Low Cardiorespiratory Fitness is an Independent Predictor of Metabolic Syndrome in Young Korean Adults

Objective: To investigate the relationship between cardio/respiratory fitness (CRF) and metabolic syndrome (MS) in young Korean men. Design: In a cross-sectional study, we examined 909 young Korean men (mean±SD age, 24.0±2 years) who were healthy and not taking any medications affecting blood pressure, glucose, or lipids concentrations. Body fatness, resting blood pressures, and fasting blood levels of lipids, glucose, and insulin were measured with our standardized laboratory protocols. CRF was quantified as the maximum volume of minute oxygen consumption measured during a graded treadmill test. Metabolic syndrome was defined with the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria and a modified cut-off value of waist circumference from the Asia-Pacific Perspective: Redefining Obesity and its Treatment. Results: Group analyses showed significant and inverse dose-response trends between the metabolic syndrome markers and CRF levels such that men with high and moderate CRF levels had more favorable profiles in body fatness, resting blood pressures, mean values in fasting lipids, glucose, and insulin, and homeostasis model of assessment-insulin resistance than men with low CRF level. After adjusting for several potential confounders such as age, smoking, and body fatness variables, the low and moderate CRF groups had odds of 4.64 (95% CI, 2.00 to 10.79) and 2.57 (95% CI, 1.04 to 6.34) for having metabolic syndrome than the high CRF group. Conclusion: These findings suggest that low CRF is a significant and independent risk factor for metabolic syndrome in young Korean men

ENSO Amplitude Modulation Associated with the Mean SST Changes in the Tropical Central Pacific Induced by Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation

Abstract The mechanism associated with the modulation of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) amplitude caused by the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) is investigated by using long-term historical observational data and various types of models. The observational data for the period 1900–2013 show that the ENSO variability weakened during the positive phase of the AMO and strengthened in the negative phase. Such a relationship between the AMO and ENSO amplitude has been reported by a number of previous studies. In the present study the authors demonstrate that the weakening of the ENSO amplitude during the positive phase of the AMO is related to changes of the SST cooling in the eastern and central Pacific accompanied by the easterly wind stress anomalies in the equatorial central Pacific, which were reproduced reasonably well by coupled general circulation model (CGCM) simulations performed with the Atlantic Ocean SST nudged perpetually with the observed SST representing the positive phase of the AMO and the free integration in the other ocean basins. Using a hybrid coupled model, it was determined that the mechanism associated with the weakening of the ENSO amplitude is related to the westward shift and weakening of the ENSO zonal wind stress anomalies accompanied by the westward shift of precipitation anomalies associated with the relatively cold background mean SST over the central Pacific

Analysis of Time Loss Injury in Korean Professional Baseball Players

PURPOSE This prospective cohort study aimed to investigate the epidemiology of time-loss (TL) injuries in 68 Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) players aged 26.6±5.4 years (31 pitchers and 37 field players). METHODS Injury data collected during the 2021-2022 KBO league seasons were used to calculate the injury rate (IR), IR ratio (IRR), and TL. IR was calculated as follows: (total number of injuries×100)÷(total number of game exposures). IRR was computed as follows: (IR of pitchers)÷(IR of fielders). TL was defined as an injury that resulted in the inability to compete or participate in standard routines. RESULTS A total of 92 TL injuries were recorded from 5,320 athlete-exposures (1.7 per 100 athlete-exposures). Pitchers exhibited a 1.7-fold increase in IR (IRR =1.69, 95% CI=1.05-2.61, p=.018) and a 2.6-fold increase in the rate of severe injuries that resulted in a TL of ≥3 weeks (IRR=2.59, 95% CI=0.93-7.10, p=.045) compared to field players. The trunk/spine (20.6%) among pitchers and thigh/groin (22.4%) among field players were the most frequently injured body parts. Overuse (38.2%) and batted ball contact (38.2%) were the leading causes of injury among pitchers, whereas noncontact (36.2%) and overuse (17.2%) were the leading causes of injury among field players. Pitchers were most likely to be injured while pitching (55.9%) and fielding (38.2%), whereas field players were most likely to be injured while batting (31.0%) and base running (31.0%). CONCLUSIONS The current findings indicate that the characteristics of the injuries of KBO players differ by position, emphasizing the importance of a position-specific injury prevention program

Dislocation strain as the mechanism of phonon scattering at grain boundaries

Thermal conductivities of polycrystalline thermoelectric materials are satisfactorily calculated by replacing the commonly used Casimir model (freqeuncy-independent) with grain boundary dislocation strain model (frequency-dependent) of Klemens. It is demonstrated that the grain boundaries are better described as a collection of dislocations rather than perfectly scattering interfaces

Long-term outcome of patients with p22-deficient chronic granulomatous disease on Jeju Island, Korea

PurposeThis study investigated the long-term clinical outcomes of patients with p22phox-deficient chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) on Jeju Island and retrospectively evaluated the effects of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) prophylaxis.MethodsThe medical records of 15 patients with CGD were retrospectively reviewed. The efficacy of IFN-γ prophylaxis was evaluated by comparing the frequency of severe infections before and after starting continuous prophylaxis with IFN-γ.ResultsAt the time of the analysis, 14 patients were alive, with a median age of 14.3 years. The diagnosis of CGD was made at a median age of 2.4 years, and the median age at onset of severe infection was 0.3 years. Thirteen of the 15 patients had their first severe infection within the first year of life. The overall incidence of severe infection was 1.36 infections per patient-year; pneumonia, suppurative lymphadenitis, and skin and subcutaneous abscesses were the most common infections. Aspergillus species were the most frequently isolated microorganisms, present in 15.8% of isolates. IFN-γ did not significantly change the rate of severe infection. The survival rate for patients after 2 years of age was 93%; there was a prolonged survival plateau beyond the age of 2.ConclusionCompared with cases of X-linked CGD reported in other studies, patients with CGD on Jeju Island did not show obviously different clinical manifestations, but they had a significantly higher survival rate. Further studies with a substantially longer period of observation, and with more patients under intensive surveillance are necessary to elucidate the prophylactic efficiency of IFN-γ

Source/Drain Patterning FinFETs as Solution for Physical Area Scaling Toward 5-nm Node

A novel and feasible process scheme to downsize the source/drain (S/D) epitaxy of 5-nm node bulk fin-shaped field-effect transistors (FinFETs) were introduced by using fully-calibrated TCAD for the first time. The S/D epitaxy formed by selective epitaxial growth was diamond-shaped and occupied a large proportion of the device size irrespective of the active channel area. However, this problem was solved by patterning the low-k regions prior to S/D formation by preventing the lateral overgrowth of S/D epitaxy; the so-called S/D patterning (SDP). Its smaller S/D epitaxy decreased the average longitudinal channel stresses and drive currents for NFETs. However, the small diffusions of the boron dopants into the channel regions improved the short-channel effects and alleviated the drive current reduction for PFETs. Gate capacitances decreased greatly by reducing outer-fringing capacitances between the metal-gate stack and S/D regions. Through SPICE simulation based on the virtual source model, operation frequencies and dynamic powers of 15-stage ring oscillators were studied. SDP FinFETs have better circuit performances than the conventional and bottom oxide bulk FinFETs along with smaller active areas, promising for further area scaling through simple and reliable S/D process.11Ysciescopu

A Broadband and High Gain Tapered Slot Antenna for W-Band Imaging Array Applications

A broadband and high gain tapered slot antenna (TSA) by utilizing a broadband microstrip- (MS-) to-coplanar stripline (CPS) balun has been developed for millimeter-wave imaging systems and sensors. This antenna exhibits ultrawideband performance for frequency ranges from 70 to over 110 GHz with the high antenna gain, low sidelobe levels, and narrow beamwidth. The validity of this antenna as imaging arrays is also demonstrated by analyzing mutual couplings and 4-element linear array. This antenna can be applied to mm-wave phased array, imaging array for plasma diagnostics applications

High thermoelectric performance in (Bi_(0.25)Sb_(0.75)_2 Te_3 due to band convergence and improved by carrier concentration control

Bi_2Te_3 has been recognized as an important cooling material for thermoelectric applications. Yet its thermoelectric performance could still be improved. Here we propose a band engineering strategy by optimizing the converging valence bands of Bi_2Te_3 and Sb_2Te_3 in the (Bi_(1−x)Sb_x)_2Te_3 system when x = 0.75. Band convergence successfully explains the sharp increase in density-of-states effective mass yet relatively constant mobility and optical band gap measurement. This band convergence picture guides the carrier concentration tuning for optimum thermoelectric performance. To synthesize homogeneous textured and optimally doped (Bi0.25Sb0.75)2Te3, excess Te was chosen as the dopant. Uniform control of the optimized thermoelectric composition was achieved by zone-melting which utilizes separate solidus and liquidus compositions to obtain zT = 1.05 (at 300 K) without nanostructuring