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Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic is known to impact in-hospital processes for acute stroke patients, potentially resulting in delays due to quarantine and screening measures. The purpose of this study was to determine effects of changes in in-hospital quarantine policies on quality of care for acute stroke patients. Methods: Hyperacute ischemic stroke patients who were admitted to Korea University Guro Hospital between January 2019 and February 2021 via the emergency department were included in this study. All had neurological symptoms within 6 h before arrival. As a mandatory COVID-19 real-time PCR screening test was implemented in March 2020, changes in quality indicators according to the progress of COVID-19 pandemic and changes in in-hospital quarantine policy, including door-to-image time (DIT), door-to-referral time, door-to-needle time (DNT), door-to-puncture time (DPT), and functional outcomes (discharge and 3-month modified Rankin's scale) were determined. Results: A total of 268 hyperacute stroke patients were analyzed. The number of hyperacute stroke patients gradually decreased as the pandemic progressed. Time indicators, including door-to-referral time, DIT, and DPT during the pandemic were increased. When pre-and post-COVID-19 screening epochs were compared, DIT, door-to-neurologist referral time, and DPT showed numerical increases. However, after accounting for potential confounders, a significant delay in DIT was found to be associated with the in-hospital COVID-19 quarantine policy. Discussion: Our study showed that enhancing in-hospital COVID-19 quarantine measures might increase the response time for hyperacute stroke care, suggesting an impact on the quality of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a performance comparison experiment with a vortex exhaust installed at the end of a ventilation device to enhance the effect induced by reducing indoor pollutants was conducted. The experiment was carried out by constructing a mock-up room with a limited indoor environment, and performances were compared based on the following two tests. First, to confirm the effect of pollutant reduction, the wind speed was measured based on the distance from each exhaust system to verify the depth and speed at which wind can flow. Pollutants were induced to the vortex exhaust, general exhaust gasses were generated, and their performances were compared. Second, Arizona dust was used to confirm the performance with regard to the removal of pollutants which existed in particulate form (PM 10), and for CO2 gas, a representative gaseous pollutant was used as a reference. Based on the results, it was confirmed that installing a vortex exhaust system can allow for the generation of wind speeds that allow propagation at greater depths (>110 mm) compared to cases in which general exhaust is used; accordingly, exhaust performance can be achieved at increased depths. In addition, the experiment confirmed that vortex exhaust can improve the efficiency of simultaneous removal of PM 10 and CO2 compared with general exhaust. Further, it was shown that installing a vortex exhaust system can remove PM 10 and CO2 farther from the exhaust port in a shorter period than a general exhaust port. In addition, it was inferred that vortex exhaust can be utilized to prevent indoor pollutants and diseases in combination with the latest technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid expansion of the non-fungible token (NFT) market, which grew over 200% in 2023 to reach $22 billion, has opened new avenues for fashion brands to engage consumers through digital fashion products under blockchain technology. This study investigated the effects of NFT promotional bundles that combine physical and NFT fashion items as a pair on consumer perceptions. By investigating the interaction effect between the brand type (luxury vs. non-luxury) and promotional bundle types (PHY+free NFT vs. NFT+free PHY), the research demonstrated how these bundles influenced consumers' perceived value, risk, and authenticity according to the brand type. The findings showed that while a freebie physical item can enhance consumers' perceived value of NFT products for non-luxury brands, it led to value-discounting inferences, particularly for luxury brands. This study contributes to the literature on NFT fashion by exploring consumer perceptions and providing insights for fashion retailers on effectively framing promotional bundles to maximize consumer engagement for NFT fashion products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The risk factors and outcomes associated with persistent Stenotrophomonas maltophilia bacteremia are not well-defined. This retrospective cohort study analyzed 214 cases of S. maltophilia bacteremia diagnosed between 2005 and 2022 at two university hospitals, focusing on the clinical and microbiologic characteristics and outcomes of persistent bacteremia. Persistent S. maltophilia bacteremia, defined as the detection of S. maltophilia for ≥5 days after the initial blood culture, occurred in 25.7% of cases and was significantly associated with mechanical ventilation, polymicrobial infections, and increased 30-day mortality. The early administration of appropriate antibiotics reduced the likelihood of persistence. Isolates from persistent cases demonstrated increased biofilm formation. Molecular typing revealed no specific genotype linked to bacteremia persistence. Resistance to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole significantly increased over the study period. Our study offers new insights into the under-explored issue of persistent S. maltophilia bacteremia, a condition that constitutes a notable proportion of bloodstream infections and carries high mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an acute febrile illness caused by the SFTS virus (SFTSV). We conducted this study to propose a scientific evidence-based treatment that can improve prognosis through changes in viral load and inflammatory cytokines according to the specific treatment of SFTS patients. This prospective and observational study was conducted at 14 tertiary referral hospitals, which are located in SFTS endemic areas in Korea, from 1 May 2018 to 31 October 2020. Patients of any age were eligible for inclusion if they were polymerase chain reaction positive against SFTSV, or showed a four-fold or higher increase in IgG antibody titers between two serum samples collected during the acute and convalescent phases. On the other hand, patients with other tick-borne infections were excluded. In total, 79 patients were included in the study. The viral load of the group treated with steroids was 3.39, 3.21, and 1.36 log10 RNA copies/reaction at each week since the onset of symptoms, and the viral load in patients treated with plasma exchange was 4.47, 2.60, and 2.00 log10 RNA copies/reaction at each week after symptom onset. The inflammatory cytokines were not reduced effectively by any specific treatment except IVIG for the entire treatment period. Secondary infections according to pathogens revealed four bacterial (26.7%) and one fungal (6.7%) infection in the steroid group. The viral load of SFTSV and inflammatory cytokines cannot be decreased by steroid and plasma exchange treatments. Secondary bacterial infections can occur when steroids are administered for the treatment of SFTS. Therefore, caution should be exercised when choosing treatment strategies for SFTS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measuring tissue oxygen concentration is crucial in understanding the pathophysiological process of hypoxia in head and neck cancer (HNC) and its significant role in cancer biology. This study aimed to determine the feasibility of T1 mapping using a variable flip angle (VFA) technique with stack of stars (SOS) trajectory sampling in HNC patients undergoing chemoradiotherapy (CRT). To evaluate the ability of SOS acquisition to detect T1, a phantom study was conducted and compared to conventional Cartesian acquisition (CART). Additionally, four newly diagnosed patients were recruited and underwent two scans each at baseline and inter-treatment. The repeatability of SOS and CART acquisitions was assessed by comparing the T1 measurements of CSF from the baseline and intra-treatment MRI studies. The changes in ∆T1 of the tumors during air and oxygen inhalation between baseline and inter-treatment scans were also evaluated. Our study found that the 3D VFA SOS sequence was effective in reducing motion artifacts compared to the conventional VFA sequence with CART sampling and the same scan time, as demonstrated by the results from the phantom and patient studies. In terms of repeatability, no significant correlation was observed between the variability in ΔT1 measurements of CSF obtained from SOS T1 maps. The SOS ΔT1 measurements showed higher consistency, as evidenced by the ICC values ranging from 0.52 to 0.92. The ∆T1 measurements on the primary tumors increased after the first CRT (p<0.05) for all patients who showed a positive treatment response, except for one patient (0.05

Mitochondrial homeostasis is controlled by biogenesis, dynamics, and mitophagy. Mitochondrial dysfunction plays a central role in cardiovascular and renal disease and omega-3 fatty acids (FAs) are beneficial for cardiovascular disease. We investigated whether omega-3 fatty acids (FAs) regulate mitochondrial biogenesis, dynamics, and mitophagy in the kidney and heart of adenine-induced uremic rats. Eighteen male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into normal control, adenine control, and adenine with omega-3 FA groups. Using Western blot analysis, the kidney and heart expression of mitochondrial homeostasis-related molecules, including peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1 alpha (PGC-1α), dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1), and phosphatase and tensin homolog-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1) were investigated. Compared to normal, serum creatinine and heart weight/body weight in adenine control were increased and slightly improved in the omega-3 FA group. Compared to the normal controls, the expression of PGC-1α and PINK1 in the kidney and heart of the adenine group was downregulated, which was reversed after omega-3 FA supplementation. Drp1 was upregulated in the kidney but downregulated in the heart in the adenine group. Drp1 expression in the heart recovered in the omega-3 FA group. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was decreased in the kidney and heart of the adenine control group but the mtDNA of the heart was recovered in the omega-3 FA group. Drp1, which is related to mitochondrial fission, may function oppositely in the uremic kidney and heart. Omega-3 FAs may be beneficial for mitochondrial homeostasis by activating mitochondrial biogenesis and PINK1-dependent mitophagy in the kidney and heart of uremic rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]