Kaygrady7255

Carbon nanotube/polydimethylsiloxane composite micropillar (CNT/PDMS MP) arrays were successfully fabricated using non-lithographic silicon nanowire (SiNW) arrays as a template for performance enhancement of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG). The CNT/PDMS MP arrays were obtained by pouring CNT/PDMS composites on the SiNW arrays and peeled off. Surface topology of CNT/PDMS composites directly depends on morphology of SiNW arrays, which can be varied by the etching time of the typical metal-assisted chemical etching process. The micropatterned CNT/PDMS composites was mostly depicted to the SiNW array template pattern when the morphologies of the SiNW were optimized with a length of approximately 10 mm. Next, the CNT/PDMS MP arrays were utilized as a triboelectric layer of TENGs, generating the maximum output voltage of 22.84 ± 0.85 V, enabling an approximately 18-fold improvement in an electrical output compared to the flat PDMS-based TENG. The performance enhancement of TENGs based on CNT/PDMS MP arrays are attributed to synergic effects of (1) an enhancement of electrostatic induction by CNT composites, increasing dielectric constant, and (2) an enhancement of electrification by surface texturing using non-lithographic pattern and CNT composites.Structural phase transition induced by temperature or voltage in phase change materials has been used for many tunable photonic applications. Exploiting reversible and sub-ns fast switching in antimony trisulfide (Sb2S3) from amorphous (Amp) to crystalline (Cry), we introduced a reflection modulator based on metal-dielectric-metal structure. The proposed design exhibits tunable, perfect, and multi-band absorption from visible to the near-infrared region. The reflection response of the system shows >99% absorption of light at normal incidence. The maximum achievable modulation efficiency with a narrow line width is ∼98%. Interestingly, the designed cavity supports critical resonance in an ultrathin (∼λ/15) Sb2S3 film with perfect, broadband, and tunable absorption. Finally, we proposed a novel hybrid cavity design formed of Cry and Amp Sb2S3 thin films side-by-side to realize an optical modulator via relative motion between the incident light beam and cavity. The proposed lithographic free structure can be also used for filtering, optical switching, ultrathin photo-detection, solar energy harvesting, and other energy applications.Hypoxia induces the expression of several genes through the activation of a master transcription factor, hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α. This study shows that hypoxia strongly induced the expression of two carboxypeptidases (CP), CPA4 and CPE, in an HIF-1α-dependent manner. The hypoxic induction of CPA4 and CPE gene was accompanied by the recruitment of HIF-1α and upregulation in the active histone modification, H3K4me3, at their promoter regions. The hypoxic responsiveness of CPA4 and CPE genes was observed in human adipocytes, human adipose-derived stem cells, and human primary fibroblasts but not mouse primary adipocyte progenitor cells. CPA4 and CPE have been identified as secreted exopeptidases that degrade and process other secreted proteins and matrix proteins. This finding suggests that hypoxia changes the microenvironment of the obese hypoxic adipose tissue by inducing the expression of not only adipokines but also peptidases such as CPA4 and CPE.

Atrial septal defect (ASD) is the most common congenital heart disease. However, the details of cardiac chamber remodeling after surgery are not well known, although this is an important issue that should be analyzed to understand long-term outcomes.

Between November 2017 and January 2019, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging was performed preoperatively, at a 1-month postoperative follow-up, and at a 1-year postoperative follow-up. Cardiac chamber volume, valve regurgitation volume, and ejection fraction were measured as functions of time.

Thirteen patients (10 men and 3 women) were included. The median age at surgery was 51.4 years. The preoperative median ratio of flow in the pulmonary and systemic circulation was 2.3. The preoperative mean right ventricular (RV) end-diastolic volume index (EDVi) and RV end-systolic volume index (ESVi) had significantly decreased at the 1-month postoperative follow-up (p<0.001, p=0.001, respectively). The decrease in the RVEDVi (p=0.085) and RVESVi (p=0.023) continued until the postoperative 1-year follow- up, although the rate of decrease was slower. Tricuspid valve regurgitation had also decreased at the 1-month postoperative follow-up (p=0.022), and continued to decrease at a reduced rate (p=0.129). Although the RVEDVi and RVESVi improved after ASD closure, the RV volume parameters were still larger than the left ventricular (LV) volume parameters at the 1-year follow-up (RVEDVi vs. LVEDVi p=0.016; RVESVi vs. LVESVi p=0.001).

Cardiac remodeling after ASD closure is common and mainly occurs in the early postoperative period. However, complete normalization does not occur.

Cardiac remodeling after ASD closure is common and mainly occurs in the early postoperative period. However, complete normalization does not occur.

We aimed to investigate the characteristics of primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) in adolescents and to analyze the relationship between the occurrence of PSP and air pollutants.

Data pertaining to age, sex, body mass index, smoking status, initial pneumothorax volume, presence of bullae, treatment methods, and city of residence were retrospectively obtained from January 2010 to December 2014. We investigated the association between short-term exposure to air pollutants (SO

, NO

, O

, CO, and PM

) and the occurrence of PSP using a case-crossover design with conditional logistic regression.

We collected information from 598 patients who were admitted for PSP, with a mean follow-up duration of 62.9 months. The majority (91.1%) of the patients were male. In the case-crossover design, conditional logistic regression showed that no air pollutant was associated with the occurrence of pneumothorax. The results were consistent across all city subgroups (Anyang, Gunpo, Uiwang, and Gwacheon).

In our study, the incidence rate of pneumothorax was 153.8 per 100,000 person-years in male adolescents and 16.7 per 100,000 person-years in female adolescents. The case-crossover design showed that PSP in adolescents is unlikely to be related to air pollution.

In our study, the incidence rate of pneumothorax was 153.8 per 100,000 person-years in male adolescents and 16.7 per 100,000 person-years in female adolescents. The case-crossover design showed that PSP in adolescents is unlikely to be related to air pollution.

Although extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is generally performed percutaneously, the technology is deployed under sedation and necessitates endotracheal intubation. However, in some patients, the use of venoarterial (VA) ECMO without intubation may be beneficial. Herein, we describe our experiences with VA ECMO performed without prior endotracheal intubation.

A total of 783 patients treated with VA ECMO at a single center between January 2013 and July 2018 were reviewed retrospectively. We included patients who underwent successful VA ECMO implementation without prior endotracheal intubation, and excluded those who were younger than 18 years, had ongoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation status, and had poor quality of the vessels needed for percutaneous cannulation. The primary study outcome was in-hospital survival.

In total, 50 patients were included in this study, 94% of whom showed cardiogenic shock. The mean age of the study participants was 56.3±14.5 years. The median VA ECMO support time was 7 days (range, 2-13 days). Twenty-one patients (42%) did not receive ventilator care during the VA ECMO support period, while 29 patients (58%) progressed to intubation after VA ECMO implementation. The rates of survival at discharge and weaning success were 82% (n=41) and 92% (n=46), respectively, and 80% (n=40) of patients presented good Glasgow-Pittsburgh Cerebral Performance Categories scores at discharge.

Even in patients with cardiogenic shock, percutaneous VA ECMO can be introduced safely without prior endotracheal intubation by an experienced care team. The application of nonintubated VA ECMO might be a feasible strategy in selected cases.

Even in patients with cardiogenic shock, percutaneous VA ECMO can be introduced safely without prior endotracheal intubation by an experienced care team. The application of nonintubated VA ECMO might be a feasible strategy in selected cases.Increased vascular endothelial permeability can disrupt vascular barrier function and further lead to multiple human diseases. Our previous reports indicated that particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) can enhance the permeability of vascular endothelial cells. Honokiol manufacturer However, the regulatory mechanism was not comprehensively demonstrated. Therefore, this work elucidated this mechanism by demonstrating that PM2.5 can increase the permeability of HUVECs by inhibiting the expression of Hickson compact group 18 (HCG18). Moreover, we demonstrated that lncRNA HCG18 functioned as a ceRNA for miR-21-5p and led to the derepression of its target SOX7, which could further transcriptionally activate the expression of VE-cadherin to regulate the permeability of HUVECs. In this study, we provide evidence that HCG18/miR-21-5p/SOX7/VE-cadherin signaling is involved in PM2.5-induced vascular endothelial barrier dysfunction.Compensation in cognitive aging is a topic of recent interest. However, factors contributing to cognitive compensation in functions such as phonemic fluency (PF) are not completely understood. Using cross-sectional data, we investigated cognitive reserve (CR) and network efficiency in young (32-58 years) versus old (59-84 years) individuals with high versus low performance in PF. ANCOVA was used to investigate the interaction between CR, age, and performance in PF. Random forest and graph theory analyses were conducted to study the contribution of cognition to PF and efficiency measures, respectively. Higher CR increased performance in PF and reduced age-related differences in PF. A slightly higher number of cognitive functions contributed to performance in high CR groups. The networks were more integrated in high CR individuals, both in the older age and high-performance groups. The strength and segregation of the networks were decreased in high-performance groups with high CR. We conclude that PF decreases less with age in individuals with higher CR, possibly due to a greater capacity to recruit non-linguistic cognitive networks, and efficient use of language networks, thereby integrating information in a rapid way across less fragmented networks. High CR and network efficiency seem to be important factors for cognitive compensation.Proteasome inhibition demonstrates highly effective impact on multiple myeloma (MM) treatment. Here, we aimed to examine anti-tumor efficiency and underlying mechanisms of a novel well tolerated orally applicable proteasome inhibitor NNU546 and its hydrolyzed pharmacologically active form NNU219. NNU219 showed more selective inhibition to proteasome catalytic subunits and less off-target effect than bortezomib ex vivo. Moreover, intravenous and oral administration of either NNU219 or NNU546 led to more sustained pharmacodynamic inhibitions of proteasome activities compared with bortezomib. Importantly, NNU219 exhibited potential anti-MM activity in both MM cell lines and primary samples in vitro. The anti-MM activity of NNU219 was associated with induction of G2/M-phase arrest and apoptosis via activation of the caspase cascade and endoplasmic reticulum stress response. Significant growth-inhibitory effects of NNU219 and NNU546 were observed in 3 different human MM xenograft mouse models. Furthermore, such observation was even found in the presence of a bone marrow microenvironment.