Efficient Lithium Recovery from Water Using Polyamide Thin-Film Nanocomposite (TFN) Membrane Modified with Positively Charged Silica Nanoparticles.

The separation of Li from Mg in salt-lake brines using nanofiltration (NF) has become the most popular solution to meet the rising demand for lithium, particularly driven by the extensive use of lithium-ion batteries. This study presents the fabrication of a uniquely designed polyamide (PA) thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes with ultrahigh Li/Mg selectivity and enhanced water flux by covalently incorporating mixed ligands functionalized silica nanoparticles (F-SiONPs) into the selective PA layer and covalently bonding them to the membrane surface. In this strategy, bare silica nanoparticles (SiONPs) were functionalized with mixed superhydrophilic ligands, including primary amine and quaternary ammonium groups, resulting in a highly positive surface charge primarily from the quaternary ammonium groups and enabling covalent conjugation via amine groups.

Revision of the Retracted Posttracheostomy Scar by Anatomical Restoration; Four Layer Closure.

Most tracheostomy scars are depressive and adherent to the underlying trachea, which causes up and down movement when swallowing. This tracheocutaneous tethering causes discomfort, pain, dysphagia, and bad appearance. A tracheocutaneous fistula may be accompanied.

Data-Driven Clustering Analysis for Representative Electric Vehicle Charging Profile in South Korea.

As the penetration of electric vehicles (EVs) increases, an understanding of EV operation characteristics becomes crucial in various aspects, e.g., grid stability and battery degradation.

SARS-CoV-2 spike-based virus-like particles incorporate influenza H1/N1 antigens and induce dual immunity in mice.

A vaccine effective against both SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A (IAV) viruses could represent a cost-effective strategy to reduce their combined public health burden as well as potential complications arising from co-infection. Based on previous findings that full-length SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) expression can induce high-level, enveloped VLP (eVLP) production in CHO cells, we tested whether IAV H1N1 hemagglutinin (H1) and neuraminidase (N1) could also be displayed on these particles. We found that co-incorporation of the IAV surface antigens in spike VLPs (S-VLPs) was highly efficient: upon transient co-expression of S + H1 or S + H1 + N1 in CHO cells, the resulting VLPs contained similar amounts of the SARS-CoV-2 S and IAV antigens.

Histamine stimulates human microglia to alter cellular prion protein expression via the HRH2 histamine receptor.

Although the cellular prion protein (PrP) has been evolutionarily conserved, the role of this protein remains elusive. Recent evidence indicates that PrP may be involved in neuroinflammation and the immune response in the brain, and its expression may be modified via various mechanisms. Histamine is a proinflammatory mediator and neurotransmitter that stimulates numerous cells via interactions with histamine receptors 1-4 (HRH1-4).

Safety and risk factors for bleeding complications of radial probe endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial biopsy.

Background: Radial probe endobronchial ultrasound (radial EBUS) is widely used to diagnose pulmonary lesions; however, the diagnostic value of radial EBUS-guided transbronchial biopsy (TBB) varies, and its complications (especially the risk of bleeding) are not properly understood.

Objectives: In this study, we evaluated the diagnostic performance and rate of complication of this procedure, and investigated the risk factors associated with the procedure-related bleeding events.

Design: A retrospective cohort study.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea Screening and Effects of Surgery in Acromegaly: A Prospective Study.

Backgruound: To identify a screening tool for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and evaluate the effects of endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery on improving OSA in patients with acromegaly.

Methods: We prospectively enrolled adults with acromegaly scheduled for endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery. All measurements were conducted when participants were admitted for a baseline work-up for acromegaly before surgery and surveillance approximately 3 to 6 months after surgery.

Association of obstructive sleep apnea with risk of lung cancer: a nationwide cohort study in Korea.

Current knowledge regarding the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and the risk of lung cancer is limited. This study aimed to evaluate associations between OSA and the incidence of lung cancer based on the Korean National Health Information Database. The study outcome was the incidence of newly diagnosed lung cancer, and a Cox proportional hazards model was used for analysis.

Native PLGA nanoparticles attenuate Aβ-seed induced tau aggregation under in vitro conditions: potential implication in Alzheimer's disease pathology.

Evidence suggests that beta-amyloid (Aβ)-induced phosphorylation/aggregation of tau protein plays a critical role in the degeneration of neurons and development of Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common cause of dementia affecting the elderly population. Many studies have pursued a variety of small molecules, including nanoparticles conjugated with drugs to interfere with Aβ and/or tau aggregation/toxicity as an effective strategy for AD treatment. We reported earlier that FDA approved PLGA nanoparticles without any drug can attenuate Aβ aggregation/toxicity in cellular/animal models of AD.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adherence to positive airway pressure treatment in patients with obstructive sleep apnea: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on sleep have been well studied. However, whether the COVID-19 pandemic impacted positive airway pressure (PAP) adherence in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) remains unclear.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adherence to PAP therapy in patients with OSA.

Modeling-Experiment-Theory Analysis of Reactions Initiated from Cl + Methyl Formate.

Methyl formate (MF; CHOCHO) is the smallest representative of esters, which are common components of biodiesel. The present study characterizes the thermal dissociation kinetics of the radicals formed by H atom abstraction from MF─CHOCO and CHOCHO─through a combination of modeling, experiment, and theory. For the experimental effort, excimer laser photolysis of Cl was used as a source of Cl atoms to initiate reactions with MF in the gas phase.

Differential Diagnosis of Pleural Effusion Using Machine Learning.

Differential diagnosis of pleural effusion is challenging in clinical practice. We aimed to develop a machine learning model to classify the five common causes of pleural effusions. This retrospective study collected 49 features from clinical information, blood, and pleural fluid of adult patients who underwent diagnostic thoracentesis between October 2013 and December 2018.

Delivery of siRNA using cationic rosette nanotubes for gene silencing.

The quest for new therapeutic treatments for hereditary diseases has led to many advances in RNA interference (RNAi) and gene silencing. While this technique has the potential to address many problems, the key to its continued use is the development of effective delivery strategies that would reduce cellular toxicity and increase silencing efficiency. Rosette nanotubes (RNTs) are biomimetic supramolecular nanostructures formed through the self-assembly of hybrid guanine-cytosine (G∧C) DNA bases.

Preclinical evaluation of manufacturable SARS-CoV-2 spike virus-like particles produced in Chinese Hamster Ovary cells.

Background: As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, novel vaccines need to be developed that are readily manufacturable and provide clinical efficacy against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. Virus-like particles (VLPs) presenting the spike antigen at their surface offer remarkable benefits over other vaccine antigen formats; however, current SARS-CoV-2 VLP vaccines candidates in clinical development suffer from challenges including low volumetric productivity, poor spike antigen density, expression platform-driven divergent protein glycosylation and complex upstream/downstream processing requirements. Despite their extensive use for therapeutic protein manufacturing and proven ability to produce enveloped VLPs, Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells are rarely used for the commercial production of VLP-based vaccines.

The Brain Tumor Segmentation (BraTS-METS) Challenge 2023: Brain Metastasis Segmentation on Pre-treatment MRI.

The translation of AI-generated brain metastases (BM) segmentation into clinical practice relies heavily on diverse, high-quality annotated medical imaging datasets. The BraTS-METS 2023 challenge has gained momentum for testing and benchmarking algorithms using rigorously annotated internationally compiled real-world datasets. This study presents the results of the segmentation challenge and characterizes the challenging cases that impacted the performance of the winning algorithms.

Agarose/crystalline nanocellulose (CNC) composites promote bone marrow-derived mast cell integrity, degranulation and receptor expression but inhibit production of synthesized mediators.

Mast cells are highly granulated tissue-resident leukocytes that require a three-dimensional matrix to differentiate and mediate immune responses. However, almost all cultured mast cells rely on two-dimensional suspension or adherent cell culture systems, which do not adequately reflect the complex structure that these cells require for optimal function. Crystalline nanocellulose (CNC), consisting of rod-like crystals 4-15 nm in diameter and 0.

Trends and an Online Survey on the Use of Rigid Bronchoscopy in Korea.

Background: Although almost all interventional pulmonologists agree that rigid bronchoscopy is irreplaceable in the field of interventional pulmonology, less is known about the types of diseases that the procedure is used for and what difficulties the operators face during the procedure. The purpose of this study is to evaluate what diseases rigid bronchoscopy is used for, whether it is widely used, and what challenges the operators face in Korea.

Methods: We enrolled 14 hospitals in this retrospective cohort of patients who underwent rigid bronchoscopy between 2003 and 2020.

Bimolecular Peroxy Radical (RO) Reactions and Their Relevance in Radical Initiated Oxidation of Hydrocarbons.

The kinetics of peroxy radical (RO) reactions have been of long-standing interest in atmospheric and combustion chemistry. Nevertheless, the lack of kinetic studies at higher temperatures for their reactions with other radicals such as OH has precluded the inclusion of this class of reactions in detailed kinetics models developed for combustion applications. In this work, guided by the limited room-temperature experimental studies on selected alkyl-peroxy radicals and literature theoretical kinetics on the prototypical CHO + OH system, we have performed parametric studies on the effect of uncertainties in the rate coefficients and branching ratios to potential product channels for RO + OH reactions at higher temperatures.

Effect of chlorhexidine Mouthrinse on prevention of microbial contamination during EBUS-TBNA: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Although endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is a minimally invasive procedure, fatal infectious complications have been reported. However, adequate preventive strategies have not been determined. We aimed to investigate the effect of chlorhexidine mouthrinse on the prevention of microbial contamination during EBUS-TBNA.

Stable Anode-Free All-Solid-State Lithium Battery through Tuned Metal Wetting on the Copper Current Collector.

A stable anode-free all-solid-state battery (AF-ASSB) with sulfide-based solid-electrolyte (SE) (argyrodite Li PS Cl) is achieved by tuning wetting of lithium metal on "empty" copper current-collector. Lithiophilic 1 µm Li Te is synthesized by exposing the collector to tellurium vapor, followed by in situ Li activation during the first charge. The Li Te significantly reduces the electrodeposition/electrodissolution overpotentials and improves Coulombic efficiency (CE).

Synthesis and properties of multi-functionalized graphene quantum dots with tunable photoluminescence and hydrophobicity from asphaltene and its oxidized and reduced derivatives.

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) with tunable photoluminescence (PL) and hydrophobicity were synthesized from an abundant natural carbon source containing nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen heteroatoms. Asphaltene and its oxidized and reduced derivatives were used as precursors to produce GQDs in organic solvents (, methanol, toluene, and chloroform) using a facile ultrasonication technique. Asphaltene surface chemistry was tuned by sequential oxidation and reduction to investigate the surface effects on GQD properties.