Review on the relationship between microplastics and heavy metals in freshwater near mining areas.

Microplastics (MPs), degraded from plastic wastes, have drawn significant attention worldwide due to its prevalence and rapid transition. Contamination of freshwater with MPs has become an emerging global issue. Heavy metals (HMs), a prominent global pollutant, also garnered much attention due to their potential interaction with MPs, presenting a multifaceted environmental threat.

Necessity of Analyzing the Korea Community Health Survey Using 7 Local Government Types.

Objectives: This study examined the potential of a new analytical framework for the Korea Community Health Survey (KCHS) with classification criteria for the sub-national governmental level, the degree of urbanization including an urban-rural multimodal category, and population size as a more effective tool to address local health problems and deduce practical implications.

Methods: Retrospective survey data from 2023 KCHS were obtained. Frequency analyses were performed for self-rated good health status, current smoking status, and unmet medical needs as proxies for health status, as well as healthcare utilization and health behavior, utilizing individual weights to represent national community residents.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Admissions and In-hospital Mortality of Patients with Stroke in Korea: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on admission rates and in-hospital mortality among patients with ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke.

Methods: We constructed a dataset detailing the monthly hospitalizations and mortality rates of inpatients with stroke from January 2017 to December 2021. Employing an interrupted time series analysis, we explored the impact of COVID-19 on hospitalizations and 30-day in-hospital mortality among stroke patients.

Advanced systems for enhanced CO electroreduction.

Carbon dioxide (CO) electroreduction has extraordinary significance in curbing CO emissions while simultaneously producing value-added chemicals with economic and environmental benefits. In recent years, breakthroughs in designing catalysts, optimizing intrinsic activity, developing reactors, and elucidating reaction mechanisms have continuously driven the advancement of CO electroreduction. However, the industrialization of CO electroreduction remains a challenging task, with high energy consumption, high costs, limited reaction products, and restricted application scenarios being the issues that urgently need to be addressed.

Correction: The association between the risk perceptions of COVID-19, trust in the government, political ideologies, and socio-demographic factors: A year-long cross-sectional study in South Korea.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Bioorthogonal Activation of Deep Red Photoredox Catalysis Inducing Pyroptosis.

The revolutionary impact of photoredox catalytic processes has ignited novel avenues for exploration, empowering us to delve into nature in unprecedented ways and to pioneer innovative biotechnologies for therapy and diagnosis. However, integrating artificial photoredox catalysis into living systems presents significant challenges, primarily due to concerns over low targetability, low compatibility with complex biological environments, and the safety risks associated with photocatalyst toxicity. To address these challenges, herein, we present a novel bioorthogonally activatable photoredox catalysis approach.

Microplastic and human health with focus on pediatric well-being: a comprehensive review and call for future studies.

Although humans are highly dependent on plastics from infancy to adolescence, these materials can degrade into ubiquitous microplastics (MPs) that affect individuals at every stage of life. However, information on the sources, mechanisms, detection techniques, and detrimental effects of MPs on children's health from infancy to adolescence is limited. Hence, here we identified and reviewed original research papers published in 2017-2023 across 11 database categories in PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science to improve our understanding of MPs with a focus on pediatric well-being.

Monosilicon Derivatives of Phenanthrene and Pyrene as Potential Singlet Fission Materials for High-Performance Solar Cells.

Singlet fission (SF) is a process in which the energy of a singlet-excited molecule is divided into two triplet excitations. This is a special case of an internal conversion that is spin-allowed and extremely fast. Ideally, this process utilizes one photon to produce two electron-hole pairs.

Mortality and Disparities of Acute Myocardial Infarction and Stroke in Korea, 2008-2019.

Purpose: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and stroke are leading global causes of death and can be used to assess acute care quality. We examined the 30-day mortality trends after emergency department admission for AMI and stroke in Korea from 2008 to 2019, focusing on regional and income disparities.

Materials And Methods: The AMI and stroke patients admitted to hospitals in Korea were collected from the claims data.

Metabolic health is more strongly associated with the severity and mortality of coronavirus disease 2019 than obesity.

Background: Obesity has been suggested to be associated with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); however, it is unclear whether obesity or metabolic abnormalities accompanied by obesity have a stronger association with COVID-19 risk.

Methods: This study used the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency database, which includes information about the COVID-19 diagnosis and mortality dates of the entire Korean population between October 2020 and December 2021 (for diagnosis) or March 2022 (for mortality). A total of 24,310,283 adults were included and classified into four metabolic obesity phenotypes: (1) metabolically healthy and normal weight (MHNW), (2) metabolically unhealthy and normal weight (MUNW), (3) metabolically healthy and obese (MHO), and (4) metabolically unhealthy and obese (MUO).

Lutetium Texaphyrin-Celecoxib Conjugate as a Potential Immuno-Photodynamic Therapy Agent.

Immuno-photodynamic therapy (IPDT) has emerged as a new modality for cancer treatment. Novel photosensitizers can help achieve the promise inherent in IPDT, namely, the complete eradication of a tumor without recurrence. We report here a small molecule photosensitizer conjugate, LuCXB.

A comprehensive review of urban microplastic pollution sources, environment and human health impacts, and regulatory efforts.

Microplastic (MP) pollution in urban environments is a pervasive and complex problem with significant environmental and human health implications. Although studies have been conducted on MP pollution in urban environments, there are still research gaps in understanding the exact sources, regulation, and impact of urban MP on the environment and public health. Therefore, the goal of this study is to provide a comprehensive overview of the complex pathways, harmful effects, and regulatory efforts of urban MP pollution.

Limits, challenges, and opportunities of sampling groundwater wells with plastic casings for microplastic investigations.

Investigating microplastics (MPs) in groundwater suffers from problems already faced by surface water research, such as the absence of common protocols for sampling and analysis. While the use of plastic instruments during the collection, processing, and analysis of water samples is usually avoided in order to minimize unintentional contamination, groundwater research encompassing MPs faces unique challenges. Groundwater sampling typically relies on pre-existing monitoring wells (MWs) and water wells (WWs) that are often constructed with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) casings or pipes due to their favorable price-performance ratio.

Main Group SnNO Single Sites with Optimized Charge Distribution for Boosting the Oxygen Reduction Reaction.

Transition metal single-atom catalysts (SACs) have been regarded as possible alternatives to platinum-based materials due to their satisfactory performance of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). By contrast, main-group metal elements are rarely studied due to their unfavorable surface and electronic states. Herein, a main-group Sn-based SAC with penta-coordinated and asymmetric first-shell ligands is reported as an efficient and robust ORR catalyst.

Occurrence and geochemistry of altered radioactive accessory minerals as sources of radionuclide in Mesozoic granite aquifers (Korea).

Accessory minerals in granitic rocks are unlikely significant radionuclide contributions to groundwater due to their remarkable durability. However, accessory minerals incorporating U and Th may suffer structural damages due to the radioactivity and become highly susceptible to alteration. This study investigates geochemistry coupled with textural analysis of the U-Th bearing accessory minerals using a field emission scanning electron microscope and an electron probe micro-analyzer.

Safety of deer antler extract in children: A 12-week randomized controlled clinical trial.

Background: Deer antlers have been used as strong tonifying medicine in Asian countries, especially for the growth and development of children in pediatrics of Korean medicine. The safety of deer antler in adults cannot be applied directly to children because of their physiological characteristics. To accumulate reliable data on the safety of deer antler in pediatric populations, well-designed clinical studies are required.

Ozone decomposition on transition-metal-atom anchored graphdiyne: Insights from computation and experiment.

Transition-metal-atom anchored graphdiynes (TM@GDY, TM = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni and Cu) have already been synthesized and found applications in hydrogen evolution, nitrogen fixation and etc. By means of first-principle predictions and test experiments, we propose here that Fe@GDY and Co@GDY are efficient catalysts for the sustainable conversion of O to O. These two catalysts can spontaneously chemisorb O with zero reaction barrier and have low O conversion barriers (0.

Disparity in the dental care of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder in Korea: a national population-based cross-sectional study.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have difficulty accessing dental care. We aim to verify whether individuals with ASD are properly managed by checking the frequency of dental visits, cost and severity of dental treatment compared with those without ASD. This cross-sectional study used the Korean Health Insurance Database to analyze the frequency, cost and severity of dental treatment in 209,780 people under the age of 19 with or without ASD in 2020.

Worsening of health disparities across COVID-19 pandemic stages in Korea.

Objectives: With the end of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the health outcomes of this disease in Korea must be examined. We aimed to investigate health outcomes and disparities linked to socioeconomic status during the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea and to identify risk factors for hospitalization and mortality.

Methods: This nationwide retrospective study incorporated an analysis of individuals with and without COVID-19 in Korea between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2022.

Theoretical insight into the doubly antiaromatic carbon allotrope cyclo[16]carbon.

A new carbon allotrope, cyclo[16]carbon (C), has recently been successfully synthesized. It is hypothesized to exhibit double antiaromatic properties owing to the 4 π electrons. Theoretical calculations are a feasible method for systematically studying the structures and properties of unstable antiaromatic molecules.

Preliminary evaluation of the effect of revised reimbursement scheme in outpatient hemodialysis for medical aid recipients in Korea.

Background: South Korea has universal health coverage guaranteeing equitable healthcare for all. However, equity issues have been raised regarding hemodialysis reimbursement for medical aid recipients with chronic kidney disease. Physicians and civic groups demanded a revision of the discriminatory policy, and in response, the Ministry of Health and Welfare amended the hemodialysis case payment scheme.

An epidemic of cataract surgery in Korea: the effects of private health insurance on the National Health Insurance Service.

Objectives: In Korea, the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) covers essential healthcare expenses, including cataract surgery. To address concerns that private health insurance (PHI) might have inflated the need for such procedures, we investigated the extent of the PHI-attributable increase in cataract surgery and its impact on NHIS-reimbursed expenses.

Methods: This retrospective, observational study uses nationwide claims data for cataract surgery from 2016 to 2020.

COVID-19 Mortality and Severity in Cancer Patients and Cancer Survivors.

Background: We aimed to investigate mortality, severity, and risk of hospitalization in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients with cancer.

Methods: Data of all patients aged 40-79 years from the Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency-COVID19-National Health Insurance Service who were diagnosed with COVID-19 between January 1, 2020 and March 31, 2022, in Korea were included. After 1:1 propensity score matching, 397,050 patients with cancer and 397,050 patients without cancer were enrolled in the main analysis.

Neurobehavioral effects of the exposure to mercury vapor and methylmercury during postnatal period on mice.

In this study, we investigated the neurobehavioral alterations and modifications of gene expression in the brains of female mice exposed to low-level mercury vapor and/or methylmercury during postnatal development. The mice were exposed to low-level mercury vapor at a mean concentration of 0.094 mg/m and supplied with tap water containing 5 ppm methylmercury from postnatal day 11 to 12 weeks of age.

Insight into Controllable Metal-Support Interactions in Metal/Metal Electrocatalysts for Efficient Energy-Saving Hydrogen Production.

Controllable metal-support interaction (MSI) modulations have long been studied for improving the performance of catalysts supported on metal oxides. However, the corresponding in-depth study for metal-metal (M-M) composited configurations is rarely achieved due to the lack of reliable models and manipulation mechanisms of MSI modifications. We modeled ruthenium on copper support (Ru-Cu) metal catalysts with negligible interfacial contact potential (e0.