Improving the health behaviors of those with chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes is important for disease management. Few in-depth studies have been conducted in Korea on the health ...behaviors of chronic disease patients. This study examined the health behaviors of chronic disease patients over time and compared them with those of the general population.
Cross-sectional time-series data obtained from the Korea Community Health Survey from 2008 to 2017 were analyzed. Thirteen diseases were included in this analysis, namely, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, stroke, myocardial infarction, angina, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, cataract, and depression. The current smoking rate, drinking rate, and the walking rate, which are leading health behaviors necessary for preventing chronic diseases, were analyzed by disease type. We compared patients' health behaviors with those of the general population and identified regional variations.
Although the current overall smoking rate was seemingly declining, the overall monthly drinking and high-risk drinking rates were increasing. In 2017, patients experiencing depression symptoms had a higher smoking rate than did the general population; hypertension and diabetes patients had a higher risk-drinking rate than did the latter. The general population's walking rate was highest. There were considerable variations by region among chronic disease patients.
Chronic disease patients displayed worse health behaviors than those of the general population, in some instances. Rather than focusing only on chronic disease patients' medication adherence, strategies must be devised to increase their smoking cessation rate, decrease their drinking rate, and increase their walking rate.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The gut microbiota has an important role in the gut barrier, inflammation and metabolic functions. Studies have identified a close association between the intestinal barrier and metabolic diseases, ...including obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Recently, Akkermansia muciniphila has been reported as a beneficial bacterium that reduces gut barrier disruption and insulin resistance. Here we evaluated the role of A. muciniphila-derived extracellular vesicles (AmEVs) in the regulation of gut permeability. We found that there are more AmEVs in the fecal samples of healthy controls compared with those of patients with T2D. In addition, AmEV administration enhanced tight junction function, reduced body weight gain and improved glucose tolerance in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced diabetic mice. To test the direct effect of AmEVs on human epithelial cells, cultured Caco-2 cells were treated with these vesicles. AmEVs decreased the gut permeability of lipopolysaccharide-treated Caco-2 cells, whereas Escherichia coli-derived EVs had no significant effect. Interestingly, the expression of occludin was increased by AmEV treatment. Overall, these results imply that AmEVs may act as a functional moiety for controlling gut permeability and that the regulation of intestinal barrier integrity can improve metabolic functions in HFD-fed mice.
Background
Sarcopenia is a major component of geriatric syndrome and associated with poor clinical outcomes and mortality. However, diagnosing sarcopenia in the very elderly is difficult, and data on ...its epidemiology and devastating effects in this group are scarce. Phase angle (PA) is measured using bioimpedance spectroscopy and known to reflect cellular integrity and health. This study aimed to clarify the impact of sarcopenia and PA on mortality risk in very elderly people living in long‐term care facilities.
Methods
This prospective cohort study enrolled elderly residents living in nine long‐term care facilities. We collected the participants' data, such as body mass index (BMI), comorbidities and laboratory data, from September to October 2017 and mortality data until October 2019. Nutritional status was evaluated using the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) score, and multifrequency bioimpedance spectroscopy was used to assess body composition including PA. Appendicular skeletal muscle mass was calculated using the body composition monitor‐derived equation of Taiwan's researchers. Sarcopenia was diagnosed using the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People 2 (EWGSOP2) definition (sarcopenia vs. normal group). We divided the participants into two groups according to the median PA value of 3.65° (high vs. low group) and performed multivariate regression analyses to verify the association with mortality risk according to sarcopenia diagnosis or PA group.
Results
A total of 279 elderly participants were enrolled; of them, 238 (85.3%) were diagnosed with sarcopenia according to EWGSOP2 guidelines. The median patient age was 83 years, 211 (75.6%) were female and the median BMI was 20.4 kg/m2. The sarcopenia group was older than the normal group (84 vs. 81 years; P = 0.002), had a lower mean BMI (19.8 vs. 26.6 kg/m2, P < 0.001) and had a lower MNA score (9 vs. 12 points, P < 0.001). Sarcopenia was associated with a higher mortality risk after the adjustment for age, sex and diabetes mellitus (hazard ratio HR, 3.744; 95% confidence interval CI, 1.155–12.134; P = 0.028). A low PA was associated with sarcopenia, older age, female sex, low MNA score and overhydration volume; it was also a significant predictor of mortality after the adjustment for age, sex, diabetes mellitus and MNA score (HR, 0.593; 95% CI, 0.420–0.837; P = 0.003).
Conclusions
Sarcopenia is prevalent among the very elderly patients in long‐term care facilities. Sarcopenia and low PA are significantly associated with higher mortality risk.
Artificial photonic synapses are emerging as a promising implementation to emulate the human visual cognitive system by consolidating a series of processes for sensing and memorizing visual ...information into one system. In particular, mimicking retinal functions such as multispectral color perception and controllable nonvolatility is important for realizing artificial visual systems. However, many studies to date have focused on monochromatic‐light‐based photonic synapses, and thus, the emulation of color discrimination capability remains an important challenge for visual intelligence. Here, an artificial multispectral color recognition system by employing heterojunction photosynaptic transistors consisting of ratio‐controllable mixed quantum dot (M‐QD) photoabsorbers and metal‐oxide semiconducting channels is proposed. The biological photoreceptor inspires M‐QD photoabsorbers with a precisely designed red (R), green (G), and blue (B)‐QD ratio, enabling full‐range visible color recognition with high photo‐to‐electric conversion efficiency. In addition, adjustable synaptic plasticity by modulating gate bias allows multiple nonvolatile‐to‐volatile memory conversion, leading to chromatic control in the artificial photonic synapse. To ensure the viability of the developed proof of concept, a 7 × 7 pixelated photonic synapse array capable of performing outstanding color image recognition based on adjustable wavelength‐dependent volatility conversion is demonstrated.
An artificial visual perception system that enables full‐range visible color recognition by employing heterojunction photosynaptic transistors consisting of precisely designed size‐mixed quantum dot photoabsorbers and amorphous In–Ga–Zn–O semiconducting channels is proposed. Moreover, this artificial photonic synapse shows chromatically controllable synaptic plasticity by gate field modulation, inducing multiple selective nonvolatile detection modes.
Dermal papilla cells (DPCs) are a rich source of nutrients and secrete multiple growth factors that can affect hair growth. As oxidative stress leads to hair loss in humans, it is considered to be ...one of the factors that can impair the function of DPCs. Herb-derived phytochemicals exhibit potent antioxidant activities; therefore, this study investigated whether a set of essential oils (lavender, lemongrass, rosemary, and chamomile oils) promote the hair-growth activity of DPCs. Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) increased markedly in ultraviolet B-irradiated DPCs (50 mJ/cm2) and were efficiently blocked by essential oils. Essential oils upregulated the mRNA and protein levels of phase II enzymes (detoxifying and antioxidant), including heme oxygenase-1, NAD(P)H quinone oxidoreductase-1, and glutathione S-transferase pi. They also upregulated and activated nuclear factor E2-related factor 2, an essential transcription factor for phase II enzymes. Regarding biomarkers for hair growth, essential oils significantly increased vascular endothelial cell growth factor and insulin-like growth factor-1 mRNA levels. In conclusion, phytochemicals in essential oils enhance hair growth through ROS-scavenging activity in DPCs.
This study sought to evaluate the association between the degree of hypertension and subclinical coronary atherosclerosis in asymptomatic subjects with and without diabetes mellitus (DM). We ...retrospectively analyzed 7,352 asymptomatic subjects (mean age 52.8 ± 7.8 years; 4,689 63.8% men) with no history of coronary artery disease who voluntarily underwent coronary computed tomography angiography as part of a general health examination. The classification of hypertension was adapted from the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association 2017 guideline. Subclinical coronary atherosclerosis was defined as the presence of coronary plaque by coronary computed tomography angiography. In subjects without DM (n = 6,598), after the adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors, subclinical coronary atherosclerosis was significantly associated with both stage 1 hypertension (adjusted odds ratio aOR 1.356; 95% confidence interval CI, 1.167 to 1.575; p <0.001) and stage 2 hypertension (aOR, 1.614; 95% CI, 1.329 to 1.961; p <0.001) groups compared with the normal group. In contrast, in subjects with DM (n = 754), there was no statistical difference in the aOR of the stage 1 hypertension group for the presence of coronary plaque (aOR, 1.449; 95% CI, 0.982 to 2.136; p = 0.061). However, the stage 2 hypertension group had a significant association with subclinical coronary atherosclerosis (aOR, 2.067; 95% CI, 1.287 to 3.322; p = 0.003). In subjects without DM, both stages 1 and 2 hypertension were associated with subclinical coronary atherosclerosis. However, in subjects with DM, stage 2 hypertension was only associated with an increased risk of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis.
Cancer is a heterogeneous disease caused by diverse genomic alterations in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. Despite recent advances in high-throughput sequencing technologies and development of ...targeted therapies, novel cancer drug development is limited due to the high attrition rate from clinical studies. Patient-derived xenografts (PDX), which are established by the transfer of patient tumors into immunodeficient mice, serve as a platform for co-clinical trials by enabling the integration of clinical data, genomic profiles, and drug responsiveness data to determine precisely targeted therapies. PDX models retain many of the key characteristics of patients' tumors including histology, genomic signature, cellular heterogeneity, and drug responsiveness. These models can also be applied to the development of biomarkers for drug responsiveness and personalized drug selection. This review summarizes our current knowledge of this field, including methodologic aspects, applications in drug development, challenges and limitations, and utilization for precision cancer medicine.
The complete hardware implementation of an optoelectronic neuromorphic computing system is considered as one of the most promising solutions to realize energy‐efficient artificial intelligence. Here, ...a fully light‐driven and scalable optoelectronic neuromorphic circuit with metal‐chalcogenide/metal‐oxide heterostructure phototransistor and photovoltaic divider is proposed. To achieve wavelength‐selective neural operation and hardware‐based pattern recognition, multispectral light modulated bidirectional synaptic circuits are utilized as an individual pixel for highly accurate and large‐area neuromorphic computing system. The wavelength selective control of photo‐generated charges at the heterostructure interface enables the bidirectional synaptic modulation behaviors including the excitatory and inhibitory modulations. More importantly, a 7 × 7 neuromorphic pixel circuit array is demonstrated to show the viability of implementing highly accurate hardware‐based pattern training. In both the pixel training and pattern recognition simulation, the neuromorphic circuit array with the bidirectional synaptic modulation exhibits lower training errors and higher recognition rates, respectively.
A large‐area optoelectronic neuromorphic system demonstrates the hardware training of random images using multispectral light signals. It provides the first demonstration of a monolithically integrated and scalable optoelectronic neuromorphic devices composed of a heterostructure phototransistor and circuit component with standard complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) processing, which is capable of efficient pattern recognition by the fully optically derived signals.
Our previous studies showed that GV1001 has various protective effects against β-amyloid and other stressors. Based on these findings, we hypothesized that GV1001 might have beneficial effects in ...patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD).
A phase 2, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled, 6-month randomized clinical trial was performed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of subcutaneously administered GV1001. Between September 2017 and September 2019, 13 centers in South Korea recruited participants. A total of 106 patients were screened, and 96 patients with moderate-to-severe AD were randomized 1:1:1 to the placebo (group 1, n = 31), GV1001 0.56 mg (group 2, n = 33), and 1.12 mg (group 3, n = 32) groups. GV1001 was administered every week for 4 weeks (4 times), followed by every 2 weeks until week 24 (10 times). The primary endpoint was the change in the Severe Impairment Battery (SIB) score from baseline to week 24. The key secondary efficacy endpoints were the change in the Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Box (CDR-SOB), Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study-Activities of Daily Living (ADCS-ADL), Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), Mini-Mental State Examination, and Global Deterioration Scale scores. The safety endpoints were also assessed based on adverse events, laboratory test results, vital signs, and other observations related to safety.
Group 3 showed less decrease in the SIB score at 12 and 24 weeks compared with group 1 (P < 0.05). These were not significantly observed in group 2. Among the secondary endpoints, only the NPI score showed significantly better improvement in group 2 than in group 3 at week 12; however, there were no other significant differences between the groups. Although the ADCS-ADL and CDR-SOB scores showed a pattern similar to SIB scores, a statistically significant result was not found. Adverse events were similar across all three groups.
The results indicate that GV1001 1.12 mg met the primary endpoint of a statistically significant difference. GV1001 was well tolerated without safety concerns. This study warrants a larger clinical trial.
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03184467 . Registered on June 12, 2017.
Biodiesel is a carbon neutral liquid fuel that is derived from transesterification of lipids in biomass. Microalgae could be a promising raw feedstock for biodiesel production thanks to high lipid ...content in line with the rapid carbon fixation capability. Nonetheless, lipid productivity from microalgae is sensitive to microalgal species and cultivation conditions. Hence, to seek cultivation parameters maximizing lipid productivity, Euglena gracilis (E. gracilis) was kept under the controlled conditions as a case study. Non-catalytic transesterification was also adopted for quantitative/qualitative analyses of lipid in E. gracilis due to its analytical reliability. E. gracilis was cultured in the aerobic condition for 7 d, and the cultivation mode was changed into the anaerobic condition for 3 d to experimentally confirm wax ester fermentation mechanisms. The lipid content in E. gracilis reached up to 24.81 wt% (dry basis) under the heterotrophic condition, which was in good agreement with the wax fermentation mechanism. It was concluded that the high dose of nutrients (glucose, nitrogen, and phosphorus) under the oxygen-free environment led to a favorable condition for lipid accumulation. Nevertheless, this study offered that lipid productivity in 6 d (0.131 g lipid L−1 d−1) under aerobic condition was higher than that in 10 d (0.092 g lipid L−1 d−1) under anaerobic condition due to substantial carbon loss arising from the wax ester fermentation stage under the anaerobic condition.
•E. Gracilis was converted into biodiesel via non-catalytic transesterification.•Cultivation parameters for maximum lipid productivity of E. Gracilis was studied.•Lipid content in E. Gracilis reached up to 24.81 wt% under heterotrophic condition.•Lipid productivity under aerobic condition was higher than that under anaerobic one.
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