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This paper presents a first-order noise-shaping (NS) successive approximation register (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (ADC) with a process, (supply) voltage, and temperature (PVT)-insensitive closed-loop integrator and data-weighted averaging (DWA). The use of a cascode floating inverter amplifier (FIA)-type dynamic amplifier with high gain enables an aggressive noise transfer function while minimizing the power consumption associated with the use of an active filter. In the proposed ADC, the residue is generated by a capacitive digital-to-analog converter (CDAC) employing DWA, which is made possible by employing a second CDAC, which operates after the SAR operation is completed. The proposed ADC is designed with a 28 nm CMOS process with 1 V power supply. The simulation results show that the ADC achieves the SNDR of 71.2 dB and power consumption of 228 μW when operated with a sampling rate of 80 MS/s and oversampling ratio (OSR) of 10. The Schreier figure-of-merit (FoM) is 173.6 dB, and Walden FoM is 9.6 fJ/conversion-step. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Objective: This study aimed to explore the efficacy of conventional invasive techniques in confirming unilateral seizure onset localization in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE-HS) and to investigate the association between electrode type and intracranial electroencephalography (EEG) pattern. (2) Methods: This retrospective study encompasses patients diagnosed with MTLE-HS who underwent an invasive study prior to an anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL). Intracranial EEG features were assessed for 99 seizure events from 25 selected patients who achieved seizure remission with ATL after an invasive study using bilateral combined depth and subdural electrodes. Their findings were compared to those of 21 seizure events in eight patients who exhibited suboptimal seizure outcomes. (3) Results: For the distribution of electrodes that recorded the ictal onset, hippocampal depth electrodes recorded 96% of all seizure events, while subdural electrodes recorded 52%. Among the seizures recorded in subdural electrodes, 49% were localized in medial electrodes, with only 8% occurring in lateral electrodes. The initiation of seizures exclusively detected in hippocampal depth electrodes was associated with successful seizure remission, whereas those solely recorded in the lateral strip electrodes were often linked to refractory seizures after ATL. (4) Conclusions: These findings emphasize the importance of employing a combination of depth and subdural electrodes in invasive studies for patients with MTLE-HS to enhance the accuracy of lateralization. This also cautions against sole reliance on subdural electrodes without depth electrodes, which could lead to inaccurate localization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Patients recovering from mild coronavirus disease (COVID-19) reportedly have dysphagia or difficulty in swallowing. We compared the prevalence of dysphagia between patients diagnosed with mild COVID-19 and those diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia alone. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted from January 2020 to June 2023 in 160 patients referred for a videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) to assess for dysphagia. The cohort included 24 patients with mild COVID-19 and aspiration pneumonia, 30 with mild COVID-19 without aspiration pneumonia, and 106 with aspiration pneumonia alone. We reviewed the demographic data, comorbidities, and VFSS results using the penetration–aspiration scale (PAS) and functional dysphagia scale (FDS). Results: In a study comparing patients with mild COVID-19 (Group A) and those with aspiration pneumonia alone (Group B), no significant differences were observed in the baseline characteristics, including the prevalence of dysphagia-related comorbidities between the groups. Group A showed milder dysphagia, as evidenced by lower PAS and FDS scores, shorter oral and pharyngeal transit times (p = 0.001 and p = 0.003, respectively), and fewer residues in the vallecula and pyriform sinuses (p < 0.001 and p < 0.03, respectively). When Group A was subdivided into those with COVID-19 with (Group A1) and without aspiration pneumonia (Group A2), both subgroups outperformed Group B in terms of specific VFSS metrics, such as oral transit time (p = 0.01), pharyngeal transit time (p = 0.04 and p = 0.02, respectively), and residue in the vallecula (p = 0.04 and p = 0.02, respectively). However, Group B showed improved triggering of the pharyngeal swallowing reflex compared with Group A2 (p = 0.02). Conclusion: Mild COVID-19 patients showed less severe dysphagia than those with aspiration pneumonia alone. This finding was consistent across VFSS parameters, even when the COVID-19 group was subdivided based on the status of aspiration pneumonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the importance of proper pharmacological treatment for preventing the relapse/recurrence of anxiety disorders is well known, a real-world data-based study has not been conducted. We aimed to investigate the effect of the initial pharmacological patterns related to continuous treatment and the choice of medication on the relapse/recurrence of anxiety disorders. We used claim data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, South Korea, of 34,378 adults who received psychiatric medications, including antidepressants, after being newly diagnosed with anxiety disorders. We compared the relapse/recurrence rate in the patients receiving continuous pharmacological treatment with those who discontinued treatment early using Cox's proportional-hazards model. Patients receiving continuous pharmacological treatment experienced a higher risk of relapse/recurrence than those who discontinued treatment. Using three or more antidepressants during the initial treatment period decreased the risk of relapse/recurrence (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 0.229 (0.204–0.256)); however, the combined use of antidepressants from the beginning of treatment increased the risk (aHR = 1.215 (1.131–1.305)). Factors other than continuous pharmacological treatment should be considered to effectively prevent the relapse/recurrence of anxiety disorders. The active use of antidepressants, including switching or adding medications based on progress and frequent follow-up visits during the acute phase, were significantly associated with a reduction in the relapse/recurrence of anxiety disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a new quantum state reconstruction method that combines ideas from compressed sensing, non-convex optimization, and acceleration methods. The algorithm, called Momentum-Inspired Factored Gradient Descent (MiFGD), extends the applicability of quantum tomography for larger systems. Despite being a non-convex method, MiFGD converges provably close to the true density matrix at an accelerated linear rate asymptotically in the absence of experimental and statistical noise, under common assumptions. With this manuscript, we present the method, prove its convergence property and provide the Frobenius norm bound guarantees with respect to the true density matrix. From a practical point of view, we benchmark the algorithm performance with respect to other existing methods, in both synthetic and real (noisy) experiments, performed on the IBM's quantum processing unit. We find that the proposed algorithm performs orders of magnitude faster than the state-of-the-art approaches, with similar or better accuracy. In both synthetic and real experiments, we observed accurate and robust reconstruction, despite the presence of experimental and statistical noise in the tomographic data. Finally, we provide a ready-to-use code for state tomography of multi-qubit systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, thanks to various support mechanisms, residential photovoltaics (PVs) for self-consumption are proliferating at a rapid pace. The net-metering scheme, one of the prevailing support mechanisms for self-consumption PVs, contributes to the proliferation of residential PVs by enhancing the economic benefits of PV adopters, but it suffers from certain disadvantages, such as missing network revenue of utilities and spread of cross-subsidies between the customers. This paper analyzes the cross-subsidy effect of residential PV proliferation across customer groups segmented according to their PV adoption and electricity consumption level under the net-metering scheme in the Korean electricity market. The results show that missing network revenue of utilities increase by about 0.83% for every 1% increase of residential PV penetration, and customers in the lowest usage tier provide more cross-subsidies toward customers in the higher usage tiers as with higher proliferation of residential PVs. In addition, this paper suggests that the cross-subsidy effect between customers can be reduced by introducing a new network charge design that is more consistent with the cost-causality principle as well as targeted deployment policies for self-consumption PVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We assessed the anthropometric measurements of bone defects in microform cleft lip. Methods: The external phenotypes of the nose and upper lip, and alveolar bone defects in microform cleft lip were measured anthropometrically using multimodal tools and clinical photographs. The height and thickness of the alveolar bone, paranasal hypoplasia, and alveolar volume were measured on CT. Results: Our study included 23 patients with unilateral microform cleft lip. The mean age of the patients was 13.84 ± 12.35 years (range: 1.25–50 years). Alveolar height (C1), thickness (C2), and paranasal hypoplasia (C3) were evaluated on 3D CT scans. The mean differences in C1, C2, and C3 between the cleft and normal sides were 5.52 ± 3.76 mm (p < 0.0001), 1.96 ± 2.8 mm (p < 0.0001), and 5.57 ± 9.72 mm (p < 0.0001), respectively. There was bony deficiency at the cleft side of the alveolar bone and paranasal area. In volumetric analysis, the means of the normal and cleft-side alveolar bone volumes were 6579 ± 2200 mm3 and 6528 ± 2255 mm3, respectively. The mean difference in alveolar bone volume between the cleft and normal sides was 51.05 ± 521 mm3 (p < 0.0001). C1 was positively correlated with lip height (F2; correlation coefficient (r) = 0.564, p = 0.0051) and dry vermilion thickness (F3; r = −0.543, p = 0.0074). The linear regression test revealed significant correlations between C1 and F2 (r2 = 0.318, p = 0.0051), and F3 (r2 = 0.295, p = 0.0074). However, there was no correlation between alveolar height and nasal anthropometric measurements. Conclusions: Alveolar bone deficiency was concordant with the severity of soft tissue in microform cleft lip. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global automakers are speeding up both the suspension of production of internal combustion engine vehicles and the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) in order to respond to global goals to become carbon-free and energy-efficient. Recently, vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology has reached the commercialization stage in Korea. Many studies have mostly discussed profits that an EV owner can make by participating in a regulation program. However, all the stakeholders who are involved with V2G service have not been sufficiently considered. Thus, we propose a novel framework for the economic valuation of V2G in ancillary service. Furthermore, to estimate the available capacity of V2G and find an optimal strategy in order for the V2G service to run, a data-driven approach is proposed in this research. Comprehensive simulation results show the optimal situation requiring the minimum financial support for the EV owner when the V2G-service operator aggregates AC chargers. In addition, promotions from government and public utilities can accelerate the V2G service into the ancillary service. As a final remark, given the flexibility of the proposed framework, it could be adapted to validate its performance in other countries, as part of future works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We analyzed an original case series of the classic ear-molding method and evaluated the efficacy and complication rate of the method compared to commercial ear-molding products by meta-analysis to draw conclusions on the efficacy of the classic method. Methods: From January 2019 to March 2022, we selected patients who underwent classic ear molding for newborn ear deformities at our institution and reviewed the patient age, treatment time, efficiency and complications. Additionally, the PubMed, EMBASE, and Scopus databases were searched, and meta-analysis (following the PRISMA guidelines) was performed. Results: In the case study, the success rate (excellent and good outcomes) of the classic ear-molding method was 92.6%. The mean age at application and mean duration of application were 5.81 ± 6.09 days and 32.13 ± 7.90 days, respectively. In the systematic review, the classic method group showed a statistically smaller success rate (proportion of 0.79) and statistically smaller complication rate (proportion of 0.05) than the commercial product group (proportion of 0.83). Conclusions: Compared with commercial products, classic ear molding has remarkable and comparable therapeutic effects on neonatal auricular deformities. Additionally, the classic ear-molding method is more suitable for infants with auricular deformities from socioeconomically vulnerable areas. Thus, the classic ear-molding method could be a better option for congenital ear anomalies than commercial ear-molding products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: Using the VR-based training program can be a starting point for developing more efficient methods for managing aggression in the general public. High aggression is common and costly for mental health problems in young adults. Because communication is a universal part of social relationships, including conflicts with others, it could be a possible target for mediating aggression. This study aimed to evaluate whether the virtual reality (VR)-based communication modification program can be utilized for aggression management. Fifty-eight individuals with high aggression (n = 30) and with low aggression (n = 28) completed psychological assessments associated with aggression and functional communication, and they participated in the program, consisting of the three tasks: exploring the communication style, practicing functional communication, and expressing empathy. The participants' selections and their visual analog scale scores, in response to questions in the tasks, were collected as behavioral data. Results indicated that the high aggression group selected blaming dysfunctional communication style more frequently than the low aggression group. VR-based parameters, expected to reflect dysfunctional communication-related characteristics, showed significantly different correlations with aggression-related traits between the two groups. These findings show that our program may accurately represent an individual's aggressive traits and elicit the appropriate reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We performed an animal study to identify the techniques associated with the best muscle healing outcomes in cleft lip/palate surgery. The right triceps of thirty adult male Sprague–Dawley rats were cut and repaired by three different suture techniques: simple (n = 10), overlapping (n = 10), and splitting sutures (n = 10). Muscle tissues were isolated from 5 rats per group 1 and 8 weeks postoperation. The inflammatory response and muscle fiber healing were evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, Western blotting, immunohistochemistry for TNF-α and IL-1β, and immunofluorescence for laminin and MyoD. Grip strength (N/100 g) and spatial gait symmetry were evaluated before surgery and 1, 2, 4 and 8 weeks postoperation. Eight weeks postoperation, grip force per weight was significantly higher in the simple suture (median, 3.49; IQR, 3.28–3.66) and overlapping groups (median, 3.3; IQR, 3.17–3.47) than the splitting group (median, 2.91; IQR, 2.76–3.05). There was no significant difference in range of motion between groups. The simple group exhibited significant remission of inflammation by H&E staining and lower expression of TNF-α and IL-1β than the other groups by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Immunofluorescence revealed stronger expression of MyoD and weaker expression of laminin in the splitting group than in the other groups at week 8, indicating prolonged inflammation and healing followed by poor muscle fiber remodeling. Simple and overlapping sutures demonstrated similar functional healing, although greater inflammation and failure to maintain a thicker muscle belly were observed in the overlapping suture group compared with the simple suture group. Therefore, reconstruction of the philtral column with overlapping sutures alone may result in limited long-term fullness, and additional procedures may be needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) is widely used to enhance bone regeneration. However, because of its short half-life and rapid disappearance, large amounts of BMP-2 are needed, leading to unintended side effects. In this study, BMP-2-encapsulated alginate microbeads (AM) were used to enhance bone regeneration. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay confirmed the sustained release of BMP-2 from AM. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-adsorbing aptamer-conjugated hydroxyapatite (Apt-HA) was used for osteoconduction and dual delivery of VEGF and BMP-2. For in vivo bone regeneration evaluation, the grafts (1) Apt-HA + phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), (2) Apt-HA + AM without BMP-2, (3) Apt-HA + BMP-2, and (4) Apt-HA + AM encapsulated with BMP-2 were implanted into rabbit tibial metaphyseal defects. After four weeks, micro-computed tomography (CT), histological, and histomorphometric analyses were performed to evaluate bone regeneration. The Apt-HA + AM with BMP-2 group revealed a significantly higher new bone volume and bone volume/total volume (BV/TV) in both cortical and trabecular bone than the others. Furthermore, as evaluated by histomorphometric analysis, BMP-2 AM exhibited a significantly higher bone formation area than the others, indicating that AM could be used to efficiently deliver BMP-2 through sustained release. Moreover, the combined application of BMP-2-encapsulated Apt-HA + AM may effectively promote bone regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: The elevation of glucose metabolism is linked to high-grade gliomas such as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). The high glycolytic phenotype is associated with cellular proliferation and resistance to treatment with chemotherapeutic agents in GBM. MicroRNA-542-3p (miR-542-3p) has been implicated in several tumors including gliomas. However, the role of miR-542-3p in glucose metabolism in human gliomas remains unclear; (2) Methods: We measured the levels of cellular proliferation in human glioma cells. We measured the glycolytic activity in miR-542-3p knockdown and over-expressed human glioma cells. We measured the levels of miR-542-3p and HK2 in glioma tissues from patients with low- and high-grade gliomas using imaging analysis; (3) Results: We show that knockdown of miR-542-3p significantly suppressed cellular proliferation in human glioma cells. Knockdown of miR-542-3p suppressed HK2-induced glycolytic activity in human glioma cells. Consistently, over-expression of miR-542-3p increased HK2-induced glycolytic activity in human glioma cells. The levels of miR-542-3p and HK2 were significantly elevated in glioma tissues of patients with high-grade gliomas relative to that in low-grade gliomas. The elevation of HK2 levels in patients with high-grade gliomas were positively correlated with the high levels of miR-542-3p in GBM and low-grade gliomas (LGG) based on the datasets from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Moreover, the high levels of miR-542-3p were associated with poor survival rate in the TCGA database; (4) Conclusions: miR-542-3p contributes to the HK2-mediated high glycolytic phenotype in human glioma cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia, and depression is a risk factor for developing AD. Epidemiological studies provide a clinical correlation between late-life depression (LLD) and AD. Depression patients generally remit with no residual symptoms, but LLD patients demonstrate residual cognitive impairment. Due to the lack of effective treatments, understanding how risk factors affect the course of AD is essential to manage AD. Advances in neuroimaging, including resting-state functional MRI (fMRI), have been used to address neural systems that contribute to clinical symptoms and functional changes across various psychiatric disorders. Resting-state fMRI studies have contributed to understanding each of the two diseases, but the link between LLD and AD has not been fully elucidated. This review focuses on three crucial and well-established networks in AD and LLD and discusses the impacts on cognitive decline, clinical symptoms, and prognosis. Three networks are the (1) default mode network, (2) executive control network, and (3) salience network. The multiple properties emphasized here, relevant for the hypothesis of the linkage between LLD and AD, will be further developed by ongoing future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is demonstrated that the heart-rate can be sensed capacitively on a touch screen panel (TSP) together with touch signals. The existing heart-rate sensing systems measure blood pulses by tracing the amount of light reflected from blood vessels during a number of cardiac cycles. This type of sensing system requires a considerable amount of power and space to be implemented in multi-functional mobile devices such as smart phones. It is found that the variation of the effective dielectric constant of finger stemming from the difference of systolic and diastolic blood flows can be measured with laterally interspaced top electrodes of TSP. The spacing between a pair of non-adjacent top electrodes turns out to be wide enough to distinguish heart-rate signals from noises. With the aid of fast Fourier transform, the heart-rate can be extracted reliably, which matches with the one obtained by actually counting heart beats on the wrist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A stretchable printed circuit board (PCB), which is an essential component of next-generation electronic devices, should be highly stretchable even at high levels of integration, as well as durable under repetitive stretching and patternable. Herein, an island-structured stretchable PCB composed of materials with controlled Young's modulus and viscosity by adding a reinforcing agent or controlling the degree of crosslinking is reported. Each material was fabricated with the most effective structures through a 3D printer. The PCB was able to stretch 71.3% even when highly integrated and was patterned so that various components could be mounted. When fully integrated, the stress applied to the mounted components was reduced by 99.9% even when stretched by over 70%. Consequently, a 4 × 4 array of capacitance sensors in a stretchable keypad demonstration using our PCB was shown to work, even at 50% stretching of the PCB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Campylobacter, a common foodborne human pathogen, is considered sensitive to oxygen. Recently, aerotolerant (AT) Campylobacter jejuni with the ability to survive under aerobic stress has been reported. Here, we investigated the prevalence of hyper-aerotolerant (HAT) Campylobacter coli from duck sources (118 carcasses and meat) and its characteristics to assess potential impacts on public health. Half of 56 C. coli isolates were HAT and most harbored various virulence genes including flaA, cadF, cdtA, ceuB, and wlaN. Moreover, 98.2% of C. coli isolates showed resistance to quinolones, including ciprofloxacin (CIP), and nine (16.1%) showed high-level resistance to ciprofloxacin (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration, MIC ≥ 32 μg/mL) and most of these were HAT. Based on genetic relatedness between C. coli from duck sources and those from human sources (PubMLST and NCBI), HAT isolates sharing the same MLST sequence types were significantly more prevalent than those not sharing the same sequence types as those from human sources. Therefore, HAT C. coli is prevalent in duck sources, and is most likely transmitted to humans through the food chain given its aerotolerance. This being so, it might pose a threat to public health given its virulence and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This study will assist in improving control strategies to reduce farm-to-table HAT C. coli transmission to humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human infections with Campylobacter are primarily associated with the consumption of contaminated poultry meat. In this study, we isolated Campylobacterjejuni from retail raw chicken and duck meat in Korea and compared their aerotolerance, antibiotic resistance, and virulence gene prevalence. Whereas C. jejuni isolates from chicken dominantly belonged to multilocus sequence typing (MLST) clonal complex (CC)-21, CC-45 is the common MLST sequence type in duck meat isolates. C. jejuni strains from both chicken and duck meat were highly tolerant to aerobic stress. The prevalence of virulence genes was higher in C. jejuni strains from chicken than those from duck meat. However, antibiotic resistance was higher in duck meat isolates than chicken isolates. Based on the prevalence of virulence genes and antibiotic resistance, fluoroquinolone-resistant C. jejuni strains harboring all tested virulence genes except virB11 were predominant on retail poultry. Fluoroquinolone-resistant C. jejuni strains carrying most virulence genes were more frequently isolated in summer than in winter. The comparative profiling analysis in this study successfully demonstrated that antibiotic-resistant and pathogenic strains of C. jejuni are highly prevalent on retail poultry and that retail duck meat is an important vehicle potentially transmitting C. jejuni to humans in Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The alteration of the cellular metabolism is a hallmark of glioma. The high glycolytic phenotype is a critical factor in the pathogenesis of high-grade glioma, including glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). GBM has been stratified into three subtypes as the proneural, mesenchymal, and classical subtypes. High glycolytic activity was found in mesenchymal GBM relative to proneural GBM. NADPH oxidase 2 (NOX2) has been linked to cellular metabolism and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in tumors. The role of NOX2 in the regulation of the high glycolytic phenotype and the gain of the mesenchymal subtype in glioma remain unclear. Here, our results show that the levels of NOX2 were elevated in patients with GBM. NOX2 induces hexokinase 2 (HK2)-dependent high glycolytic activity in U87MG glioma cells. High levels of NOX2 are correlated with high levels of HK2 and glucose uptake in patients with GBM relative to benign glioma. Moreover, NOX2 increases the expression of mesenchymal-subtype-related genes, including COL5A1 and FN1 in U87MG glioma cells. High levels of NOX2 are correlated with high levels of COL5A1 and the accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) in patients with GBM relative to benign glioma. Furthermore, high levels of HK2 are correlated with high levels of COL5A1 in patients with GBM relative to benign glioma. Our results suggest that NOX2-induced high glycolytic activity contributes to the gain of the COL5A1-mediated mesenchymal phenotype in GBM.