BackgroundDespite efforts to treat trachyonychia, there is no promising treatment modality.ObjectiveThis study evaluated the efficacy and safety of calcipotriol plus betamethasone dipropionate ointment on trachyonychia.MethodsA total of 39 patients with 432 nails affected by trachyonychia were enrolled. All patients applied calcipotriol/betamethasone ointment once daily without occlusion for 6 months. Outcome measures were assessed by physician's global assessment (degree of roughness: 0, clear; 1, mild; 2, moderate; 3, marked; 4, severe) at all time points.ResultsAfter 6 months of therapy, 98.6% (426/432) of nails showed significant clinical improvement; 4.2% were completely free from nail lesions. The mean physician global assessment score decreased significantly from 3.5 to 1.7 points (p< 0.05). No serious side effects were reported, except mild pruritus and erythema in 2 patients.ConclusionThis is the first study to prospectively evaluate the efficacy and safety of calcipotriol/betamethasone ointment for the treatment of trachyonychia. The results indicate topical calcipotriol/betamethasone is an effective and safe treatment for symptom improvement of trachyonychia.

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Objectives Previous studies examining the association between osteoporosis (OP) and hearing loss (HL) have shown conflicting results. The objective of the present study was to examine the association between hearing impairment and OP in postmenopausal women, using appropriate statistical analyses.Methods Total 1,009 participants were included in the current study. The propensity score matched (PSM) cohort was defined as the cohort including participants diagnosed with OP and participants without OP. Three statistical models were developed where model 1 was unadjusted, model 2 included age, and model 3 included age, body mass index, alcohol intake, smoking habit, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceride level, vitamin D, and alkaline phosphatase.Results There were 776 and 233 participants in the groups diagnosed without and with OP, respectively. For propensity score matching, 233 pairs were selected from the 776 participants without OP. In the total cohort, using statistical models 2 and 3, no significant difference in the four hearing thresholds was identified between the 2 groups. Logistic regression indicated that, in model 3, participants with OP had a 1.128 (P=0.323) increased risk HL. A significant HL risk was not observed in participants with OP. Using statistical model 3, there were no significant associations among lumbar spine or femoral neck T-scores and changes in the hearing thresholds. In the PSM cohort, statistical models also showed similar results.Conclusion The current study did not demonstrate and association between bone mineral density and hearing impairment in the study population of postmenopausal Korean women.

Particles in liquid-solid suspension flow might enhance or suppress the rate of heat transfer and turbulence depending on their size and concentration. The heat transfer characteristics of liquid-solid suspension in turbulent flow are not well understood due to the complexibility of interaction between solid particles and turbulence of the carrier fluid. In this study, the heat transfer coefficients of liquid-solid mixtures are investigated using a double pipe heat exchanger with suspension flows in the inner pipe. Experiments are carried out using spherical fly ash particles with mass median diameter ranging from 4 to 78J.lm. The volume concentration of solids in the slurry ranged from 0 to 50% and Reynolds number ranged from 4,000 to 11,000. The heat transfer coefficient of liquid-solid suspension to water flow is found to increase with decreasing particle diameter. The heat transfer coefficient increases with particle volume concentration exhibiting the highest heat transfer enhancement at the 3% solid volume concentration and then gradually decreases. A correlation for heat transfer to liquid-solid flows in a horizontal pipe is presented.

BackgroundSublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) with house dust mites (HDM) preparation has recently been proven to be beneficial for treating allergic rhinitis and asthma. However, there has been no report regarding the efficacy and safety of SLIT in Korean patients with atopic dermatitis (AD).ObjectiveWe intended to investigate the efficacy and safety of SLIT in Korean patients with AD.MethodsA total of 34 patients with AD and immunoglobulin E (IgE)-proven HDM sensitization (Class ≥3) were recruited. Eczema area and severity index (EASI) score, total serum IgE level, specific IgE assays to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, D. farinae, and adverse effects were recorded during follow-up. "Responder" was defined as a patient with ≥30% improvement in EASI score after SLIT.ResultsTwenty-three patients continued SLIT for 12 months or more, whereas 3 patients (8.8%) dropped out because of exacerbation of dermatitis, and 8 patients (23.5%) were lost to follow-up. The average duration of SLIT treatment was 22.4 months (range, 12~32 months). EASI scores reduced significantly after 6 months of treatment (p<0.05) compared with those at baseline. A total of 18 patients were determined to be responders to SLIT after 6 months. Total and specific IgE serum levels did not significantly reduce after SLIT. No patients experienced serious adverse events, with the exception of two patients who developed transient lip and tongue swelling.ConclusionOur study demonstrated that SLIT with HDM extracts is effective and tolerable in Korean patients with AD. Further controlled long-term trials are required to reinforce the current results.