Hansol Chemical (South Korea)

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) has been widely used owing to its excellent processability and mechanical strength. However, films formed via strong hydrogen bonding are typically dense and brittle, which limits their practical applicability. Although various strategies have been investigated to overcome this issue, most approaches rely on hydrogel systems that often exhibit low mechanical strength and reduced durability due to solvent evaporation. In this work, a flexible and self-healable PVA-based elastomer film was successfully developed. The film was synthesized by incorporating polyethylene glycol (PEG) and 2,2′-ethylenedioxydiethanethiol (EDDET) into the PVA structure through disulfide covalent bonding. The resulting film exhibited excellent mechanical properties, with a tensile strength of 2.4 ± 0.2 MPa (mean ± SD, n = 5) and an elongation at break of 210 ± 3.2% (mean ± SD, n = 5), as well as a high dielectric constant of 12.4 ± 0.3 (mean ± SD, n = 5) at 105 Hz. When used as the dielectric layer in a capacitive tactile sensor, the film showed high sensitivity and maintained stable performance even after 10,000 cycles of repeated pressure loading. Furthermore, owing to the reversible nature of disulfide bonds, the film demonstrated effective self-healing behavior upon mechanical damage.

BRCA1 is a tumor suppressor gene encoding a protein which plays an essential role in the repair of DNA double strand break. Approximately 40% of its introns are composed of Alu elements. It is known that retrotransposons create an environment prone to non-allelic recombination (NAHR) between homologous sequences, which frequently cause deletion or duplication of exon(s) resulting in structural variations in the gene. Some mutations can directly impact protein function by causing frameshifts, the deletion of key domains, and abnormal RNA processing, possibly increasing tumorigenicity. Indeed, large-scale BRCA1 rearrangements caused by Alu elements have been observed in approximately 10-15% of hereditary breast cancer patients, most notably deletions of exons 5 through 7. Occasionally, mutated exons are excluded from splicing, resulting in protein isoforms with a limited function, which may be associated with drug resistance during treatment. Tumors with BRCA1 mutations exhibit homologous recombination deficiency (HRD), resulting in high sensitivity to PARP inhibitors and platinum-based chemotherapy. However, in some tumors, gene function may be partially restored through subsequent secondary rearrangements, which can lead to long-term drug resistance, demanding continuous molecular surveillance. It has been difficult to detect mutations in the BRCA gene caused by Alu elements using conventional PCR-based analysis or short-read next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies. However, the recent introduction of MLPA and long-read NGS technologies has significantly improved a detection rate of Alu-involved mutations in the BRCA gene. Advances in long-read sequencing technologies, such as Oxford Nanopore and PacBio, and in optical genome mapping tools provide the capability to analyze complex structural mutations. Furthermore, machine learning-based prediction tools, such as HRDetect and SVScore, have been developed to analyze genome-wide structural mutation patterns and HRD indicators more comprehensively, thereby contributing to the prediction of BRCA1/2 defects and treatment responses. The integration of these technologies is expected to enhance our comprehension of BRCA1-related structural mutations and serve as an important foundation for developing personalized treatment strategies for patients.

Abstract Purpose The long-term outcomes and efficacy of partial stapled hemorrhoidopexy (PSH) compared with those of conventional hemorrhoidectomy (CH) are not well understood. This study aimed to introduce a modified PSH and compare its clinical efficacy and safety with those of CH. Methods A prospective randomized controlled trial was conducted. This study was performed at a single hospital and involved six colorectal surgeons. In total, 110 patients were enrolled between July 2019 and September 2020. Patients were randomly assigned to undergo either PSH (group 1, n = 55) or CH (group 2, n = 55). Results The duration of analgesia requirement was shorter in the PSH group than that required in the CH group, although the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.096). However, the laxative requirement duration (P < 0.01), return to work (P < 0.01), satisfaction score (P < 0.01), and incontinence score (P = 0.014) were significantly better in the PSH group. The average and peak postoperative pain scores were significantly lower in the PSH group during the first 15 days after surgery. The overall complication rate in both groups was 9.1%, with no significant difference between the groups (P = 0.867). Conclusions Modified PSH demonstrated better improvement in symptoms, lower pain scores, and greater patient satisfaction than CH. Therefore, this surgical technique appears to be a safe and effective alternative for CH.

Pre-diabetes can develop into type 2 diabetes mellitus, but can prevented by regular exercise. However, the outcomes when combining unsupervised Kinect-based mixed-reality (KMR) exercise with continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) remain unclear. Therefore, this single-arm pilot trial examined changes in blood glucose (BG) concentrations over 672 hours (4 weeks), including a 2-week period of KMR exercise and CGM in individuals with pre-diabetes. This was a pre-and post-treatment case-control study with nine participants. General questionnaires were administered and body composition, fasting BG concentrations, and 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test (2-OGTT) results were measured pre-and post-treatment. Weekly average glucose concentrations, hyperglycemia rate, hypoglycemia rate, average glucose concentration over time, amount of physical activity, amount of food intake, and pre- and postprandial BG (immediately and 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes after lunch) were measured over 4 weeks (pre-test, exercise, and post -test weeks). Glucose concentrations were measured before exercising, between sets, and 30 and 60 minutes after exercise during the 2 weeks of unsupervised exercise (3 days/week). In all participants, body mass index (27.16±2.92 kg/m2), fasting BG (108.00±7.19 mg/dL), 2-OGTT (162.56±18.12 mg/dL), hyperglycemia rate (P=0.040), and 90-minute postprandial BG (P=0.035) were significantly reduced during the 2 exercise weeks, and the 2-OGTT result (P=0.044) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (P=0.046) were significantly reduced at the post -test as compared with the pre-test. This study found that 2 weeks of unsupervised KMR exercise reduced 2-OGTT, DBP, hyperglycemia rate, and 90-minute postprandial BG concentration. We believed this effect could be identified more clearly in studies involving a larger number of participants and longer durations of exercise.

From November 2021 to February 2022, 15 patients underwent total abdominal mesorectal excision for rectal cancer using the da Vinci single port system. The clinical and pathological results were analyzed retrospectively. All surgeries were performed without conversion. The mean distance from the tumor to the anal verge was 10 cm (range, 2-15 cm). The mean operative time was 191 minutes, the median docking time was 4 minutes (range, 2-10 minutes), and the estimated blood loss was 20 mL (range, 20-50 mL). The mean number of lymph nodes harvested was 16.5, the mean distal resection margin was 3.52 cm, and all patients had circumferential and distal tumor-free resection margins. One patient had minor anastomotic leakage. The mean length of hospital stay was 5.8 ± 2.5 days. Abdominal total mesorectal excision using the da Vinci single port system for rectal cancer is technically feasible and safe, with acceptable pathological and short-term clinical outcomes.

In the recent years, fast-charging is a battery technology that continues to be in demand for portable devices, electric vehicles and grid storage. Especially, fast charging capability has become one of the key features targeted by battery and EV industries. However, charging at high rates has been shown to accelerate degradation, causing both the capacity and power capability of batteries to deteriorate. In addition, the efficiency of fast charging depends on the materials and current in the battery, but also ambient temperature is emerging as an important issue. When the ambient temperature decreases, there is a decrease in performance and battery stability problems. This is the reason that the diffusion of Li-ion is slower in the electrodes and the electrolyte at low temperatures due to sluggish kinetics of interaction. Therefore, it is recommended to use low charging speed and voltage at low ambient temperature. In order to increase the fast charging efficiency, the material and battery design must be well designed, and among them, by improving the ionic conductivity of the binder, the resistance of the entire battery is lowered and the fast charging efficiency is improved. In addition, the resistance of material change at low temperature and its effect on fast-charging were also examined.

The Da Vinci SP robot system was recently introduced, but its safety and feasibility for rectal cancer compared with the currently used robot system have not been reported. This was a single-centre retrospective study. Data from patients who underwent abdominal total mesorectal excision (TME) from October 2015 to October 2022 were analysed. After propensity score matching, the short-term outcomes were compared. A total of 56 patient data were analysed. Intersphincteric resection was more common in the SP group (7 cases (25%) vs. 0 case (0%), p=0.001). The operation time was significantly shorter in SP (184 vs. 227.5min, p<0.0001), but the docking time was similar. The postoperative complications were similar. There were no differences in the postoperative pain score and length of hospital stay. The SP robotic system for abdominal TME has acceptable short-term and is safe and technically feasible.

Abstract A nonsynchronous low frequency vibration occurs in high-speed motor system with active magnetic bearing (AMB) was studied. The mechanism was analyzed from three aspects of actuator saturation, eddy current effects and external noises. The results show that the gain decrease caused by the actuator saturation is the main reason to induce the low frequency vibration, and the nonlinearity of electromagnetic force and switching power amplifier will further exacerbate the performance. The eddy current effects and external noises did not directly contribute to the low frequency vibration, but they will make the actuator more prone to saturation, so as to involve this matter. Then, the stability of AMB system with saturation nonlinearity was analyzed according to the extended Nyquist stability criterion method, and the compensation strategy based on the synchronous rotating frame (SRF) was present. For verification, a prototype of 100kW AMB-based PMSM and its system were developed and the experiments regarding to vibration response were carried out. The experimental results showed that the proposed compensation strategy could effectively filter out the synchronous component of the control current, so as to prevent the actuator saturation. In addition, during the rated speed of 30000r/m, the maximum rotor vibration amplitude with the compensator was reduced by about 21% compared with alone PID controller.