First Investigation of the Spring Dietary Composition of Siberian Musk Deer () Using Next-Generation Sequencing.

Understanding the dietary composition of the Siberian musk deer () is critical for informing conservation efforts, particularly given the species' vulnerable status in the Republic of Korea and its limited ecological data. Previous dietary studies have relied on conventional methods with limitations in taxonomic precision, hindering comprehensive insights into their feeding ecology. To address this gap, we used Next-Generation Sequencing to analyze 16 fecal samples collected in April from Gangwon Province, the habitat of .

Targets of influenza human T-cell response are mostly conserved in H5N1.

Frequent recent spillovers of subtype H5N1 clade 2.3.4.

Development of a novel tongue biofilm index using bacterial biofluorescence.

Conventional methods for assessing tongue bacterial biofilms have low inter-examiner reliability due to visualization challenges. This study aimed to develop and assess a novel Tongue Biofilm Fluorescence Index (TBFI) for the accurate detection and objective evaluation of the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of tongue biofilms at the chairside. Data were collected from 81 elderly individuals (n = 162 images).

Cell-penetrating anti-sense peptide nucleic acids targeting sulfatase 2 inhibit adipogenesis in human mesenchymal stem cells.

Targeting the genes regulate the lineage commitment of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) to adipocytes provides a promising strategy for addressing obesity. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic potential of cell-penetrating anti-sense peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) designed to enhance solubility and hybridization properties, specifically targeting sulfatase 2 (SULF2), a potential reciprocal regulator of adipocyte and osteoblast differentiation in hMSCs. Cell-penetrating modified PNA oligomers effectively inhibit SULF2 gene transcription, leading to significant reductions in adiponectin protein synthesis and intracellular lipid droplet accumulation during adipogenesis in human bone marrow-derived MSCs (hBM-MSCs).

Rapid Spreading of Yield-Stress Liquids.

When a liquid drop makes initial contact with any surface, an unbalanced surface tension force drives the contact line, causing spreading. For Newtonian liquids, either liquid inertia or viscosity dictates these early regimes of spreading, albeit with different power-law behaviors of the evolution of the dynamic spreading radius. In this work, we investigate the early regimes of spreading for yield-stress liquids.

Unravelling soft interfaces: Visualization of gel ridges.

Hypothesis: Soft materials, particularly elastomers, are extensively studied, but investigations into purely soft gel contact systems are limited due to their complex dual phases consisting of polymer and free liquids. While Dual Wavelength-Reflection Interference Confocal Microscopy (DW-RICM) is effective for noninvasively visualizing interfaces from a bottom view, it faces challenges in gel studies due to close refractive indices of polymeric networks and free liquids. We hypothesize that modulating the refractive index of soft gels using nanoparticles (NPs) enhances the visualization of contact zone beneath the free surface, providing insights into the configuration of phase-separated free oil within gel-on-gel contact systems.

Adaptive immune response to bordetella pertussis during vaccination and infection: emerging perspectives and unanswered questions.

Introduction: Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, remains a significant challenge as a vaccine-preventable disease worldwide. Since the switch from the whole-cell Pertussis (wP) vaccine to the acellular Pertussis vaccine (aP), cases of whooping cough have increased in countries using the aP vaccine. Understanding the immune system's response to pertussis vaccines and infection is crucial for improving current vaccine efficacy.

Subjective Cognitive Decline in Community-Dwelling Older Adults With Objectively Normal Cognition: Mediation by Depression and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living.

Objective: Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) refers to self-reported memory loss despite normal cognitive function and is considered a preclinical stage of Alzheimer's disease. This study aimed to examine the mediating effects of depression and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) on the association between the scoring of Clinical Dementia Rating Scale-Sum of Boxes (CDR-SB) and Subjective Cognitive Decline Questionnaire (SCD-Q).

Methods: A sample of 139 community-dwelling older adults aged 65-79 with normal cognitive function completed the SCD-Q, a comprehensive neuropsychological battery, and functional/psychiatric scales.

Flexible hydrogels connecting adhesion and wetting.

Raindrops falling on window-panes spread upon contact, whereas hail can cause dents or scratches on the same glass window upon contact. While the former phenomenon resembles classical wetting, the latter is dictated by contact and adhesion theories. The classical Young-Dupre law applies to the wetting of pure liquids on rigid solids, whereas conventional contact mechanics theories account for rigid-on-soft or soft-on-rigid contacts with small deformations in the elastic limit.

Density Functional Theory Approach to Interpret Elastowetting of Hydrogels.

Sessile hydrogel drops on rigid surfaces exhibit a wetting/contact morphology intermediate between liquid drops and glass spheres. Using density functional theory, we reveal the contact forces acting between a hydrogel and a rigid glass surface. We show that while transitioning from liquid-like to solid-like hydrogels, there exists a critical hydrogel elasticity that enables a switch from attractive-to-repulsive interaction with the underlying rigid glass surface.

Organohydrogels with cellulose nanofibers enhanced supramolecular interactions toward high performance self-adhesive sensing pads.

Gel materials with tailored functions and tissue-like properties have gained significant interest in emerging applications, including tissue engineering scaffolds, flexible electronics, and soft robotics. In this work, we developed a stretchable, flexible, adhesive, and conductive organohydrogel through physical cross-linking of the poly (N-[tris (hydroxymethyl) methyl] acrylamide-co-acrylamide) (denoted as P(THMA-AM)) network in the presence of cellulose nanofiber (CNF), sodium chloride, and glycerol. The gel matrix is rich in intermolecular interactions, including hydrogen bonding and ionic interactions, which contribute to a highly compact and cohesive structure without the requirement of any chemical crosslinkers.

Full-color micro-LED display with photo-patternable and highly ambient-stable perovskite quantum dot/siloxane composite as color conversion layers.

In this paper, we successfully fabricated color conversion layers (CCLs) for full-color-mico-LED display using a perovskite quantum dot (PQD)/siloxane composite by ligand exchanged PQD with silane composite followed by surface activation by an addition of halide-anion containing salt. Due to this surface activation, it was possible to construct the PQD surface with a silane ligand using a non-polar organic solvent that does not damage the PQD. As a result, the ligand-exchanged PQD with a silane compound exhibited high dispersibility in the siloxane matrix and excellent atmospheric stability due to sol-gel condensation.

Capillary pressure mediated long-term dynamics of thin soft films.

Hypothesis: The conventional solid-solid contact is well studied in the literature. However, a number of practical applications, such as adhesive patches and biomimetic surfaces, require a much deeper understanding of soft contact where there is a distinct time-dependent adhesion behavior due to the dual-phase structure (solids and liquids). To understand this, currently existing solid-solid contact behavior is extrapolated to soft contact, wherein the size-effect of the gel film and the preload are typically neglected.

Synthetic pro-peptide design to enhance the secretion of heterologous proteins by Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Heterologous protein production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a useful and effective strategy with many advantages, including the secretion of proteins that require posttranslational processing. However, heterologous proteins in S. cerevisiae are often secreted at comparatively low levels.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the Amur soft-shelled turtle ( Brandt, 1858), from South Korea.

In this study, we use a specimen from wild-caught individual to determine the complete mitochondrial genome of the Amur soft-shelled turtle (). The complete mitogenome of has 16,258 bp in length and consists of 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNAs, two rRNAs, and one control region. The arrangement of genes of is identical with previously reported mitogenomes in the family Trionychoidea.

Spatial immune heterogeneity of hypoxia-induced exhausted features in high-grade glioma.

The tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) in high-grade glioma (HGG) exhibits high spatial heterogeneity. Though the tumor core and peripheral regions have different biological features, the cause of this spatial heterogeneity has not been clearly elucidated. Here, we examined the spatial heterogeneity of HGG using core and peripheral regions obtained separately from the patients with HGG.

Reduced Pressure Drop in Viscoelastic Polydimethylsiloxane Wall Channels.

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is an important viscoelastic material that finds applications in a large number of engineering systems, particularly lab-on-chip microfluidic devices built with a flexible substrate. Channels made of PDMS, used for transporting analytes, are integral to these applications. The PDMS viscoelastic nature can induce additional hydrodynamic contributions at the soft wall/fluid interface compared to rigid walls.

(-)-Loliolide Isolated from Suppressed Oxidative Stress and Inflammation by Activating Nrf2/HO-1 Signaling in IFN-γ/TNF-α-Stimulated HaCaT Keratinocytes.

The present study evaluated the effects of (-)-loliolide isolated from () against oxidative stress and inflammation, and its biological mechanism in interferon (IFN)-γ/tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α-stimulated HaCaT keratinocytes. The results showed that (-)-loliolide improved the cell viability by reducing the production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in IFN-γ/TNF-α-stimulated HaCaT keratinocytes. In addition, (-)-loliolide effectively decreased the expression of inflammatory cytokines (interleukin (IL)-4 IL-6, IL-13, IFN-γ and TNF-α) and chemokines (CCL11 (Eotaxin), macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC), regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES), and thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC)), by downregulating the expression of epidermal-derived initial cytokines (IL-25, IL-33 and thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP)).

Characteristic of complete mitochondrial genome and phylogenetic status of a muskrat, (Rodentia: Cricetidae) in South Korea.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Muskrat, (Rodentia: Cricetidae) in Korea was sequenced for the first time using the next-generation sequencing method to understand its evolutionary relationship and to be helpful to establish a management plan. This mitogenome was 16,350 base pairs in length, containing 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, and one control region. Its overall A, C, G, and T contents were 32.

A Study on the Correlation between C-Reactive Protein Concentration and Teeth with a ≥5 mm Periodontal Pocket in Chronic Periodontitis Patients.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between CRP levels and teeth with ≥5 mm PD in chronic periodontitis patients.

Materials And Methods: We evaluated 49 patients with chronic periodontitis who visited the Department of Periodontology at Wonkwang University Dental Hospital. At the first visit, high-sensitive CRP testing of venous blood samples was performed, and correlations were statistically evaluated.

A Study on Carbon Capture and Storage and Its Feasibility in Energy-Environment Technologies.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has the potential to play an important role in managing global warming in the near future. Herein, we define the entire energy cycle from energy production to utilization considering energy-environment technologies and describe the technical classification and brief technical principles of CCS technology. In addition, we evaluate data from actual scenarios and costs of various indicators established from diverse reports published by reliable institutes on various energy-environment technologies.

Sargassum horneri extract containing mojabanchromanol attenuates the particulate matter exacerbated allergic asthma through reduction of Th2 and Th17 response in mice.

Airborne particulate matter (PM) has become a serious health issue causing pulmonary diseases such as asthma. Due to the side effects and non-specificity of conventional drugs, there is a need to develop natural-product-based alternative treatments. Sargassum horneri is a brown alga shown to have anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-allergic effects.

Viscoelastic tribopairs in dry and lubricated sliding friction.

Soft contacts present different tribological responses compared to stiff materials, especially when soft materials exhibit viscoelastic behaviour, as viscoelastic materials have intermediate mechanical properties between viscous liquids and elastic solids. In this work, we investigated the influence of viscoelasticity of soft materials on sliding friction in dry and lubricated conditions. To achieve this, soft tribopairs with varying viscoelasticity were obtained by tuning the weight ratios of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) base and curing agent.

The Role of Fucoidans Isolated from the Sporophylls of against Particulate-Matter-Induced Allergic Airway Inflammation: Evidence of the Attenuation of Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory Responses.

Ambient particulate matter (PM) is a critical environment pollutant that promotes the onset and aggravation of respiratory diseases such as asthma through airway inflammation and hypersecretion of mucus. In this study, we aimed to identify the effects of fucoidans isolated from sporophylls of on asthma symptoms such as the inflammatory response and mucus secretion using a mouse model. Balb/c mice, intraperitoneally sensitized with ovalbumin (OVA, 10 μg) dissolved in 200 µL saline and 2 mg Al(OH), were exposed to PM (5 mg/m) for 7 consecutive days.