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The adsorption behavior of furan on the Ge(100) surface was studied using a combination of high-resolution photoemission spectroscopy (HRPES) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We identified the two adsorption species produced by the [4 + 2] cycloaddition and deoxygenation reactions of furan with the Ge(100) surface in a ratio of approximately 76:24 at the surveyed coverages, via an analysis of the binding energies and relative area proportions of all the peaks in the C 1s and O 1s core-level spectra. The DFT simulation results revealed that the [4 + 2] cycloaddition and deoxygenation adducts are thermodynamically preferred by the reaction of furan with the Ge(100) surface compared with others, which is consistent with the HRPES results. The findings will further our understanding of the surface reactions of five-membered heterocyclic molecules.

Focal copy-number amplification is an oncogenic event. Although recent studies have revealed the complex structure1–3 and the evolutionary trajectories4 of oncogene amplicons, their origin remains poorly understood. Here we show that focal amplifications in breast cancer frequently derive from a mechanism—which we term translocation–bridge amplification—involving inter-chromosomal translocations that lead to dicentric chromosome bridge formation and breakage. In 780 breast cancer genomes, we observe that focal amplifications are frequently connected to each other by inter-chromosomal translocations at their boundaries. Subsequent analysis indicates the following model: the oncogene neighbourhood is translocated in G1 creating a dicentric chromosome, the dicentric chromosome is replicated, and as dicentric sister chromosomes segregate during mitosis, a chromosome bridge is formed and then broken, with fragments often being circularized in extrachromosomal DNAs. This model explains the amplifications of key oncogenes, including ERBB2 and CCND1. Recurrent amplification boundaries and rearrangement hotspots correlate with oestrogen receptor binding in breast cancer cells. Experimentally, oestrogen treatment induces DNA double-strand breaks in the oestrogen receptor target regions that are repaired by translocations, suggesting a role of oestrogen in generating the initial translocations. A pan-cancer analysis reveals tissue-specific biases in mechanisms initiating focal amplifications, with the breakage–fusion–bridge cycle prevalent in some and the translocation–bridge amplification in others, probably owing to the different timing of DNA break repair. Our results identify a common mode of oncogene amplification and propose oestrogen as its mechanistic origin in breast cancer.

The 9.12 Gyeongju earthquake(Sep. 12, 2016, Ml 5.8) and the Pohang earthquake(Nov. 15, 2017, Ml 5.4) have occurred in the Korean Penisula, resulting in emphasizing the stability of nuclear power plants. For safety evaluation, it is necessary to study the earthquake vulnerability caused by input ground motion. The input ground motion can be obtained from the earthquakes, and it is essential to acquire good quality and many samples input ground motion database for accurate evaluation. In this study, we tried to develop a platform that can automatically generate a ground motion database from past or real-time waveforms. To determine the detailed time window for data processing, deep learning-based earthquake detection, and phase-picking models were used. A voting method was conducted on these models to increase reliability in various environments. The platform produces a RotD50 5% damped pseudo-spectral acceleration, peak ground acceleration, and meta information related to site, hypocenter, and path. It also provides a web service to confirm generated data and meta information. The database generated by the platform could be used as input ground motion data to evaluate the safety of operating power plants and could be applied as fundamental data for the seismic design of planned nuclear power plants.

Background Obesity is the major cause of chronic diseases and the leading cause of mortality. We aimed to assess the impact of obesity on mortality in middle-aged Koreans using data from a Health Examinees study.Methods We used data from 39,689 men and 76,272 women who had complete information on body size and gave informed consent for the linkage of their data with the national death certificate data. Cox proportional hazard model was used to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of body mass index (BMI) for all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality. The educational level and habits of cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and regular physical activity were adjusted. The menopausal status was additionally adjusted in women.Results We found increased risks of all-cause mortality among those with a BMI of 2 (adjusted HRs [95% CIs]: men, 2.24 [1.73–2.91]; women, 1.47 [0.98–2.22]) and 18.0–< 21 kg/m2 (men, 1.18 [1.00–1]; women, 1.23 [1.01–1.50]) than in those with a BMI of 21–< 23 kg/m2. We also observed that men with BMIs of 23–< 25 kg/m2 (0.85 [0.74–0.97]) and 25.0–26.9 kg/m2 (0.87 [0.75-1.00]) had decreased risks of all-cause mortality.Conclusion This large prospective study found significant associations between BMI and mortality. Especially, being underweight was associated with an increased risk of mortality in both sexes.

Epidemiological studies indicate that alcohol increases gastric cancer (GC) risk, yet most studies have focused on heavy alcohol intake, leaving other factors understudied. A comprehensive investigation of the effects of the frequency and amount of alcohol intake may help elucidate the GC risk associated with drinking behavior.The Health Examinees-Gem (HEXA-G) study, a community-based large-scale prospective cohort study, enrolled Korean adults 40-69 years of age between the years 2004 and 2013. Incident GC cases were identified through linkage to Korea Central Cancer Registry data until December 31, 2017. Self-reported questionnaires were used to survey alcohol consumption-related factors (duration, frequency, amount, and type of alcoholic beverages). The frequency and amount of alcohol consumption were combined to explore GC risk according to 4 drinking patterns: "infrequent-light", "frequent-light", "infrequent-heavy", and "frequent-heavy". We used Cox proportional hazard models to estimate the adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and investigate the relationship between alcohol intake and GC incidence.A total of 128,218 participants were included in the analysis. During an average follow-up period of 8.6 years, 462 men and 385 women were diagnosed with GC. In men, current drinkers showed a 31% greater risk of GC than non-drinkers (HR 1.31, 95% CI 1.03-1.66), whereas no significant association was observed in women. In men, GC risk was associated with a higher frequency (This study suggests that frequent intake of alcohol, even in low quantities per session, increases GC risk. Further research is warranted to evaluate the relationship between alcohol and GC in detail.

Vertebral artery (VA) occlusion is frequently encountered, usually without acute ischemic injury of the brain. However, when it is accompanied by hypoplasia or stenosis of the opposite VA, brain ischemia may develop due to insufficient collateral supply. Both hemodynamic instability and embolic infarction can occur in VA occlusion, which may cause severe symptoms in a patient. Extracranial carotid-VA bypass should be considered for symptomatic VA occlusion patients, especially when the patient has repeated ischemic brain injuries. In this report, the cases of three extracranial carotid-VA bypass patients are introduced, along with a brief description of the surgical techniques. All three cases were treated with different bypass methods according to their disease location.

Purpose: Ventilator-associated pneumonia is the most common nosocomial infection in patients with mechanical ventilation. In 2013, the new concept of ventilator- associated events (VAEs) replaced the traditional concept of ventilator-associated pneumonia. We analyzed risk factors for VAE occurrence and in-hospital mortality in trauma patients who received mechanical ventilatory support.Methods: In this retrospective review, the study population comprised patients admitted to the Jeju Regional Trauma Center from January 2020 to January 2021. Data on demographics, injury characteristics, and clinical findings were collected from medical records. The subjects were categorized into VAE and no-VAE groups according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Healthcare Safety Network VAE criteria. We identified risk factors for VAE occurrence and in-hospital mortality.Results: Among 491 trauma patients admitted to the trauma center, 73 patients who received ventilator care were analyzed. Patients with a chest Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) score ≥3 had a 4.7-fold higher VAE rate (odds ratio [OR], 4.73; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.46–17.9), and those with a glomerular filtration rate (GFR)

Objective: By using angulation of the axis itself, this study aims to define and analyze odontoid incidence (OI) and odontoid tilt (OT) as novel cervical alignment parameters and investigate their correlations with cervical alignment.Methods: Novel and existing parameters were measured with whole-spine lateral plain radiographs and EOS images of 42 adults without cervical symptoms. The correlations of OI, OT, C2 slope (C2S), and T1 slope (T1S) were calculated.Results: The OI, OT, and C2S showed significant correlations with C2–7 angle (r = 0.43, r = -0.42, r = 0.62, respectively) and C0–2 angle (r = -0.33, r = 0.48, r = -0.61, respectively). OI, OT, T1S were independent predictors of the C2–7 angle in univariate regression analysis (adjusted-R2 = 0.17, R2 = 0.15, R2 = 0.28, respectively). OI, OT, and T1S were independent predictors in the multivariable regression analysis with estimated standardized coefficients of 0.36, -0.67, -0.69, respectively (adjusted- R2 = 0.80, p < 0.001). Regarding the C0–2 angle, OI and OT were independent predictors in the univariate regression analysis (adjusted-R2 = 0.08, R2 = 0.21, respectively).Conclusion: OI, OT, and C2S had significant correlations with cervical alignment. As the pelvic incidence, the OI is the only anatomical and constant parameter that could be used as a reference point related to the cervical spine from the rostral end. The study results may serve as baseline data for further studies on the alignment and balance of the cervical spine.

Supplementary Figure S1. Cell cytotoxicity of NPs in MDA-MB-231 cells; Supplementary Figure S2. Localization of AuNP-cy5.5 in primary tumors; Supplementary Figure S3. Wound healing/Cell Migration Assay; Supplementary Figure S4. In vitro invasion after miR708-NP treatment; Supplementary Figure S5. Effect of miR-708 on Cell Proliferation; Supplementary Figure S6. Effect of miR-708 on Apoptosis; Supplementary Figure S7. Mammosphere formation in SORE6- versus SORE6+ cells; Supplementary Figure S8. Effect of AuNPs on myeloid population; Supplementary Figure S9. Effect of AuNPs on T-cells; Supplementary Figure S10. Effect of AuNPs on effector cytokines.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients exhibit the worst clinical outcome due to its aggressive clinical course, higher rate of recurrence, and a conspicuous lack of FDA-approved targeted therapies. Here, we show that multilayered nanoparticles (NPs) carrying the metastasis suppressor microRNA miR-708 (miR708-NP) localize to orthotopic primary TNBC, and efficiently deliver the miR-708 cargo to reduce lung metastasis. Using a SOX2/OCT4 promoter reporter, we identified a population of miR-708low cancer cells with tumor-initiating properties, enhanced metastatic potential, and marked sensitivity to miR-708 treatment. In vivo, miR708-NP directly targeted the SOX2/OCT4-mCherry+ miR-708low tumor cells to impair metastasis. Together, our preclinical findings provide a mechanism-based antimetastatic therapeutic approach for TNBC, with a marked potential to generate miR-708 replacement therapy for high-risk TNBC patients in the clinic. To our knowledge, this gold nanoparticle-based delivery of microRNA mimetic is the first oligonucleotide-based targeted therapy for TNBC.

X-ray radiography has proved to be essential in medical imaging and examination of material structures because it is noninvasive and generates images based on well-understood attenuation characteristics of materials. For radiographs of multiple overlapping materials, unraveling the individual attenuation contributions poses a problem that is commonly handled by either taking many radiographs at different object orientations for computed tomography or multiple images with different photon energies for Multiple Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (MEXA). Alternatively, to perform faster measurements, a novel algorithm has been developed to determine multimaterial systems' density. The algorithm can be effectively applied to perform measurements using only one to four radiographs of the object. A case study has been presented for a layered cylindrical object that involved sensitivity studies on image noise, X-ray generator voltage fluctuations, layer thickness measurement perturbations, and X-ray generator photon energy distribution fluctuations using simulated radiographs and density calculations using actual radiographs. The results from the simulated and experimental results were found to agree with actual density values.

Objectives: Cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease (PD) severely affects patients’ prognosis, and early detection of patients at high risk of dementia conversion is important for establishing treatment strategies. We aimed to investigate whether multiparametric MRI radiomics from basal ganglia can improve the prediction of dementia development in PD when integrated with clinical profiles. Methods: In this retrospective study, 262 patients with newly diagnosed PD (June 2008 – July 2017, follow-up >5 years) were included. MRI radiomic features (n = 1,284) were extracted from bilateral caudate and putamen. Two models were developed to predict dementia development: 1) a clinical model – age, disease duration, and cognitive composite scores, and 2) a combined clinical and radiomics model. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were calculated for each model. The models’ interpretabilities were studied. Results: Among total 262 PD patients (mean age, 68 years ± 8 [standard deviation]; 134 men), 51 (30.4%) and 24 (25.5%) patients developed dementia within 5 years of PD diagnosis in the training (n = 168) and test sets (n = 94), respectively. The combined model achieved superior predictive performance compared to the clinical model in the training (AUCs 0.928 vs. 0.894, p= 0.284) and test set (AUCs 0.889 vs. 0.722, p = 0.016). The cognitive composite scores of the frontal/executive function domain contributed most to predicting dementia. Radiomics derived from the caudate were also highly associated with cognitive decline. Conclusion: Multiparametric MRI radiomics may have an incremental prognostic value when integrated with clinical profiles to predict future cognitive decline in PD.

Direct methane PCFCs are promising electrochemical devices that address the technical and economic challenges associated with using pure hydrogen, such as the high cost of green production, transportation, and long-term storage. However, Ni, a conventional monometallic catalyst has sluggish reaction kinetics and a low tolerance for carbon cocking under CH4 operation, limiting its wider applications. Herein, we develop a self-assembled Ni-Rh bimetallic catalyst through Ni exsolution and Rh surface decoration in a fuel electrode. The Ni-Rh bimetallic catalyst shows remarkably high catalytic activity with an exceptional performance of ~ 0.50 W/cm2 at 500 ℃. Moreover, the catalyst significantly improves the stability with a degradation rate of 0.02%/h at 500 ℃; this value is ~ 20-fold lower than that of conventional PCFC (0.4%/h). Synchrotron-based in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals that the Ni-Rh bimetallic catalyst initiates a self-carbon cleaning process due to its high-water dissociation reaction, allowing sustainable operation.

Depression is a serious psychiatric disorder that restricts an individual's ability to work properly in both their daily and professional lives. Usually, the diagnosis of depression often needs a thorough assessment by an expert professional. Recently, significant consideration has been given to automatic depression prediction for more reliable and efficient depression investigation. In this paper, we propose a novel framework to estimate the depression level from video data by employing a two-stream deep spatiotemporal network. Our approach extracts spatial information using the Inception-ResNet-v2 network. In contrast, we introduce a volume local directional number (VLDN) based dynamic feature descriptor to capture facial motions. Then, the feature map obtained from the VLDN is fed into a convolutional neural network (CNN) to obtain more discriminative features. Additionally, we designed a multilayer bidirectional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM) model to obtain temporal information by integrating the temporal median pooling (TMP) approach into the model. The TMP approach is employed on the temporal fragments of spatial and temporal features. Finally, extensive experimental analysis of two challenging datasets, AVEC2013 and AVEC2014, demonstrates that the proposed approach shows promising performance compared to the existing approaches for depression level prediction.