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Gaucher disease (GD) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by excessive accumulation of glucosylceramide in multiple organs. This study was performed to determine the detection rate of GD in a selected patient population with unexplained splenomegaly in Korea.This was a multicenter, observational study conducted at 18 sites in Korea between December 2016 and February 2020. Adult patients with unexplained splenomegaly were enrolled and tested for β-glucosidase enzyme activity on dried blood spots (DBS) and in peripheral blood leukocytes. Mutation analysis was performed if the test was positive or indeterminate for the enzyme assay. The primary endpoint was the percentage of patients with GD in patients with unexplained splenomegaly.A total of 352 patients were enrolled in this study (male patients, 199; mean age, 48.42 yr). Amongst them, 14.77% of patients had concomitant hepatomegaly. The most common sign related to GD was splenomegaly (100%), followed by thrombocytopenia (44.32%) and, anemia (40.91%). The β-glucosidase activity assay on DBS and peripheral leukocytes showed abnormal results in sixteen and six patients, respectively. Eight patients were tested for the mutation, seven of whom were negative and one patient showed a positive mutation analysis result. One female patient who presented with splenomegaly and thrombocytopenia was diagnosed with type 1 GD. The detection rate of GD was 0.2841% (exact 95% CI, 0.0072‒1.5726).The detection rate of GD in probable high-risk patients in Korea was lower than expected. However, the role of hemato-oncologists is still important in the diagnosis of GD.

Micro/meso-porous reduced graphite oxide (MMRGO) nanosheets were produced using precursor carbide-derived carbon (CDC), which was produced at a high temperature of 1200 °C, through a massive wet chemistry synthetic route involving graphite oxidation and microwave reduction. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) show that the MMRGO nanosheets were fabricated with 2–3 layers and ripple-like corrugations. N2 sorption isotherms confirmed that micro/meso-pores coexisted in the RGO sample from CDC. In the anode application of Li-ion batteries, this RGO sample had an enhanced capacity performance at the 0.1 C rate and 1 C rate, with ∼1200 mAh g−1 at the 100th cycle and ∼1000 mAh g−1 at the 200th cycle, respectively.

To improve the electrochemical performance of Li-S rechargeable batteries, tunable porous carbon materials, which are known as carbide-derived carbons (CDCs), are employed as adsorbents and conductive matrices for the cathodic sulfur materials. A new assembly for Li-S cells was developed by introducing multi-layer membranes as separators. The use of the multi-layer membranes enables the minimization of the shuttle effect by expanding the distance between the separators and blocking the penetration of the polysulfide. The best discharge capacity and cycle life were obtained with ten layers of PP membrane in a sulfur-CDC@1200 composite cathode, resulting in a discharge capacity of 670 mA h g−1 and a minimal gap in the charge-discharge capacity during cell cycling.

Carbide-derived carbon (CDC) is an attractive anode material for Li-ion battery applications because diverse pore textures and structures from amorphous to highly ordered graphite can be controlled by changing the synthesis conditions and precursor, respectively. To elucidate the unique cycling behavior of the post air-treated CDC anode, electrochemical performance was studied under variation of C-rates with structural changes before and after cycling. By tailoring the pore texture of CDCs as removal of amorphous phase by post air-activation, the anode electrode showed a high increase of capacity under prolonged cycling and under high C-rate conditions such as 0.3–1.0 C-rates. The discharge capacities of the treated CDC increased from 400 mAh g −1 to 913 mAh g −1 with increasing cycle number and were close to high initial irreversible value, 1250 mAh g −1 , at the 220th cycle under a 0.1C-rate condition, which are unique and unusual cyclic properties in carbon anode applications. Under high C-rate conditions, the discharge capacities started to increase from around 160 mAh g −1 and values of 415 mAh g −1 , 372 mAh g −1 , and 336 mAh g −1 , were observed at 0.3, 0.5, and 1.0 C-rates, respectively, at 600 cycles, demonstrating stable capacity performance.