Kimpo University

Evogliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor with a glucose-dependent mechanism of action, is widely used as a monotherapy or in combination with other agents. However, observational studies in routine clinical settings remain limited. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of evogliptin in combination with other antidiabetic agents frequently used in clinical practice. This study was conducted in 51 hospitals in South Korea. We evaluated evogliptin in three groups: the evogliptin add-on, evogliptin-switching, and initial combination groups. The primary endpoint was the change in haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels (%) from baseline to 12 weeks. The change in HbA1c (%) levels from baseline to 24 weeks was a secondary endpoint in the extended study. Proportions of patients achieving the HbA1c target, changes in fasting and postprandial glucose levels, and safety endpoints were also evaluated. Between-group comparisons were performed between the add-on and initial combination groups. In the 1596 patients of the effectiveness set, the mean changes in HbA1c levels at 12 weeks were -0.8% ± 1.2%, -0.3% ± 0.8% and -1.9% ± 1.4% for the evogliptin add-on, evogliptin-switching and initial combination groups, respectively. Among the 1920 patients in the safety set, 23 experienced adverse drug reactions, and there was no significant difference among the three groups. Evogliptin reduces blood glucose levels and is well-tolerated when used as an add-on, as a switch from other dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors, or as part of an initial combination therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

This study presents a solid-state additive manufacturing strategy for fabricating high-density, electrically conductive copper (Cu) coatings on aluminum (Al) substrates using the cold spray additive manufacturing (CSAM) process. Significant enhancements in coating density, electrical and thermal conductivities, and interfacial bonding strength were observed with increasing inlet gas temperature and pressure, attributable to more effective plastic deformation and resultant dynamic recrystallization. By optimizing the inlet gas temperature and pressure to 1000 °C and 50 bar, respectively, Cu deposits with properties approaching those of bulk Cu—including an electrical conductivity of 98 % IACS and a thermal conductivity of 384 W·m −1 ·K −1 —were successfully achieved. Simultaneously, interfacial bonding strengths exceeding 50 MPa were achieved without the need for post-deposition heat treatments. Microstructural analyses revealed that elevated inlet gas conditions promoted dynamic recrystallization within the Cu coatings and facilitated diffusion bonding with the Al substrate through the formation of intermetallic compounds. Furthermore, localized thermal input from the deposition process induced partial recovery within the Al substrate, resulting in a chemically and mechanically stable Cu Al interface with minimal residual stress. These findings demonstrate that the CSAM process enables the deposition of robust, bulk-like Cu layers on Al in the as-sprayed state, offering a scalable, cost-effective, and geometrically versatile alternative to conventional cladding techniques. This study addresses key challenges in Cu Al joining and paves the way for the broader application of Cu coatings in high-performance, lightweight structural and electrical components. • Dense Cu coatings deposited on Al substrates via CSAM (relative density ~ 98 %). • Electrical conductivity (98 % IACS) and thermal conductivity (384 W·m −1 ·K −1 ) achieved. • Interfacial IMC formation and solid-state diffusion enhancing bonding strength (>50 MPa). • Dynamic recrystallization of Cu and localized recovery of Al confirmed by EBSD. • Scalable route for fabricating robust Cu Al bimetallic structures without post-heat treatment.

Point-of-care (POC) tests for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) are widely used in hospital laboratories. However, there is a lack of comparative studies focusing on pregnancy POC devices that test urine. In this study, we aimed to evaluate four commonly used pregnancy POC devices in Korea. From March to May 2023, remnant clinical urine samples were collected from 200 patients, consisting of 100 confirmed pregnant women and 100 nonpregnant women. The evaluated devices included the AllCheck hCG Card (Calth, Korea), Card ASAN Easy Test hCG (Asanpharm., Korea), Humasis hCG Card (Humasis, Korea), and careUS BEBE-CHECK (Wells bio, Korea). Among the four pregnancy POC devices, we observed a 99% negative percent agreement and 97% positive percent agreement. Only four samples showed discrepancies in results, which could be attributed to early pregnancy and abortion. Overall, the hCG POC devices assessed in this study demonstrated high concordance rates. However, we must be careful when interpreting urine pregnancy test results, particularly in cases involving early pregnancy or abortion.

An autonomous car is defined as a vehicle that can be operated only by an autonomous driving system and does not require a driver or intervention of a driver or passenger. Various types of data collected for fully autonomous car operation include personal information such as location, image, physical, behavior information, and license number. It is hard for a driver or pedestrian to recognize or control automated collection and processing of personal information by autonomous vehicles in real time. It is, therefore, necessary to prepare and apply appropriate countermeasures such as minimizing the collection of personal information, deleting and encrypting unnecessary information, etc. Federated Learning is a distributed machine learning technique that can learn Al models in cooperation with each other without directly sharing data distributed and stored in multiple locations, such as devices or institutions. Instead of transmitting individual client data to the central server (cloud), the Al model of the central server is sent to the client to train the model with each data. By repeating this process, the global Al model of the central server becomes more general and the accuracy of the local Al model of the client improves. In order to protect personal information collected while driving an autonomous car, this paper proposed a federated learning engagement method, where cross-device was used to engage in the federated learning consisting of a very large number of mobile devices, and based on this, personal information can be protected for the efficient operation of autonomous vehicles.

BackgroundThe optimal antiplatelet treatment for the secondary prevention of non-cardioembolic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) remains uncertain in Asians.MethodsWe searched for eligible randomized control trials in Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. A Bayesian network meta-analysis (NMA) was performed to assess the efficacy and safety of antiplatelet regimens with placebo as the control. Each therapy was compared using relative risk ratios (RR) and 95% credible intervals (CrI), and ranked according to the value of the surface under the cumulative ranking curve.ResultsA total of 84,103 patients from 32 studies were included: patients in used aspirin (n=26,834); cilostazol (n=3,303); clopidogrel (n=12,406); prasugrel (n=1,885); sarpogrelate (n=752); ticagrelor (n=1,933); ticlopidine (n=1,644); triflusal (n=391); aspirin plus cilostazol (n=1,120), aspirin plus clopidogrel (n=4,623); aspirin plus dipyridamole (n=10,853); aspirin plus ticagrelor (n=5,859); aspirin plus ticlopidine (n=132). Patients who used aspirin plus clopidogrel and cilostazol had a lower risk of recurrent stroke than those who used placebo. Patients administered with aspirin plus ticagrelor, aspirin plus clopidogrel, and cilostazol had a lower risk of composite vascular events than those administered placebo. Patients administered aspirin plus ticagrelor had a higher risk of major bleeding than those administered placebo. Clustered three-dimensional rank plots of recurrent stroke, major bleeding, and composite vascular events demonstrated that cilostazol had higher values of the surface under the cumulative ranking curve than other treatments.ConclusionsOf the antiplatelet regimens, cilostazol showed the best net clinical benefits than other antiplatelet regimens in Asians with non-cardioembolic stroke or TIA.

2020

Hot electron mobility characteristics in non-degenerate two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) formed in semiconductor interfaces is investigated considering simple electron temperature model at low lattice temperatures when the free electrons are dominantly scattered by the deformation potential acoustic phonons.The field dependence of electron temperature and mobility characteristics in Si(100) 2DEG are estimated and compared with other theoretical results.