Prime editors, novel genome-editing tools consisting of a CRISPR-Cas9 nickase and an engineered reverse transcriptase, can induce targeted mutagenesis. Nevertheless, much effort is required to ...optimize and improve the efficiency of prime-editing. Herein, we introduce two strategies to improve the editing efficiency using proximal dead sgRNA and chromatin-modulating peptides. We used enhanced prime-editing to generate Igf2 mutant mice with editing frequencies of up to 47% and observed germline transmission, no off-target effects, and a dwarf phenotype. This improved prime-editing method can be efficiently applied to cell research and to generate mouse models.
This paper discusses a new design approach that uses hybrid power combining rectenna array in radio frequency (RF) energy transfer systems to receive more energy in a wide incident angle range. A ...beam-forming matrix and a dc power management network (PMN) are introduced to the hybrid power combining. The normalized dc output power of the proposed hybrid power combining array is compared to the conventional power combining methods with regard to the incident wave angle, and the average received dc power is also calculated and compared. To experimentally verify the proposed hybrid combining array performance, four suspended patch antennas are attached to RF energy receiving architecture. A 4 × 4 Butler matrix and quadrature hybrids are used for the beam-forming matrix in a hybrid power combining rectenna array. A reconfigurable voltage doubler rectifier with a dc PMN is used to convert RF energy to dc energy and delivers proper voltage to the load. The measured results of each component are presented. Moreover, an experimental verification using fabricated components for RF energy transfer is presented and the measured received dc output power of conventional and proposed structures is presented and compared.
This study used resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) to investigate whole brain networks in patients with persistent postural perceptual dizziness (PPPD). We compared rsfMRI ...data from 38 patients with PPPD and 38 healthy controls using whole brain and region of interest analyses. We examined correlations among connectivity and clinical variables and tested the ability of a machine learning algorithm to classify subjects using rsfMRI results. Patients with PPPD showed: (a) increased connectivity of subcallosal cortex with left superior lateral occipital cortex and left middle frontal gyrus, (b) decreased connectivity of left hippocampus with bilateral central opercular cortices, left posterior opercular cortex, right insular cortex and cerebellum, and (c) decreased connectivity between right nucleus accumbens and anterior left temporal fusiform cortex. After controlling for anxiety and depression as covariates, patients with PPPD still showed decreased connectivity between left hippocampus and right inferior frontal gyrus, bilateral temporal lobes, bilateral insular cortices, bilateral central opercular cortex, left parietal opercular cortex, bilateral occipital lobes and cerebellum (bilateral lobules VI and V, and left I–IV). Dizziness handicap, anxiety, and depression correlated with connectivity in clinically meaningful brain regions. The machine learning algorithm correctly classified patients and controls with a sensitivity of 78.4%, specificity of 76.9%, and area under the curve = 0.88 using 11 connectivity parameters. Patients with PPPD showed reduced connectivity among the areas involved in multisensory vestibular processing and spatial cognition, but increased connectivity in networks linking visual and emotional processing. Connectivity patterns may become an imaging biomarker of PPPD.
This study aimed to determine the etiologic distribution of dizziness and vertigo in a referral-based dizziness clinic in South Korea. We analyzed the diagnoses of 21,166 consecutive dizzy patients ...(12,691 women, mean age = 57.9 ± 15.7, age range = 3–97) seen from 2003 to 2019 using a registry and medical records. Overall, dizziness and vertigo were more common in women (60.0%, CI 0.59–0.61) than in men without a difference in age (57.7 ± 15.5 vs. 58.1 ± 16.1,
p
= 0.094). Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV, 24.1%) was the most common cause of dizziness/vertigo, followed by psychiatric or persistent postural perceptual dizziness (20.8%), vascular disorders (12.9%), vestibular migraine (10.2%), Meniere’s disease (7.2%), and vestibular neuritis (5.4%). These six disorders comprised more than 80% of all disorders. The etiology could not be determined in 5.0%, and more than one etiology was found in 14.1%. Vestibular migraine was the most common disorder in children and adolescents (< 19 years), psychiatric or persistent postural perceptual dizziness (26.3%) in the adults (19–64 years), and BPPV (28.2%) in the elderly (≥ 65 years). This etiologic distribution is similar to that reported in another country, and indicates no significant differences in the proportion of diseases causing dizziness and vertigo across different ethnic groups. This study provides valuable information to establish healthcare policy for dizziness and vertigo.
Optically reduced graphene oxide (ORGO) sheets are successfully integrated on silver nanowire (Ag NW)‐embedded transparent and flexible substrate. As a heating element, Ag NWs are embedded in a ...colorless polyimide (CPI) film by covering Ag NW networks using polyamic acid and subsequent imidization. Graphene oxide dispersed aqueous solution is drop‐coated on the Ag NW‐embedded CPI (Ag NW‐CPI) film and directly irradiated by intense pulsed light to obtain ORGO sheets. The heat generation property of Ag NW‐CPI film is investigated by applying DC voltage, which demonstrates unprecedentedly reliable and stable characteristics even in dynamic bending condition. To demonstrate the potential application in wearable chemical sensors, NO2 sensing characteristic of ORGO is investigated with respect to the different heating temperature (22.7–71.7 °C) of Ag NW‐CPI film. The result reveals that the ORGO sheets exhibit high sensitivity of 2.69% with reversible response/recovery sensing properties and minimal deviation of baseline resistance of around 1% toward NO2 molecules when the temperature of Ag NW‐CPI film is 71.7 °C. This work first demonstrates the improved reversible NO2 sensing properties of ORGO sheets on flexible and transparent Ag NW‐CPI film assisted by Ag NW heating networks.
Optically reduced graphene oxide (ORGO) is achieved on a silver nanowire (Ag NW)‐embedded colorless polyimide (CPI) heater substrate for application in wearable chemical sensors. The ORGO sheets exhibit improved reversible reaction and recovery kinetics by the controlled operating temperatures using Ag NW‐embedded CPI heater.
Aims
This study aimed to identify the nursing stress factors, which affect turnover intention in hospital nurses.
Background
Nursing stress is known to be an important predictor of turnover intention ...in nurses. Although nurses experience various sources of stress across work environments, cultures, and generations, little is known about the stress factors affecting turnover intention in nurses.
Design
A descriptive cross‐sectional design was employed.
Methods
A total of 329 nurses were recruited through convenience sampling from 27 hospitals in South Korea. Data were collected from May to November 2018 using a questionnaire.
Results
Among the stress factors, stress from patients and their families, workload stress, stress from conflicts with supervisors, and stress from conflicts with peers were associated with turnover intention in hospital nurses. These variables explained 40.0% of the variance in turnover intention among hospital nurses.
Conclusions
Stress from interpersonal relationships with patients and their families, supervisors, and peers may have a considerable impact on turnover intention. To reduce nursing turnover intention, coping strategies to reduce stress from patients and their families should be established. It is necessary to provide programmes that foster interpersonal relationship skills in the workplace. Nurse managers may encourage communication among nurses to establish positive relationships.
SUMMARY STATEMENT
What is already known about the topic?
Nurses' turnover continues to remain a challenging issue across work environments, cultures, and generations.
Nursing stress has a great impact on turnover intention in hospital nurses. However, little is known about the stress factors that affect turnover intention in nurses.
What this paper adds?
Among the nursing stress factors, stress from patients and families had a strong effect on turnover intention in hospital nurses, followed by stress from workload, conflicts with supervisors, and conflicts with peers.
The implications of this paper:
Our findings suggest that stress from interpersonal relationships might have a considerable impact on turnover intention.
Coping strategies to reduce stress from patients and family need to be first established to reduce the turnover intention in hospital nurses.
Nurse managers should be aware of the effects of interpersonal relationships on turnover intention and encourage communication among nurses to establish positive relationships.
Although most SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals experience mild coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), some patients suffer from severe COVID-19, which is accompanied by acute respiratory distress ...syndrome and systemic inflammation. To identify factors driving severe progression of COVID-19, we performed single-cell RNA-seq using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained from healthy donors, patients with mild or severe COVID-19, and patients with severe influenza. Patients with COVID-19 exhibited hyper-inflammatory signatures across all types of cells among PBMCs, particularly up-regulation of the TNF/IL-1β-driven inflammatory response as compared to severe influenza. In classical monocytes from patients with severe COVID-19, type I IFN response co-existed with the TNF/IL-1β-driven inflammation, and this was not seen in patients with milder COVID-19. Interestingly, we documented type I IFN-driven inflammatory features in patients with severe influenza as well. Based on this, we propose that the type I IFN response plays a pivotal role in exacerbating inflammation in severe COVID-19.
2D heterogeneous oxide nanosheets (NSs) have attracted much attention in various scientific fields owing to their exceptional physicochemical properties. However, the fabrication of 2D oxide NSs with ...abundant p–n interfaces and large amounts of mesopores is extremely challenging. Here, a facile synthesis of highly porous 2D heterogeneous oxide NSs (e.g., SnO2/CoOx) is suggested through a 2D oxide exfoliation approach combined with a fast galvanic replacement reaction (GRR). The ultrathin (<5 nm) layered CoOx NSs are simply prepared by ion‐exchange exfoliation and a subsequent GRR process that induces a rapid phase transition from p‐type CoOx to n‐type SnO2 metal oxides (<10 min). The controlled GRR process enables the creation of heterogeneous SnO2/CoOx NSs consisting of small SnO2 grain sizes (<10 nm), high porosity, numerous heterojunctions, and sub‐10 nm thickness, which are highly advantageous characteristics for chemiresistive sensors. Due to the advantage of these features, the porous SnO2/CoOx NSs exhibit an unparalleled HCHO‐sensing performance (Rair/Rgas > 35 @ 5 ppm with a response speed of 9.34 s) with exceptional selectivity compared to that of the state‐of‐the‐art metal oxide‐based HCHO gas sensors.
Highly porous heterogeneous SnO2/CoOx 2D nanosheets are successfully achieved by exfoliation combined with a galvanic replacement reaction. The thin‐walled (<5 nm) exfoliated p‐type CoOx nanosheets are transformed into porous, thin‐walled (<10 nm) n‐type SnO2 nanosheets via galvanic replacement. The porous SnO2/CoOx 2D nanosheets show superior HCHO‐sensing performance with stable mechanical flexibility compared to reported state‐of‐the‐art HCHO sensors.
Practical sensing applications such as real‐time safety alerts and clinical diagnoses require sensor devices to differentiate between various target molecules with high sensitivity and selectivity, ...yet conventional devices such as oxide‐based chemo‐resistive sensors and metal‐based surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) sensors usually do not satisfy such requirements. Here, a label‐free, chemo‐resistive/SERS multimodal sensor based on a systematically assembled 3D cross‐point multifunctional nanoarchitecture (3D‐CMA), which has unusually strong enhancements in both “chemo‐resistive” and “SERS” sensing characteristics is introduced. 3D‐CMA combines several sensing mechanisms and sensing elements via 3D integration of semiconducting SnO2 nanowire frameworks and dual‐functioning Au metallic nanoparticles. It is shown that the multimodal sensor can successfully estimate mixed‐gas compositions selectively and quantitatively at the sub‐100 ppm level, even for mixtures of gaseous aromatic compounds (nitrobenzene and toluene) with very similar molecular structures. This is enabled by combined chemo‐resistive and SERS multimodal sensing providing complementary information.
Synergistic electrical and optical multimodal sensing by 3D nanoarchitectures for label‐free gas detection is reported.
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