Gut microbial production of imidazole propionate drives Parkinson's pathologies.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by the selective degeneration of midbrain dopaminergic neurons and aggregation of α-synuclein. Emerging evidence implicates the gut microbiome in PD, with microbial metabolites proposed as potential pathological mediators. However, the specific microbes and metabolites involved, and whether gut-derived metabolites can reach the brain to directly induce neurodegeneration, remain unclear.

Self-Powered High-Performance WS Photodetector via a Monolithic p-i-n Homojunction.

Lateral homojunction photodetectors (PDs) offer high responsivity and fast response, yet challenges in tailoring carrier concentrations in two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have limited their implementation. Here, we demonstrate a high-performance self-powered monolithic lateral p-i-n homojunction PD using multilayer WS. To our knowledge, this study is the first report of achieving tunable, multilevel compensation doping via WO formation using only time-controlled and region-selective ultraviolet (UV)/ozone oxidation.

Endocrine Disorders in Patients With Inborn Errors of Immunity.

Background: Human inborn errors of immunity (IEIs) include disorders characterized by aberrant function or development of the immune system. Recently, interest in the immune and endocrine systems has increased. We aimed to investigate endocrine disorders in patients with IEIs.

Deep Learning-Based Early Warning Systems in Hospitalized Patients at Risk of Code Blue Events and Length of Stay: Retrospective Real-World Implementation Study.

Background: In hospitals, Code Blue is an emergency that refers to a patient requiring immediate resuscitation. Over 85% of patients with cardiopulmonary arrest exhibit abnormal vital sign trends prior to the event. Continuous monitoring and accurate interpretation of clinical data through artificial intelligence (AI) models can contribute to preventing critical events.

Clinicopathological Factors Influencing PD-L1 Expression and The Effect of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors on Survival Outcomes in Patients with Gastric Cancer Depending on Sex in a Tertiary Hospital in South Korea.

Purpose: Programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) negatively regulates T-cell activation, and exhibits sex-based differences in expression and immune responses. This study investigated sex-related differences in clinicopathological factors influencing PD-L1 expression and the effect of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) on survival in gastric cancer (GC) patients in South Korea.

Materials And Methods: We analyzed a prospective cohort of 468 GC patients who underwent PD-L1 immunohistochemistry.

Behavior can be decoded across the cortex when individual differences are considered.

Group-level analyses have typically linked behavioral signatures to a constrained set of brain areas. Here, we show that two behavioral metrics-reaction time (RT) and confidence-can be decoded across the cortex when each individual is considered separately. Subjects (N = 50) completed a perceptual decision-making task with confidence.

Impact of Day Length on Brain Glucose Metabolism in Men: A Large-Scale Repeated Measures PET Study.

The brain is the most energy-demanding organ, yet whether cerebral energy homeostasis exhibits seasonal rhythmicity remains unclear. In this study, 432 healthy men underwent a health checkup program with fasting-state brain [F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) scanning twice: first at the baseline and then at the 5-year follow-up. We analyzed the effect of day length on brain glucose uptake separately for both time points.

Elevated Temperature Can Reduce Cucumber Mosaic Virus Transmission in Tobacco Plants by Altering the Insect Vector's Performance.

Disease dynamics are significantly influenced by insect vectors through their interactions with viruses and host plants. The objective of this study is to understand how increased temperatures affect virus transmission, providing insights critical for developing climate-resilient pest and disease management strategies. We investigated the effects of temperature on the survival and growth of Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), a key vector of the cucumber mosaic virus (CMV).

Effector-Triggered Immunity Is a Key Component of Nonhost Resistance in Nicotiana benthamiana against the Rice Blast Pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae.

Magnaporthe oryzae is the causal agent of rice blast disease, a major threat to global food security. Although M. oryzae infects a broad range of monocotyledonous plants, it fails to colonize dicot species such as Nicotiana benthamiana, offering a useful system to investigate nonhost resistance (NHR).

Development of a Cleaning Endpoint Evaluation Sensor to reliably monitor plasma chamber cleaning.

In this study, a Cleaning Endpoint Evaluation Sensor (CEES) was developed and applied to improve the monitoring accuracy and uniformity control in the cleaning processes for NF-based remote plasma sources in semiconductor equipment. Although an increase in the chamber pressure increased the density of fluorine radicals and improved the overall etch reactivity, significant cleaning nonuniformity was observed in structurally limited regions, such as the substrate bottom, where the reactive species failed to reach sufficiently. Conventional diagnostic methods such as optical emission spectroscopy (OES) are limited in their ability to assess cleaning completion in such dead volume regions.

First-year oral antidiabetic adherence and long-term complications in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes.

Aims: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a growing public health issue, with early treatment adherence potentially impacting long-term outcomes. This study assessed the association between adherence to oral antidiabetic drugs (OADs) during the first year after diagnosis and the risk of complications and mortality.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using a nationally representative health claims database.

Prevalence and Comorbidities of Atopic Dermatitis in Korean Children and Adolescents From 1995 to 2022: A Population-Based Study.

Purpose: We aimed to investigate the prevalence of atopic dermatitis (AD) and its associated risk factors in Korean children in 2022, and to compare to our findings with previous results to identify changes or trends over time.

Methods: A nationwide, cross-sectional study of randomly selected schoolchildren aged 6-7, 9-10, and 12-13 years, respectively, was completed. Information was obtained through the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire, and comparisons between the current and prior surveys performed in 1995, 2000, and 2010 were conducted using a trend test.

Direct Photopatterning of Green Solvent-Processed 2D Nanomaterials for Wafer-Scale Electronics.

Solution-processed 2D nanomaterials have emerged as key building blocks for the large-scale assembly of functional electronic devices. Solution processing enables the formation of electronically active percolated networks by leveraging van der Waals (vdW) interactions between individual 2D nanosheets. While effective vdW interactions are expected to minimize potential energy barriers and contact resistances between nanosheets, undesired residues from material synthesis or device fabrication processes may remain at the interface.

Clinical Context Is More Important than Data Quantity to the Performance of an Artificial Intelligence-Based Early Warning System.

The quantity of clinical data varies across patient populations and often reflect clinicians' perceptions of risk and their decisions to perform certain laboratory tests. Missingness in electronic health records can be informative because it may indicate that certain clinical parameters were not measured because clinicians considered them unnecessary for stable patients. This retrospective single-center study explored the ability of a deep learning-based early warning system, the VitalCare-Major Adverse Event Score, to predict unplanned intensive care unit transfers, cardiac arrests, or death among adult inpatients 6 h in advance.

van der Waals Gap-Engineered Artificial Crystals: A Platform for Tunable Physical Properties and Emerging Device Applications.

Artificial crystals, composed of artificially assembled 2D atomic layers, represent a versatile platform for tailoring material properties beyond the limitations of naturally occurring layered systems. The development of scalable fabrication techniques has accelerated their transition toward practical applications in electronics, optoelectronics, and quantum devices. Beyond assembly strategies, the precise modulation of the van der Waals gap (vdWG) between adjacent layers has been recognized as a critical approach for tailoring the fundamental properties of artificial crystals.

Neural decoding of Aristotle tactile illusion using deep learning-based fMRI classification.

Introduction: Aristotle illusion is a well-known tactile illusion which causes the perception of one object as two. EEG analysis was employed to investigate the neural correlates of Aristotle illusion, yet was limited due to low spatial resolution of EEG. This study aimed to identify brain regions involved in the Aristotle illusion using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and deep learning-based analysis of fMRI data.

Enrichment of gut-derived metabolites in a Parkinson's disease subtype with REM sleep behavior disorder.

Recent reports indicate that Parkinson's disease (PD)-like changes in gut microbial signatures develop in idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD), a prodrome of α-synucleinopathies. However, <50% of PD cases exhibit RBD at onset, underscoring PD's heterogeneity. Using untargeted metabolomics, plasma samples from PD patients with and without RBD, iRBD subjects, and healthy controls were analyzed to characterize the metabolic differences in PD patients with and without RBD.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging and X-Ray Imaging Properties of Ultrasmall Lanthanide Oxide (Ln = Eu, Gd, and Tb) Nanoparticles Synthesized via Thermal Decomposition.

Owing to their 4f electrons and high atomic numbers, lanthanide (Ln) elements impart lanthanide oxide (LnO) nanoparticles with excellent biomedical imaging properties. This study reports synthesis for three types of ultrasmall and monodisperse LnO nanoparticles (Ln = Eu, Gd, and Tb) via thermal decomposition in oleylamine at 280 °C, followed by ligand exchange with citric acid (CA) to produce water-dispersible, CA-grafted LnO nanoparticles with high colloidal stability. The resulting CA-grafted LnO nanoparticles had average diameters of approximately 2 nm.

Body Circumference and Cognitive Function: Role of Apolipoprotein E ε4 in the Elderly.

This study examined the relationships between mid-arm circumference (MAC) and calf circumference (CC) with cognitive performance, considering the moderating effect of apolipoprotein E ε4 allele () status. Data from 196 older adults (65-90 years) in the General Lifestyle and AD (GLAD) study were analyzed. Cognitive performance was assessed using the CERAD neuropsychological battery, with episodic memory score (EMS) and non-memory score (NMS) as primary outcomes.

Multifunctional Hydrogels for Advanced Cancer Treatment: Diagnostic Imaging and Therapeutic Modalities.

Multifunctional hydrogels represent an emerging technological advancement in cancer therapeutics, integrating diagnostic imaging capabilities with therapeutic modalities into comprehensive, multifunctional systems. These hydrogels exhibit exceptional biocompatibility, biodegradability, high water retention capacity, and tunable mechanical properties, enabling precise drug delivery while minimizing systemic side effects. Recent innovations in stimuli-responsive components facilitate intelligent, controlled drug release mechanisms triggered by various stimuli, including changes in pH, temperature, magnetic fields, and near-infrared irradiation.

Exposome study for allergic diseases in children: Rationale and design of ECHO-COCOA study.

Background: Comprehensive consideration of the totality of environmental exposures and the resulting endogenous responses plays a crucial role in assessing the effect of early-life exposure on child health.

Objectives: The Exposome and Child Health with Omics-COhort for Childhood Origin of Asthma and allergic diseases (ECHO-COCOA) study was conducted based on the COCOA birth cohort, a general population-based cohort study that aimed to evaluate multi-omics signatures of environmental exposures and their effect on childhood allergic diseases, obesity and neurodevelopment in Korea.

Methods: In total, 156 chemical pollutants and multi-omics profiles (methylome, genome, gut microbiome, transcriptome, metabolome, proteome, and multiplex cytokine assay) were investigated in 481 mother-child pairs.

Oral immunotherapy directs systemic transcriptomic changes in children with hen's egg allergy.

Background: Hen's egg (HE) is a major food allergen in children. Oral immunotherapy (OIT) has emerged as a promising therapeutic option for hen's egg allergy (HEA), but the precise immunological mechanisms underlying HE-OIT are not fully understood.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the systemic immune phenotype in children with HEA and to examine transcriptomic changes during HE-OIT.

Validation of an artificial intelligence-based algorithm for predictive performance and risk stratification of sepsis using real-world data from hospitalised patients: a prospective observational study.

Objective: The heterogeneous nature of sepsis renders determining its underlying causes difficult, which may delay diagnosis and intervention. VitalCare-SEPsis Score (VC-SEPS) is a deep learning-based algorithm that predicts sepsis and monitors patient conditions based on electronic medical record data. However, few studies have prospectively compared medical artificial intelligence software algorithms and traditional scoring systems to predict sepsis.