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Ji Won Park,1,&ast; Yoonki Hong,2,&ast; Chin Kook Rhee,3 Hye Sook Choi,4 Kyungjoo Kim,3 Kwang Ha Yoo,5 Ki-Suck Jung,6 Joo Hun Park1 1Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, South Korea; 2Department of Internal Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, South Korea; 3Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea; 4Department of Internal Medicine, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea; 5Department of Internal Medicine, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; 6Department of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Anyang, South Korea&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Joo Hun Park, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Ajou University School of Medicine, Worldcup road 164, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, 16499, South Korea, Tel +82-31-219-5116 ; +82-10-8379-8299, Fax +82-31-219-5124, Email jhpamc@naver.com; jhpamc@hanmail.netBackground: A comprehensive analysis of the effects of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) on COPD in a real-world setting is required due to safety concerns regarding ICS in COPD. This study aimed to explore the impact of ICS on the prognosis of Asian COPD patients in the real-life world.Methods: We examined 978 COPD patients registered in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) database and with their data linked to Health Insurance and Review Assessment (HIRA) data. The outcome measures were ascertained by HIRA from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2012. This study enrolled two arms; ICS users (N = 85, mean age = 66.7 ± 8.9 years) and non-ICS users (N = 893, mean age = 63.7 ± 9.7 years).Results: Compared to the non-ICS users, the ICS users had a higher rate of pneumonia, tuberculosis, and acute exacerbations (P< 0.05). Hospitalization due to respiratory causes was also higher among ICS users (P< 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that acute exacerbation was independently associated with the development of pneumonia (P< 0.05), whereas ICS therapy had a tendency to be associated with pneumonia. Another multivariate analysis demonstrated that old age, FEV1, ICS therapy, and pneumonia were independently associated with the occurrence of acute exacerbation (P< 0.05). The concomitant pneumonia (HR = 3.353, P = 0.004) was independently associated with higher mortality (P< 0.05).Conclusion: Our data demonstrated that the ICS users had a higher rate of pneumonia and tuberculosis and the concomitant pneumonia was independently associated with higher mortality, highlighting the importance of cautious and targeted administration of ICS in COPD.Keywords: COPD, inhaled corticosteroids, pneumonia, mortality

PurposeAs the aging of society progresses, the proportion of extremely older lung cancer patients has also increased; However, studies of these patients with non–small cell lung cancer are limited. Therefore, we investigated the initial treatment modalities and survival outcomes for patients aged 80 years or over.Materials and MethodsWe included a multicenter retrospective cohort from the Korean Association for Lung Cancer Registry, which surveys 10% of the newly diagnosed lung cancer patients across 52 hospitals in Korea. We analyzed and compared the 2014–2016 data of the non–small cell lung cancer patients aged ≥ 80 years and those aged < 80 years. ResultsOf the 6,576 patients reviewed, 780 patients were aged ≥ 80 years, and 5,796 patients were aged < 80 years. In the patients aged ≥ 80 years, surgery and radiation therapy resulted in longer patient survival among those with a resectable tumor (stage I–II) than the best supportive care (median survival, not reached [surgery] vs. 32.2 months [radiation therapy] vs. 11.43 months [best supportive care]). The duration of survival in patients with advanced-stage (IV) lung cancers was higher after chemotherapy than after the best supportive care (median survival, 8.63 months vs. 2.5 months). Patients with stage IV adenocarcinoma who received targeted therapy had better survival than those who did not (median survival, 9.0 months vs. 4.3 months).ConclusionEven in extremely older patients, active treatments, such as surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, can result in better survival outcomes than the best supportive care.

Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Copy number variation (CNV) in several genetic regions correlate with cancer susceptibility. Hence, this study evaluated the association between CNV and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the peripheral blood. Methods: Blood samples of 150 patients with NSCLC and 150 normal controls were obtained from a bioresource center (Seoul, Korea). Through an epigenome-wide analysis using the MethylationEPIC BeadChip method, we extracted CNVs by using an SVS8 software-supplied multivariate method. We compared CNV frequencies between the NSCLC and controls, and then performed stratification analyses according to smoking status. Results: We acquired 979 CNVs, with 582 and 967 copy-number gains and losses, respectively. We identified five nominally significant associations (ACOT1, NAA60, GSDMD, HLA-DPA1, and SLC35B3 genes). Among the current smokers, the NSCLC group had more CNV losses and gains at the GSDMD gene in chromosome 8 ( P=0.02) and at the ACOT1 gene in chromosome 14 ( P=0.03) than the control group. It also had more CNV losses at the NAA60 gene in chromosome 16 ( P=0.03) among non-smokers. In the NSCLC group, current smokers had more CNV gains and losses at the ACOT1 gene in chromosome 14 ( P=0.003) and at HLA-DPA1 gene in chromosome 6 ( P=0.02), respectively, than non-smokers. Conclusion: Five nominally significant associations were found between the NSCLC and CNVs. CNVs are associated with the mechanism of lung cancer development. However, the role of CNVs in lung cancer development needs further investigation.

Background: Previous studies reported a significant association between pneumonia outcome and the respiratory microbiome. There is increasing interest in the roles of bacterial extracellular vesicles (EVs) in various diseases. We studied the composition and function of microbiota-derived EVs in the plasma of patients receiving mechanical ventilation to evaluate whether they can be used as a diagnostic marker and to predict clinical outcomes. Methods: Plasma samples (n = 111) from 59 mechanically ventilated patients (41 in the pneumonia group; 24 in the nursing home and hospital-associated infection [NHAI] group) were prospectively collected on days one and seven. After isolating the bacterial EVs from plasma samples, nucleic acid was extracted for 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing. The samples were evaluated to determine the α and β diversity, bacterial composition, and predicted functions. Results: Principal coordinates analysis revealed significantly different clustering of microbial EVs between the pneumonia and non-pneumonia groups. The proportions of Lactobacillus, Cutibacterium, and Sphingomonas were significantly different between the pneumonia and non-pneumonia groups. In addition, the abundances of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium were significantly higher in the non-NHAI than the NHAI group. In the analysis of β diversity, the structure of microbial EVs differed significantly different between 28-day survivors and non-survivors (Bray-Curtis distance, p = 0.014). Functional profiling revealed significant differences between the pneumonia and non-pneumonia groups. The longitudinal change in predicted functions of microbial EV genes showed a significant difference between 28-day survivors and non-survivors. Conclusions: Bacterial microbiota–derived EVs in the plasma have potential as diagnostic and prognostic markers for patients receiving mechanical ventilation. Further large prospective studies are needed to determine the clinical utility of plasma microbiota-EVs in intubated patients.

PurposeWe investigated the intensive care unit (ICU) outcomes of patients who used targeted therapy compared to those who received cytotoxic chemotherapy.Materials and MethodsThis study was based on Korean administrative health insurance claims from 2015 to 2019. We extracted data on lung cancer patients (>18 years old) who were admitted to the ICU after receiving chemotherapy.Results6,930 lung cancer patients who received chemotherapy within 30 days before ICU admission were identified; the patients received cytotoxic chemotherapy (85.4%, n = 5,919) and molecular targeted therapy (14.5%, n = 1,011). Grade 4 neutropenia was identified only in the cytotoxic chemotherapy group (0.6%). Respiratory failure requiring ventilator treatment was more common in the cytotoxic chemotherapy group than in the targeted therapy group (HR, 3.30; 95% CI, 2.99–3.63), and renal failure requiring renal replacement therapy was not significantly different between the two groups (HR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.36–1.80). Patients who received targeted chemotherapy stayed longer in the ICU than the cytotoxic chemotherapy. The 28-day mortality was 23.4% (HR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.67–0.90, p < 0.05) among patients who received targeted agents compared with 29.6% among patients who received cytotoxic chemotherapy.ConclusionTargeted chemotherapy for lung cancer may contribute to increasing access to critical care for lung cancer patients, which may play a role in improving critical care outcomes of lung cancer patients.

In this work, we investigate the humidity-sensing performance on a humidity-sensitive p-channel field effect transistor (FET) having a floating-gate (FG) and a control-gate (CG) placing horizontally each other. A sensing layer is formed onto a part of the CG and the O/N/O stack over the FG by inkjet-printing process. The printed ink is composed of indium oxide (In₂O₃. nanoparticles and dimethylformamide (HCON(CH₃)₂) as solvent. DC/Pulsed measurements are carried out by switching chamber ambience between dry and humid N₂ at 25 °C. Pulsed measurement effectively alleviates the ID drift of the device. When the device is exposed to humidity, the |ID| is appreciably decreased in the p-channel FET-type sensor, since H₂O molecules act as an electron donor. The sensitivity of the sensor increases with increasing relative humidity up to about 68% and decreases with further increasing relative humidity.

BackgroundUntil recently, studies on long-term outcomes of critically ill patients with cancer have been mainly restricted to specific subgroups of patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term (5 years) clinical outcomes of patients who received intensive care unit (ICU) treatment using the Korean nationwide data.MethodsAll patients aged >18 years with ICU admission, according to the claims data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service from January 2008 to December 2010, were enrolled. The enrolled patients were followed up until December 2015. We analyzed clinical outcomes, including mortality after admission to the ICU. Critically ill patients were categorized into four subgroups: patients without cancer; with solid cancer except lung; with lung cancer; and with hematologic malignancies.ResultsAmong all critically ill patients admitted to the ICU (n = 323,765), the proportion of patients with cancer continued to increase from 21.5% in 2008 to 27.8% in 2010. Critically ill patients with cancer showed higher ICU mortality (18.6%) than those without cancer (13.2%, p < 0.001). There was no difference in ICU mortality at day 28 among patients without cancer (14.5%) and those with cancer which was not lung cancer or hematologic malignancies (14.3%, p = 0.28). Hazard ratios for the ICU mortality at 5 years were: 1.90 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.87–1.94) for lung cancer; 1.44 (95% CI: 1.43–1.46) for other solid cancers; and 3.05 (95% CI: 2.95–3.16) for hematologic malignancies, versus patients without cancer.Conclusion The results of this study suggest that, in the short term, the outcomes of critically ill patients with cancer were not significantly different from those of general patients, except for cases with lung cancer and hematologic malignancies. However, the long-term survival rate of patients with cancer was significantly worse than that of general critically ill patients.

BACKGROUND: Recent advances in critical care and infection control have led to improved intensive care unit (ICU) survival rates. However, controversy exists regarding the benefits of ICU treatment for patients with lung cancer. In this study, we evaluated the clinical outcomes of patients from the Korean national database, who had been diagnosed with lung cancer and had received ICU treatment. METHODS: We investigated patients in Korea who had been newly diagnosed with lung cancer between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2010. We classified these critically ill patients with lung cancer according to their lung cancer treatment pathways, with a specific focus on those who had undergone ICU treatment. RESULTS: We found that 31.3% of patients newly diagnosed with lung cancer had been admitted to the ICU for any reason, and 18.5% of patients with lung cancer were admitted to the ICU for reasons other than postoperative surgical lung cancer resection. The ICU mortality rate was 2.9% in patients admitted to the ICU for postoperative care and 47.5% in patients admitted for other reasons. Clinical cancer staging (HR, 7.02; 95% CI, 5.82–8.48; P

Microwave assisted thermal sterilization (MATS) is a novel microwave technology currently used in the commercial production of ready-to-eat meals. It combines surface heating of high-temperature circulation water with internal microwave heating in cavities. The heating pattern inside the food packages in a MATS process depends heavily on the electric field distribution formed by microwaves from the top and bottom windows of the microwave heating cavities. The purpose of this research was to study the effect of the electric field on 922 MHz microwave heating of ready-to-eat meals as they moved through the microwave chamber of a pilot-scale MATS system using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. A three-dimensional numerical simulation model was developed as a digital twin of the MATS process of food moving through the microwave chamber. The simulation showed that the electric field intensity of the MATS microwave cavity was greatest on the surface and side edge of the cavity and of the food. There was a strong similarity of the experimental heating pattern with that of the electric field distribution simulated by a computer model. The digital twin modeling approach can be used to design options for improving the heating uniformity and throughput of ready-to-eat meals in MATS industrial systems.

Background Although patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) experience high morbidity and mortality worldwide, few biomarkers are available for COPD. Here, we analyzed potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of COPD by using word embedding. Methods To determine which biomarkers are likely to be associated with COPD, we selected respiratory disease-related biomarkers. Degrees of similarity between the 26 selected biomarkers and COPD were measured by word embedding. And we infer the similarity with COPD through the word embedding model trained in the large-capacity medical corpus, and search for biomarkers with high similarity among them. We used Word2Vec, Canonical Correlation Analysis, and Global Vector for word embedding. We evaluated the associations of selected biomarkers with COPD parameters in a cohort of patients with COPD. Results Cytokeratin 19 fragment (Cyfra 21-1) was selected because of its high similarity and its significant correlation with the COPD phenotype. Serum Cyfra 21-1 levels were determined in patients with COPD and controls (4.3 ± 5.9 vs. 3.9 ± 3.6 ng/mL, P = 0.611). The emphysema index was significantly correlated with the serum Cyfra 21-1 level (correlation coefficient = 0.219, P = 0.015). Conclusion Word embedding may be used for the discovery of biomarkers for COPD and Cyfra 21-1 may be used as a biomarker for emphysema. Additional studies are needed to validate Cyfra 21-1 as a biomarker for COPD., Graphical Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB)-infected giant bullae are rare. A 55-year-old man was referred when an infected bulla did not respond to empirical treatment. Computed tomography showed a giant bulla in the right upper lobe with an air-fluid level and surrounding infiltrate. Sputum culture, acid-fast bacilli (AFB) stain, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for TB were negative. Percutaneous drainage of the bullous fluid was performed. AFB stain and PCR were positive in the drained fluid. The patient was given anti-TB drugs and later underwent obliteration of the pulmonary cavity using talc. To summarize, we report a patient with a TB-infected giant bulla that was treated successfully with anti-TB drugs and obliteration of the pulmonary cavity using talc.

This paper investigates the gas sensing characteristics of the MOSFET-type sensor having an inkjet-printed WS2 sensing layer. The drain current of the gas sensor increases when NO2 gas is injected into the test chamber since NO2 gas is an oxidizing gas that extracts electrons from the sensing layer. On the contrary, the drain current decreases when H2S gas is injected into the test chamber since H2S gas is a reducing gas that donates electrons to the sensing layer. In both cases, the change of the drain current increases as the gas concentration increases. However, for other gases (NH3 and CO2), the gas sensor has a small change of the drain current. The responses of the gas sensor to 10 ppm NO2, H2S, NH3, and CO2 gases are 15.20%, 7.18%, 1.66%, and 3.02%, respectively. Therefore, the WS2 sensor has a high selectivity for NO2 gas among the four target gases.

The food industry and the research community have shown interest in microwave pasteurization of packaged food products since the 1970s. Microwave heating offers possibilities of shorter processing time and better heating uniformity compared to conventional thermal processing using steam or hot water. It, thus, holds potential to deliver safe and higher quality foods. Factors that have hindered commercial applications of microwave pasteurization include engineering challenges in system design, relatively high costs for new equipment installation and operation, and un-familiarity with microwave heating systems. Consumer desire for convenience, food safety risks associated with e-commerce and home delivery of prepared meals, and regulatory requirements imposed by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in the USA have generated great commercial interest in in-package pasteurization technologies. In this paper, we will review pathogens of concern in designing thermal pasteurization processes, regulatory guidelines for pasteurization, and advancements in microwave pasteurization system designs. We offer opinions as to how microwave assisted pasteurization will help the food deliver safe and high quality ready-to-eat meals to consumers through various distribution methods.

Background There are few studies on intensive care unit (ICU) patients in the Republic of Korea. We analyzed the characteristics and mortality changes of all ICU patients over the last 8 years. Methods This study used the cohort of the National Health Insurance Corporation, which provides medical care to all residents of the Republic of Korea. The cohort consists of patients aged 20 years or older between 2003 and 2010 with a history of ICU admission. We analyzed changes in sex, age, household income, number of hospital beds, emergency admissions, and reasons for admission using the Cochran-Armitage trend test. The adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of mortality according to these variables and year of admission were calculated by Cox proportional hazards regression. Results The proportion of patients aged ≥70 years increased over that period, as did their average age (by 3.6 years). During the 8-year study period, the 3-year mortality rate was 32.91%-35.83%. The overall mortality was higher in males and older patients, in those with a lower household income and higher Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) score, those admitted to a hospital with a smaller number of beds, and those admitted via the emergency room. There was no significant change in crude mortality rate over the 8-year study period; however, the adjusted HR showed a decreasing trend. Conclusions Patients admitted to the ICU were older and had higher CCI score. Nevertheless, there was a temporal trend toward a decrease in the HR of long-term mortality.

Many molecular biomarkers have been suggested for the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment response of lung cancer, but their clinical availability remains limited. DNA methylation is one such promising biomarker because it is stable and easily detected. We conducted an epigenome-wide analysis using methyl binding domain (MBD) sequencing in tissues of lung cancer patients. Tumor and normal tissues were obtained from two patients who underwent surgery for non-small cell lung cancer. HOXA5, HOXA9, and other related genes were associated with the CGI-located DMRs in Patient 1, whereas the SSTR5 gene was found to be associated with the CGI-located DMRs in Patient 2. Interestingly, these DMR genes were mapped in the physical interaction networks that included previously known nonsmall cell lung cancer genes. This genome-wide DNA methylation study showed an association between newly identified DMRs in CpG island promoter regions and previously known target genes for lung cancer.

In this paper, a Field-Effect-Transistor (FET)-type gas sensor using the composite of Na2CO3 and NaNO2 as the sensing material is investigated. The sensor has a floating gate (FG) passivated by an insulator stack and a control gate (CG), which are formed in an interdigitated form in a horizontal direction. The inkjet printing process forms the sensing material on the interdigitated FG and CG. Just before forming the sensing material, a (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES) monolayer is formed to prevent diffusion of Na+ ions contained in the sensing material through the insulator layer. The sensor can be electrically programmed like a typical memory device due to the FG, which makes the calibration of the sensor possible. CO2 gas sensing properties of the sensor are characterized at an operating temperature of 160 °C. The results indicate that the proposed sensor produces a reasonable and repeatable response to a certain concentration of CO2.

In this work, we demonstrate the pulse scheme to obtain stable humidity sensing characteristics in Si FET-type humidity sensor using MoS2 film as a sensing layer. To investigate the reaction between H2O molecules and MoS2 film, the transfer characteristics (ID-VCG) and transient drain current behaviors (ID-t) are measured in both pMOSFET and nMOSFET sensors by DC measurement. To verify the effect of the pulse scheme, the pulsed I–V (PIV) and the ID-t are measured as a parameter of relative humidity. The ID drift of the FET-type sensor is effectively eliminated by applying the pulse to the control-gate (CG) of the FET-type humidity sensor.

Oxygen (O2) sensors are needed for monitoring environment and human health. O2 sensing at low temperature is required, but studies are lacking. Here we report, for the first time, that the performance of a field effect transistor (FET)-type O2 sensor operating at 25 °C was improved greatly by a physisorption sensing mechanism. The sensing material was platinum-doped indium oxide (Pt-In2O3) nanoparticles formed by an inkjet printer. The FET-type sensor showed excellent repeatability under a physisorption mechanism and showed much better sensing performance than a resistor-type sensor fabricated on the same wafer at 25 °C. The sensitivity of the sensor increased with increasing Pt concentration up to ∼10% and decreased with further increasing Pt concentration. When the sensing temperature reached 140 °C, the sensing mechanism of the sensor changed from physisorption to chemisorption. Interestingly, the pulse pre-bias before the read bias affected chemisorption but had no effect on physisorption.

Microwave assisted thermal sterilization and pasteurization systems, as emerging thermal processing technologies, use circulation water to reduce edge heating of the food packages in the microwave heating sections. Yet, the influence of the circulation water on microwave heating efficiency for food is unknown. This research studied the dielectric properties of purified water from a reverse osmosis unit and tap water over microwave frequencies of 150–2500 MHz at 23–120 °C and evaluated microwave loses in the circulation water. The values of the dielectric constant of purified and tap water decreased (P Industrial relevance The information from this research are highly relevant to industrial operations of microwave-assisted thermal sterilization and pasteurization systems of pre-packaged foods. The dielectric property data will contribute to the literature related to the physical properties of water in microwave heating.

Various biomarkers have emerged as potential surrogates to represent various subgroups of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which manifest with different phenotypes. However, the biomarkers representing never-smokers with COPD have not yet been well elucidated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the associations of certain serum and radiological biomarkers with the presence of COPD in never-smokers. To explore the associations of serum and radiological biomarkers with the presence of COPD in never-smokers, we conducted a cross-sectional patient cohort study composed of never-smokers from the COPD in Dusty Areas (CODA) cohort, consisting of subjects living in dusty areas near cement plants in South Korea. Of the 131 never-smokers in the cohort, 77 (58.8%) had COPD. There were no significant differences in the number of subjects with high levels of inflammatory biomarkers (>90th percentile of never-smokers without COPD), including white blood cell count, total bilirubin, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and C-reactive protein, or radiologic measurements (including emphysema index and mean wall area percentage) between never-smokers with COPD and those without COPD. However, the number of subjects with high uric acid was significantly higher in never-smokers with COPD than never-smokers without COPD (31.2% (24/77) vs. 11.1% (6/54); p = 0.013). In addition, multivariate analysis revealed that high uric acid was significantly associated with the presence of COPD in never-smokers (adjusted relative risk: 1.63; 95% confidence interval: 1.21, 2.18; p = 0.001). Our study suggests that high serum levels of uric acid might be a potential biomarker for assessing the presence of COPD in never-smokers.

This letter investigates the response of a wide detection range mercury ion sensor based on Si MOSFET having a floating-gate (FG) and a control-gate (CG) in horizontal direction. Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are formed between the FG and the CG by using an inkjet-printing method. The interaction between themercury ions and SWNTs is studied by measuring transient current response ( I–t ). Conductance change is measured from 1 fM to $\sim 10~\mu \text{M}$ in saturated transient current region. The measured transient response shows that the drain current ( ${I}_{{D}}$ ) is appreciably changed in p MOSFET sensor and almost notchanged in n MOSFET sensor. By analyzing the conductance change of the p MOSFET sensor with the concentration of mercury ions, it is shown that the work-function of SWNTs increases due to hole doping and the ${I}_{{D}}$ increases as a result.

The promotive effect of a pre-bias condition on the recovery speed of a field-effect transistor-type gas sensor, which has a horizontal control gate (CG) and floating gate (FG), is investigated in this letter. To verify the pre-bias effect in the recovery phase after the detection of H2S gas, a type of reducing gas, a 200-nm-thick layer of SnOx is deposited on top of the interdigitated CG and FG as a sensing material. A pulse measurement method is proposed to improve the recovery speed of the sensor for H2S gas sensing by applying a negative pre-bias condition to the CG before the read operation of the sensor. This method greatly accelerates the recovery and reduces the recovery time by 74% with a pre-bias of −3 V at 180° C. The mechanism is explained in terms of energy band theory. The pre-biasing method used with our gas sensor is beneficial for the continuous monitoring and for the rapid detection of various gases.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a complex disorder characterized by airflow limitation. Epigenetic control affects gene expression in the lung, and microRNAs (miRNAs) are one of the primary types of epigenetic modifiers. In this study, lung tissues were obtained from 15 COPD patients and 11 subjects with normal lung function. RNA was isolated from the samples, and small RNA sequencing was performed and miRNAs that were differentially expressed between the COPD and control lungs were identified. A total of 12 miRNAs were shown to be differentially expressed (false discovery rate (FDR)

An efficient pre-bias method is proposed in the reading operation of a Field-Effect-Transistor(FET)-type gas sensor which utilizes flatband voltage change of the sensing material formed between the control-gate (CG) and floating-gate (FG) of the FET. The proposed method improves greatly recovery speed and shortens recovery time by more than 10 times at 180 °C, which can reduce the power consumed by heater. Since the polarity of the pre-bias affects response, sensing and recovery speeds, it is possible to identify the redox characteristics of the detected gas. To verify experimentally the pre-bias effect, we apply pulses for the pre-biasing and reading to the sensor with a sensing material of 200-nm-thick SnO x layer to detect NO 2 gas as an example. The mechanism is explained theoretically by energy band theory. The pre-biasing method is expected to open a new biasing scheme which improves significantly sensing characteristics, gas identification, and power dissipation.

In this work, we propose Si FET-type gas sensors and barometric pressure sensors that can be efficiently integrated on the same substrate using CMOS process technology and report the measurement results. The gas sensor has a localized micro-heater capable of heating up to 124 °C with a power of 4 mW. NO 2 gas sensing is successfully achieved with this sensor. The barometric sensor has a built-in poly-Si temperature sensor that can simultaneously measure ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure. The measured atmospheric pressure varies with temperature, but with a designed neural network, accurate pressure can be obtained with an accuracy of 97.5 %.

Background: Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase (NOX) enzymes play important roles in generating reactive oxygen species; in particular, NOX4 plays a distinct role in regulating lung inflammation and apoptosis. Methods: We determined whether plasma NOX4 level can be used as a prognostic biomarker to guide weaning from mechanical ventilation. Plasma levels of NOX4 were measured at days 1 (NOX4d1) and 7(NOX4d7) after initiation of mechanical ventilation in 184 patients. Results: Median NOX4d7 levels in patients with extubation failure were significantly higher than those in patients with extubation success (24.2 ng/mL vs.15.2 ng/mL, P11 days (OR: 3.36; 95% CI: 1.62–6.99), APACHE score >21 (OR, 2.16; 95% CI, 1.03–4.52) and NOX4d7>18.2 ng/mL (OR: 3.13, 95% CI: 1.49–6.57) were associated with extubation failure.NOX4d7 level >18.2 ng/mL (hazard ratio[HR], 2.17; 95% CI, 1.19–3.97), coexisting cancer (HR: 2.22; 95% CI, 1.12–4.38), SOFA≥8 (HR: 2.06; 95% CI, 1.12–3.81) and APACHE>21 (HR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.05–3.18) were independently associated with 28-day mortality. Conclusions: Plasma NOX4 levels may help predict successful liberation from mechanical ventilation and 28-day mortality.