Flexible Double Bonds-Enhanced Photodynamic Therapy toward Antibacterial Resistance.

The relationship between the molecular structure and types of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated from photosensitizers (PSs) must be understood for advancing photodynamic therapy (PDT). In this study, we synthesized , , and consisting of C-C, C═C, and C≡C bond linkers, respectively, between electron donor and acceptor moieties. Unlike and , containing a flexible C═C bond linker can absorb energy under white light irradiation, which enhances the swing of connected acceptor groups and leads to the formation of a noncoplanar structure.

Experimental demonstration of dual-polarization multiplexed optical phased array empowered by inverse design.

This paper presents a dual-polarization multiplexed optical phased array (OPA) implemented on a 220 nm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform, enabling continuous beam steering across TE and TM modes. While effectively guiding TE- and TM-polarized light, the proposed OPA on this platform faces the challenge of overcoming the intrinsically high effective refractive index disparity between the two modes upon radiation from the grating antenna. To mitigate this challenge, key OPA components - polarization beam combiner, polarization-independent beam splitter, and index-modulated pixelized grating antenna - were optimized using inverse design methods and integrated, enabling efficient and seamless beam steering across both polarizations.

Viscosity-Tuned Mitochondrial Probe for Precision Tumor Theranostics and Apoptosis Imaging.

Early cancer diagnosis greatly enhances survival rates and improves patients' quality of life. Intracellular viscosity, among various microenvironmental factors influencing cellular function, plays a pivotal role. Abnormal viscosity levels are closely linked to cancer progression, impacting biomolecular diffusion, metabolic activity, and signal transduction.

Inverse-designed taper configuration for the enhancement of integrated 1 × 4 silicon photonic power splitters.

Once light is coupled to a photonic chip, its efficient distribution in terms of power splitting throughout silicon photonic circuits is very crucial. We present two types of 1 × 4 power splitters with different splitting ratios of 1:1:1:1 and 2:1:1:2. Various taper configurations were compared and analyzed to find the suitable configuration for the power splitter, and among them, parabolic tapers were chosen.

A NIR-II emissive sonosensitized biotuner for pyroptosis-enhanced sonodynamic therapy of hypoxic tumors.

Pyroptosis is considered as a new way to effectively boost the immune response of tumors and inhibit tumor growth. Effective strategies to induce pyroptosis mainly rely on chemotherapeutic drugs and phototherapy, but their potential biotoxicity and phototoxicity limit their application in biomedicine. Herein, we designed a NIR-II emitting pyroptosis biotuner, Rd-TTPA, which induced pyroptosis under ultrasound irradiation to achieve pyroptosis-enhanced sonodynamic therapy (SDT) and immunogenic cell death (ICD) for tumors.

Deep neural network-based phase calibration in integrated optical phased arrays.

Calibrating the phase in integrated optical phased arrays (OPAs) is a crucial procedure for addressing phase errors and achieving the desired beamforming results. In this paper, we introduce a novel phase calibration methodology based on a deep neural network (DNN) architecture to enhance beamforming in integrated OPAs. Our methodology focuses on precise phase control, individually tailored to each of the 64 OPA channels, incorporating electro-optic phase shifters.

Constructing a NiMnS electrode with a Mn-rich surface for hydrogen production in anion exchange membrane water electrolyzers.

Efficient alkaline hydrogen evolution electrodes must be used for hydrogen production in anion exchange membrane water electrolyzers (AEMWEs). Therefore, we fabricated a NiMnS catalyst with a Mn-rich surface, which was self-supported on Ti paper through one-step electrodeposition. Mn doping endowed the catalyst with a unique hollow morphology and lattice-distorted structure.

Craniofacial Phenotype in Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Its Impact on Positive Airway Pressure (PAP) Adherence.

Positive airway pressure (PAP) is an important treatment tool for patients with moderate and severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and adherence to PAP significantly affects treatment outcomes. Disease severity, adverse effects, and psychosocial factors are known to predict medication adherence. Cephalometric parameters have been reported to positively correlate with upper airway collapse.

TransNet: Transformer-Based Point Cloud Sampling Network.

As interest in point cloud processing has gradually increased in the industry, point cloud sampling techniques have been researched to improve deep learning networks. As many conventional models use point clouds directly, the consideration of computational complexity has become critical for practicality. One of the representative ways to decrease computations is downsampling, which also affects the performance in terms of precision.

Intraocular Pressure-Lowering and Retina-Protective Effects of Exosome-Rich Conditioned Media from Human Amniotic Membrane Stem Cells in a Rat Model of Glaucoma.

Glaucoma is one of the most devastating eye diseases, since the disease can develop into blindness and no effective therapeutics are available. Although the exact mechanisms and causes of glaucoma are unknown, increased intraocular pressure (IOP) has been demonstrated to be an important risk factor. Exosomes are lipid nanoparticles secreted from functional cells, including stem cells, and have been found to contain diverse functional molecules that control body function, inhibit inflammation, protect and regenerate cells, and restore damaged tissues.

An electrochemically fabricated cobalt iron oxyhydroxide bifunctional electrode for an anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer.

For an anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEMWE), exploring bifunctional electrodes with low cost and high efficiency is a crucial task for future renewable energy systems. Herein, we report a simple method to fabricate cobalt iron oxyhydroxide (CoFeOH) bifunctional electrodes for AEMWEs. The bifunctional electrodes were prepared one-pot electrodeposition on Ti paper (TP).

Electrodeposition: An efficient method to fabricate self-supported electrodes for electrochemical energy conversion systems.

The development of electrocatalysts for energy conversion systems is essential for alleviating environmental problems and producing useful energy sources as alternatives to fossil fuels. Improving the catalytic performance and stability of electrocatalysts is a major challenge in the development of energy conversion systems. Moreover, understanding their electrode structure is important for enhancing the energy efficiency.

Low-Crystalline AuCuIn Catalyst for Gaseous CO Electrolyzer.

Despite its importance for the establishment of a carbon-neutral society, the electrochemical reduction of CO  to value-added products has not been commercialized yet because of its sluggish kinetics and low selectivity. The present work reports the fabrication of a low-crystalline trimetallic (AuCuIn) CO  electroreduction catalyst and demonstrates its high performance in a gaseous CO  electrolyzer. The high Faradaic efficiency (FE) of CO formation observed at a low overpotential in a half-cell test is ascribed to the controlled crystallinity and composition of this catalyst as well as to its faster charge transfer, downshifted d-band center, and low oxophilicity.

Ear, Nose, and Throat Foreign Bodies in Children: A Retrospective Study.

Background: This study analyzed the presentation, characteristics, and management of foreign bodies in different age groups of pediatric patients with ear, nose, and throat foreign bodies.

Methods: A retrospective study was performed using data from October 2012 to September 2020. A total of 1285 patients with ear, nose, and throat foreign bodies who were less than 12 years of age and who presented to the emergency room were included in this study.

Quantification of liver extracellular volume using dual-energy CT for ruling out high-risk varices in cirrhosis.

Purpose: To determine the performance of quantification of liver extracellular volume fraction (fECV) using dual-energy CT (DECT) compared with CT imaging for ruling out high-riskesophageal varices(HRV) in cirrhotic patients.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 229 cirrhotic patients (training [n = 159] and internal validation cohorts [n = 70]) who underwent dual-source DECT, serum marker assessment, and esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) from 2017 to 2020. The fECV score was measured using iodine maps from 3-minute delayed, equilibrium-phase images at 100/140 Sn kVp.

Enhanced Bone Regeneration in Variable-Type Biphasic Ceramic Phosphate Scaffolds Using rhBMP-2.

Our aim was to investigate the bone regeneration capacity of powder-type biphasic ceramic scaffold (BCP powder), block-type BCP (BCP block), and collagen-added block-type BCP (BCP collagen) with different concentrations of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein 2 (rhBMP-2) in an animal model. Four rabbits were assigned to each of the following groups: no graft + rhBMP-2 (0.1/0.

Effect of Intermittent Hypoxia on Metabolic Syndrome and Insulin Resistance in the General Male Population.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is closely associated with insulin resistance (IR) and is an independent risk factor for incident type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Most studies evaluate the correlation between OSA and IR in only obese or T2DM patients. Therefore, we tried to investigate the effect of OSA on metabolic syndrome and IR in the general healthy male population.

Association between Temporomandibular Joint Disorder and Parkinson's Disease.

This study performed two different analyses using a large set of population data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service Health Screening Cohort to evaluate the interactional association between temporomandibular disorder (TMD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). Two nested case-control population-based studies were conducted on 514,866 participants. In Study I, 4455 participants with TMD were matched with 17,820 control participants, with a ratio of 1:4.

Bone regeneration in ceramic scaffolds with variable concentrations of PDRN and rhBMP-2.

This study evaluated the bone regeneration capacity and mechanical properties of block-type hydroxyapatite (HA)/tricalcium phosphate (TCP) scaffolds in response to different concentrations of polydeoxyribonucleotide (PDRN) and recombinant human bone morphogenic protein 2 (rhBMP-2). Thirty-two male white rabbits were used as a model of calvarial bone defect and classified into eight groups according to type and concentration of growth factor administered, viz., control group (only HA/TCP scaffold), scaffold + PDRN (0.

Altered Peripersonal Space and the Bodily Self in Schizophrenia: A Virtual Reality Study.

Self-disturbances such as an anomalous perception of one's own body boundary are central to the phenomenology of schizophrenia (SZ), but measuring the spatial parameters of the hypothesized self-other boundary has proved to be challenging. Peripersonal space (PPS) refers to the immediate zone surrounding the body where the self interacts physically with the environment; the space that corresponds to hypothesized self-other boundary. PPS is represented by enhanced multisensory integration and faster reaction time (RT) for objects near the body.

Analysis of the relationship between periodontitis and osteoporosis/fractures: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Chronic periodontitis is a multifactorial inflammatory disease resulting in patients exhibiting high levels of inflammatory factors causing systemic inflammatory bone destruction that may lead to osteoporosis development. The association between periodontitis and osteoporosis has been documented; however, the findings remain unclear. This study aimed to identify the association between periodontitis and osteoporosis using a cross-sectional study design and Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES) health examinee data.

3D-Printed Ceramic Bone Scaffolds with Variable Pore Architectures.

This study evaluated the mechanical properties and bone regeneration ability of 3D-printed pure hydroxyapatite (HA)/tricalcium phosphate (TCP) pure ceramic scaffolds with variable pore architectures. A digital light processing (DLP) 3D printer was used to construct block-type scaffolds containing only HA and TCP after the polymer binder was completely removed by heat treatment. The compressive strength and porosity of the blocks with various structures were measured; scaffolds with different pore sizes were implanted in rabbit calvarial models.

Increased Risk of Temporomandibular Joint Disorder in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Longitudinal Follow-Up Study.

We evaluated the incidence of temporomandibular disorder (TMD) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and examined the association between TMD and RA, through longitudinal follow-up. Population data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service-Health Screening Cohort from 2002 to 2015 was used. From 514,866 subjects, 3122 with RA were matched with 12,488 controls in a 1:4 ratio.

Association between Family Histories of Thyroid Cancer and Thyroid Cancer Incidence: A Cross-Sectional Study Using the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study Data.

This study assessed the association between thyroid cancer and family history. This cross-sectional study used epidemiological data from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study from 2001 to 2013. Among 211,708 participants, 988 were in the thyroid cancer group and 199,588 were in the control group.