Search

Owing to climate change, abnormal climate phenomena occur frequently, damaging aging highway facilities. Therefore, it is necessary to develop adaptation projects for highway systems. Adaptation projects focus on mitigating the impact of climate change on highway facilities and enabling safe use. The present study aims to develop quantified evaluation indicators that are necessary for planning and selecting appropriate climate change adaptation projects. By analysing previous studies, the most important factors to be considered in the evaluation process of climate change adaptation projects were defined, and 20 preliminary evaluation indicators were divided into three layers. A feasibility study for each class was performed on the preliminary evaluation indicators by an expert panel; 16 evaluation indicators were selected through a feasibility study, and the weight of each indicator was calculated using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method. The priority of the evaluation indicators was service improvement through adaptation projects (weight 8.76), cost reduction and job creation (weight 8.46), and climate change impact reduction and vulnerability reduction (weight 8.31). These quantified evaluation indicators can help organizations that manage highways respond to climate change and establish adaptation projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simultaneous monitoring of electrophysiology and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could guide the innovative diagnosis and treatment of various neurodegenerative diseases that are previously impossible. However, this technique is difficult because the existing metal‐based implantable neural interface for electrophysiology is not free from signal distortions from its intrinsic magnetic susceptibility while performing an MRI of the implanted area of the neural interface. Moreover, brain tissue heating from neural implants generated by the radiofrequency field from MRI poses potential hazards for patients. Previous studies with soft polymer‐based electrode arrays provide relatively suitable MRI compatibility but does not guarantee high‐resolution electrophysiological signal acquisition and stimulation performance. Here, MRI compatible, optically transparent flexible implantable device capable of electrophysiological multichannel mapping and electrical stimulation is introduced. Using the device, neuropathic pain (NP) relief with a 30‐channel electrophysiological mapping of the somatosensory area before and after motor cortex stimulation (MCS) in allodynia rats after noxious stimulation is confirmed. Additionally, artifact‐free manganese‐enhanced MRI of dramatic relief of pain‐related region activity by MCS is demonstrated. Furthermore, artifact‐free optogenetics with transgenic mice is also investigated by recording light‐evoked potentials. These results suggest a promising neuro‐prosthetic for analyzing and modulating spatiotemporal neurodynamic without MRI or optical modality resolution constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ever‐increasing popularity of smart electronics demands advanced Li‐ion batteries capable of charging faster and storing more energy, which in turn stimulates the innovation of electrode additives. Developing single‐phase conductive networks featuring excellent mechanical strength/integrity coupled with efficient electron transport and durability at high‐voltage operation should maximize the rate capability and energy density, however, this has proven to be quite challenging. Herein, it is shown that a 2D titanium carbide (known as MXene) metallic membrane can be used as single‐phase interconnected conductive binder for commercial Li‐ion battery anode (i.e., Li4Ti5O12) and high‐voltage cathodes (i.e., Ni0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2). Electrodes are fabricated directly by slurry‐casting of MXene aqueous inks composited with active materials without any other additives or solvents. The interconnected metallic MXene membrane ensures fast charge transport and provides good durability, demonstrating excellent rate performance in the Li//Li4Ti5O12 cell (90 mAh g−1 at 45 C) and high reversible capacity (154 mAh g−1 at 0.2 C/0.5 C) in Li//Ni0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 cell coupled with high‐voltage operation (4.3 V vs Li/Li+). The LTO//NMC full cell demonstrates promising cycling stability, maintaining capacity retention of 101.4% after 200 cycles at 4.25 V (vs Li/Li+) operation. This work provides insights into the rational design of binder‐free electrodes toward acceptable cyclability and high‐power density Li‐ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transparent implantable devices have received significant attention in neuroscience and biomedical engineering by combining neural recording and optical modalities. Opaque, metal‐based electrode arrays for electrophysiology block optical imaging and cause photoelectric artifacts, making them difficult to integrate with optogenetics. Here, a photoelectric artifact‐free, highly conductive, and transparent poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) electrode array is introduced as promising neural implants. The technology which is developed in this work provides transparent neural interfaces through low‐cost, ultra‐facile method compared with other transparent materials being applied to implantable tools. The device exhibits superior optical, mechanical, and electrical characteristics to other studies, thanks to a simple ethylene glycol immersing process. The device performance is highlighted by comparing its light stimulation efficiency and photoelectric artifact extent with conventional thin gold electrodes both in vitro and in vivo. This platform can assemble transparent neural interfaces much more efficiently than any other material candidates and thus has many potential applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This note presents the restricted divisor functions and describes the amicable pairs and their iterations and the iterated stable numbers derived from these new functions. These arithmetic functions are related to (2)‐type Mersenne primes 2p − 1, (2, 3)‐type Mersenne primes 2i · 3j − 1 and multiperfect numbers. Using Mathematica 11.2, we have tabulated all iterated stable numbers and iterated amicable pairs up to 220. We establish several interesting arithmetical properties of the iterated restricted divisor functions. The tables obtained suggested many open problems on iterated stable numbers, and iterated amicable pairs from iteration of the restricted divisor functions, some of which are proven here. For any natural number n, we studied the order of its iteration relative to the restricted divisor functions. Moreover, the generating series of the iterated restricted divisor functions are found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing the energy density of lithium‐ion batteries requires the discovery of new electrode materials capable of achieving very high areal capacity. Here, liquid phase exfoliation is used to produce nanosheets of SnP3, a 2D material with extremely high theoretical capacity of 1670 mAh g−1. These nanosheets can be fabricated into solution‐processed thin films for use as lithium storing anodes. To maximize their performance, carbon nanotubes are incorporated into the electrodes to simultaneously enhance conductivity and toughness. As a result, electrodes of thickness >300 µm can be produced, which display active‐mass‐normalized capacities (≈1657 mAh g−1Active) very close to the theoretical value. These materials show maximum specific (≈1250 mAh g−1Electrode) and areal (>20 mAh cm−2) capacities, which are at the state‐of‐the‐art for 2D‐based electrodes, coupled with good rate performance and stability. In combination with commercial cathode materials, full‐cells are fabricated with areal capacities of ≈29 mAh cm−2 and near‐record energy densities approaching 1000 Wh L−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The degree of liver fibrosis in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a critical predictive factor for patient prognosis. This study was intended to perform external validation of the various fibrosis prediction models for assessing advanced fibrosis in Korean NAFLD patients. Methods: A retrospective study of 412 patients with NAFLD confirmed by liver biopsy in hospitals affiliated with the Koran NAFLD study group was conducted and the predictive ability of existing liver fibrosis prediction models including NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS), BARD, and fibrosis-4 were compared. Results: Among 412 samples, 328 liver slides were suitable for evaluation. Advanced fibrosis was present in 60 (18.3%) of the patient samples. Univariate analysis found that the group with advanced fibrosis showed low alanine aminotransferase values and high aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase ratios as well as a high incidence of diabetes. However, multivariate analysis showed that only the presence of diabetes and triglycerides was independent risk factors. The receiver operating characteristic was 0.64 in NFS, 0.58 in fibrosis-4, and 0.594 in the BARD model. The NFS was found to be the best at predicting advanced fibrosis among the three prediction models. The negative predictive value which predicts advanced fibrosis using the low cutoff (<−1.455) was high (86.6%). However, the positive predictive value which predicts advanced fibrosis using the high cutoff (>0.676) was 50.0% when we applied the NFS. Conclusion: Negative predictive value using the low cutoff value was high, but positive predictive value using the high cutoff value was low in a Korean NAFLD cohort using NFS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, many reports revealed that there are close correlations between antioxidant and anticancer activities of compounds. In this study, we designed 4-hydroxy-3′,4′-dihydroxychalcone ( 2) as a ring-opened analog of luteolin, which has been known to possess both antioxidant and anticancer activities, and then introduced aminoethyl moieties to this chalcone structure to increase water solubility by transforming into HCl salts. Synthesized aminoalkyl-substituted chalcones 3a-3d showed potent antioxidant activities in three different assay systems and anticancer activities against four tumor cell lines tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Management of lamivudine-resistant chronic hepatitis B ( CHB) remains challenging, as inappropriate choice of treatment may cause multidrug resistance. Until now, randomized trials directly comparing adding adefovir and switching to entecavir monotherapy have not been reported. Aims This multicentre prospective randomized study was designed to compare the efficacy of these two strategies. Methods Two hundred and nineteen lamivudine-resistant CHB patients were randomized to either adefovir-lamivudine combination group or entecavir monotherapy group ( n = 110 vs. 109), and followed up for 24 months. Results One hundred and eighty patients completed this study. At month 24, virological response rate [hepatitis B virus ( HBV) DNA <60 IU/ml] was higher in the adefovir-lamivudine combination group compared with entecavir group (56.7% vs. 40%, P = 0.025), although biochemical and serological response rates were not significantly different. Genotypic resistance (9.2% vs. 24.6%, P = 0.005) and combined viral breakthrough (2.0% vs. 17.6%, P < 0.001) were more frequent in the entecavir group. However, by subgroup analysis, virological response rates were not significantly different between the two therapies in HBeAg-positive patients (44.9% vs. 35.7%, P = 0.268) or in patients with high baseline HBV DNA (≥7 log IU/ml) (40.7% vs. 31.3%, P = 0.320) at month 24. Conclusion This study showed that adefovir-lamivudine combination provides significantly higher antiviral efficacy and the lower resistance rate compared with the entecavir monotherapy in the management of lamivudine-resistant CHB. However, it had limited efficacy in HBeAg-positive patients or in patients with high baseline HBV DNA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of chronic hepatitis B on the clinical outcome of acute hepatitis A remains controversial. The aim of present study was to evaluate the clinical characteristics of acute hepatitis A in cases with underlying chronic hepatitis B compared to cases of acute hepatitis A alone. Data on 758 patients with acute hepatitis A admitted at two university-affiliated hospitals were reviewed. Patients were classified into three groups: group A, patients with both acute hepatitis A and underlying chronic hepatitis B (n = 27); group B, patients infected by acute hepatitis A alone whose sexes and ages were matched with patients in group A (n = 54); and group C, patients with acute hepatitis A alone (n = 731). None of the demographic features of group A were significantly different from those of group B or C, except for the proportion of males and body weight, which differed from group C. When comparing to group B, clinical symptoms were more frequent, and higher total bilirubin and lower albumin levels were observed in group A. When comparing to group C, the albumin levels were lower in group A. There were no differences in the duration of hospital stay, occurrence of acute kidney injury, acute liver failure, prolonged cholestasis, or relapsing hepatitis. This study revealed that clinical symptoms and laboratory findings were less favorable for patients with acute hepatitis A and chronic hepatitis B compared to those with acute hepatitis A alone. However, there were no differences in fatal outcomes or serious complications. J. Med. Virol. 85:43-48, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bluetooth ferrite antenna was fabricated on CoZ (BaCoFeO) hexaferrite-glass composite substrate and characterized. The fabricated antenna has a total volume of 36 mm (3 × 8 × 1.5 mm) and showed wide bandwidth (390 MHz at VSWR < 2). The maximum 3D peak-gain and radiation efficiency were measured to be 3.32 dBi at 2.35 GHz and 77.7% at 2.3 GHz, respectively. The 3D peak gain of 2.45 dBi and 3D average gain of −1.89 dBi were obtained at the Bluetooth central frequency of 2.45 GHz. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:1222-1225, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.25982 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dual-band ferrite chip antenna having 105 mm of volume was fabricated with BaCoFeO(CoZ)-glass composite and antenna performance was evaluated. The permeability and permittivity of the composite were in the range of 1.92-2.12 and 7.33-7.45, respectively, from 1.575 to 2.45 GHz. Magnetic and dielectric loss tan δ of CoZ-glass composite was <3.5% in the 1.5-3.0 GHz range. The 3D average gain and bandwidth of the 40h-shake-milled and sintered CoZ-glass composite antenna were −1.27 dB and 355 MHz at 1.575 GHz, −4.08 dB and 270 MHz at 2.45 GHz, respectively. Simulated S-parameter spectrum is in good agreement with experimental results. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:14-17, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.25672 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of barrier membranes on sandwich bone augmentation (SBA) for the treatment of implant dehiscence defects. Material and methods: Twenty-six implant-associated buccal dehiscence defects in 22 patients were treated according to the SBA concept – mineralized human cancellous allograft (inner layer), mineralized human cortical allograft (outer layer) and coverage with barrier membrane. The defects were randomly assigned to the bovine collagen membrane (BME) group; acellular dermal matrix (ADM) group; and no membrane group. Measurements at baseline and 6 months re-entry included defect height (DH: from smooth–rough junction to the most apical part of the defect), defect width (DW: at the widest part of the defect), and horizontal defect depth (HDD: at three locations – smooth–rough junction, middle, and most apical portion of the defect). All measurements were taken from a reference stent. Statistical analyses were performed for comparison of intra- and inter-group comparisons. Results: All implants placed were successfully osseointegrated. DH at baseline for three groups were not significantly different ( P=0.858). Mean % DH reductions for ADM, BME, and control groups at 6 months were 73.9±17.6%, 68.1±30.1%, and 63.6±23.9%, respectively, with no significant difference among the groups ( P=0.686). Mean horizontal bone gain, however, was significantly greater for membrane groups (1.7 mm for ADM, 1.6 mm for BME) compared with control group (1 mm) ( P=0.044). Implant exposure resulted in significant reduction in total height gain (79.1±14.3% vs. 57±23.5%, P=0.021). Conclusions: Within the limit of this study, it is concluded that SBA technique achieved predictable clinical outcomes. The addition of absorbable membranes enhanced bone gain in thickness compared with membrane-treated sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Membrane exposure has been associated with poor clinical outcomes in guided bone regeneration. This prospective human study examined the effect of incision locations on flap survival and membrane exposure. Methods: Twenty-nine implant-associated buccal dehiscence defects in 25 patients were augmented using particulate mineralized human allograft. Ten sites received a collagen bioabsorbable membrane, 10 sites received acellular dermal matrix, and nine sites were treated with bone graft alone. All implants achieved primary stability and passive flap tension at the time of flap closure. Incision ideation was measured as the distance from the initial incision line to the mucogingival junction. The same measurements were made at 2 weeks and 1 month to represent the length of the flap that survived. The length of the flap that survived at 2 weeks was compared to the mean width of buccal keratinized gingiva (KG) of adjacent teeth. Other clinical parameters recorded included incidence of early membrane exposure and gingival thickness at mid-crest and 6 mm buccal and lingual to the mid-crest at baseline. Results: At 2 weeks, 10 sites experienced early exposure. Exposed sites that were not covered by 1 month remained exposed. Membrane treated groups showed no significant difference between the width of adjacent buccal KG and the length of the flap that survived at 2 weeks. The length of the flap that survived beyond the mean width of adjacent KG was significantly greater for the graft alone group (1.6 ± 0.4 mm; P= 0.002). When the gingival thicknesses of exposed and non-exposed cases were compared, only palatal/lingual gingival thickness showed a significant difference (P= 0.002). Conclusions: Within the limits of the study, it was concluded that the location of the crestal incision might be a significant factor in reducing the incidence of membrane exposure by minimizing flap necrosis. The mean KG width of adjacent teeth may be used as a guide to determine the initial incision location. However, this effect may be less significant in palatal/lingual gingiva >3.0 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background: The prevalence of antibodies for hepatitis A virus (anti-HAV) in adolescents and young adults has decreased remarkably following the economic growth in Korea. As a result, this age group has a high risk for HAV infection paradoxically, and over 1500 cases of clinically overt hepatitis A occurred in 1998. Human isolates of hepatitis A virus (HAV) are categorized within four genotypes (I, II, III, and VII). In some geographic regions, closely related isolates cluster, suggesting endemic spread of the virus, while in other regions multiple genotypes circulate. Virtually no data are available with regard to the genetic relatedness of Korean strains of HAV. Methods and Results: A 168 base pair segment encompassing the putative VP1/2A junction of the HAV genome was amplified by RT-PCR and sequenced in sera of 18 Korean patients with a sporadic form of acute hepatitis A. Pairwise comparisons of the nucleic acid and amino acid sequences of 18 Korean isolates with one another revealed that the Korean isolates showed > 94.6% and > 96.4% identity, respectively. All of the 18 Korean isolates clustered within genotype IA, irrespective of the geographic locations and the time that hepatitis occurred. Unique amino acid sequence changes that had never been reported in genotype IA were found in nine of the 18 isolates. These changes were Gln arrow right Ser and Lys arrow right Arg in 2A-19 and 2A-10 amino acid positions. Conclusion: The presence of single genotype and unique... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractBackground and Aims: The Detection of hepatitis A virus (HAV) is important for diagnosis and epidemiological studies of hepatitis A. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique is a sensitive test to detect HAV-RNA in specimens. The aims of the present study were to clarify the detection rate of serum HAV-RNA by PCR and the natural history of HAV viraemia, and to determine the correlation between viraemia and the clinical characteristics in patients with acute hepatitis A. Methods: Hepatitis A virus RNA was tested in 74 serum samples which were serially collected from 27 patients with acute hepatitis A. A nested reverse transcription (RT)-PCR for HAV-RNA was performed with primer sets located at the VP1 region of the HAV genome and the PCR products were eletrophoresed on a 1.5% agarose gel. Results: Hepatitis A virus RNA was found in 18 of 27 (67%) patients with hepatitis A. There were no significant differences between groups positive and negative for HAV-RNA in clinical and laboratory data, except the time interval between clinical onset and initial serum sampling for RT-PCR (10 ± 6 vs 19 ± 14 days) and the alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level at initial serum sampling for RT-PCR (1436 ± 1416 vs 518 ± 432 IU/L). The mean duration of HAV viraemia was 30 ± 19 days (range, 5–59 days). The duration of HAV viraemia and duration of abnormal ALT levels from clinical onset were positively correlated (r = 0.685, P = 0.007). Conclusion: In conclusion, HAV-RNA RT-PCR is a useful tool to detect HAV viraemia and to study the molecular epidemiology of HAV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stamping of Flexible, Coplanar Micro-Supercapacitors Using MXene Inks Mater. i B 2018 b , I 28 i , 1705506 In the initially published version of this article, Figure S15 contained incorrect insets. The corrected figure is as follows: GRAPH The authors apologize for any inconvenience or misunderstanding that this error may have caused. [Extracted from the article]

Among other things, battery electrodes need to display large absolute capacities coupled with high rate performance. However, enhancing areal capacity, for example via increased electrode thickness, results in reductions in rate performance. The basis for this negative correlation has not been studied in a quantitative fashion. Here, a semiempirical model is used to analyze capacity versus rate data for electrodes fabricated from a number of materials, each measured at various thicknesses. Fitting the model to the data outputs the low‐rate areal capacity, QA, and the characteristic time associated with charge/discharge, τ, fit parameters which quantify absolute capacity and rate performance respectively. A clear correlation is found between QA and τ, with all data siting close to a mastercurve approximately defined by constant τ/QA. This data is consistent with a simple model based on the timescales associated with rate‐limiting processes. This model implies that the capacity‐rate trade‐off can be improved for high areal capacity electrodes by increasing the volumetric capacity, electrical conductivity, and porosity of the electrode. Conversely, solid‐state diffusion and reaction kinetics are only important for low areal capacity electrodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]