OBJECTIVES: This study presents the indicators and proxy variables for the quantitative assessment of green chemistry technologies and evaluates the relative importance of each assessment element by consulting experts from the fields of ecology, chemistry, safety, and public health. METHODS: The results collected were subjected to an analytic hierarchy process to obtain the weights of the indicators and the proxy variables. RESULTS: These weights may prove useful in avoiding having to resort to qualitative means in absence of weights between indicators when integrating the results of quantitative assessment by indicator. CONCLUSIONS: This study points to the limitations of current quantitative assessment techniques for green chemistry technologies and seeks to present the future direction for quantitative assessment of green chemistry technologies.
Chemistry ; Ecology ; Green Chemistry Technology* ; Health Resorts ; Humans ; Proxy ; Public Health ; Weights and Measures

OBJECTIVES: This study presents the indicators and proxy variables for the quantitative assessment of green chemistry technologies and evaluates the relative importance of each assessment element by consulting experts from the fields of ecology, chemistry, safety, and public health. METHODS: The results collected were subjected to an analytic hierarchy process to obtain the weights of the indicators and the proxy variables. RESULTS: These weights may prove useful in avoiding having to resort to qualitative means in absence of weights between indicators when integrating the results of quantitative assessment by indicator. CONCLUSIONS: This study points to the limitations of current quantitative assessment techniques for green chemistry technologies and seeks to present the future direction for quantitative assessment of green chemistry technologies.
Chemistry ; Ecology ; Green Chemistry Technology* ; Health Resorts ; Humans ; Proxy ; Public Health ; Weights and Measures

OBJECTIVES: This study presents a methodology that enables a quantitative assessment of green chemistry technologies. METHODS: The study carries out a quantitative evaluation of a particular case of material reutilization by calculating the level of "greenness" i.e., the level of compliance with the principles of green chemistry that was achieved by implementing a green chemistry technology. RESULTS: The results indicate that the greenness level was enhanced by 42% compared to the pre-improvement level, thus demonstrating the economic feasibility of green chemistry. CONCLUSIONS: The assessment technique established in this study will serve as a useful reference for setting the direction of industry-level and government-level technological R&D and for evaluating newly developed technologies, which can greatly contribute toward gaining a competitive advantage in the global market.
Chemistry ; Compliance ; Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Green Chemistry Technology*

OBJECTIVES: This study presents a methodology that enables a quantitative assessment of green chemistry technologies. METHODS: The study carries out a quantitative evaluation of a particular case of material reutilization by calculating the level of "greenness" i.e., the level of compliance with the principles of green chemistry that was achieved by implementing a green chemistry technology. RESULTS: The results indicate that the greenness level was enhanced by 42% compared to the pre-improvement level, thus demonstrating the economic feasibility of green chemistry. CONCLUSIONS: The assessment technique established in this study will serve as a useful reference for setting the direction of industry-level and government-level technological R&D and for evaluating newly developed technologies, which can greatly contribute toward gaining a competitive advantage in the global market.
Chemistry ; Compliance ; Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Green Chemistry Technology*

Abdominal aortic occlusion (AAO) caused by detachment of cardiac myxoma (CM) is a very rare complication in patients with CM. Although the nature of CMs has been well established, detachment of CM may cause unexpected serious complications such as vicious embolic events. Actually, in several cases of AAO caused by detachment of CM, it has been reported that CM fragments easily migrated to the brain, heart, and lungs, and caused lifelong neurological complications despite appropriate surgical therapy. Herein, we report a case of a patient with AAO caused by detachment of CM who underwent CM excision and abdominal aortic thromboembolectomy. Additionally, we have presented the preoperative and postoperative images using 64-multidetector computed tomography.
Aorta, Abdominal ; Brain ; Heart ; Humans ; Lung ; Myxoma

A 74-year-old male patient was conducted total thyroidectomy with functional neck dissection and final pathologic report confirm occult thyroid carcinoma. Although the frequency of occult thyroid cancer (OTC) has decreased owing to developments in cervical ultrasonography and improved accuracy of histological tests, rare cases are still reported. Due to the decreased frequency of OTC, a benign cervical neck lymph node mass is sometimes diagnosed, which can result in delays to more accurate diagnoses and appropriate treatment. Therefore, we report our case.
Aged ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Male ; Neck Dissection ; Neck ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; Thyroidectomy ; Ultrasonography

Fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) constitute a major cell subset of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) synovia. Dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) has been implicated in activation and proliferation of RA-FLSs. However, the functional association of various miRNAs with their targets that are characteristic of the RA-FLS phenotype has not been globally elucidated. In this study, we performed microarray analyses of miRNAs and mRNAs in RA-FLSs and osteoarthritis FLSs (OA-FLSs), simultaneously, to validate how dysregulated miRNAs may be associated with the RA-FLS phenotype. Global miRNA profiling revealed that miR-143 and miR-145 were differentially upregulated in RA-FLSs compared to OA-FLSs. miR-143 and miR-145 were highly expressed in independent RA-FLSs. The miRNA-target prediction and network model of the predicted targets identified insulin-like growth factor binding protein 5 (IGFBP5) and semaphorin 3A (SEMA3A) as potential target genes downregulated by miR-143 and miR-145, respectively. IGFBP5 level was inversely correlated with miR-143 expression, and its deficiency rendered RA-FLSs more sensitive to TNFα stimulation, promoting IL-6 production and NF-κB activity. Moreover, SEMA3A was a direct target of miR-145, as determined by a luciferase reporter assay, antagonizing VEGF165-induced increases in the survival, migration and invasion of RA-FLSs. Taken together, our data suggest that enhanced expression of miR-143 and miR-145 renders RA-FLSs susceptible to TNFα and VEGF165 stimuli by downregulating IGFBP5 and SEMA3A, respectively, and that these miRNAs could be therapeutic targets.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid* ; Fibroblasts* ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 5 ; Interleukin-6 ; Luciferases ; MicroRNAs ; Osteoarthritis ; Phenotype* ; RNA, Messenger ; Semaphorin-3A ; Synovial Fluid