Search

In recent years, the number of studio residential buildings has increased significantly in Korea, as well as in many other countries, due to changes in living patterns. In Korea especially, there have been many fire accidents in studio residential buildings, which have caused a huge number of casualties and property damages, because the buildings were not adequately equipped for firefighting. In this study, the egress safety of a typical studio residential building in Korea is analyzed. Fire simulations were performed with variables of the fire location and the capacity of the smoke exhaust system to estimate the available safe egress time (ASET); egress simulations were also performed with the variable of egress delay time, and the required safe egress time (RSET) was determined. Then, the egress safety was evaluated, and the criteria for egress safety evaluation were proposed based on the simulation results. A studio residential building with a floor plan different from the prototype was used to validate the proposed egress safety criteria. Finally, a simple evaluation model is presented to estimate the required safe egress time (RSET) without simulation and to examine the impact of bottlenecks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waste from non-degradable packaging materials poses a serious environmental risk and has led to interest in developing sustainable bio-based packaging materials. Sustainable packaging materials have been made from diverse naturally derived materials such as bamboo, sugarcane, and corn starch. In this study, we made a sustainable packaging film using chitosan extracted from the biomass of yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) shell waste. The extracted chitosan was used to create films, cross-linked with citric acid (CA) and with the addition of glycerol to impart flexibility, using the solvent casting method. The successful cross-linking was evaluated using Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis. The CA cross-linked mealworm chitosan (CAMC) films exhibited improved water resistance with moisture content reduced from 19.9 to 14.5%. Improved barrier properties were also noted, with a 28.7% and 10.2% decrease in vapor permeability and vapor transmission rate, respectively. Bananas were selected for food preservation, and significant changes were observed over a duration of 10 days. Compared to the control sample, bananas packaged in CAMC pouches exhibited a lesser loss in weight because of excellent barrier properties against water vapor. Moreover, the quality and texture of bananas packaged in CAMC pouch remained intact over the duration of the experiment. This indicates that adding citric acid and glycerol to the chitosan structure holds promise for effective food wrapping and contributes to the enhancement of banana shelf life. Through this study, we concluded that chitosan film derived from mealworm biomass has potential as a valuable resource for sustainable packaging solutions, promoting the adoption of environmentally friendly practices in the food industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We primarily aimed to evaluate whether parotid incidental lesion (PIL) in 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) for staging evaluation of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) would represent a possibility of extrahepatic metastasis or second primary malignancy (SPM). Additionally, we explored the incidence of PIL in HCC patients and examined any associated risk factors. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients with HCC who underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT at our institution from 2010 to 2022. The pathological findings of PILs in HCC patients were investigated for confirmatory identification of the risk of HCC metastasis or SPM in parotid gland. Healthy controls received 18F-FDG PET/CT for health screening were also enrolled to compare the incidence of PILs with HCC patients. Various parameters associated with patient demographics and characteristics of HCC were analyzed to find the related factors of PILs. Results: A total of 17,674 patients with HCC and 2,090 healthy individuals who had undergone 18F-FDG PET/CT scans were enrolled in the analyses. Among the 54 HCC patients who underwent pathological confirmation for PILs, benign primary parotid tumor was most commonly observed (n = 43 [79.6%]); however, no malignant lesions were detected, including HCC metastasis. The incidence of PILs was higher in patients diagnosed with HCC compared with the control group (485 [2.7%] vs. 23 [1.1%], p = 0.002). Analysis for the risk factors for PILs revealed that patient age, sex, and positive viral markers were significantly associated with the incidence of PILs in patients with HCC (all p < 0.001). Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that PILs are more frequently identified in patients with HCC on 18F-FDG PET/CT. However, no malignant PIL, including extrahepatic metastasis of HCC, was identified. Therefore, the presence of PIL should not impede or delay the treatment process for patients with HCC. Additionally, we suggested that for future swift and straightforward differential diagnoses of PIL, the development of additional protocols within the PET/CT imaging could be beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: REGATTA trial failed to demonstrate the survival benefit of reduction gastrectomy in patients with advanced gastric cancer with a single non‐curable factor. However, a significant interaction was found between the treatment effect and tumor location in the subset analysis. Additionally, the treatment effect appeared to be different between Japan and Korea. This supplementary analysis aimed to elucidate the effect of reduction surgery based on tumor location and country. Methods: Multivariable Cox regression analyses in each subgroup were performed to estimate the hazard ratio (HRadj), including the following variables as explanatory variables: country, age, sex, incurable factor, cT, cN, primary tumor, performance status, histological type, and macroscopic type. Results: Patients (95 in Japan and 80 in Korea) were randomized to chemotherapy alone (86 patients) or gastrectomy plus chemotherapy (89 patients). The subgroup analysis according to the country revealed a worse overall survival in gastrectomy plus chemotherapy arm in Japan (hazard ratio: 1.32, 95% confidence interval: 0.85–2.05), but not in Korea (hazard ratio: 0.85.95% confidence interval: 0.52–1.40). Overall survival was better in distal gastrectomy plus chemotherapy compared with chemotherapy alone (hazard ratio = 0.69, 95% confidence interval: 0.42–1.13), and worse in total gastrectomy plus chemotherapy compared with chemotherapy alone (hazard ratio = 1.34, 95% CI: 0.93–1.94), which was more remarkable in Korea than in Japan. Conclusions: Primary chemotherapy is a standard of care for advanced gastric cancer; however, the survival benefits from reduction by distal gastrectomy remained controversial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Identifying a meaningful progression metric for Parkinson's disease (PD) that reflects heterogeneity remains a challenge. Objective: To assess the frequency and baseline predictors of progression to clinically relevant motor and non-motor PD milestones. Methods: Using data from the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) de novo PD cohort, we monitored 25 milestones across six domains ("walking and balance"; "motor complications"; "cognition"; "autonomic dysfunction"; "functional dependence"; "activities of daily living"). Milestones were intended to be severe enough to reflect meaningful disability. We assessed the proportion of participants reaching any milestone; evaluated which occurred most frequently; and conducted a time-to-first-event analysis exploring whether baseline characteristics were associated with progression. Results: Half of participants reached at least one milestone within five years. Milestones within the cognitive, functional dependence, and autonomic dysfunction domains were reached most often. Among participants who reached a milestone at an annual follow-up visit and remained active in the study, 82% continued to meet criteria for any milestone at one or more subsequent annual visits and 55% did so at the next annual visit. In multivariable analysis, baseline features predicting faster time to reaching a milestone included age (p < 0.0001), greater MDS-UPDRS total scores (p < 0.0001), higher GDS-15 depression scores (p = 0.0341), lower dopamine transporter binding (p = 0.0043), and lower CSF total α-synuclein levels (p = 0.0030). Symptomatic treatment was not significantly associated with reaching a milestone (p = 0.1639). Conclusion: Clinically relevant milestones occur frequently, even in early PD. Milestones were significantly associated with baseline clinical and biological markers, but not with symptomatic treatment. Further studies are necessary to validate these results, further assess the stability of milestones, and explore translating them into an outcome measure suitable for observational and therapeutic studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]