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Objectives: This study investigated the association between sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) and the risk of cardio‐cerebrovascular disease (CCVD) among older adults in South Korea. Methods: Data from 38,426 patients in the Korean National Health Insurance Service‐Senior Cohort from 2002 to 2019 were collected. The risk of CCVD includes both stroke and acute myocardial infarction. Propensity score matching (1:1) was used to identify pairs of individuals with and without SSNHL (n = 19,213 for cases and controls). Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to analyze the associations between variables. Results: Patients with SSNHL had a higher risk of CCVD (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.17, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.11–1.24) compared to those without. The risk of CCVD was higher among those who experienced a stroke than those who did not (HR = 1.17 95% CI = 1.10–1.25). Compared to their matched controls, patients with SSNHL were 1.69 times (HR = 1.69 CI = 1.46–1.94) more likely to have CCVD during the first 12 months of the follow‐up period. Conclusion: Older patients with SSNHL are at an increased risk of CCVD. Hence, a more attentive approach featuring aggressive monitoring of patients with SSNHL is required to lessen their risk of CCVD. Level of Evidence: 3 Laryngoscope, 134:2372–2376, 2024 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Among the older adults, hearing impairment is a common problem and may contribute to dementia. Objective: Therefore, we aimed to examine the association between hearing impairment and the risk of dementia among older adults in South Korea. Methods: Using the Korean National Health Insurance Service-Senior Cohort from 2005 to 2019, we collected data of 44,728 patients. Hearing impairment was determined using the national disability registry. Propensity score matching (1:1) was performed to match patients with and without hearing impairment (case: 22,364, control: 22,364). A Cox proportional hazards regression model was built to analyze the association between hearing impairment and dementia. Results: Patients with hearing impairment had a higher risk of dementia than those without hearing impairment (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.28, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.23–1.34). Assessing the degree of disability, both severe (HR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.16–1.35) and mild conditions (HR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.23–1.35) had an increased risk of dementia, respectively. Conclusions: Older patients with hearing impairment exhibit an increased risk of dementia, thereby warranting a new approach to dementia care among these patients regardless of the degree of hearing impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advances in electrocatalysts for the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) have led to several promising results, including the large‐scale production of low‐carbon fuels. One of the next steps in this route is the generation of economically and scientifically valuable multicarbon (e.g., C4) chemicals. However, this process has rarely been reported to‐date and has generally suffered from a low production rate (jpartial ≤ 0.097 mA cm−2) and Faradaic efficiency (FE) of ≤ 1%. This is largely due to the lack of efficient electrocatalysts for the complicated and interconnected reaction pathway of C4 generation. Herein, CuxIr1–x alloy nanoparticles (NPs) are shown to convert CO2 into (CH3)3COH (t‐BuOH) with a jpartial of 0.207 mA cm–2 at a FE of 14.8%, which is the best performance toward C4 production demonstrated so far. Furthermore, this study proposes a probable mechanism of C4 formation based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The findings suggest that the C4 production is facilitated by the strong electronic interaction between Cu and Ir and the high oxophilicity of the Ir‐rich surface, which enhances the binding strength of oxygen‐bound intermediates. This work opens the potential of Ir‐based alloys for the CO2RR and highlights the production of C4 chemicals beyond the currently available C1–C3 products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]