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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]

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]

Inflammable building finishing materials act as a major cause of fire propagation, and they, therefore, pose significant risks to life and can lead to property damage. To replace such flammable building finishing materials, many countries have established regulations limiting their use, which has led to extensive research on the development of flame-retardant building finishing materials. Such methods have included adding flame retardants to construction materials to reduce the heat release rate and total heat release. The present study aimed to enhance the fire performance of cellulose-based architectural finishing materials by creating a dual flame-retardant mixture using expandable graphite and magnesium hydroxide added to recycled paper waste. Specimen fabrication involves using a pressing method to apply uniform pressure to compress the mixture in a mold. The total heat release (THR), CO, and CO2 production of the produced specimens were measured using a cone calorimeter while varying the magnesium hydroxide additive ratio. The combustion gases were measured through NES 713 experiments to determine any changes in the Toxic Index corresponding to variations in the magnesium hydroxide content. The experiment results established a correlation between the magnesium hydroxide additive ratio and the total heat release, as well as the existence of variations in CO and CO2 production for the dual flame-retardant recycled paper material. A database for combustion gases was also obtained. It was confirmed that the fire performance was improved by confirming that the total heat release decreased by 52% from the previous one in the magnesium hydroxide content of 30 g, and it was confirmed that the inflection points of the Toxic Index value due to the change in CO and CO2 gas production occurred in the magnesium hydroxide content of 20 g due to the improvement of the fire performance. Through the ISO 5660-1 experiment data, we have secured data that can be used as foundational information for performance-oriented fire risk assessments, thereby ensuring the fire safety of cellulose materials that are vulnerable to fire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In modern society, the size of buildings tends to expand due to technological advances. However, while prioritizing performance design and specific building materials, fire research has fallen short of creating a comprehensive fire characteristic database for building materials. This study presents a plan for building a big data resource to evaluate the fire performance of cellulose-based flame retardant building finishing material in buildings of varying sizes. The three types of building finishing materials applied in this study are polyurethane foam, MDF, and cellulose-based building finishing materials. The variables were determined based on the floor area, and the change in floor area was calculated using the aspect ratio, a dimensionless number. Data analysis utilized the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) to determine the time required to meet life safety standards for temperature, visibility, and Fractional Effective Dose (FED). The results confirm a correlation between the safe evacuation time (ASET) and increasing floor area. Additionally, the study demonstrates that cellulose-based flame-retardant building finishing material effectively maintains safe evacuation times even with increasing floor areas, as evidenced by increases of 41.0 s, 13.2 s, and 97.5 s in temperature, visibility, and FED, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoconfinement of redox molecules influences their molecular interactions and leads to stabilization of a metastable form by alternation of their chemical reactivity, which is not observed in the bulk. Herein, we show that hydro- and benzoquinone can be (electro)chemically confined with imidazole in subnanometer-sized carbon pore regimes, and their chemical degradation induced by nucleophilic attacks was significantly mitigated. On the other hand, the formation of a quinone–imidazole complex became evident in a bulk solution phase containing both benzoquinone and imidazole. Molecular dynamics simulations and density functional theory calculation results clearly elucidated the stabilization of both hydro- and benzoquinone in a sub-nanometer sized carbon space due to their strong interactions with a carbon surface, which was thermodynamically more preferred than the formation of a quinone–imidazole complex. We further experimentally found that imidazole played a central role in stabilizing both hydro- and benzoquinone inside the restrained carbon pore regime. The charge–discharge characteristics associated with redox reactions by confined hydro- and benzoquinone in a microporous carbon regime were investigated and showed an ∼97% capacity retention rate over the 100th cycle. The enhanced electrode kinetics of the confined quinone redox reaction on a mesoporous carbon electrode was also discussed. This study demonstrated that the physicochemical nature of hydro- and benzoquinone can be altered by their (electro)chemical confinement with imidazole in a subnanometer-sized carbon regime, and their resilience against the nucleophilic attack could impact the development of various quinone-based aqueous energy storage systems for long term cyclability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide, the number of users of medical facilities is increasing due to the pandemic phenomenon and extended life expectancy. In addition, the majority of medical facility occupants are patients, leading to issues of inconvenience in movement and increased vulnerability during evacuations in the event of a fire. Therefore, the availability of nursing personnel, who serve as assistants in tasks such as transporting beds and wheelchairs essential for patient evacuation, is crucial for ensuring evacuation safety. However, a global shortage of nursing personnel has led to ongoing research on optimizing workforce allocation. In this study, the Available Safe Egress Time (ASET) and Required Safe Egress Time (RSET) were quantitatively compared for medical facilities with a combination of intensive care units and general wards, utilizing a Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) and Flexsim Healthcare simulations to assess fire risk. The research goal here is to provide sustainable research directions for determining the minimum ratio of nurses to patients required for evacuation in a disaster, ensuring the continuous availability of nursing personnel in medical facilities. To achieve this, the variable was set to five stages based on the total number of patients per nurse. As a result of this study, it was confirmed that when the nurse-to-patient ratio exceeded 1:6, more than 70% of bedridden patients died. Additionally, it was verified that maintaining a patient-to-nurse ratio of less than 1:1 is effective for ensuring evacuation safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show that a covalent conjugation of a 'hydroxide-philic' functional group to a TEMPO moiety is the key to effectively mitigating chemical degradation during charging and discharging, which hinders OH− access to oxoammonium sites in the intramolecular regime, leading to a stable TEMPO-based aqueous organic redox flow battery (AORFB) with long-term cyclability. Thorough quantitative analysis of the degradation of 4-OH-TEMPO in its fully discharged and charged states was performed under various pH conditions; it was confirmed that the strong interaction between the oxidized form (i.e., TEMPO+) and OH− is mainly responsible for the molecular decomposition. Based on this analysis, a TEMPO derivative covalently conjugated with a hydroxide-philic functional group was carefully designed and synthesized; in this article, this derivative is denoted as MIMAcO-TEMPO (4-[2-(N-methyl imidazolium) acetoxy]-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl chloride). The hydroxide-philic MIMAcO functional group intimately attracts OH− before the neighboring TEMPO moiety is exposed to OH− attack. Once an OH− is combined with the MIMAcO functional group to form the [(OH− → MIMAcO)-TEMPO+] adduct, the oxoammonium site acquires a high electrostatic resistance to OH−. The change in the sequential binding energy of OH− to the MIMAcO functional group and the TEMPO moiety was elucidated by density functional theory (DFT) simulations. The estimated resilient characteristics of the oxoammonium site in MIMAcO-TEMPO+ against OH− and the resultant structural stability were confirmed by UV-vis, NMR, mass spectroscopy, and electrochemical analyses. In AORFB application, MIMAcO-TEMPO showed a remarkable improvement in the capacity decay rate (0.012% per cycle) over 1000 cycles of the galvanostatic charge–discharge test, indicating that this is one of the most stable TEMPO derivatives. In addition, based on the highly hydrophilic properties of the MIMAcO functional group, a high-concentration AORFB was successfully demonstrated with 2.5 M MIMAcO-TEMPO, delivering a record-breaking discharge capacity of 57.1 Ah L−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: This retrospective, cross-sectional, and descriptive study used claims data from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) between 2010 and 2019 to analyze the trend of surgical service utilization in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). Materials and Methods: The national patient sample data provided by the HIRA, which consisted of a 2% sample of the entire Korean population, was used to assess all patients who underwent decompression or fusion surgery at least once in Korea, with LSS as the main diagnosis from January 2010 to December 2019. An in-depth analysis was conducted to examine the utilization of surgical services, taking into account various demographic characteristics of patients, the frequency of claims for different types of surgeries, reoperation rates, the specific types of inpatient care associated with each surgery type, prescribed medications, and the overall expense of healthcare services. Results: A total of 6194 claims and 6074 patients were analyzed. The number of HIRA claims for patients increased from 393 (2010) to 417 (2019) for decompression, and from 230 (2010) to 244 (2019) for fusion. As for the medical expenses of surgery, there was an increase from United States dollar (USD) 867,549.31 (2010) to USD 1,153,078.94 (2019) for decompression and from USD 1,330,440.37 (2010) to USD 1,780,026.48 (2019) for fusion. Decompression accounted for the highest proportion (65.8%) of the first surgeries, but more patients underwent fusion (50.6%) than decompression (49.4%) in the second surgery. Across all sex and age groups, patients who underwent fusion procedures experienced longer hospital stays and incurred higher medical expenses for their inpatient care. Conclusion: The surgical service utilization of patients with LSS and the prescribing rate of opioids and non-opioid analgesics for surgical patients increased in 2019 compared to 2010. From mid-2010 onward, claims for fusion showed a gradual decrease, whereas those for decompression showed a continuously increasing trend. The findings of this study are expected to provide basic research data for clinicians, researchers, and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we demonstrate an electrogenerated porous iodine interphase with positively charged (e.g., protonated in an aqueous acidic medium) electrolyte channels on a Pt ultramicroelectrode (UME) that stimulates in situ electrokinetic transport of I−, resulting in a significant enhancement of anodic current associated with electro-oxidation of I− in an aqueous medium. Our scientific findings would be critical for developing various 'fast charging' I−-based aqueous rechargeable batteries. The cyclic voltammograms (CVs) obtained using a 10 mM I− + 1 M HClO4 solution represent the electro-oxidation of I− to I2via I3− and precipitation of solid I2 on the electrode due to its limited solubility under the conditions in which the mass transport of I− was mainly governed by diffusion. However, as the I− concentration increased to 1 M, the voltammetric behavior for oxidation of I− deviated from the previously reported electrode reaction model. The abnormal voltammogram became explicit as the concentration of HClO4 increased to 4 M or higher, showing a linear increase in the overlimiting anodic current as the electrode potential was positively biased. In addition, the formation of protonated iodine, I2(H+)n, was estimated from the onset of a potential shift in the negative direction with increasing bulk H+ concentration in the solution. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations demonstrated feasible porous iodine structures with electrolyte channels in an aqueous solution containing both I2 and HClO4. Voltammetric and MD simulation analyses suggested the electrogeneration of a porous I2(H+)n interphase with positively charged electrolyte channels on the Pt UME, which stimulates in situ electrokinetic transport of I− through the channels. This was supported by finite element analyses of the transport of I− through a simplified model channel with a positively charged surface, which demonstrated a linearly increased I− flux as a function of a positively biased electrical potential difference between the electrode and the entrance of the channel. In addition, we observed that the electrokinetic phenomena occurring during the electro-oxidation of I− also occurred in aqueous media containing other electrolytes (e.g., NaClO4). The slope of the voltammetric curve and the maximum value of the observed electrokinetic current due to electro-oxidation of I− in HClO4 were higher than those in NaClO4 solution because of higher positive surface charge density of the porous iodine interphase in the aqueous medium containing HClO4 than that containing NaClO4. Chronoamperometric analysis revealed the transient phase transition region where an effective porous I2(H+)n interphase was formed from its disconnected clusters that contributed to the electrokinetic I− current. In addition, it showed that the structure of the I2(H+)n interphase would be stable for electrokinetic transport of I−. Based on our analyses, we provide a more detailed mechanistic picture of the electro-oxidation of I− to I3−via an I2 interphase in an aqueous acidic medium with the following phase transition of I2: I2(H+)n cluster → porous I2(H+)n stimulating electrokinetic transport of I− → dense I2 with an I−-insulating nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buildings in modern society tend to gradually expand in size due to technological development and overcrowding, which increases the risk of fire. Therefore, continuous efforts are being made to ensure the evacuation safety of occupants by installing firefighting facilities and using flame retardant building finishing materials. This study aims to present a fire performance evaluation plan for building finishing materials using simulations and identify risks that arise from not using flame retardant building finishing materials in medical facilities with vulnerable occupants. A control group for fire performance evaluation was selected using polyurethane foam, while two types of cellulose-based building finishing materials with different flame retardants were chosen for analysis. The cellulose-based finishing materials included expanded graphite, magnesium hydroxide, montmorillonite, and ammonium polyphosphate. Fire performance was evaluated using FDS and path detector simulations based on NES 713 and ISO 5660-1. The results of the study showed that there was a difference of three people in the prediction of the number of deaths depending on the scope of analysis, and it was confirmed that the toxic gas detected was different depending on the added flame retardant. Additionally, construction finishing materials with flame retardant performance increased ASET by at least 130 s compared to polyurethane foam, and the evacuation safety exceeded 1, confirming the effectiveness of securing evacuation stability for occupants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Shoulder pain is a common complaint in outpatient clinics and can result in an inability to work or perform household activities, leading to significant socioeconomic burden. Acupotomy, as one kind acupuncture that has flat knife-shaped tip, has been widely used for treating shoulder pain. However, despite the widespread use of acupotomy in primary medical institutions, large sample size clinical trials have not sufficiently been performed. In this respect, this multi-center retrospective study aimed to investigate the effectiveness and safety of acupotomy in reducing shoulder pain and disability using data from multi-center primary care clinics. Methods: This study was conducted in 25 Korean medicine clinics affiliated with the Korean Medical Society of Acupotomology, Republic of Korea, from August 2021 to December 2021. The medical records of patients who visited the clinics complaining of shoulder pain were gathered, and among them were those of patients who underwent acupotomy treatment and those who received acupuncture combined therapy. The Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), SPADI (Shoulder Pain and Disability Index), Range of Motion (ROM) and adverse event were evaluated at each visit. A linear mixed-effects models and paired t-test were used to identify the effectiveness of the treatment. Results: Overall analysis showed that the NRS score of patients decreased from 4.95 ± 1.97 before treatment to 3.78 ± 2.03 after treatment (n = 332, difference in NRS score, 1.17; 95% CI: 0.96– 1.38, t = 10.89 p < 0.001). SPADI score decreased from 19.05 ± 20.44 at baseline before treatment to 12.12 ± 17.26 after the last visit, which was statistically significant (n = 332, mean difference in SPADI score, 6.93; 95% CI: 4.71– 9.15, t = 6.150, p < 0.001). No serious adverse event was reported in both groups. Conclusion: This study showed the effectiveness of acupotomy therapy for shoulder pain, and as the treatment sessions increased, the effect of pain reduction and shoulder function improvement were also increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current genome-editing technologies introduce double-stranded (ds) DNA breaks at a target locus as the first step to gene correction (1,2). Although most genetic diseases arise from point mutations, current approaches [...]

The burning of building finishing materials containing chemical substances can lead to the spread of fire with a large number of harmful substances. To prevent this, cellulose, an eco-friendly material that minimizes the generation of harmful substances, was chosen as the main material for building finishing materials. Wastepaper was recycled to extract cellulose, and a finishing material was manufactured by mixing in expandable graphite and magnesium hydroxide. The flame-retardant performance of the finishing material was evaluated by measuring the total heat emission rate using the ISO 5660-1 cone calorimeter, with the particle size of the expanded graphite as a variable. The measured physical properties value was used as the FDS parameter to evaluate the risk of fire. Results show that the cellulose-based building finishing material meets the life safety standard of NFSC 203 during the simulation time and has a FED value that does not exceed 0.001 at maximum. This confirms its effectiveness in providing safe egress time for residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An additive, 1,4‐butadiene sulfone (BDS), which generates H2SO3 by in situ thermal retro‐Diels‐Alder decompositions, is used for preparing high β‐phase polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) films. Because of preferential multiple non‐covalent interactions of H2SO3 with all‐trans configuration of PVDF, β‐phase PVDF is spontaneously induced without mechanical drawing and/or extensive thermal annealing process. PVDF films cast from PVDF/BDS/water solutions exhibit high β‐phase content (fβ = 95%) when the BDS concentration is only cBDS = 1.0 wt%, which is confirmed by polarized optical microscopy (POM), SEM, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), differential scan calorimetry (DSC), and 2D grazing incidence wide‐angle X‐ray scattering (GIWAXS). Because of the high β‐phase content, PVDF films prepared by using BDS exhibit excellent ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties (Ec = 50 MV/m, Pr = 5 µC/cm2, and d33 = ≈‐25 pm/V). Furthermore, a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) developed with high β‐phase PVDF film exhibits enhanced performance as 2.5 times higher than neat PVDF film in output charge density, allowing reliable operation of conventional electronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the validation effort to evaluate the consistency of a new cold in-place recycling using foamed asphalt (CIR-foam) mix design process for the Iowa Department of Transportation, the dynamic modulus and repeated load tests were conducted to evaluate the performance characteristics of CIR-foam mixtures over a wide range of loading and temperature conditions. The main objective of this research is to study the impacts of the foamed asphalt contents and reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) material characteristics on dynamic modulus and flow number. Dynamic modulus and repeated load tests were conducted on CIR-foam mixtures with RAP materials collected from seven different CIR project sites located throughout Iowa. Dynamic modulus values of the RAP materials varied depending on the sources and foamed asphalt contents. Coarse RAP materials with a small amount of residual asphalt content exhibited a higher modulus value at 4.4[degrees]C but exhibited a lower dynamic modulus value at 37.8[degrees]C than fine RAP materials with a large amount of residual asphalt content. Flow numbers were varied significantly depending on their RAP sources and foamed asphalt contents. Fine RAP materials with a hard residual asphalt binder exhibited a higher flow number than coarse RAP materials with a soft residual binder. The relative rankings of RAP materials in terms of the flow number did not change when the foamed asphalt was increased from 1.0 to 3.0%, which supports the repeated load test being consistent in evaluating a rutting potential of RAP materials. CE Database subject headings: Recycling; Asphalt pavements; Mixtures; Foam.