Several techniques have been proposed for kerfless wafering of thin Si wafers, which is one of the most essential techniques for reducing Si material loss in conventional wafering methods to lower ...cell cost. Proton induced exfoliation is one of promising kerfless techniques due to the simplicity of the process of implantation and cleaving. However, for application to high efficiency solar cells, it is necessary to cope with some problems such as implantation damage removal and texturing of (111) oriented wafers. This study analyzes the end-of-range defects at both kerfless and donor wafers and ion cutting sites. Thermal treatment and isotropic etching processes allow nearly complete removal of implantation damages in the cleaved-thin wafers. Combining laser interference lithography and a reactive ion etch process, a facile nanoscale texturing process for the kerfless thin wafers of a (111) crystal orientation has been developed. We demonstrate that the introduction of nanohole array textures with an optimal design and complete damage removal lead to an improved efficiency of 15.2% based on the kerfless wafer of a 48 μm thickness using the standard architecture of the Al back surface field.
There are limited data on the association between serum uric acid (SUA) level and subclinical coronary atherosclerosis. This study investigated the influence of SUA level on subclinical coronary ...atherosclerosis, as detected by coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA), in an asymptomatic population.
We evaluated 6431 asymptomatic individuals (mean age 53.6 ± 7.6 years, 4691 men 72.9%) with no prior history of coronary artery disease, who voluntarily underwent laboratory tests and CCTA as part of a general health examination. The participants were stratified into quartiles according to their SUA levels. Coronary atherosclerotic plaques (calcified, mixed, and non-calcified plaques) were assessed using CCTA. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between SUA levels and subclinical coronary atherosclerosis.
The prevalence of any atherosclerotic, calcified, mixed, and non-calcified plaques increased with SUA quartiles (all p < 0.001). After adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors, there were no statistically significant differences in the adjusted odds ratios for calcified plaque (1.19; 95% CI 0.98–1.46; p = 0.080) and mixed plaque (1.25; 95% CI 0.94–1.67; p = 0.132) in the fourth SUA quartile compared to the first quartile. However, the adjusted odds ratios for any atherosclerotic plaque (1.39; 95% CI 1.16–1.68; p < 0.001) and non-calcified plaque (1.38; 95% CI 1.11–1.72; p = 0.004) were significantly higher in the fourth SUA quartile.
In asymptomatic individuals, high SUA level was an independent predictor of non-calcified plaques, suggesting an increased cardiovascular risk.
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•The association between serum uric acid and CAD showed conflicting results.•High serum uric acid level is an independent predictor of non-calcified vulnerable plaque.•Screening for CAD might be considered in individuals with hyperuricemia.
Current nanoparticle (NP) drug carriers mostly depend on the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect for selective drug delivery to solid tumors. However, in the absence of a persistent EPR ...effect, the peritumoral endothelium can function as an access barrier to tumors and negatively affect the effectiveness of NPs. In recognition of the peritumoral endothelium as a potential barrier in drug delivery to tumors, poly(lactic‐co‐glycolic acid) (PLGA) NPs are modified with a quinic acid (QA) derivative, synthetic mimic of selectin ligands. QA‐decorated NPs (QA‐NP) interact with human umbilical vein endothelial cells expressing E‐/P‐selectins and induce transient increase in endothelial permeability to translocate across the layer. QA‐NP reach selectin‐upregulated tumors, achieving greater tumor accumulation and paclitaxel (PTX) delivery than polyethylene glycol‐decorated NPs (PEG‐NP). PTX‐loaded QA‐NP show greater anticancer efficacy than Taxol or PTX‐loaded PEG‐NP at the equivalent PTX dose in different animal models and dosing regimens. Repeated dosing of PTX‐loaded QA‐NP for two weeks results in complete tumor remission in 40–60% of MDA‐MB‐231 tumor‐bearing mice, while those receiving control treatments succumb to death. QA‐NP can exploit the interaction with selectin‐expressing peritumoral endothelium and deliver anticancer drugs to tumors to a greater extent than the level currently possible with the EPR effect.
To overcome the endothelial barrier when accessing tumors, polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) are modified with a quinic acid (QA) derivative, synthetic mimic of selectin ligands, via polydopamine. The QA‐decorated NPs interact with selectin‐overexpressing endothelial cells and induce a transient increase in endothelial permeability to translocate across the endothelial layer. The QA‐NPs reach selectin‐upregulated tumors, achieving greater tumor accumulation and paclitaxel delivery than polyethylene glycol‐decorated NPs.
Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor (SGLT2i) should be considered for patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) having estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≥ 30 ...mL/min/1.73 m
and urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) > 30 mg/g. However, SGLT2i is currently underprescribed among eligible, at-risk patients for CKD progression. We analyzed prescription patterns and barriers to initiating SGLT2i in patients with T2D and CKD in real practice.
A total of 3,703 consecutive outpatients with T2D from four teaching hospitals during six months (2019 ~ 2020) were reviewed. Five eGFR categories (G1, ≥ 90; G2, 60-89; G3ab, 30-59; G4-5, < 30 mL/min/1.73 m
) and three UACR categories (A1, < 30; A2, 30-300; A3, > 300 mg/g) were used to define CKD status.
Overall, 25.8 % patients received SGLT2i in the following eGFR and albuminuria categories: G1 (A1, 31 %; A2, 48 %; A3, 45 %); G2 (A1, 18 %; A2, 24 %; A3, 30%); and G3 (A1, 9 %; A2, 7 %; A3, 13 %). Total prevalence estimate of CKD was 33.8 % (n = 1,253), of whom 25.6 % patients received SGLT2i. We defined eGFR ≥ 45 mL/min/1.73 m
and UACR ≥ 30 mg/g as high-risk CKD group eligible for SGLT2i (n = 905), of whom 32.9 % patients were treated with an SGLT2i. In this high-risk group, SGLT2i initiation showed negative correlations with age ≥ 65 years and recent hospitalization. Conversely, HbA1c level, body mass index (BMI), presence of diabetic retinopathy, and previous heart failure events were positively correlated with SGLT2i initiation.
Only 32.9 % of T2D with CKD eligible for SGLT2i is currently treated with SGLT2i in real-world clinical practice. The older patient group and clinical inertia are the main barriers to initiate SGLT2i for eligible patients. Clinicians should change the glucocentric approach and focus on reducing renal events in T2D.
To investigate the association between visit-to-visit variability in blood pressure and the incidence of dementia and its subtypes in a general population, we conducted a population-based ...retrospective cohort study using the Korean National Health Insurance System database. We identified 7 844 814 subjects without a history of any dementia who underwent ≥3 health examinations from 2005 to 2012 in the Korean National Health Insurance System cohort. Blood pressure variability (BPV) was measured using the variability independent of the mean, coefficient of variation, and SD. During the median follow-up of 6.2 years, there were 200 574 cases of all-cause dementia (2.8%), 165 112 cases of Alzheimer’s disease (2.1%), and 27 443 cases of vascular dementia (0.3%). There was a linear association between higher BPV and outcome measures. In the multivariable adjusted model, the hazard ratios and 95% CIs of all-cause dementia were 1.06 (1.04–1.07) for the highest quartile of variability independent of the mean of diastolic blood pressure only, 1.09 (1.08–1.11) for that of systolic blood pressure only, and 1.18 (1.16–1.19) for that of both systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared with subjects having no highest quartile for BPV. Consistent results were noted for Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia using other indices of variability and in various sensitivity and subgroup analyses. BPV is an independent predictor for developing dementia and its subtypes. A dose-response relationship was noted between higher BPV and dementia incidence. Reducing BPV may be a target for preventing dementia in the general population.
We present a method for exciting surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) caused by a magnetic field component perpendicular to the direction of slit. The excitation mechanism is based on the spatially ...oscillating induced current along the edges of the slit under obliquely incident electromagnetic waves. Our finding distinguishes itself from previous mechanisms based on transverse electric fields and unveils the missing point of the SPP-excitation problem in a nanoslit. The use of a magnetic field for SPP excitation can be highly efficient and even comparable to that with an electric field, so that their composition can lead to selective unidirectional excitation.
Abstract The optimal revascularization strategy for patients with significant coronary artery disease (CAD) and severe left ventricular (LV) dysfunction (ejection fraction ≤ 35%) remains unclear. We ...compared the effects of coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG, n=442) versus percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stents (DESs, n=469) on long-term mortality in 911 patients with significant CAD and severe LV dysfunction using large real-world registry data. Databases of three real-world registries were merged for a patient-level meta-analysis. Primary outcome was death from any cause; secondary outcomes were death from cardiac causes, myocardial infarction, stroke, or repeat revascularization. At a median follow-up of 37.3 months, the risk of all-cause death (adjusted hazard ratio HR, 0.43; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.30–0.61; P < 0.001) was significantly lower in the CABG group than in the PCI group after adjustment. Similar findings were observed with regard to the risks of death from cardiac cause (adjusted HR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.33–0.73; P < 0.001) and repeat revascularization (adjusted HR, 0.08; 95% CI, 0.03–0.20; P < 0.001). However, there were no significant differences in the risks of myocardial infarction and stroke between the two groups. The superiority of CABG over PCI was particularly pronounced in patients receiving beta-blockers and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blockers than those who are not. In conclusion, among patients with significant CAD and severe LV dysfunction, CABG showed a lower risk of all-cause death, cardiac-cause death, and repeat revascularization compared to PCI with DESs.
Beta-adrenergic receptor blockers are used in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) to reduce the harmful effects of excessive adrenergic activation on the heart. However, there is limited ...evidence regarding the benefit of beta-blockers in the context of contemporary management following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We used the nationwide South Korea National Health Insurance database to identify 87,980 patients with a diagnosis of either acute myocardial infarction (AMI; n = 38,246) or angina pectoris (n = 49,734) who underwent PCI between 2013 and 2017, and survived to be discharged from hospital. Beta-blockers were used in a higher proportion of patients with AMI (80.6%) than those with angina (58.9%). Over a median follow-up of 2.2 years (interquartile range 1.2-3.3 years) with the propensity-score matching analysis, the mortality risk was significantly lower in patients treated with a beta-blocker in the AMI group (HR: 0.78; 95% CI 0.69-0.87; p < 0.001). However, the mortality risk was comparable regardless of beta-blocker use (HR: 1.07; 95% CI 0.98-1.16; p = 0.10) in the angina group. The survival benefit associated with beta-blocker therapy was most significant in the first year after the AMI event.
The molecular mechanism of long-term memory has been extensively studied in the context of the hippocampus-dependent recent memory examined within several days. However, months-old remote memory ...maintained in the cortex for long-term has not been investigated much at the molecular level yet. Various epigenetic mechanisms are known to be important for long-term memory, but how the 3D chromatin architecture and its regulator molecules contribute to neuronal plasticity and systems consolidation is still largely unknown. CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) is an 11-zinc finger protein well known for its role as a genome architecture molecule. Male conditional knock-out mice in which CTCF is lost in excitatory neurons during adulthood showed normal recent memory in the contextual fear conditioning and spatial water maze tasks. However, they showed remarkable impairments in remote memory in both tasks. Underlying the remote memory-specific phenotypes, we observed that female CTCF conditional knock-out mice exhibit disrupted cortical LTP, but not hippocampal LTP. Similarly, we observed that CTCF deletion in inhibitory neurons caused partial impairment of remote memory. Through RNA sequencing, we observed that CTCF knockdown in cortical neuron culture caused altered expression of genes that are highly involved in cell adhesion, synaptic plasticity, and memory. These results suggest that remote memory storage in the cortex requires CTCF-mediated gene regulation in neurons, whereas recent memory formation in the hippocampus does not.
CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) is a well-known 3D genome architectural protein that regulates gene expression. Here, we use two different CTCF conditional knock-out mouse lines and reveal, for the first time, that CTCF is critically involved in the regulation of remote memory. We also show that CTCF is necessary for appropriate expression of genes, many of which we found to be involved in the learning- and memory-related processes. Our study provides behavioral and physiological evidence for the involvement of CTCF-mediated gene regulation in the remote long-term memory and elucidates our understanding of systems consolidation mechanisms.
Postoperative desaturation is a common post-surgery pulmonary complication. The real-time prediction of postoperative desaturation can become a preventive measure, and real-time changes in spirometry ...data can provide valuable information on respiratory mechanics. However, there is a lack of related research, specifically on using spirometry signals as inputs to machine learning (ML) models. We developed an ML model and postoperative desaturation prediction index (DPI) by analyzing intraoperative spirometry signals in patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery. We analyzed spirometry data from patients who underwent laparoscopic, robot-assisted gynecologic, or urologic surgery, identifying postoperative desaturation as a peripheral arterial oxygen saturation level below 95%, despite facial oxygen mask usage. We fitted the ML model on two separate datasets collected during different periods. (Datasets A and B). Dataset A (Normal 133, Desaturation 74) was used for the entire experimental process, including ML model fitting, statistical analysis, and DPI determination. Dataset B (Normal 20, Desaturation 4) was only used for verify the ML model and DPI. Four feature categories-signal property, inter-/intra-position correlation, peak value/interval variability, and demographics-were incorporated into the ML models via filter and wrapper feature selection methods. In experiments, the ML model achieved an adequate predictive capacity for postoperative desaturation, and the performance of the DPI was unbiased.
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