Validity Study for Clinical Use of Hand-Held Spirometer in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

A spirometer is a medical device frequently used clinically for the diagnosis and prediction of lung disease. This study aimed to investigate the clinical usefulness of a hand-held spirometer (The Spirokit), compared with conventional spirometry in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study was conducted from February 2022 to October 2022.

Contralateral bone conducted sound wave propagation on the skull bones in fresh frozen cadaver.

The study aimed to investigate the efficient pathway for BC sound transmission by measuring vibrations on the opposite side of the skull bone, referred to as the mastoid position. The realistic contralateral transmission pathway of bone conduction (BC) vibrations is investigated through each osseous structure in the midlines of the fresh-frozen whole head. BC stimulation is applied to the mastoid using a bone vibrator, and acceleration responses are observed on the contralateral mastoid bone and seven midline points of skull bones using triaxial accelerometers.

Fully portable continuous real-time auscultation with a soft wearable stethoscope designed for automated disease diagnosis.

Modern auscultation, using digital stethoscopes, provides a better solution than conventional methods in sound recording and visualization. However, current digital stethoscopes are too bulky and nonconformal to the skin for continuous auscultation. Moreover, motion artifacts from the rigidity cause friction noise, leading to inaccurate diagnoses.

Effects of an extrinsic motivator on the evaluation of cognitive and daily living functions in patients with schizophrenia.

We investigated the effect of an extrinsic motivator on the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) and UCSD Performance-Based Skills Assessment (UPSA) scores, which assess cognitive and daily living functions, in patients with schizophrenia. We enrolled 60 clinically stable patients with schizophrenia and allocated them to the motivator or control group. We conducted baseline assessments of cognitive function using the MCCB, daily living function using the UPSA, clinical symptoms, and psychosocial characteristics in both groups.

Exciton Dephasing in Tungsten Diselenide Atomic Layer.

An intrinsic exciton dephasing is the coherence loss of exciton dipole oscillation, while the total exciton dephasing originates from coherence loss due to exciton-exciton interaction and excitonphonon coupling. In this article, the total exciton dephasing time of tungsten diselenide (WSe₂) atomic layers was analyzed as functions of excitation intensity with exciton-exciton coupling strength and temperature with exciton-phonon coupling strength. It was hypothesized that the total exciton dephasing time is shortened as the exciton-exciton interaction and the exciton-phonon coupling are increased.

Cubic Nonlinearity of Molybdenum Disulfide Nanoflakes.

The cubic optical nonlinearity of molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) nanoflakes was characterized by Z-scan and I-scan with resonant excitation. The excitation source was a ~6 ns laser at 532 nm with a 10 Hz repetition rate. The open and closed Z-scan analyzed the nonlinear absorption and nonlinear refraction properties of MoS₂ nanoflakes.

Developing clinical cut-off scores for the university of California San Diego performance-based skills assessment in patients with schizophrenia.

This study aimed to obtain University of California San Diego Performance-based Skill Assessment (UPSA) cut-off scores for the purpose of severity classification and to expand the clinical utility of the UPSA for the evaluation of cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia. In total, 191 patients with schizophrenia were recruited. The UPSA, Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS), Clinical Global Impression-Schizophrenia Scale (CGI-SCH), and Global Assessment Functioning Scale (GAF) were used for the evaluation.

The effect of anticholinergic burden on cognitive and daily living functions in patients with schizophrenia.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the association between medication-associated anticholinergic burden and cognitive and daily living functions in patients with schizophrenia.

Methods: Sixty patients with schizophrenia were recruited. We used the Anticholinergic Drug Scale (ADS) for evaluating medication-associated anticholinergic burden.

Adjunct transcranial direct current stimulation improves cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia: A double-blind 12-week study.

Objectives: Cognitive impairment is a common symptom of schizophrenia that has significant effects on quality of life and the activities of daily living. The present study examined the ability of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to improve cognitive function and clinical symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.

Methods: Fifty-six patients with schizophrenia were randomized to real-tDCS and sham-tDCS groups.

Cohort Study of Pulmonary Tuberculosis (COSMOTB) identifying drug-resistant mutations: protocol for a prospective observational study in Korea.

Introduction: Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is a global concern. The proper diagnosis and management of drug-resistant TB are critical for improving treatment outcome. Molecular-based genotypic drug-susceptibility testing (DST) was developed to identify drug-resistant TB; however, discordant results from phenotypic and genotypic DST analyses have alarmed clinicians and raised concerns about the test's utility.

The Korean Version of the University of California San Diego Performance-based Skills Assessment: Reliability and Validity.

Objective: The study's aim was to develop and standardize a Korean version of the University of California San Diego Performance-based Skills Assessment (K-UPSA), which is used to evaluate the daily living function of patients with schizophrenia.

Methods: Study participants were 78 patients with schizophrenia and 27 demographically matched healthy controls. We evaluated the clinical states and cognitive functions to verify K-UPSA's reliability and validity.

The Korean Version of the Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale: Reliability and Validity.

Objective: This study's aim was to develop and standardize a Korean version (SCoRS-K) of the Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale (SCoRS), which is used to evaluate the degree of cognitive dysfunction affecting the everyday functioning of people with schizophrenia.

Methods: Eighty-four schizophrenia patients with stable symptoms who were receiving outpatient treatment and rehabilitation therapy, and 29 demographically matched non-patient controls, participated in the study. Demographic data were collected, and clinical symptoms, cognitive function, and social function were evaluated to verify SCoRS-K's reliability and validity.

Plasmon-Coupled CdSe/ZnS and CdTe/CdS/ZnS Coreshells for Hybrid Light Emitting Devices.

Plasmon-coupled CdSe/ZnS and CdTe/CdS/ZnS coreshells are investigated for their optoelectronic applications because of their high color purity, wide optical tunability, large PL enhancement, and compact and easy integration into electronic devices. The quantum confinement of carriers within quantum dots (QDs) with sizes near the exciton Bohr radius (CdSe ~ 5.8 nm, CdTe ~ 7 nm) exhibits the features of discrete energy states and blue-shift from the bulk bandgap (CdSe ~718 nm, CdTe ~ 863 nm) in the optical spectrum.

Malignant Mesothelioma Diagnosed by Bronchoscopic Biopsy.

Malignant mesothelioma is a rare malignant neoplasm that arises from mesothelial surfaces of the pleural cavity, peritoneal cavity, tunica vaginalis, or pericardium. Typically, pleural fluid cytology or closed pleural biopsy, surgical intervention (video thoracoscopic biopsy or open thoracotomy) is conducted to obtain pleural tissue specimens. However, endobronchial lesions are rarely seen and cases diagnosed from bronchoscopic biopsy are also rarely reported.

Carbon monoxide negatively regulates NLRP3 inflammasome activation in macrophages.

Inflammasomes are cytosolic protein complexes that promote the cleavage of caspase-1, which leads to the maturation and secretion of proinflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and IL-18. Among the known inflammasomes, the nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich-containing family, pyrin domain-containing-3 (NLRP3)-dependent inflammasome is critically involved in the pathogenesis of various acute or chronic inflammatory diseases. Carbon monoxide (CO), a gaseous molecule physiologically produced in cells and tissues during heme catabolism, can act as an anti-inflammatory molecule and a potent negative regulator of Toll-like receptor signaling pathways.

Incidence and clinical predictors of endobronchial tuberculosis in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.

Background And Objective: Incidence and predictors of endobronchial tuberculosis (EBTB) remain unknown because of the lack of prospective studies. Our objective was to assess the incidence and predictors of concomitant EBTB in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB).

Methods: We prospectively performed routine bronchoscopic examination in all patients with PTB to detect EBTB.

Development of an auditory emotion recognition function using psychoacoustic parameters based on the International Affective Digitized Sounds.

The purpose of this study was to develop an auditory emotion recognition function that could determine the emotion caused by sounds coming from the environment in our daily life. For this purpose, sound stimuli from the International Affective Digitized Sounds (IADS-2), a standardized database of sounds intended to evoke emotion, were selected, and four psychoacoustic parameters (i.e.

Prevalence of Alzheimer's dementia and its risk factors in community-dwelling elderly koreans.

Objective: We estimated the prevalence of Alzheimer's dementia (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and their risk factors in an urban community setting, focusing especially on metabolic syndrome.

Methods: A two-phase investigation based on a door-to-door survey was performed. In Phase I, we administered the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE-KC) of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's disease (CERAD-K).