Associations between Comorbidities and Acute Exacerbation of Interstitial Lung Disease after Primary Lung Cancer Surgery

Acute exacerbation (AE) of interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a severe complication of lung resection in lung cancer patients with ILD (LC-ILD). This study aimed to assess the predictive value of comorbidities other than ILD for postoperative AE in patients with LC-ILD. We retrospectively evaluated 68 patients with LC-ILD who had undergone lung resection. We classified them into two groups: those who had developed postoperative AE within 30 days after resection and those who had not. We analyzed patient characteristics, high-resolution computed tomography findings, clinical data, pulmonary function, and intraoperative data. The incidence of postoperative AEs was 11.8%. In univariate analysis, performance status (PS), honeycombing, forced vital capacity (FVC), and high hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels without comorbidities were significantly associated with postoperative AE. Patients were divided into two groups according to cutoff levels of those four variables as determined by receiver operating characteristic curves, revealing that the rates of patients without postoperative AE differed significantly between groups. The present results suggested that preoperative comorbidities other than ILD were not risk factors for postoperative AE in patients with LC-ILD. However, a high preoperative HbA1c level, poor PS, low FVC, and honeycombing may be associated with postoperative AE of LC-ILD

EEG Oscillations in Specific Frequency Bands Are Differently Coupled with Angular Joint Angle Kinematics during Rhythmic Passive Elbow Movement

Rhythmic passive movements are often used during rehabilitation to improve physical functions. Previous studies have explored oscillatory activities in the sensorimotor cortex during active movements; however, the relationship between movement rhythms and oscillatory activities during passive movements has not been substantially tested. Therefore, we aimed to quantitatively identify changes in cortical oscillations during rhythmic passive movements. Twenty healthy young adults participated in our study. We placed electroencephalography electrodes over a nine-position grid; the center was oriented on the transcranial magnetic stimulation hotspot of the biceps brachii muscle. Passive movements included elbow flexion and extension; the participants were instructed to perform rhythmic elbow flexion and extension in response to the blinking of 0.67 Hz light-emitting diode lamps. The coherence between high-beta and low-gamma oscillations near the hotspot of the biceps brachii muscle and passive movement rhythms was higher than that between alpha oscillation and passive movement rhythm. These results imply that alpha, beta, and gamma oscillations of the primary motor cortex are differently related to passive movement rhythm

Enhancing Long-Term Durability of Electrochemical Reactors Producing Formate from CO₂ and Water Designed for Integration with Solar Cells

Artificial photosynthetic cells producing organic matter from CO2 and water have been extensively studied for carbon neutrality, and the research trend is currently transitioning from proof of concept using small-sized cells to large-scale demonstrations for practical applications. We previously demonstrated a 1 m2 size cell in which an electrochemical (EC) reactor featuring a ruthenium (Ru)-complex polymer (RuCP) cathode catalyst was integrated with photovoltaic cells. In this study, we tackled the remaining issue to improve the long-term durability of cathode electrodes used in the EC reactors, demonstrating high Faradaic efficiencies exceeding 80% and around 60% electricity-to-chemical energy-conversion efficiencies of a 75 cm2 sized EC reactor after continuous operation for 3000 h under practical conditions. Introduction of a pyrrole derivative containing an amino group in the RuCP coupled with UV–ozone treatment to create carboxyl groups on the carbon supports effectively reduced the detachment of the RuCP catalyst by forming a strong amide linkage. A newly developed chemically resistant graphite adhesive prevented the carbon supports from peeling off of the conductive substrates. In addition, highly durable anodes composed of IrOx-TaOy/Pt-metal oxide/Ti were adopted. Even though the EC reactor was installed at an inclined angle of 30°, which is approximately the optimal angle for receiving more solar energy, the crossover reactions were sufficiently suppressed because the porous separator film impeded the transfer of oxygen gas bubbles from the anode to the cathode. The intermittent operation improved the energy-conversion efficiency because the accumulated bubbles were removed at night