The severity of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is associated with various comorbidities. However, no studies have yet demonstrated the potential risk of respiratory failure and mortality in ...COVID-19 patients with pre-existing asthma. We selected 7272 adult COVID-19 patients from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment COVID-19 database for this nationwide retrospective cohort study. Among these, 686 patients with asthma were assessed by their severities and evaluated by the clinical outcome of COVID-19 compared to patients without asthma. Of 7272 adult COVID-19 patients, 686 with asthma and 6586 without asthma were compared. Asthma was not a significant risk factor for respiratory failure or mortality among all COVID-19 patients (odds ratio OR = 0.99, P = 0.997 and OR = 1.06, P = 0.759) after adjusting for age, sex, and the Charlson comorbidity score. However, a history of acute exacerbation (OR = 2.63, P = 0.043) was significant risk factors for death among COVID-19 patients with asthma. Asthma is not a risk factor for poor prognosis of COVID-19. However, asthma patients who had any experience of acute exacerbation in the previous year before COVID-19 showed higher COVID-19-related mortality, especially in case of old age and male sex.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Underlying chronic respiratory disease may be associated with the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study investigated the impact of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) ...on the risk for respiratory failure and mortality in COVID-19 patients. A nationwide retrospective cohort study was conducted in 4610 patients (≥ 40 years old) infected with COVID-19 between January 20 and May 27, 2020, using data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare and Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service in Korea. The clinical course and various clinical features were compared between COPD and non-COPD patients, and the risks of respiratory failure and all-cause mortality in COPD patients were analyzed using a multivariate logistic regression model. Among 4610 COVID-19 patients, 4469 (96.9%) and 141 (3.1%) were categorized into the non-COPD and COPD groups, respectively. The COPD group had greater proportions of older (≥ 60 years old) (78.0% vs. 45.2%, P < 0.001) and male (52.5% vs. 36.6%, P < 0.001) patients than the non-COPD group. Relatively greater proportions of patients with COPD received intensive critical care (7.1% vs. 3.7%, P = 0.041) and mechanical ventilation (5.7% vs. 2.4%, P = 0.015). Multivariate analyses showed that COPD was not a risk factor for respiratory failure but was a significant independent risk factor for all-cause mortality (OR = 1.80, 95% CI 1.11-2.93) after adjustment for age, sex, and Charlson Comorbidity Index score. Among COVID-19 patients, relatively greater proportions of patients with COPD received mechanical ventilation and intensive critical care. COPD is an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality in COVID-19 patients in Korea.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
In recent years, many researchers have aimed to construct robotic soft grippers that can handle fragile or unusually shaped objects without causing damage. This study proposes a smart ...textile-composite actuator and its application to a soft robotic gripper. An active fiber and an inactive fiber are combined together using knitting techniques to manufacture a textile actuator. The active fiber is a shape memory alloy (SMA) that is wire-wrapped with conventional fibers, and the inactive fiber is a knitting yarn. A knitted textile structure is flexible, with an excellent structure retention ability and high compliance, which is suitable for developing soft grippers. A driving source of the actuator is the SMA wire, which deforms under heating due to the shape memory effect. Through experiments, the course-to-wale ratio, the number of bundling SMA wires, and the driving current value needed to achieve the maximum deformation of the actuator were investigated. Three actuators were stitched together to make up each finger of the gripper, and layer placement research was completed to find the fingers' suitable bending angle for object grasping. Finally, the gripping performance was evaluated through a test of grasping various object shapes, which demonstrated that the gripper could successfully lift flat/spherical/uniquely shaped objects.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Incidental thyroid nodules are commonly detected on ultrasonography (US). This has contributed to the rapidly rising incidence of low-risk papillary thyroid carcinoma over the last 20 years. The ...appropriate diagnosis and management of these patients is based on the risk factors related to the patients as well as the thyroid nodules. The Korean Society of Thyroid Radiology (KSThR) published consensus recommendations for US-based management of thyroid nodules in 2011 and revised them in 2016. These guidelines have been used as the standard guidelines in Korea. However, recent advances in the diagnosis and management of thyroid nodules have necessitated the revision of the original recommendations. The task force of the KSThR has revised the Korean Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System and recommendations for US lexicon, biopsy criteria, US criteria of extrathyroidal extension, optimal thyroid computed tomography protocol, and US follow-up of thyroid nodules before and after biopsy. The biopsy criteria were revised to reduce unnecessary biopsies for benign nodules while maintaining an appropriate sensitivity for the detection of malignant tumors in small (1-2 cm) thyroid nodules. The goal of these recommendations is to provide the optimal scientific evidence and expert opinion consensus regarding US-based diagnosis and management of thyroid nodules.
Amorphous oxide-based thin-film transistors (TFTs) have been applied to display and various next-generation applications. The amorphous oxide thin film has exhibited a higher electrical mobility and ...stability characteristics in recent decades. A multilayer thin-film structure has been fabricated and analyzed using amorphous Si-In-Zn-O (a-SIZO) and amorphous Si-Zn-Sn-O (a-SZTO) materials. The a-SIZO had a current value of more than 10 −3 A without OFF-current (like metal) when fabricated as a single layer of thin film. The fabricated bilayer TFT shows an improved field effect mobility upon inserting the a-SIZO conductive semiconductor layer at the bottom. With the aforementioned architecture, we have achieved a mobility that is higher than 160 cm 2 /<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\text{V}\cdot \text{s} </tex-math></inline-formula> with a <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">{V}_{\textit {th}} </tex-math></inline-formula> shift of 1.19 V under negative bias temperature stress (NBTS) for an amorphous-based semiconducting multilayer TFT.
Mast cells are effector cells that initiate allergic inflammatory immune responses by inducing inflammatory mediators.
(Linn.) Gaudich is a natural herb in the nettle family Urticaceae that possesses ...numerous pharmacological properties. Despite the various pharmacological benefits of
, its effects on allergic inflammation have not yet been determined. Here, we investigated the effect of the ethanol extract of
(BNE) on degranulation rat basophilic leukemia (RBL)-2H3 mast cells stimulated with anti-dinitrophenyl (anti-DNP) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) during immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated allergic immune response. The results showed inhibition of the release of β-hexosaminidase and histamine from the cells. BNE suppressed pro-inflammatory cytokines (Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, Interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6) and reduced T helper (Th)2 cytokine IL-4 expression and/or secretion correlated with the downregulation of p38, extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK) mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathways in treated RBL-2H3 mast cells. In passive cutaneous anaphylaxis, treatment with BNE during IgE-mediated local allergic reaction triggered a reduction in mouse ear pigmentation and thickness. Taken together, these results indicated that BNE suppressed mast cell-mediated inflammation, suggesting that BNE might be a candidate for the treatment of various allergic disorders.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract
Despite highly promising characteristics of three-dimensionally (3D) nanostructured catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyzers ...(PEMWEs), universal design rules for maximizing their performance have not been explored. Here we show that woodpile (WP)-structured Ir, consisting of 3D-printed, highly-ordered Ir nanowire building blocks, improve OER mass activity markedly. The WP structure secures the electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) through enhanced utilization efficiency of the extended surface area of 3D WP catalysts. Moreover, systematic control of the 3D geometry combined with theoretical calculations and various electrochemical analyses reveals that facile transport of evolved O
2
gas bubbles is an important contributor to the improved ECSA-specific activity. The 3D nanostructuring-based improvement of ECSA and ECSA-specific activity enables our well-controlled geometry to afford a 30-fold higher mass activity of the OER catalyst when used in a single-cell PEMWE than conventional nanoparticle-based catalysts.
We investigated the infection rate for severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) among ticks collected from humans during May-October 2013 in South Korea. Haemaphysalis longicornis ...ticks have been considered the SFTSV vector. However, we detected the virus in H. longicornis, Amblyomma testudinarium, and Ixodes nipponensis ticks, indicating additional potential SFTSV vectors.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Wheat (
L.) is the oldest known food crop, and many studies have reported that wheat shoots (i.e., wheatgrass) possess anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities. However, the ...potentially ameliorative effect of wheat shoots on hepatotoxicity caused by high doses of
-acetyl-para-aminophenol (acetaminophen, APAP) has yet to be reported. C57BL/6 mice received daily oral TAE (100 or 200 mg/kg), positive control (silymarin 100 mg/kg), or negative control (saline vehicle) treatments for 7 days prior to intraperitoneal APAP injection. Histological, serum (ELISA), Western blotting, and quantitative PCR analyses of excised liver tissues were then performed. Pre-treatment with TAE (100 or 200 mg/kg) ameliorated APAP-induced pathological damage (i.e., hepatotoxic lesions), reduced serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels, and also ameliorated APAP-induced increases in oxidative stress, thereby inhibiting oxidative liver damage and reducing the expression of inflammatory cytokines. In addition, TAE pre-treatment inhibited the expression of Cytochrome P4502E1 (CYP2E1), which is a key enzyme in the onset of APAP-induced hepatotoxicity, suppressed the expression of the target proteins regulated by the antioxidant enzyme Nrf2, and suppressed hepatocyte apoptosis. These findings suggest that TAE is an attractive therapeutic candidate that exhibits potential hepatoprotective activity by inhibiting oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis, and liver damage.
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