Unraveling the interplay between cardiovascular diseases and alcohol use disorder: A bioinformatics and network-based exploration of shared molecular pathways and key biomarkers validation via western blot analysis.

Clinical observations indicate a pronounced exacerbation of Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) in individuals grappling with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), suggesting an intricate interplay between these maladies. Pinpointing shared risk factors for both conditions has proven elusive. To address this, we pioneered a sophisticated bioinformatics framework and network-based strategy to unearth genes exhibiting aberrant expression patterns in both AUD and CVDs.

Effects of Polybutylene Succinate Content on the Rheological Properties of Polylactic Acid/Polybutylene Succinate Blends and the Characteristics of Their Fibers.

Polylactic acid (PLA) and polybutylene succinate (PBS) are gaining prominence as environmentally friendly alternatives to petroleum-based polymers due to their inherent biodegradability. For their textile applications, this research is focused on exploring the effects of PBS content on the rheological properties of PLA/PBS blends and the characteristics of PLA/PBS blend fibers. PLA/PBS blends and fibers with varying PBS contents (0 to 10 wt.

Edge-Triggered Three-Dimensional Object Detection Using a LiDAR Ring.

Autonomous driving recognition technology that can quickly and accurately recognize even small objects must be developed in high-speed situations. This study proposes an object point extraction method using rule-based LiDAR ring data and edge triggers to increase both speed and performance. The LiDAR's ring information is interpreted as a digital pulse to remove the ground, and object points are extracted by detecting discontinuous edges of the z value aligned with the ring ID and azimuth.

Study on Associating Emotions in Verbal Reactions to Facial Expressions in Dementia.

The purpose of this study was to provide basic data on cognitive therapy and to improve social support programs for the elderly with dementia by identifying the difficulties they experienced in emotional communication by identifying how they recognized emotions in verbal reactions to facial expressions using Ekman's photographs of facial expressions and comparing their responses with the general elderly population. There were 141 participants in this study. Data collection was conducted from 3 April 2019 to 30 June 2019 in Seoul, in the Gyeonggi-do and Gangwon-do provinces of South Korea.

Synthesis of Thermoplastic Polyurethanes Containing Bio-Based Polyester Polyol and Their Fiber Property.

Among the starting materials of thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs), it was confirmed that succinic acid-based polyester biopolyols having different molecular weights (M = 1000, 2000, and 4000) affect the physicochemical properties of the final polymer significantly. Bio-TPUs synthesized through a solvent-free one-shot polymerization process were synthesized with a polyester polyol, 1,4 butanediol (BDO), and 4,4'-methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) in a molar ratio of 1:1:2. As a control group, one typical petroleum-based TPU was synthesized and characterized along with other bio-based TPUs.

Vehicle Trajectory Prediction with Lane Stream Attention-Based LSTMs and Road Geometry Linearization.

It is essential for autonomous vehicles at level 3 or higher to have the ability to predict the trajectories of surrounding vehicles to safely and effectively plan and drive along trajectories in complex traffic situations. However, predicting the future behavior of vehicles is a challenging issue because traffic vehicles each have different drivers with different driving tendencies and intentions and they interact with each other. This paper presents a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) encoder-decoder model that utilizes an attention mechanism that focuses on certain information to predict vehicles' trajectories.

A comparison of meta-analysis results with and without adjustment for the healthy worker effect: cancer mortality among workers in the semiconductor industry.

Objectives: This study compared the results of meta-analysis with and without adjustment for the healthy worker effect on the association between working in the semiconductor industry and cancer mortality.

Methods: Six studies that reported standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for cancers were selected for meta-analysis. Using a random-effects model, the SMR results from each study were combined for all cancers and leukemias to estimate the summary SMRs (95% confidence interval, CI).

Correlation between levels of airborne endotoxin and heavy metals in subway environments in South Korea.

This study aimed to evaluate the exposure levels and variation in airborne endotoxin and heavy metals such as aluminum, chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), zinc, and lead (Pb) in the three different South Korean subway environments (driver room, station office, and underground tunnel) and identify subway characteristics influencing endotoxin and heavy metals levels. Air samples were collected and analyzed using the kinetic Limulus Amebocyte Lysate assay and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometers. The geometric mean was determined for endotoxin levels (0.

The Enhanced Hydrogen Storage Capacity of Carbon Fibers: The Effect of Hollow Porous Structure and Surface Modification.

In this study, highly porous carbon fiber was prepared for hydrogen storage. Porous carbon fiber (PCF) and activated porous carbon fiber (APCF) were derived by carbonization and chemical activation after selectively removing polyvinyl alcohol from a bi-component fiber composed of polyvinyl alcohol and polyacrylonitrile (PAN). The chemical activation created more pores on the surface of the PCF, and consequently, highly porous APCF was obtained with an improved BET surface area (3058 m g) and micropore volume (1.

Effect of the Morphology and Electrical Property of Metal-Deposited ZnO Nanostructures on CO Gas Sensitivity.

The development of a highly sensitive gas sensor for toxic gases is an important issue in that it can reduce the damage caused by unexpected gas leaks. In this regard, in order to make the sensor accurate and highly responsive, we have investigated which morphology is effective to improve the sensitivity and how the deposited nanoparticle affects the sensitivity by controlling the morphology of semiconductor oxides-either nanorod or nanoplate-and depositing metal nanoparticles on the semiconductor surface. In this study, we compared the CO gas sensitivity for sensors with different morphology (rod and plate) of ZnO nanostructure with metal nanoparticles (gold and copper) photodeposited and investigated the correlation between the gas sensitivity and some factors such as the morphology of ZnO and the properties of the deposited metal.

Cu/CuO@ZnO Hollow Nanofiber Gas Sensor: Effect of Hollow Nanofiber Structure and P-N Junction on Operating Temperature and Sensitivity.

For the fast and easy detection of carbon monoxide (CO) gas, it was necessary to develop a CO gas sensor to operate in low temperatures. Herein, a novel Cu/CuO-decorated ZnO hollow nanofiber was prepared with the electrospinning, calcination, and photodeposition methods. In the presence of 100 ppm CO gas, the Cu/CuO-photodeposited ZnO hollow nanofiber (Cu/CuO@ZnO HNF) showed twice higher sensitivity than that of pure ZnO nanofiber at a relatively low working temperature of 300 °C.

The Morphological Effects of ZnO Upon the Antimicrobial and Deodorant Activities of Polyethylene Terephthalate/ZnO Composite Filaments.

In this study, the morphological effects of ZnO on the antimicrobial and deodorant activities of synthetic fibers were investigated. Three different polyethylene terephthalate (PET)/ZnO filaments were prepared by incorporating various ZnO nanostructures (rods, plates, and spheres) into PET filaments via a melt-spinning process. The antimicrobial activity of the as-prepared fibers was evaluated by the shake-flask method using two types of bacteria ().

Pulmonary Function Impairment From Exposure to Mixed Organic Solvents in Male Shipyard Painters.

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the effects of chronic exposure to organic solvents on lung function in a shipyard painters.

Methods: Male workers in the shipyard painting department were selected as the organic solvents exposure group. Exposure was classified according to the type of work usually performed, and the cumulative exposure index was obtained using the results of biological monitoring.

Colorimetric hydrogen gas sensor based on PdO/metal oxides hybrid nanoparticles.

We have synthesized new colorimetric hydrogen-sensing materials, PdO/metal oxide hybrid nanoparticles, in which palladium oxide was loaded upon surface of substrate materials via an acid-base reaction between a HPdCl solution and substrate materials, ZnO, MgO, TiO, and SiO respectively at 25 °C. The colorimetric hydrogen gas sensing properties of all the samples, PdO/ZnO, PdO/MgO, PdO/TiO and PdO/SiO, were characterized and compared in order to investigate how hydrogen gas sensitivity would be affected by surface property of substrate materials. It was confirmed that the amount of the loaded PdO, which was thought to be closely related with the colorimetric hydrogen sensitivity, was quite different according to the substrate materials and was increased with increasing of the basicity of substrate materials (ZnO > MgO > TiO > SiO).

Global hemostatic assay of different target procoagulant activities of factor VIII and factor IX.

Background: Korean National Health Insurance reimburses factor VIII (FVIII) and factor IX (FIX) clotting factor concentrate (CFC) infusions to discrepant activity levels, allowing elevation of FVIII activity to 60 IU/dL and FIX to 40 IU/dL. We aimed to assess hemostatic response to these target levels using global hemostatic assays.

Methods: We enrolled 34 normal healthy men, 34 patients with hemophilia A, and 36 with hemophilia B, with residual factor activity of 3 IU/dL or less and without inhibitors.

Seasonality in airborne bacterial, fungal, and (1→3)-β-D-glucan concentrations in two indoor laboratory animal rooms.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to assess the temporal changes in the concentrations of bioaerosols in a laboratory mouse room (LMR) and laboratory rabbit room (LRR), and to determine environmental factors associated with the culturable bacteria, fungi and (1→3)-β-D-glucan concentrations.

Method: The concentrations of culturable airborne bacteria, fungi and (1→3)-β-D-glucan in the LMR and LRR were sampled once a month from March 2011 to February 2012. A single-stage viable cascade impactor was used to sample bacteria and fungi, while a two-stage cyclone bioaerosol sampler was used to collect airborne (1→3)-β-D-glucan.

Carbon nanotube composites multi-sensing characteristics based on electrical impedance properties.

CNT composites demonstrate sensory materials properties such as piezoresistivity, chemical and bio selectivity and they can detect structural deterioration, chemical contamination and bio signal by means of their impedance measurement (resistance and capacitance). In this study, electrical impedance characteristics of CNT composite electrodes are studied to simultaneously detect mechanical and chemical symptoms in engineering applications. We measured variations of electrical resistance and capacitance values of CNT composite electrodes under static load for mechanical sensing behavior and under the change of buffer solution amount for chemical sensing behavior.

The bulk piezoresistive characteristics of carbon nanotube composites for strain sensing of structures.

The bulk piezoresistivity of carbon nanotube (CNT) in polymer matrix was discussed to develop a strain sensor for engineering applications. The polymer improves interfacial bonding between the nanotubes and the CNT composite and that enhances the strain transfer, repeatability, and linearity of the sensor. The largest contribution of piezoresistivity of the sensor may come from slippage of overlaying or bundled nanotubes in the matrix, from a macroscopic point of view.

Trivalent atom contribution on solid-solid transformation of Ga13 polycation intercalated clay into sodalite investigated by X-ray absorption spectroscopy.

Solid-solid transformation mechanism of Ga Keggin-type ion intercalated clay into sodalite has been clarified by X-ray diffraction (XRD), FT-IR spectroscopy, and X-rayabsorption spectroscopy (XAS). To follow the structural evolution precisely by XANES and EXAFS, the XAS active element containing polycation [Ga13O4(OH)24(H2O)12]7+ was intercalated into montmorillonite (MMT). FT-IR and XAS spectra confirm that the formation of sodalite framework is initiated by the delocalized rearrangement between silicate networks and collapsed interlayered Ga species, and is followed by the incorporation of Al in the octahedral sheet of clay (MMT).

Heterostructured nanohybrid of zinc oxide-montmorillonite clay.

We have synthesized heterostructured zinc oxide-aluminosilicate nanohybrids through a hydrothermal reaction between the colloidal suspension of exfoliated montmorillonite nanosheets and the sol solution of zinc acetate. According to X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption-desorption isotherm, and field emission-scanning electron microscopic analyses, it was found that the intercalation of zinc oxide nanoparticles expands the basal spacing of the host montmorillonite clay, and the crystallites of the nanohybrids are assembled to form a house-of-cards structure. From UV-vis spectroscopic investigation, it becomes certain that calcined nanohybrid contains two kinds of the zinc oxide species in the interlayer space of host lattice and in mesopores formed by the house-of-cards type stacking of the crystallites.

Fullerene-functionalized gold nanoparticles: electrochemical and spectroscopic properties.

Fullerene (C(60))-tethered gold nanoparticles were synthesized by the coupling of the fullerene molecules with peripheral amine moieties on the particle surface. The particle composition was determined by thermogravimetric analysis and FT-IR spectroscopy. The resulting particles exhibited unique optical and electrochemical properties.

The oxidation of fullerene[C60] with various amine N-oxides under ultrasonic irradiation.

The reaction of C60 with various amine N-oxides such as 3-picoline N-oxide (Aldrich 98.0%), pyridine N-oxide hydrate (Aldrich 95.0%), quinoline N-oxide (Aldrich 97.

Design of acoustic cell settler for filtering and recycling microbial cells.

An acoustic cell settler (ACS) using ultrasound at cells of 3 MHz was used to recycle Saccharomyces cerevisiae in a fermenter. The locations of both the inlet and outlet in the acoustic cell settler, which have a relatively long distance between the transducer and reflector, were optimized. A tilted settler was designed to make up for the defect in the horizontal ACS, which has a low recovery ratio.