OBJECTIVE -The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of posttransplantation diabetes mellitus (PTDM) in renal allograft recipients and to investigate factors contributing to the onset and progression of PTDM and its underlying pathogenic mechanism(s).RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS -A total of 77 patients with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) were enrolled in this study. An oral glucose tolerance test was performed 1 week before transplantation and repeated at 1 and 7 years after transplantation.RESULTS -The overall incidence of PTDM was 39% at 1 year and 35.1% at 7 years posttransplantation. The incidence for each category of PTDM was as follows: persistent PTDM (P-PTDM) (patients who developed diabetes mellitus within 1 year of transplantation and remained diabetic during 7 years), 23.4%; transient PTDM (T-PTDM) (patients who developed diabetes mellitus during the 1st year after transplantation but eventually recovered to have NGT), 15.6%; late PTDM (L-PTDM) (patients who developed diabetes mellitus later than 1 year after transplantation), 11.7%; and non-PTDM during 7 years (N-PTDM 7 ) (patients who did not develop diabetes mellitus during 7 years), 49.3%. Older age (Ն40 years) at transplantation was a higher risk factor for P-PTDM, whereas a high BMI (Ն25 kg/m 2 ) and impaired fasting glucose (IFG) at 1 year posttransplantation were higher risk factors for L-PTDM. Impaired insulin secretion rather than insulin resistance was significantly associated with the development of Pand L-PTDM.CONCLUSIONS -Impaired insulin secretion may be the main mechanism for the development of PTDM. Older age at transplantation seems to be associated with P-PTDM, whereas a high BMI and IFG at 1 year after transplantation were associated with L-PTDM. Diabetes Care 30:609 -615, 2007P osttransplantation diabetes mellitus (PTDM) is a major complication after kidney transplantation and can lead to a wide range of complications including graft loss, increased mortality, increased number of rejections, and increased risk of cardiovascular disease (1-4). A recent meta-analysis of observational studies and randomized, controlled trials showed that the incidence of PTDM during the 1st year after transplantation varied from 2 to 50% (5). There have been several previous reports on PTDM in Korean patients, albeit for a short period of observation. We reported previously that the incidence of PTDM was 23.7% in 114 patients treated with cyclosporine A (CsA) at 9 -12 months after transplantation (6), whereas Cho et al. (7) reported that it was 57.1% in 21 patients treated with tacrolimus at 6 months after transplantation in Korea.PTDM and type 2 diabetes are similar in many ways. One example is that the onset of both can be insidious (8); individuals may experience glucose intolerance and remain asymptomatic for years before symptoms manifest clinically (9,10). Furthermore, PTDM is not always permanent and may resolve within weeks or months, sometimes without treatment (11). Although several recent reports on a consensus definition of PTDM ha...

Interest in wearable and stretchable on‐skin motion sensors has grown rapidly in recent years. To expand their applicability, the sensing element must accurately detect external stimuli; however, weak adhesiveness of the sensor to a target object has been a major challenge in developing such practical and versatile devices. In this study, freestanding, stretchable, and self‐adhesive ionogel conductors are demonstrated which are composed of an associating polymer network and ionic liquid that enable conformal contact between the sensor and skin even during dynamic movement. The network of ionogel is formed by noncovalent association of two diblock copolymers, where phase‐separated micellar clusters are interconnected via hydrogen bonds between corona blocks. The resulting ionogels exhibit superior adhesive characteristics, including a very high lift‐off force of 93.3 N m−1, as well as excellent elasticity (strain at break ≈720%), toughness (≈2479 kJ m−3), thermal stability (≈150 °C), and high ionic conductivity (≈17.8 mS cm−1 at 150 °C). These adhesive ionogels are successfully applied to stretchable on‐skin strain sensors as sensing elements. The resulting devices accurately monitor the movement of body parts such as the wrist, finger, ankle, and neck while maintaining intimate contact with the skin, which was not previously possible with conventional non‐adhesive ionogels.

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This review provides detailed fundamental principles of X-ray-based characterization methods, i.e., X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure, and the development of different techniques based on the principles to gain deeper understandings of chemical structures in polymeric materials. Qualitative and quantitative analyses enable obtaining chemical compositions including the relative and absolute concentrations of specific elements and chemical bonds near the surface of or deep inside the material of interest. More importantly, these techniques help us to access the interface of a polymer and a solid material at a molecular level in a polymer nanocomposite. The collective interpretation of all this information leads us to a better understanding of why specific material properties can be modulated in composite geometry. Finally, we will highlight the impacts of the use of these spectroscopic methods in recent advances in polymer nanocomposite materials for various nano- and bio-applications.

High expression levels of plasma miR-122 are associated with early TACE refractoriness in HCC patients treated with TACE.