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The effects of dynamic contact angle (θd), between a substrate and the melt of a dewetting polymer thin film, on the evolution of rim instabilities of dewetting holes were reported. Various θd’s were achieved by covering SiOx surfaces with different coverage of octadecyltrichlorosilane. On each surface, the morphology of the dewetting holes was examined in detail as the hole grew to a certain size. Rim instabilities, in terms of undulations in both r and z directions, became more pronounced as θd increased, under which condition, narrower and higher rims were also observed. Experimentally, atomic force microscopic scans of the rim were used to obtain the rim profile, which was predicted using θd. The predicted rim profile was used, in combination with the analysis of Rayleigh instability of a cylindrical fluid, to interpret the rim instability. The model captures the basic trend of the rim instability dependency on θd. The study demonstrates the importance of the substrate properties on the rim instability and the destabilization of polymer thin films during hole growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We assessed the influence of antenatal corticosteroid (ACS) on the inhospital outcomes of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) infants. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted with singletons born at 23+0 to 33+6 weeks of gestation at Seoul National University Hospital from 2007 to 2014. We compared clinical outcomes between infants who received ACS 2 to 7 days before birth (complete ACS), at <2 or >7 days (incomplete ACS), and those who did not receive ACS in IUGR and AGA infants. Multivariate logistic regression using Firth's penalized likelihood was performed. Results: 304 neonates with 91 IUGR neonates were eligible. Among AGA neonates, mortality (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.13; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.02 to 0.78), hypotension within 7 postnatal days (aOR, 0.20; 95% CI, 0.06 to 0.64), and severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) or death (aOR, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.07 to 0.77) were lower in complete ACS group after adjusting for pregnancy induced hypertension and uncontrolled preterm labor. Mortality (aOR, 0.18; 95% CI, 0.04 to 0.78), hypotension (aOR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.09 to 0.70), and severe BPD or death (aOR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.12 to 0.92) were also lower in the incomplete ACS group. Among IUGR infants, after adjusting for birth weight and 5-minute Apgar score, inhaled nitric oxide use within 14 postnatal days was lower in both complete ACS (aOR, 0.07; 95% CI, 0.01 to 0.67) and incomplete ACS (aOR, 0.04; 95% CI, 0.01 to 0.37) groups. Conclusion: ACS was not effective in reducing morbidities in IUGR preterm infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) is a re-emerging pathogen that is particularly common in children and may cause asthma-like respiratory infection and acute flaccid myelitis. However, in Korea, EV-D68 has never been reported thus far. This study aimed to identify EV-D68 from nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPAs) in Korean children with a respiratory tract infection. Materials and Methods: The EV-D68 reference strain was purchased and blindly used to assess the detection ability of three commercial and one in-house mRT-PCR kit in 2018. Then, we selected children whose specimens were positive for human rhinovirus (HRV) and/or enterovirus (EV) by Allplex mRT-PCR (Seegene, Inc., Seoul, Korea) from April to December 2022. Total RNA was extracted from NPAs, and a partial 5’-UTR gene was amplified and sequenced for the identification of HRV/EV species. Additionally, PCR targeting the VP1 gene was performed to assess EV-D68- positive NPAs, followed by sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis and comparison of amino acid sequence alignments were performed using a partial VP1 gene of our and recent international EV-D68 strains. Results: Among the mRT-PCR kits tested, only the in-house kit was able to detect EV-D68 in 2018. However, we detected three EV-D68 strains among children hospitalized with fever and/or respiratory symptoms in September - December 2022 who tested positive for EV by the Allplex kit. Two of them were healthy toddlers with lower respiratory infections accompanied by new-onset wheezing but no neurologic complications. Among 34 children with lower respiratory infection who tested positive for HRV during the same period, EV-D68 was not detected. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the first Korean EV-D68 belonged to subclade B3. Amino acid sequence alignment of international subclade B3 EV-D68 strains also showed that our strain is genetically more related to those from Europe than those from Japan. Conclusion: We first detected EV-D68 in three Korean children who had EV detected by the Allplex mRT-PCR kit in 2022. EV-D68 also circulated in Korea in fall 2022, but the prevalence and severity seemed to be lower than those in previous reports from other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An 83-year-old woman was scheduled for a second transurethral resection of a bladder tumor. The preoperative electrocardiogram evaluation revealed atrial fibrillation with a slow ventricular response (ventricular rate: 59 /min). After intravenous injection of 1% lidocaine 40 mg and propofol 60 mg, the ventricular rate increased to 113 beats/min and then fell rapidly to 27 beats/min. Blood pressure was 70/40 mmHg. Later an atrial fibrillation rhythm, with a ventricular rate of 100-130 beats/min, was observed together with a sinus pause and sinus rhythm with a ventricular rate of 40-50 beats/min. An external pacemaker was applied and set at 60 mA, 40 counts. After the patient regained consciousness, she presented an alert mental state and had no chest symptoms. She was discharged 2 weeks later without complications after insertion of a permanent pacemaker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of a 61-year-old woman bilateral total knee arthroplasty due to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) involving the knee joints and mentions diagnosis of bilateral total knee replacement. On examining patient with chest radiograph, it reveals bronchitis at right lower lobe costophrenic angle area. It discusses the application of inhalation anesthetics and opioids has reduced the airway and hypoxia in the patient.