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Two new species of Clausidiidae, each belonging to the genera Clausidium Kossmann, 1875 and Hippomolgus G. O. Sars, 1917, are described from Korea. Clausidium maximus n. sp. is an associate of a burrowing decapod of the genus Callianassa living on the Korean coast of the Yellow Sea and has, as diagnostic characters, two inner setae on the second endopodal segment of legs 2-4, nine elements on the third exopodal segment of leg 4, an inner seta on the second exopodal segment of male leg 1, and a relatively large body size, exceeding 2.0 mm in the female. Hippomolgus limiticus n. sp. was found in the bottom sediments in the East China Sea. It is similar to H. furcifer G. O. Sars, but distinghuishable from the latter species by having shorter caudal rami, 4-segmented female maxilliped, and inner coxal spine (instead of seta) on legs 2 and 3. This is the first record on the genera Clausidium and Hippomolgus in the West Pacific.

A new cyclopoid species belonging to the genus Metacyclops Kiefer, 1927 is described, based upon the specimens from a temporary pool in a forest of Mt. Phnom Domnak Dambouk, situated in the southwestern part of Cambodia. Metacyclops woni sp. nov. is characterized by its quite short caudal rami, about 2.5 times longer than wide, with a spinule row on anterior quarter of lateral margin. This new species belongs to the species group with the spine formula 3,4,4,3 of swimming legs 1-4. Among the members of the species group with the combination of characters of 11-segmented antennule and a single apical spine on the second endopodal segment of leg 4, it most resembles M. deserticus Mercado-Salas and Suárez-Morales, 2013 from Mexico in carrying an outermost caudal seta slightly longer than the innermost caudal seta and an apical spine on the second endopodal segment of leg 4 slightly shorter than the segment. However, it differs clearly from the present new species by much longer caudal rami with lateral caudal seta at nearly halfway of lateral margin of the ramus and smooth posterior margin of intercoxal sclerites of legs 1-4. This is the first record of the genus Metacyclops from Cambodia and the fourth one from Southeast Asia.

Aggregated and hyperphosphorylated Tau is one of the pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. Tau is a polyampholytic and intrinsically disordered protein (IDP). In this paper, we present for the first time experimental results on the ionic strength dependence of the radius of gyration (Rg) of human Tau 4RS and 4RL isoforms. Synchrotron X-ray scattering revealed that 4RS Rg is regulated from 65.4 to 58.5 Å and 4RL Rg is regulated from 70.9 to 57.9 Å by varying ionic strength from 0.01 to 0.592 M. The Rg of 4RL Tau is larger than 4RS at lower ionic strength. This result provides an insight into the ion-responsive nature of intrinsically disordered and polyampholytic Tau, and can be implicated to the further study of Tau-Tau and Tau-tubulin intermolecular structure in ionic environments.

A new gastrotrich species of the genus Dendrodasys (Dactylopodolidae) is described on the basis of specimens collected from sublittoral fine sandy bottoms at Uljin, East Sea and at Gujwa, the northeastern coast of Jeju Island, South Korea. Dendrodasys duplus is characterized by a triangular head with lateral lobes extending outward, two pairs of pestle organs posterior to the lateral cephalic lobes, a pair of anterior adhesive tubes, the absence of dorsal, lateral and ventral adhesive tubes, large posterior adhesive tubes arising from the anterior third of the caudal peduncle, and paired testes of different lengths. The genus Dendrodasys is recorded for the first time in East Asia.

Most tracheostomy scars are depressive and adherent to the underlying trachea, which causes up and down movement when swallowing. This tracheocutaneous tethering causes discomfort, pain, dysphagia, and bad appearance. A tracheocutaneous fistula may be accompanied. Here, we present a new method for reconstructing a tracheostomy scar deformity with tracheocutaneous tethering: layer-by-layer restoration of the anatomical structure with a subcutaneous fat tissue blanket. The scar tissue was fully excised, with the associated skin and subcutaneous tissue. The bilateral strap muscles around the scar were dissected proximally and distally and approximated to the midline, secured without tension. Bilateral platysma muscle flaps cover them firmly. The subcutaneous tissue around the incision margin, which included the superficial cervical fascia was elevated to form a fat blanket, closed transversely. The skin was closed after confirming the absence of retraction upon swallowing. From 2010 to 2018, 10 patients with tracheocutaneous tethering and one patient with tracheocutaneous fistula underwent surgery. All patients were functionally and aesthetically satisfied with the results. The only complication was a hypertrophic scar in one patient, which was managed with a triamcinolone injection. An anatomical layer-by-layer restoration with a fat blanket provided consistent, satisfying results for correcting tracheostomy scar deformities without using additional tissue. This simple method was effective for reconstructing tracheocutaneous tethering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing frequency of extreme rainfall events poses significant challenges to sustainable water resource management, leading to severe natural disasters. To mitigate these challenges, understanding the hydrological characteristics of watersheds, especially baseflow, is critical for enhancing watershed resilience and supporting sustainable water quality and resource management. However, conventional watershed models often neglect the accurate simulation of baseflow recession. This study proposes a method for calculating and applying the alpha factor for each hydrologic response unit (HRU) in the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), considering both temporal and spatial variability in baseflow. The study watershed has undergone significant development, increasing the need for effective water management strategies that promote long-term sustainability. The alpha factor was computed using BFlow2021, and its effectiveness was evaluated by comparing recession and baseflow estimates under different methods. The results indicate that incorporating monthly HRU-specific alpha factors significantly improves model predictions of recession characteristics, highlighting the need for a more spatially and temporally detailed approach in hydrological modeling. The proposed methodology can help clarify the connection between recession and baseflow and can be applied to ungauged stations, offering a valuable tool for sustainable watershed and water quality management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The genus Anomalohalacarus Newell, 1949, which is known to occur exclusively inhabiting sand, has not been previously reported from Korea. During a recent survey of the meiofauna from several intertidal sandy beaches in South Korea, we found both sexes of two psammobiont halacarids, Anomalohalacarus angustus sp. nov. and A. biformis Abé, 1996. New information: Both species are similar to each other in sharing an undivided posterior dorsal plate, three and two setae on the anterior and posterior epimeral plates, respectively, three bipectinate setae on tibia IV, and four ventral setae on tarsus I. However, A. angustus sp. nov. is distinguished from A. biformis by the absence of areolae posteriorly on the anterior dorsal plate, a much more slender posterior dorsal plate, a pair of subgenital setae on the genital foramen in females, and seven branched perigenital setae on the genitoanal plate in males. The feature of branched perigenital setae in males is reported for the first time in the genus Anomalohalacarus. The Korean specimens of A. biformis agree well with the original description from Japan, except for the number of ventral bipectinate setae on tibia II. This study presents (re)descriptions of both species with detailed illustrations and provides a dichotomous key to Anomalohalacarus species, including the new species, based on morphological characters. The genus Anomalohalacarus is reported for the first time in South Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequent recurrence and metastasis caused by cancer stem cells (CSCs) are major challenges in lung cancer treatment. Therefore, identifying and characterizing specific CSC targets are crucial for the success of prospective targeted therapies. In this study, it is found that upregulated TOR Signaling Pathway Regulator‐Like (TIPRL) in lung CSCs causes sustained activation of the calcium/calmodulin‐dependent protein kinase kinase 2 (CaMKK2) signaling pathway by binding to CaMKK2, thereby maintaining stemness and survival. CaMKK2‐mediated activation of CaM kinase 4 (CaMK4) leads to phosphorylation of cAMP response element‐binding protein (CREB) at Ser129 and Ser133, which is necessary for its maximum activation and the downstream constitutive expression of its target genes (Bcl2 and HMG20A). TIPRL depletion sensitizes lung CSCs to afatinib‐induced cell death and reduces distal metastasis of lung cancer in vivo. It is determined that CREB activates the transcription of TIPRL in lung CSCs. The positive feedback loop consisting of CREB and TIPRL induces the sustained activation of the CaMKK2‐CaMK4‐CREB axis as a driving force and upregulates the expression of stemness‐ and survival‐related genes, promoting tumorigenesis in patients with lung cancer. Thus, TIPRL and the CaMKK2 signaling axis may be promising targets for overcoming drug resistance and reducing metastasis in lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drowsiness impairs drivers' concentration and reaction time, doubling the risk of car accidents. Various methods for detecting drowsy driving have been proposed that rely on facial changes. However, they have poor detection for drivers wearing a mask or sunglasses, and they do not reflect the driver's drowsiness habits. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel method to detect drowsy driving even with facial detection obstructions, such as masks or sunglasses, and regardless of the driver's different drowsiness habits, by recognizing behavioral patterns. We achieve this by constructing both normal driving and drowsy driving datasets and developing a 3D-CNN (3D Convolutional Neural Network) model reflecting the Inception structure of GoogleNet. This binary classification model classifies normal driving and drowsy driving videos. Using actual videos captured inside real vehicles, this model achieved a classification accuracy of 85% for detecting drowsy driving without facial obstructions and 75% for detecting drowsy driving when masks and sunglasses are worn. Our results demonstrate that the behavioral pattern recognition method is effective in detecting drowsy driving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-throughput synthesis of Samarium-Cobalt sub-micron fibers with controlled composition and dimension was demonstrated by combining electrospinning and reduction-diffusion processes. The composition of fibers was readily varied (8 < Sm < 20 at.%) by adjusting precursor composition whereas the diameter of fibers was precisely controlled by varying electrospinning parameters (e.g., applied voltage, solution feed rate, temperature, and humidity) to reach single-domain size. X-ray diffraction patterns confirmed that single phase Sm2Co17 fibers were synthesized when the metal precursor ratio (Sm3+/(Sm3++Co2+)) was precisely controlled at 10.6%, whereas mixed phases (i.e., Co-Sm2Co17 or Sm2Co17-Sm2Co7) were observed when the ratio is deviated from the stoichiometric. Magnetic saturation (Ms ) of the synthesized fibers monotonically decreased with an increased in Sm content. In contrast, coercivity (Hci) monotonically increased with an increase in Sm content.