Sacrificing Alginate in Decellularized Extracellular Matrix Scaffolds for Implantable Artificial Livers.

This research introduced a strategy to fabricate sub-millimeter-diameter artificial liver tissue by extruding a combination of a liver decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM), alginate, endothelial cells, and hepatocytes. Vascularization remains a critical challenge in liver tissue engineering, as replicating the liver's intricate vascular network is essential for sustaining cellular function and viability. Seven scaffold groups were evaluated, incorporating different cell compositions, scaffold materials, and structural configurations.

Relationship Between Participative Decision-Making Within an Organization and Employees' Cognitive Flexibility, Creativity, and Voice Behavior.

The existing literature predominantly examines the direct effects of participative decision-making, often overlooking the mechanisms and processes that mediate or moderate its outcomes. This study addresses this gap by investigating the impact of participative decision-making on employees' cognitive flexibility, creativity, and voice behavior. Specific contradictions and gaps in prior research are highlighted, particularly the limited understanding of how these variables interact.

Long-term outcome and predictors of vagus nerve stimulation for drug-resistant epilepsy: Real-world evidence from the Korean national hospital consortium.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the long-term outcome and prognostic factors of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) for drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) using real-world data.

Method: We included 189 DRE patients who underwent VNS implantation between 2005 and 2018 at nine national hospitals in Korea. Seizure-frequency data obtained quarterly one year before and after surgery and annually up to four years after surgery were collected from medical records.

Crystal Structure and Photoluminescence Properties of Ca(PO):Eu Phosphors With High Emission Efficiency.

The influence of Eu concentration on the crystal structure and photoluminescence (PL) properties of Ca(PO):xEu (0.06 ≤ x ≤ 0.10) phosphors is systematically investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) Rietveld refinement, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, and PL spectroscopy.

An Investigation of the Status of Commercial Meat Analogs and Their Ingredients: Worldwide and South Korea.

Meat analogs are a burgeoning industry, with plant-based meat analogs, insect-based meat analogs, algae-based meat analogs, mycoprotein-based meat analogs, and cell-based meat analogs. However, despite the industry's growth potential, market expansion faces hurdles due to taste and quality disparities compared to traditional meats. The composition and characteristics of meat analogs currently available in the market are analyzed in this study to inform the development of future products in this sector.

Environmental Impact of Meat Protein Substitutes: A Mini-Review.

The expansion of alternative food industries, including cultured meat, is often promoted as a strategy to reduce environmental pollution, particularly greenhouse gas emissions. However, comprehensive data on the environmental impacts of these industries remains limited. This study examines the environmental impacts of traditional meat and meat substitute production, highlighting their respective advantages and disadvantages.

Cutting-Edge Technologies of Meat Analogs: A Review.

This study was conducted to investigate the recent research trends of alternative protein foods being developed to replace traditional livestock foods and thus determine the current state of the technology and the potential for industrialization. The results of this study showed that the technology related to cultured meat has not yet reached industrialization. However, serum-free media development, technologies to improve culture efficiency, and technologies to improve taste and flavor are being researched.

Pathology-Independent Expansion of Indications for Rapid-Deployment Aortic Valve Replacement: Midterm Outcomes.

Background:  This study evaluated the midterm outcomes of rapid deployment aortic valve replacement (RDAVR) performed regardless of pathology for various aortic valve diseases at a single center.

Methods:  Of the 344 patients who underwent RDAVR using Edwards INTUITY during the study period at our institution, 176 had bicuspid valve diseases (51.2%), 20 had pure aortic regurgitation (5.

Geographical and Socioeconomic Disparities in Substance and Opioid Use Disorders Among Inflammatory Bowel Disease Hospitalizations in the United States From the National Inpatient Sample.

We compared substance use disorder (SUD) prevalence among adult inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) hospitalizations with non-IBD controls from the 2016-2018 National Inpatient Sample, assessing correlations with demographics, socioeconomic status, geographic regions, depression, and anxiety. The primary aim focused on SUD, defined as substance abuse or dependence (: F10-F19) excluding unspecified use or remission, among hospitalizations documenting IBD (Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis; : K50-51) as one admitting diagnosis (IBD-D). The prevalence of SUD among hospitalizations with and without IBD was compared.

Abdominal synthetic CT generation for MR-only radiotherapy using structure-conserving loss and transformer-based cycle-GAN.

Purpose: Recent deep-learning based synthetic computed tomography (sCT) generation using magnetic resonance (MR) images have shown promising results. However, generating sCT for the abdominal region poses challenges due to the patient motion, including respiration and peristalsis. To address these challenges, this study investigated an unsupervised learning approach using a transformer-based cycle-GAN with structure-preserving loss for abdominal cancer patients.

Restriction of mitochondrial oxidation of glutamine or fatty acids enhances intracellular growth of in macrophages.

(Mab), a nontuberculous mycobacterium, is increasing in prevalence worldwide and causes treatment-refractory pulmonary diseases. However, how Mab rewires macrophage energy metabolism to facilitate its survival is poorly understood. We compared the metabolic profiles of murine bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) infected with smooth (S)- and rough (R)-type Mab using extracellular flux technology.

Spontaneous Nystagmus Violating the Alexander's Law: Neural Substrates and Mechanisms.

Alexander's law states that spontaneous nystagmus increases when looking in the direction of fast-phase and decreases during gaze in slow-phase direction. Disobedience to Alexander's law is occasionally observed in central nystagmus, but the underlying neural circuit mechanisms are poorly understood. In a retrospective analysis of 2,652 patients with posterior circulations stroke, we found a violation of Alexander's law in one or both directions of lateral gaze in 17 patients with lesions of unilateral lateral medulla affecting the vestibular nucleus.

Advancements in Frank's sign Identification using deep learning on 3D brain MRI.

Frank's sign (FS) is a diagnostic marker associated with aging and various health conditions. Despite its clinical significance, there lacks a standardized method for its identification. This study aimed to develop a deep learning model for automated FS detection in 3D facial images derived from MRI scans.

Silibinin alleviates house dust mite induced allergic airway inflammation by inhibiting NLRC4 inflammasome and MMP-9 expression.

Silibinin, a major compound of silymarin, has been reported to alleviate respiratory diseases including acute lung injury, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and pulmonary fibrosis through its antifibrotic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. However, the specific mechanisms underlying its therapeutic effects, particularly in allergic asthma, are not fully understood. With the increasing prevalence and impact of allergic asthma, there is a need to elucidate the exact underlying mechanisms of its potential treatment effects.

Coffin-Lowry Syndrome: A Case of Clinical Convergence for Psychology, Neuropsychology, Psychiatry, Genetics, and Neurology.

We present the case of a 15-year-old girl with new-onset psychosis and abnormal white matter activity on neuroimaging, engaging multidisciplinary care between genetics, neurology, psychiatry, and neuropsychology. She functioned well in mainstream education despite below average intellectual functioning. Physical examination findings enabled the diagnosis, and patient improved with joint psychological and behavioral outpatient services.

Crystal structure of cytochrome P450 NysL and the structural basis for stereo- and regio- selective oxidation of antifungal macrolides.

NysL, a cytochrome P450 monooxygenase from the Gram-positive bacterium Streptomyces noursei, catalyzes the C10 hydroxylation of 10-deoxynystain to nystatin A, a clinically important antifungal. In this study, we present the 2.0 Å resolution crystal structure of NysL bound to nystatin A.

Erratum.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.17221/77/2023-VETMED.].

Effectiveness of septal swell body reduction for patients with nasal airway obstruction: A systemic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The septal swell body (SSB), a distinct anatomical structure located in the anterior nasal septum, has been recognized as a significant contributor to nasal obstruction, impacting airflow dynamics and nasal resistance. This meta-analysis evaluated the impact of septal swell body volume reduction (SSBVR).

Methods: A systematic review of studies from PubMed, SCOPUS, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases was conducted through October 2024.

Etiology and Clinical Prediction of Community-Acquired Lower Respiratory Tract Infection in Children.

Background: Community acquired lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) is a leading cause for hospitalization in children and important cause for antibiotic prescription. We aimed to describe the aetiology of LRTI in children and analyse factors associated with bacterial or viral infection.

Methods: Patients aged < 19 years with a diagnosis of LRTI were identified from the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership Common Data Model Database of Seoul National University Bundang Hospital from January 2005-July 2019, and their clinical characteristics were obtained from the electronic medical records and retrospectively reviewed.

Synergistic effects of L-arginine and argininosuccinate synthetase 1 in inducing apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background/aims: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant cancer with an increasing incidence worldwide. Although numerous efforts have been made to identify effective therapies for HCC, current strategies have limitations. We present a new approach for targeting L-arginine and argininosuccinate synthetase 1 (ASS1).

Flat-Band Electronic Bipolarity in a Janus and Kagome van der Waals Semiconductor NbTeI.

Janus materials, a novel class of materials with two faces of different chemical compositions and electronic polarities, offer significant potential for various applications with catalytic reactions, chemical sensing, and optical or electronic responses. A key aspect for such functionalities is face-dependent electronic bipolarity, which is usually limited by the chemical distinction of terminated surfaces and has not been exploited in the semiconducting regime. Here, it is showed that a Janus and Kagome van der Waals (vdW) material NbTeI has ferroelectric-like coherent stacking of the Janus layers and hosts strong electronic bipolar states in the semiconducting regime.

Impacts of Housing Costs on Health and Satisfaction With Life Circumstances: Evidence From Australia.

This paper examines the causal impacts of rising housing costs on individual health and satisfaction with life circumstances, using a fixed-effects instrumental variable approach and individual-level panel data from Australia. Relying on the historical patterns of immigrant settlement, we construct an instrumental variable that exploits exogenous variation in housing costs driven by foreign investments that flow differentially into localities. We find that rising housing costs-as measured by composite housing costs faced by homeowners and renters living in an area-have a significant positive impact on individuals' self-assessed physical health and a significant negative impact on satisfaction ratings, but no significant impact on self-assessed emotional health.

Factors associated with the detection of atrial fibrillation in patients with embolic stroke of undetermined source.

Background: Detection of atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS) is important for the secondary prevention of stroke. We investigated the factors associated with the detection of newly diagnosed AF in ESUS patients during follow-up.

Methods: Patients with acute ischemic stroke classified as ESUS were included.