Evaluation of the Diagnostic Performance and Efficacy of Wearable Electrocardiogram Monitoring for Arrhythmia Detection after Cardiac Surgery.

Background: Postoperative atrial fibrillation (A-fib) is a serious complication of cardiac surgery that is associated with increased mortality and morbidity. Traditional 24-hour Holter monitors have limitations, which have prompted the development of innovative wearable electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring devices. This study assessed a patch-type wearable ECG device (MobiCARE-MC100) for monitoring A-fib in patients undergoing cardiac surgery and compared it with 24-hour Holter ECG monitoring.

Delayed aortic regurgitation after TEVAR procedure: a case report.

Background: Acute aortic regurgitation (AR) is uncommon condition and usually results in an emergent situation because the left ventricle does not adapt quickly due to a sudden increase in end-diastolic volume caused by the regurgitant flow. Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) is a procedure that places a stent-graft on the lesion of thoracic aorta through a minimally invasive approach.

Case Presentation: Here we report that a catheter-induced aortic valve injury associated with TEVAR can cause delayed AR, exemplified by the case of a patient who developed acute AR 42 months after TEVAR.

Prognostic Impact of Postoperative Complications in High-Risk Operable Non-small Cell Lung Cancer.

Background: Patients with high-risk (HR) operable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may have unique prognostic factors. This study aimed to evaluate surgical outcomes in HR patients and to investigate prognostic factors in HR patients versus standard-risk (SR) patients.

Methods: In total, 471 consecutive patients who underwent curative lung resection for NSCLC between January 2012 and December 2017 were identified and reviewed retrospectively.

A Complication of Diaphragm Repair Using a Gore-Tex (Expanded Polytetrafluorethylene) Membrane: A Case Report.

A 65-year-old man underwent right trisectionectomy of the liver and reconstruction of the chest wall and diaphragm with a 2-mm Gore-Tex membrane due to recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma. After 3 years, the Gore-Tex membrane in the diaphragm migrated to the abdominal cavity and perforated the colon. We report a rare complication of a Gore-Tex membrane after diaphragm repair.

Development of a Novel Gas-Sensing Platform Based on a Network of Metal Oxide Nanowire Junctions Formed on a Suspended Carbon Nanomesh Backbone.

Junction networks made of longitudinally connected metal oxide nanowires (MOx NWs) have been widely utilized in resistive-type gas sensors because the potential barrier at the NW junctions leads to improved gas sensing performances. However, conventional MOx-NW-based gas sensors exhibit limited gas access to the sensing sites and reduced utilization of the entire NW surfaces because the NW networks are grown on the substrate. This study presents a novel gas sensor platform facilitating the formation of ZnO NW junction networks in a suspended architecture by growing ZnO NWs radially on a suspended carbon mesh backbone consisting of sub-micrometer-sized wires.

An mHealth App (Speech Banana) for Auditory Training: App Design and Development Study.

Background: With the growing adult population using electronic hearing devices such as cochlear implants or hearing aids, there is an increasing worldwide need for auditory training (AT) to promote optimal device use. However, financial resources and scheduling conflicts make clinical AT infeasible.

Objective: To address this gap between need and accessibility, we primarily aimed to develop a mobile health (mHealth) app called Speech Banana for AT.

Spatio-temporal patterns of the minimum rest time for outdoor workers exposed to summer heat stress in South Korea.

In this study, the spatio-temporal characteristics of the minimum rest time for the safety of South Korean outdoor workers during hot summer months (June to August) are examined based on the hourly wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) across 27 weather stations in South Korea. The WBGT thresholds in the work-rest recommendation of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA 2017) for the quantification of the minimum rest time are evaluated through a comparison of the given thresholds with the occurrences of occupational heat-related illness patients due to outdoor work during hot summer months in South Korea. The long-term (2009-2018) average of the hourly WBGT values during summer months shows that outdoor workers with a moderate workload are exposed to heat stress during approximately 30% of the entire daytime working hours (06:00-18:00).

V2X-Communication-Aided Autonomous Driving: System Design and Experimental Validation.

In recent years, research concerning autonomous driving has gained momentum to enhance road safety and traffic efficiency. Relevant concepts are being applied to the fields of perception, planning, and control of automated vehicles to leverage the advantages offered by the vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication technology. This paper presents a V2X communication-aided autonomous driving system for vehicles.

Increased cerebral blood volume in small arterial vessels is a correlate of amyloid-β-related cognitive decline.

The protracted accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) is a major pathologic hallmark of Alzheimer's disease and may trigger secondary pathological processes that include neurovascular damage. This study was aimed at investigating long-term effects of Aβ burden on cerebral blood volume of arterioles and pial arteries (CBVa), possibly present before manifestation of dementia. Aβ burden was assessed by 11C Pittsburgh compound-B positron emission tomography in 22 controls and 18 persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), [ages: 75(±6) years].

Multilevel States of Nano-Electromechanical Switch for a PUF-Based Security Device.

A nano-electromechanical (NEM) switch using multilevel states based on the high security physical unclonable function (PUF) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Using the asymmetric random stiction of a silicon nanowire (SiNW), the conventional binary state is simply expanded to a quaternary-state encryption key without increasing chip area. The multiple states are determined by the asymmetrically bent direction and stiction of the SiNW.

Designing Surface Chemistry of Silver Nanocrystals for Radio Frequency Circuit Applications.

We introduce solution-based, room temperature- and atmospheric pressure-processed silver nanocrystal (Ag NC)-based electrical circuits and interconnects for radio frequency (RF)/microwave frequency applications. We chemically designed the surface and interface states of Ag NC thin films to achieve high stability, dc and ac conductivity, and minimized RF loss through stepwise ligand exchange, shell coating, and surface cleaning. The chemical and structural properties of the circuits and interconnects affect the high-frequency electrical performance of Ag NC thin films, as confirmed by high-frequency electromagnetic field simulations.

Effects of climate change-related heat stress on labor productivity in South Korea.

This study assessed the potential impact of heat stress on labor productivity in South Korea; as such, stress is expected to increase due to climate change. To quantify the future loss of labor productivity, we used the relationship between the wet-bulb globe temperature and work-rest cycles with representative concentration pathways (RCPs) 4.5 and 8.

Transition States of Nanocrystal Thin Films during Ligand-Exchange Processes for Potential Applications in Wearable Sensors.

Ligand exchange is an advanced technique for tuning the various properties of nanocrystal (NC) thin films, widely used in the NC thin-film device applications. Understanding how the NC thin films transform into functional thin-film devices upon ligand exchange is essential. Here, we investigated the process of structural transformation and accompanying property changes in the NC thin films, by monitoring the various characteristics of silver (Ag) NC thin films at each stage of the ligand-exchange process.

A Three-Step Resolution-Reconfigurable Hazardous Multi-Gas Sensor Interface for Wireless Air-Quality Monitoring Applications.

This paper presents a resolution-reconfigurable wide-range resistive sensor readout interface for wireless multi-gas monitoring applications that displays results on a smartphone. Three types of sensing resolutions were selected to minimize processing power consumption, and a dual-mode front-end structure was proposed to support the detection of a variety of hazardous gases with wide range of characteristic resistance. The readout integrated circuit (ROIC) was fabricated in a 0.

Chemically Designed Metallic/Insulating Hybrid Nanostructures with Silver Nanocrystals for Highly Sensitive Wearable Pressure Sensors.

With the increase in interest in wearable tactile pressure sensors for e-skin, researches to make nanostructures to achieve high sensitivity have been actively conducted. However, limitations such as complex fabrication processes using expensive equipment still exist. Herein, simple lithography-free techniques to develop pyramid-like metal/insulator hybrid nanostructures utilizing nanocrystals (NCs) are demonstrated.

Nano-electromechanical Switch Based on a Physical Unclonable Function for Highly Robust and Stable Performance in Harsh Environments.

A physical unclonable function (PUF) device using a nano-electromechanical (NEM) switch was demonstrated. The most important feature of the NEM-switch-based PUF is its use of stiction. Stiction is one of the chronic problems associated with micro- and nano-electromechanical system (MEMS/NEMS) devices; however, here, it was utilized to intentionally implement a PUF for hardware-based security.

Attenuates Insulin Resistance in Obese Human Subjects and High-Fat Diet-Induced Obese Mice.

Background: Obesity is a main cause of insulin resistance (IR), metabolic syndrome, and fatty liver diseases. This study evaluated radix () as a potential treatment option for obesity and obesity-induced IR in obese human and high-fat diet- (HFD-) induced obese mice.

Methods: In the human study, we analyzed the body weight change of 14 patients who took a single dose of 6 g of powder.

Designing Metallic and Insulating Nanocrystal Heterostructures to Fabricate Highly Sensitive and Solution Processed Strain Gauges for Wearable Sensors.

All-solution processed, high-performance wearable strain sensors are demonstrated using heterostructure nanocrystal (NC) solids. By incorporating insulating artificial atoms of CdSe quantum dot NCs into metallic artificial atoms of Au NC thin film matrix, metal-insulator heterostructures are designed. This hybrid structure results in a shift close to the percolation threshold, modifying the charge transport mechanism and enhancing sensitivity in accordance with the site percolation theory.

Herbal acupuncture for type 2 diabetes: A meta-analysis.

Herbal acupuncture (HA) is a modern adjunctive technique in which natural herbs or biologic substances are injected into acupuncture points. The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate evidence of the effectiveness of HA for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Three databases were searched.

Engineering the Charge Transport of Ag Nanocrystals for Highly Accurate, Wearable Temperature Sensors through All-Solution Processes.

All-nanocrystal (NC)-based and all-solution-processed wearable resistance temperature detectors (RTDs) are introduced. The charge transport mechanisms of Ag NC thin films are engineered through various ligand treatments to design high performance RTDs. Highly conductive Ag NC thin films exhibiting metallic transport behavior with high positive temperature coefficients of resistance (TCRs) are achieved through tetrabutylammonium bromide treatment.

Abnormal Grey Matter Arteriolar Cerebral Blood Volume in Schizophrenia Measured With 3D Inflow-Based Vascular-Space-Occupancy MRI at 7T.

Metabolic dysfunction and microvascular abnormality may contribute to the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Most previous studies of cerebral perfusion in schizophrenia measured total cerebral blood volume (CBV) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the brain, which reflect the ensemble signal from the arteriolar, capillary, and venular compartments of the microvasculature. As the arterioles are the most actively regulated blood vessels among these compartments, they may be the most sensitive component of the microvasculature to metabolic disturbances.

Herbal Acupuncture for the Treatment of Obesity.

Obesity is the state of excessive body fat accumulation and is mainly caused by consuming more calories than are burned through physical activity. Herbal acupuncture (HA), also known as pharmacopuncture, has been increasingly used in clinics of Korean medical to alleviate obesity. This review analyzed four clinical studies and 16 animal studies on the effectiveness of HA as a treatment for obesity.

A new strategy for integrating abundant oxygen functional groups into carbon felt electrode for vanadium redox flow batteries.

The effects of surface treatment combining corona discharge and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) on the electrochemical performance of carbon felt electrodes for vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) have been thoroughly investigated. A high concentration of oxygen functional groups has been successfully introduced onto the surface of the carbon felt electrodes by a specially designed surface treatment, which is mainly responsible for improving the energy efficiency of VRFBs. In addition, the wettability of the carbon felt electrodes also can be significantly improved.

Large-scale solvothermal synthesis of fluorescent carbon nanoparticles.

The large-scale production of high-quality carbon nanomaterials is highly desirable for a variety of applications. We demonstrate a novel synthetic route to the production of fluorescent carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) in large quantities via a single-step reaction. The simple heating of a mixture of benzaldehyde, ethanol and graphite oxide (GO) with residual sulfuric acid in an autoclave produced 7 g of CNPs with a quantum yield of 20%.