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According to the green growth and carbon-neutral policy in Korea, the installation of large-capacity ESSs is rapidly being increased, but a total number of 50 ESS fire cases have occurred since the end of 2023. ESSs are typically composed of series-parallel connections with numerous Li-ion batteries, and when the temperature of a deteriorated cell increases due to thermal, electrical, and mechanical stress, thermal runaway can occur due to additional heat generated by an internal chemical reaction. Here, an internal chemical reaction in a Li-ion battery results in the different characteristics on the decomposition reaction and heat release depending on the operation conditions in the ESS, such as the rising temperature rate, convective heat transfer coefficient, and C-rate of charging and discharging. Therefore, this paper presents mathematical equations and modeling of thermal runaway, composed of the heating device section, heat release section by chemical reaction, chemical reaction section at the SEI layer, chemical reaction section between the negative and positive electrodes and solvents, and chemical reaction section at the electrolyte by itself, based on MATLAB/SIMULINK (2022), which were validated by a thermal runaway test device. From the simulation and test results based on the proposed simulation modeling and test device according to the operation conditions in ESSs, it was found that the proposed modeling is an effective and reliable tool to evaluate the processing characteristics of thermal runaway because the occurrence time intervals and maximum temperatures had almost the same values in both the test device and simulation modeling. Accordingly, it was confirmed that the rising temperature rate and the convective heat transfer coefficient were more critical in the thermal runaway than the C-rate of charging and discharging.

In 5G heterogeneous networks (HetNets), small-cell base stations (SBSs) are deployed in the coverage of macro base stations (MBSs) to improve the system performance. However, some macro user equipments (MUEs) have strong interference from neighboring SBSs and thus the performance of MBSs decreases. Thus, in this paper, we propose a novel intelligent dynamic power control (DPC) with cell range expansion (CRE) to improve the downlink performance of both small-cell user equipments (SUEs) and CRE user equipments (CUEs) in 5G HetNets. That is, in the proposed DPC scheme, each MUE first collects the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurements from neighboring SBSs and sends them to the serving MBS. Then, the MBS finds MUEs with strong interference from neighboring SBSs based on a given target threshold of CRE and offloads a fraction of MUEs from MBSs to SBSs. In addition, SBSs divide their SUEs and CUEs into two groups, i.e., inner and outer groups, to assign different subchannels and dynamically allocate the appropriate transmission power to increase the performance of both SUEs and CUEs. Through simulation results, it is shown that the proposed DPC scheme outperforms others in terms of the capacity and outage probability of SUEs and CUEs.

Low Club Cell 16 kDa protein (CC16) plasma levels are linked to accelerated lung function decline in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Cigarette smoke–exposed (CS-exposed) Cc16–/– mice have exaggerated COPD-like disease associated with increased NF-κB activation in their lungs. It is unclear whether CC16 augmentation can reverse exaggerated COPD in CS-exposed Cc16–/– mice and whether increased NF-κB activation contributes to the exaggerated COPD in CS-exposed Cc16–/– lungs. CS-exposed WT and Cc16–/– mice were treated with recombinant human CC16 (rhCC16) or an NF-κB inhibitor versus vehicle beginning at the midpoint of the exposures. COPD-like disease and NF-κB activation were measured in the lungs. RhCC16 limited the progression of emphysema, small airway fibrosis, and chronic bronchitis-like disease in WT and Cc16–/– mice partly by reducing pulmonary inflammation (reducing myeloid leukocytes and/or increasing regulatory T and/or B cells) and alveolar septal cell apoptosis, reducing NF-κB activation in CS-exposed Cc16–/– lungs, and rescuing the reduced Foxj1 expression in CS-exposed Cc16–/– lungs. IMD0354 treatment reduced exaggerated lung inflammation and rescued the reduced Foxj1 expression in CS-exposed Cc16–/– mice. RhCC16 treatment reduced NF-κB activation in luciferase reporter A549 cells. Thus, rhCC16 treatment limits COPD progression in CS-exposed Cc16–/– mice partly by inhibiting NF-κB activation and represents a potentially novel therapeutic approach for COPD.

Abstract We study the Hamilton-Jacobi formulation of effective mechanical actions associated with holographic renormalization group flows when the field theory is put on the sphere and mass terms are turned on. Although the system is supersymmetric and it is described by a superpotential, Hamilton’s characteristic function is not readily given by the superpotential when the boundary of AdS is curved. We propose a method to construct the solution as a series expansion in scalar field degrees of freedom. The coefficients are functions of the warp factor to be determined by a differential equation one obtains when the ansatz is substituted into the Hamilton-Jacobi equation. We also show how the solution can be derived from the BPS equations without having to solve differential equations. The characteristic function readily provides information on holographic counterterms which cancel divergences of the on-shell action near the boundary of AdS.

MR1 and HLA-E are highly conserved nonclassical antigen-presenting molecules. They can present antigens derived from Mycobacterium tuberculosis to a distinct subset of MR1-restricted or HLA-restricted CD8+ T cells. MR1 presents small microbial metabolites, and HLA-E presents peptides and glycopeptides. In this review, we will discuss the current understanding of MR1 and HLA-E antigen presentation in the context of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.

Cut roses are ornamental crops that are produced year-round, and the quality and yield of these cut flowers vary depending on the temperature and light intensity of the four seasons. Grafting improves productivity by increasing adaptability to negative environments, such as high temperature and low light intensity. The effectiveness of grafting depends on the type of the scion and rootstock. In order to confirm the effectiveness of stenting on roses, two varieties of cut roses (Rosa hybrida cv. Pink Beauty and Pink Shine) were grafted onto three rootstocks (R. multiflora Natal Briar, R. indica Major, and Rosa multiflora Hort. No. 1), which are widely used in cut rose, and the quality and yield of the cut flowers were investigated year-round according to the four seasons; then, principal component analysis (PCA) was performed. The Rosa hybrida cv. Pink Beauty (PB) used as the scion showed high yield and excellent growth in autumn when the light intensity was high and the temperature was low. The PB grafted onto the R. multiflora Natal Briar (NA) rootstock showed improved growth in spring, autumn and winter, excluding summer, and had the effect of lengthening the stem. The growth of PB grafted onto R. indica Major (RI) rootstock was also improved in spring, autumn, and winter, except summer, and in particular, the stem was lengthened and thickened. The rosa hybrida cv. Pink Shine (PS) was a variety whose yield of cut flowers increased in summer when the temperature was high. The PS grafted onto the three rootstocks gave a higher yield of cut flowers than the PS scion. The graft of PS/Natal Briar gave longer stems than the PS scion, and the graft of PS/Major gave thicker stems than the PS scion. PS grafted onto the Rosa multiflora Hort. No. 1 (N1) rootstock gave more petals than the PS scion. As such, cut roses grafted onto the Rosa canina cv. Natal brier (NA) improved the stem length, increasing the adaptability to relatively high temperatures, and the Rosa indica cv. Major (RI) improved the stem length and stem diameter, enhancing the adaptability to relatively low temperatures.

Abstract We apply the recently proposed perturbative technique to solve the supergravity BPS equations of N = 1 ∗ $$ \mathcal{N}={1}^{\ast } $$ theories put on S 4. In particular, we have calculated the coefficients of the leading quartic terms exactly, in the expression of the universal part for the holographic free energy as a function of the mass parameters. We also report on the coefficients of higher order terms up to 10th order, which are computed numerically.

Background: Streptococcus pneumoniae, more than 90 serotypes of which exist, is recognized as an etiologic agent of pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis associated with significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Immunization with a pneumococcal pep27 mutant (Δpep27) has been shown to confer comprehensive, long-term protection against even nontypeable strains. However, Δpep27 is effective as a vaccine only after at least three rounds of immunization. Therefore, treatments capable of enhancing the efficiency of Δpep27 immunization should be identified without delay. Panax ginseng Mayer has already been shown to have pharmacological and antioxidant effects. Here, the ability of Korean Red Ginseng (KRG) to enhance the efficacy of Δpep27 immunization was investigated. Methods: Mice were treated with KRG and immunized with Δpep27 before infection with the pathogenic S. pneumoniae strain D39. Total reactive oxygen species production was measured using lung homogenates, and inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase and antiapoptotic protein expression was determined by immunoblotting. The phagocytic activity of peritoneal macrophages was also tested after KRG treatment. Results: Compared with the other treatments, KRG significantly increased survival rate after lethal challenge and resulted in faster bacterial clearance via increased phagocytosis. Moreover, KRG enhanced Δpep27 vaccine efficacy by inhibiting reactive oxygen species production, reducing extracellular signal–regulated kinase apoptosis signaling and inflammation. Conclusion: Taken together, our results suggest that KRG reduces the time required for immunization with the Δpep27 vaccine by enhancing its efficacy. Keywords: Korean Red Ginseng (KRG), Δpep27, Streptococcus pneumoniae

Cut roses are grown throughout the four distinct seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter in Korea. Especially in the very hot or cold seasons of summer or winter, the temperature and light environments inside a greenhouse cause abiotic stress on the growth of horticultural crops. In a greenhouse where shade cultivation is performed in summer, the temperature is high and the light intensity is low, whereas in winter when shade cultivation is not performed, both temperature and light intensity are low. This experiment investigated the year-round growth and yield changes of cut roses grafted onto three rootstocks. The root activity of rootstocks was generally higher than that of the scion. The stomata of the grafted cut roses showed morphological changes according to the seasons. Compared with the scion, the stomata of grafted cut roses became smaller and their number increased in summer, whereas only the stomata size increased in winter. The grafted cut roses had characteristics of high photosynthetic efficiency such as photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate from rootstocks under harsh environmental conditions including temperature and light intensity, and thus the photosynthetic efficiency was higher than that of the scion. There was no significant change in the yield of grafted cut roses, but flower quality parameters such as the stem height, stem thickness, and weight of grafted cut roses were improved according to the rootstocks compared with those of the scion. In particular, in cut roses grafted with R. multiflora cv. Natal Briar and Rosa indica ‘Major’ rootstocks, the weight increased as the stem lengthened and thickened in spring, autumn, and winter. Therefore, grafting is effective in improving the quality of cut roses grown under abiotic stress caused by harsh temperature and light intensity conditions during winter.

Background: Ginseng has been the subject of many experimental and clinical studies to uncover the diverse biological activities of its constituent compounds. It is a traditional medicine that has been used for its immunostimulatory, antithrombotic, antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer effects. Ginseng may interact with concomitant medications and alter metabolism and/or drug transport, which may alter the known efficacy and safety of a drug; thus, the role of ginseng may be controversial when taken with other medications. Methods: We extensively assessed the effects of Korean Red Ginseng (KRG) in rats on the expression of enzymes responsible for drug metabolism [cytochrome p450 (CYP)] and transporters [multiple drug resistance (MDR) and organic anion transporter (OAT)] in vitro and on the pharmacokinetics of two probe drugs, midazolam and fexofenadine, after a 2-wk repeated administration of KRG at different doses. Results: The results showed that 30 mg/kg KRG significantly increased the expression level of CYP3A11 protein in the liver and 100 mg/kg KRG increased both the mRNA and protein expression of OAT1 in the kidney. Additionally, KRG significantly increased the mRNA and protein expression of OAT1, OAT3, and MDR1 in the liver. Although there were no significant changes in the metabolism of midazolam to its major metabolite, 1′-hydroxymidazolam, KRG significantly decreased the systemic exposure of fexofenadine in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusion: Because KRG is used as a health supplement, there is a risk of KRG overdose; thus, a clinical trial of high doses would be useful. The use of KRG in combination with P-glycoprotein substrate drugs should also be carefully monitored. Keywords: cytochrome P450, drug–drug interaction (DDI), Korean Red Ginseng (KRG)

Recently the calculation of holographic free energy for mass-deformed ABJM model (mABJM) with N=2 supersymmetry and SU(3)×U(1) global symmetry was tackled by Bobev et al. [1]. We solve the associated BPS equations, requiring IR regularity, using a perturbative method proposed by one of us in [2]. In particular, we provide an analytic proof of a crucial conjecture made in [1] based on numerical solutions: that the R-charge values of three chiral multiplets in mABJM should be independent of the IR values of a hypermultiplet scalar, which is holographically dual to the superpotential mass term. Keywords: ABJM model, AdS/CFT, Localization technique, Perturbative method

Prevention of dental caries is a key research area, and improvement of the pit and fissure sealants used for caries prevention has been of particular interest. This report describes results of incorporating a zwitterion, sulfobetaine methacrylate (SB), into photo-polymerized resin-based sealants to enhance resistance to cariogenic bacteria and protein adhesion. Varying amounts (1.5–5 wt%) of SB were incorporated into a resin-based sealant, and the flexural strength, wettability, depth of cure, protein adhesion, bacterial viability, and cell cytotoxicity of the resultant sealants were evaluated. The flexural strength decreased with the increasing SB content, but this decrease was statistically significant only for sealants containing ≥3 wt% SB. Incorporating a zwitterion led to a significant reduction in the water contact angle and protein adhesion. The colony-forming unit count showed a significant reduction in the bacterial viability of S. mutans, which was confirmed with microscopic imaging. Moreover, cell cytotoxicity analysis of SB-modified sealants using an L929 fibroblast showed a cytotoxicity comparable to that of an unmodified control, suggesting no adverse effects on the cellular metabolism upon SB introduction. Hence, we conclude that the addition of 1.5–3 wt% SB can significantly enhance the inherent ability of sealants to resist S. mutans adhesion and prevent dental caries.

Activating transcription factor-3 (ATF3) in the ER stress pathway induces cytokine production and promotes survival during gram-positive bacterial infection. IL-17A is a critical cytokine that is essential for clearance of Streptococcus pneumoniae. However, the mechanism by which ATF3 induces IL-17A production remains unknown. Here, we show that ATF3 induces IL-17A production via NLRP3 inflammasome-dependent IL-1β secretion. Survival rates were comparable in IL-17A-depleted and ATF3 KO mice but were lower than in WT mice treated with isotype control, indicating that ATF3 positively regulated IL-17A production. Indeed, ATF3 KO mice showed a marked reduction in IL-17A protein and mRNA expression compared to levels in WT mice. Moreover, mitochondrial IL-1β production by bone marrow-derived macrophages was significantly reduced in ATF3 KO mice as a result of the disruption of cellular ROS and Ca2+ homeostasis. Accordingly, ATF3 KO mice displayed diminished survival and bacterial clearance following S. pneumoniae infection. Taken together, these data suggest a mechanism in which macrophage ATF3 promotes IL-17A production in γδ T cells to rapidly induce host defenses during early S. pneumoniae infection.

This study is an examination into the feasibility of a quasi-static approach to evaluating the reaction forces that impact tires. This information could lend valuable insight into efforts to limit overturning and side-slip accidents of vehicles exposed to strong side winds. The performance of the quasi-static approach was evaluated by comparing the calculated tire forces with those created using TruckSim, which is a dynamic vehicle analysis software. Governing equations were formulated for two types of vehicles that are susceptible to the force of wind, vans, and trailers, by considering a force equilibrium, a compatibility condition, and several assumptions. The quasi-static approach for trailers is a novel expansion of the conventional approach to a two-axle vehicle. Proposed enhancements to the quasi-static approach reflect the additional rolling moment of a trailer. The curvature and the cant of a curved road were accounted for via centrifugal forces. Both uniform and turbulent wind conditions were considered in questioning the feasibility of this novel approach.

Mate location in many mirid bugs (Heteroptera: Miridae) is mediated by female-released sex pheromones. To elucidate the potential role of the pheromones in prezygotic reproductive isolation between sympatric species, we investigated differences in the pheromone systems of five mirid species, Apolygus lucorum, Apolygus spinolae, Orthops campestris, Stenotus rubrovittatus and Taylorilygus apicalis. GC/MS analyses of metathoracic scent gland extracts of virgin females showed that all five species produced mixtures of hexyl butyrate, (E)-2-hexenyl butyrate and (E)-4-oxo-2-hexenal, but in quite different ratios. (E)-2-hexenyl butyrate was the major component of A. spinolae, while hexyl butyrate was the most abundant component in the pheromone blends of the other four species. In addition to the three compounds, a fourth component, (E)-2-octenyl butyrate, was present in the gland extracts of A. lucorum and T. apicalis females. Field tests suggest that the ternary blends of hexyl butyrate, (E)-2-hexenyl butyrate and (E)-4-oxo-2-hexenal as found in the extracts of the females of each species do not inhibit attraction of conspecific males but ensure species-specificity of attraction between A. lucorum, O. campestris and T. apicalis. Furthermore, (E)-2-octenyl butyrate was essential for attraction of A. lucorum and T. apicalis males, but strongly inhibited attraction of male A. spinolae, O. campestris and S. rubrovittatus. The combined results from this study and previous studies suggest that the minor component and pheromone dose in addition to the relative ratio of the major components play an important role in reproductive isolation between mirid species.

In the conventional DC-AC inverter consisting of two DC-DC converters with unipolar output capacitors, the output capacitor voltages of the DC-DC converters must be higher than the DC input voltage. To overcome this weakness, this paper proposes a single-phase DC-AC inverter consisting of two embedded Z-source converters with bipolar output capacitors. The proposed inverter is composed of two embedded Z-source converters with a common DC source and output AC load. Though the output capacitor voltages of the converters are relatively low compared to those of a conventional inverter, an equivalent level of AC output voltages can be obtained. Moreover, by controlling the output capacitor voltages asymmetrically, the AC output voltage of the proposed inverter can be higher than the DC input voltage. To verify the validity of the proposed inverter, experiments were performed with a DC source voltage of 38 V. By controlling the output capacitor voltages of the converters symmetrically or asymmetrically, the proposed inverter can produce sinusoidal AC output voltages. The experiments show that efficiencies of up to 95% and 97% can be achieved with the proposed inverter using symmetric and asymmetric control, respectively.

Introduction: Virtual reality (VR) provides a new fashion space and fashion experience. This study focuses on immersive VR and fashion shows to empirically explore the VR fashion space and fashion experience. Insights specific to fashion have not been presented in as much depth in the literature; thus, the current findings are particularly valuable and insightful. Methods: This study employed three immersive VR (IVR) fashion show stimuli and in-depth interviews according to a semi-structured questionnaire. Collected data were analyzed based on the concept of VR space and VR experience derived through literature research. Results: The VR fashion space was divided into three types and VR experiences of cognitive presence, sensible immersion, emotional immersion, and aesthetic interaction were derived accordingly. First, the physical representation of a fashion show induced a cognitive and emotional sense of presence, in which users felt as though they had moved to the same time and place as those at the fashion show. Second, participants experienced cognitive confusion owing to the differences with a priori experiences in the fashion show space (i.e., reality and imagination coexist). Third, participants transcended the limitations of physical reality while in the fashion show space of pataphysics (which was realized with human imagination), and they moved beyond the stage of confusion that is experienced while facing realistic objects to connect to creative inspiration. Discussion: The difference in the properties of VR space may be associated with distinct VR fashion experiences. The findings suggest that (1) a priori elements such as sociocultural contexts and personal experiences differ in the experiential dimension of virtual space, (2) the VR fashion show space induces a psychological experience between brand and consumer, and (3) creative inspiration and exploratory play can be greatly induced in a user if the immersive fashion space is further from the original source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]