A Comprehensive Health Screening Program Reveals the Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.

: We investigated the prevalence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and associated risk factors in Korean subjects who underwent comprehensive health screening examinations. : This single health screening center-based cross-sectional study included a total of 73,574 consecutive participants older than 30 years who underwent a health screening examination, including fundus photography, between October 2003 and December 2010. Weighted prevalence and risk factors for AMD were evaluated.

Endocrine Mucin-Producing Sweat Gland Carcinoma (EMPSGC) in a Dog: Immunohistochemical Characterization.

A seven-year-old spayed female dog presented with multiple, small oval-shaped masses on the abdominal skin. The excised tissue was submitted for histopathological evaluation. Routine histology revealed basaloid nodules with stippled chromatin and pleomorphic nuclei.

Isoniazid and nicotinic hydrazide hybrids mitigate trehalose-6,6'-dimycolate-induced inflammatory responses and pulmonary granulomas via Syk/PI3K pathways: A promising host-directed therapy for tuberculosis.

Granulomas, dense clusters of immune cells and bacteria, are critical barriers in tuberculosis (TB) treatment. Recent advancements in TB management have highlighted granuloma control as a potential host-directed therapy (HDT) strategy. Although isoniazid (INH) is the first-line drug for TB therapy, its efficacy is limited to non-replicating Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) under granulomatous conditions, necessitating the development of more effective derivatives.

Connection between -electron correlations and magnetic excitations in UTe.

The detailed anisotropic dispersion of the low-temperature, low-energy magnetic excitations of the candidate spin-triplet superconductor UTe is revealed using inelastic neutron scattering. The magnetic excitations emerge from the Brillouin zone boundary at the high symmetry and points and disperse along the crystallographic -axis. In applied magnetic fields to at least = 11 T along the , the magnetism is found to be field-independent in the ( 0) plane.

Chromosome-level genome assembly of Salvia sclarea.

Salvia sclarea is a medicinal herb from the Lamiaceae family, valued for its essential oil which contains sclareol, linalool, linalyl acetate, and other compounds. Despite its extensive use, the genetic mechanisms of S. sclarea are not well understood.

CO-Driven Oxygen Vacancy Diffusion and Healing on TiO(110) at Ambient Pressure.

Understanding how TiO interacts with CO at the molecular level is crucial in the CO reduction toward value-added energy sources. Here, we report in situ observations of the CO activation process on the reduced TiO(110) surface at room temperature using ambient pressure scanning tunneling microscopy. We find that oxygen vacancies (V) diffuse dynamically along the bridging oxygen (O) rows of the TiO(110) surface under ambient CO(g) environments.

Risk scoring of African swine fever transmission in selected provinces of the Philippines.

Importance: African swine fever (ASF) is a contagious transboundary swine disease that poses a significant threat to the swine industry. As an archipelago, the Philippines has a geographic advantage in reducing ASF transmission risk. However, control efforts remain challenging due to the disease's complex epidemiology, lack of effective treatment, and vaccine availability.

Role of the Notch signaling pathway in porcine oocyte maturation.

Background: Although the Notch signaling pathway is known to play an important role in ovarian follicle development in mammals, whether it is involved in oocyte maturation remains unclear. Therefore, this study was performed to elucidate the existence and role of the Notch signaling pathway during oocyte maturation in a porcine model.

Methods: Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunocytochemical assays were used to determine the existence of Notch signaling pathway-related transcripts and proteins in porcine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs).

Identification of ferroptosis-related signature predicting prognosis and therapeutic responses in pancreatic cancer.

Ferroptosis plays a role in tumorigenesis by affecting lipid peroxidation and metabolic pathways; however, its prognostic or therapeutic relevance in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) remains poorly understood. In this study, we developed a prognostic ferroptosis-related gene (FRG)-based risk model using cohorts of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC), proposing plausible therapeutics. Differentially expressed FRGs between tumors from TCGA-PAAD and normal pancreatic tissues from Genotype-Tissue Expression were analyzed to construct a prognostic risk model using univariate and multivariate Cox regression and LASSO analyses.

Structural and electronic features enabling delocalized charge-carriers in CuSbSe.

Inorganic semiconductors based on heavy pnictogen cations (Sb and Bi) have gained significant attention as potential nontoxic and stable alternatives to lead-halide perovskites for solar cell applications. A limitation of these novel materials, which is being increasingly commonly found, is carrier localization, which substantially reduces mobilities and diffusion lengths. Herein, CuSbSe is investigated and discovered to have delocalized free carriers, as shown through optical pump terahertz probe spectroscopy and temperature-dependent mobility measurements.

Effect of extracellular vesicles derived from oviductal and uterine fluid on the development of porcine preimplantation embryos.

To improve the efficiency of in-vitro-produced (IVP) porcine embryos, we focused on the events that usually occur during in-vivo embryonic transit from the oviduct to the uterus. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are released by different mammalian cells and are imperative for intercellular communication and reflect the cell's physiological state. Based on these characteristics, EVs were isolated from oviductal and uterine fluid to imitate the in vivo environment and improve the efficiency of IVP embryos.

Amorphous Carbon Monolayer: A van der Waals Interface for High-Performance Metal Oxide Semiconductor Devices.

Ultrasmall-scale semiconductor devices (≤5 nm) are advancing technologies, such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. However, the further scaling of these devices poses critical challenges, such as interface properties and oxide quality, particularly at the high-/semiconductor interface in metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) devices. Existing interlayer (IL) methods, typically exceeding 1 nm thickness, are unsuitable for ultrasmall-scale devices.

Spatial and vertical distribution of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in the water columns of the regional seas of South Korea.

This study focused on analyzing the spatial and vertical distributions of 28 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), which comprised five precursors and three alternatives, in the water columns of the regional seas surrounding South Korea, such as the Yellow Sea (YS, Y1-Y10), East China Sea (ECS, EC1-EC6), South Sea (SS, S1-S5), and East Sea (ES, E1-E7). The concentrations of these PFASs detected in 204 seawater samples varied from below the limit of detection ( View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Lichenase and Cellobiohydrolase Activities of a Novel Bi-Functional β-Glucanase from the Marine Bacterium sp. J103.

In this study, we report the molecular and enzymatic characterisation of Spg103, a novel bifunctional β-glucanase from the marine bacterium sp. J103. Recombinant Spg103 (rSpg103) functioned optimally at 60 °C and pH 6.

Identification of SNPs associated with fatty acid contents in mutant soybean lines by a genome-wide association study.

Background: Vegetable oils are primarily composed of unsaturated fatty acids. Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.

P-Type Vertical FETs Realized by Using Fermi-Level Pinning-Free 2D Metallic Electrodes.

In two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterial electronics, vertical field-effect transistors (VFETs), where charges flow perpendicular to the channel materials, hold promise due to the ease of forming ultrashort channel lengths by utilizing the thinness of 2D materials. However, the poor performance of p-type VFET arises from the lack of a gate-field-penetrating electrode with suitable work functions, which is essential for VFET operation. This motivated us to replace graphene (work function of ∼4.

Monodisperse Pt nanoparticle arrays block copolymer nanopatterning and their reaction kinetics on CO oxidation.

Advances in nanotechnology are able to open up new prospects for catalysis, particularly through the development of catalytic systems featuring precisely controlled size and distribution of metal nanoparticles. In this study, we prepared a model catalytic system, where monodisperse Pt nanoparticles, approximately 8 nm in size, were uniformly distributed onto CeO and SiO/Si substrates block copolymer (BCP) nanopatterning. To address the validity of these catalysts, we conducted a case study on CO oxidation in a continuous flow reactor, investigated the reaction kinetics, and compared our observations with those reported in the literature.

Isotopic characteristics of antifouling paints and fractionation of Cu and Zn isotopes during dissolution by seawater and their adsorption to marine sediments.

The elemental and isotopic (δCu and δZn) characteristics of 34 AFP samples from 5 paint manufacturers, the isotopic fractionation during the dissolution of AFPs by seawater, and the subsequent adsorption of isotopes onto coastal fine-grained sediments were investigated to identify potential indicators (metal ratios and isotopes). The δCu and δZn values for 34 AFPs could be divided into 2 groups regardless of the type of paint or manufacturer. Dissolution by seawater induced substantial fractionation but δCu and δZn approached the bulk AFP values when the leached fraction increased.

Directly Grown Polyimide Covalent Organic Framework Films with High Electrochromic and Energy-Storage Performance.

Two dimensional covalent organic framework (2D COF) films based on triphenylamine are considered to be promising electrochromic and energy-storage materials owing to their interlayer π-π electron delocalization, one-dimensional (1D) nanopores, and stable chemical structures. Triphenylamine-based 2D COF electrochromic films, nevertheless, rarely exhibit transparency and high optical contrast, which severely limited the scope of their application. In this work, two directly grown triphenylamine-based polyimide 2D COF films, TAPA-PMDA and TAPA-NTCDA PI COF, were prepared through solvothermal technology.