Search

By analyzing the data of different panel integrated temperature sensor solutions, figure out which solution is more suitable for vehicle application at this stage. Meanwhile, based on the parameters of sensor, give the appropriate design to apply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of diabetes and impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and their association with risk factors in the Korean population.Research Design and Methods: The Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey 2001 was a nationally representative survey with a stratified multistage sampling design. Data from a comprehensive questionnaire, a physical examination, and blood tests were obtained from 5,844 Korean adults (2,513 men and 3,331 women) aged >20 years.Results: The age-adjusted prevalence of diabetes in this Korean population was 7.6%, and the age-adjusted prevalences of previously diagnosed diabetes and newly diagnosed diabetes were 4.4 and 3.3%, respectively (fasting plasma glucose > or = 7.0 mmol/l). Overall, these results indicate that 8.1% or 1.4 million Korean men and 7.5% or 1.3 million Korean women have diabetes. The age-adjusted prevalence of IFG was 23.9%, using the new American Diabetes Association criteria (fasting plasma glucose 5.6-6.9 mmol/l). Diabetes prevalence increased with age and peaked in the oldest age-group; however, IFG prevalence did not show the same trend. Diabetes was found to be associated with age, BMI, blood pressure, triglyceride, HDL cholesterol, education levels, alcohol consumption, exercise, and a family history of diabetes.Conclusions: This study shows that diabetes and IFG are common in Korea, and about one-half of diabetes cases remain undiagnosed. These results emphasize the need to develop an urgent public program to improve the detection, prevention, and treatment of diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2D metal nanosheets have attracted significant attention as efficient catalysts for various important chemical reactions. However, the development of metal nanosheets with controlled compositions and morphologies has been slow due to the challenges associated with synthesizing thermodynamically unfavorable 2D structures. Herein, we report a synthesis route of freestanding Pd-Ag penta-twinned nanosheets (Pd-Ag ptNSs) with distinct 5-fold twin boundaries. Through the coreduction of Ag and Pd precursors on presynthesized Pd ptNSs, Ag could be homogeneously alloyed with Pd, leading to the formation of well-defined Pd-Ag ptNSs. The promotional effects of the bimetallic composition, 2D structure, and twin boundaries on catalysis were studied by using Pd-Ag ptNS-catalyzed H 2 production from formic acid decomposition as a model reaction. Notably, the catalytic activity of the Pd-Ag ptNSs drastically outperformed those of monometallic, bimetallic, and 3D counterparts, such as Pd ptNSs, Pd-Ag nanosheets without a TB, and Pd-Ag octahedral nanocrystals, demonstrating the promising potential of the integration of twin boundaries and multiple compositions in the development of high-performance 2D nanocatalysts.

Background: Orthopedic surgeons use manual measurements, acetate templating, and dedicated software to determine the appropriate implant size for total knee arthroplasty (TKA). This study aimed to use deep learning (DL) to assist in deciding the femoral and tibial implant sizes without manual manipulation and to evaluate the clinical validity of the DL decision by comparing it with conventional manual procedures., Methods: Two types of DL were used to detect the femoral and tibial regions using the You Only Look Once algorithm model and to determine the implant size from the detected regions using convolutional neural network. An experienced surgeon predicted the implant size for 234 patient cases using manual procedures, and the DL model also predicted the implant sizes for the same cases., Results: The exact accuracies of the surgeon's template were 61.54% and 68.38% for predicting femoral and tibial implant sizes, respectively. Meanwhile, the proposed DL model reported exact accuracies of 89.32% and 90.60% for femoral and tibial implant sizes, respectively. The accuracy ± 1 levels of the surgeon and proposed DL model were 97.44% and 97.86%, respectively, for the femoral implant size and 98.72% for both the surgeon and proposed DL model for the tibial implant size., Conclusion: The observed differences and higher agreement levels achieved by the proposed DL model demonstrate its potential as a valuable tool in preoperative decision-making for TKA. By providing accurate predictions of implant size, the proposed DL model has the potential to optimize implant selection, leading to improved surgical outcomes., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: If reduction images of fractures can be provided in advance with artificial-intelligence (AI)-based technology, it can assist with preoperative surgical planning. Recently, we developed the AI-based preoperative virtual reduction model for orthopedic trauma, which can provide an automatic segmentation and reduction of fractured fragments. The purpose of this study was to validate a quality of reduction model of Neer 3- or 4-part proximal humerus fractures established by AI-based technology., Methods: To develop the AI-based preoperative virtual reduction model, deep learning performed the segmentation of fracture fragments, and a Monte Carlo simulation completed the virtual reduction to determine the best model. A total of 20 pre/postoperative three-dimensional computed tomography (CT) scans of proximal humerus fracture were prepared. The preoperative CT scans were employed as the input of AI-based automated reduction (AI-R) to deduce the reduction models of fracture fragments, meanwhile, the manual reduction (MR) was conducted using the same CT images. Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and intersection over union (IoU) between the reduction model from the AI-R/MR and postoperative CT scans were evaluated. Working times were compared between the two groups. Clinical validity agreement (CVA) and reduction quality score (RQS) were investigated for clinical validation outcomes by 20 orthopedic surgeons., Results: The mean DSC and IoU were better when using AI-R that when using MR (0.78 ± 0.13 vs. 0.69 ± 0.16, p < 0.001 and 0.65 ± 0.16 vs. 0.55 ± 0.18, p < 0.001, respectively). The working time of AI-R was, on average, 1.41% of that of MR. The mean CVA of all cases was 81%±14.7% (AI-R, 82.25%±14.27%; MR, 76.75%±14.17%, p = 0.06). The mean RQS was significantly higher when AI-R compared with MR was used (91.47 ± 1.12 vs. 89.30 ± 1.62, p = 0.045)., Conclusion: The AI-based preoperative virtual reduction model showed good performance in the reduction model in proximal humerus fractures with faster working times. Beyond diagnosis, classification, and outcome prediction, the AI-based technology can change the paradigm of preoperative surgical planning in orthopedic surgery., Level of Evidence: Level IV., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Crack is found on the soil when severe drought comes, which inspires the idea to rationalize patterning applications using dried deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) film. DNA is one of the massively produced biomaterials in nature, showing the lyotropic liquid crystal (LC) phase in highly concentrated conditions. DNA nanostructures in the hydrated condition can be orientation controlled, which can be extended to make dryinginduced cracks. The controlled crack generation in oriented DNA films by inducing mechanical fracture through organic solvent-induced dehydration (OSID) using tetrahydrofuran (THF) is explored. The corresponding simulations show a strong correlation between the long axis of DNA due to the shrinkage during the dehydration and in the direction of crack propagation. The cracks are controlled by simple brushing and a 3D printing method. This facile way of aligning cracks will be used in potential patterning applications., (© 2024 The Authors. Advanced Materials published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Bakanae disease (BD), caused by the fungal pathogen Fusarium fujikuroi , is a serious threat to rice production worldwide. Breeding elite rice varieties resistant to BD requires the identification of resistance genes. Previously, we discovered a resistant quantitative trait locus (QTL), qFfR1 , in a Korean japonica rice variety, Nampyeong. In this study, we fine-mapped qFfR1 with a Junam *4 /Nampyeong BC 3 F 3 population and delimited its location to a 37.1 kb region on chromosome 1. Complementation experiments with seven candidate genes in this region revealed that OsI&#95;02728 is the gene for qFfR1 . This gene encodes a protein with a typical leucine-rich repeat (LRR) receptor-like protein structure. RNA-sequencing-based transcriptomic analysis revealed that FfR1 induces the transcription of defense genes, including lignin and terpenoid biosynthesis genes, pathogenesis-related genes, and thionin genes. These results may facilitate investigations into the molecular mechanisms underlying BD resistance, including molecular patterns of Fusarium fujikuroi interacting with FfR1 and players working in signal transduction pathways downstream of FfR1, and the breeding of new BD-resistant varieties by providing a BD resistance gene with its precise selection marker. This will contribute to efficient control of BD, which is becoming more prevalent according to temperature rises due to climate change.

Property optimization through orientation control of metal-organic framework (MOF) crystals that exhibit anisotropic crystal structures continues to garner tremendous interest. Herein, an electric field is utilized to post-synthetically control the orientation of conductive layered Cu 3 (HHTP) 2 (HHTP = 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexahydroxytriphenylene) crystals dispersed in an electronically insulating poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) oligomer matrix. Optical and electrical measurements are performed to investigate the impact of the electric field on the alignment of Cu 3 (HHTP) 2 crystals and the formation of aggregated microstructures, which leads to an ≈5000-fold increase in the conductivity of the composite. Notably, the composite thin-films containing aligned Cu 3 (HHTP) 2 crystals exhibit significant conductivity of ≈10 -3  S cm -1 despite the low concentration (≈1 wt.%) of conductive Cu 3 (HHTP) 2 . The use of an electric field to align Cu 3 (HHTP) 2 crystals can rapidly generate various desired patterns that exhibit on-demand tunable collective charge transport anisotropy. The findings provide valuable insights toward the manipulation and utilization of conductive MOFs with anisotropic crystal structures for various applications such as adhesive electrical interconnects and microelectronics., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) is a process that has gained significant attention in recent years due to its fundamental science and potential applications in materials science and nanotechnology. This technique involves controlled drying of a solution or dispersion of materials, forming structures with specific shapes and sizes. In particular, liquid crystal (LC) biopolymers have emerged as promising candidates for EISA due to their highly ordered structures and biocompatible properties after deposition. This review provides an overview of recent progress in the EISA of LC biopolymers, including DNA, nanocellulose, viruses, and other biopolymers. The underlying self-assembly mechanisms, the effects of different processing conditions, and the potential applications of the resulting structures are discussed.

Liquid crystals (LCs) have been adopted to induce tunable physical properties that dynamically originated from their unique intrinsic properties responding to external stimuli, such as surface anchoring condition and applied electric field, which enables them to be the template for aligning functional guest materials. We fabricate the fiber array from the electrically modulated (in-plain) nematic LC template using the chemical vapor polymerization (CVP) method. Under an electric field, an induced defect structure with a winding number of -1/2 contains a periodic zigzag disclination line. It is known that LC defect structures can trap the guest materials, such as particles and chemicals. However, the resulting fibers grow along the LC directors, not trapped in the defects. To show the versatility of our platform, nanofibers are fabricated on patterned electrodes representing the alphabets 'CVP.' In addition, the semifluorinated moieties are added to fibers to provide a hydrophobic surface. The resultant orientation-controlled fibers will be used in controllable smart surfaces that can be used in sensors, electronics, photonics, and biomimetic surfaces.

Toric focal conic domains (TFCDs) in smectic liquid crystals exhibit distinct topological characteristics, featuring torus-shaped molecular alignment patterns with rotational symmetry around a central core. TFCDs have attracted much interest due to their unique topological structures and properties, enabling not only fundamental studies but also potential applications in liquid crystal (LC)-based devices. Here, we investigated the precise spatial control of the arrangement of TFCDs using micropatterns and sublimation of TFCDs to estimate the energy states of the torus-like structures. Through simulations, we observed that the arrangement of TFCDs strongly depends on the shape of the topographies of underlying substrates. To accurately estimate the energetic effects of non-zero eccentricity and evaluate their thermodynamic stability, we propose a geometric model. Our findings provide valuable insights into the behavior of smectic LCs, offering opportunities for developing novel LC-based devices with precise control over their topological properties.

Despite numerous attempts to correct forward head posture (FHP), definitive evidence-based screening and diagnostic methods remain elusive. This study proposes a preliminary diagnostic methodology for FHP, utilizing a noninvasive body angle measurement system as a screening test for FHP and incorporating radiological parameters for sagittal alignment. We enrolled 145 adolescents for FHP screening. The forward neck tilt angle (FNTA), defined as the angle between the vertical line and the line connecting the participant's acromion and tragus, was measured using the POM-Checker (a noninvasive depth sensor-based body angle measurement system). A whole-spine standing lateral radiograph was obtained, and eight sagittal alignment parameters were measured. Statistical analyses of the association between the FNTA and eight sagittal alignment parameters were conducted. We used 70% of the participant data to establish a preliminary diagnostic model for FHP based on FNTA and each sagittal alignment parameter. The accuracy of the model was evaluated using the remaining 30% of the participant data. All radiological parameters of sagittal alignment showed weak statistical significance with respect to FNTA (best case: r = 0.16, p = 0.0500; cranial tilt). The proposed preliminary diagnostic model for FHP demonstrated 95.35% agreement. Notably, the model using FNTA without radiological parameters accurately identified (100%) participants who required radiographic scanning for FHP diagnosis. Owing to the weak statistical significance of the association between radiological parameters and external body angle, both factors must be considered for accurate FHP diagnosis. When a clear and severe angle variation is observed in an external body angle check, medical professionals should perform radiographic scanning for an accurate FHP diagnosis. In conclusion, FNTA assessment of FNTA through the proposed preliminary diagnostic model is a significant screening factor for selecting participants who must undergo radiographic scanning so that a diagnosis of FHP can be obtained.

Developing inorganic-organic composite polymers necessitates a new strategy for effectively controlling shape and optical properties while accommodating guest materials, as conventional polymers primarily act as  carriers that transport inorganic substances. Here, a universal approach is introduced utilizing mesoporous liquid crystal polymer particles (MLPs) to fabricate inorganic-organic composites. By leveraging the liquid crystal phase, morphology and optical properties are precisely controlled through the molecular-level arrangement of the host, here monomers. The controlled host material allows the synthesis of inorganic particles within the matrix or accommodation of presynthesized nano-inorganic particles, all while preserving the intrinsic properties of the host material. This composite material surpasses the functional capabilities of the polymer alone by sequentially integrating one or more inorganic materials, allowing for the incorporation of multiple functionalities within a single polymer particle. Furthermore, this approach effectively mitigates the drawbacks associated with guest materials resulting in a substantial enhancement of composite performance. The presented approach is anticipated to hold immense potential for various applications in optoelectronics, catalysis, and biosensing, addressing the evolving demands of the society., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Wild teas are valuable genetic resources for studying evolution and breeding. Here, we report the complete chloroplast genome of the ancient Korean tea 'Hadong Cheon-nyeon Cha' ( C. sinensis var. sinensis ), which is known as the oldest tea tree in Korea. This study determined seven Camellia sinensis var. sinenesis , including Hadong Cheon-nyeon Cha (HCNC) chloroplast genome sequences, using Illumina sequencing technology via de novo assembly. The chloroplast genome sizes ranged from 157,019 to 157,114 bp and were organized into quadripartite regions with the typical chloroplast genomes. Further, differences in SNPs and InDels were detected across the seven chloroplast genomes through variance analysis. Principal component and phylogenetic analysis suggested that regional constraints, rather than functional constraints, strongly affected the sequence evolution of the cp genomes in this study. These genomic resources provide evolutionary insight into Korean tea plant cultivars and lay the foundation for a better understanding of the ancient Korean tea plant HCNC.

Utilizing "You only look once" (YOLO) v4 AI offers valuable support in fracture detection and diagnostic decision-making. The purpose of this study was to help doctors to detect and diagnose fractures more accurately and intuitively, with fewer errors. The data accepted into the backbone are diversified through CSPDarkNet-53. Feature maps are extracted using Spatial Pyramid Pooling and a Path Aggregation Network in the neck part. The head part aggregates and generates the final output. All bounding boxes by the YOLO v4 are mapped onto the 3D reconstructed bone images after being resized to match the same region as shown in the 2D CT images. The YOLO v4-based AI model was evaluated through precision-recall (PR) curves and the intersection over union (IoU). Our proposed system facilitated an intuitive display of the fractured area through a distinctive red mask overlaid on the 3D reconstructed bone images. The high average precision values (>0.60) were reported as 0.71 and 0.81 from the PR curves of the tibia and elbow, respectively. The IoU values were calculated as 0.6327 (tibia) and 0.6638 (elbow). When utilized by orthopedic surgeons in real clinical scenarios, this AI-powered 3D diagnosis support system could enable a quick and accurate trauma diagnosis.

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are intriguing as a matrix for plasmonic metasurfaces made of gold nanorods (GNRs) because of their distinctive properties, including renewability, biodegradability, non-toxicity, and low cost. Nevertheless, it is very difficult to precisely regulate the positioning and orientation of CNCs on the substrate in a consistent pattern. In this study, CNCs and GNRs, which exhibit tunable optical and anti-icing capabilities, are employed to manufacture a uniform plasmonic metasurface using a drop-casting technique. Two physical phenomena-(i) spontaneous and rapid self-dewetting and (ii) evaporation-induced self-assembly-are used to accomplish this. Additionally, we improve the CNC-GNR ink composition and determine the crucial coating parameters necessary to balance the two physical mechanisms in order to produce thin films without coffee rings. The final homogeneous CNC-GNR film has consistent annular ring patterns with plasmonic quadrant hues that are properly aligned, which enhances plasmonic photothermal effects. The CNC-GNR multi-array platform offers above-zero temperatures on a substrate that is subcooled below the freezing point. The current study presents a physicochemical approach for functional nanomaterial-based CNC control., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

DNA is an anisotropic, water-attracting, and biocompatible material, an ideal building block for hydrogel. The alignment of the anisotropic DNA chains is essential to maximize hydrogel properties, which has been little explored. Here, we present a method to fabricate the anisotropic DNA hydrogel that allows precise control for the polymerization process of photoreactive cationic monomers. Scanning ultraviolet light enables the uniaxial alignment of DNA chains through the polymerization-induced diffusive mass flow using a concentration gradient. While studying anisotropic mechanical properties and orientation recovery according to the DNA chain alignment direction, we demonstrate the potential of directionally controlled DNA hydrogels as smart materials.

Orthopaedic surgeons need to correctly identify bone fragments using 2D/3D CT images before trauma surgery. Advances in deep learning technology provide good insights into trauma surgery over manual diagnosis. This study demonstrates the application of the DeepLab v3+ -based deep learning model for the automatic segmentation of fragments of the fractured tibia and fibula from CT images and the results of the evaluation of the performance of the automatic segmentation. The deep learning model, which was trained using over 11 million images, showed good performance with a global accuracy of 98.92%, a weighted intersection over the union of 0.9841, and a mean boundary F1 score of 0.8921. Moreover, deep learning performed 5-8 times faster than the experts' recognition performed manually, which is comparatively inefficient, with almost the same significance. This study will play an important role in preoperative surgical planning for trauma surgery with convenience and speed., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Recent years have shown the need for trustworthy, unclonable, and durable tokens as proof of authenticity for a large variety of products to combat the economic cost of counterfeits. An excellent solution is physical unclonable functions (PUFs), which are intrinsically random objects that cannot be recreated, even if illegitimate manufacturers have access to the same methods. We propose a robust and simple way to make pixelated PUFs through the deposition of a random mixture of fluorescent colloids in a predetermined lattice using capillarity-assisted particle assembly. As the encoding capacity scales exponentially with the number of deposited particles, we can easily achieve encoding capacities above 10 700 for sub millimeter scale samples, where the pixelated nature of the PUFs allows for easy and trustworthy readout. Our method allows for the PUFs to be transferred to, and embedded in, a range of transparent materials to protect them from environmental challenges, leading to improved stability and robustness and allowing their implementation for a large number of different applications.

Hypothesis: Colloidal particles in nematic liquid crystals (LCs) are of high interest for self-assembly of soft matter systems. When two free particles approach within a uniaxially-oriented nematic LC, an elastic force is generated due to the distorted nematic director configuration around them, allowing particles to self-assemble by an attractive force. We hypothesize that if particles are immobilized, repulsive forces emerge instead, causing the deflection of the interacting defects to compensate for the energy increase., Experiments: We fabricated tailored arrays of spherical silica microparticles via capillarity-assisted particle assembly (CAPA) to investigate the interactions of defects as a function of particle separation. By transferring the particle arrays from the CAPA templates to a glass substrate, we studied interacting boojum defect textures within thin LC films sandwiched between two substrates using polarized optical microscopy (POM)., Findings: We observed deflected boojum defects on arrays of fixed silica particles, confirming our hypothesis that the elastic repulsive force between the particles affects the defect orientation. The nematic director configuration is reconstructed by Landau-de Gennes q-tensor modeling, and simulated POM images are obtained by the Jones-Matrix method. Our results provide a new platform for controlling defect interactions and pave the way for future work to study topology and implement new defect based applications in LC films., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The planar spin glass pattern is widely known for its inherent randomness, resulting from the geometrical frustration. As such, developing physical unclonable functions (PUFs)-which operate with device randomness-with planar spin glass patterns is a promising candidate for an advanced security systems in the upcoming digitalized society. Despite their inherent randomness, traditional magnetic spin glass patterns pose considerable obstacles in detection, making it challenging to achieve authentication in security systems. This necessitates the development of facilely observable mimetic patterns with similar randomness to overcome these challenges. Here, a straightforward approach is introduced using a topologically protected maze pattern in the chiral liquid crystals (LCs). This maze exhibits a comparable level of randomness to magnetic spin glass and can be reliably identified through the combination of optical microscopy with machine learning-based object detection techniques. The "information" embedded in the maze can be reconstructed through thermal phase transitions of the LCs in tens of seconds. Furthermore, incorporating various elements can enhance the optical PUF, resulting in a multi-factor security medium. It is expected that this security medium, based on microscopically controlled and macroscopically uncontrolled topologically protected structures, may be utilized as a next-generation security system., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Controversy over artwork's authenticity is ongoing despite numerous technologies for copyright protection. Artists should build their own ways to protect the authority, but these are still open to piracy. Here, a platform is proposed for developing anticounterfeiting labels based on physical unclonable functions (PUFs), in an artist-friendly manner, brushstrokes. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which is natural, biocompatible, and eco-friendly, can be applied as a paint that shows entropy-driven buckling instability of the liquid crystal phase. Brushed and wholly dried DNA exhibits line-shaped zig-zag textures with inherent randomness as a source of the PUF, and its primary performance and reliability are systematically examined. This breakthrough enables the utilization of these drawings in a wider range of applications., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) represent crystalline materials constructed from combinations of metal and organic units to often yield anisotropic porous structures and physical properties. Postsynthetic methods to align the MOF crystals in bulk remain scarce yet tremendously important to fully utilize their structure-driven intrinsic properties. Herein, we present an unprecedented composite of liquid crystals (LCs) and MOFs and demonstrate the use of nematic LCs to dynamically control the orientation of MOF crystals with exceptional order parameters (as high as 0.965). Unique patterns formed through a facile multidirectional alignment of MOF crystals exhibit polarized fluorescence with the fluorescence intensity of a pattern dependent on the angle of a polarizer, offering potential use in various optical applications such as an optical security label. Further, the alignment mechanism indicates that the method is applicable to numerous combinations of MOFs and LCs, which include UV polymerizable LC monomers used to fabricate free-standing composite films.

Tiller number is an important trait associated with yield in rice. Tiller number in Korean japonica rice was analyzed under greenhouse conditions in 160 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a cross between the temperate japonica varieties Odae and Unbong40 to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs). A genetic map comprising 239 kompetitive allele-specific PCR (KASP) and 57 cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence markers was constructed. qTN3 , a major QTL for tiller number, was identified at 132.4 cm on chromosome 3. This QTL was also detected under field conditions in a backcross population; thus, qTN3 was stable across generations and environments. qTN3 co-located with QTLs associated with panicle number per plant and culm diameter, indicating it had pleiotropic effects. The qTN3 regions of Odae and Unbong40 differed in a known functional variant (4 bp TGTG insertion/deletion) in the 5' UTR of OsTB1 , a gene underlying variation in tiller number and culm strength. Investigation of variation in genotype and tiller number revealed that varieties with the insertion genotype had lower tiller numbers than those with the reference genotype. A high-resolution melting marker was developed to enable efficient marker-assisted selection. The QTL qTN3 will therefore be useful in breeding programs developing japonica varieties with optimal tiller numbers for increased yield.

Orientation-controlled polymeric fiber is one of the most exciting research topics to rationalize the multifunctionality for various applications. In order to realize this goal, the growth of polymeric fibers should be controlled using various techniques like extrusion, molding, drawing, and self-assembly. Among the various candidates to fabricate the orientation-controlled polymeric fibers, the template-assisted assembly guided by a liquid crystal (LC) matrix is the most promising because the template can be manipulated easily with various methods like surface anchoring, rubbing, geometric confinement, and electric field. This review introduces the recent progress toward the directed growth of polymeric fibers using the LC template. Three representative LC-templated polymerization techniques to fabricate fibers include chemical or physical polymerization from the monomers mixed in LC matrix, patterned fibers formed from LC-templated reactive mesogens, and orientation-controlled nanofibers by infiltrating vaporized monomers between LC molecules. The orientation-controlled polymeric fibers will be used in electro-optical switching tools, tunable hydrophilic or hydrophobic surfaces, and control of phosphorescence, which can open a way to design, fabricate, and modulate nano- to micron-scale fibers with various functions on demand., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Pelvic bone fracture is highly complex, and its anatomical reduction is difficult. Therefore, patient-specific customized plates have been developed using three-dimensional (3D) printing technology and are being increasingly used. In this study, the reduction status in five representative pelvic fracture models was compared between two groups: the 3D printing plate (3DP) group using a patient-specific 3D printed plate after virtual reduction and the conventional plate (CP) group using a conventional plate by manual bending. The 3DP and CP groups included 10 and 5 cases, respectively. The fractured models were reduced virtually and their non-locking metal plates were customized using 3D printing. The process of contouring the conventional plates to fit the contact surface of the bone with the bending tool was conducted by an experienced pelvic bone trauma surgeon. The reduction and fixation achieved using the two different plate groups was compared, and the significance of differences in the results was analyzed using paired t-tests, after verifying the normality of data distribution. The vertex distances between the surface of the bone and the contact surface of the plate were significantly lower in the 3DP group than in the CP group (0.407 ± 0.342 and 2.195 ± 1.643, respectively, P = 0.008). Length and angular variations, which are measurements of the reduction state, were also lower in the 3DP group than in the CP group (length variation: 3.211 ± 2.497 and 5.493 ± 3.609, respectively, P = 0.051; angular variation: 2.958 ± 1.977 and 4.352 ± 1.947, respectively, P = 0.037). The customized 3D printed plate in the virtual reduction model provided a highly accurate reduction of pelvic bone fractures, suggesting that the customized 3D printed plate may help ensure easy and accurate reduction., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

This study aims to propose an indoor air quality prediction method that can be easily utilized and reflects temporal characteristics using indoor and outdoor input data measured near the indoor target point as input to calculate indoor PM 2.5 concentration through a multiple linear regression model. The atmospheric conditions and air pollution detected in one-minute intervals using sensor-based monitoring equipment (Dust Mon, Sentry Co Ltd., Seoul, Korea) inside and outside houses from May 2019 to April 2021 were used to develop the prediction model. By dividing the multiple linear regression model into one-hour increments, we attempted to overcome the limitation of not representing the multiple linear regression model's characteristics over time and limited input variables. The multiple linear regression (MLR) model classified by time unit showed an improvement in explanatory power by up to 9% compared to the existing model, and some hourly models had an explanatory power of 0.30. These results indicated that the model needs to be subdivided by time period to more accurately predict indoor PM 2.5 concentrations.

Using improper wound care materials may cause impaired wound healing, which can involve scar formation and infection. Herein, we propose a facile method to fabricate a cell-alignment scaffold, which can effectively enhance cell growth and migration, leading to the reproduction of cellular arrangements and restoration of tissues. The principle is scratching a diamond lapping film that gives uniaxial nanotopography on substrates. Cells are seeded to follow the geometric cue via contact guidance, resulting in highly oriented cell alignment. Remarkable biocompatibility is also demonstrated by the high cell viability on various substrates. In vivo studies in a wound healing model in mice show that the scratched film supports directed cell guidance on the nanostructure, with significantly reduced wound areas and inhibition of excessive collagen deposition. Rapid recovery of the epidermis and dermis is also shown by histological analyses, suggesting the potential application of the scratching technique as an advanced wound dressing material for effective tissue regeneration.

We have fabricated patterned fibers using a small-molecular-weight liquid crystal (LC) and reactive mesogens (RMs) under controlled electric fields in which defect arrays are generated depending on the electrode configuration. For this, the AC electric field with interdigitated electrodes is used to develop versatile defect structures of the LC phase. Hydrophobic LC network (LCN) fibers exhibiting porous morphologies have been made by removing the LC part after the polymerization of RM. The resulting LCN fibers show a surface tension reduction characteristic compared to the neat RM film and a sticky characteristic with the water droplet, suggesting a facile way to fabricate the hydrophobic surface that can be used in microdroplet transport.

Shape memory polymers have great potential in the fields of soft robotics, injectable medical devices, and as essential materials for advanced electronic devices. Herein, light-triggered shape-memory thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) is reported using azido TPU grafted by the photoswitchable azo compound. The trans-cis transitions of the azobenzene on the side chain of the TPU induce the recoiling of the main chain, leading to shaping memory behavior. Under UV irradiation, cis-azo allows the oriented main chain to recoil to release residual stress and realize light-triggered shape memory behavior. The facile method proposed here for the preparation of azo-functionalized TPU can provide viable opportunities for soft robotics and smart TPU applications., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Creation of new two-dimensional (2D) architectures has attracted significant attention in the field of self-assembly for structural diversity and new functionalization. Although numerous 2D polymer nanosheets have been reported, 2D nanosheets with tubular channels have been unexplored. Herein, we describe a new strategy for the fabrication of stimulus-responsive conjugated polymer 2D nanosheets with hollow cavities. Amphiphilic macrocyclic diacetylenes self-assembled in an aqueous solution in a columnar manner to afford bilayered 2D nanosheets with intrinsically tubular nanochannels. UV-induced polymerization resulted in the generation of blue-colored tubular conjugated polydiacetylene 2D nanosheets. Immobilization of gold nanoparticles, fluorescence labeling with FRET phenomenon and colorimetric DNA sensing were demonstrated with these new 2D nanosheets. In addition, the free NH 2 containing polymerized 2D nanosheet was utilized for conductivity behavior and grafting on graphene oxide (GO)., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

As Internet of Things-based technologies continue to digitalize our society, the development of secure and robust identification systems against evolving adversaries remains a grave challenge. Recently, physical unclonable functions (PUFs) have garnered tremendous scientific interest due to their intrinsic randomness, which makes them difficult to counterfeit. Herein, we present a facile approach for fabricating optical PUFs using spontaneous mirror symmetry breaking of molecular self-assembly. The PUF composed of racemic helical structures that generate chiroptical signals exhibits high encoding capacity (∼10 13 000 ), precise recognition rate, and impressive reconfigurability. The present study demonstrates that the utilization of random symmetry breaking is a promising approach to the design of high-level security systems.

Controlling the orientation of two-dimensional materials is essential to optimize or tune their functional properties. In particular, aligning MXene, a two-dimensional carbide and/or nitride material, has recently received much attention due to its high conductivity and high-density surface functional group properties that can easily vary based on its arranged directions. However, erecting 2D materials vertically can be challenging, given their thinness of few nanometres. Here, vertical alignment of Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene sheets is achieved by applying an in-plane electric field, which is directly observed using polarised optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The electric field-induced vertical alignment parallel to the applied alternating-current field is demonstrated to be reversible in the absence of a field, back to a random orientation distribution. Interdigitated electrodes with uniaxially aligned MXene nanosheets are demonstrated. These can be further modulated to achieve various patterns using diversified electrode substrates. Anisotropic electrical conductivity is also observed in the uniaxially aligned MXene nanosheet film, which is quite different from the randomly oriented ones. The proposed orientation-controlling technique demonstrates potential for many applications including sensors, membranes, polarisers, and general energy applications., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Objectives: This study investigates the effects of charitable giving on the life satisfaction of older Korean adults, examining the moderating role of relationship satisfaction and social trust, as the indicators for social capital., Methods: Nationally representative sample of individuals aged 65 to100 ( N = 8,359) from the 2019 Social Survey was used for the analyses., Results: The results from Coarsened Exact Matching and Structural Equation Modeling show that charitable giving positively affects older Korean adults' life satisfaction. Moreover, the results of moderation analyses suggest that the effects of charitable giving on life satisfaction are stronger for those with lower levels of relationship satisfaction and social trust., Discussion: The results imply that social capital, such as relationship satisfaction or social trust, needs to be taken into consideration when exploring the effects of charitable giving in later life.

The Green Revolution allowed a large amount of nitrogen (N) fertilization to increase crop yield but has led to severe environmental pollution. Therefore, increasing the crop grain yield must be achieved without such considerable input of N fertilization. A large-grain japonica rice cultivar, Akita 63, significantly increased grain yield and improved N-use efficiency (NUE) for yield per amount of N absorbed by plants. This study found that the nonsense mutated GS3 gene, the gs3 allele of Akita 63, has a superior yield production with enlarged grain size. The gs3 allele increased the yield with improvements in harvest index and NUE for yields per plant N content by analyzing the near-isogenic line of rice plants with a large grain (LG-Notohikari), which was developed by introducing the gs3 allele of Akita 63 into normal-grain japonica cultivar, Notohikari. Thus, the gs3 allele would be promising for further yield increase without additional large input of N fertilization in non- gs3 -allele rice varieties., Competing Interests: The Authors did not report any conflict of interest., (© 2022 The Authors. Plant Direct published by American Society of Plant Biologists and the Society for Experimental Biology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Topological solitons have knotted continuous field configurations embedded in a uniform background, and occur in cosmology, biology, and electromagnetism. However, real-time observation of their morphogenesis and dynamics is still challenging because their size and timescale are enormously large or tiny. Liquid crystal (LC) structures are promising candidates for a model-system to study the morphogenesis of topological solitons, enabling direct visualization due to the proper size and timescale. Here, a new way is found to rationalize the real-time observation of the generation and transformation of topological solitons using cholesteric LCs confined in patterned substrates. The experimental demonstration shows the topologically protected structures arise via the transformation of topological defects. Numerical modeling based on minimization of free energy closely reconstructs the experimental findings. The fundamental insights obtained from the direct observations pose new theoretical challenges in understanding the morphogenesis of different types of topological solitons within a broad range of scales., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)