly higher than those from the image analysis (P<0.05, Wilcoxon signed rank test). CONCLUSIONS: The visual grading method was neither objective nor reproducible. On the other hand, the image analysis system can be used as an objective method of measuring the involved surface area of patients with psoriasis. Therefore, the image analysis system can be used as a standard for the assessment of the involved area of patients with psoriasis.