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With the increasing demand for production of graphitic materials for various applications, it becomes crucial to get a fundamental understanding of how graphene layers grow on metal catalysts. Here, we performed an in situ heating transmission electron microscopy (TEM) study to understand the mechanism of graphitization of amorphous carbon (a-C) on Ni catalyst by following graphene growth at atomic resolution in real time. By discerning the Ni3C phase from the pure Ni phase during the graphitic carbon growth process, we demonstrate that growth occurs through the carbide graphitization of Ni3C. Additionally, during the graphitization, Ni diffusion has a crucial effect on the structure of the resulting graphene. Under our experimental conditions, we observed graphene contains islands of multilayers. Based on our in situ experimental results, we suggest a mechanism for graphitization of the a-C/Ni system and explain the dynamics resulting from Ni diffusion. Our study can contribute to the control of graphitization by using Ni catalyst in the production of graphene and other graphitic materials.

Applying individual eco-driving methods within a group of electric vehicles (EVs) is usually restricted by a preceding vehicle because the optimal velocity is different by type of EV. Driving with the same velocity for different types of vehicles is not a fundamental solution because of inefficiency. Overtaking a preceding vehicle allows enhancement of the driving efficiency, though it should be used carefully because energy consumption by the overtaking depends greatly on given conditions: time constraint for overtaking, the distance between intersections, vehicle type, and overtaking scheme. This paper introduces a system-level framework for vehicle overtaking velocity planning and scheduling to maximize the total driving efficiency of all vehicles. The framework starts with an accurate EV powertrain modeling of various vehicle types and derives the optimal velocity and acceleration for overtaking. Simulation results show the energy-efficient velocity planning for overtaking that reduces a driving cost function related to energy and delay. The proposed overtaking framework achieves 15% driving cost savings compared with the conventional group driving.

Coverage feedback is one of the key mechanisms for improving the effectiveness of fuzzers by measuring and comparing the executed code regions while processing input data. In general, such guidance should always improve the performance of fuzzers to better find unexplored code regions. However, proprietary systems with uncommon I/O interfaces (e.g., UAV system, IoT devices, satellite firmware) require extensive engineering/porting efforts to apply coverage feedback support in developing their fuzzing platform. In this paper, we evaluate the detailed efficacy of coverage feedback in fuzzing based on 44 real-world bugs we found using OSS-Fuzz. Our analysis uncovered when and how code coverage information can be helpful, and our experiment demonstrates that although coverage guidance is always helpful to some extent, its effectiveness depends on various external factors. Therefore, such factors should be carefully considered for optimizing the cost and efficiency in designing the fuzzing architecture of proprietary systems.

Studies on somatic mutations in cloned animals have revealed slight genetic variances between clones and their originals, but have yet to identify the precise effects of these differences within the organism. Somatic mutations contribute to aging and are implicated in tumor development and other age-related diseases. Thus, we compared whole genome sequencing data from an original dog with that of cloned dogs, identifying candidate somatic mutations that were disproportionately located within genes previously implicated in aging. The substitutional signature of cloning-specific somatic mutations mirrored the uniform distribution characteristic of the signature associated with human aging. Further analysis of genes revealed significant enrichment of traits associated with body size as well as the molecular mechanisms underlying neuronal function and tumorigenesis. Overall, the somatic mutations found in cloned dogs may indicate a conserved mechanism driving aging across species and a broad spectrum of pathway alterations.

Myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) is the most common cardiovascular disorder in dogs with a high prevalence, accounting for approximately 75% of all canine heart disease cases. MMVD is a complex disease and shows variable progression from mild valve leakage to severe regurgitation, potentially leading to heart failure. However, the molecular mechanisms and age-related changes that govern disease progression, especially at the early stage (B1) before the development of discernable clinical signs, remain poorly understood. In this prospective study, we aimed to compare gene expression differences between blood samples of aged beagle dogs with stage B1 MMVD and those of healthy controls using RNA sequencing. Clinical evaluation was also conducted, which revealed minimal differences in radiographic and echocardiographic measurements despite distinct biomarker variations between the two groups. Comparative transcriptomics revealed differentially expressed genes associated with extracellular matrix remodeling, prostaglandin metabolism, immune modulation, and interferon-related pathways, which bear functional relevance for MMVD. In particular, the top 10 over- and under-expressed genes represent promising candidates for influencing pathogenic changes in MMVD stage B1. Our research findings, which include identified variations in clinical markers and gene expression, enhance our understanding of MMVD. Furthermore, they underscore the need for further research into early diagnosis and treatment strategies, as, to the best of our knowledge, no prior studies have explored the precise molecular mechanisms of stage B1 in MMVD through total RNA sequencing.

While genetic markers related to meat production traits have been identified in many other cattle breeds, research on weight in Hanwoo cattle (Korean native cattle) is still insufficient. In this study, we performed expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis and differential gene expression analysis to detect candidate genes influencing the weight characteristics of 32 castrated Hanwoo cattle across 22 tissues and, we identified variants that affect gene expression levels. In total, we identified a total of 3,298 differentially expressed genes, among which we discovered key genes such as UBD, RGS2, FASN, and SCD that have functions related to adipogenesis, body weight, obesity, and lipid metabolism. Gene-set enrichment analysis revealed that candidate genes in adipose tissue are involved in metabolic pathways linked to obesity-related traits, adipose metabolism, and lipid metabolism. Additionally, we found that decreased expression of TRIM31 contributes to weight gain which can be explained by the associated candidate cis-eQTL genotypes for TRIM31 and their effect on differential gene expression between the lower and higher weight groups. Our findings revealed candidate genes associated with the weight of Hanwoo cattle and perhaps can provide comprehensive insights into the association of weight with various tissues beyond adipose tissue and muscle, indicating the potential for expanding the focus of livestock trait research.

Amivantamab is the first drug approved in EGFR exon 20 insertion-mutated NSCLC. Nevertheless, primary or secondary resistance to amivantamab is a frequent problem in clinical practice. We report a case of a patient with EGFR exon 20-mutated NSCLC who had primary resistance to amivantamab but was successfully treated by combining therapy of another EGFR exon 20 insertion-specific targeted drug mobocertinib and bevacizumab.

The application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across various industries necessitates the acquisition of relevant environmental data and the implementation of AI recognition learning based on this data. However, the data available in real-world environments are limited and difficult to obtain. Construction sites represent dynamic and hazardous environments with a significant workforce, making data acquisition challenging and labor-intensive. To address these issues, this experimental study explored the potential of generating synthetic data to overcome the challenges of obtaining data from hazardous construction sites. Additionally, this research investigated the feasibility of hybrid dataset in securing construction-site data by creating synthetic data for scaffolding, which has a high incidence of falls but low object recognition rates due to its linear object characteristics. We generated a dataset by superimposing scaffolding objects, from which the backgrounds were removed, onto various construction site background images. Using this dataset, we produced a hybrid dataset to assess the feasibility of synthetic data for construction sites and to evaluate improvements in object recognition performance. By finding the optimal composition ratio with real data and conducting model training, the highest accuracy was achieved at an 8:2 ratio, with a construction object recognition accuracy of 0.886. Therefore, this study aims to reduce the risk and labor associated with direct data collection at construction sites through a hybrid dataset, achieving data generation at a low cost and high efficiency. By generating synthetic data to find the optimal ratio and constructing a hybrid dataset, this research demonstrates the potential to address the problems of data scarcity and data quality on construction sites. The improvement in recognition accuracy of the construction safety management system is anticipated, suggesting that the creation of synthetic data for constructing a hybrid dataset can reduce construction safety-accident issues.

Recently, researchers have focused on improving motor performance and efficiency. To manufacture motors with performance and efficiency higher than those of motors manufactured through the additive process, compressibility verification through the parameter control of soft magnetic composites (SMCs) is essential. To this end, this study aims to select suitable powders for manufacturing high-performance, high-efficiency motors by exploring powder mixing ratios and milling times. Through physical property tests, the optimal mixing ratio is predicted using the Multi-Particle Finite Element Method (MPFEM) and powder compression molding analysis, and compressibility is predicted in view of the influence of a change in particle size as a function of the powder mixing ratio and milling time. In addition, based on the result of a comparative analysis of density through experiments and an analysis of internal defects through SEM, a 50:50 mixing ratio of hybrid atomizing and gas atomizing powders milled for 3 h provided the best compressibility. Therefore, the use of SMC cores fabricated using powder compression molding is expected to improve motor performance and efficiency.

Abstract Background To introduce and evaluate the efficacy of a simple punctal occlusion technique for dry eye patients. Methods Medical records of 79 eyes from 40 patients refractory to common dry eye conservative treatment who underwent multiple high-frequency radio-wave electro-punctal occlusion were retrospectively reviewed. Pre- and post-procedural ocular surface indices (Schirmer test, tear break-up time (TBUT), and corneal staining grade (Oxford scheme)) and subjective symptom scores (including frequency of artificial tear use, interval between procedures, and total repeat time) were analyzed. Results Average Schirmer test result was significantly (P

Abstract The strong clinical demand for more accurate and personalized health monitoring technologies has called for the development of additively manufactured wearable devices. While the materials palette for additive manufacturing continues to expand, the integration of materials, designs and digital fabrication methods in a unified workflow remains challenging. In this work, a 3D printing platform is proposed for the integrated fabrication of silicone-based soft wearables with embedded piezoresistive sensors. Silicone-based inks containing cellulose nanocrystals and/or carbon black fillers were thoroughly designed and used for the direct ink writing of a shoe insole demonstrator with encapsulated sensors capable of measuring both normal and shear forces. By fine-tuning the material properties to the expected plantar pressures, the patient-customized shoe insole was fully 3D printed at room temperature to measure in-situ gait forces during physical activity. Moreover, the digitized approach allows for rapid adaptation of the sensor layout to meet specific user needs and thereby fabricate improved insoles in multiple quick iterations. The developed materials and workflow enable a new generation of fully 3D printed soft electronic devices for health monitoring.

Objective In this study, metabolites that changed in the rumen fluid, urine and feces of dairy cows fed different feed ratios were investigated. Methods Eight Holstein cows were used in this study. Rumen fluid, urine, and feces were collected from the normal concentrate diet (NCD) (Italian ryegrass 80%: concentrate 20% in the total feed) and high concentrate diet (HCD) groups (20%: 80%) of dairy cows. Metabolite analysis was performed using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) identification, and statistical analysis was performed using Chenomx NMR software 8.4 and Metaboanalyst 4.0. Results The two groups of rumen fluid and urine samples were separated, and samples from the same group were aggregated together. On the other hand, the feces samples were not separated and showed similar tendencies between the two groups. In total, 160, 177, and 188 metabolites were identified in the rumen fluid, urine, and feces, respectively. The differential metabolites with low and high concentrations were 15 and 49, 14 and 16, and 2 and 2 in the rumen fluid, urine, and feces samples, in the NCD group. Conclusion As HCD is related to rumen microbial changes, research on different metabolites such as glucuronate, acetylsalicylate, histidine, and O-Acetylcarnitine, which are related to bacterial degradation and metabolism, will need to be carried out in future studies along with microbial analysis. In urine, the identified metabolites, such as gallate, syringate, and vanillate can provide insight into microbial, metabolic, and feed parameters that cause changes depending on the feed rate. Additionally, it is thought that they can be used as potential biomarkers for further research on subacute ruminal acidosis.

This manuscript presents a comprehensive study on the assembly of microchips using fluidic self-assembly (FSA) technology, with a focus on optimizing the spacing between binding sites to improve yield and assembly. Through a series of experiments, we explored the assembly of microchips on substrates with varying binding site spacings, revealing the impact of spacing on the rate of undesired chip assembly across multiple sites. Our findings indicate a significant reduction in incorrect assembly rates as the spacing increases beyond a critical threshold of 140 μm. This study delves into the mechanics of chip alignment within the fluid medium, hypothesizing that the extent of the alloy’s grip on the chips at different spacings influences assembly outcomes. By analyzing cases of undesired assembly, we identified the relationship between binding site spacing and the area of chip contact, demonstrating a decrease in the combined left and right areas of chips as the spacing increases. The results highlight a critical spacing threshold, which, when optimized, could significantly enhance the efficiency and precision of microchip assembly processes using FSA technology. This research contributes to the field of microcomponent assembly, offering insights into achieving higher integration densities and precision in applications, such as microLED displays and augmented reality (AR) devices.

Mixed tumors are well-circumscribed lesions exhibiting epithelial and/or myoepithelial cells and they usually occur in the skin and salivary glands. Soft tissue mixed tumors are extremely rare. Therefore, radiographic findings of soft tissue mixed tumors have very rarely been described in the radiologic literature. Here, we report a rare case of subungual mixed tumor in a 65-year-old female who presented with left 2nd finger pain, describe the radiographic findings, and discuss the differential diagnosis of the tumor.

Abstract We investigated the characteristics of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which rarely recurs after initial remission. This study retrospectively analyzed 392 neovascular AMD patients treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). All patients received three monthly loading doses of anti-VEGF injections, followed by a pro re nata (as needed) regimen for 24 months. The baseline characteristics associated with the odds of having no recurrence within 24 months were evaluated using multivariate modeling. After the initial three loading injections over 24 months, 58 (14.8%) eyes showed no exudative recurrence and did not require additional anti-VEGF injections. These patients without exudative recurrence had significantly better best-corrected visual acuity (P = 0.003) and lower central subfoveal thickness (P = 0.035) at 24 months than those with exudative recurrence. Additionally, the incidence of macular atrophy was significantly lower in the former than in the latter (8.6% vs. 21.9%; P = 0.020). Multivariate analysis revealed that younger age (odds ratio [OR], 0.901; P = 0.033), smaller lesion size (OR, 0.589; P = 0.016), and absence of fibrovascular pigment epithelial detachment (PED) (OR, 1.349; P = 0.028) were associated with higher odds of no recurrence during follow-up. Approximately 15% of the neovascular AMD patients showed no exudative recurrence after initial remission during the 24-month follow-up. The infrequent recurrence after initial remission correlated with younger age, smaller lesion size, and absence of fibrovascular PED.

Abstract Background To report about the therapy of benign eyelid tumors with a modified argon laser technique as an alternative to surgery. Methods Nineteen benign tumors of the eyelid were included in this study. After staining the surface of the tumor with a violet marker, low-energy argon laser photoablation was performed. A mean number of 312 spots (spot size ranging from 150 to 500 μm) with a power of 200 to 400 mW, and a duration between 0.1 and 0.2 s were applied. Results The eyelid tumors were located mainly in the lower eyelid (58%). Dermal nevi and papilloma were the most frequently treated lesions. Over a mean follow-up period of 10.5 months (range 6–18 months), all eyelid tumors were successfully treated by a single session of laser therapy. All patients were satisfied with the laser therapy and the cosmetic result. No postoperative complications were observed. No relapses occurred during follow-up. Conclusions Our modified method of argon laser therapy utilizes the staining of the surface of the eyelid tumor to increase the amount of thermal laser energy absorbed by the target. This novel technique is simple and effective for treating benign eyelid tumors.

Herein, we establish a novel isothermal digital amplification system termed digital nicking and extension chain reaction system-based amplification (dNESBA) by utilizing the isothermal NESBA technique and the newly developed miniaturized fluorescence monitoring system (mFMS). dNESBA enables parallel isothermal NESBA reactions in more than 10,000 localized droplet microreactors and read the fluorescence signals rapidly in 150 s by mFMS. This system could identify the genomic RNA (gRNA) extracted from target respiratory syncytial virus A (RSV A) as low as 10 copies with remarkable specificity. The practical applicability of dNESBA was also successfully verified by reliably detecting the gRNA in the artificial sputum samples with excellent reproducibility and accuracy. Due to the intrinsic advantages of isothermal amplifying technique including the elimination of the requirement of thermocycling device and the enhanced portability of the miniaturized read-out equipment, the dNESBA technique equipped with mFMS could serve as a promising platform system to achieve point-of-care (POC) digital molecular diagnostics, enabling absolute and ultra-sensitive quantification of various infectious pathogens even in an early stage.

Prolonged exposure to high temperatures is linked to a range of physiological responses in broiler chickens including reduced disease resistance, low growth rate, and high mortality rate. In this study, we investigated the effect of heat stress on gene expression levels in 4-week-old and 6-week-old chickens each exposed to environments conditioned at thermoneutral (21 °C) and high (32 °C) temperatures. The analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) using microarray revealed that genes underlying reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, cell nutrient intake, glucose metabolism, and circadian rhythm were differentially regulated in association with heat stress. We also found that the deviation in expression levels across the transcriptome in response to heat stress was significantly stronger (P< 2.2×10−16) in 6-week-olds compared to younger chickens. We finally observed a significant trend (r = 0.78, P< 2.2×10−16) that genes with a higher estimate of expression in the microarray were more likely to have a higher expression level in RNA-sequencing. Together, our findings provide comprehensive insights into the physiology involved in stress responses at varying developmental stages, which may facilitate chicken breeding to maximize their productivity under adverse conditions.

Vascular aging plays a pivotal role in the morbidity and mortality of older people. Reactive hyperemia index (RHI) detected by pulse amplitude tonometry (PAT) is a non-invasive measure of vascular endothelial function and aging-induced pathogenesis of both microvascular and macrovascular diseases. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to comprehensively identify germline genetic variants associated with vascular aging in a Korean population, which revealed 60 suggestive genes underlying angiogenesis, inflammatory response in blood vessels, and cardiovascular diseases. Subsequently, we show that putative protective alleles were significantly enriched in an independent population with decelerated vascular aging phenotypes. Finally, we show the differential mRNA expression levels of putative causal genes in aging human primary endothelial cells via quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). These results highlight the potential contribution of genetic variants in the etiology of vascular aging and may suggest the link between vascular aging and cardiovascular traits.

Abstract We investigated the characteristics of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in which exudation predominantly occurs as a subretinal fluid (SRF) during anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) treatment. A total of 509 treatment-naïve neovascular AMD patients treated with anti-VEGF for 24 months were retrospectively analyzed. The baseline characteristics to determine the odds of occurrence of SRF alone were evaluated using multivariate modeling. SRF was the sole manifestation of lesion activity in 209 (40.9%) eyes during follow-up. The visual outcome of eyes with only SRF occurrence during follow-up was comparable to that of eyes without exudative recurrence. In addition, the incidence of macular atrophy was significantly lower in eyes with only SRF occurrence (9.6%, 20 of 208 eyes) than in eyes without exudative recurrence (16.7%, 9 of 54 eyes, P = 0.018). Multivariate analysis revealed that better best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at baseline (odds ratio [OR], 0.306; P = 0.001), presence of SRF alone at baseline (OR, 5.256; P

Over the past decades, many radome designs to extend the angular scan range of phased-array antennas have been devised by utilizing dielectric materials and metamaterials. More recently, metasurface technology such as planar lenses and beam deflectors have been applied to phased arrays, enabling scan-angle enhancers to have a low profile. In this work, a physical Huygens’ metasurface (HMS) two-lens system for scan-angle doubling of a phased array is presented. For the HMS unit cells, the wire-loop topology is deployed to achieve high transmission for the required phase-angle shift. The proposed two-lens system is analyzed by full-wave simulations and experiments. The simulation results demonstrate that the scan angle doubles when the incident angle is below 15° in accordance to the design specification. Furthermore, the directivity degradation of the refracted beams by the two-HMS lenses is in good agreement with theory. Finally, a fabricated two-lens system with two $15\lambda $ long by $15\lambda $ wide metasurface lenses and a $16\times 16$ -element patch antenna array as a source is experimentally verified at ${\mathrm {10 \text {GHz}}}$ . The experimental results are in good agreement with the simulated results by showing angle-doubling performance with ±2° scan errors.

Abstract We evaluated the impact of macular fluid features on visual and anatomical outcomes in type 3 macular neovascularization (MNV) patients treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). We retrospectively enrolled 89 eyes with type 3 MNV with at least 12 months of follow-up. All patients were treatment-naïve and received a monthly loading injection of anti-VEGF for three months, followed by further injections as required. The association of baseline macular morphology, including intraretinal fluid (IRF) and subretinal fluid (SRF), with visual and anatomical outcomes was analyzed. At baseline, IRF was present in all enrolled patients (100%), and SRF was present in 43.8% (39/89) of them. After 12 months of treatment, no significant difference was found in terms of best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and changes in central foveal thickness between the eyes with (39) and without (50) SRF at baseline. In addition, the proportion of improved or worsened (gain or loss of more than three lines in the BCVA) visual acuity at 12 months was not significantly different among the groups. Incidence of macular atrophy during the treatment showed no difference between the groups, regardless of the presence of SRF. In conclusion, the macular fluid morphology, specifically SRF, in type 3 MNV showed no significant correlation with visual and anatomical outcomes during anti-VEGF treatment.

Spinal ependymomas are generally located in the intramedullary compartment in adults. Intradural extramedullary spinal ependymomas are extremely rare. Spinal ependymomas show various contrast enhancements on MRI. In this study, we report a rare case of a 52-year-old female who had a pathologically confirmed intradural extramedullary ependymoma that showed no enhancement on MRI.

Mammals experience similar stages of embryonic development, birth, infancy, youth, adolescence, maturity, and senescence. While embryonic developmental processes have been extensively researched, many molecular mechanisms regulating the different life stages after birth, such as aging, remain unresolved. We investigated the conserved and global molecular transitions in transcriptional remodeling with age in dogs of 15 breeds, which revealed that genes underlying hormone level regulation and developmental programs were differentially regulated during aging. Subsequently, we show that the candidate genes associated with tumorigenesis also exhibit age-dependent DNA methylation patterns, which might have contributed to the tumor state through inhibiting the plasticity of cell differentiation processes during aging, and ultimately suggesting the molecular events that link the processes of aging and cancer. These results highlight that the rate of age-related transcriptional remodeling is influenced not only by the lifespan, but also by the timing of critical physiological milestones.

Abstract We analyze the lattice dislocation trapping mechanism at the ferrite/cementite interface of the Isaichev orientation relationship by atomistic simulations combined with the anisotropic linear elasticity theory and disregistry analysis. We find that the lattice dislocation trapping ability is varied by initial position of the lattice dislocation. The lattice dislocation near the interface is attracted to the interface by the image force generated by the interface shear, while the lattice dislocation located far is either attracted to or repelled from the interface, or even oscillates around the introduced position, depending on the combination of the stress field induced by the misfit dislocation array and the image stress field induced by the lattice dislocation.

Abstract By using multiple satellite measurements, the changes of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) over South Korea were investigated from January to March 2020 to evaluate the COVID-19 effect on the regional air quality. The NO2 decrease in South Korea was found but not significant, which indicates the effects of spontaneous social distancing under the maintenance of ordinary life. The AODs in 2020 were normally high in January, but they became lower starting from February. Since the atmosphere over Eastern Asia was unusually stagnant in January and February 2020, the AOD decrease in February 2020 clearly reveals the positive effect of the COVID-19. Considering the insignificant NO2 decrease in South Korea and the relatively long lifetime of aerosols, the AOD decrease in South Korea may be more attributed to the improvement of the air quality in neighboring countries. In March, regional atmosphere became well mixed and ventilated over South Korea, contributing to large enhancement of air quality. While the social activity was reduced after the COVID-19 outbreak, the regional meteorology should be also examined significantly to avoid the biased evaluation of the social impact on the change of the regional air quality.

Large scale culture of adherent cells would benefit from a platform for continuous monitoring and control of cell growth and culture conditions. Here the authors develop an integrated, smart cell culture platform where cells are grown on multiple layers of thin sensors that can be wirelessly integrated across several incubators.

In 2020, COVID-19 was proclaimed a pandemic by the World Health Organization, prompting several nations throughout the world to block their borders and impose a countrywide lockdown, halting all major manmade activities and thus leaving a beneficial impact on the natural environment. We investigated the influence of a sudden cessation of human activity on tropospheric NO2 concentrations to understand the resulting changes in emissions, particularly from the power-generating sector, before (2010–2019) and during the pandemic (2020). NO2 was chosen because of its short lifespan in the Earth’s atmosphere. Using daily tropospheric NO2 column concentrations from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument, the geographic and temporal characteristics of tropospheric NO2 column were investigated across 12 regions in India, Pakistan, China, and South Korea (2010–2020). We analyzed weekly, monthly, and annual trends and found that the NO2 concentrations were decreased in 2020 (COVID-19 period) in the locations investigated. Reduced anthropogenic activities, including changes in energy production and a reduction in fossil fuel consumption before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as reduced traffic and industrial activity in 2020, can explain the lower tropospheric NO2 concentrations. The findings of this study provide a better understanding of the process of tropospheric NO2 emissions over four nations before and after the coronavirus pandemic for improving air quality modeling and management approaches.

Abstract Recent research has built a consensus that the binder plays a key role in the performance of high‐capacity silicon anodes in lithium‐ion batteries. These anodes necessitate the use of a binder to maintain the electrode integrity during the immense volume change of silicon during cycling. Here, Zn2+–imidazole coordination crosslinks that are formed to carboxymethyl cellulose backbones in situ during electrode fabrication are reported. The recoverable nature of Zn2+–imidazole coordination bonds and the flexibility of the poly(ethylene glycol) chains are jointly responsible for the high elasticity of the binder network. The high elasticity tightens interparticle contacts and sustains the electrode integrity, both of which are beneficial for long‐term cyclability. These electrodes, with their commercial levels of areal capacities, exhibit superior cycle life in full‐cells paired with LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 cathodes. The present study underlines the importance of highly reversible metal ion‐ligand coordination chemistries for binders intended for high capacity alloying‐based electrodes.

Being man’s best friend, dogs have been bred and selected for certain morphologic traits and breed-associated behaviours. Here, Plassais et al. analyse 722 canine whole genome sequences including modern breeds, wild canids and village dogs by GWAS and search for signatures of selection.

Driving range is one of the most critical issues for electric vehicles (EVs): running out of battery charge while driving results in serious inconvenience even comparable to a vehicle breakdown, as an effect of long fuel recharging times and lack of charging facilities. This may discourage EVs for current and potential customers. As an effect, the dimensioning of the energy subsystem of an EV is a crucial issue: the choice of the energy storage components and the policies for their management should be validated at design time through simulations, so to estimate the vehicle driving range under reference driving profiles. Thus, it is necessary to build a simulation framework that considers an EV power consumption model that accounts for the characteristics of the vehicle and the driving route, plus accurate models for all power components, including batteries and renewable power sources. The goal of this paper is to achieve such an early EV simulation, through the definition of a SystemC-AMS framework, which models simultaneously the physical and mechanical evolution, together with energy flows and environmental characteristics. The proposed solution extends the state-of-the-art framework for the simulation of electrical energy systems with support for mechanical descriptions and the AC domain, by finding a good balance between accuracy and simulation speed and by formalizing the new information and energy flows. The experimental results demonstrate that the performance of the proposed approach in terms of accuracy and simulation speed w.r.t. the current state-of-the-art and its effectiveness at supporting EV design with an enhanced exploration of the alternatives.

The genomic diversity of the domestic dog is an invaluable resource for advancing understanding of mammalian biology, evolutionary biology, morphologic variation, and behavior. There are approximately 350 recognized breeds in the world today, many established through hybridization and selection followed by intense breeding programs aimed at retaining or enhancing specific traits. As a result, many breeds suffer from an excess of particular diseases, one of many factors leading to the recent trend of "designer breed" development, i.e. crossing purebred dogs from existing breeds in the hope that offspring will be enriched for desired traits and characteristics of the parental breeds. We used a dense panel of 150,106 SNPs to analyze the population structure of the Australian labradoodle (ALBD), to understand how such breeds are developed. Haplotype and admixture analyses show that breeds other than the poodle (POOD) and Labrador retriever (LAB) contributed to ALBD formation, but that the breed is, at the genetic level, predominantly POOD, with all small and large varieties contributing to its construction. Allele frequency analysis reveals that the breed is enhanced for variants associated with a poodle-like coat, which is perceived by breeders to have an association with hypoallergenicity. We observed little enhancement for LAB-specific alleles. This study provides a blueprint for understanding how dog breeds are formed, highlighting the limited scope of desired traits in defining new breeds.

The Bouc–Wen hysteresis model has been extensively used to identify earthquake damage on civil structures where hysteretic behavior is expected. One of the challenging problems in the identification of Bouc–Wen parameters is overfitting, which is caused by too many nonphysical model parameters. Limit on the search domain of parameters helps to solve the problem. The unscented Kalman filter (UKF) is widely developed to find Bouc–Wen parameters. In order to improve the accuracy and convergence speed of conventional UKF, this study developed a constrained UKF (CUKF) which can be used for the simultaneous identification of the Bouc–Wen hysteretic model. The proposed CUKF is very helpful when certain parameters can be constrained in a physical sense. We compare the proposed CUKF with conventional UKF to validate its robustness and efficacy in identifying Bouc–Wen parameters.

The aims of this review were to identify symptoms experienced by head and neck cancer (HNC) patients and their prevalence, as well as to compare symptom coverage identified in HNC specific patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). Searches of Ovid Medline, Embase, PsychInfo, and CINAHL were conducted to identify studies. The search revealed 4569 unique articles and identified 115 eligible studies. The prevalence of reported symptoms was highly variable among included studies. Variability in sample size, timing of the assessments, and the use of different measures was noted across studies. Content mapping of commonly used PROMs showed variability and poor capture of prevalent symptoms, even though validation studies confirmed satisfactory reliability and validity. This suggests limitations of some of the tools in providing an accurate and comprehensive picture of the patient’s symptoms and problems.

Soft and flexible optoelectronic devices may provide effective routes toward retinal implants for enhanced visual functions. Here, the authors fabricate a curved array of flexible MoS2-graphene photodetectors and demonstrate its potential application as ophthalmic imaging element in mouse models.

Ketosis metabolic research on lactating dairy cattle has been conducted worldwide; however, there have been very few Korean studies. Biofluids from lactating dairy cattle are necessary to study ketosis metabolic diseases. Six Holstein cows were divided into two groups (healthy (CON) and subclinical ketosis diagnosed (SCK)). Rumen fluid and milk samples were collected using a stomach tube and a pipeline milking system, respectively. Metabolites were determined using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and they were identified and quantified using the Chenomx NMR Suite 8.4 software and Metaboanalyst 5.0. In the rumen fluid of the SCK group, butyrate, sucrose, 3-hydroxybutyrate, maltose, and valerate levels were significantly higher than in the CON group, which showed higher levels of N,N-dimethylformamide, acetate, glucose, and propionate were significantly higher. Milk from the SCK group showed higher levels of maleate, 3-hydroxybutyrate, acetoacetate, galactonate, and 3-hydroxykynurenine than that from the CON group, which showed higher levels of galactitol, 1,3-dihydroxyacetone, γ-glutamylphenylalanine, 5-aminolevulinate, acetate, and methylamine. Some metabolites are associated with ketosis diseases and the quality of rumen fluid and milk. This report will serve as a future reference guide for ketosis metabolomics studies in Korea.

Mobile systems such as smartphones require accurate estimation of the battery-related features including the remaining energy and operating time, especially as the the power consumption of user applications is growing continuously these days. We present an energy-aware smartphone application design framework that considers the battery’s state of charge (SOC), energy depletion rate, as well as the service quality of the target application. We use a verified-accurate battery energy estimation method in an Android-OS-based mobile computing system. The battery model considers the rate-capacity effect. We apply regression-based models for the power estimation of the major subsystems in the smartphone, and then aggregate the result to yield the whole system’s power. We first determine the quality of service for the location device (GPS), the display device (LCD), and the overall system (application). Then, we control the error rate of the GPS and the brightness of the display to acquire the maximum service quality of the system for a given car trip. We show the advantage of the proposed method with a case study of a trip. In this case, the smartphone guides a user’s car trip using its GPS navigation capabilities; to do this, we propose an adaptive algorithm that exploits our improved SOC estimation and considers the car’s variable velocity. This proposed adaptive power and service quality control of the GPS application improves the quality of service in this example case and ensures there is enough remaining battery for the trip to be completed. In contrast, conventional approaches to this task provide a lower quality of service and run out of battery before the trip finishes. In conclusion, if a trip plan is provided, an application using our method delivers the maximum quality of service, such as system endurance time, location error, and display brightness.

A ground source heat pump system is a high-performance technology used for maintaining a stable underground temperature all year-round. However, the high costs for installation, such as for boring and drilling, is a drawback that prevents the system to be rapidly introduced into the market. This study proposes a modular ground heat exchanger (GHX) that can compensate for the disadvantages (such as high-boring/drilling costs) of the conventional vertical GHX. Through a real-scale experiment, a modular GHX was manufactured and buried at a depth of 4 m below ground level; the heat exchange rate and the change in underground temperatures during the GHX operation were tracked and calculated. The average heat exchanges rate was 78.98 W/m and 88.83 W/m during heating and cooling periods, respectively; the underground temperature decreased by 1.2 °C during heat extraction and increased by 4.4 °C during heat emission, with the heat pump (HP) working. The study showed that the modular GHX is a cost-effective alternative to the vertical GHX; further research is needed for application to actual small buildings.

Currently, the most efficient and promising approach for generating large numbers of engraftable human skeletal myogenic progenitors from pluripotent stem cells requires the conditional in vitro overexpression of PAX7 using lentiviral vectors. Because a non-integrating approach would be preferable to eliminate or minimize the risk associated with random genomic integration, here we investigate whether transient expression of PAX7 using minicircle DNA would enable the generation of functional pluripotent stem cell-derived myogenic progenitors, equivalent to those generated by lentivirus. Our results demonstrate that upon multiple transfections, the minicircle approach allows for the scalable generation of myogenic progenitors and these undergo efficient terminal differentiation in vitro. However, transplantation of minicircle-generated myogenic progenitors resulted in limited engraftment. This is probably due to less efficient delivery and more transient PAX7 expression in these cultures since PAX7 downregulation is accompanied by high level of spontaneous differentiation. Thus, although the in vitro data shows that the minicircle approach could potentially replace the use of lentivirus, improvements in the transfection/expression system will be necessary before it will be a feasible strategy for the generation of myogenic progenitors for cell replacement therapy.

Recent reports have documented the differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells toward the skeletal myogenic lineage using transgene- and cell purification-free approaches. Although these protocols generate myocytes, they have not demonstrated scalability, safety, and in vivo engraftment, which are key aspects for their future clinical application. Here we recapitulate one prominent protocol, and show that it gives rise to a heterogeneous cell population containing myocytes and other cell types. Upon transplantation, the majority of human donor cells could not contribute to myofiber formation. As a proof-of-principle, we incorporated the inducible PAX7 lentiviral system into this protocol, which then enabled scalable expansion of a homogeneous population of skeletal myogenic progenitors capable of forming myofibers in vivo. Our findings demonstrate the methods for scalable expansion of PAX7+ myogenic progenitors and their purification are critical for practical application to cell replacement treatment of muscle degenerative diseases.

Abstract Background Indigenous cattle in Africa have adapted to various local environments to acquire superior phenotypes that enhance their survival under harsh conditions. While many studies investigated the adaptation of overall African cattle, genetic characteristics of each breed have been poorly studied. Results We performed the comparative genome-wide analysis to assess evidence for subspeciation within species at the genetic level in trypanotolerant N’Dama cattle. We analysed genetic variation patterns in N’Dama from the genomes of 101 cattle breeds including 48 samples of five indigenous African cattle breeds and 53 samples of various commercial breeds. Analysis of SNP variances between cattle breeds using wMI, XP-CLR, and XP-EHH detected genes containing N’Dama-specific genetic variants and their potential associations. Functional annotation analysis revealed that these genes are associated with ossification, neurological and immune system. Particularly, the genes involved in bone formation indicate that local adaptation of N’Dama may engage in skeletal growth as well as immune systems. Conclusions Our results imply that N’Dama might have acquired distinct genotypes associated with growth and regulation of regional diseases including trypanosomiasis. Moreover, this study offers significant insights into identifying genetic signatures for natural and artificial selection of diverse African cattle breeds.

The threshold exposure time for synthesis of vitamin D was simulated by using a radiative transfer model considering variations in total ozone, cloud, and surface conditions. The prediction of total ozone took the form of an empirical linear regression with the variables of meteorological parameters in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere and the climatology value of total ozone. Additionally, to consider cloud extinction after the estimation of clear-sky UV radiation using a radiative transfer model simulation, a cloud modification factor was applied. The UV irradiance was estimated at one-hour intervals, and then, to improve the temporal resolution of the exposure time simulation, it was interpolated to a one-minute resolution. Exposure times from the simulation clearly followed seasonal and diurnal cycles. However, upon comparison with observations, biases with large variations were found, and the discrepancy in the exposure time between the observations and simulations was higher in low UV irradiance conditions. The large deviations in the prediction errors for total ozone and the simplified assumption for the cloud modification factor contributed to the large deviations in exposure time differences between the model estimation and observations. To improve the accuracy of the simulated exposure time, improved predictions of total ozone with a more detailed cloud treatment will be essential.

Ocean-atmosphere energy exchange is an important factor in the maintenance of oceanic and atmospheric circulation and the regulation of meteorological and climate systems. Oceanic sensible and latent heat fluxes around the Korean Peninsula were determined using satellite-based air-sea variables (wind speed, sea surface temperature, and atmospheric specific humidity and temperature) and the coupled ocean-atmosphere response experiment (COARE) 3.5 bulk algorithm for six years between 2014 and 2019. Seasonal characteristics of the marine heat flux and its short-term fluctuations during summer typhoons were also investigated. air-sea variables were produced through empirical relationships and verified with observational data from marine buoys around the Korean Peninsula. Satellite-derived wind speed, sea surface temperature, atmospheric specific humidity, and air temperature were strongly correlated with buoy data, with R2 values of 0.80, 0.97, 0.90, and 0.91, respectively. Satellite-based sensible and latent heat fluxes around the peninsula were also validated against fluxes calculated from marine buoy data, and displayed low values in summer and higher values in autumn and winter as the difference between air-sea temperature and specific humidity increased. Through analyses of spatio-temporal fluctuations in the oceanic turbulent heat flux and variations in intensities of typhoons, this study assessed the possibility of monitoring air-sea energy exchange using satellite-based ocean turbulent heat fluxes during high-impact weather.

Although ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems are more efficient than conventional air source heat pump (ASHP) systems, their high initial investment cost makes it difficult to introduce them into small buildings. Therefore, the development of a method for reducing the installation costs of GSHPs for small buildings is essential. This study proposes a modular ground heat exchanger (GHX) for cost reduction and an improved workability of GSHPs. In addition, a numerical model was constructed for the analysis of the performance of the modular GHX. However, to easily introduce the new GHX at the building design stage, the development of a performance prediction method for the introduction of modular GHXs to small buildings is necessary. Therefore, the entering water temperature (EWT) equation was derived from the calculation methods in the heat transfer process, and the ground temperature model was developed in consideration of the operation condition. The numerical results showed that the average values of EWT and ground temperature were 8.11 °C and 8.00 °C, respectively under an average ambient temperature of 0.42 °C. In addition, the performance prediction model was compared with the numerical results. The results showed that the coefficient of variation of the root mean square error (RMSE) of the ground temperature and EWT model were 5.20% and 1.33%, respectively.

The exit wave is the state of a uniform plane incident electron wave exiting immediately after passing through a specimen and before the atomic-resolution transmission electron microscopy (ARTEM) image is modified by the aberration of the optical system and the incoherence effect of the electron. Although exit-wave reconstruction has been developed to prevent the misinterpretation of ARTEM images, there have been limitations in the use of conventional exit-wave reconstruction in ARTEM studies of the structure and dynamics of two-dimensional materials. In this study, we propose a framework that consists of the convolutional dual-decoder autoencoder to reconstruct the exit wave and denoise ARTEM images. We calculated the contrast transfer function (CTF) for real ARTEM and assigned the output of each decoder to the CTF as the amplitude and phase of the exit wave. We present exit-wave reconstruction experiments with ARTEM images of monolayer graphene and compare the findings with those of a simulated exit wave. Cu single atom substitution in monolayer graphene was, for the first time, directly identified through exit-wave reconstruction experiments. Our exit-wave reconstruction experiments show that the performance of the denoising task is improved when compared to the Wiener filter in terms of the signal-to-noise ratio, peak signal-to-noise ratio, and structural similarity index map metrics.

Using next-generation sequencing, we conducted a genome-wide scan of selective sweeps associated with selection toward genetic improvement in Thoroughbreds. We investigated potential phenotypic consequence of putative candidate loci by candidate gene association mapping for the finishing time in 240 Thoroughbred horses. We found a significant association with the trait for Ral GApase alpha 2 (RALGAP2) that regulates a variety of cellular processes of signal trafficking. Neighboring genes around RALGAP2 included insulinoma-associated 1 (INSM1), pallid (PLDN), and Ras and Rab interactor 2 (RIN2) genes have similar roles in signal trafficking, suggesting that a co-evolving gene cluster located on the chromosome 22 is under strong artificial selection in racehorses.

Metal gate technology is one of the most important methods used to increase the low on-current of tunnel field-effect transistors (TFETs). However, metal gates have different work-functions for each grain during the deposition process, resulting in work-function variation (WFV) effects, which means that the electrical characteristics vary from device to device. The WFV of a planar TFET, double-gate (DG) TFET, and electron-hole bilayer TFET (EHBTFET) were examined by technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulations to analyze the influences of device structure and to find strategies for suppressing the WFV effects in TFET. Comparing the WFV effects through the turn-on voltage (Vturn-on) distribution, the planar TFET showed the largest standard deviation (σVturn-on) of 20.1 mV, and it was reduced by −26.4% for the DG TFET and −80.1% for the EHBTFET. Based on the analyses regarding metal grain distribution and energy band diagrams, the WFV of TFETs was determined by the number of metal grains involved in the tunneling current. Therefore, the EHBTFET, which can determine the tunneling current by all of the metal grains where the main gate and the sub gate overlap, is considered to be a promising structure that can reduce the WFV effect of TFETs.

This paper proposes a sensor node activation method using the nature-inspired algorithm (NIA) for the target coverage problem. The NIAs have been used to solve various optimization problems. This paper formulates the sensor target coverage problem into an object function and solves it with an NIA, specifically, the bat algorithm (BA). Although this is not the first attempt to use the BA for the coverage problem, the proposed method introduces a new concept called bat couple which consists of two bats. One bat finds sensor nodes that need to be activated for sensing, and the other finds nodes for data forwarding from active sensor nodes to a sink. Thanks to the bat couple, the proposed method can ensure connectivity from active sensor nodes to a sink through at least one communication path, focusing on the energy efficiency. In addition, unlike other methods the proposed method considers a practical feature of sensing: The detection probability of sensors decreases as the distance from the target increases. Other methods assume the binary model where the success of target detection entirely depends on whether a target is within the threshold distance from the sensor or not. Our method utilizes the probabilistic sensing model instead of the binary model. Simulation results show that the proposed method outperforms others in terms of the network lifetime.