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Background: Vaccines are critical tools to prevent the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) through prevention of infection and reduction of subsequent antibiotic use. Since AMR is a critical issue disproportionately affecting Low- and Middle- Income Countries (LMICs), we examined investments in research and development for bacterial vaccines with a focus on LMIC-driven research., Methods: Publicly available funding data on projects active from January 2007 to 15 January 2024 from the G-FINDER and Global AMR R&D Hub databases were analysed. The investment into human bacterial vaccine R&D was analysed to identify the recipients and geographic distribution of funding provided directly from funders and through intermediary organisations., Findings: Global funding of vaccine R&D for bacterial pathogens in this dataset totals 4.50 billion USD, with the majority of funding directed towards M. tuberculosis and S. pneumoniae. Most funding was received by organisations in North America and Europe, with Asia, Africa, and Central/South America collectively receiving less than 20 % of the total funding. Philanthropic and intermediary organisations, particularly Product Development Partnerships (PDPs), emerge as critical players in mobilising and coordinating resources for bacterial vaccine R&D in LMICs., Conclusion: Comprehensive and transparent reporting is needed to accurately assess funding to LMICs. Nevertheless, the current analysis shows that PDPs and intermediary funders are pivotal in ensuring investments reach LMIC product developers. Data gaps remain for critical bacterial pathogens on WHO's AMR priority pathogen list., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Nanodiscs, consisting of a lipid bilayer surrounded by membrane scaffold proteins (MSPs), are extensively used to study membrane proteins (MPs) because they provide a stable lipid environment. However, the precise mechanism governing MP behavior within the nanodisc remains elusive. Here, we examined the cryo-EM structures of various MPs reconstituted in nanodiscs from EMPIAR. By analyzing the heterogeneity and interactions in the nanodiscs, we discovered that MPs display a distinct spatial preference toward the edges of the nanodisc shells. Furthermore, MPs can establish direct, amphipathic interactions with the MSPs, causing a reduction in local protein dynamics. These interactions may rearrange MSP-MSP interactions into MP-MSP interactions. Collectively, we provide structural insights into how nanodiscs contribute to MP structural behavior and dynamics. Impact statement Nanodiscs are used to study membrane proteins (MPs), but the mechanisms governing the behavior of MPs within nanodiscs remain elusive. Here, we provide structural insights into how nanodiscs contribute to the behavior of MPs, which will aid the interpretation of cryo-EM studies performed using nanodiscs., (© 2024 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.)

Happy people are often perceived positively, perhaps more than they actually are, whereas unhappy people are often perceived negatively, perhaps more than they actually are. What would make this bias stronger or weaker? The present research addresses this question by exploring the roles of implicit theories of happiness in the trait perceptions toward happy and unhappy people. Specifically, four studies ( N = 998) tested hypotheses that an incremental theory of happiness would enhance and an entity theory of happiness would attenuate the trait perceptions favoring happy over unhappy people. Results found converging evidence that believing happiness as changeable (incremental theory) enhances the positive perceptions toward happy people, while providing less consistent evidence that believing happiness as fixed (entity theory) mitigates the negative perceptions toward unhappy people. The current research contributes to the literature on essentialism and advances the understanding of the roles of implicit theories of happiness in person perception., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Spatial Disorientation (SD) can cause critical aviation accidents by adversely affecting the pilot's ability to perform a flight mission. One of the strategies to improve pilots' ability to deal with SD is to perform SD training using Virtual Reality and Motion Simulator (VRMS) system. However, there is still a lack of studies that investigated the application of VRMS for SD training. Thus, the purpose of this study is to develop and validate VRMS-based SD scenarios. Twenty-two male Air Force fighter pilots (11 in the low experienced group and 11 in the high experienced group) participated in a controlled experiment in which they performed the flight task under two conditions (SD flight, non-SD flight), wherein the SD flight condition included the induction of four distinct SD illusions. Findings showed that the developed SD scenarios in the VRMS system effectively induce SD. More specifically, there were differences in the influence of flight experience and SD condition on pilots' flight performance and workload. This study suggests that the VRMS system can demonstrate several types of SD scenarios effectively and has a huge potential to be utilized as an SD training tool to improve overall flight safety., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: South Korea has witnessed a rapid increase in health expenditure, reaching USD 135 billion in 2021 and accounting for 9.3% of its GDP, surpassing the OECD average. Despite achieving universal health coverage, significant gaps remain in service coverage, leading to high out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses that expose households to financial burdens., Methods: This study examines healthcare spending in South Korea from 2011 to 2020 using national datasets, focusing on expenditures across two primary payer categories: public insurance and OOP payments. Data were stratified by health condition, age group, sex, type of care, and income level. A combination of the National Health Insurance (NHI) dataset and the Korea Health Panel Survey (KHPS) was used to estimate total health expenditures, with multiple imputation methods applied to address data gaps., Findings: Healthcare expenditure in South Korea rose significantly from $45.6 billion in 2011 to $76.9 billion in 2020, placing an increasing economic burden on the system. Public health insurance spending grew at an annual rate of 5.1%, while OOP expenses rose by 5.0% for covered services and 6.7% for uncovered services. Despite a shift toward greater public funding-with public expenditure comprising 64.4% of total spending in 2020-OOP payments still accounted for 35.6%, remaining above the OECD average. Individuals aged 60 and above contributed to 51.3% of total expenditures. Gender disparities emerged, especially in high-cost areas like obstetrics and gynecology, where women incurred higher OOP costs. Additionally, uncovered services experienced significant spending growth across all income levels, with major cost contributors including musculoskeletal disorders, urinary tract disorders, and chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes., Interpretation: This study highlights the need for targeted healthcare policies in South Korea to address rising costs and persistent inequalities. High OOP expenses disproportionately impact vulnerable groups, especially women and the elderly, while uncovered medical costs are growing across income levels, straining households. Conditions like musculoskeletal disorders, hypertension, and diabetes, along with gender-specific costs such as obstetric care, emphasize access inequities. Uncovered OOP expenses are rising faster than covered services, particularly among older adults. Addressing these issues requires policies to ease financial burdens and ensure equitable healthcare access., Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors., Competing Interests: None., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

Background: Little is known about the impact of PM 2.5 on people with disabilities. We aimed to explore the association between PM 2.5 and hospitalization via the emergency department (ED admission) among people with disabilities, together with the attributable ED admission cases and costs., Methods: We applied a time-stratified case-crossover design adjusting ozone, holiday, and temperature using seven years (2015-2021) of claim-based data on ED admissions from the Korean National Health Insurance Database. The analysis included all ED admission cases of beneficiaries with disabilities living in Korea (physical, intellectual, and mental disabilities; brain lesion disorders; blindness or vision loss; deafness or hearing loss; and autism) as well as selected controls without disabilities., Findings: There were 900,311 ED admissions among the 3,624,590 people with disabilities. The odds ratios of ED admissions associated with a 10 μg/m 3 increase in PM 2.5 were 1.039 (95% CI: 1.036-1.042) in people with disabilities and 1.022 (95% CI: 1.019-1.025) in people without disabilities. Individuals with mental disability, intellectual disability, and brain lesion disorder showed higher risk estimates compared to other disabilities. The risk estimates of ED admissions for cardiovascular and genitourinary diseases were more prominent among people with disabilities than those without disabilities., Interpretation: The impacts of PM 2.5 on ED admissions was generally higher in the population with disabilities than those without disabilities, especially for certain causes of admission. These results could contribute to establishing targeted action plans including early warning system referring different threshold concentrations., Funding: National Research Foundation., Competing Interests: MLB reports receiving consulting fees from Clinique and ToxiMap, honorariums for speaker from Colorado School of Public Health, Duke University, University of Texas, Data4Justice, Korea University, UPenn, honorariums for editorial duties from IOP Publishing, honorarium for grant review from NIH, Health Canada, EHS, PAC-10, UKRI, AXA Research Fund Fellowship, University of Texas, honorarium for research from Korea University, for external advisory committee from Harvard University and University of Montana, for online survey/workshop from SciQuest, travel reimbursement from Colorado School of Public Health, University of Texas, Duke University, Harvard University, American Journal of Public Health, Columbia University, CMAS conference, Nature conference, honorarium from US EPA Clean Air scientific advisory committee. The other authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

Although the potential of natural language processing and an increase in its application in nursing research is evident, there is a lack of understanding of the research trends. This study conducts text network analysis and topic modeling to uncover the underlying knowledge structures, research trends, and emergent research themes within nursing literature related to natural language processing. In addition, this study aims to provide a foundation for future scholarly inquiries and enhance the integration of natural language processing in the analysis of nursing research. We analyzed 443 literature abstracts and performed core keyword analysis and topic modeling based on frequency and centrality. The following topics emerged: (1) Term Identification and Communication; (2) Application of Machine Learning; (3) Exploration of Health Outcome Factors; (4) Intervention and Participant Experience; and (5) Disease-Related Algorithms. Nursing meta-paradigm elements were identified within the core keyword analysis, which led to understanding and expanding the meta-paradigm. Although still in its infancy in nursing research with limited topics and research volumes, natural language processing can potentially enhance research efficiency and nursing quality. The findings emphasize the possibility of integrating natural language processing in nursing-related subjects, validating nursing value, and fostering the exploration of essential paradigms in nursing science., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This study investigated the effects of nondriving-related task (NDRT) touchscreen location and NDRT difficulty level on the driver task performance, eye gaze behavior, and workload during SAE Level 3 conditionally automated driving. Two driver tasks were considered: a visuomanual NDRT and a take-over task., Background: Touchscreens are expected to play important roles inside automated vehicles. However, few studies have investigated the driver-touchscreen interaction during automated driving., Method: A driving simulator experiment was conducted. The experimental task consisted of two successive subtasks: an NDRT followed by a take-over task. NDRT touchscreen location (Upper Left, Upper Right, and Lower Right) and NDRT difficulty level (Easy and Hard) were the independent variables. A set of driver task performance, eye gaze behavior, and perceived workload measures were employed for each subtask as the dependent variables., Results: NDRT touchscreen location significantly affected both the NDRT and the take-over task performance. Lower Right was superior to Upper Right in the NDRT performance but was inferior in the take-over task performance. NDRT touchscreen location affected the perceived physical workload of the NDRT. NDRT difficulty level affected the perceived workload of the take-over task., Conclusion: The research findings enhance our understanding of how NDRT touchscreen location and NDRT difficulty level impact the driver task performance during conditionally automated driving, and, further provide useful design implications and knowledge., Application: The study results would inform the NDRT touchscreen interface design and the NDRT design for conditionally automated vehicles., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Background: Latrophilin-2 (Lphn2), an adhesive GPCR (G protein-coupled receptor), was found to be a specific marker of cardiac progenitors during the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into cardiomyocytes or during embryonic heart development in our previous studies. Its role in adult heart physiology, however, remains unclear., Methods: The embryonic lethality resulting from Lphn2 deletion necessitates the establishment of cardiomyocyte-specific, tamoxifen-inducible Lphn2 knockout mice, which was achieved by crossing Lphn2  flox/flox mice with mice having MerCreMer (tamoxifen-inducible Cre [Cyclization recombinase] recombinase) under the α-myosin heavy chain promoter., Results: Tamoxifen treatment for several days completely suppressed Lphn2 expression, specifically in the myocardium, and induced the dilated cardiomyopathy (D-CMP) phenotype with serious arrhythmia and sudden death in a short period of time. Transmission electron microscopy showed mitochondrial abnormalities, blurred Z-discs, and dehiscent myofibrils. The D-CMP phenotype, or heart failure, worsened during myocardial infarction. In a mechanistic study of D-CMP, Lphn2 knockout suppressed PGC-1α (Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha) and mitochondrial dysfunction, leading to the accumulation of reactive oxygen species and the global suppression of junctional molecules, such as N-cadherin (adherens junction), DSC-2 (desmocollin-2; desmosome), and connexin-43 (gap junction), leading to the dehiscence of cardiac myofibers and serious arrhythmia. In an experimental therapeutic trial, activators of p38-MAPK (p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases), which is a downstream signaling molecule of Lphn2, remarkably rescued the D-CMP phenotype of Lphn2 knockout in the heart by restoring PGC-1α and mitochondrial function and recovering global junctional proteins., Conclusions: Lphn2 is a critical regulator of heart integrity by controlling mitochondrial functions and cell-to-cell junctions in cardiomyocytes. Its deficiency leads to D-CMP, which can be rescued by activators of the p38-MAPK pathway., Competing Interests: None.

A key component in a nation's economic progress is industrialization, however, hazardous heavy metals that are detrimental to living things are typically present in the wastewater produced from various industries. Therefore, before wastewater is released into the environment, it must be treated to reduce the concentrations of the various heavy metals to maximum acceptable levels. Even though several biological, physical, and chemical remediation techniques are found to be efficient for the removal of heavy metals from wastewater, these techniques are costly and create more toxic secondary pollutants. However, phytoremediation is inexpensive, environmentally friendly, and simple to be applied as a green technology for heavy metal detoxification in wastewater. The present study provides a thorough comprehensive review of the mechanisms of phytoremediation, with an emphasis on the possible utilization of plant species for the treatment of wastewater containing heavy metals. We have discussed the concept, its applications, advantages, challenges, and independent variables that determine how successful and efficient phytoremediation could be in the decontamination of heavy metals from wastewater. Additionally, we argue that the standards for choosing aquatic plant species for target heavy metal removal ought to be taken into account, as they influence various aspects of phytoremediation efficiency. Following the comprehensive and critical analysis of relevant literature, aquatic plant species are promising for sustainable remediation of heavy metals. However, several knowledge gaps identified from the review need to be taken into consideration and possibly addressed. Therefore, the review provides perspectives that indicate research needs and future directions on the application of plant species in heavy metal remediation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Cancer patients often have compromised oral health, making them vulnerable to severe dental caries and restoration failures. Due to the nature of cervical or anterior caries in cancer patients, the use of adequate restorative materials is important. However, public dental insurance coverage for composite treatments varies among countries and only glass ionomer cements (GICs) are covered in all age groups in South Korea. This study examined the cost-effectiveness of expanding national health insurance coverage to include resin composite (RC) restorations as compared with GIC in cancer patients., Methods: Data from cancer patients who received direct restoration using GIC were identified from the National Health Screening Cohort. The relative effect of RC compared to GIC was determined through a meta-analysis, which was then utilized in calculating corresponding transition probabilities within a multi-state model. A Markov-chain Monte Carlo microsimulation was performed to estimate useful life-years and total treatment costs at the tooth level. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of RC versus GIC was calculated, considering scenarios with and without expanded national health insurance coverage. The robustness of the results was confirmed through various sensitivity analyses., Results: Between the two materials, RC resulted in a 0.4-year longer useful life. From a limited societal perspective, it cost $9.6 less with expanded coverage but $24.3 more without expansion, resulting in an ICER of -$25.2 and $63.9 per tooth-year, respectively. From a patient's perspective, the ICER values were -$72.7 versus $138.8 per tooth-year, respectively, translating into $200 more in savings with the expansion. Various sensitivity analyses consistently demonstrated a smaller ICER when insurance coverage was expanded., Conclusions: The expansion of national health insurance coverage to include RC restorations for cancer patients appears to be clearly cost-effective. This emphasizes the need for further policy considerations to ensure access to dental care for cancer patients., Clinical Significance: Timely management of dental caries is crucial for cancer patients, as untreated caries can escalate into severe oral conditions, negatively impacting treatment outcomes and increasing care costs. Expanding a national health insurance coverage for cancer patients in the treatment of early dental lesions is necessary to prevent advanced dental diseases., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Seokyung Hahn reports financial support was provided by National Research Foundation of Korea, Korea Health Industry Development Institute. Areum Han reports financial support was provided by National Research Foundation of Korea, Korea Health Industry Development Institute. Hee-Kyung Park reports financial support was provided by Korea Health Industry Development Institute. Eun-Gee Park reports financial support was provided by National Research Foundation of Korea, Korea Health Industry Development Institute. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In the present work, we addressed the relationship between parental leave policies and social norms. Using a pre-registered, cross-national approach, we examined the relationship between parental leave policies and the perception of social norms for the gender division of childcare. In this study, 19,259 students (11,924 women) from 48 countries indicated the degree to which they believe childcare is (descriptive norm) and should be (prescriptive norm) equally divided among mothers and fathers. Policies were primarily operationalized as the existence of parental leave options in the respective country. The descriptive and prescriptive norms of equal division of childcare were stronger when parental leave was available in a country - also when controlling for potential confounding variables. Moreover, analyses of time since policy change suggested that policy change may initially affect prescriptive norms and then descriptive norms at a later point. However, due to the cross-sectional nature of the data, drawing causal inferences is difficult., (© 2024 British Psychological Society.)

Accurate information about locoregional treatments in breast cancer neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NST) trials is vital to support surgical decision-making and allow meaningful interpretation of long-term oncological outcomes. This systematic review (PROSPERO registration CRD42023470891) aimed to describe the current practice of outcome reporting in NST studies. A systematic search identified primary research studies published 01/01/2018-08/09/2023 reporting outcomes in patients receiving NST for breast cancer followed by locoregional treatment. Included were randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and non-randomised studies (NRS) with >250 participants reporting at least one locoregional treatment outcome. Outcomes were extracted verbatim and categorised using content analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise results. Of the 3111 abstracts screened, 137 studies (22 RCTs and 115 NRS) reporting at least one locoregional outcome in 575,531 patients were included. The 137 studies reported a total of 510 surgical outcomes with a median of 3 (range 1-12) per study. No single outcome was reported in all studies. Type of breast (n = 129, 94.2 %) and axillary (n = 86, 62.8 %) surgery were reported most frequently. Only 34 % (n = 47) studies reported how treatment response was assessed and if/how this informed surgical decision-making. Only a fifth (n = 28) reported outcomes relating to surgical de-escalation. Only 72 studies (52.6 %) reported any radiation therapy (RT)-related outcome, most frequently whether RT had been received (n = 63/72, 87.5 %). Current reporting of locoregional treatment outcomes in NST studies is poor, inconsistent and urgently needs to be improved. A core outcome set and reporting guidelines may improve the quality and value of future research., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest SMcI reports speaker honoraria from MSD, Roche, BD and Astra Zeneca; advisory boards for Lilly, Novartis, MSD, Roche and Astra Zeneca; conference travel and support from Roche, Lilly and MSD, and institutional research funding from Novartis. HI reports consulting fees from Daiichi Sankyo, Chugai, Astra Zeneca, Lilly, MSD, Pfizer and Gilead; honoraria from Daiichi Sankyo, Chugai, Astra Zeneca, Lilly, MSD, Pfizer, Taiho and Kyowa Kirin, and institutional research funding from Chugai, Daiichi Sankyo and Astra Zeneca. H-BL reports being a co-founder and member of the DCGen Co., Ltd board of directors; research funding from Devicor Medical Product, Inc.; consulting fees and honoraria from Alvogen, Boryung, Hologic, Lilly, Need, Novartis, Roche, Takeda, Celltrion, and Shin Poong. PD reports institutional research funding from Cepheid and Roche; consulting fees from Roche, and honoraria from Astra Zeneca and Oncoviews, and conference and travel support from Roche. NZ reports consulting fees from Lilly, Eisai, Astra Zeneca, MSD, Novartis and Gilead; honorarium from Roche, Pfizer, Eisai, Gilead, Novartis, Lilly and Astra Zeneca; and conference travel support from Novartis, Roche, Pfizer and Lilly. The remaining authors have no conflicts or competing of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background and Objectives: Myelin and iron play essential roles in remyelination processes of multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions. χ-separation, a novel biophysical model applied to multiecho T2*-data and T2-data, estimates the contribution of myelin and iron to the obtained susceptibility signal. We used this method to investigate myelin and iron levels in lesion and nonlesion brain areas in patients with MS and healthy individuals., Methods: This prospective MS cohort study included patients with MS fulfilling the McDonald Criteria 2017 and healthy individuals, aged 18 years or older, with no other neurologic comorbidities. Participants underwent MRI at baseline and after 2 years, including multiecho GRE-(T2*) and FAST-(T2) sequences. Using χ-separation, we generated myelin-sensitive and iron-sensitive susceptibility maps. White matter lesions (WMLs), cortical lesions (CLs), surrounding normal-appearing white matter (NAWM), and normal-appearing gray matter were segmented on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery and magnetization-prepared 2 rapid gradient echo images, respectively. Cross-sectional group comparisons used Wilcoxon rank-sum tests, longitudinal analyses applied Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Associations with clinical outcomes (disease phenotype, age, sex, disease duration, disability measured by Expanded Disability Status Scale [EDSS], neurofilament light chain levels, and T2-lesion number and volume) were assessed using linear regression models., Results: Of 168 patients with MS (median [interquartile range (IQR)] age 47.0 [21.7] years; 101 women; 6,898 WMLs, 775 CLs) and 103 healthy individuals (age 33.0 [10.5] years, 57 women), 108 and 62 were followed for a median of 2 years, respectively (IQR 0.1; 5,030 WMLs, 485 CLs). At baseline, WMLs had lower myelin (median 0.025 [IQR 0.015] parts per million [ppm]) and iron (0.017 [0.015] ppm) than the corresponding NAWM (myelin 0.030 [0.012]; iron 0.019 [0.011] ppm; both p < 0.001). After 2 years, both myelin (0.027 [0.014] ppm) and iron had increased (0.018 [0.015] ppm; both p < 0.001). Younger age ( p < 0.001, b = -5.111 × 10 -5 ), lower disability ( p = 0.04, b = -2.352 × 10 -5 ), and relapsing-remitting phenotype (RRMS, 0.003 [0.01] vs primary progressive 0.002 [IQR 0.01], p < 0.001; vs secondary progressive 0.0004 [IQR 0.01], p < 0.001) at baseline were associated with remyelination. Increment of myelin correlated with clinical improvement measured by EDSS ( p = 0.015, b = -6.686 × 10 -4 )., Discussion: χ-separation, a novel mathematical model applied to multiecho T2*-images and T2-images shows that young RRMS patients with low disability exhibit higher remyelination capacity, which correlated with clinical disability over a 2-year follow-up.

Despite its widespread use as a stabilizer across various industries over the past several decades, the health effects of chronic exposure to PFOA are still unclear. We administered PFOA by oral gavage (0, 12.5, 50, and 200 μg/day/mouse, eight groups) to male and female mice for six months. Body weight gain decreased with dose accompanied by increased liver weight, and PFOA altered liver damage-related-blood biochemical indicators and induced pathological lesions, including hepatocellular hypertrophy, cholangiofibrosis, and centrilobular hepatocellular vacuolation. Loss of the Golgi apparatus, formation of lamellar body-like structures, and lipid accumulation were observed in the liver of PFOA-treated mice. We also cohabited five pairs of male and female mice for the last ten days of administration, dosed PFOA to dam up to 28 days after birth, and investigated effects on reproduction and development. The survival rate of pups and the sex ratio of surviving mice decreased significantly at the highest dose. PFOA tissue concentration increased with the dose in the parent mice's liver and the pups' blood and brain. Taken together, we suggest that PFOA primarily affects the liver and reproduction system and that disturbance in lipid metabolism and Golgi's structural stability may be involved in PFOA-induced toxicity., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Leibniz's famous proposition that God has created the best of all possible worlds holds a significant place in his philosophical system. However, the precise manner in which God determines which world is the best remains somewhat ambiguous. Leibniz suggests that a form of "Divine mathematics" is employed to construct and evaluate possible worlds. In this paper, I uncover the underlying mechanics of Divine mathematics by formally reconstructing it. I argue that Divine mathematics is a one-player combinatorial game, in which God's goal is to find the best combination among many possibilities. Drawing on the combinatorial theory, I provide new solutions to some puzzles of compossibility., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study aims to investigate the recent literature on auditory experiences within automotive environments and discusses potential future research directions in this area. Forty-six papers obtained through the PRISMA protocol were selected from literature published over the past 15 years. The collected literature was categorized based on engine type, and a comparative analysis of research trends in the automotive industry was conducted, explicitly focusing on internal combustion vehicles (ICVs) and electric vehicles (EVs). A network analysis was performed utilizing the keywords of the papers to identify the predominant research topics. The analysis revealed research topics actively studied in existing ICV research but not covered in EV and newly emerging research topics in the EV field. The study proposes future research topics related to auditory experience design. It aims to provide insight into the design of auditory experiences in automobiles, particularly as the automotive paradigm expands to include electric and autonomous vehicles., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: As a complementary means to urban public transit systems, public bike-sharing provides a green and active mode of sustainable mobility, while reducing carbon-dioxide emissions and promoting health. There has been increasing interest in factors affecting bike-sharing usage, but little is known about the effect of ambient air pollution., Method: To assess the short-term impact of daily exposure to multiple air pollutants (PM 2.5 , PM 10 , NO 2 , and O 3 ) on the public bike-sharing system (PBS) usage in Seoul, South Korea (2018-2021), we applied a quasi-Poisson generalized linear model combined with a distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM). The model was adjusted for day of the week, holiday, temperature, relative humidity, and long-term trend. We also conducted stratification analyses to examine the potential effect modification by age group, seasonality, and COVID-19., Results: We found that there was a negative association between daily ambient air pollution and the PBS usage level at a single lag day 1 (i.e., air quality a day before the event) across all four pollutants. Our results suggest that days with high levels of air pollutants (at 95th percentile) are associated with a 0.91% (0.86% to 0.96%) for PM 2.5 , 0.89% (0.85% to 0.94%) for PM 10 , 0.87% (0.82% to 0.91%) for O 3 , and 0.92% (0.87% to 0.98%) for NO 2 , reduction in cycling behavior in the next day compared to days with low levels of pollutants (at 25th percentile). No evidence of effect modification was found by seasonality, age nor the COVID-19 pandemic for any of the four pollutants., Conclusions: Our findings suggest that high concentrations of ambient air pollution are associated with decreased rates of PBS usage on the subsequent day regardless of the type of air pollutant measured., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: The relationship between opioid use and the incidence of psychiatric disorders remains unidentified., Aims: This study examined the association between the incidence of psychiatric disorders and opioid use., Method: Data for this population-based cohort study were obtained from the National Health Insurance Service of South Korea. The study included all adult patients who received opioids in 2016. The control group comprised individuals who did not receive opioids in 2016, and were selected using a 1:1 stratified random sampling procedure. Patients with a history of psychiatric disorders diagnosed in 2016 were excluded. The primary end-point was the diagnosis of psychiatric disorders, evaluated from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2021. Psychiatric disorders included schizophrenia, mood disorders, anxiety and others., Results: The analysis included 3 505 982 participants. Opioids were prescribed to 1 455 829 (41.5%) of these participants in 2016. Specifically, 1 187 453 (33.9%) individuals received opioids for 1-89 days, whereas 268 376 (7.7%) received opioids for ≥90 days. In the multivariable Cox regression model, those who received opioids had a 13% higher incidence of psychiatric disorder than those who did not (hazard ratio 1.13; 95% CI 1.13-1.14). Furthermore, both those prescribed opioids for 1-89 days and for ≥90 days had 13% (hazard ratio 1.13, 95% CI 1.12-1.14) and 17% (hazard ratio 1.17, 95% CI 1.16-1.18) higher incidences of psychiatric disorders, respectively, compared with those who did not receive opioids., Conclusions: This study revealed that increased psychiatric disorders were associated with opioid medication use. The association was significant among both short- and long-term opioid use.

Cellular immortalization is a complex process that requires multiple genetic alterations to overcome restricting barriers, including senescence. Not surprisingly, many of these alterations are associated with cancer; two tumor suppressor pathways, the cellular tumor antigen p53 and p16-Retinoblastoma (RB) pathways, are the best-characterized examples, but their mutations alone are known to be insufficient to drive full immortalization. En et al. identified a role for the lamin B receptor (LBR) in promoting cellular proliferation and immortalization in p53- and RB-deficient cells by maintaining their genome integrity and suppressing senescence. Thus, modulation of LBR could be exploited to treat cancer and potentially also to promote cell rejuvenation., (© 2024 The Authors. The FEBS Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Federation of European Biochemical Societies.)

Objective: The study aims to develop a mHealth application for seizure management based on the human system integration (HSI) approach., Background: Unmet healthcare needs among people with epilepsy continue to exist despite the advancement in healthcare technology. Current seizure management methods are found to be ineffective. Therefore, a more efficient strategy such as mHealth technology is necessary to aid seizure management., Method: The needs identification phase involved identifying the user requirements by interviewing 10 stakeholders and conducting thematic analysis and needs interpretation technique. In the solution identification phase, the system requirements were derived using various human-centered design and systems engineering approaches and were evaluated through quality function deployment to determine design targets. For the design and evaluation phase, the design targets were reflected in the app through the iterative prototyping process, and the interface and functional design were evaluated by seven human factors and ergonomics experts and four stakeholders, respectively., Results: Three primary needs and ten user requirements were derived from the needs identification phase. Ten out of fifteen system requirements were selected as design targets to be included in the final prototype. Results of the evaluation showed that the interface design of the proposed app showed superior usability compared to a competitor app and that the app functions were beneficial for the stakeholders., Conclusion: The mHealth app designed through the HSI framework showed good potential in addressing the main issues in seizure management., Application: The mHealth app design methodology based on the HSI approach can be applied to the design of small-scale systems in various domains.

Social media has been an increasingly utilized communication tool , and it has gained popularity among adolescent athletes. Our aim here was to investigate whether a positive and honest self-presentation on social media increased adolescent athletes' self-esteem, and we examined the moderating effect of perceived responsiveness. After receiving informed consent of participants and their parents/legal guardians, we recruited 468 adolescent athletes/participants (244 males, 224 females; M age = 15.39 years, SD = 1.61) through purposive sampling and engaged them in completing face-to-face or online self-report measures of their: (a) self-presentation on social media, (b) perceived responsiveness of others, and (c) Rosenberg self-esteem scales. Given the continuous nature of our moderating variable (i.e., perceived responsiveness), we conducted regression analysis using Hayes's PROCESS macro in SPSS software. A positive self-presentation showed no significant relationship with self-esteem, except when the level of perceived responsiveness was high. Conversely, an honest self-presentation was positively related to higher self-esteem, and the relationship between honest self-presentation and self-esteem was moderated by perceived responsiveness. Our findings extend existing psychological theory into the online environment and have practical implications. These data highlight the link between social media self-presentation and self-esteem among adolescent athletes and illustrate the crucial role of perceived responsiveness in the social media context., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Background & Aims: The South Korean government established the multidisciplinary nutritional support teams (NST) system for enhancing the evaluation and adequate supply of nutritional support to patients at high risk of malnutrition. However, the impact of the NST on clinical outcomes in critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remains unclear. We aimed to investigate whether NST implementation affects survival outcomes in patients with COVID-19 requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission., Methods: Using data from the National Health Insurance Service and Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency in South Korea, adult patients with COVID-19 admitted to the ICU between October 8, 2020, and December 31, 2021, were included. The NST comprised four professional personnel (physicians, full-time nurses, full-time pharmacists, and full-time clinical dietitians). Patients admitted to ICUs with and without the NST system were assigned to the NST and non-NST groups, respectively., Results: A total of 13,103 critically ill adult patients were included in the final analysis; among them, 10,103 (77.1 %) and 3,000 (22.9 %) patients were included in the NST and non-NST groups, respectively. In the NST group, 2,803 (27.7 %) critically ill patients with COVID-19 were prescribed enteral or parenteral nutrition by the NST. In a covariate-adjusted multivariable model, the NST group showed a 40 % lower in-hospital mortality rate than the non-NST group (odds ratio: 0.60, 95 % confidence interval: 0.51, 0.71; P < 0.001). In subgroup analyses, compared with the non-NST group, the NST group showed significantly lower in-hospital mortality rates at 2, 3, 4, and 5 points on the World Health Organization clinical progression scale among patients with acute respiratory distress and mechanical ventilatory support., Conclusions: NST implementation was associated with improved survival outcomes in critically ill patients with COVID-19; accordingly, it may be recommended for improving adequate nutritional support and evaluation in critically ill patients., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. All rights reserved.)

Despite the potential benefits of Person Generated Health Data (PGHD), data quality issues impede its use. This study examined the effect of different methods for filtering armband data on determining the amount of healthy walking and the consistency between healthy walking captured using armbands and health diaries. Four weeks of armband and health diary data were acquired from 103 college students. Armband data filtering was performed using heart rate measures and minimum daily step counts as a proxy for adequate daily wear time. No substantial differences in the filtered armband datasets were observed by filtering methods. Significant gaps were observed between healthy walking amounts determined from armband data and through the health diary. Future studies need to explore more diverse data filtering methods and their impact on health outcome assessments.

The widespread use of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), environmentally persistent halogenated hydrocarbons, in various industrial and commercial applications has caused significant concerns owing to their contamination of soil and groundwater. Chitosan is a biopolymer substance with abundant amine and hydroxyl functional groups, making it a good candidate for adsorption of PFASs. This study aimed to increase chitosan's adsorption capacity by grafting additional amine functional groups on its surface for the removal of long- and short-chain PFASs from an aqueous phase. Two types of chitosan-based sorbents were developed: crushed chitosan beads (CBs) and polyethyleneimine-grafted CBs (GCBs). Batch adsorption tests assessed the adsorption capacities of the sorbents in terms of the sorption kinetics, isotherms, selectivity, and reusability. Based on the results, the GCBs had significant potential for adsorbing PFASs. These capacities were significantly higher than those demonstrated by the CBs. The sorption kinetics data revealed that the GCBs had a fast sorption rate. Furthermore, the GCBs demonstrated a high adsorption affinity, with log K d values ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 for PFASs at environmentally relevant concentrations (1000 ng L -1 ). They also demonstrated excellent selectivity sorption for these compounds, even in the presence of other organic and inorganic pollutants., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are risk factors affecting adolescent psychosocial adjustment. Youth involved in the juvenile justice system are more likely to have ACEs, but few studies have investigated this topic outside the western context., Objective: This study aims to (1) compare latent profiles of ACEs among probation and non-probation youth in South Korea and (2) examine which profiles pose the greatest risk of maladaptive psychosocial adjustment (offline risk-taking, online risk-taking, school adjustment, and happiness)., Participants and Setting: South Korean data adopting survey questions from the Fourth International Self-Report Delinquency Study was analyzed. Adolescents with complete information on regression covariates were included (non-probation: 1846/probation: 368)., Methods: Latent profile analysis was utilized to identify distinctive patterns of ACEs. Multiple linear regression and logistic regression were performed to predict the maladjustment experiences of each latent subgroup., Results: Four ACE profiles emerged for probation and non-probation samples. Three profiles were common (i.e., emotional/physical abuse, emotional neglect, high maltreatment/domestic violence) and one profile was unique (high maltreatment with family dysfunction for the probation sample; moderate maltreatment for the non-probation sample). In the probation sample, compared to the emotional neglect group, the other three profiles showed poorer adjustment in at least one domain. In the non-probation sample, profiles with high emotional/physical abuse and high maltreatment/family dysfunction had poorer outcomes than the emotional neglect group., Conclusions: These findings indicate the need for a comprehensive approach toward adolescents and their family environments for preventing delinquency and promoting positive youth adjustment., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this research, we examine how the lay conceptualization of subjective social class varies based on economic contexts. We argue that income should be a more central component of subjective social class in areas with higher income inequality. To address the issue of low power in existing research, we combined local-level income inequality indicators with large-scale repeated cross-sectional data, enabling the most reliable test to date on how the relationship between income and subjective social class is moderated by inequality. We used nationally representative datasets from the United States and South Korea (encompassing 25,000+ participants from 1,246 regional-year units). In both cultural contexts, our multilevel models revealed that income is a stronger predictor of subjective social class in regions with higher levels of income inequality. This work advances the theoretical and empirical understanding of how income and income inequality interact to shape the perception of one's position in the social hierarchy., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Long Fiber Spray-up Molding (LFSM) deviates from the conventional approach in liquid composite molding (LCM) processes by utilizing extremely long chopped strands of fibers as the primary reinforcement material in its fabrication process. In LFSM, chopped fibers are impregnated with resin that is sprayed vertically downwards before reaching the mold surface. The spraying mechanism is mounted on an actuator, which is capable of spraying freely in any specified pattern or direction. Under LFSM, it is extremely difficult to fabricate a composite part with uniformly distributed fiber content throughout its volume. The consequences of the non-uniform fiber volume distribution arise from the fiber entanglement as the length of the fiber reaches up to 100 mm in LFSM. In this study, the effect of fiber entanglement during LFSM was analyzed through various approaches. This included measuring the coefficient of friction between fibers in contact and examining the correlation between fiber lengths and the number of intersections. Furthermore, the viscoelastic properties of the uncured composite part were assessed by experimenting with the influence of viscosity on fiber length during compression molding. The results were then computed, modeled, and visualized in MATLAB, considering variations in viscosity and fiber length, both before and after compression molding., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Apolipoprotein E knock out (ApoE -/- ) mice, the widely used model for atherosclerosis, exhibits anti-obesity characteristics due to the impaired lipoprotein internalization. Since excessive accumulation of triglycerides and cholesterol in white adipose tissue (WAT) is shown to increase the risk of metabolic diseases, we investigated the effects of dietary high-fat high-cholesterol (HFHC) on gene expression profile and the possible role of cholesterol accumulation in WAT of ApoE -/- mice. Control (CON) and HFHC diets were provided to wild-type mice (WC, WH) and ApoE -/- mice (EC, EH) for 10 weeks. Although body and WAT weights were lower in the ApoE -/- group compared to the wild-type group, increases in cholesterol and lipid peroxides in WAT were only observed in the ApoE -/- group. Transcriptome analysis revealed 3660 and 839 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the EC/WC and EH/WH comparison, respectively. "Thermogenesis" and "Oxidative phosphorylation" KEGG pathways were found in the EC/WC comparison, but not in the EH/WH comparison. We identified 142 and 2585 DEGs in the WH/WC and EH/EC comparison respectively, indicating a stronger effect of HFHC on WAT of ApoE -/- mice. Gene ontology analysis of DEGs revealed the association of DEGs with "Regulation of inflammatory response" term, in the EH/EC comparison, but not in the WH/WC comparison. Especially, genes encoding scavenger receptors and toll-like receptors were associated with cholesterol and lipid peroxide levels in WAT of ApoE -/- mice, but not in wild-type mice. In conclusion, changes in gene expression profile of WAT were more pronounced in ApoE -/- mice compared to wild-type mice in response to HFHC, and these altered genes were related to inflammatory response. These data suggest that increased cholesterol accumulation in WAT by dietary HFHC may play a pivotal role in the regulation of gene expression in ApoE -/- mice., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have declared no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic substantially disrupted healthcare utilization patterns, globally. South Korea had been praised widely in its efforts to contain the spread of the pandemic, which may have contributed to a significantly smaller reduction in healthcare utilization compared to neighboring countries. However, it remains unknown how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted utilization patterns across population sub-groups, particularly vulnerable patient groups in South Korea. This paper quantifies the changes in healthcare utilization attributable to COVID-19 and the COVID-19 vaccination by sub-groups., Methods: An interrupted time series analysis was conducted to examine the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare utilization in South Korea from January 2016 to December 2022 using aggregated patient-level data from the national health insurance system that accounts for 99% of all healthcare services in South Korea. We applied negative binomial models adjusting for seasonality and serial correlation. Falsification tests were conducted to test the validity of breakpoints. Stratified analyses by type of healthcare services, age, sex, income level, health facility type, and avoidable/non-avoidable hospitalizations was performed, and we assessed differences in utilization trends between population groups across three phases of the pandemic., Findings: In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a reduction in monthly volume of outpatient utilization by 15.7% [95% CI 13.3%-18.1%, p < 0.001] and inpatient utilization by 11.6% [10.1%-13.0%, p < 0.001]. Most utilization recovered and rebounded to pre-COVID-19 levels as of December 2022 although variations existed. We observed heterogeneity in the magnitude of relative changes in utilization across types of services, varying from a 42.7% [36.8%-48.0%, p < 0.001] decrease for pediatrics, a 23.4% [20.1%-26.5%%, p < 0.001] reduction in utilization of public health centers, and a 24.2% [21.2%-27.0%, p < 0.001] reduction in avoidable hospitalizations compared to the pre-pandemic period. Contrary to global trends, health utilization among the elderly population (65 and older) in South Korea saw only marginal reductions compared to other age groups. Similarly, Medicaid patients and lower income groups experienced a smaller reduction compared to higher income groups., Interpretation: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare utilization in South Korea was less pronounced compared to the global average. Utilization of vulnerable populations, including adults over 65 years old and lowest-income groups reduced less than other type of patients., Funding: No funding., Competing Interests: The authors whose names are listed immediately above certify that they have NO affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements), or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript., (© 2023 The Author(s).)

Background: Social connections are crucial to human health and well-being. Previous research on molecular mechanisms in health has focused primarily on the individual-level perception of social connections (e.g., loneliness). This study adopted socio-centric social network analysis that includes all social ties from the entire population of interest to examine the group-level social connections and their association with a molecular genomic measure of health., Methods: Using socio-centric (global) social network data from an entire village in Korea, we investigated how social network characteristics are related to immune cell gene expression among older adults. Blood samples were collected (N = 53, 65-79 years) and mixed effect linear model analyses were performed to examine the association between social network characteristics and Conserved Transcriptional Response to Adversity (CTRA) RNA expression patterns., Results: Social network positions measured by k-core score, the degree of cohesive core positions in an entire village, were significantly associated with CTRA downregulation. Such associations emerged above and beyond the effects of perceived social isolation (loneliness) and biobehavioral risk factors (smoking, alcohol, BMI, etc.). Social network size, defined as degree centrality, was also associated with reduced CTRA gene expression, but its association mimicked that of perceived social isolation (loneliness)., Conclusions: The current findings implicate community-level social network characteristics in the regulation of individual human genome function above and beyond individual-level perceptions of connectedness., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Emerging new-generation geostationary satellites have broadened the scope for studying the diurnal cycle of ecosystem functions. We exploit observations from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R series to examine the effect of a severe U.S. heatwave in 2020 on the diurnal variations of ecosystem photosynthesis. We find divergent responses of photosynthesis to the heatwave across vegetation types and aridity gradients, with drylands exhibiting widespread midday and afternoon depression in photosynthesis. The diurnal centroid and peak time of dryland gross primary production (GPP) substantially shift toward earlier morning times, reflecting notable water and heat stress. Our geostationary satellite-based method outperforms traditional radiation-based upscaling methods from polar-orbiting satellite snapshots in estimating daily GPP and GPP loss during heatwaves. These findings underscore the potential of geostationary satellites for diurnal photosynthesis monitoring and highlight the necessity to consider the increased diurnal asymmetry in GPP under stress when evaluating carbon-climate interactions.

Background: The purpose of this study is to develop an audio speech recognition (ASR) deep learning model for transcribing clinician-patient conversations in radiation oncology clinics., Methods: We finetuned the pre-trained English QuartzNet 15x5 model for the Korean language using a publicly available dataset of simulated situations between clinicians and patients. Subsequently, real conversations between a radiation oncologist and 115 patients in actual clinics were then prospectively collected, transcribed, and divided into training (30.26 h) and testing (0.79 h) sets. These datasets were used to develop the ASR model for clinics, which was benchmarked against other ASR models, including the 'Whisper large,' the 'Riva Citrinet-1024 Korean model,' and the 'Riva Conformer Korean model.', Results: The pre-trained English ASR model was successfully fine-tuned and converted to recognize the Korean language, resulting in a character error rate (CER) of 0.17. However, we found that this performance was not sustained on the real conversation dataset. To address this, we further fine-tuned the model, resulting in an improved CER of 0.26. Other developed ASR models, including 'Whisper large,' the 'Riva Citrinet-1024 Korean model,' and the 'Riva Conformer Korean model.', showed a CER of 0.31, 0.28, and 0.25, respectively. On the general Korean conversation dataset, 'zeroth-korean,' our model showed a CER of 0.44, while the 'Whisper large,' the 'Riva Citrinet-1024 Korean model,' and the 'Riva Conformer Korean model' resulted in CERs of 0.26, 0.98, and 0.99, respectively., Conclusion: In conclusion, we developed a Korean ASR model to transcribe real conversations between a radiation oncologist and patients. The performance of the model was deemed acceptable for both specific and general purposes, compared to other models. We anticipate that this model will reduce the time required for clinicians to document the patient's chief complaints or side effects., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Bum-Sup Jang reports a relationship with Korea Ministry of Science and ICT that includes: funding grants., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate body regional differences in cutaneous warmth and hotness thresholds in relation to radiant heat exposure. Fourteen male subjects participated in this study (age: 25 ± 5 y, height: 176.6 ± 5.5 cm, body weight: 70 ± 5.8 kg). Cutaneous warmth and hotness thresholds were measured on the forehead, neck, chest, abdomen, upper back, lower back, upper arm, forearm, palm, back of hand, front thigh, shin, top of foot, buttock, back thigh, calf, and sole. The forehead (34.8 ± 0.2 °C), lower back (34.1 ± 1.2 °C) and palm (34.3 ± 0.7 °C) had the highest warmth thresholds, whereas the foot (29.8 ± 1.9 °C) and sole (28.0 ± 2.1 °C) had the lowest values among the 17 regions (P<0.001). Higher warmth thresholds were related to higher initial skin temperatures (T sk ) (r=0.972, P<0.001). Increases in T sk for detecting warmth sensation were smaller for the lower back with a rise of 0.2 ± 0.4 °C and the abdomen (0.3 ± 0.3 °C) than for the buttock (0.9 ± 0.8 °C) and sole (0.8 ± 0.6 °C) (P<0.05). Increases in T sk for detecting hotness sensation ranged from 0.5 to 1.5 °C. Warmth and hotness thresholds on the abdomen or sole had significant relationships with body mass index, indicating that the overweight are less sensitive to detecting radiant heat on the abdomen or sole. Thermal thresholds from radiant heat exposure of 100 cm 2 were lower than the values from conductive heat exposure of 6.25 cm 2 , which might be explained by the effect of spatial summation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study aims to investigate the evolution of financial protection of households against OOP in South Korea, where subsequent policies of expanding benefit coverage have been implemented primarily focusing on several severe diseases, by measuring catastrophic healthcare expenditure (CHE) and the characteristics of households vulnerable to CHE. Using the Korea Health Panel 2011-2018, this study analyzed CHE trends by the targeted severe diseases and other health problems and household income and examined the determinants of CHE using binary logistic regression. Our findings showed that CHE decreased in households with the targeted severe diseases but increased in households experiencing hospitalization that were not related to the targeted diseases, which appeared to have a significantly higher likelihood of CHE in 2018 than households with the targeted severe diseases. In addition, CHE was more prevalent and increased or remained stagnant among households whose heads had health problems than others. Inequalities in CHE also increased, showing increased Concentration Index (CI) and increased incidences of CHE in the lower income quartile during the study period. These results suggest that the current policies are insufficient to achieve its financial protection goals against healthcare expenditure in South Korea. In particular, benefit expansions targeting a specific disease may cause inequitable distribution of resources and may not enhance protection against households' financial burden., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Executive functioning (EF) is a cognitive process used to perform various daily activities throughout one's lifespan. Autistic adults without intellectual disabilities (ID) also experience difficulties with EF, which is closely associated with adaptive behaviors. For this reason, it is important to improve adaptive behaviors through enhanced use of EF for autistic adults to transition into adulthood successfully. This study aims to conduct a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a newly developed and modified intervention program. Thirty autistic adults without ID were randomly assigned to the treatment or waitlist group. The participants and caregivers completed various assessments and self-report questionnaires to measure everyday EF and adaptive behaviors. We performed linear mixed-effect modeling to compare the two groups. Data collected at pre-, middle, post-, and follow-up based on participants who completed the program were used to explore changes across time. While there were significant differences in the EF utility-scale (F=5.46, p = .027) between the treatment and waitlist groups, no group x time interactions were detected in other measures. Everyday EF and adaptive behaviors improved when comparing measurements at different time points (p < .001). Our program is Korea's first evidence-based intervention to improve everyday EF and adaptive behaviors for autistic adults without ID., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Mitotic arrest is necessary for the embryonic development of germ cells, and thus, it is important to understand the signaling pathways that regulate mitotic arrest. Here, we investigated the signaling pathway dynamics of male embryonic chicken germ cells during mitotic arrest by single-cell transcriptome analysis using germ-cell tracing models. We identified signaling pathways that change at the transcriptional level during chicken male germ-cell development after sex determination. We found that several components of the BMP, Notch, and JAK-STAT signaling pathways were downregulated at the mitotic-arrest stage and were reactivated 1 week after hatching when all germ cells are quiescent after entering mitotic arrest. In addition, the transcriptional levels of components of the MAPK, Hedgehog, and thyroid-hormone signaling pathways were steadily upregulated after mitotic arrest. This suggests the cooperation of multiple signaling pathways during entry into mitotic arrest and subsequent quiescence of chicken male germ cells., (© 2023 The Authors. FEBS Open Bio published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Federation of European Biochemical Societies.)

Background: Extant literature has primarily employed linear models to estimate the average effect of spanking on children. Less is known about child and parent characteristics that may predict differential risks of children's exposure to spanking (i.e., pre-treatment heterogeneity) and the effect of spanking on child outcomes that may differ by the propensity for spanking (i.e., post-treatment heterogeneity)., Objective: The present study examines pre- and post-treatment heterogeneity in the association between maternal spanking at child age 3 and subsequent household Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement that were reported by mothers between child ages 3 to 5., Methods: The sample consisted of 2,422 families from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a birth cohort study that oversampled children born to unmarried families. A propensity score stratification analysis procedure examined pre- and post-treatment heterogeneity in the association between spanking and subsequent household CPS involvement. Children were stratified into three strata depending on their propensity for experiencing spanking. Subsequently, the association between spanking and household CPS involvement was examined for each stratum., Results: Disadvantaged socio-economic characteristics, negative psychosocial conditions of the mother, and dysregulated temperament of the child were associated with elevated risk of spanking. The odds of subsequent household CPS involvement increased by 2.4 times ( β = 0.869, p <.01) for children in the stratum with the lowest propensity for experiencing spanking., Conclusions: Results emphasize the importance of promoting alternative disciplinary strategies to families who would be considered low-risk before they may come into contact with the child welfare system., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Lipid accumulation in hepatocytes can result from an imbalance between lipid acquisition and lipid catabolism. In recent years, it has been discovered that eicosanoids derived from arachidonic acid (AA) have the potential to create specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators to actively resolve inflammation, but it is not clear whether AA and lipoxygenases exert effects on hepatic inflammation. Here, the effects of atorvastatin on the expression of cytoplasmic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2) and lipoxygenase pathway genes (ALOX5, ALOX12, ALOX15, and ALOX15B) were evaluated in an in vitro model of palmitic acid (PA)-induced hepatocyte lipid accumulation in McA-RH7777 (McA) cells. Palmitic acid increased cPLA2 expression, intracellular AA levels, and ALOX12 expression (P < 0.05). Atorvastatin at various concentrations had no significant effects on AA levels or on cPLA2, ALOX15, and ALOX15B expressions. ALOX5 was not detected, despite multiple measurements. Pro-inflammatory IL-1β expression levels were upregulated by PA (P < 0.01) and attenuated by atorvastatin (P < 0.001). TNFα did not differ among groups. The expression levels of anti-inflammatory IL-10 decreased in response to PA (P < 0.05), but were not affected by atorvastatin. In conclusion, in an in vitro model of lipid accumulation in McA cells, atorvastatin reduced IL-1β; however, its effect was not mediated by AA and the lipoxygenase pathway at the established doses and treatment duration. Further research is required to investigate time-response data, as well as other drugs and integrated cell systems that could influence the lipoxygenase pathway and modulate inflammation in liver diseases., (© 2023 The Authors. FEBS Open Bio published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Federation of European Biochemical Societies.)

Exercise can afford several benefits to combat mood disorders in both rodents and humans. Engagement in various physical activities upregulates levels of neurotrophic factors in several brain regions and improves mental health. However, the type of exercise that regulates mood and the underlying mechanisms in the brain remain elusive. Herein, we performed two distinct types of exercise and RNA sequencing analyses to investigate the effect of exercise on mood-related behaviors and explain the distinct patterns of gene expression. Specifically, resistance exercise exhibited reduced immobility time in the forced swim test when compared with both no exercise and treadmill exercise (in the aerobic training [AT] group). Interestingly, anxiety-like behaviors in the open field and nest-building tests were ameliorated in the AT group when compared with those in the control group; however, this was not observed in the RT group. To elucidate the mechanism underlying these different behavioral changes caused by distinct exercise types, we examined the shift in the gene expression pattern in the hippocampus, a brain region that plays a critical role in regulating mood. We discovered that 38 and 40 genes were altered in the AT and RT groups, respectively, compared with the control group. Both exercises regulated 16 common genes. Compared with the control group, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) was enriched in the AT group and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT and neurotrophin signaling pathways were enriched in the RT group, as determined by bioinformatics pathway analysis. PCR results revealed that Cebpβ expression was increased in AT group, and Dcx expression was upregulated in both groups. Our findings indicate that different exercise types may exert substantially distinct effects on mood-like behaviors. Accordingly, appropriate types of exercise can be undertaken based on the mood disorder to be regulated., Competing Interests: Declaration competing of interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Several studies have been conducted among South Korean to investigate effects of high blood mercury (Hg) levels. In this study fetal body burden of Hg in 344 pregnant women were estimated using a physiologically-based pharmacokinetic model (PBPK) and its associative effects on the growth of infants were analyzed. The association between cord blood Hg and growth variables at birth was analyzed based on parameters such as the sex of the newborn, living area, maternal age group, gestation day, maternal body mass index . We investigated the effects of Hg on infant growth through follow-ups, using a non-linear mixed model. The mean Hg levels in maternal and cord blood were 4.47 μg/L and 7.35 μg/L, respectively. Among the subjects, the corresponding fetal body burden for Methylmercury ranged between 26.3-86.9 mg. Cord blood Hg levels positively correlated with length at birth. Furthermore, the high cord blood group showed greater growth rates compared to the low cord blood group. Therefore, we suggest that pregnant women should make efforts to mitigate exposures to Hg, specifically from diet. Further research is suggested to investigate the relationship between the follow-up growth of the infants and Hg levels, considering fish consumption, diet information, and other environmental pollutants., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper, (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Existing studies on the association between temperatures and cardiovascular deaths have been limited in geographic zones and have generally considered associations with total cardiovascular deaths rather than cause-specific cardiovascular deaths., Methods: We used unified data collection protocols within the Multi-Country Multi-City Collaborative Network to assemble a database of daily counts of specific cardiovascular causes of death from 567 cities in 27 countries across 5 continents in overlapping periods ranging from 1979 to 2019. City-specific daily ambient temperatures were obtained from weather stations and climate reanalysis models. To investigate cardiovascular mortality associations with extreme hot and cold temperatures, we fit case-crossover models in each city and then used a mixed-effects meta-analytic framework to pool individual city estimates. Extreme temperature percentiles were compared with the minimum mortality temperature in each location. Excess deaths were calculated for a range of extreme temperature days., Results: The analyses included deaths from any cardiovascular cause (32 154  935), ischemic heart disease (11 745 880), stroke (9 351 312), heart failure (3 673 723), and arrhythmia (670 859). At extreme temperature percentiles, heat (99th percentile) and cold (1st percentile) were associated with higher risk of dying from any cardiovascular cause, ischemic heart disease, stroke, and heart failure as compared to the minimum mortality temperature, which is the temperature associated with least mortality. Across a range of extreme temperatures, hot days (above 97.5th percentile) and cold days (below 2.5th percentile) accounted for 2.2 (95% empirical CI [eCI], 2.1-2.3) and 9.1 (95% eCI, 8.9-9.2) excess deaths for every 1000 cardiovascular deaths, respectively. Heart failure was associated with the highest excess deaths proportion from extreme hot and cold days with 2.6 (95% eCI, 2.4-2.8) and 12.8 (95% eCI, 12.2-13.1) for every 1000 heart failure deaths, respectively., Conclusions: Across a large, multinational sample, exposure to extreme hot and cold temperatures was associated with a greater risk of mortality from multiple common cardiovascular conditions. The intersections between extreme temperatures and cardiovascular health need to be thoroughly characterized in the present day-and especially under a changing climate.