Recently, cobalt iron boron (CoFeB) thin films have been widely investigated to apply to magnetic sensors, due to their high magnetic moment, anisotropy, and stability. However, most of these studies are conducted on rigid silicon substrates. For more diverse applications of magnetic sensors and angle sensors, it is important to explore the properties of ferromagnetic thin films grown on non-rigid deformable substrates. Here, using representative deformable substrates such as polyimide (PI), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) that can be bent or stretched, we report experimental comparison of in-plane magnetic field angle-dependent properties of the amorphous Ta/CoFeB/MgO/Ta thin film which is grown on those deformable substrates. We investigate effects of substrate roughness, tensile stress, characteristics of deformable substrates, and sputtering process on the change of magnetic properties like coercive field (Hc), remanence over saturation magnetization (Mr/Ms), and their biaxial characteristics. This work presents unconventional foundations for exploring deformable magnetic sensors capable of detecting magnetic field angle.

Rice, as a staple crop feeding billions, faces constant threats from various diseases jeopardizing global food security. Precise understanding of disease resistance mechanisms is crucial for developing resilient rice varieties. Traditional genetic mapping methods, such as QTL mapping, provide valuable insights into the genetic basis of diseases. However, the complex nature of rice diseases demands a holistic approach to gain accurate knowledge of it. Omics technologies, including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, enable a comprehensive analysis of biological molecules, uncovering intricate molecular interactions within the rice plant. Integration of various mapping techniques using multi-omics data has revolutionized our understanding of rice disease resistance. By overlaying genetic maps with high-throughput omics datasets, researchers can pinpoint specific genes, proteins, or metabolites associated with disease resistance. This integration enhances the precision of disease-related biomarkers with better understanding of their functional roles in disease resistance. Improvement of rice breeding for disease resistance through this integration represents a significant stride in agricultural science because better understanding of the molecular intricacies and interactions underlying disease resistance architecture leads to more precise and efficient development of resilient and productive rice varieties. In this review, we explore how the integration of mapping and omics data can give a transformative impact on rice breeding for enhancing disease resistance.

To identify gender- and age-related associations between adult dental checkups and unmet dental care needs, we analyzed data of 14,000 participants, ages ≥ 19, from the 7th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016–2018) (KNHANES VII). Data was collected via self-report questionnaires and interviews. Complex sample chi-square test and multiple logistic regression analysis indicated 31.7% of participants had unmet dental care needs; in the prior 12months, 67.1% had not utilized dental services, and 43.3% had not received dental checkups. Odds ratios (ORs) for dental checkups and unmet dental needs were 8.87 (CI:7.80–10.09, p < 0.001) for those who used dental services and 1.28 (CI: 1.13–1.44, p < 0.001) for those who had not. Significant age-dependent associations between those not receiving dental checkups and the rate of unmet dental care include men and women aged 50–59 years (OR: 1.77; CI = 1.22–2.58 and OR: 1.43; CI: 1.02–2.02; p = 0.040, respectively) and women ≥ 70 years (OR = 1.79, CI = 1.20–2.66, p = 0.004). Reducing unmet dental care needs requires greater public health promotion and education regarding regular dental checkups; additional practical strategies could enhance dental checkup compliance.

This study was conducted to recover valuable metals (silicon and silver) using acid leaching and substitution reactions with copper powder from the pulverized solar cell separated from the PV ribbon. Leaching experiments were conducted according to nitric acid concentration by molar solution as 1M, 2M, and 3M using an ultrasonic cleaner at a reaction temperature of 60 °C for the leaching times of 30 to 120 minutes. Si phases were detected at all leaching reaction times, it was confirmed that the aluminium was removed effectively if the nitric acid leaching time was more than 30 minutes, and silicon with a purity above 99% could be recovered. The silver was precipitated by adding copper, which has greater reducibility than Cu, Al, Si, Pb, and Sn. When the addition of copper powder was 0.75 and 1.0 g, precipitate was produced 0.23 and 0.55 g, respectively. The optimal condition for the recovery of silver by the addition of copper powder was 1 g, where is recovery rate reached 93.3%.

This study identifies the optimal management policy of a given energy storage system (ESS) installed in a grid-connected wind farm for maximizing the monetary benefits and provides guidelines for defining the economic value of the ESS under the optimal management policy and selecting the optimal size of the ESS based on the economic value. Considering stochastic models for wind power and electricity price, we develop a finite-horizon periodic-review Markov decision process (MDP) model to seek the optimal management policy. We also use a simple optimization model to find the optimal storage capacity and charging/discharging capacity of the ESS. By applying our analytic approach to a real-world grid-connected wind farm located in South Korea, we verify the usefulness of this study. Our numerical study shows that the economic value of the ESS is highly dependent on the management policy, wind electricity variability, and the electricity price variability. Thus, the optimal size of ESS should be carefully determined based on the locational characteristics and management policy even with limited investments. Furthermore, this study provides a meaningful policy implication on how much a subsidy the government should provide for installing ESS in a wind farm.

This study aims to provide an updated overview of the systematic evaluation and management of Post-Traumatic trigeminal neuropathic pain (PTTN) resulting from dental procedures or trauma. PTTN arises following an injury to the trigeminal nerve, which is responsible for sensory and motor functions in the maxillofacial region. The etiology encompasses various dental procedures and craniofacial trauma, leading to a spectrum of symptoms, from tingling to severe pain. Diagnostic challenges stem from the absence of standardized criteria and the overlap with focal neuralgia, necessitating comprehensive evaluation. Misdiagnosis can result in prolonged suffering and unnecessary procedures. Successful management hinges on prompt diagnosis and interdisciplinary collaboration, with early intervention crucial in mitigating chronicity. While nerve recovery post-trauma is challenging, preventive measures through accurate evaluation and treatment are paramount.  Management for PTTN includes non-invasive and surgical interventions. Non-invasive intervention includes systematic and local pharmacological management. This review enhances uniformity in PTTN evaluation and treatment approaches despite standardized study limitations.

Very poor oral health, common among older adults, is associated with cognitive decline.This study aimed to investigate the association between denture use, chewing ability, and cognitive function in Korean middle-aged adults using samples representing middle-aged people at the national level. This longitudinal study included 9,998 middle-aged adults via Korea Longitudinal Study of Aging 7th special survey data. Denture use, chewing ability, health-related factors, and general characteristics were assessed by the Computer Assisted Personal Interview. After controlling general characteristics using a generalized estimating equation model, the association of denture use and MMSE scores with chewing ability of those with or without dentures and MMSE scores were analysed. Twenty-four percent of participants wore dentures among them, 35.1% complained of difficulty chewing when wearing dentures. Among participants who did not wear dentures, 16.4% complained of difficulty chewing. MMSE scores were lower among denture-wearers than non-denture wearers (β = -0.026, p < 0.001). In both groups, MMSE scores decreased with chewing difficulty and were significantly reduced among non-denture wearers (p < 0.05). Chewing ability was closely associated with cognitive function. Given the negative effect of difficulty chewing on cognitive function, maintaining chewing ability should be of great concern.

Oriental melons have a relatively short shelf life as they are harvested during the summer season and susceptible to cold-induced injuries. Typical chilling injury when stored at 4℃ is expressed as browning of the fruit suture. To prolong the shelf life and reduce browning of the fruit, the effects of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), X-tend modified atmosphere (MA)/modified humidity (MH) bulk packaging (XF), and polyethylene (PE) packaging, on oriental melons were investigated during storage at 4℃ and 10℃ for 14 days and under retail display conditions at 20℃. The O2 concentrations in PE packages stored at 4℃ and 10℃ ranged from 17.4–18.5%, whereas those in XF packages were reduced to 16.3–16.6%. The CO2 content of XF package (4.2–4.6%) was higher than that of PE package (1.4–1.9%) stored at 4℃ or 10℃. Relative humidity (RH) saturated in the PE packages but not in the XF packages after seven days of storage. Furthermore, PE packages performed better at maintaining melon weight and firmness than XF packages during storage at 10℃ for 14 days and under retail display conditions at 20℃. PE and XF packages effectively reduced the browning index of the peel and white linear sutures of oriental melons compared with the unpackaged control during cold storage at 4℃, and this observation was maintained at the retail display condition at 20℃. The enhanced CO2 levels, reduced O2 levels, and optimal RH values that were provided by the MAP, prevented the browning symptoms and improved the marketability and shelf life of oriental melons.

Submucosal invasion is a critical step in gastric cancer (GC) progression, which greatly enhances metastasis risk. Cancer stem cells are responsible for invasion, metastasis, and tumor growth. To identify stem cell-related markers associated with submucosal invasion in GCs, we investigated the expression of candidate cancer stem cell (CSC) markers (CD133, CD44, and ALDH1A) and intestinal stem cell (ISC) markers (EPHB2, OLFM4, and LGR5) in early GCs with submucosal invasion. Remarkably, expression of all ISC markers and CD133 was frequently confined to the basal area of the lamina propria (basal pattern) in mucosal cancer. The proportion of stem cell marker-positive cells substantially increased during submucosal invasion. Given that ISC markers are restricted to the crypt base of the normal intestinal mucosa, these findings suggest that many early GCs may retain hierarchical characteristics. CD44 expression showed a focal pattern, ALDH1A was predominantly expressed diffusely, and there was no expansion of CD44 or ALDH1A expression in the submucosal cancer cells. RSPO2 from muscularis mucosa seem to be partly responsible for the increased expression of ISC markers in GC cells at the basal areas. We also found that ISC markers were correlated with CDX2 expression in GCs, indicating that ISC markers are involved in the intestinal differentiation in GCs. Interestingly, ISC markers (EPHB2 and OLFM4) and CD133 showed a positive impact on clinical outcomes. In particular, the prognostic value of EPHB2 was significant for intestinal-type GCs in a multivariate analysis. In summary, ISC markers and CD133 showed a basal distribution pattern along with enhanced expression in submucosal invading cells in early GCs. EPHB2 was an independent prognostic marker in intestinal-type GCs.

Alginate, a biopolymer promising in food, biomedical, pharmaceutical, and electronic materials industries, is characterized by its biodegradability, biocompatibility, low toxicity, and gel-forming properties. It is most abundantly found in brown algae. However, conventional dilute acid and alkali extraction methods face limitations in commercialization due to their long processing time, low throughput, and high solvent requirements. In this study, a microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) process for sodium alginate was designed to improve extraction efficiency. Solid/liquid ratio, extraction temperature, and extraction solvent concentration were major variables affecting sodium alginate extraction from Undaria pinnatifida(sea mustard). They were then statistically optimized using response surface methodology. Under optimal conditions (13.27 g/L, 91.86 ℃, 2.51 %(w/v), and 15 min), the yield was 38.41 %, which was 93.43 % of the theoretical content of sodium alginate in Undaria pinnatifida. Our work has confirmed the productivity and industrial feasibility of efficient extraction of sodium alginate from marine biomass, and we hope that it will serve as an encouraging case for the application of biopolymers as one of the desirable options for alternative petrochemicals to construct a sustainable society.

The TRPV3 calcium ion channel is vital for maintaining skin health and has been associated with various skin-related disorders. Since TRPV3 is involved in the development of skin inflammation, inhibiting TRPV3 could be a potential treatment strategy. Alpha-mangostin isolated from Garcinia mangostana L. extract exhibits diverse positive effects on skin health; however, the underlying mechanisms remain obscure. This study investigated the TRPV3-inhibitory properties of alpha-mangostin on TRPV3 hyperactive mutants associated with Olmsted syndrome and its impact on TRPV3-induced cytokine secretion and cell death. Our findings demonstrate that alpha-mangostin effectively inhibits TRPV3, with an IC50 of 0.077 ± 0.013 μM, showing inhibitory effects on both wild-type and mutant TRPV3. TRPV3 inhibition with alpha-mangostin decreased calcium influx and cytokine release, protecting cells from TRPV3-induced death. These results indicate that alpha-mangostin reduced inflammation in TRPV3-activated skin keratinocytes, suggesting that alpha-mangostin could be potentially used for improving inflammatory skin conditions such as dermatitis.

Many biological functions of curcumin have been reported. As certain bioactivities of curcumin are eliminated by antioxidants, reactive oxygen species generated by curcumin have been suggested as a relevant mechanism. In the present study, effects of different types of antioxidants on stability and bioactivities of curcumin were analyzed. High concentrations (>4mM) of the thiol antioxidants including N-acetylcysteine (NAC), glutathione (GSH) and β-mercaptoethanol accelerated decomposition of curcumin and other curcuminoids; Submillimolar levels (<0.5 mM) of GSH and NAC rather improved their stability. Ascorbic acid or superoxide dismutase also stabilized curcumin regardless of their concentration. Cellular levels and bioactivities of curcumin including cytotoxicity and induction of heme oxygenase-1 were significantly reduced in the presence of 8 mM of GSH and NAC. The effects were enhanced in the presence of submillilmolar GSH and NAC, or non-thiol antioxidants. The present results indicate that antioxidants with reduced thiol group could directly interact with α, β-unsaturated carbonyl moiety of curcuminoids and modulate their stability and bioactivity.

Previously, we demonstrated that IR triggers the invasion/migration of A549 cells via activation of an EGFR–p38/ERK–STAT3/CREB-1–EMT pathway. Here, we have demonstrated the involvement of a novel intracellular signaling mechanism in γ-ionizing radiation (IR)-induced migration/invasion. Expression of receptor-interacting protein (RIP) 1 was initially increased upon exposure of A549, a non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell line, to IR. IR-induced RIP1 is located downstream of EGFR and involved in the expression/activity of matrix metalloproteases (MMP-2 and MMP-9) and vimentin, suggesting a role in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Our experiments showed that IR-induced RIP1 sequentially induces Src-STAT3-EMT to promote invasion/migration. Inhibition of RIP1 kinase activity and expression blocked induction of EMT by IR and suppressed the levels and activities of MMP-2, MMP-9, and vimentin. IR-induced RIP1 activation was additionally associated with stimulation of the transcriptional factor NF-κB. Specifically, exposure to IR triggered NF-κB activation and inhibition of NF-κB suppressed IR-induced RIP1 expression followed by a decrease in invasion/migration as well as EMT. Based on the collective results, we propose that IR concomitantly activates EGFR and NF-κB and subsequently triggers the RIP1–Src/STAT3–EMT pathway, ultimately promoting metastasis.

Lectins, characterized by their carbohydrate-binding ability, have an extensive practical application. However, their industrial use is limited by low yields, and few active recombinant lectins have been reported. In this study, the algal lectin BPL-3 (Bryopsis plumosa lectin 3) was successfully produced using a bacterial expression system, BL21(DE3), with an artificial repeated structure (dimeric construct). Recombinant dimeric BPL3 (rD2BPL3) was confirmed by LC-MS/MS spectrometry. Expression efficiency was greater for the construct with the repeat structure (rD2BPL3) than the monomeric form (rD1BPL3). Optimal conditions for expression were 1 mM IPTG at 20 °C. Recombinant lectin was purified under denaturing conditions and refolded by the flash dilution method. Recombinant BPL3 was solubilized in 1× PBS containing 2 M urea. rD2BPL3 showed strong hemagglutination activity using human erythrocytes, similar to that of native BPL3. rD2BPL3 had a similar sugar specificity to that of the native protein, i.e., to N-acetyl-glucosamine (GlcNAc) and N-acetyl-galactosamine (GalNAc). Glycan array results showed that recombinant BPL3 and native BPL3 exhibited different binding properties. Both showed weak binding activity to α-Man-Sp. Native BPL3 showed strong binding specificity to the alpha conformation of amino sugars, and rD2BPL3 had binding activity to the beta conformation. The process developed in this study was suitable for the quality-controlled production of high amounts of soluble recombinant lectins.

The speech-to-song illusion is a type of auditory illusion that the repetition of a part of a sentence would change people’s perception tendency from speech-like to song-like. The study aims to examine how pace, emotion, and language tonality affect people’s experience of the speech-to-song illusion. It uses a between-subject (Pace: fast, normal, vs. slow) and within-subject (Emotion: positive, negative, vs. neutral; language tonality: tonal language vs. non-tonal language) design. Sixty Hong Kong college students were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions characterized by pace. They listened to 12 audio stimuli, each with repetitions of a short excerpt, and rated their subjective perception of the presented phrase, whether it sounded like a speech or a song, on a five-point Likert-scale. Paired-sample t-tests and repeated measures ANOVAs were used to analyze the data. The findings reveal that a faster speech pace could strengthen the tendency of the speech-to-song illusion. Neither emotion nor language tonality show a statistically significant influence on the speech-to-song illusion. This study suggests that the perception of sound should be in a continuum and facilitates the understanding of song production in which speech can turn into music by having repetitive phrases and to be played in a relatively fast pace.

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (ARSs) are essential enzymes for translating amino acids for protein synthesis. Their function in pathogen-derived infectious diseases has been well established, which has led to development of small molecule therapeutics. The applicability of ARS inhibitors for other human diseases such as fibrosis has recently been explored in the clinical setting. There are active studies to find small molecule therapeutics for cancers. Studies on central nervous system (CNS) disorders are burgeoning as well. In this regard, we present a concise analysis of the recent development of ARS inhibitors based on small molecules from the discovery research stage to clinical studies as well as a recent patent analysis from the medicinal chemistry point of view.

herein, we have compared the performance of SVM and MLP in emotion recognition using speech and song channels of the RAVDESS dataset. We have undertaken a journey to extract various audio features, identify optimal scaling strategy and hyperparameter for our models. To increase sample size, we have performed audio data augmentation and addressed data imbalance using SMOTE. Our data indicate that optimised SVM outperforms MLP with an accuracy of 82 compared to 75%. Following data augmentation, the performance of both algorithms was identical at ~79%, however, overfitting was evident for the SVM. Our final exploration indicated that the performance of both SVM and MLP were similar in which both resulted in lower accuracy for the speech channel compared to the song channel. Our findings suggest that both SVM and MLP are powerful classifiers for emotion recognition in a vocal-dependent manner.

Autonomic dysregulation is associated with cardiovascular consequences in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This study aimed to investigate the effect of acute continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment on autonomic activity and to identify factors contributing to the heart rate variability (HRV) changes in OSA. Frequency domain HRV parameters were calculated and compared between the baseline polysomnography and during the CPAP titration in 402 patients with moderate to severe OSA. There were significant reductions in total power, very low-frequency band power, low-frequency band power, and high-frequency band power during the CPAP titration as compared to the baseline polysomnography. This tendency was more pronounced in men than in women, and in patients with severe OSA than those with moderate OSA. Multivariate analysis found that changes in apnea-hypopnea index and oxygen saturation were significantly associated with changes in sympathetic and parasympathetic activity, respectively. This study demonstrated that HRV parameters significantly changed during the CPAP titration, indicating a beneficial effect of CPAP in restoration of sympathetic and parasympathetic hyperactivity in OSA. Prospective longitudinal studies should determine whether long-term CPAP treatment aids in maintaining the long-lasting improvement of the autonomic functions, thereby contributing to the prevention of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases in patients with OSA.

This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the impact of radiation dose on the outcomes of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for benign meningiomas and determine an optimal dosing strategy for balancing tumor control and treatment-related toxicity. Clinical data of 147 patients with 164 lesions treated between 2014 and 2022 were reviewed. Primary outcomes included progression-free survival (PFS), local control rate (LCR), and radiation-induced toxicity, with secondary outcomes focusing on LCR and radiation-induced peritumoral edema (PTE) in two dose groups (≥14 Gy and &lt;14 Gy). Results revealed a median follow-up duration of 47 months, with 1-year, 2-year, and 5-year PFS rates of 99.3%, 96.7%, and 93.8% respectively, and an overall LCR of 95.1%. Radiation-induced toxicity was observed in 24.5% of patients, primarily presenting mild symptoms. Notably, no significant difference in LCR was found between the two dose groups (P = 0.628), while Group 2 (&lt;14 Gy) exhibited significantly lower PTE (P = 0.039). The study concludes that SRS with a radiation dose &lt;14 Gy demonstrates comparable tumor control with reduced toxicity, advocating for consideration of such dosing to achieve a balance between therapeutic efficacy and safety.

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) stands as a significant cause of drug attrition. To mitigate clinical DILI risks, assessing drugs using human liver models is crucial since animal studies may fall short due to species-specific liver pathway variations. Cell-based preclinical hepatotoxicity testing is often pertinent. In the present study, cells from a human liver cancer line (HepG2, HepaRG) were cultured in both formats of 2D and 3D spheroids to explore their responses to drugs. Liver-specific marker expressions across cell lines and culture formats were also examined to assess disparities in drug-induced liver injury marker expressions. In cytotoxicity assays, HepG2 cells exhibited heightened sensitivity to amiodarone HCl, while HepaRG cells showed greater sensitivity to acetaminophen. Generally, 2D cultures were more responsive to drugs than 3D cultures. Consistency was observed between cytotoxicity assays and liver injury markers AST and ALT. Variations were also noted in liver cell marker secretion, with albumin and urea concentrations declining post-drug treatment, particularly with higher baseline expression in HepaRG cells and 3D cultures. Additionally, mRNA expression levels of CYP enzymes involved in hepatocellular drug metabolism were compared following treatment with enzyme inducers. CYP1A2 and CYP2C9 were not expressed in HepG2 cells. On the other hand, CYP3A4 was expressed higher in 3D culture than in 2D culture. HepaRG cells exhibited significantly increased expression of all three enzymes post-treatment. Notably, enzyme expression was notably higher in 3D cultures than in 2D cultures. Collectively, these findings suggest that HepaRG cells and 3D cultures hold promise for evaluating DILI during early-stage drug development.

In this paper, the design process of BLDC adopting the dual rotor method that can reduce the overall size of the motor while generating the same torque as the conventional Permanent Magnet BLDC is analyzed. A simple size is selected by obtaining the torque per rotor volume (TRV), and a method of matching the counter electromotive force by selecting the pole arc of the magnet through a magnetic equivalent circuit is analyzed. Since the efficiency is low because the 120-degree commutation method is selected, the middle stator is optimized through detailed design through the experimental design method. Afterwards, it has the advantage of being able to shift without stopping due to the characteristic of a dual rotor. For this, an analysis of the driving characteristics for each mode is performed.

This study aimed to identify the utility of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with an apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) map as a predictor of the intrahepatic response of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to cisplatin-based hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC). We retrospectively evaluated 113 consecutive patients with HCC who underwent gadoxetic acid-enhanced and diffusion-weighted MR imaging. The appropriate cutoff for the tumor-to-liver ADC ratio was determined to be 0.741. Of the 113 patients, 51 (45%) presented with a tumor-to-liver ADC ratio < 0.741. Evaluation of the intrahepatic treatment response after 2-3 cycles of HAIC in these 51 patients revealed that 20 patients (39%) experienced an objective response to HAIC. On the other hand, only 10 of the 62 patients with a tumor-to-liver ADC ratio ≥ 0.741 (16%) experienced an objective response. Thus, the objective response rate was significantly higher in patients with a tumor-to-liver ADC ratio < 0.741 than in those with a tumor-to-liver ADC ratio ≥ 0.741 (P = 0.006). Multivariate logistic regression analysis using parameters including perfusion alteration, percentage of a non-enhancing portion, and tumor-to-liver ADC ratio revealed that a tumor-to-liver ADC ratio < 0.741 (odds ratio 3.03; P = 0.015) is the sole predictor of an objective response to HAIC. Overall survival rates were significantly higher in patients with objective responses to HAIC than in those without objective responses (P = 0.001 by log-rank test). In conclusion, patients with unresectable HCC with a tumor-to-liver ADC ratio < 0.741 showed a favorable intrahepatic response to HAIC. Therefore, diffusion-weighted MR imaging can play a critical role as a predictor of response to cisplatin-based HAIC in unresectable HCC.

(1) Background: Ferric carboxymaltose (FCM) is an intravenous (IV) high-dose iron that is effective in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia. This study was to determine if preoperative IV FCM administration could improve recovery from postoperative anemia in patients undergoing revision total joint arthroplasty. (2) Methods: This prospective randomized controlled study analyzed 82 patients undergoing revision total joint arthroplasty during a single hospitalization. Patients in the iron group (n = 41) were administered 1000 mg of IV FCM two weeks preoperatively, while those in the control group (n = 41) were not. Moreover, patients with anemia defined as a preoperative suboptimal Hb concentration &lt;13.0 g/dl were compared according to IV FCM administration. The absolute Hb levels and changes in Hb levels, iron profiles, transfusion rate, and EuroQOL 5-dimension (EQ-5D) scores were compared. (3) Results: There were no significant differences in recovery of Hb levels at each timepoint between the two groups; however, the changes in Hb levels from baseline to four weeks postoperatively showed marginally significant differences favoring the iron group (p = 0.052). However, for preoperatively anemic patients, the change in hemoglobin (Hb) levels between baseline and four weeks postoperatively was significantly better in the iron group than in the control group (iron group [n = 26], −0.3 ± 0.7 g/dL vs. control group [n = 27], −0.9 ± 0.8 g/dL; p = 0.040), although the absolute Hb levels, transfusion rates, and patient quality of life were comparable (all p &gt; 0.05). The iron group showed improved iron metabolite levels including serum ferritin and transferrin saturation four weeks postoperatively, and no adverse events associated with IV FCM administration occurred in either group. (4) Conclusions: Preoperative IV FCM in anemic individuals undergoing revision joint arthroplasty was effective in accelerating recovery from surgery-related anemia by improving Hb levels without any adverse events, despite similar actual Hb levels between the groups. Our findings are clinically relevant and can facilitate determination of the suitability of IV FCM as a safe and reliable protocol for iron supplementation for anemia correction.

As the human-body controls depend on the brain neuro current, here assay is related to thinking nerve detection. For this purpose, the brain current was analyzed by electrochemical three-electrode systems using 0.1-mm micro wire in vivo probe, which probe was made by using carbon nanotube paste coated needle type. Here working electrode was inserted in the rat brain’s muscle core with a 0.3-mm-diameter needle type Ag/AgCl Cl-coated Ag wire reference, and counter electrode of 0.1-mm-diameter Pt micro needle was inserted 5 mm deep into the in vivo muscle skin, under anesthesia with 2.0 ~ -2.0 V potential windows, 50 mv/s cyclic scan and 1.0x10-5A chrono amperometric sensitivity on the body systems. Under the optimum conditions, diagnostic application was performed to such as smell signal, muscular strength, five sense assay and thinking neuro current.

The effects of chemical composition and solidification rate on the solidification behavior of high-Cr white irons were investigated through directional solidification. Increasing the solidi-fication rate in hypoeutectic alloys caused the finer dendrite arm spacing as expected. The eutec-tic structure which formed in the interdendritic region comprised of M7C3 and austenite, how-ever, secondary dendrite arms of hypoeutectic alloys contained a few M7C3 particles that solidi-fied prior to the eutectic structure. The transition from cellular to dendritic solidification oc-curred at a solidification rate between 50 µm/s and 100 µm/s in a near eutectic alloy. In the near eutectic alloy with cellular solidification, a directionally arrayed in-situ composite of M7C3/austenite formed within the cell. Speckle-like feature appeared in the intercellular region due to M23C6 carbide precipitation during subsequent cooling after freezing. Like dendrite arm spacing in hypoeutectic alloys, the inter-speckle spacing and the inter-fibre spacing became finer with increasing solidification rate in the cellular solidification range.

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of the premixed ethanol ratio based on the same total heating value in-cylinder on the equivalence ratio distributions and the injected fuel droplet behavior in the cylinder of the RCCI engine. The spray simulation was conducted by dividing two-part. First, the spray validation simulations progressed to find the spray-influenced factor of the test injector. Next, the engine simulations were performed with the spray-influenced factor obtained from spray validation simulations to investigate the effect of the premixed ethanol ratio based on the same total heating value in-cylinder on the injected fuel atomization and the equivalence ratio distributions. The introduced total heating value was fixed at 595J based on the lower heating value of diesel 14mg. The heating value of the premixed ethanol ratio varied from 0% to 40% based on the same total heating value in-cylinder in steps of 10%. It was revealed that when the premixed ethanol ratio based on the same total heating value in-cylinder was increased, the spray tip penetration value was reduced from the time after 4deg of diesel injection start because of the short injection duration by the small amount of diesel fuel. The SMD value was also more enormous up to 32.58% with increasing the premixed ethanol ratio because of the low kinetic energy of the injected fuel by the short injection duration and the slow evaporation of the injected fuel by the low cylinder temperature.

We investigated the potential genetic variants using whole exome sequencing (WES) and evalu-ated the disease course using T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire analysis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Fourteen patients with RA and five healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled. For patients with RA, only naïve patients were recruited before treatment, and data were collected at baseline and 6 and 12 months after the initiation of disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) treatment. Laboratory data and disease parameters were also collected. Genetic variants were detected using WES, and the diversity of the TCR repertoire was assessed using Shannon-Weiner diversity. Some variants were detected by WES, but their clinical significance should be confirmed by further studies. The diversity of the TCR repertoire in patients with RA was lower than that in HCs; however, after DMARD treatment, it increased significantly. The diversity was negatively cor-related with laboratory findings and disease measures with statistical significance. Variants with a potential for RA pathogenesis were identified and the clinical significance of TCR repertoire was evaluated in Korean patients with RA. Further studies are required to confirm the findings of the present study.

The toxic effects of 4-octylphenol (4-OP) have been studied in species such as mouse and fish; however, the toxic effects of 4-OP in male specific niche cells has not been researched. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanism of toxicity of 4-OP in mouse TM4 Sertoli cells. TM4 cells were treated with four concentrations (0, 10, 30, and 50 µM/mL) of 4-OP at time points 24, 48, and 72 h. Cell viability and apoptosis assay was conducted following exposure. 4-OP significantly decreased cell viability in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, and increased apoptosis. Quantitative PCR analysis showed that Bad, Bax, and Bak mRNA expression levels were higher in exposed cells than in the control, but Bcl-2 expression was decreased. Western blotting revealed that 4-OP induced activities of caspase-3 and phosphorylation of Bad in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Additionally, cytochrome C protein did not colocalize with mitochondria marker dye by 24 h. Cytochrome c protein expression increased in a time-dependent manner with 50 µM/mL. These results suggest that 4-OP induces mitochondria-mediated apoptosis by regulation of Bcl-2 family proteins and caspase-3 activation in male Sertoli cells.

The comparative efficacy and safety between lenvatinib and hepatic artery infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are still unclear. This multicenter historical cohort study enrolled 244 patients who were treated with HAIC (n = 173) or lenvatinib (n = 71) between 2012 and 2020. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed, and 52 patients were selected per group. Clinical outcomes and safety were compared. Objective response rate (ORR) was not different between the two groups (26.0% vs. 23.1%, P = 0.736). Before PSM, HAIC group had a higher proportion of Child-Pugh B and portal vein tumor, whereas lenvatinib group had more patients with extrahepatic metastases, which was adjusted after PSM. There were no differences in progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) after PSM (HAIC vs. lenvatinib, median PFS, 3.6 vs. 4.0 months, P = 0.706; median OS 10.8 vs. 7.9 months, P = 0.106). Multivariate Cox-regression showed that alpha-fetoprotein ≤ 1000 ng/mL was only associated factor for OS after PSM in all patients (hazard ratio = 0.421, P = 0.011). Subgroup analysis for patients with high tumor burden beyond the REFLECT eligibility criteria revealed that HAIC group (n = 29) had a significantly longer OS than did lenvatinib group (n = 30) (10.0 vs. 5.4 months, P=0.004). More patients in HAIC group achieved better liver function than those in lenvatinib group at the time of best responses. There was no difference in the incidence of grade 3 and 4 adverse events between the two groups. Therefore, lenvatinib is comparable to HAIC in terms of ORR and OS in unresectable HCC meeting REFLECT eligibility criteria.

In this study, we investigated the effects of Akebia quinata ethanol extract (AE), Akebia quinata sikhye (AS), and Akebia quinata water extract (AW) on alcohol-induced liver injury in rats. The hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, and antioxidant effects of AE, AS, and AW were examined. Experimental animals were randomly divided into five groups: normal, ethanol, AE (10 mL/kg), AS (10 mL/kg), and AW (10 mL/kg). Each group was administered the respective treatment orally once per day for 21 days. CYP2E1 mRNA expression was significantly lower in the AE, AS, and AW groups than that in the ethanol group. Pro-inflammatory cytokines including cyclooxygenase-2, IL-6, and TNF-α increased significantly in the ethanol group but these increases were ameliorated with AE, AS, and AW treatment. Moreover, the expression of the apoptosis-associated proteins Bax, p53, procaspase-3, and PARP decreased after treatment with AE, AS, and AW. The expression of antioxidant enzymes including BCL-2, SOD, and GST slightly decreased in the ethanol group, but AE, AS, and AW treatment augmented their activities. AQ extracts and AS attenuated ethanol-induced increases in the levels of phosphorylated p-AKT, p-ERK, and p-JNK. These results demonstrate that AQ is a competence indicator for inhibiting alcoholic liver injury.

Chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) exhibit a remarkable ability to adapt to changes in salinity during their life cycle. However, the fertilized egg stages are sensitive to salinity, affecting on-togeny and hatching. This study investigated the effect of salinity (0, 1, 3, and 5 psu) on the sur-vival of two developmental stages (< 1 day after fertilization and < 1 day after the eyed-egg stage) of fertilized eggs. Based on the experimental results, we assessed the spawning ground environ-ment of the Namdae River, where the largest number of salmon in Korea migrate to spawn. Sur-vival of the < 1 day old fertilized eggs decreased sharply at 3 psu or more, and all eggs died at 5 psu. Hatching rates of the eyed-egg stage varied depending on salinity, but hatching occurred under all environmental conditions. After 2010, the salinity of the layer of water in contact with the sediment in the lower reaches of the river tended to increase (> 6.9 psu) with the frequency of high waves. Overall, the function of the lower river in spawning and hatching is weakening. This study enhances our understanding of the effects of climate change, including increased wave ac-tivity, on salmon spawning grounds

In order to reduce the large damage caused by train derailment, protective facilities of various shapes and conditions can be installed on railroad tracks. These protective facilities are referred to as derailment containment provisions (DCPs) and three different types are used worldwide. However, there are no clear standards for DCPs design such as installation location, size, and design load, and performance verification of DCPs installed in the actual railway field is not sufficiently performed. In this paper, the functionality of DCPs is analyzed through the full-scale derailment test. In order to propose a method for estimating the collision load acting on the DCP type I after derailment, the experimental results and simulation results are compared. The function of DCP type I according to the change of the vehicle's center of gravity is identified through comparative analysis of the post derailment behavior.

Fibrillin (FBN) is a plastid lipid-associated protein found in photosynthetic organisms from cyanobacteria to plants. In this study, 10 CsaFBN genes were identified in genomic DNA sequences of cucumber (Chinese long and Gy14) through database searches using the conserved domain of FBN and the 14 FBN genes of Arabidopsis. Phylogenetic analysis of CsaFBN protein sequences showed that there was no counterpart of Arabidopsis and rice FBN5 in the cucumber genome. FBN5 is essential for growth in Arabidopsis and rice; its absence in cucumber may be because of incomplete genome sequences or that another FBN carries out its functions. Among the 10 CsaFBN genes, CsaFBN1 and CsaFBN9 were the most divergent in terms of nucleotide sequences. Most of the CsaFBN genes were expressed in the leaf, stem, and fruit. CsaFBN4 showed the highest mRNA expression levels in various tissues, followed by CsaFBN6, CsaFBN1, and CsaFBN9. High-light stress combined with low temperature decreased photosynthetic efficiency and highly induced transcript levels of CsaFBN1, CsaFBN6, and CsaFBN11, which decreased after 24 h treatment. Transcript levels of the other seven genes were changed only slightly. This result suggests that CsaFBN1, CsaFBN6, and CsaFBN11 may be involved in photoprotection under high-light conditions at low temperature.

This study aimed to compare the prognosis and characteristics of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma treated with first-line atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (AB) combination therapy and hepatic artery infusion chemotherapy (HAIC). We retrospectively assessed 179 and 72 patients treated with HAIC and AB combination therapy, respectively, between January 2018 and January 2023. The progression-free survival of patients treated with HAIC was significantly superior than that of patients treated with AB (P&lt;0.05), but there was no significant difference in overall survival and objective response rate (ORR) between the two groups (P=0.1056 and P=0.137, respectively). After propensity score matching (PSM), our data revealed that there was no significant difference in PFS between patients who received AB combination therapy and HAIC therapy (P=0.8888). However, patients who received AB combination therapy had significantly better overall survival than those who received HAIC therapy (P=0.0133). In addition, after PSM, significant differences in ORR and disease control rate were not observed. In conclusion, our propensity score study reveals that patients treated with AB therapy have a significantly longer OS than those treated with HAIC.

Azapeptides have gained much attention due to their ability to enhance the stability and bioavailability of peptide drugs. Their structural preferences, essential to understanding their function and potential applica-tion in the peptide drug design, remain largely unknown. In this work, we systematically investigated the conformational preferences of three azaamino acid residues in tripeptide models, Ac-azaXaa-Pro-NHMe [Xaa= Asn (4), Asp (5), Ala (6)], using the popular DFT functionals, B3LYP and B3LYP-D3. A solvation model density (SMD) was used to mimic the solvation effect on the conformational behaviors of azapep-tides in water. During the calculation, we considered the impact of the amide bond in the azapeptide mod-els on the conformational preferences of models 4-6. We analyzed the effect of the hydrogen bond be-tween the side-chain main chain and main-chain main-chain on the conformational behaviors of azapep-tides 4-6. We found that the predicted lowest energy conformation for the three models differs depending on the calculation methods. In the gas phase, B3LYP functional indicates that the conformers tttANP-1 and tttADP-1 of azapeptides 4 and 5 correspond to the type I of -turn, the lowest energy conformation with all-trans amide bonds, respectively. Considering the dispersion correction, B3LYP-D3 functional predicts the conformers tctANP-2 and tctADP-3 of azapeptide 4 and 5, which contain the cis amide bond preceding the Pro residue, as the lowest energy conformation in the gas phase. The results imply that azaAsx and Pro residues may involve cis-trans isomerization in the gas phase. In water, the predict-ed lowest energy conformer of azapeptides 4 and 5 differs from the gas phase results and depends on the calculational method. For azapeptide 6, regardless of calculation methods and phases, tttAAP-1 (-I turn) is predicted as the lowest energy conformer. The results imply that the effect of the side chain that can form hydrogen bonds on the conformational preferences of azapeptides 4 and 5 may not be negligible. We compared the theoretical results of azaXaa-Pro models with those of Pro-azaXaa models, showing that in-corporating azaamino acid residue in peptides at different positions can significantly impact the folding patterns and stability of azapeptides.

Heating films were prepared by using poly(methyl methacrylate) and polybutadiene composites containing graphite. The heating film was prepared by casting the as-made polymer composite on PET film. Copper electrodes were attached to both ends of the as-prepared film, and the heating characteristics of the film was analyzed while applying DC voltage. The electrical conductivity and the heating temperature of the heating films depended on the size, the structure, the content and the dispersion characteristics of the graphite in the composite. The electrical resistance of the heating film was controlled to adjust the heating temperature of the film. The relationship between the physical/chemical structure and the heating characteristics of the composite film was studied by measuring the heating temperature as functions of film thickness and resistance by using an infrared thermal imaging camera. The lower the film resistance, the higher the heating temperature of the film. The surface temperature was uniform throughout the film.

The chemopreventive effects of various mixed cereal grain (MCG) samples on azoxymethane (AOM, 10 mg/kg) and dextran sulfate sodium (DSS, 2% w/v)-induced colorectal cancer (CRC) in C57BL/6J mice were studied. The main MCG preparation consisted of fermented brown rice (FBR), glutinous brown rice, glutinous Sorghum bicolor, glutinous Panicum miliaceum, Coix lacryma-jobi and black soybean at an appropriate mixing ratio. Other MCG preparations contained rice coated with 5% Phellinus linteus and 5% Curcuma longa (MGR-PC), or 10% Phellinus linteus (MCG-P), or 10% Curcuma longa (MCG-C). Consumption of dietary MCG-PC by CRC mice significantly increased colon length, decreased the ratio of colon weight to length, and reduced the number of colon tumors. Similar effects, although to a lower extent, were observed in CRC mice fed with MCG-P, followed by those fed with MCG-C, MCG, FBR or white rice (WR). MCG-PC significantly suppressed colonic neoplasia, and decreased the levels of various cytokines (tumor necrosis factor: Tnf, interleukin 1 beta: Il1b, interleukin 6: Il6, and interferon gamma: Ifng) in serum and colon tissue of the CRC mice. In addition, MCG-PC increased the mRNA expressions of tumor protein p53(Tp53) and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1A(Cdkn1a), activated pro-apoptotic caspase 3(Casp3), and reduced expression of both mRNA and protein of inducible inducible nitric oxide synthase 2 (Nos2), prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (Ptgs2), and cyclin D1(Ccnd1) in colon tissue. These findings suggest that than compared with other cereal grain preparations, MCG-PC had a greater activity against AOM/DSS-induced CRC by reducing intestinal inflammation, and modulating the expression of certain carcinogenesis related factors (Nos2, Ptgs2, Tp53, Cdkn1a, Ccnd1 and Casp3) in colon tissue of CRC mice.

Inotodiol, a lanostane-type triterpenoid, and many phytochemicals from Chaga mushroom have been investigated for various allergic diseases. However, antiaging and anti-inflammatory activities of inotodiol under different types of oxidative stress and impact of inotodiol on collagen and hyaluronan synthesis are not sufficiently studied. Lanostane triterpenoids-rich concentrate, which contained 10% inotodiol as major (the inotodiol concentrate), was prepared from Chaga and compared with pure inotodiol in terms of anti-inflammatory activities on a human keratinocyte cell line, HaCaT cells, under various stimulation such as stimulation with ultraviolet (UV) B or tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. In stimulation with TNF-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and IL-8 genes were significantly repressed by 0.44~4.0 μg/mL of pure inotodiol. UVB irradiation induced overexpressions of pro-inflammatory cytokines, but those genes were significantly suppressed by pure inotodiol or inotodiol concentrate. Moreover, pure inotodiol/inotodiol concentrate could also modulate synthesis of collagen and hyaluronic acid by controlling COL1A2 and HAS2/3 expression, which implies a crucial role of pure inotodiol/inotodiol concentrate in prevention of skin aging. These results enlighten anti-inflammatory and anti-aging effect of pure inotodiol/inotodiol concentrate, and it is highly conceivable that pure inotodiol and inotodiol concentrate could be promising natural bioactive substances to be incorporated in therapeutic and beautifying applications.

Software-based ultrasound imaging systems provide high flexibility that allows easy and fast adoption of newly developed algorithms. However, the extremely high data rate required for data transfer from sensors (e.g., transducers) to the ultrasound imaging systems is a major bottleneck in the software-based architecture, especially in the context of real-time imaging. To overcome this limitation, in this paper, we present a Binary cLuster (BL) code, which yields an improved compression ratio compared to the exponential Golomb code. Owing to the real-time encoding/decoding features without overheads, the universal code is a good solution to reduce the data transfer rate for software-based ultrasound imaging. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated using in vitro and in vivo data sets. It was demonstrated that the BL-beta code has a good stable lossless compression performance of 20 ~ 30% while requiring no auxiliary memory or storage.

The detection of dopamine in a highly sensitive and selective manner is crucial for the early diagnosis of a number of neurological diseases/disorders. Here, a report on a new platform for the electrochemical detection of dopamine with a considerable accuracy that comprises a 3D porous graphene oxide (pGO)/gold nanoparticle (GNP)/pGO composite-modified indium tin oxide (ITO) is presented. The pGO was first synthesized and purified by ultrasonication and centrifugation, and it was then further functionalized on the surface of a GNP-immobilized ITO electrode. Remarkably, owing to the synergistic effects of the pGO and GNPs, the 3D pGO-GNP-pGO-modified ITO electrode showed a superior dopamine-detection performance compared with the other pGO- or GNP-modified ITO electrodes. The linear range of the newly developed sensing platform is from 0.1 μM to 30 μM with a limit of detection (LOD) of 1.28 μM, which is more precise than the other previously reported GO-functionalized electrodes. Moreover, the 3D pGO-GNP-pGO-modified ITO electrodes maintained their detection capability even in the presence of several interfering molecules (e.g., ascorbic acid, glucose). The proposed platform of the 3D pGO-GNP-pGO-modified ITO electrode could therefore serve as a competent candidate for the development of a dopamine-sensing platform that is potentially applicable for the early diagnosis of various neurological diseases/disorders.

This research paper investigates ultra-wideband (UWB) localization systems by focusing on the use of average filter (AVG), Kalman filter (KF), and extended Kalman filter (EKF) algorithms, as well as a novel integrated filtering method that incorporates low-pass filter (LPF) into AVG, KF, and EKF. The study aims to improve localization loss in indoor environments using a TurtleBot robot equipped with a camera to observe ground truth positions. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms, a comprehensive comparison of the raw and filtered data with the camera-based ground truth observations is performed. Quantitative analyses of the results, including max, min, max-min, and mean error, are performed to evaluate the localization performance of the algorithms and the integrated filtering method. The results reveal that the integrated filtering method has performed better accuracy in comparison with existing methods.

Purpose: Social responsibility has been accepted as a core value of nursing profession, particularly in the area of health disparity, but it seems to be difficult to understand for what is meant by social responsibility. The purpose of this study was to explore ways to define the concept of social responsibility of nursing in order to understand the meaning of social responsibility in the field of nursing profession. Methods: The concept analysis process by Walker and Avant was used to clarify the meaning of social responsibility of nursing. Results: Defining attributes of social responsibility of nursing included praxis, as approach to strategizing for social and structural change of inequity, care for an oppressed group which is under social suffering caused by the privilege and power, and action for health policy change in social and political unequal contexts. The antecedents of social responsibility of nursing included reflectivities in identifying personal characteristics, taking seriously the perspective of other vulnerable population, recognizing social environmental status quo (‘fair or unfair’), developing competences in ethical and moral reasoning with social issues. Consequences of social responsibility of nursing were achieving social justice, as equal access to basic human health need in societal level, equal access to effective nursing practice delivery system and development of health promotion policy for world health administrative practices (“health for all”) in nursing. Conclusion: This study provides a guidance to direct future studies through the procedure of identifying conceptual attributes in the context of social responsibility of nursing. Future studies are suggested to develop instruments for social responsibility as well as development of educational programs to promote social responsibility competences in nursing students and nurses.

We suppose that a Cooper pair (CP) will experience a damping force exerted by the condensed matter. A Langevin equation of a CP in two dimensional condensed matter is established. Following a method similar to Nelson's stochastic mechanics, generalized Schr\"{o}dinger equation of a CP in condensed matter is derived. If the CPs move with a constant velocity, then the corresponding direct current (DC) electrical conductivity can be calculated. Therefore, a Drude like formula of resistivity of CPs is derived. We suppose that the damping coefficient of CPs in two dimensional cuprate superconductors is a linear function of temperature. Then the resistivity and scattering rate of CPs turn out to be also linear-in-temperature. The origin of linear-in-temperature resistivity and Planckian dissipation in cuprate superconductors may be the linear temperature dependence of the damping coefficient of CPs.

β-apopicropodophyllin (APP), a derivative of podophyllotoxin (PPT), has been identified as a potential anti-cancer drug. This study tested whether APP acts as an an-ti-cancer drug and can sensitize colorectal cancer (CRC) cells to radiation treatment. APP had an anti-cancer effect against the CRC cell lines HCT116, and DLD-1, SW480 and COLO320DM with IC50 values of 7.88 nM, and 8.22 nM, 9.84 nM and 7.757 nM, respec-tively induction of DNA damage. Colonogenic and cell counting assays indicated that the combined treatment of APP and γ-ionizing radiation (IR) showed greater retardation of cell growth than either alone, suggesting that APP sensitizes CRC cells to IR. Annexin V-propidium iodide (PI) assays and immunoblot analysis showed that the combined treatment of APP and IR increased apoptosis in CRC cells compared with either APP or IR alone. Results obtained from the xenograft experiments also indicated that the combination of APP and IR enhanced apoptosis in in vivo animal model. Apoptosis induction by the combined treatment of APP and IR resulted from reactive oxygen species (ROS). Inhibition of ROS by N-acetylcysteine (NAC) restored cell viability and decreased the induction of apoptosis by APP and IR in CRC cells. Taken together, these results indicate that a combined treatment of APP and IR might promote apoptosis by inducing ROS in CRC cells.

A recent systematic review for 19 selected articles after searching through to 30 September 2017 showed vitamin D deficiency was associated with ischemic stroke (IS), not hemorrhagic stroke (HS). But a heterogeneity would be introduced with comparing the lowest and highest category of vitamin D. The aim of this article was to conduct an updated meta-analysis (UMA) with searching through to 31 March 2019. An interval collapsing method as information extraction was applied in order to decrease a heterogeneity among studies. Additional articles were selected from cited lists from 19 selected articles using citation discovery tools. Random effect model was applied if I-squared value was over 50%. A funnel plot and Egger’s test were used to detect a publication bias. After 5 new studies were added, the summary RRs [and their 95% confidence intervals] (I-squared value) were 1.52 [1.33–1.74] (0.0%) in IS, and 2.44 [1.34–4.46] (69.7%) in HS. This UMA supported the hypothesis that serum vitamin D deficiency was associated with an increased risk of HS as well as IS. Diverse public health programs against vitamin D deficiency status would be needed for higher risk group, especially elderly people.

Histone demethylases, enzymes responsible for removing methyl groups from histone proteins, have emerged as critical players in regulating gene expression and chromatin dynamics, thereby influencing various cellular processes. LSD2 and LSD1 have attracted considerable interest among these demethylases because of their associations with cancer. However, while LSD1 has received significant attention, LSD2 has not been recognized to the same extent. In this study, we conduct a comprehensive comparison between LSD2 and LSD1, with a focus on exploring LSD2's implications. While both share structural similarities, LSD2 possesses unique features. Functionally, LSD2 shows diverse roles, particularly in cancer, with tissue-dependent roles. Additionally, LSD2 extends beyond histone demethylation, impacting DNA methylation and DNA damage repair pathways. This study underscores the distinct roles of LSD2, providing insights into their contributions to cancer and other cellular processes.

As climate changes, our daily life has been much influenced by abnormal meteorological phenomena such as heavy rainfall, heat wave, heavy snowfall, and fine dust. Atmospheric air quality is worsening day by day and indoor air quality is also affected by interconnected daily activities throughout the inside and outside of buildings and houses. Nowadays, pollutants from various sources are emitted, transformed by sunlight, vapor, and ozone and transported into the city from country to country. Due to these reasons, there have been high demands to monitor the transportation of particulate matters and improve air quality. Monitoring of pollutants and identification of type and its concentration enables us to track and control its generation and consequently find out the solution. However, monitoring of pollutants, especially, particulate matter generation and its transportation is still not fully operated in atmospheric air due to its open nature and meteorological factors. Even though indoor air is relatively easy to monitor and control than outdoor in the aspect of specific volume and contaminant source, but it still needs to consider the meteorological parameters because indoor air is not fully separated from the outdoor air flow and contaminants transportation. In this study, optical approach using spectral sensor was attempted to reveal the feasibility of wavelength and chromaticity values of reflected light from specific particles. From the analysis of reflected light of various particulate matters according to different liquid additives, parameter studies were performed to investigate which experimental conditions can contribute to the enhanced selective sensing of particulate matters. Five different particulate matters such as household dust, soil, talc powder, gypsum powder and yellow pine tree pollen were utilized and observed to elucidate the relationship between property of particulate matter and detected light spectrum. Applicable approaches to assist current particle matter sensors and improve the selective sensing were suggested.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a representative malignant brain tumor characterized by a dismal prognosis, with survival rates of less than 2 years and high recurrence rates. Despite surgical resection and several alternative treatments, GBM remains a refractory disease due to its aggressive invasiveness and resistance to anticancer therapy. In this report, we explore the role of fibronectin type III domain containing 3B (FNDC3B) and its potential as a prognostic and therapeutic biomarker in GBM. GBM exhibited a significantly higher cancer-to-normal ratio compared to other organs, and patients with high FNDC3B expression had a poor prognosis (p < 0.01). In vitro studies revealed that silencing FNDC3B significantly reduced the expression of Survivin, an apoptosis inhibitor, and also reduced cell migration, invasion, extracellular matrix adhesion ability, and stem cell properties in GBM cells. Furthermore, we identified that FNDC3B regulates PTEN/PI3K/Akt signaling in GBM cells using MetaCore integrated pathway bioinformatics analysis and a proteome profiler phospho-kinase array with sequential western blot analysis. Collectively, our findings suggest FNDC3B as a potential biomarker for predicting GBM patient survival and for the development of treatment strategies for GBM.

The inter-subspecific crossing between indica and japonica subspecies in rice have been utilized to improve the yield potential of temperate rice. In this study, a comparative study of the genomic regions in the eight high-yielding varieties (HYVs) was conducted with those of the four non-HYVs. The Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) mapping on the Nipponbare reference genome identified a total of 14 common genomic regions of japonica-originated alleles. Interestingly, the HYVs shared japonica-originated genomic regions on nine chromosomes, although they were developed through different breeding programs. A panel of 94 varieties was classified into four varietal groups with 38 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers from 38 genes residing in the japonica-originated genomic regions and 16 additional trait-specific SNPs. As expected, the japonica-originated genomic regions were only present in the japonica (JAP) and HYV groups, except for Chr4-1 and Chr4-2. The Wx gene, located within Chr6-1, was present in the HYV and JAP variety groups, while the yield-related genes were conserved as indica alleles in HYVs. The japonica-originated genomic regions and alleles shared by HYVs can be employed in molecular breeding programs to further develop the HYVs in temperate rice.

Recently, research on ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) with the characteristics of ultra-high strength, high toughness, and high durability has been actively conducted from materials to actual structural applications. However, research on experimental methods that reflect the unique characteristics of UHPC, which are different from those of normal concrete, is insufficient. To solve the difficulties in applying the compressive creep test method for normal concrete to UHPC and to verify the validity of the recently proposed ASTM C 1856 standard test method, this study performed compressive creep tests on UHPC with variables of specimen size, sustained load intensity, fiber length, and strain measuring method. Two types of cylindrical specimens of ϕ100 × 200 mm and ϕ75 × 150 mm were used for a specimen size variable. The sustained load intensities of 10% to 40% based on the specified compressive strength of 150 MPa were applied. Two types of steel fiber lengths of 13 mm and 19.5 mm in the UHPC mix were used as a variable, and three strain measuring methods of the embedded strain gauge method, the attached strain gauge method, and the strain meter with stud measured the change in length of the UHPC specimens. The experimental results showed that the strain meter method using the standard rod had limitations due to the error in the verification process using the standard rod and the observation error of the measurer, and the sustained load intensity is preferable to 15% to 40% of the actual compressive strength. It was found that it is possible to perform a compressive creep test for UHPC using a specimen with a size of ϕ75 mm or more, and the fiber length did not affect the creep behavior of UHPC up to 19.5 mm. As a result of comparing the UHPC creep test results with the creep prediction model, the B3 model was found to most accurately predict the UHPC creep behavior. The creep coefficient pattern of the B3 model was very similar to the measured results, and well reflected the effects of the mixing ratio and compressive strength of UHPC.

Red color conversion materials have often been used in conventional white LEDs (light-emitting diodes) to enhance the insufficient deep red component and thus improve the color rendering property. Quantum dots (QDs) are one of the candidates due to their flexibility in controlling the emission wavelength, which is attributed to the quantum confinement effect. Two types of remote QD components, i.e., QD films and QD caps, were prepared and applied to conventional white LED illumination to improve the color rendering properties. Thanks to the red component near 630 nm caused by the QD components, the color rendering indices(CRIs) of both Ra and R9 could be increased to over 95. It was found that both the diffusing nature of the reflector and the light recycling process in the vertical cavity between the bottom reflector and the top optical films play important roles in improving the color conversion efficiency of remote QD components. The present study showed that the proper application of remote QDs combined with a suitable optical cavity can control the correlated color temperature of the illumination over a wide range, thus realizing different color appearances of white LED illumination. In addition, a high CRI of over 95 could be achieved due to sufficient excitation from fewer QDs due to the strong optical cavity effect.

Tobacco smoke is an environmental mixture including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and may interfere in endocrine system as an EDC in aging. Thus, we performed a molecular epidemiological approach with in-depth biological monitoring of combustible cigarette smoking among adolescents and adults in South Korea (N=620) with exposure biomarkers, i.e., exhaled CO, urinary cotinine, t,t-muconic acid (TTMA), malondialdehyde (MDA), and obtained information of their lifestyle and tobacco addiction status. We also diagnosed the genetic polymorphisms on the 96 SNPs for tobacco-metabolism, -addiction, and expression differences and compared mtDNA abnormalities in buccal and blood cells. As results, there were positive associations among the above tobacco exposure biomarkers. Man or youth smokers showed high frequency in some of mtDNA alteration, such as ‘SNPs for inconsistent bases between buccal and blood cells’. Among the SNPs, the polymorphisms on SULT1A1, DRD2, and ADH1B were related to multi-exposure biomarkers. Interestingly, youth showed similar levels of urinary TTMA and MDA to adults, although their pack-year was approx. 1/6 volume of that of adults. We also observed the negative association between urinary MDA levels and the growth rate in the adolescents (p<0.05). In conclusion, the present biological monitoring provides high susceptible population, i.e., adolescents rather than adults, and reliable genetic factors affecting tobacco exposure. The inferred environment-gene-gene interaction suggests tobacco smoking accelerats aging in adolescents as an EDC.

The most common complication of herpes zoster is postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), which is accompanied by severe pain that lowers patients’ quality of life. Although epidural injection of local anesthetics and steroids is effective in controlling neuropathic pain resulting from herpes zoster, few studies report the efficacy and safety of epidural steroid administration in PHN patients. We randomly assigned 42 patients with severe PHN pain (visual analog scale (VAS) score ≥7) to receive continuous epidural infusion of local anesthetics with either a one-time bolus of 5 mg dexamethasone or dexamethasone pulse therapy. VAS scores significantly decreased over time for all patients, but the reduction in VAS scores and likelihood of achieving complete remission were significantly greater among patients who received dexamethasone pulse therapy, without any adverse effects. These results show that continuous epidural infusion of local anesthetics with dexamethasone is effective and safe for reducing PHN pain and promoting complete remission and that more pronounced beneficial effects are associated with more intense epidural steroid administration.

Powered ankle prostheses have been proven to improve the walking economy of people with transtibial amputation. All commercial powered ankle prostheses that are currently available can only perform one-degree-of-freedom motion in a limited range. However, studies have shown that the frontal plane motion during ambulation is associated with balancing. In addition, as more advanced neural interfaces have become available for people with amputation, it is possible to fully recover ankle function by combining neural signals and a robotic ankle. Accordingly, there is a need for a powered ankle prosthesis that can have active control on not only plantarflexion and dorsiflexion but also eversion and inversion. We designed, built, and evaluated a two-degree-of-freedom (2-DoF) powered ankle-foot prosthesis that is untethered and can support level-ground walking. Benchtop tests were conducted to characterize the dynamics of the system. Walking trials were performed with a 77 kg subject that has unilateral transtibial amputation to evaluate system performance under realistic conditions. Benchtop tests demonstrated a step response rise time of less than 50 milliseconds for a torque of 40 N·m on each actuator. The closed-loop torque bandwidth of the actuator is 9.74 Hz. Walking trials demonstrated torque tracking errors (root mean square) of less than 7 N·m. These results suggested that the device can perform adequate torque control and support level-ground walking. This prosthesis can serve as a platform for studying biomechanics related to balance and has the possibility of further recovering the biological function of the ankle-subtalar-foot complex beyond the existing powered ankles.

Distributed/semi-distributed models are considered to be sensitive to the spatial resolution of the data input. In this paper, we take a small catchment in high urbanized Yangtze River Delta, Qinhuai catchment as study area, to analyze the impact of spatial resolution of precipitation and the potential evapotranspiration (PET) on the long-term runoff and flood runoff process. The data source includes the TRMM precipitation data, FEWS download PET data, and the interpolated metrological station data. GIS/RS technique was used to collect and pre-process the geographical, precipitation and PET series, which were then served as the input of CREST (Coupled Routing and Excess Storage) model to simulate the runoff process. The results clearly showed that, the CREST model is applicable to the Qinhuai catchment; the spatial resolution of precipitation had strong influence on the modelled runoff results and the metrological precipitation data cannot be substituted by the TRMM data in small catchment; the CREST model was not sensitive to the spatial resolution of the PET data, while the estimation fourmula of the PET data was correlated with the model quality. This paper focused on the small urbanized catchment, suggesting the influential explanatory variables for the model performance, and providing reliable reference for the study in similar area.

Cerebral ischemic stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. 2’-fucosyllactose (2’-FL), a human milk oligosaccharide, has anti-inflammatory effects and plays a protective role in arterial thrombosis, but its role in ischemic stroke remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the neuroprotective effects of 2’-FL and its potential mechanisms in a mouse model of ischemic stroke. The administration of 2’-FL led to a reduction in the size of cerebral infarct and reactive oxygen species (ROS)-related products in the brain of MCAO mice. Further, 2’-FL promotes the recovery of neurological deficits and motor function in neurological scores and behavior tests. Biochemical studies showed that 2’-FL reduced upregulated IL-10 and downregu-lated TNF-α. Additionally,2’-FL enhanced M2-type microglial polar2’-FL upregulated IL-10 and downregulated TNF-α ization at 7 days after MCAO, with an increase in IL-4 levels and STAT6 activation at 3 days after MCAO. Our data showed that 2’-FL reduced the neurological symptoms of ischemic stroke and ROS accumulation in the brain through IL-4/STAT6-dependent M2-type mi-croglial polarization in MCAO mice. These results demonstrate that 2’-FL is a potentially effective therapeutic agent for ischemic stroke.

This study investigates the effects of Zinc (4wt.%) and severe plastic deformation on the mechanical properties of AZ61 magnesium alloy through the stir-casting process. The severe plastic deformation (equal channel angular pressing (ECAP)) has been done followed by T4 heat treatment. The microstructural examinations revealed that the addition of 4wt.%Zn enhances the uniform distribution of β-phase, contributing to a more uniformly corroded surface in corrosive environments. Additionally, dynamic recrystallization (DRX) significantly reduces the grain size of as-cast alloys after undergoing ECAP. The attained mechanical properties demonstrate that after a single ECAP pass, AZ61 + 4wt.%Zn alloy exhibits optimal yield strength (YS), ultimate compression strength (UCS), and hardness. This research highlights the promising potential of AZ61 + 4wt.%Zn alloy for enhanced mechanical and corrosion-resistant properties, offering valuable insights for applications in diverse engineering fields.

In this paper, our goal is to establish the relationship between solutions of local sharp vector variational type inequality and sharp efficient solutions of vector optimization problems, also Minty local sharp vector variational type inequality and sharp efficient solutions of vector optimization problems, under generalized approximate $\eta$-convexity conditions for locally Lipschitzian functions

Porcine parvovirus (PPV) 1 is a major causative pathogen of reproductive failure, and porcine circovirus (PCV) 2 is an etiological pathogen causing PCV-associated and PCV diseases worldwide. PPV2–6 and PCV3 were recently identified as newly emerging viruses with unknown pathogeneses. However, little is known of PPV1–6 and PCV3 effects or their co-infections with PCV2. In this study, we examined 926 samples (272 aborted pig fetuses and 654 pig lung tissues) from domestic pig farms for the presence of PPV1–6 or PCV3 and for PCV2 co-infection with these seven viruses. The prevalence of PPV and PCV was significantly greater in lung tissue samples than aborted pig fetus samples. PPV3–6 were detected for the first time in Korean domestic pigs. Co-infection rates with PCV2 and other viruses were significantly higher in abattoir samples than that in aborted pig fetus samples. Concurrent infections are more common than single infection in pig population and nu-merous infectious pathogens such as PPV and PCV2 can impact the respiratory diseases. Fur-thermore, Korean PPV1 strain (PPV1-82) was identical to the virulent PPV-27a strain in this respect. Our results describe, for the first time the prevalence of PPV1–6 and PCV3 infections and their co-infection rates with PCV2 in Korean domestic pigs.

The geographical environment, food culture, and dietary habits are substantially different between the southern and northern regions in China. We investigated the associations with dietary patterns and metabolic syndrome between Chinese adult from the southern and northern regions (North: 1249; South: 1849) using data from the Chinese Health and Nutrition 2009 survey. Respectively, four dietary patterns were identified by factor analysis in the two regions. Each dietary pattern of factor score was calculated for three groups by tertile (T1<T2<T3). In the northern region, the association between the Alcohol and Western pattern and the risk of abdominal obesity (OR: 1.31; 95%:1.01, 1.68), hypertriglyceridemia (OR: 1.35; 95%:1.05, 1.74), high fasting blood glucose (OR: 1.37; 95%: 1.05, 1.80), and hypertension (OR: 1.55; 95%: 1.45, 1.99) was increased. In the southern region, the Convenience Food pattern was positively associated with hypertriglyceridemia (OR: 1.53; 95%: 1.03, 2.26), low HDL-cholesterol (OR: 1.96; 95%: 1.12, 3.43), and metabolic syndrome (OR: 1.79; 95%: 1.03, 3.11). The Alcohol dietary pattern was positively associated with high fasting blood glucose (OR: 1.83, 95%: 1.13, 2.97). There are some dietary pattern differences in the two regions. It is necessary to consider the factors of food culture and food intake habits in order to provide nutrition education to Chinese individuals from different regions in the future.

BRAF is one of the most frequently mutated oncogenes, with an overall frequency of about 50%. Targeting BRAF and its effector mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1/2 (MEK1/2) is now a key therapeutic strategy for BRAF-mutant tumors, and therapies based on dual BRAF/MEK inhibition showed significant efficacy in a broad spectrum of BRAF tumors. Nonetheless, BRAF/MEK inhibition therapy is not always effective for BRAF tumor suppression, and significant challenges remain to improve its clinical outcomes. First, certain BRAF tumors have an intrinsic ability to rapidly adapt to the presence of BRAF and MEK1/2 inhibitors by bypassing drug effects via rewired signaling, metabolic, and regulatory networks. Second, almost all tumors initially responsive to BRAF and MEK1/2 inhibitors eventually acquire therapy resistance via an additional genetic or epigenetic alteration(s). Overcoming these challenges requires identifying the molecular mechanism underlying tumor cell resistance to BRAF and MEK inhibitors and analyzing their specificity in different BRAF tumors. This review aims to update this information.

The geometry of Poincare disk itself is interpreted without any mapping to dierent spaces. Our approach might be one of the shortest and is intended for educational contribution.

In this study, a novel flexible ethanol gas sensor was created by the deposition of CoFe2O4 (CFO) thin film was on a thin mica substrate using pulsed laser deposition. Transition electron microscopy (TEM) investigations clearly demonstrated the successful growth of CFO on the mica, where a well-defined interface was observed. Ethanol gas-sensing studies showed optimal performance at 200 °C, with the highest response, 19.2, to 100 ppm ethanol. Operating the sensor in self-heating mode under 7 V applied voltage, which was corresponds to a temperature of approximately 200 °C, produced a maximal response to ethanol of 19.2. This aligned with the highest responses observed during testing at 200 °C, confirming the sensor’s accuracy and sensitivity to ethanol under self-heating conditions. In addition, the sensor exhibited good selectivity to ethanol and excellent flexibility; maintaining its high performance after bending and tilting up to 5000 times. As this is the first report on flexible self-heated CFO gas sensors, we believe that this research holds great promise for the future development of high-quality sensors based on this approach.

The chelating aluminum complex [2-(Me2NCH2)C2B10H10]AlX2 (X = Br 3, CH3 4) was synthesized using 2-dimethylaminomethyl-o-carboranyl lithium (2) with aluminum tribromide or dimethylaluminum bromide, resulting in a modest yield. Compound 4 was obtained by reacting compound 3 with CH3Li in toluene. All compounds were characterized by infrared (IR) spectroscopy, 1H, 11B, 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and X-ray crystallography. X-ray structural studies of CabNAlBr2 (3) and CabNAlMe2 (4) indicated that the Al atom was located at the center of a distorted tetrahedron. Crystal structures of the CabNAlBr2 (3) [a = 8.9360(3) Å, b = 12.0358(9) Å, c = 14.7730(4) Å, α = β = γ = 90°] and the CabNAlMe2 (4) [a = 8.9551(3) Å, b = 11.9126(9) Å, c = 14.7711(4) Å, α = β = γ = 90°] were obtained. The reactivity of aluminum complexes 3 and 4 with Lewis bases, such as H2O, pyridine, alkylamines, and arylamines, confirmed their rapid decomposition.

Herein, we present the design technique of a resonant rectifier for piezoelectric (PE) energy harvesting. We propose two diode equivalents to reduce the voltage drop in the rectifier operation, a minuscule-drop-diode equivalent (MDDE) and a low-drop-diode equivalent (LDDE). The diode equivalents are embedded in resonant rectifier integrated circuits (ICs), which use symmetric bias-flip to reduce the power wasted for charging and discharging the internal capacitance of a PE transducer. The self-startup function is supported by synchronously generating control pulses for the bias-flip from the PE transducer. Two resonant rectifier ICs, using both MDDE and LDDE, are fabricated in a 0.18 μm CMOS process and their performances are characterized under external and self-power conditions. Under the external-power condition, the rectifier using LDDE delivers an output power POUT of 564 μW and a rectifier output voltage VRECT of 3.36 V with a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 90.1%. Under self-power conditions, the rectifier using MDDE delivers a POUT of 288 μW and a VRECT of 2.4 V with a corresponding PCE of 74.6%. The result shows that the power extraction capability of the proposed rectifier is 5.9 and 3.0 times higher than that of a conventional full-bridge rectifier.

The study of the effect of corporate entrepreneurship(CE) which is a key indicator of success in corporate innovation performance(IP) is a central research topic. However, an empirical study on whether various types of government support(GS) have a moderating effect between these two variables is of new interest. This study empirically analyzed the effects of CE on IP and analyzed the indirect effects of GS on CE and IP based on 4000 Korean manufacturing firms. The results showed that all five factors of CE (innovativeness, risk-taking, proactiveness, autonomy, and competitive aggressiveness) had a positive effect on IP. In addition, the moderating effect of GS on the relationship between CE and IP was validated in seven categories: taxation, subsidies, financial support, human resources, technology, certification, and procurement. The results showed that five types of GS, other than financial support and technical support, strengthened the effect of CE on IP. This study provides a basis for establishing a strategy for strengthening organizational entrepreneurship and for selecting and focusing on various types of GS. It can be concluded that for more effective government support policies, direct government financial support or technical support should be more elaborately implemented.

In this study, the microbial community during the barley yeast fermentation of stevia leaves and its correlation with antioxidant, antiobesity, and anti-inflammatory properties, as well as metabolites, were investigated using UPLC-Q-TOF-MS. Stevia was fermented using commercial TSB media (TSB 1, TSB 2, and TSB 3) and sucrose (Sucrose 1, Sucrose 3, and Sucrose 3) for 1, 3, and 5 days, respectively. Stevia ferments showed higher DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging capacity compared to samples incubated with sucrose for 5 days, and all six ferments inhibited nitric oxide production in a concentration-dependent manner in LPS-induced mouse macrophages. Furthermore, UPLC-QTOF-MS analysis identified 23 related substances, including 10 terpenoids, including rubusoside, steviolbioside, and rebadioside derivatives; dulcoside A; and phlomisoside II, which are indicators of stevia, as well as five flavonoids, four phenolic acids, and four fatty acids. We also identified the microbial community during fermentation via the next-generation sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene for bacteria and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene for fungi. The results showed that TSB 1 and Sucrose 1 ferments were dominated by the pathogens Enterococcus hirae (58.93%) and Cronobacter sakazakii (80.92%), while samples fermented for more than 3 days were pathogen-free and dominated by lactic acid bacteria such as Pediococcus stilesii (73.37%). Microbial community analysis using the ITS region showed that Saccharomycopsis fibuligera, classified as a yeast rather than a mold, dominated the stevia fermentation regardless of the fermentation duration. In particular, the microbial community of the fermentation with a sugar solution was dominated by S. fibuligera by more than 99% throughout the fermentation periods of 1, 3, and 5 days. Finally, to apply the stevia ferments topically to human skin, skin irritation tests were performed on 30 volunteers. The results showed that the highly concentrated extracts (1 mg/mL) of all six stevia ferments were hypoallergenic. Taken together, these findings suggest that brewer's yeast fermented from stevia leaves with a sugar solution offers promise as a natural ingredient for use in functional foods and cosmetics.

The conventional well placement was done manually by using a numerical reservoir simulator, and it required a lengthy trial-and-error process. It required great experience and expertise to manipulate the variables and uncertainties that lie on the reservoir to determine the best placement of the well. In addition, the traditional gradient-based methods such as Line-search and Trust-region were not viable in terms of maximum results obtained. Gradient-based methods were too dependent on the surface gradient of the solution and may only converge to local optima instead of global optima. Complex reservoirs have rough surfaces with high uncertainties, which hinders the traditional gradient-based method from converging to global optima. Thus, genetic algorithms were utilized to automate the manual trial-and-error process and to overcome the limitations of the traditional gradient-based method. The objectives of this study were to analyse the effect of different initial well placement distributions, the number of random solution sizes, and the crossover rate on cumulative oil production. A synthetic reservoir model built using CMG Builder was used as the testing platform for the optimization problems. Well-placement parameterization and optimization set-up were carried out using the CMG CMOST optimization tool. The integration of CMG IMEX and CMOST optimized cumulative oil production based on the objectives of the study. The results obtained showed that the higher number of random solutions used resulted in higher cumulative oil production, with more generations needed to reach the optimum solution. It can be concluded that the larger number of random solutions used increased the probability of reaching the optimum solution, but will take more generations.

The objective of this study is to investigate the aquatic-toxic effects of glyoxal-containing cellulose ether with four different glyoxal concentrations (0, 1.4, 2.3 and 6.3%) in response to global chemical regulations, e.g., European Union Classification, Labeling and Packaging (EU CLP). Tests of the aquatic-toxic effects of glyoxal-containing cellulose ether on 11 freeze-dried microbial strains, Microcystis aeruginosa, Daphnia magna and zebrafish embryos were designed as an initial stage for toxicity screening, and were performed with the standardized toxicity test guidelines. Glyoxal-containing cellulose ether showed no significant toxic effects in the toxicity tests for the 11 freeze-dried microbial strains, Daphnia magna and zebrafish embryos. Alternatively, 6.3% glyoxal-containing cellulose ether led to more than a 60% reduction of Microcystis aeruginosa growth after 7 days of exposure. Approximately 10% developmental abnormalities (e.g., bent spine) in zebrafish embryos were also observed in the group exposed to 6.3% glyoxal-containing cellulose ether after 6 days of exposure. These results imply that <6.3% glyoxal-containing cellulose ether results in non-toxic effects on the acute toxicity of aquatic organisms. However, ≥6.3% glyoxal-containing cellulose ether may affect the health of aquatic organisms with long-term exposure. In order to better evaluate the eco-safety of cellulosic products contained in glyoxal, further studies regarding the toxic effects of glyoxal-containing cellulose ether with long-term exposure are required. The results from this study allow us to evaluate the auatic-toxic effects of glyoxal-containing cellulosic products, under EU chemical regulations, on the health of aquatic organisms.

Recently, two respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines based on the prefusion F (pre-F) antigen were approved in the United States. We developed and validated an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based protocol for the practical and large-scale evaluation of RSV vaccines. Two modified pre-F proteins (DS-Cav1 and SC-TM) were produced by genetic recombination and replication using an adenoviral vector. The protocol was established by optimizing the concentrations of the coating antigen (pre-F proteins), secondary antibodies, and choice of blocking buffer. To validate the protocol, we examined its accuracy, precision, and specificity using serum samples from 150 participants across various age groups and the standard serum provided by the National Institute of Health. In the linear correlation analysis, coating concentrations of 5 and 2.5 μg/mL of DS-Cav1 and SC-TM, respectively, showed high coefficients of determination (r2 = 0.90). Concentrations of secondary antibodies (alkaline phosphatase-conjugated anti-human immunoglobulin G, diluted 1:2000) and blocking reagents (5% skim milk/PBS-T) were optimized to minimize non-specific reactions. High accuracy was observed for DS-Cav1 (r2 = 0.90) and SC-TM (r2 = 0.86). Further, both antigens showed high precision (coefficient of variation &lt; 15%). Inhibition ELISA revealed cross-reactivity of antibodies against DS-Cav1 and SC-TM but not with the attachment protein.

Regional Climatic Comfort Index (CCI) deteriorated significantly due to the climate change and anthropogenic interference. Knowledge regarding the long-term temporal dynamics of CCI in typical regions should be strengthened. In this study, we analyze the temporal and spatial evolution of CCI from 1969 to 2018 in Guangdong Province, based on meteorological indicators, including heat, humidity, wind and cloth loading etc.. Additionally, the population exposure to climate unconformity was examined since 1990 with the help of population data. Our study found that: (1) the warming and humidifying of the summer climate served as the main driving force for the continuous deterioration of CCI, with the comfortable days decreased by 1.06d/10a and the extremely muggy days increased by 2.83d/10a; (2) spatially, the lowest climate comfortability concentrated in southwestern Guangdong with more than 50 uncomfortable days each year, while the climate comfortability in northeastern Guangdong tends to deteriorated whit higher rate, which can reach as high as 6d/10a; (3) in summer, the population exposure to uncomfortable climate highly centralized in the Pearl River Delta, Shantou, Jieyang, and the surrounding areas, and both area and population exposure showed increasing trends. Particularly, Shenzhen held the highest growth rate of population exposure with an increase rate of 2.94 million/10a; (4) although the discomfort distribution and deterioration rate vary across the province, the spatial heterogeneity of comfortability is diminishing in Guangdong Province. This study will provide scientific reference for regional urban planning, thermal environment improvement, local resident health risk analysis, and key strategy implementation, etc.

The development of technology that combines supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries by externally connecting them in parallel is ongoing. This study examines the correlation between the volume ratio and electrical characteristics of a cell made by internally connecting a battery capacitor with Li4Ti5O12 as the anode active material and a supercapacitor in parallel. It was found that increasing the volume occupied by the battery capacitor in the cell led to increased cell energy and resistance, resulting in decreased output characteristics. Conversely, increasing the volume occupied by the supercapacitor in the cell led to a decrease in the IR drop during discharge and cell temperature when evaluating cycle characteristics with a current of 20C. The study also examined the behavior of the current distributed during the charging and discharging process based on the volume ratio of the supercapacitor and the battery capacitor. Analyzing the correlation between the volume ratio and electrical characteristics of supercapacitors and battery capacitors could potentially lead to the development of a new type of energy storage device.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by memory impairment and existence of amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques and neuroinflammation. Due to the pivotal role of oxidative damage in AD, natural antioxidative agents, such as polyphenol-rich fungi, have garnered scientific scrutiny. Here, the aqueous extract of mixed medicinal mushroom mycelia (MMMM) - Phellinus linteus, Ganoderma lucidum, and Inonotus obliquus - cultivated on a barley medium, was assessed for its anti-AD effects. A neuron-like PC12 cells, which were subjected to Zn2+, an Aβ aggregator, was employed as an in vitro AD model. The cells pretreated with or without MMMM assayed for Aβ immunofluorescence, cell viability, reactive oxygen species (ROS), apoptosis, and antioxidant enzyme activity. 5XFAD mice were administered with 30 mg/kg/day MMMM for 8 weeks and underwent memory function tests and histologic analyses. In vitro results demonstrated that the cells pretreated with MMMM exhibited attenuation in Aβ immunofluorescence, ROS accumulation, and apoptosis, and increment in cell viability and antioxidant enzyme activity. In vivo results revealed that 5XFAD mice administered with MMMM showed attenuation in memory impairment and histologic deterioration such as Aβ plaques accumulation and neuroinflammation. MMMM might mitigate AD-associated memory impairment and cerebral pathologies, including Aβ plaque accumulation, and neuroinflammation, by impeding Aβ-induced neurotoxicity.

Earth observation satellites can capture images of specific areas in Earth's orbit based on user requirements. Despite the high demand for satellite imagery, satellites remain a scarce resource. When there are many observation tasks that are large and dense, they may interfere with each other due to satellite mobility. To address this issue, a multi-satellite scheduling algorithm based on a task merging mechanism has been proposed. This paper proposes a two-stage approach to the problem: task merging phase and merging task scheduling phase. The task merging phase introduces two methods based on Mean Shift and Complete Graph to generate the merging task set. In the merging task scheduling phase, a multi-satellite scheduling algorithm based on merging tasks is employed to solve the problem. Finally, certain measurement experiments suggest the effectiveness of the algorithm.

Licochalcone H (LCH), a regioisomer of licochalcone C derived from the root of Glycyrrhiza inflata. CRC treatment has always been challenged by the development of resistance. We investigated the antiproliferative activity of LCH in oxaliplatin (Ox)-sensitive and -resistant CRC cells. LCH significantly inhibited cell viability and colony growth in both Ox-sensitive and Ox-resistant CRC cells. We found that LCH decreased epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and AKT kinase activities and related activating signaling proteins including phospho (p)-EGFR and pAKT. A computational docking model indicated that LCH may interact with EGFR, AKT1, and AKT2 at the ATP-binding sites. LCH induced ROS generation, as verified by N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) treatment, and increased the expression of the ER stress markers. LCH treatment of CRC cells induced depolarization of MMP and increased. Multi-caspase activity was induced by LCH treatment and confirmed by Z-VAD-FMK treatment. LCH increased the number of subG1 cells and arrested the cell cycle at the G1 phase. LCH inhibits the growth of Ox-sensitive and Ox-resistant CRC cells by targeting EGFR and AKT, and inducing ROS generation and ER stress-mediated apoptosis. Therefore, LCH could be a potential therapeutic agent for improving not only Ox-sensitive but also Ox-resistant CRC treatment.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic and allergic skin disease, however, there is no cure for the disease. Many studies have shown anti-AD potentials of red ginseng, while red ginseng marc (RGM) remained after the ginseng extraction is discarded as industrial waste. However, it is recently reported that RGM, particularly fermented RGM (fRGM), still contains the bioactive properties. Thus, anti-allergic effects of fRGM were examined in 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene-induced AD-like mice model. The model was topically treated with distilled water (control), dexamethasone, or fRGM for six weeks. The treatments of fRGM alleviated the skin lesions and reduced serum IgE levels, compared with the control. The fRGM also reduced skin levels of lipid peroxidation and superoxide anion, however, increased glutathione contents, with down-regulated gene expressions for inflammatory mediators. The histopathological analyses demonstrated that fRGM suppressed the epidermal thickening, collagen deposition, and inflammatory cell and mast cell infiltration, which involved the anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and anti-apoptotic effects. Further, fRGM suppressed hypertrophic changes and inflammatory responses in the spleen and lymph node. The beneficial effects were observed in the dexamethasone and fRGM groups, however, the antioxidant effects were evident only in the fRGM treatments. These provide useful information for developing fRGM as therapeutic sources for AD.

Displacement mapping is a computer graphics technique that enables the design of components with regularly or randomly textured surfaces that can be quickly materialized on a three-dimensional (3D) printer when needed. This approach is in principle more flexible, faster and more economical compared to conventional texturing methods, but the accuracy of the texture depends heavily on the parameters used. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how to produce a surface-textured part using polygonal (mesh) modeling software and a photopolymerizable resin, and to develop a universal methodology to predict the dimensional accuracy of the model file log combined with a resin 3D printer. The printed components were characterized on a scanning confocal microscope. In the setup used in this study, the mesh size had to be reduced to 10% of the smallest feature size and the textured layer had to be heavily (x4) overexposed to achieve the desired accuracy. As a practical application, two functional stamps with a regular (honeycomb) and a random texture, respectively, were successfully manufactured. The insights gained will be of great benefit in quickly and cost-effectively producing components with innovative patterns and textures for a variety of hobby, industrial and biomedical applications.

Climate change is increasing air temperatures and altering the precipitation and hydrological re-gime on a global scale. Challenges arise when assessing the impacts of climate change on the local scale for water resources management proposes, especially for low mountain headwater catch-ments that not only serve as important water towers for local communities, but also have distinct hydrological characteristics. Until now, no low flow or hydrological drought studies have been carried out on the Lauter River. This study is unique in that it compares the Lauter River, a transboundary Rhine tributary with a nearby station on the River Rhine just below its confluence at the French-German border. The Lauter catchment is a mostly natural, forested catchment, however, its water course has been influenced by past and present cultural activities. Climate change disturbances cascade through the hydrologic regime right down to the local scale. As we are expecting more low flow events, the decrease in water availability could cause conflicts be-tween different water user groups in the Lauter catchment. However, the choice of different methods for identifying low flow periods may cause confusion for local water resources manag-ers. Using flow rate time series of the Lauter River between 1956 and 2022 we compare for the first time three low flow identification methods: the variable threshold method (VT), the fixed threshold method (FT), and the Standardized Streamflow Index (SSI). Similar analyses are applied and compared to the adjacent Maxau station on the Rhine River for the same time period. This study aims at 1) interpreting the differences amongst the various low flow identification methods and 2) revealing the differences in low flow characteristics of the Lauter catchment compared to the Rhine River. It appears that the FT reacts faster to direct climate or anthropogenic impacts whereas VT is more sensitive to indirect factors such as decreasing subsurface flow which is typical for small headwater catchments, such as the Lauter where flow dynamics react faster to flow disturbances. Abnormally low flow during the early Spring in tributaries such as the Lauter can help predict low flow conditions of the Rhine River during the following half year and espe-cially for the summer. The results could facilitate Early Warning of hydrological droughts and drought management for water users in the Lauter catchment and further downstream along some of the Rhine.

The object of this research is designing of new robot-to-robot communication system working in the middle of highway/roads to support mobile safety for approaching vehicles. The result of research project directs to a group of safety robot devices which induce a vehicle on a bypass route, as a vehicle guidance method using the same, and a vehicle safety guidance system. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a safety device includes a detector configured to detect a vehicle approaching the safety device, and an image projector configured to project an image onto a road surface approaching the vehicle when the detector recognizes an approach of the vehicle. It can include. According to the present invention, when it is necessary to guide the vehicle to the bypass route, the driver of the vehicle can grasp the detour route in time and move the vehicle to the next lane.

Employing remote sensing techniques to evaluate crop residue cover (CRC) enables rapid mapping of tillage practices over large cropland areas, which has significant practical implications for monitoring the implementation of conservation tillage practices. This research utilized Sentinel-2 MSI and Landsat-8 OLI remotely sensed data, various spectral indices were calculated and the datasets were correlated with the field-measured CRC data. Selected spectral indices, highly significantly correlated, were chosen to build a correlation model between the indices and the CRC. Considering Sentinel-2 MSI and Landsat 8 OLI remotely sensed data variations in spectral and spatial scales, the accuracy of CRC models was evaluated using R2 and RMSE values. From the results, it's evident that all six spectral indices, including STI, NDTI, SRNDR, NDI5, NDI7 and NDSVI, registered correlation coefficients with the CRC exceeded 0.3 in the study area. STI and NDTI showed a stronger correlation to CRC, with coefficients of 0.810 and 0.803, respectively. For the Landsat 8 data, the lowest correlation obtained was for NDSVI with the Landsat 8 data with a correlation coefficient of 0.358. Applying the linear regression technique, STI and NDTI obtained higher accuracy compared to other indices in the Sentinel-2 MSI data. For NDTI and STI, The R2 values were 0.650 and 0.665, respectively, while their corresponding RMSE values were 3.96% and 4.03%. The highest model accuracy was obtained for the STI and NDTI constructed from the Landsat 8 OLI data (R2 values 0.41 and 0.40; RMSE values 5.25% and 5.27%, respectively). The CRC model built using partial least squares regression (PLSR) exhibited greater precision when applied to the Sentinel-2 MSI data (R2 value 0.894; RMSE value 2.18%) in comparison to the Landsat 8 OLI data (R2 value 0.695; RMSE value 3.70%). PLSR has the potential to enhance the precision of the model. In addition, the study area shows that the estimation of the CRC is better in the one-dimensional linear regression model and the PLSR model created with the Sentinel-2 MSI optical data compared to the Landsat 8 OLI optical remotely sensed data. The validation suggests that the CRC estimation in the study area is more precise when using the model relying on Sentinel-2 satellite imagery rather than the Landsat 8 OLI imagery.

In pattern recognition domain, deep architectures are widely used nowadays and they have achieved fine grades. However, these deep architectures need special demands, especially big datasets and GPU. Aiming to gain better grades without deep networks, we propose a simplified algorithm framework using fusion features extracted from the salient areas of faces. Furthermore, the proposed algorithm has achieved a better result than some deep architectures. For extracting more effective features, this paper firstly defines the salient areas on the faces. This paper normalizes the salient areas of the same location in the faces to the same size, therefore it can gain more similar features from different subjects. LBP and HOG features are extracted from the salient areas, fusion features’ dimensions are reduced by Principal Component Analysis( PCA) and we apply softmax to classify the six basic expressions at once. This paper proposes a salient areas definitude method which uses peak expressions frames to compare with their neutral faces. This paper also proposes and applies the idea of normalizing the salient areas to align the specific areas which express the different expressions. This makes the salient areas found from different subjects have the same size. Besides, gamma correction method is firstly applied on LBP features in our algorithm framework which improves our recognition rates significantly. By applying this algorithm framework, our research has gained state-of-the-art performances on CK+ database and JAFFE database.

On October 18, 2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping presented the blueprint for building a modernized socialist nation through the realization of the Xiao Kang (Every nation enjoys a peaceful and affluent life, it is meaningless to eliminate the poor) social construction at the 19th Congress of China. Subsequent to the 2008 financial crisis, the world has moved on to the new economic status of the New Normal. China has also entered the era of “Xinchang Thai,” which is moving from the high-growth to the moderate-growth phase. Therefore, the government of China emphasizes privatization, liberalization, and deregulation. China is also influenced by government policies due to the nature of socialism. This study confirms China’s current stage of economic development based on Barro’s theory. Thus, we use a quantile regression model and examine the correlation between economic growth and functional classification of government expenditure during Xi Jinping's term of office. Furthermore, we selected Korea as a comparative country as the two countries have common features.

Polypyrrole (PPy)-capped caped silver nanowire (Ag NW) nanomaterials (core–shell rod-shaped Ag NW@PPy) were synthesized suing a one–port suspension polymerization technique. The thickness of PPy layer on the 50-nm-thickness/15-μm-length Ag NW was effectively controlled to 10, 40, 50, and 60 nm. Thin films cast from one-dimensional conductive Ag NW@PPy formed a three-dimensional (3-D) conductive porous network structure and provided excellent electrochemical performance. The 3-D Ag NW@PPy network can significantly reduce the internal resistance of the electrode and maintain structural stability. As a result, a high specific capacitance of 625 F/g at a scan rate of 1 mV/s was obtained from the 3-D porous Ag NW@PPy composite film. The cycling performance over a long period exceeding 10,000 cycles was also evaluated. We expect that our core–shell-structured Ag NW@PPy composites and their 3-D porous structure network films can be applied as electrochemical materials for the design and manufacture of supercapacitors and other energy storage devices.

We suppose that vacuum is filled with a kind of continuously distributed matter which may be called the $\Omega(1)$ substratum, or the electromagnetic aether. Suppose that the time scale of a macroscopic observer is very large compares to the the Maxwelllian relaxation time of the $\Omega(1)$ substratum. Thus, the macroscopic observer concludes that the $\Omega(1)$ substratum behaves like a Newtonian-fluid. Inspired by H. A. Lorentz, we speculate that electric charges may be extremely small hard spherical sources or spherical sinks with finite radii. Based on the spherical source and spherical sink model of electric charges, we derive Coulomb's law of interactions between static electric charges in vacuum. Further, we derive a reduced form of the Lorentz's force law for static electric charges in vacuum.

Floods are among the most serious natural disasters worldwide; they cause enormous crop losses every year and threaten world food security. There are many studies focused on flood impact assessments for administrative districts but fewer on postdisaster impact assessments for specific crops. Therefore, this study used remote sensing data, including the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), elevation data, slope data, and rainfall data, combined with crop growing season data to construct a crop flood damage assessment index (CFAI). First, an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was used to assign weights to the impact factors; then, the weighted composite score method was used to calculate the CFAI; and finally, the impact was classified as slight, moderate, or severe based on the magnitude of the CFAI . This method was used for the Missouri River floods of 2019 in the U.S. Due to the lack of measured data, the disaster vegetation damage index (DVDI) was used to validate the results. The combined approach achieved a high degree of consistency in spatial distribution. The CFAI can respond well to the degree of crop impact after flooding, providing new ideas and reference standards for agriculture-related departments.

Intermetallic compounds are increasingly being expected to utilize in tribological environments, but to date the works are hindered by insufficient ductility at low and medium temperature. This paper presents a novel multiphase intermetallic alloy with the chemical composition of Mo-40Ni-13Si (at.%). Microstructure characterization reveals that a certain amount of ductile Mo phases formed during the solidification process of ternary Mo-Ni-Si alloy melt, which is undoubtedly beneficial to the ductility improvement of intermetallic alloy. Tribological properties of the designed alloy, including wear resistance, friction coefficient and metallic tribological compatibility, were evaluated under dry sliding wear test conditions at room temperature. Results suggested that the multiphase alloy possesses an excellent property for room-temperature wear applications, which is attributed to the unique microstructural features and thereby good combination in hardness and ductility. The corresponding wear mechanism is also reported by observing the worn surface, subsurface and wear debris of alloy, which to be found is soft abrasive wear.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder that can diminish the quality of life of both children and adults in academic, occupational, and social contexts. The kynurenine pathway (KP) contains a set of enzymatic reactions involved in tryptophan (TRP) degradation. It is known to be associated with the risk of developing ADHD. This review will address the KP and underlying mechanism of inflammation in ADHD. Potential inflammatory biomarkers reported in the most recent studies are summarized. Although a strong neuroimmunological basis has been established due to advances of recent neurobiological research, the pathophysiology of ADHD remains unclear.

This study emphasizes the necessity of introducing a blockchain-based joint logistics system to strengthen the competency of medical supply chain management (SCM) and tries to develop a healthcare supply chain management (HSCM) competency measurement item through an analytic hierarchy process. The variables needed for using blockchain-based joint logistics are the performance expectations, effort expectations, promotion conditions, and social impact of the UTAUT model, and the HSCM competency results in increased reliability and transparency, enhanced SCM, and enhanced scalability. Word cloud results, analyzing the most important considerations to realize work efficiency among medical industry-related agencies, mentioned numerous words, including sudden situations, delivery, technology trust, information sharing, effectiveness, urgency, etc. This might imply the need to establish a system that can respond immediately to emergency situations during holidays. It could also suggest the importance of real-time information sharing to increase the efficiency of inventory management. Therefore, there is a need of a business model that can increase the visibility of real-time medical SCM through big data analysis. By analyzing the importance of securing reliability based on the blockchain technology in the establishment of a supply chain network for HSCM competency, we reveal that joint logistics can be achieved and synergistic effects can be created by implementing the integrated database to secure HSCM competency. Strengthening partnerships, such as joint logistics, will eventually lead to HSCM competency. In particular, HSCM should seek ways to upgrade its competitive capabilities through big data analysis based on the establishment of a joint logistics system.

Collagen type I production decreases with aging, leading to wrinkles and impaired skin function. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), a lipid-derived signaling molecule produced from arachidonic acid by cyclo-oxygenase, inhibits collagen production and induces matrix metallopeptidase 1 (MMP1) expression by fibroblasts in vitro. PGE2-induced collagen expression inhibition and MMP1 promotion are aging mechanisms. This study investigated the role of E-prostanoid 1 (EP1) in PGE2 signaling in normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDFs). When EP1 expression was inhibited by EP1 small interfering RNA (siRNA), there were no significant changes in messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of collagen, type I, alpha 1 (COL1A1)/MMP1 between siRNA-transfected NHDFs and siRNA-transfected NHDFs with PGE2. This result showed that EP1 is a PGE2 receptor. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) phosphorylation after PGE2 treatment significantly increased by ~2.5 times. In addition, PGE2 treatment increased the intracellular Ca²⁺ concentration in NHDFs. These results indicated that PGE2 is directly associated with EP1 pathway–regulated ERK1/2 and inositol trisphosphate (IP₃) signaling in NHDFs.

Various peptides or non-structural amino acids are recognized by their specific target proteins and perform biological role in various pathways in vivo. Understanding the interactions between target protein and peptides (or non-structural amino acids) provides key information on the molecular interactions, which can be potentially translated to the development of novel drugs. However, it is experimentally challenging to determine the crystal structure of protein-peptide complexes. To obtain structural information on substrate recognition of peptide-recognizing enzyme, X-ray crystallographic studies were performed using triglycine (Gly-Gly-Gly) as main-chain of peptide. The crystal structure of Parengyodontium album Proteinase K in complex with triglcyine was determined at 1.4 Å resolution. Two different bound conformations of triglycine were observed at the substrate recognition site. The triglycine backbone forms stable interactions with β5-α4 and α5-β6 loops of main-chain. One of the triglycine-binding conformations was identical with the binding mode of a peptide-based inhibitor from a previously reported crystal structure of Proteinase K. Triglycine has potential application X-ray crystallography to identify substrate recognition sites in peptide binding enzymes.

Mitochondria are highly dynamic organelles that continuously change their shape. Their main function is ATP production; however, they are additionally involved in a variety of cellular phenomena, such as apoptosis, cell cycle, proliferation, differentiation, reprogramming, and aging. The change in mitochondrial morphology is closely related to the functionality of mitochondria. Normal mitochondrial dynamics are critical for cellular function, embryonic development, and tissue formation. Thus, defect in proteins involved in mitochondrial dynamics that control mitochondrial fusion and fission can affect cellular differentiation, proliferation, cellular reprogramming, and aging. Here we review the processes and proteins involved in mitochondrial dynamics and its various associated cellular phenomena.

We introduce the lower chaos grade of a real-valued function F defined on the Markov triple (E,μ,Γ), where μ is a probability measure and Γ is the carré du champ operator. As an application of this concept, we obtain the better estimate of the four moments theorem for Markov diffusion generators worked by Bourguin et al (2019). For our purpose, we need to find the largest number except zero in the set of eigenvalues corresponding to its eigenfunction in the case where the square of a random variable F, coming from a Markov triple structure, can be expressed as a sum of eigenfunctions, We give some examples of eigenfunctions of the diffusion generators such as Ornstein-Uhlenbeck, Jacobi and Romanovski-Routh. In particular, two bounds, called the four moments theorem and fourth moment theorem respectively, will be provided for the normal approximation of the case where a random variable F comes from eigenfunctions of a Jacobi generator.

This study was to investigate and assess salivary biomarkers as a means of diagnosing periodontitis. A total of 121 subjects were included: 28 periodontally healthy subjects, 24 with stage I, 24 with stage II, 23 with stage III, and 22 with stage IV periodontitis. Salivary proteins including active matrix metalloproteinase-8 (MMP-8), pro-MMP-8, total MMP-8, C-reactive protein, secretory immunoglobulin A and planktonic bacteria including Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, Treponema denticola, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Prevotella intermedia, Porphyromonas nigrescens, Parvimonas micra, Campylobacter rectus, Eubacterium nodatum, Eikenella corrodens, Streptococcus mitis, Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, and Actinomyces viscosus were measured from salivary samples. The performance of the diagnostic models was assessed by receiver operating characteristics (ROC) and area under the ROC curve (AUC) analysis. The diagnostic models were constructed based on the subjects’ proteins and/or microbial profiles, resulting in two potential diagnosis models, which achieved better diagnostic powers with an AUC value &gt; 0.750 for the diagnosis of stage II, III, and IV periodontitis (Model PC-I; AUC: 0.796, sensitivity: 0.754, specificity: 0.712) and for the diagnosis of stage III and IV periodontitis (Model PC-II; AUC: 0.796, sensitivity: 0.756, specificity: 0.868). This study can contribute to screening for periodontitis based on salivary biomarkers.

Osteoporosis, often linked to increased osteoclast activity due to menopause or aging, was the focus. In this study, the inhibitory effects of Salicornia europaea L. (SE) water extract of desalted SE (WSE) were investigated on osteoclast differentiation and bone loss in ovariectomized mice. The findings revealed that WSE effectively inhibited RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation, as evidenced by TRAP staining, and also suppressed bone resorption and F-actin ring formation in a dose-dependent manner. Gene expressions related to osteoclast differentiation, including NFATc1, TRAP, cathepsin K, and DC-STAMP, were downregulated by WSE. Oral administration of WSE improved bone density and structural parameters in ovariectomized mice. Dicaffeoyl quinic acids (DCQAs) and saponins in WSE were detected, with 3,4-, 3,5-, and 4,5-DCQA isolated and identified. All tested DCQAs, including the aforementioned types, inhibited osteoclast differentiation, bone resorption, and the expression of osteoclast-related genes. Furthermore, WSE and DCQAs reduced ROS production mediated by RANKL. These results indicate the potential of WSE and its components, DCQA, as preventive or therapeutic agents against osteoporosis and related conditions.

(1) Background: The CEO message of hospital homepage contain various contents such as the hospital's future vision, promises with customers, upgraded services and public activities. The CEO’s message of the homepage includes non-financial information as well as financial information of corporates. Also, it provides useful information for not only company's goals and vision but also firm performance and strategies for the future. This study aims to investigate associations between CEO’s message of hospitals homepages and financial status. We used the balanced scorecard frame to analyze what content on the hospital's homepage is related to the hospital's various financial ratios. (2) Methods: We adopt a text mining method to extract significantly repeated keywords from the CEO’s message of hospital website. And we classify these keywords by a balanced scorecard frame. To examine the relationship between keywords of CEO’s message of the hospital homepage and hospital’s financial ratio, T-test is conducted for the difference in the TF-IDF (Term Frequency is Divided by Inverse Document Frequency) mean of the home page contents and its relationship with the views of the balanced scorecard framework. (3) Results: According to empirical results on 65 samples collected from local hospitals, there are some significant relationship between the qualitative content of the hospital's homepage and the quantitative financial ratio that indicates profitability, activity, leverage, liquidity, and transfer to essential business fund (EBF) income. (4) Conclusions: The introduction section of a homepage is most accessible to customers, containing the aims and ideals of hospitals and reflecting their values and visions [1]. In addition, in view of financial status, they can either emphasize financial strength or focus on other areas to mask weakness of financial information. This study reminds us of the importance of hospital website’s disclosure, and it can be inferred from the financial status of the hospital. It also highlights the need for harmonization between quantitative data, financial statements, and qualitative data, CEO’s messages. (5) Implications: To our best knowledge, this paper is the first research attempting to investigate the relation between text of hospital homepage and financial ratio of hospital through text mining technique and balanced scorecard frame. Hospitals take a crucial part in a country’s welfare and healthcare backbone industry. Nevertheless, in many countries, hospital organization sectors tend to remain a source of critical fiscal deficits due to its ineffective and sloppy management. We expect that the result of this paper can provide hospital managers to useful information.

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells which can give rise to any types of cells in our body. Hence, they have been utilized for various applications such as drug testing and disease modeling. However, for the successful of those applications, the survival and differentiation of stem cells into specialized lineages should be well controlled. Growth factors and chemical agents are the most common signals to promote the proliferation and differentiation of stem cells. However, those approaches holds several drawbacks such as the negative side effects, degradation or denaturation, and expensive. To address such limitations, nanomaterials have been recently used as a better approach for controlling stem cells behaviors. Graphene oxide is the derivative of graphene, the first 2D materials in the world. Recently, due to its extraordinary properties and great biological effects on stem cells, many scientists around the world have utilized graphene oxide to enhance the differentiation potential of stem cells. In this mini review, we highlight the key advances about the effects of graphene oxide on controlling stem cell growth and various types of stem cell differentiation. We also discuss the possible molecular mechanisms of graphene oxide in controlling stem cell growth and differentiation.

Human Pose Estimation (HPE) is a technique in computer vision and AI for detecting and tracking human body parts and poses from images or videos. Widely used in augmented reality, animation, fitness applications, and surveillance, HPE methods using monocular cameras are highly versatile due to their applicability in standard video and CCTV footage. These methods have evolved from 2D to 3D pose estimation. However, current 3D HPE methods trained on laboratory-based motion capture data encounter challenges such as limited training data, depth perception ambiguity, left/right switching, and issues with occlusions when applied in real-world environments. This study compares two representative 3D HPE methods by assessing their strengths and weaknesses with real-world videos. Then, we propose data processing techniques to eliminate and correct anomalies like left/right inversion and false detections of joint positions in daily life motions. Finally, we obtain joint angle trajectories using an optimization method based on a 3D humanoid simulator, taking as input the joint coordinate data corrected by applying the proposed human joint data processing technique. The efficacy of the proposed 3D HPE method is verified by applying it to three-dimensional freehand gymnastics exercises and comparing the joint angle trajectories during the motion.

Quantum amplitude estimation is a numerical integration technique and a candidate for the first operationally used quantum algorithm providing a quantum advantage in the NISQ era. Its main metric is the generated Fisher information per second, as it describes the accuracy of the numerical integration. The development of this metric can be coupled to the quantum volume of the used quantum processor with a phenomenological noise model. Since the increase of the quantum volume seems to follow an exponential pattern, insight in the integration power of quantum amplitude estimation for the upcoming years can be obtained. This shows that quantum amplitude estimation as a numerical integration technique will not provide an advantage for functions without significant improvements to the connectivity, reliability and speed of quantum processors. Beyond that, this method may be used the estimate the development of many more NISQ era algorithms.

Consumer products contain the chemical substances that threaten human health. The modeling methods and experimental methods have been used to estimate the inhalation exposure concentration by the consumer products. The model and measurement methods have the spatial property problem and time/cost consuming problem, respectively. For solving the problems due to the conventional methodology, this study performed the feasibility of applying CFD for evaluation of inhalation exposure by comparing the experiment results and the zero-dimensional results with CFD results. To calculate the aerosol concentration, the CFD was performed by combined the 3D Reynolds averaged Navier Stoke’s equation and discrete phased model using ANSYS FLUENT. As a result of comparing the three methodologies performed under the same simulation/experimental conditions, we found the zero-dimensional spray model shows approximately 5 times underestimated inhalation exposure concentration when compared with the CFD results and measurement results in near field. Also, the results of the measured concentration of aerosols at five locations and the CFD results at the same location were compared to show the possibility of evaluating inhalation exposure at various locations using CFD instead of experimental method. The CFD results according to measurement positions can predict rationally the measurement results with low error. In conclusion, in the field of exposure science, a guideline for exposure evaluation using CFD was found that complements the shortcomings of the conventional methodology, the zero-dimensional spray model and measurement method.

Commiphora molmol myrrh resin extracts, which have different physical properties such as polarity and dielectric constant, were prepared by immersion in extraction solvents (hot water, DMSO, hexane, ethanol, and methanol). Methanolic myrrh resin extracts showed broad antibacterial activity against isolated airborne bacteria. Furanoeudesma-1,3-diene and curzerene, as the main terpenoids in the methanolic myrrh resin extract, were analyzed using GC-MS, and the methanolic myrrh resin extracts were found to have antiviral activity (81.2% viral RNA inhibition) against H1N1 influenza virus. Biochars (wood powder-and rice husk-derived) coated with myrrh resin extracts also showed antiviral activity (22.6% and 24.3% viral RNA inhibition), due to the adsorption of terpenoids onto biochar. Myrrh resin extract using methanol as the extraction solvent is a promising agent with antibacterial and antiviral efficacy, and it can be utilized as a novel material via adsorption onto biochar for air filtration processes, cosmetics, fertilizers, drug delivery, and corrosion inhibition.