In this study, change of optical properties and microstructure of an Ag-Pd-In alloy according to Ag content was investigated. For this purpose, specimen alloys were prepared by adding 0–100 wt.% of Ag to the 50Pd-50In (wt.%) alloy. When the content of Ag was more than 40 wt.%, the color difference with pure gold specimen was increased(p < 0.001). L* value increased as the Ag content of the specimen increased, but a* and b* value increased until the addition of 20 wt.% Ag, and then decreased with increasing Ag content(p < 0.001). Ag-free specimen was single phase in the as-cast state, but when the content of Ag was more than 20 wt.%, the phase separation occurred and two phases of matrix and dendrite or granular structure were confirmed. The dendrite or granular structure was composed of the InPd phase, and the matrix was composed of the Ag-rich phase. From these results, it can be concluded that the specimens with Ag content of 20–70 wt.% have the Ag-rich matrix which has a high L* value and low a* and b* value, and have the dendrite structure which has a low L* value and high a* and b* value. As the content of Ag increased, the color changed from light yellow to silver white due to the increase in the ratio of the matrix to the dendrite or granular structure.
Alloys ; Dendrites ; Silver

This study aimed to evaluate the imaging and pathological findings in axillary lymph nodes in patients with breast cancer who received concurrent ipsilateral coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination. Of the 19 women with breast cancer who received concurrent COVID-19 vaccination shot in the arm ipsilateral to breast cancer, axillary lymphadenopathy was observed in 84.2% (16 of 19) of patients on ultrasound (US) and 71.4% (10 of 14) of patients on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and 21.0% (4 of 19) of patients were diagnosed with metastasis. Abnormal US and MRI findings of cortical thickening, effacement of the fatty hilum, round shape, and asymmetry in the number or size relative to the contralateral side were noted in more than half of the non-metastatic and metastatic lymph nodes; however, statistical significance was not noted. Axillary lymphadenopathy is commonly observed in patients with breast cancer who receive concurrent ipsilateral COVID-19 vaccination without specific differential imaging features. Thus, understanding the limitations of axillary imaging and cautious interpretation is necessary to avoid overestimation or underestimation of the axillary disease burden.

Primary achalasia is a disorder of swallowing in which the lower esophageal sphincter fails to relax. Traditional treatment methods are balloon dilatation and myotomy, but these methods have critical complications and even fatal including esophageal perforation, gastroesophageal reflux, and continuing dysphagia. Botulinum toxin, which has been used for dystonias of skeletal muscles, is presented as a new alternative treatment method for achalasia, aimed to lowering of LES pressure by Pasricha et al. They also reported that endoscopic botulinum toxin injection into LES was effective, safe, and simple method without any significant complication. We report 7 cases of primary achalasia treated with endoscopic botulinum toxin injection, who showed clinical improvement without any complication. We compared results of pre-treatment with those of post-treatment using botulinum toxin in the aspects of clinical, radiological, manometrical recording in these cases. Symptomatic improvement was shown in 4 cases(57.1%), symptom score was decreased from 7.43+/-0.53 to 4.43+/-2.51(p=0.03), The luminal diameter at esophagogastric junction increased from a mean of 3.21+/-0,99 mm to 5.14+/-0.90 mm (p=0.015), and luminal diameter at esophageal body decreased from a mean of 40.29+/-19.37 mm to 32.71+/-15.45 mm (p=0.015). In follow up manometric recording, peristaltic waves at the body were recovered in 2 cases(28.6%), gastroesophageal pressure gradient(AP) was non-significantly decreased from 6.30+/-4.0 mmHg to 3.12+/-4.47 mmHg (p=0.45). One patient complained of transient chest pain within one hour after the botulinum toxin injection, but she did not need any medication. We concluded that botulinum injection was a simple, safe, and effective therapeutic method for primary achalasia, even though further evaluatian should be performed in the much more cases and the results of long term follow-up, and cost-effectiveness of this method.
Botulinum Toxins* ; Chest Pain ; Deglutition ; Deglutition Disorders ; Dilatation ; Dystonia ; Esophageal Achalasia* ; Esophageal Perforation ; Esophageal Sphincter, Lower ; Esophagogastric Junction ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gastroesophageal Reflux ; Humans ; Muscle, Skeletal ; Phenobarbital