Moderating Effects of Individual Traits on the Association Between Nature and Patient Wait Experiences.

Objectives: We empirically investigated to what extent plants in the emergency department (ED) waiting areas influence patient wait experiences (i.e., anxiety, perceived service quality, and perception of wait time) depending on individual differences in cognitive thinking styles and one's bonds with the natural world.

An Investigation of the Effect of Virtual Reality on Alleviating Anxiety in Patients With Breast Cancer Undergoing Radiation Therapy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the anxiety-reducing effects of virtual reality (VR) on patients with breast cancer undergoing adjuvant radiation therapy (RT).

Methods And Materials: This randomized controlled trial was conducted among patients with breast cancer receiving RT at a single institution. Of 196 enrolled and randomized patients, 97 were assigned to a VR explanation group (intervention) and 99 were assigned to the standard-of-care group (control).

Assessing Spatial User Experience for Design Guidelines: A Comparative Study of Outpatient Waiting Rooms With Conventional Versus Modern Features.

Objectives: Identify waiting room design features that are most appreciated by outpatients and their companions in conventional and modern waiting rooms. Evaluate if end users evaluate the environment differently from experts and in what aspects. Provide evidence-based design guidelines that orient designers and healthcare managers.

Ultra-Stable and Highly Efficient White Light Emitting Diodes through CsPbBr Perovskite Nanocrystals-Silica Composite Phosphor Functionalized with Surface Phenyl Molecules.

Poor stability of CsPbBr perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) to moisture/heat/light has significantly limited their application as a green phosphor, despite their outstanding luminescent properties. Here, a remarkably stable CsPbBr NCs-silica composite phosphor functionalized with surface phenyl molecules (CsPbBr -SiO ) is synthesized by controlling low-temperature hydrolysis and condensation reaction of perhydropolysilazane in the presence of CsPbBr NCs followed by phenyl-functionalization. Through the process, CsPbBr NCs are confined in a compact silica matrix, which is impermeable to H O.

Affective experience in a virtual crowd regulates perceived travel time.

Unlabelled: Time sometimes feels like it is flying by or slowing down. Previous research indicates objective number of items, subjective affect, and heart rate all can influence the experience of time. While these factors are usually tested in isolation with simple stimuli in the laboratory, here we examined them together in the ecological context of a virtual subway ride.

Passivation and Interlayer Effect of Zr(i-PrO) on Green CuGaS/ZnS/Zr(i-PrO)@AlO and Red CuInS/ZnS/Zr(i-PrO)@AlO QD Hybrid Powders.

Broadband emissive I-III-VI quantum dots (QDs) are synthesized as efficient and stable I-III-VI QDs to be used as eco-friendly luminescent materials in various applications. Here, we introduce the additional passivation of zirconium isopropoxide (Zr(i-PrO)) to improve the optical properties and environmental stability of green-emitting CuGaS/ZnS (G-CGS/ZnS) and red-emitting CuInS/ZnS (R-CIS/ZnS) QDs. The photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of both resultant Zr(i-PrO)-coated G-CGS/ZnS and R-CIS/ZnS QDs reaches similar values of ~ 95%.

Assessing the Visualization-Based Decision Support System for Environmental Impact Assessments.

Even though environmental impact assessments (EIAs) have been an important tool for environmental decision-making, most EIAs are published as a mix of text and tabular data that is not easily accessible to or understandable for the public. In this paper, we present a decision support system (DSS) that supports the decision-making of stakeholders in the EIA stage. The system was designed to improve the public's understanding of stakeholders before and after a construction project by providing visualization of key environmental elements.

Subcutaneously Injectable Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel for Sustained Release of Donepezil with Reduced Initial Burst Release: Effect of Hybridization of Microstructured Lipid Carriers and Albumin.

The daily oral administration of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors for Alzheimer's disease features low patient compliance and can lead to low efficacy or high toxicity owing to irregular intake. Herein, we developed a subcutaneously injectable hyaluronic acid hydrogel (MLC/HSA hydrogel) hybridized with microstructured lipid carriers (MLCs) and human serum albumin (HSA) for the sustained release of donepezil (DNP) with reduced initial burst release. The lipid carrier was designed to have a microsized mean diameter (32.

Development and Validation of Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Method for Pharmacokinetic Evaluation of 7β-(3-Ethyl-cis-crotonoyloxy)-1α-(2-methylbutyryloxy)-3,14-dehydro-Z-notonipetranon in Rats.

Recently, potent neuroprotective and anti-diabetic effects of 7-(3-Ethyl-cis-crotonoyloxy)-1-(2-methylbutyryloxy)-3,14-dehydro--notonipetranone (ECN), a sesquiterpenoid isolated from Linnaeus, have been elucidated. To facilitate further pre-clinical evaluation in rats, an analytical method for the determination of ECN in rat plasma was developed and optimized by using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Plasma samples were pretreated by the protein precipitation method with an acetonitrile solution of losartan (LST) as the internal standard.

Enhanced Efficacy of Immunization with a Foot-and-Mouth Disease Multi-Epitope Subunit Vaccine Using Mannan-Decorated Inulin Microparticles.

Background: Despite the many advantages of recombinant subunit vaccines, they have critical weaknesses that include a low efficacy for promoting cellular and humoral immune responses against antigens because of their poor immunogenicity, and a rapidly cleared properties as a result of proteolytic enzymes in the body. To circumvent these problems, we developed mannan-decorated inulin acetate microparticles (M-IA MPs) that functioned as carriers and adjuvants for immunization with the recombinant foot-and-mouth disease multi-epitope subunit vaccine (M5BT).

Methods: The M5BT-loaded M-IA MPs were obtained by a double-emulsion solvent-evaporation method.

[Influence of Partnerships with Nurses and Social Support on Readiness for Discharge among Mothers of Premature Infants].

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate partnerships with nurses, social support and readiness for discharge among mothers of premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and to examine the factors associated with readiness for discharge.

Methods: A survey was conducted among 85 mothers of premature infants hospitalized in a NICU in Seoul, Korea. The collected data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, the t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson' correlation coefficients, and multiple linear regression using SPSS version 25.

Oral Immunization of FMDV Vaccine Using pH-Sensitive and Mucoadhesive Thiolated Cellulose Acetate Phthalate Microparticles.

Several barriers such as gastric pH, enzymatic degradation and rapid transit should be overcome to orally deliver antigens for taking up by epithelial microfold cells in Peyer's patches of small intestine. To solve the above mentioned problems, we designed pH-sensitive and mucoadhesive polymeric microparticles (MPs) prepared by double emulsion technique using cellulose acetate phthalate (CAP) to enhance immune response of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus (FMDV) subunit vaccine. Thiolation of CAP improved mucoadhesive property of CAP to prolong the MPs transit time through the gastrointestinal tract.

Systemic administration of RANKL overcomes the bottleneck of oral vaccine delivery through microfold cells in ileum.

A successful delivery of antigen through oral route requires to overcome several barriers, such as enzymatic barrier of gastrointestinal tract and epithelial barrier that constitutes of microfold cells (M cells) for antigen uptake. Although each barrier represents a critical step in determining the final efficiency of antigen delivery, the transcytosis of antigen by M cells in the follicle-associated epithelium (FAE) to Peyer's patches appears to be a major bottleneck. Considering the systemic administration of receptor activator of nuclear factor (NF)-ĸB ligand (RANKL) induces differentiation of receptor activator of nuclear factor (NF)-ĸB (RANK)-expressing enterocytes into M cells, here, we illustrated a promising approach of antigen delivery using full length transmembrane RANKL (mRANKL).

A Korean multicenter study of prenatal risk factors for overt diabetes during the postpartum period after gestational diabetes mellitus.

Objective: To identify prenatal risk factors for postpartum diabetes among pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

Methods: In a retrospective study, baseline characteristics and data from a postpartum 75-g glucose tolerance test (GTT) were reviewed for patients with GDM who had delivered in four Korean tertiary institutions from 2006 to 2012. Clinical characteristics were compared between women with and those without postpartum diabetes.

A combined ultrasound and clinical scoring model for the prediction of peripartum complications in pregnancies complicated by placenta previa.

Objectives: To generate a combined ultrasound and clinical model predictive for peripartum complications in pregnancies complicated by placenta previa.

Study Design: This study included 110 singleton pregnant women with placenta previa delivered by cesarean section (CS) from July 2011 to November 2013. We prospectively collected ultrasound and clinical data before CS and observed the occurrence of blood transfusion, uterine artery embolization and cesarean hysterectomy.

Development of enrichment semi-nested PCR for Clostridium botulinum types A, B, E, and F and its application to Korean environmental samples.

An enrichment semi-nested PCR procedure was developed for detection of Clostridium botulinum types A, B, E, and F. It was applied to sediment samples to examine the prevalence of C. botulinum in the Korean environment.

Determination of neurotoxin gene expression in Clostridium botulinum type A by quantitative RT-PCR.

Real time reverse transcription (RT)-PCR was used to quantify the expression of the botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT/A) gene (cntA) by normalization with the expression of 16S rRNA. The method were confirmed by monitoring the mRNA levels of cntA during growth in five type A strains. In all but one of the strains the expression of cntA mRNA was maximal in the late exponential phase, and approximately 35-fold greater than in the early exponential phase.

Application of real-time PCR for quantitative detection of Clostridium botulinum type A toxin gene in food.

The TaqMan real-time PCR method for the quantitative detection of C. botulinum type A was developed based on sequence-specific hybridization probes. The validity of this assay was verified by using 10 genera of 20 strains, including reference strains of C.