Search

Endolysosomal defects in neurons are central to the pathogenesis of prion and other neurodegenerative disorders. In prion disease, prion oligomers traffic through the multivesicular body (MVB) and are routed for degradation in lysosomes or for release in exosomes, yet how prions impact proteostatic pathways is unclear. We found that prion-affected human and mouse brain showed a marked reduction in Hrs and STAM1 (ESCRT-0), which route ubiquitinated membrane proteins from early endosomes into MVBs. To determine how the reduction in ESCRT-0 impacts prion conversion and cellular toxicityin vivo, we prion-challenged conditional knockout mice (male and female) havingHrsdeleted from neurons, astrocytes, or microglia. The neuronal, but not astrocytic or microglial, Hrs-depleted mice showed a shortened survival and an acceleration in synaptic derangements, including an accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins, deregulation of phosphorylated AMPA and metabotropic glutamate receptors, and profoundly altered synaptic structure, all of which occurred later in the prion-infected control mice. Finally, we found that neuronal Hrs (nHrs) depletion increased surface levels of the cellular prion protein, PrPC, which may contribute to the rapidly advancing disease through neurotoxic signaling. Taken together, the reduced Hrs in the prion-affected brain hampers ubiquitinated protein clearance at the synapse, exacerbates postsynaptic glutamate receptor deregulation, and accelerates neurodegeneration.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTPrion diseases are rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disorders characterized by prion aggregate spread through the central nervous system. Early disease features include ubiquitinated protein accumulation and synapse loss. Here, we investigate how prion aggregates alter ubiquitinated protein clearance pathways (ESCRT) in mouse and human prion-infected brain, discovering a marked reduction in Hrs. Using a prion-infection mouse model with neuronal Hrs (nHrs) depleted, we show that low neuronal Hrs is detrimental and markedly shortens survival time while accelerating synaptic derangements, including ubiquitinated protein accumulation, indicating that Hrs loss exacerbates prion disease progression. Additionally, Hrs depletion increases the surface distribution of prion protein (PrPC), linked to aggregate-induced neurotoxic signaling, suggesting that Hrs loss in prion disease accelerates disease through enhancing PrPC-mediated neurotoxic signaling.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships among social support, parenting stress, and depression in single mothers with young children in South Korea. This study also explores whether parenting stress plays a mediating role in the relationship between social support and depression. Self-report questionnaires were administered to 202 South Korean mothers who were raising young children on their own because of divorce, separation, death, or having never married, and three research variables were measured: social support, parenting stress, and depression. Data were analyzed using PROCESS macro version 3.4 to examine whether parenting stress mediated the relationship between social support and depression in these single mothers. The results of this study showed close correlations among social support, parenting stress, and depression in single mothers, and that parental distress and parent-child dysfunctional interaction among the subfactors of parenting stress played a mediating role in the relationship between social support and depression. Because the results of this study indicate that providing social support for single mothers can reduce their depression, significant attention must be paid to implementing policies to reduce single mothers’ parenting stress for their psychological well-being and their children’s development.

DC microgrids have received remarkable interest in both the academia and the industry for over a decade, yet the protection of dc microgrids remains as a major challenge. This challenge is rooted in the nonexistence of natural zero-crossing point in dc microgrids which rapidly increase the fault current. In this article, a novel bidirectional dc solid-state circuit breaker (dc SSCB) to reinforce the bidirectional flow of energy which significantly boosts the overall efficiency of the power supply of dc microgrids is presented. The proposed topology can perform the operating duty of reclosing and rebreaking, and the commutation capacitor is charged and recharged naturally without any complex control of the main or auxiliary thyristors, which is considered atypical of existing topologies. A clear and detailed analysis of the operation of the proposed topology is presented. Finally, the experimental results are presented to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed novel bidirectional dc SSCB.

This article presents a 320 $\times $ 240 indirect time-of-flight (iToF) CMOS image sensor (CIS) with on-chip motion artifact suppression and background light cancelling (BGLC). The proposed iToF CIS uses a backside-illuminated trident pinned photodiode (PPD) that assists charge transfer with a built-in lateral electric field for enhanced depth accuracy. To overcome the limitation of the conventional iToF CIS that exhibits motion artifact, we propose a pseudo-four-tap (P4-tap) demodulation method with alternate phase driving using a conventional two-tap pixel structure with a high fill factor of over 43%. In addition, by combining the advantages of both the P4-tap and conventional two-tap demodulation schemes, we propose hybrid depth imaging with reduced motion artifact for moving objects, while providing high-depth precision for the static background. For outdoor mobile applications of the iToF CIS, we integrated on-chip BGLC circuits to eliminate the BGL-induced depth error. A prototype chip is fabricated using a 90-nm backside illumination (BSI) CIS process. The BSI trident PPD enabled a low depth error of under 0.54% over the range of 0.75–4 m, with a modulation frequency of 100 MHz. Motion artifact was suppressed at 60 frames/s of hybrid depth imaging owing to the proposed P4-tap scheme. With the on-chip BGLC circuit, the experimental results demonstrate a 0.55% depth error at a 1-m distance, even under 120-klx BGL illumination.

Generally, transducers for active sound navigation and ranging (SONAR) has a low power factor due to large capacitive load characteristics. Thus, high-power transmitter requires an impedance matching circuit to improve the low-power factor of a transducer. Conventional matching circuits composed of L and C elements have many additional lumped elements. In addition, transducers for active sonar have numerous channels. As a result, the implementation of the matching circuit with many devices is non-practical and bulky due to spatial limitations. Therefore, this paper proposes a new matching circuit that uses the magnetization inductance of the transformer without additional elements. In addition, a design method of a transformer that implements a matching circuit using magnetization inductance is proposed. The proposed matching circuit is verified by the experimental results, and the volume and weight are reduced by approximately 20% compared to the conventional matching circuit.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated the role of decongestive therapy and high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) in preventing reintubation and in-hospital mortality in patients with acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema (ACPE). METHODS: Data from patients with ACPE who were weaned from mechanical ventilation in the cardiac intensive care unit between January 2013 and December 2017 were retrospectively evaluated. All patients were treated with HFNC or conventional oxygen therapy (COT), such as a nasal cannula or venturi mask, immediately after extubation. Decongestive therapy (intravenous furosemide infusion) was administered at the discretion of the attending physician. RESULTS: Of 212 patients treated during the study period, 47 were excluded due to recent open-heart surgery and two, due to insufficient clinical data. The remaining 163 patients had a mean age of 67.4±14.3 years, and 92 (56.4%) were male; 44 patients received HFNC, and 119 COT. Mean weight loss within 72 hours of extubation was −0.86±2.03 kg. A total of 38 patients (23.3%) required reintubation, 21 of whom (12.9%) required reintubation within 72 hours of extubation. In-hospital mortality occurred in 16 patients (9.8%). Multivariate analysis showed that weight increase within 72 hours of extubation was independent determinants of reintubation (OR =1.7; 95% CI: 1.2–2.2; P

본 연구의 목적은 특수교육 전문가를 대상으로 개별화교육계획의 개념과 실제에 대한 인식을 알아보고 개선방안을 탐색하는 것이다. 연구 참여자는 교수 2명, 장학사 6명, 초 · 중등 특수학급 교사 9명, 초 · 중등 특수학교 교사 11명, 총 28명으로 이들을 6개의 그룹으로 나누어 초점집단면담을 진행하였다. 면담결과는 지속적 비교분석법을 사용하여 3개 영역의 11개 주제와 21개의 하위 주제를 도출하였다. 연구결과로 첫째, 특수교육 전문가들이 인식하고 있는 개별화교육계획은 현실적 개념과 이상적 개념이 공존하면서 이 둘 간에 차이가 있는 것으로 나타났다. 둘째, 개별화교육계획 실제에서는 교육과정 및 수업과의 연계성이 부족한 형식적 운영, 나이스 개별화교육계획의 장 · 단점, 개별화교육지원팀의 협력적 접근의 미흡, 개별화교육계획의 평가를 통한 교육의 연속성 구현 부재로 인한 어려움이 있었다. 셋째, 개별화교육계획을 위한 개선 방안으로 특수교사의 역량 강화, 구체적인 운영 제도 개선에 대한 요구가 있었다. 이러한 연구결과를 토대로 개별화교육계획 개선 방안을 제시하였다.

We report a copper-catalyzed enantioselective hydroboration of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes with pinacolborane. α,β-Unsaturated aldehydes were converted to the corresponding γ-pinacolboronate alcohols in good yields and enantioselectivities through consecutive hydroboration of the C═O and C═C bonds. This process provides simple access to the hydroborated product of allylic alcohols, and the resulting γ-pinacolboronate alcohols could be utilized in various transformations.

DC grid has attracted a major interest due to the advent of renewable energy such as photovoltaic energy and wind power. For the safety and protection of the DC grid, the DC circuit breaker as fundamental component to the DC gird has received a lot of concern. A new thyristor DC solid-state circuit breaker (DC SSCB) is proposed in this paper. Its main advantage is to have the capability of naturally charging the commutation capacitor for stable and reliable interruption function. That is, the proposed DC SSCB have no need of additional switching operation for the purpose of charging the commutation capacitor. Moreover, the proposed DC SSCB can carry out the operating duty which performs the reclosing and rebreaking operation. The prototype of proposed SSCB is fabricated with the design specification of a rating of 5 [kW] and 380 [V], and its operating features are verified by the experimental results.

An indirect time-of-flight (iToF) CMOS image sensor (CIS) is a device that provides depth as well as a two-dimensional shape of an object by measuring the phase difference of reflected pulse trains of light. Because the iToF CIS offers high spatial resolution from the scaled photodetectors such as pinned photodiodes (PPD) [1] or photogates [2], as well as high depth accuracy, it is advantageous for object or gesture recognition with higher accuracy compared with conventional 2D imagers. Even though iToF CISs have been limited to indoor applications, such as gaming, they have a strong demand for outdoor applications that include 3D face recognition and augmented reality for mobile devices, gesture recognition for vehicles, and service robots. The operation principle of the iTOF CIS is a 4-phase demodulation (4PH) that acquires four charges from four phases (0, π/2, π, 3π/2) of demodulation. A conventional iToF CIS employs 2-tap (2T) pixels that have a photodetector with two readout paths such that charges from two phases can be separated. For the 4PH, we need two successive frames: 0 and π in the first, and π/2 and 3π/2 in the second frame [1]–[5]. Therefore, this conventional 4PH induces significant motion artifact that is critical for applications of gesture recognition. Another critical problem is the weak immunity for background light (BGL), including strong indoor lighting or sunlight. Several iToF CISs with integrated BGL cancelling are reported. However, they sacrifice sensitivity by connecting an additional capacitor to avoid saturation or sacrifice spatial resolution by adding huge analog memories in the CIS core [3].

This study examined the relationship between maternal life satisfaction, smartphone addiction, and parenting behavior in order to protect and promote sustainable well-being of mothers as well as children throughout their lifetimes and quality of life in the family system. Self-report questionnaires were used on 328 Korean mothers with children aged 3 to 5 years. Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. Results revealed that maternal life satisfaction had a significant and direct influence on parenting behavior, and its indirect influence on parenting behavior was mediated by smartphone addiction tendency. The findings confirm that a mother’s psychological well-being (life satisfaction) and smartphone addiction tendency are preceding factors for positive maternal parenting behavior. Significant attention must be paid to parents’ psychological well-being to promote children’s healthy development from very early on in life.

We report an efficient and highly enantioselective hydroboration of aliphatic 1,1-disubstituted alkenes with pinacolborane using a phosphine-Cu catalyst. The method allows facile preparation of enantiomerically enriched β-chiral alkyl pinacolboronates from a range of 1,1-disubstituted alkenes with high enantioselectivity up to 99% ee. Unprecedented enantiodiscrimination between the geminal alkyl substituents was observed with functional group compatibility in the hydroboration. Furthermore, a catalyst loading as low as 1 mol % furnished the desired product without a decrease in yield or selectivity, demonstrating its efficiency in gram scale synthesis.

Active sonar is mainly used for underwater communication and detection. Sensor array of active sonar has the impedance characteristics that the changes greatly and instantaneously due to mutual impedance. The impedance characteristics maybe damage the sensor array and high-power transmitter to cause over-driving conditions. Therefore, the power controller of the high-power transmitter for driving sensor array is required to drive with speed and refinement. This paper proposes and compares both a feedback and feedforward controllers that has the power limitation for driving high power stably.

Recently, with the development of renewable energy such as solar power and wind power, the DC grid has become a major concern. Accordingly, DC breaker which is essential in the DC gird has been actively studied. This paper proposes the new thyristor DC Solid-State circuit breaker (DC SSCB) which can naturally charge the commutation capacitor for the fault current breaking operation. The proposed thyristor DC Solid-State circuit breaker does not require switching operation to charge the commutation capacitor. In addition, it is possible to quickly perform the operating duty of the reclosing and rebreaking operation. The proposed DC SSCB is designed with 380 [V], 5 [kW] and the operating characteristics are verified through simulation.

Generally transducers for active SONAR(SOund Navigation And Ranging)has large capacitive load characteristics. So an impedance matching circuit of high power transmitter is required to improve the power factor of transducer. Conventional matching circuits composed of L, C elements have many additional lumped elements. However, transducers for active sonar have many channels so that it is difficult to consist of many devices due to spatial limitations. Therefore, this paper proposes a new design method of transformer used in impedance matching circuit of transducers without any additional devices.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Respected Parents & Respected Children (RPRC) parenting education program for mothers of preschool-aged children in South Korea. A total of 99 mothers were assigned to an intervention group (n = 54) or a control group (n = 45). Mothers in the intervention group received 16 weekly sessions of the parenting education program and then were compared with mothers who did not take part in the program. Questionnaires were used to assess parenting characteristics (i.e., maternal depression and anger, parenting behavior, co-parenting, parenting efficacy, and parenting stress) at baseline (pre-test), immediately after the termination of the program (post-test), and 8 months after the end of the program (follow-up test). Maternal rejection/restrictions, dissatisfaction, and parental distress of the intervention group decreased and efficacy as parents improved after taking part in the program, and these effects were sustained at follow-up. Our findings support the effectiveness of the RPRC parenting education program in changing parenting strategies and satisfaction and emphasize the need for preventive interventions for parents with young children.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of parenthood of mothers of early school-age children, with emphasis on cognitive, behavioral, and emotional aspects of parenthood. Methods: Nineteen mothers whose children were 1st and 2nd grade elementary school children participated in this study. Data were collected through individual in-depth interviews. During the interview, mothers were asked to speak freely about their experiences as parents of early-school age children, including parenting beliefs, parenting behaviors, and emotional experiences related to parenting. These interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed in a thematic way using MAXQDA. Results: Using qualitative methods, five major themes were emerged: (1) Recognizing the role of parents as a supporter of growth; (2) recognizing parenthood of the present generation that imposes expanded roles to mothers; (3) co-parenting of early school-age children and marital relationship; (4) co-existence of different parenting styles based on specific mother-child interaction situations; (5) experiencing a wide spectrum of emotions including anxiety, guilt, and depression, as well as happiness. Conclusion: This study revealed the unique cognitive, behavioral, and emotional aspects of parenthood experienced by mothers with early school-age children. Results of this study can fill a gap in our understanding of parenthood of mothers when their children entered into the new developmental stage of middle childhood. The results could also be used as a basis for developing parent education and family relationship programs.

(1) Background: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between social support in the workplace for childcare teachers, resilience, and self-care. This study explores the inner mechanism that helps to strengthen self-care of childcare teachers, which enables teachers to provide quality care to children and promote their own wellbeing. (2) Methods: The survey was conducted from September to October 2018 for childcare teachers in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province using convenience sampling. Out of 550 questionnaires, 491 were returned, with 466 used for the analysis, excluding those with incomplete responses. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and mediation analysis. (3) Results: There were significant correlations between all variables. The mediation analysis showed a complete mediation of resilience. (4) Conclusion: Childcare teachers first have to take good care of themselves in order to perform well as a childcare professional. Educational materials and counseling programs tailored for childcare teachers need to be developed for better self-care and building greater resilience. Materials for directors of daycare centers, as well as teachers stressing the importance of social support for each other, will help childcare teachers&rsquo, effective functioning in their professional and personal life. Prevention and intervention programs for self-care will eventually help lower the costs of healthcare in society.