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ABSTRACT The study by Monocello et al. presents findings from a cultural model analysis providing support for culturally bounded understandings of weight and shape and body ideals, and identifying factors that vary across culturally anchored weight categories. In this commentary, we highlight the value of utilizing emic perspectives and employing cultural models in research focused on body image and disordered eating, and the usefulness of these empirical data among Korean men who constitute an underrepresented group in the eating disorders literature. In addition, methodological and contextual aspects that warrant consideration in the interpretation of the results are highlighted. Finally, directions for future research are presented focused on body image and disordered eating among Korean men, as well as leveraging cultural models more broadly in the field. We hope that the study by Monocello and colleagues will stimulate additional research that centers the perspectives of underrepresented groups in ways that elevate and honor their experiences and help to shift the field away from a White‐centered perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Quarantine is the first response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Restricting daily life can cause several problems. This study aimed to measure the impact of the COVID-19 quarantine on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) by comparing to the pre-pandemic.Methods: HRQoL during COVID-19 quarantine was surveyed online using EQ-5D index and matched to that of the pre-pandemic-extracted from nationwide representative data of the Korea Community Health Survey- with propensity scores. A beta regression for the EQ-5D scores and a logistic analysis for individual dimensions of the EQ-5D index were performed to measure the impact of the COVID-19 quarantine on health utility.Results: The overall scores of the EQ-5D index were significantly higher in the group under quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic (0.971 SD 0.064) than those before the pandemic (0.964 SD 0.079, Diff. 0.007 SD 0.101, p = 0.043). The beta regression for the overall scores of EQ-5D revealed that quarantining during the COVID-19 pandemic increased by 52.7% compared to normal life before the outbreak(p = 0.045). Specifically, "Depression/Anxiety" deteriorated significantly during quarantining (OR = 0.62, 95% CI:0.48-0.80). However, "Pain/Discomfort" and "Mobility" significantly improved (OR = 5.37, 95% CI:3.71-7.78 and OR = 2.05, 95% CI:1.11-3.80, respectively).Conclusion: Although the world is facing a challenging moment that it has never been through before, mandatory quarantine has served as an experience that provided mental distress but physical comfort in the Korean context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are at increased risk of various chronic diseases. One hypothesized pathway is via changes in diet quality. This study evaluated whether PTSD was associated with deterioration in diet quality over time. Methods: Data were from 51 965 women in the Nurses' Health Study II PTSD sub-study followed over 20 years. Diet, assessed at 4-year intervals, was characterized via the Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010 (AHEI). Based on information from the Brief Trauma Questionnaire and Short Screening Scale for DSM-IV PTSD, trauma/PTSD status was classified as no trauma exposure, prevalent exposure (trauma/PTSD onset before study entry), or new-onset (trauma/PTSD onset during follow-up). We further categorized women with prevalent exposure as having trauma with no PTSD symptoms, trauma with low PTSD symptoms, and trauma with high PTSD symptoms, and created similar categories for women with new-onset exposure, resulting in seven comparison groups. Multivariable linear mixed-effects spline models tested differences in diet quality changes by trauma/PTSD status over follow-up. Results: Overall, diet quality improved over time regardless of PTSD status. In age-adjusted models, compared to those with no trauma, women with prevalent high PTSD and women with new-onset high PTSD symptoms had 3.3% and 3.6% lower improvement in diet quality, respectively, during follow-up. Associations remained consistent after adjusting for health conditions, sociodemographics, and behavioral characteristics. Conclusions: PTSD is associated with less healthy changes in overall diet quality over time. Poor diet quality may be one pathway linking PTSD with a higher risk of chronic disease development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new Lattice Boltzmann (LB) approach is introduced to solve for the block copolymer propagator in polymer field theory. This method bridges two desired properties from different numerical techniques, namely: (i) it is robust and stable as the pseudo-spectral method and (ii) it is flexible and allows for grid refinement and arbitrary boundary conditions. While the LB method is not as accurate as the pseudo-spectral method, full self-consistent field theoretic simulations of block copolymers on graphoepitaxial templates yield essentially indistinguishable results from pseudo-spectral calculations. Furthermore, we were able to achieve speedups of ∼100× compared to single CPU core implementations by utilizing graphics processing units. We expect this method to be very useful in multi-scale studies where small length scale details have to be resolved, such as in strongly segregating block copolymer blends or nanoparticle-polymer interfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the hyaloid vascular regression and its relationship to the retinal and choroidal vascular developments using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Normal and oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) rat eyes at postnatal day 15, 18, 21, and 24 were longitudinally imaged using OCTA. At each day, two consecutive imaging for visualizing the hyaloid vasculature and the retinal and choroidal vasculatures were conducted. The hyaloid vessel volume and the retinal and choroidal vessel densities were measured. The hyaloid vessel volumes gradually decreased during the regression, although the OIR eyes exhibited large vessel volumes at all time points. A spatial relationship between persistent hyaloid vasculature and retardation of underlying retinal vascular development was observed in the OIR eyes. Furthermore, anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was administered intravitreally to additional OIR eyes to observe its effect on the vascular regression and development. The VEGF injection to OIR eyes showed reduced persistent hyaloid vessels in the injected eyes as well as in the non-injected fellow eyes. This study presents longitudinal imaging of intraocular vasculatures in the developing eye and shows the utility of OCTA that can be widely used in studies of vascular development and regression and preclinical evaluation of new anti-angiogenic drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate using Monte Carlo simulations in the NPT ensemble the self-assembly of disk-coil macromolecules with stacking interactions. The disk-coil molecules are composed of a planar disk that is covalently bonded to a single coil. In addition to commonly used amphiphilic interactions between the disk and coil portion of the molecules, we employ an attractive interaction between central monomers of the disks, which mimics stacking interactions. This additional force induces a preferential axial packing. The phase diagram of this system is complex and depends crucially on the stacking interactions. In particular, we find a variety of new phases that include for this system an ordered lamellar, ordered perforated lamellar, cylinder and ordered cylinder phases in addition to the disordered, lamellar, perforated lamellar, and crystal phases observed previously [Y. Kim and A. Alexander-Katz, J. Chem. Phys. 132, 174901 (2010)]. The ordered phases show strong tendency of parallel packing of disks. Among them, the ordered cylinder phase exhibits super-aligned structures which could have uses in many organic optoelectronic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) can be integrated into needle probes to provide real-time navigational guidance. However, unscanned implementations, which are the simplest to build, often struggle to discriminate the relevant tissues. We explore the use of polarization-sensitive (PS) methods as a means to enhance signal interpretability within unscanned coherence tomography probes. Broadband light from a laser centered at 1310 nm was sent through a fiber that was embedded into a needle. The polarization signal from OCT fringes was combined with Doppler-based tracking to create visualizations of the birefringence properties of the tissue. Experiments were performed in (i) well-understood structured tissues (salmon and shrimp) and (ii) ex vivo porcine spine. The porcine experiments were selected to illustrate an epidural guidance use case. In the porcine spine, unscanned and Doppler-tracked PS OCT imaging data successfully identified the skin, subcutaneous tissue, ligament, and epidural spaces during needle insertion. PS imaging within a needle probe improves signal interpretability relative to structural OCT methods and may advance the clinical utility of unscanned OCT needle probes in a variety of applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little is known about occupational class differences in pancreatic cancer survival. Methods: Using a population‐based cancer registry in Japan, 3 578 patients with incident pancreatic cancer (1970‐2011) were followed up for 5 years (median follow‐up time 0.42 years). We classified patients into four occupational classes based on their longest‐held jobs: white‐collar (professional and managers), service, blue‐collar, and those not actively employed. Using white‐collar class as the reference group, hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for overall death were estimated by Cox proportional hazard model. Covariates included age, sex, and year of diagnosis. Prognostic variables (pathology, stage, and treatment) and smoking behaviors were additionally adjusted as possible mediating factors. Results: Overall survival was poor in this population (median, 0.50 and 0.33 years in white‐collar and service classes, respectively). Compared with white‐collar patients, survival was significantly poorer across all occupational classes, most pronounced in the service worker group: mortality HRs ranged from 1.11 (95% CI 1.00‐1.24) in blue‐collar workers to 1.24 (95% CI 1.12‐1.37) in service workers. Even after controlling for potential mediating factors, service workers showed worse survival. Conclusion: We documented occupational class disparities in pancreatic cancer survival in Japan. Even in the setting of lethal prognostic cancer with universal health coverage, high‐occupational class groups may enjoy a health advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes of retinal blood vessel calibers may reflect various retinal diseases and even several non-retinal diseases. We propose a new method to estimate retinal vessel calibers from 3D optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) images based on 3D modeling using superellipsoids. Taking advantage of 3D visualization of the retinal tissue microstructures in vivo provided by OCTA, our method can detect retinal blood vessels precisely, estimate their calibers reliably, and show the relative flow speed visually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/ Purpose: Despite emerging evidence suggesting harmful influences of accurate weight perception on psychological health among individuals with obesity, little is known about the association in Asian populations. The aim of this study was investigate the association between body weight perception and depressive symptoms among Korean adults, and potential differential associations across gender. Methods: We used data from the sixth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2014, comprising 3,318 female (n = 1,876) and male (n = 1,442) participants, aged 19–65 years, with no history of depression and a body-mass index (BMI)> = 18.5kg/m2. Depressive symptoms were measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 Korean version. Weight perception patterns were categorized by comparing self-perceived and objectively measured weight status. Gender-stratified four-level multilevel linear models adjusted for age, BMI, menopause, education, income, marital status, urbanicity, chronic conditions, exercise, smoking, and alcohol use. Subgroup analyses were performed across BMI category. Results: Among women with obesity, those who underperceived their weight status reported fewer depressive symptoms compared to those who accurately perceived their weight status (β = -1.25, p<0.05). Among women with normal weight, those who overperceived their weight status reported more depressive symptoms compared to those who accurately perceived their weight status (β = 1.00, p<0.05). The same associations were not found in men. Conclusion: Awareness-oriented strategies for obesity prevention and weight management focused on providing information on weight status may need to consider unintended consequences of accurate weight perception on mental health among individuals with obesity, particularly among women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eating disorders are a serious and life-threatening health issue associated with physical and mental health problems. Stigma associated with sexual orientation is thought to be one contributor to eating disorders symptoms in U.S. adolescents. Additional research on disordered weight control behaviors in diverse populations is needed to better understand their etiology. To examine the association of sex of sexual partners with disordered weight control behaviors among South Korean adolescents, we analyzed survey data from 67,266 adolescents, ages 12–18 years, from the 2015 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey. Adolescents were grouped based on self-reported sex of sexual partners. Disordered weight control behaviors included fasting, vomiting, or use of unprescribed diet pills for weight control in the past month. Among both girls and boys, those reporting partners of both sexes had higher odds and those with no sexual partners had lower odds of disordered weight control behaviors. Those with same-sex partners only were not significantly different in disordered weight control behaviors from those with other-sex partners only for girls or boys. Our findings demonstrate the need for further research identifying ways to mitigate risk for this vulnerable group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: To investigate the prevalence and risk factors for disordered weight control behaviors (DWCB) in South Korean adolescents at multiple levels, including individual, family, school, and geographic area. Method: We drew participants from the 11th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web‐based Survey, conducted in 2015, with 65,529 adolescents (31,687 girls, 33,842 boys) aged 12–18 years. DWCB was defined as engaging in any of the following behaviors for weight control over the past month: fasting, one‐food diet (eating only one food over an extended period of time for weight control), vomiting, and taking laxatives/diuretics/unprescribed diet pills. Sex‐stratified four‐level multilevel logistic models examined potential predictors of DWCB, including age, body‐mass index, puberty, perceived household economic status, parental education, living structure, school type and sex‐composition, percentage of students participating in school nutrition programs, and urbanicity. Results: Overall, 6.2% of Korean adolescents (8.9% of girls, 3.7% of boys) exhibited any DWCB. We found significant between‐school variation among girls and boys and between‐classroom variation among girls. Older age, overweight/obesity, pubertal maturity, high household economic status (vs. mid‐range economic status), and vocational schooling (vs. general) were positively associated with DWCB among girls and boys. Low household economic status (vs. mid‐range economic status), higher parental education, and coeducational schooling (vs. single‐sex) were positively associated with DWCB among girls only. Discussion: The findings suggest that DWCB are prevalent among Korean adolescents across age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Social contextual factors including school and familial environmental factors, as well as individual characteristics, should be considered when developing effective prevention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Growing body of literature has reported that weight status estimation pattern, including accurate-, under-, and overestimation, was associated with weight related behaviors and weight change among adolescents and young adults. However, there have been a few studies investigating the potential role of school contexts in shaping adolescents’ weight status estimation pattern among Korea adolescents. Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between weight status misperception patterns and factors at individual-, family-, and school-level, simultaneously, and whether there was significant between schools variation in the distribution of each weight status misperception pattern, underestimation and overestimation respectively, among Korean adolescents aged 12–18 years. Method: Data from the Eighth Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (KYRBS), 2012, a nationally representative online survey of 72,228 students (boys = 37,229, girls = 34,999) from a total of 797 middle and high schools were used. Sex stratified multilevel random intercept multinomial logistic models where adolescents (level 1) were nested within schools (level 2) were performed. Results: At the school level, attending a school with higher average BMI (kg/m2) was positively associated with weight status underestimation, and inversely associated with weight status overestimation among boys and girls. Single-sex schooling was positively associated with weight status underestimation among girls. At the family level, higher household income (high/middle versus low) was inversely associated with both weight status under- and overestimation among boys and girls. Higher maternal education (equal to or more than college graduate versus equal to or less than high school graduate) was positively associated with weight status overestimation among boys, and living with both parents (compared to not living with both parents) was inversely associated with weight status underestimation among girls. At the individual level, high academic achievement (compared to low) was positively associated with weight status underestimation among boys and girls. Conclusions: While further research with prospective designs and objectively measured anthropometric information is needed, school environmental factors such as sex composition and school average BMI, as well as, family contexts such as socioeconomic status need to be considered when developing and implementing obesity prevention programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The association between body mass index (BMI) and cognitive function is a public health issue. This study investigated the relationship between obesity and cognitive impairment which was assessed by the Korean version of the Mini-mental state examination (K-MMSE) among mid- and old-aged people in South Korea. Methods: A cohort of 5,125 adults, age 45 or older with normal cognitive function (K-MMSE≥24) at baseline (2006), was derived from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA) 2006~2012. The association between baseline BMI and risk of cognitive impairment was assessed using multiple logistic regression models. We also assessed baseline BMI and change of cognitive function over the 6-year follow-up using multiple linear regressions. Results: During the follow-up, 358 cases of severe cognitive impairment were identified. Those with baseline BMI≥25 kg/m2 than normal-weight (18.5≤BMI<23 kg/m2) were marginally less likely to experience the development of severe cognitive impairment (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.52 to 1.03; Ptrend = 0.03). This relationship was stronger among female (aOR = 0.63, 95% CI = 0.40 to 1.00; Ptrend = 0.01) and participants with low-normal K-MMSE score (MMSE: 24–26) at baseline (aOR = 0.59, 95% CI = 0.35 to 0.98; Ptrend<0.01). In addition, a slower decline of cognitive function was observed in obese individuals than those with normal weight, especially among women and those with low-normal K-MMSE score at baseline. Conclusion: In this nationally representative study, we found that obesity was associated with lower risk of cognitive decline among mid- and old-age population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The directed self-assembly (DSA) of block copolymers (BCPs) has been suggested as a promising nanofabrication solution. However, further improvements of both the pattern quality and manufacturability remain as critical challenges. Although the use of BCPs with a high Flory-Huggins interaction parameter ( χ) has been suggested as a potential solution, this practical self-assembly route has yet to be developed due to their extremely slow self-assembly kinetics. In this study, it is reported that warm solvent annealing (WSA) in a controlled environment can markedly improve both the self-assembly kinetics and pattern quality. A means of avoiding the undesirable trade-off between the quality and formation throughput of the self-assembled patterns, which is a dilemma which arises when using the conventional solvent vapor treatment, is suggested. As a demonstration, the formation of well-defined 13-nm-wide self-assembled patterns (3σ line edge roughness of ≈2.50 nm) in treatment times of 0.5 min (for 360-nm-wide templates) is shown. Self-consistent field theory (SCFT) simulation results are provided to elucidate the mechanism of the pattern quality improvement realized by WSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coarse-grained reconfigurable arrays (CGRAs) are a very promising platform, providing both up to 10–100 MOps/mW of power efficiency and software programmability. However, this promise of CGRAs critically hinges on the effectiveness of application mapping onto CGRA platforms. While previous solutions have greatly improved the computation speed, they have largely ignored the impact of the local memory architecture on the achievable power and performance. This paper motivates the need for memory-aware application mapping for CGRAs, and proposes an effective solution for application mapping that considers the effects of various memory architecture parameters including the number of banks, local memory size, and the communication bandwidth between the local memory and the external main memory. Further we propose efficient methods to handle dependent data on a double-buffering local memory, which is necessary for recurrent loops. Our proposed solution achieves 59% reduction in the energy-delay product, which factors into about 47% and 22% reduction in the energy consumption and runtime, respectively, as compared to memory-unaware mapping for realistic local memory architectures. We also show that our scheme scales across a range of applications and memory parameters, and the runtime overhead of handling recurrent loops by our proposed methods can be less than 1%. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The temperature of the existing asphalt pavement, which is to be recycled, would change from a low morning temperature of the spring/fall season to a high afternoon temperature of summer. However, most agencies do not consider the temperature of the reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) materials when they design cold in-place recycling using foamed asphalt (CIR-foam) mixtures. The main objective of this research is to determine whether the temperature of RAP materials would affect the optimum foamed asphalt content (FAC), which would produce the highest wet indirect tensile strength. On the basis of the limited laboratory test results, the temperature of RAP materials would have a significant impact on the wet indirect tensile strength of CIR-foam mixtures. This research supports the field reduction of FAC up to 0.5% when the RAP temperature reaches up to 55°C. The change in the wet indirect tensile strength caused by RAP temperatures was not sufficient to warrant a design method change. Also, improved compaction is expected with RAP materials with higher temperatures. It is recommended that the CIR-foam mix design should be performed using RAP materials heated to an anticipated temperature of the existing asphalt pavement in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cold in-place recycling (CIR) layer is typically overlaid by hot-mix asphalt (HMA) to protect it from water ingress and traffic load. Most public agencies have different curing requirements that specify the number of curing days or the maximum moisture content for the CIR layer before placing the HMA overlay. However, these criteria are not well-founded on sound engineering principles and are often challenged by contractors, especially in inclement weather conditions. This study was performed to explore technically sound ways to identify the minimum in-place CIR properties necessary to permit the placement of an HMA overlay. The primary objective of this research was to determine how curing time and moisture content affect the development of indirect tensile strength, dynamic modulus, and flow number of CIR mixtures composed of foamed asphalt (CIR-foam) or emulsified asphalt (CIR-emulsion). On the basis of the limited test results, the indirect tensile strength of CIR specimens did not increase during an early stage of curing but increased during a later stage of curing, usually when the moisture content was less than 1.5%. Given the same curing time, CIR-foam specimens exhibited more tensile strength and less moisture content than CIR-emulsion specimens. Both dynamic modulus and flow numbers increased as the curing time increased and the moisture content decreased. Given the same moisture content, CIR-foam specimens exhibited higher dynamic modulus and larger flow numbers than CIR-emulsion specimens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the use of (Ni 0.35 Ti 0.30 Cu 0.15 Zr 0.20) 100−x Si x (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 at%) alloy as a metallic glass precursor for a superelastic alloy, following thermoplastic forming, is investigated. The addition of Si improved the glass forming ability such that a fully amorphous sample with a thickness of ~450 µm was obtained with the x = 2.0 at% alloy. The addition of Si effectively stabilises the supercooled liquid by significantly increasing the activation energy of glass transition. The incubation time, τ , increased from 89 s for the x = 0 alloy to 346 s for the x = 2.0 at% alloy. The parameters relevant to superelastic effects, such as the maximum indentation depth (D max) and remnant indentation depth (D rem), remained almost constant. However, the remnant depth ratio increased slightly with the addition of Si. The fabrication of millimetre-scale Ni-Ti-Cu-Zr-Si metallic glass was achieved via the hot pressing of overlapped as-cast plates. • The addition of Si improve thermal stability of supercooled liquid of Ni 35 Ti 30 Cu 15 Zr 20 alloy. • The remnant indentation depth remains almost constant with Si addition. • Millimeter scale of metallic glass is successfully fabricated by hot pressing consolidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have gained significant interest for their potential in biomedicine and nanoelectronics. The functionalization of SWCNTs with single‐stranded DNA (ssDNA) enables the precise control of SWCNT alignment and the development of optical and electronic biosensors. This study addresses the current gaps in the field by employing high‐throughput systematic selection, enriching high‐affinity ssDNA sequences from a vast random library. Specific base compositions and patterns are identified that govern the binding affinity between ssDNA and SWCNTs. Molecular dynamics simulations validate the stability of ssDNA conformations on SWCNTs and reveal the pivotal role of hydrogen bonds in this interaction. Additionally, it is demonstrated that machine learning could accurately distinguish high‐affinity ssDNA sequences, providing an accessible model on a dedicated webpage (http://service.k‐medai.com/ssdna4cnt). These findings open new avenues for high‐affinity ssDNA‐SWCNT constructs for stable and sensitive molecular detection across diverse scientific disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior evidence links posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, separately, with chronic inflammation. However, whether effects are similar across each independently or potentiated when both are present is understudied. We evaluated combined measures of PTSD and depression in relation to inflammatory biomarker concentrations. Data are from women (n's ranging 628–2797) in the Nurses' Health Study II. Trauma exposure, PTSD, and depression symptoms were ascertained using validated questionnaires. We examined (a) a continuous combined psychological distress score summing symptoms for PTSD and depression, and (b) a categorical cross-classified measure of trauma/PTSD symptoms/depressed mood status (reference group: no trauma or depressed mood). Three inflammatory biomarkers (C-reactive protein [CRP], interleukin-6 [IL-6], tumor necrosis factor alpha receptor 2 [TNFR2]) were assayed from at least one of two blood samples collected 10–16 years apart. We examined associations of our exposures with levels of each biomarker concentration (log-transformed and batch-corrected) as available across the two time points (cross-sectional analyses; CRP, IL-6 and TNFR2) and with rate of change in biomarkers across time (longitudinal analyses; CRP and IL-6) using separate linear mixed effects models. In sociodemographic-adjusted models accounting for trauma exposure, a one standard deviation increase in the continuous combined psychological distress score was associated with 10.2% (95% confidence interval (CI): 5.2–15.4%) higher CRP and 1.5% (95% CI: 0.5–2.5%) higher TNFR2 concentrations cross-sectionally. For the categorical exposure, women with trauma/PTSD symptoms/ depressed mood versus those with no trauma or depressed mood had 29.5% (95% CI: 13.3–47.9%) higher CRP and 13.1% (95% CI: 5.1–21.7%) higher IL-6 cross-sectionally. In longitudinal analysis, trauma/PTSD symptoms/depressed mood was associated with increasing CRP levels over time. High psychological distress levels with trauma exposure is associated with elevated inflammation and is a potential biologic pathway by which distress can impact development of inflammatory-related chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease. Considering multiple forms of distress in relation to these pathways may provide greater insight into who is at risk for biologic dysregulation and later susceptibility to chronic diseases. • High psychological distress with trauma is associated with elevated inflammation. • Associations with inflammation are strongest in women with multiple forms of distress. • Trauma without distress was not robustly associated with inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light-switchable proteins offer numerous opportunities as tools for manipulating biological systems with exceptional degrees of spatiotemporal control. Most designed light-switchable proteins currently in use have not been optimised using the randomisation and selection/screening approaches that are widely used in other areas of protein engineering. Here we report an approach for screening lightswitchable DNA-binding proteins that relies on light-dependent repression of the transcription of a fluorescent reporter. We demonstrate that the method can be used to recover a known light-switchable DNA-binding protein from a random library. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epidemiologic studies have shown inconsistent conclusions about the effect of caffeine intake during pregnancy on the risk of low birth weight (LBW). We performed a meta-analysis and linear-dose response analysis examining the association between caffeine consumption during pregnancy and risk of LBW. PubMed and EMBASE were searched for relevant articles published up to March 2014. Eight cohort and four case-control studies met all inclusion criteria. Using a random-effects model of the twelve studies, the pooled odds ratio (OR) for the risk of LBW comparing the highest versus lowest level of caffeine intake during pregnancy was 1.38 (95% CI: 1.10, 1.73). Linear dose-response analysis showed that every additional 100 mg of caffeine intake (1 cup of coffee or 2 cups of tea) per day during pregnancy was associated with a 3.0% increase in OR for LBW. There was a moderate level of overall heterogeneity with an I-squared value of 55% (95% CI: 13, 76%), and no evidence of publication bias based on Egger’s test (P = 0.20) and the funnel plot. Thus, high caffeine intake during pregnancy is associated with a significant increase in the risk of LBW, and this risk appears to increase linearly as caffeine intake increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A PbS:Hg quantum dots-sensitized solar cell (QDSC) combined with a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) to harvest panchromatic solar spectrum from the visible light to the near IR is demonstrated. We use the filter to split the solar energy and access the total conversion efficiency. The DSC performing 12.4% under AM1.5G sunlight was able to generate 9.1% with a short-wave pass filter cutting off photons of wavelength longer than 650 nm. On the other hand, QDSC performing 5.58% generated 3.42% with the use of a long-wave pass filter transmitting beyond 630 nm. Calculated on the basis of transmitted light, DSC and QDSC performed 24.0% and 5.90%, leading to almost 13.1% of estimated total power conversion efficiency by harvesting the solar energy from visible light to the NIR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • CAFs exhibit a conductance change depending on molecular weight of liquid alcohols. • Hydrated CAFs distinguish normal aliphatic alcohols from methanol to 1-pentanol. • A mechanism is suggested based on polymer swelling and a simple diffusion model. • Hydrated CAFs can also determine compositions of binary alcohol mixtures. This paper introduces composite microfibers that can distinguish liquid, normal, aliphatic alcohols with high selectivity. The composite microfibers are composed of a hydrophilic agarose polymer and carbon nanotube (CNT) fillers. The CNTs distributed in the CNT-agarose composite microfiber (CAF) enable the material to sensitively change its electrical conductivity upon exposure to alcohols, induced by a change in the volume of the polymer matrix. When a CAF is highly hydrated, its resistance distinctly changes depending on the molecular weight of the alcohol via competitive mass transfer of alcohol and water. As a result, highly hydrated CAFs can selectively distinguish normal, aliphatic alcohols ranging from methanol to 1-pentanol. A provisional mechanism for the alcohol-dependent change in resistance of hydrated CAFs is suggested based on the permeation of alcohols and the discharge of water and is supported by numerical calculations using a simple diffusion model. The effects of the CNT loading ratio and the as-prepared CAF diameter on the alcohol-dependent resistance change are investigated. Furthermore, the highly hydrated CAFs are used to determine the volume ratios of binary mixtures of methanol/ethanol and ethanol/water. Finally, we demonstrate that a CAF alcohol sensor can identify commercial liquors with different alcohol contents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The agreement between axillary temperature (AT) and rectal temperature (RT) measurements has not been well established in preterm infants. Therefore, our study aimed to evaluate the agreement between AT and RT measurements in very preterm infants. Methods: Preterm infants <32 weeks of gestational age were prospectively included. The infants' body temperature (BT) was measured twice a day from day 1 to day 6. A paired t-test and the Bland-Altman method were used to analyze the difference between the AT and RT. A linear regression model was used to explore the effects of environmental factors on the differences of BT between the axillary and rectal measurements and to calibrate the RT according to the AT. Results: Eighty infants each underwent 6 paired axillary and rectal measurements. The gestational age varied from 22 to 31 weeks (mean 28 weeks). The birth weight varied from 302 to 1,770 g (mean 1,025 g). The AT was significantly lower than the RT. The difference between the RT and AT significantly increased with increasing RT. The AT and RT demonstrated poor agreement overall; however, the RT can be estimated using the AT with the following equation: RT = −4.033 + 1.116 × AT. Environmental factors, including the incubator temperature, incubator humidity, phototherapy, and application of invasive mechanical ventilation did not affect the differences between the AT and RT measurements. Conclusion: AT measurements cannot be interchangeably used with RT measurements in very preterm infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fabrication of nanoporous metal core/oxide shell structure using equiatomic AlCoCrFeNi high entropy alloy (HEA) and its electrochemical property as supercapacitor electrode have been investigated in the present study. As-cast AlCoCrFeNi HEA consists of interconnected Al–Ni rich and Cr–Fe rich phases by spinodal phase separation. Nanoporous structure can be obtained by selectively dissolving the Al–Ni rich phase and retaining the remaining Cr–Fe rich phase by passivation in sulfuric acid solution at 313 K. In particular, the scale of nanoporous structure in the present study is predictable since it only depends on the scale of original spinodal-decomposed microstructure in as-cast state. When used as a binder free electrode for supercapacitor, Cr–Fe rich nanoporous structure exhibits high volumetric capacitance of 700 F cm−3 and excellent cycling stability of over 3000 cycle. As the microstructural scale in as-cast state becomes finer, the nanoporous structure exhibits better capacitance properties. The present result shows that Cr–Fe rich nanoporous metal core/oxide shell has a good potential for application as supercapacitor electrode. • AlCoCrFeNi HEA consists of interconnected Al–Ni rich and Cr–Fe rich phase. • Nanoporous structure is fabricated by selective dissolution of AlCoCrFeNi HEA. • Nanoporous HEAs exhibits good electrochemical property for supercapacitor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phase-change memory utilizing amorphous-to-crystalline phase-change processes for reset-to-set operation as a nonvolatile memory has been recently commercialized as a storage class memory. Unfortunately, designing new phase-change materials (PCMs) with low phase-change energy and sufficient thermal stability is difficult because phase-change energy and thermal stability decrease simultaneously as the amorphous phase destabilizes. This issue arising from the trade-off relationship between stability and energy consumption can be solved by reducing the entropic loss of phase-change energy as apparent in crystalline-to-crystalline phase-change process of a GeTe/Sb2Te3 superlattice structure. A paradigm shift in atomic crystallography has been recently produced using a quasi-crystal, which is a new type of atomic ordering symmetry without any linear translational symmetry. This paper introduces a novel class of PCMs based on a quasicrystalline-to-approximant crystalline phase-change process, whose phase-change energy and thermal stability are simultaneously enhanced compared to those of the GeTe/Sb2Te3 superlattice structure. This report includes a new concept that reduces entropic loss using a quasicrystalline state and takes the first step in the development of new PCMs with significantly low phase-change energy and considerably high thermal stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: About one in ten mothers experience postpartum depression (PPD) in Japan. Although the individual and social risk factors of depression have been reported, few studies have focused on the neighborhood environmental features. In this study, we examined the association between neighborhood environmental features and PPD symptoms among Japanese women.Methods: Questionnaire survey including women who participated in 3- or 4-month health checkup in Nagoya City, Japan in 2012 was used. PPD symptoms were evaluated using Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). As the neighborhood places where postpartum mothers often visit, we measured availability of grocery stores, community centers and asobiba (playground for children) within residential neighborhood unit using geographic information system. A multilevel analysis was conducted on 2,298 individuals nested within 388 school districts using Stata 15.1 software.Results: Mothers who live in the neighborhood with more number of asobiba had lower EPDS score, even after adjustment for individual factors (B: -0.12, 95%CI: -0.24, -0.01), and additional adjustment for other neighborhood environmental factors (B: -0.14, 95%CI: -0.27, -0.02).Limitation: Our cross-sectional design limits to draw causal inferences. As for the evaluation of PPD symptoms, no diagnosis has been made. Moreover, we do not have the information on the accessibility to transportation, and the exact residential location of the survey respondents.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the availability of asobiba in the community has a protective effect on PPD symptoms. Providing more asobiba in the neighborhood for new mothers may be a viable preventive strategy for PPD symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly ordered pattern formation of block copolymers (BCPs) within nanoscale templates is of great interest for generating diverse ordered nanostructures. Here, introduced is a combined methodology of nanotransfer printing (nTP) and BCP self‐assembly to guide the formation of spherical nanodots within a printed crossbar nanotemplate. By successfully accommodating poly(styrene‐b‐dimethylsiloxane) (PS‐b‐PDMS) BCPs in the guiding metallic crossbar nanotemplate (≈30 × 30 nm2), a well‐organized array of single‐domain PDMS spheres (≈10 nm) with a square symmetry is successfully obtained in an extremely short annealing time (<5 s). The self‐consistent field theory simulation results theoretically explain the spontaneous one‐to‐one accommodation of PDMS spheres in the confined area of the crossbar template. This approach can potentially be extended to the many other BCP materials and morphologies to diversify the geometry of self‐assembled BCP and/or transfer‐printed nanopatterns for various types of nanodevice applications. Pattern formation of the complex hybrid structure of dot‐in‐mesh can be achieved by a combined method involving nanotransfer printing and self‐assembly of block copolymer. Here, it is shown how the self‐assembled SiOx nanodots can be located in the confined area of Al nanomesh, showing a spontaneous one‐to‐one accommodation of SiOx nanoparticles within the squared nanospaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The precisely controllable self‐assembly phenomenon of block copolymers (BCPs) has garnered much attention because it yields well‐defined periodic nanostructures with a periodicity of 5–50 nm. However, from both thermodynamic and kinetic viewpoints, it still remains a challenge to develop a BCP material that can provide sub‐10 nm resolution, high pattern quality, fast pattern formation, and sufficient etch selectivity. To address these challenges, this study reports a BCP system containing a random‐copolymerized block (poly(2‐vinylpyridine‐co‐4‐vinylpyridne)‐b‐poly(dimethylsiloxane) (P(2VP‐co‐4VP)‐b‐PDMS)) that can provide sub‐6 nm resolution, 3σ line edge roughness of 0.89 nm, sub‐1‐min assembly time, and a high etch selectivity over 10. Calculation of the Flory–Huggins interaction parameter (χ) based on Leibler's mean‐field theory and small‐angle X‐ray scattering measurement data confirms the gradual tunability of χ with the controlled addition of 4VP fraction in the P(2VP‐co‐4VP) block. While guaranteeing kinetically fast self‐assembly within one minute using microwave annealing, the best pattern quality resulting from the thermodynamic suppression of line edge fluctuation is achieved with a 4VP weight fraction of 33% in the random‐copolymerized block. This approach enables systematical control of sub‐6 nm scale BCP self‐assembly and will provide a practical patterning solution for diverse nanostructures and devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Earlier menopause, either natural or through gynecologic surgeries, has been associated with various negative health sequelae. While posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been linked to dysregulated biological processes, including reproductive system changes that could alter menopausal timing, little work has examined whether trauma and PTSD are associated with greater risk of early cessation of menses.Methods: Data are from 46,639 women in the Nurses' Health Study II, a prospective cohort study of women followed for up to 26 years. Lifetime trauma and PTSD symptoms were assessed with the Brief Trauma Questionnaire and a PTSD symptom screener in 2008. Age at cessation of menses and reason for cessation of menses (i.e., natural menopause, gynecologic surgery including hysterectomy and/or bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy [BSO]) were assessed. Cox proportional hazards models estimated hazards ratios (HR) of cessation of menses (separately for naturally or surgically) associated with trauma alone or PTSD symptoms, relative to no trauma, adjusting for covariates.Results: Trauma/PTSD status was associated with earlier cessation of menses due to surgery, but not natural menopause. Women with trauma exposure, low, and high PTSD symptoms had higher hazard of cessation of menses due to surgery relative to those with no trauma exposure (HRtrauma = 1.16, 95%CI 1.07-1.26; HRlow PTSD = 1.25, 95%CI 1.15-1.36; HRhigh PTSD = 1.29, 95%CI 1.17-1.42). Trauma exposure and PTSD symptoms were associated with similarly increased risk of hysterectomy and BSO surgeries.Conclusions: Women who experienced trauma and PTSD may be at elevated risk for common gynecological surgeries premenopausally, potentially due to increased clinical indications or gynecological conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we developed a simple coarse-grained simulation model framework to investigate the effect of regioregularity (RR) on the crystallization behavior of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). To describe the regio-chemistry of P3HT, two different coarse-grained beads were designed to contain either regio-regularly substituted head-to-tail (HT) orientations or regio-irregularly substituted non-HT orientations, and two beads were randomly incorporated in a single polymer where the total RR was tuned from regio-random (RR = 50%) to regio-regular (RR = 100%). Based on our modeling, the crystallization behaviors in both bulk and solution states were investigated. As the number of irregularly substituted non-HT orientations increased, crystallization temperature in the bulk shifted to a lower temperature. When the RR of P3HT was lower than a critical RR value, which was 72.2% in our study, the crystallization of the P3HT chains was eventually suppressed. In the solution state, most of high RR P3HT chains stacked in parallel to produce nanowire (NW) structure to maximize the number of π-stackings in the system, whereas the P3HTs formed a globule structure when the RR value decreased below critical RR. To experimentally validate our simulation results, we synthesized a series of P3HTs having precisely controlled RRs from 66% to 95% with comparable molecular weights to the simulation. Well-matched experimental results suggested that our simplified model provides efficient computational guidance to describe the RR effect on crystalline feature of P3HTs for the various possible applications in organic optoelectronics. Image 1 • Simple coarse-grained model is developed to describe the effect of regioregularity (RR) on crystallization of P3HT. • Experimental validation with a series of P3HTs having a wide range of RR from 66% to 95% is followed. • Our model predicts critical RR value for crystallization of P3HT in bulk and solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]