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Background This study aimed to understand whether the one-time chair stand test (CS-1) is useful for predicting the severity of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in 101 patients admitted to the hospital with acute respiratory failure. Methods This single-centered, prospective observational cohort study enrolled 101 critically ill adult patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who underwent the CS-1 as a dynamic evaluation tool in clinical practice between late April 2020 and October 2021. Data on demographic characteristics, symptoms, laboratory values, computed tomography findings, and clinical course after admission were collected. Furthermore, the data was compared, and the association between the intubation and non-intubation groups was determined. We also calculated the cutoff point, area under the curve (AUC), and 95% confidence interval (CI) of the change in oxygen saturation (ΔSpO2) during the CS-1. Results Thirty-three out of 101 patients (33%) were intubated during hospitalization. There was no significant difference in the resting SpO2 (93.3% versus 95.2%, P = 0.22), but there was a significant difference in ΔSpO2 during the CS-1 between the intubation and non-intubation groups (10.8% versus 5.5%, P 2 during the CS-1 (ρ = 0.60, P Conclusion For COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory failure, the CS-1 performed on admission was useful for predicting the severity of COVID-19. Furthermore, the CS-1 can be utilized as a remote and simple evaluation parameter. Thus, it could have potential clinical applications in the future.

Chemosensor arrays have a great potential for on-site applications in real-world scenarios. However, to fabricate on chemosensor array a number of chemosensors are required to obtain various optical patterns for multianalyte detection. Herein, we propose a minimized chemosensor array composed of only two types of carboxylate-functionalized polythiophene derivatives for the detection of eight types of metal ions. Upon recognition of the metal ions, the polythiophenes exhibited changes in their fluorescence intensity and various spectral shifts. Although both chemosensors have the same polymer backbone and recognition moiety, only the difference in the number of methylene groups contributed to the difference in the fluorescence response patterns. Consequently, the metal ions in aqueous media were successfully discriminated qualitatively and quantitatively by the chemosensor microarray on the glass chip. This study offers an approach for achieving a minimized chemosensor array just by changing the alkyl chain lengths without the necessity for many receptors and reporters.

Polymer field-effect transistors (PFETs) are among the most fascinating electronic devices because of their attractive properties, such as durability, environmental friendliness, and solution processability. To date, PFETs have been employed for the development of flexible displays, radio-frequency identification tags, flexible non-volatile memories, among others. Moreover, due to the above advantages, PFETs can be applied to disposable on-site analytical devices. In that regard, we have developed extended-gate type PFETs with molecular recognition biomaterials for protein sensing in aqueous media. The fabricated PFETs were used to successfully detect glycoproteins (immunoglobulin A, immunoglobulin G, and chromogranin A) without any complicated labeling processes. Since our proposed immunoassay, which is performed on the basis of extended-gate type PFETs, is rapid and easy-to-use, PFET will be an attractive platform for on-site monitoring devices in healthcare applications in the near future.

Background In Korea, there are two types of medical doctors: one practises conventional medicine (hereafter called a physician), and the other practises traditional medicine (hereafter called a Korean medical doctor). This study aimed to compare the provision of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) by these providers to CAM use per self-judgement in Korea. Methods We analysed 1668 Korean people via an internet survey with the Korean adopted version of the I-CAM-Q, namely, the International Questionnaire to measure use of CAM, to understand whether respondents used CAM based either on a prescription or advice from a physician or a Korean medical doctor or on self-judgement. Results In the previous 12 months, the proportions of respondents who were treated by a physician, who were treated by a Korean medical doctor and who were not treated by anyone were 67.9, 20.7 and 14.2%, respectively. Among the respondents who received CAM based on a prescription or advice from a physician, traditional Korean medicine practices and dietary supplements were commonly used; only a small percentage used other CAM therapies. Respondents who received CAM based on a prescription or advice from a Korean medical doctor showed similar results. Acupuncture and moxibustion, traditional Korean medicines (decoction), or cupping were more commonly used. Korean traditional medicines as over-the-counter (OTC) drugs were more commonly used by respondents who received CAM therapy based on a prescription or advice from a physician than by those who received CAM therapy based on a prescription or advice from a Korean medical doctor. A total of 74% of the responders used any CAM by self-judgement in the previous 12 months. Conclusions For the use of CAM in Korea, in addition to the Korean traditional medical care provided by Korean medical doctors, general physicians advised people regarding Korean traditional medical care and dietary supplements. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12906-018-2294-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.