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This study developed a forest management plan model using reinforcement learning (Q-learning) to optimize both the economic and ecological functions of forests. Management objectives for national forests were established, and forest conditions were analyzed using GIS spatial data and administrative records. A 60-year forest management plan was formulated to predict timber production and management performance across different regions and time periods. Our analysis revealed that Scenario 3 (Carbon Storage Priority) demonstrated the highest economic value, starting at approximately KRW 576.2 billion in the initial period and escalating to KRW 775.7 billion over six 10-year periods, totaling 60 years. In addition to its economic performance, Scenario 3 effectively improved forest age class structure and ensured a stable timber supply, making it the most balanced approach for sustainable forest management. By focusing on carbon storage as a key management goal, this approach highlights the potential for achieving both economic and environmental benefits concurrently. These results suggest that reinforcement learning is a powerful tool for developing long-term forest management strategies that address multiple objectives, including economic viability, ecological sustainability, and resource optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: The aim of this work was to prepare and characterize gastroretentive floating combination tablets (GRCTs) containing 500 mg of amoxicillin trihydrate (AMX) and 125 mg of levofloxacin (LVX) that provide sustained drug release and stability at gastric pH levels for the eradication of resistant Helicobacter pylori. Method: GRCTs were prepared with low-density excipients and hydrophilic swellable polymers, including hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) of various viscosities, polyethylene oxide (PEO), and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), by the direct compression method. The prepared GRCTs were investigated and optimized in terms of pH stability, tablet hardness, floating lag time and total floating time, drug release rate, gel strength. Results: AMX and LVX in GRCT were stable at the HP eradication target pH above 4.0. The effervescent GRCT composition (AMX/LVX/HPMC [4000 cP]/CMC/microcrystalline cellulose/citric acid/sodium bicarbonate/calcium silicate/silicon dioxide/magnesium stearate = 500/125/50/50/125/40/60/30/10/10, w/w) yielded acceptable hardness (>6 kp), reduced floating lag time (<5 s), a long floating duration (>12 h), and sustained release rates of AMX and LVX (>90% until 12 h). This optimized GRCT had a gel strength of 107.33 ± 10.69 g and pH > 4.0, which maintained the tablets' shape and AMX stability for 12 h. Conclusions: Collectively, the formulated effervescent GRCTs combining AMX and LVX represented a promising candidate dosage form for eradicating resistant H. pylori. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: Moringa oleifera is a matrix plant with the high potential to cure several diseases with its medicinal and ethnopharmacological value and nutraceutical properties. In this study, we investigated the chemical and biological properties of this plant cultivated in our local region. Methods: Leaves, roots, seeds, stem bark, and twigs of oleifera were extracted and evaluated bioactivities targeting intracellular lipid accumulation and adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes, and UHPLC-ESI-Orbitrap-MS/MS-Based molecular networking guided isolation and dereplication of metabolites from these extracts. Results: Five extracts of different organs of M. oleifera significantly stimulated intracellular lipid accumulation and adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes in a concentration-dependent manner. These extracts markedly increased the expression of genes related to adipogenesis and lipogenesis. Notably, these extracts promoted peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) activity and the expression of its target genes, including phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, fatty acid-binding protein 4, and perilipin-2. These adipogenic and lipogenic effects of Moringa extracts through the regulation of PPARγ activity suggests their potential efficacy in preventing or treating type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, chemical investigation revealed high contents of phytonutrients as rich sources of secondary metabolites including glycosides, flavones, fatty acids, phenolics, and other compounds. In addition, in silico studies on major components of these extracts revealed the bioavailability of major components through their binding affinity to respective proteins targeting adipocyte differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the development of luminol and gold nanoparticle co-functionalized graphene oxide (GO-AuNPs-L) hybrids as enhanced luminogenic signaling molecules in the chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) for detecting C-reactive protein (CRP), a key biomarker of inflammation and cardiovascular diseases. When compared to free luminol, the GO-AuNPs-L hybrids significantly increased and prolonged the CL signal based on their synergistic enhancement in electron transfer during CL production. Based on the performance, the hybrids were employed as signaling molecules in both well plate-based and lateral flow CLIA platforms, showing substantial improvements in signal intensity and sensitivity in CRP detection. These results highlight the potential of GO-AuNPs-L hybrids as versatile and highly sensitive luminogenic molecules for immunological CRP detection, offering promising applications in clinical laboratory settings as well as in point-of-care diagnostics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Impact of previous radiation therapy and neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) on early complications in direct-to-implant (DTI) breast reconstruction has not been elucidated. This study investigated whether DTI reconstruction is viable in patients with NACT or a history of preoperative chest wall irradiation. Methods Medical records of breast cancer patients who underwent nipple-sparing or skin-sparing mastectomy with DTI breast reconstruction from March 2018 to February 2021, with at least 1 year of follow-up in a single tertiary center, were reviewed. Demographic data, intraoperative details, and postoperative complications, including full-thickness necrosis, infection, and removal, were reviewed. Risk factors suggested by previous literature, including NACT and preoperative chest wall irradiation histories, were reviewed by multivariate analysis. Results A total of 206 breast cancer patients were included, of which, 9 were bilateral, 8 patients (3.9%) had a history of prior chest wall irradiation, and 17 (8.6%) received NACT. From 215 cases, 11 cases (5.1%) required surgical intervention for full-thickness necrosis, while intravenous antibiotics or hospitalization was needed in 11 cases (5.1%), with 14 cases of failure (6.5%) reported. Using multivariable analysis, preoperative irradiation was found to significantly increase the risk of full-thickness skin necrosis (OR = 12.14, p = 0.034), and reconstruction failure (OR = 13.14, p = 0.005). NACT was not a significant risk factor in any of the above complications. Conclusion DTI breast reconstruction is a viable option for patients who have received NACT, although reconstructive options should be carefully explored for patients with a history of breast irradiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to study the Poisson random variables in relation to the Lah-Bell polynomials and the degenerate binomial and degenerate Poisson random variables in connection with the degenerate Lah-Bell polynomials. Among other things, we show that the rising factorial moments of the degenerate Poisson random variable with parameter α\alpha are given by the degenerate Lah-Bell polynomials evaluated at α\alpha . We also show that the probability-generating function of the degenerate Poisson random variable is equal to the generating function of the degenerate Lah-Bell polynomials. Also, we show similar results for the Poisson random variables. Here the nnth Lah-Bell number counts the number of ways a set of nn elements can be partitioned into non-empty linearly ordered subsets, the Lah-Bell polynomials are natural extensions of the Lah-Bell numbers and the degenerate Lah-Bell polynomials are degenerate versions of the Lah-Bell polynomials.

Type 2 poly-Bernoulli polynomials were introduced recently with the help of modified polyexponential functions. In this paper, we investigate several properties and identities associated with those polynomials arising from umbral calculus techniques. In particular, we express the type 2 poly-Bernoulli polynomials in terms of several special polynomials, like higher-order Cauchy polynomials, higher-order Euler polynomials, and higher-order Frobenius-Euler polynomials.

Pediatric patients usually experience high levels of pain and distress due to venipuncture. This randomised study aimed to evaluate the effects of virtual reality-based preprocedural education in comparison with video-based education in terms of pain and distress experienced by children scheduled to undergo venipuncture. Ninety children aged 4–8 years who were scheduled to undergo venipuncture surgery were randomly assigned to either a video or virtual reality group. Children in the video group received preprocedural education on venipuncture via a video displayed on a tablet and those in the virtual reality group received the same education via a head-mounted virtual reality display unit. The educational content for the two groups was identical. An independent assessor blinded to the group assignment observed the children's behavior and determined their Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Pain Scale scores, parental satisfaction score, procedure-related outcomes, venipuncture time, number of repeated procedures and difficulty score for the procedure. The virtual reality group experienced less pain and distress, as indicated by their Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Pain Scale scores compared with the video group (5.0 [5.0–8.0] vs. 7.0 [5.0–9.0], P = 0.027). There were no significant intergroup differences in parental satisfaction scores or procedure-related outcomes. For pediatric patients scheduled to undergo venipuncture, preprocedural education via a head-mounted display for immersive virtual reality was more effective compared with video-based education via a tablet in terms of reducing pain and distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the protective effects of 7S,15R-dihydroxy-16S,17S-epoxy-docosapentaenoic acid (diHEP-DPA) in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cell damage. ARPE-19 cells, a human RPE cell line, were cultured with diHEP-DPA and Bis-retinoid N-retinyl-N-retinylidene ethanolamine (A2E), followed by exposure to BL. Cell viability and cell death rates were determined. Western blotting was performed to determine changes in apoptotic factors, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family proteins, inflammatory proteins, and oxidative and carbonyl stresses. The levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the culture medium supernatants were also measured. Exposure to A2E and BL increased the ARPE-19 cell death rate, which was alleviated by diHEP-DPA in a concentration-dependent manner. A2E and BL treatments induced apoptosis in ARPE-19 cells, which was also alleviated by diHEP-DPA. Analysis of the relationship with MAPK proteins revealed that the expression of p-JNK and p-P38 increased after A2E and BL treatments and decreased with exposure to diHEP-DPA in a concentration-dependent manner. DiHEP-DPA also affected the inflammatory response by suppressing the expression of inflammatory proteins and the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Furthermore, it was shown that diHEP-DPA regulated the proteins related to oxidative and carbonyl stresses. Taken together, our results provide evidence that diHEP-DPA can inhibit cell damage caused by A2E and BL exposure at the cellular level by controlling various pathways involved in apoptosis and inflammatory responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to develop an automated detector that determines laryngeal invasion during swallowing. Laryngeal invasion, which causes significant clinical problems, is defined as two or more points on the penetration–aspiration scale (PAS). We applied two three-dimensional (3D) stream networks for action recognition in videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) videos. To detect laryngeal invasion (PAS 2 or higher scores) in VFSS videos, we employed two 3D stream networks for action recognition. To establish the robustness of our model, we compared its performance with those of various current image classification-based architectures. The proposed model achieved an accuracy of 92.10%. Precision, recall, and F1 scores for detecting laryngeal invasion (≥PAS 2) in VFSS videos were 0.9470 each. The accuracy of our model in identifying laryngeal invasion surpassed that of other updated image classification models (60.58% for ResNet101, 60.19% for Swin-Transformer, 63.33% for EfficientNet-B2, and 31.17% for HRNet-W32). Our model is the first automated detector of laryngeal invasion in VFSS videos based on video action recognition networks. Considering its high and balanced performance, it may serve as an effective screening tool before clinicians review VFSS videos, ultimately reducing the burden on clinicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains a global health burden, accounting for almost a million deaths annually. Deoxybouvardin (DB), a non-ribosomal peptide originally isolated from Bouvardia ternifolia, has been reported to possess antitumor activity; however, the detailed mechanisms underlying this anticancer activity have not been elucidated. We investigated the anticancer activity of the cyclic hexapeptide, DB, in human CRC HCT116 cells. Cell viability, evaluated by MTT assay, revealed that DB suppressed the growth of both oxaliplatin (Ox)-resistant HCT116 cells (HCT116-OxR) and Ox-sensitive cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation was observed in DB-treated CRC cells, and it induced cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase by regulating p21, p27, cyclin B1, and cdc2 levels. In addition, Western blot analysis revealed that DB activated the phosphorylation of JNK and p38 MAPK in CRC. Furthermore, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) was dysregulated by DB, resulting in cytochrome c release and activation of caspases. Taken together, DB exhibited anticancer activity against both Ox-sensitive and Ox-resistant CRC cells by targeting JNK and p38 MAPK, increasing cellular ROS levels, and disrupting MMP. Thus, DB is a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of Ox-resistant CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A company's brand equity is built through sustainable development. Sustainability practices are increasingly being adopted by a wide range of organizations, with the aviation industry being particularly prominent. This trend can play a key role in enhancing brand equity within the Korean aviation sector. Specifically, the focus is on whether sustainability practices contribute positively to brand value within the aviation industry. The primary objective is to examine how service quality and sustainability practices influence airline brand equity through mediating factors. While previous research has predominantly explored airline service quality, this study aims to analyze the influence of sustainability practices on brand equity, particularly targeting Korean Air, amid the increasing interest in sustainability research within the airline industry. Additionally, a survey was conducted on 379 Korean Air passengers, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed for analysis. The results indicate a strong positive correlation among service quality, sustainability practices, and brand equity, suggesting heightened passenger interest in airline sustainability practices, along with service quality. Hence, this theoretical investigation signifies a potential positive impact on the Korean aviation industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]