The Impact of COVID-19 on Leadership Development and Burnout among Korean Immigrant Church Leaders in the United States: A Phenomenological Study

The global outbreak and pandemic of COVID-19 is an unprecedented event that causes many people to experience psychological, spiritual, and social health crises as well as physical crisis. There is limited empirical research existed on the influence of COVID-19 on church leaders, particularly within the Korean immigrant community. A phenomenological approach was adopted, utilizing semi-structured individual interviews with Korean immigrant church leaders to explore their lived experiences during the pandemic. The findings revealed three primary themes: change, support, and burnout. Korean immigrant church leaders demonstrated balanced leadership development in guiding, providing, and protecting roles, but also experienced exhaustion due to increased workloads and reduced interaction with congregants. Some leaders reported a decline in personal accomplishment, indicative of burnout. The study highlights the need for increased social support and efforts to address the challenges faced by immigrant church leaders and congregants during crises, emphasizing the role of counseling professionals in advocating for their well-being. This study provided strong implications for social change, recommendations for actions, and future areas of research

Organizing Pneumonia by Paragonimiasis and Coexistent Aspergilloma Manifested as a Pulmonary Irregular Nodule

Organizing pneumonia by paragonimiasis and coexistent aspergilloma as a pulmonary nodule is a rare case of lung disease. Its radiographic or CT feature has not been described before in the radiologic literature. We present organizing pneumonia by paragonimiasis and coexistent aspergilloma manifested as a pulmonary irregular nodule on CT

Primary Extracranial Meningioma Presenting as a Cheek Mass

Meningioma is well known as common disease of the central nervous system, whereas primary extracranial meningioma is rare, representing 1% to 2% of all meningiomas. We have experienced a case of primary extracranial meningioma presenting as a right cheek mass. The tumor was completely excised via a right lateral rhinotomy incision. Histopathologic examination confirmed the diagnosis of primary extracranial meningioma

Genetic and Molecular Characterization of a New EMS-Induced Mutant without the Third Glucose Moiety at the C-3 Sugar Chain of Saponin in Glycine max (L.) Merr.

Saponin, a secondary metabolite, is produced by various plant species, including soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.). Soybeans synthesize triterpenoid saponins, which are classified by their aglycone structure and sugar chain composition. Here, we characterized an ethyl methanesulfonate-induced mutant, PE1539, without saponin and with a glucose moiety at the third position of the C-3 sugar chain. The saponin phenotype of PE1539 is described by the accumulation of Ab-gamma g saponin and deficiency of Ab-alpha g saponin and DDMP-alpha g saponin, similar to a previously reported sg-3 mutant in soybean. Genetic analysis showed that the saponin phenotype of PE1539 is controlled by a recessive mutation. We mapped the gene responsible for the phenotype of PE1539 and the mapped region included Sg-3 (Glyma.10G104700). Further analysis of Sg-3 in PE1539 using DNA sequencing revealed a single-nucleotide substitution in the exon (G804A), resulting in a premature stop codon; thus, PE1539 produced a PSPG box-truncated protein. Saponin phenotype analysis of the F-2 population-from a cross between wild-type Uram and PE1539-showed that the phenotype of saponin was cosegregated with the genotype of Sg 3. Quantitative real-time PCR showed reduced expression of Sg-3 in PE1539 cells. Together, our data indicate that the saponin phenotype of PE1539 results from a mutation in Sg-3

A case of levocetirizine-induced liver injury

Levocetirizine is a second-generation nonsedative antihistaminic agent that has been demonstrated to be safe and effective for treating allergic disease. There was only one case report of levocetirizine-induced liver toxicity, but a liver biopsy was not performed. In this article, we present the first case of levocetirizine-induced liver injury with histologic findings. A 48-year-old man was hospitalized with jaundice and generalized pruritus that had developed after 2 months of therapy with levocetirizine for prurigo nodularis. Laboratory findings revealed acute hepatitis with cholestasis. A liver biopsy demonstrated portal inflammation and hepatitis with apoptotic hepatocytes. The patient fully recovered 3 weeks after withdrawing levocetirizine. Although levocetirizine is safe and effective, physicians should be aware of its potential hepatotoxicity

Exploring islands of stability in the design space of cylindrical shell structures

<p><b>Fed-batch fermentation of glucose by <i>R</i>. <i>ornithinolytica</i> B6 with an agitation speed of 200 rpm;</b> (a) without pH control; (b) with pH maintained at 7.0; (c), pH controlled at 5.5 after pH dropped to 5.5 from the initial pH of 7.0.; ■, glucose; □, growth; ♢, ethanol; ●, acetoin; ○, 2,3-BD; ♦, acetic acid; ▲, succinic acid; △, lactic acid; +, butyric acid.</p

Identification and Functional Analysis of Light-Responsive Unique Genes and Gene Family Members in Rice

Functional redundancy limits detailed analysis of genes in many organisms. Here, we report a method to efficiently overcome this obstacle by combining gene expression data with analysis of gene-indexed mutants. Using a rice NSF45K oligo-microarray to compare 2-week-old light- and dark-grown rice leaf tissue, we identified 365 genes that showed significant 8-fold or greater induction in the light relative to dark conditions. We then screened collections of rice T-DNA insertional mutants to identify rice lines with mutations in the strongly light-induced genes. From this analysis, we identified 74 different lines comprising two independent mutant lines for each of 37 light-induced genes. This list was further refined by mining gene expression data to exclude genes that had potential functional redundancy due to co-expressed family members (12 genes) and genes that had inconsistent light responses across other publicly available microarray datasets (five genes). We next characterized the phenotypes of rice lines carrying mutations in ten of the remaining candidate genes and then carried out co-expression analysis associated with these genes. This analysis effectively provided candidate functions for two genes of previously unknown function and for one gene not directly linked to the tested biochemical pathways. These data demonstrate the efficiency of combining gene family-based expression profiles with analyses of insertional mutants to identify novel genes and their functions, even among members of multi-gene families

Using Dewar Benzene and Its Derivatives as Monomers for Contemporary Polymeric Materials

Department of ChemistryConjugated polymers have been and will continue to attract significant attention because of their potential usage in a wide range of contemporary areas (e.g., electronic devices, chemical sensors, photovoltaics, etc.). The representative example for these class of conjugated polymers is poly(acetylene). Poly(acetylene) is known to feature outstanding electric conductivity upon doping. However, contemporary methodologies to prepare poly(acetylene) cannot overcome issues such as reaching high molecular weights, which have, in turn, hampered its application in electronic devices. In this dissertation, Dewar benzene and its derivatives were explored as monomers for accessing both conjugated and other types of polymeric materials, expected to address aforementioned issues. Initially, we hypothesized that the high ring strain of the cyclobutene moiety would allow for polymerization via ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) and isomerization sequence would facilitate the formation of poly(acetylene). However, crosslinking issue arose during polymerization, obstructed the formation of poly(acetylene). As a result, our efforts were re-directed toward (rac)-trans-5,6-dibromobicyclo[2.2.0]hex-1-en because the monomer featured a strain ring and disubstituted bromines which could be reverted back to an olefin when exposed to a reductant. As such, ROMP of the monomer proceeded in a controlled fashion and subsequent addition of strong reductant efficiently facilitated a cascade elimination isomerization reaction to result in regioselective trans-poly(acetylene). While the aforementioned challenges were addressed by this methodology, the poor solubility that is intrinsic to poly(acetylene) still remained an issue. Therefore, the synthesis of new monomer was required. 3,4-disubstuted cyclobutenes derived from Dewar lactone were employed due to sufficient ring strain for ROMP and installed pendant groups which can facilitate elimination and enhance solubility. As such, the preparation of soluble poly(acetylene) derivatives proceeded via ROMP of cyclobutene derivatives followed by elimination with organic base and accessing substituted poly(acetylene)s that exhibited high solubility in common organic solvents was achieved through the installation of ester functional groups. Fully saturated hydrocarbon materials (e.g., poly(ethylene) and poly(propylene)) have been also explored in detail due to their wide applicability (e.g., common household plastics, medical products, electrical insulators, etc.). Furthermore, among a series of hydrocarbon polymers, studies on hydrogenated cyclic olefin polymers (H-COP)s derived from with norbornene and its derivatives have been continuous in academy and industry as those exhibit outstanding thermal stability. To synthesize a new class of H-COP polymer exhibiting more improved properties than contemporary polymers, it was hypothesized that embedding certain carbocycles into the backbones of linear polymers would significantly improve their physical properties and smaller ring size may more efficiently contribute to increasing the properties. In addition, we also hypothesized subsequent hydrogenation on C=C double bonds may play key role in influencing inherent properties of material in an improved manner because saturated C-C bonds can have more freedom of C-C bond rotation than that of C=C bonds, which enabled the increase of the mobility of polymer chain and aid to organizing polymer chains into certain shape. In an effort to test the hypothesis, dihydro Dewar benzene was prepared because its hydrogenated polymer structure prepared via ROMP followed by hydrogenation would feature cyclobutane that can be conveniently compared with the polymers featuring cyclopentane and/or saturated linear hydrocarbon chain respectively. The comparison results would be expected to aid to understand how the size of carbocycles contributes to the enhanced thermal properties. The preparation of polymer material proceeded via ROMP with dihydro Dewar benzene and hydrogenation using conventional method. The structure of resulting polymer was characterized by a variety of spectroscopic techniques and was found to exhibit significantly enhanced thermal and/or mechanical properties compared to hydrogenated poly(norbornene) and various types of poly(ethylene)s.clos

Unveiling a Masked Polymer of Dewar Benzene Reveals trans-Poly(acetylene)

A dibromo derivative of Dewar benzene, trans-5,6-dibromobicyclo[2.2.0]hex-1-ene, was polymerized using ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). The reaction proceeded in a controlled manner as changing the initial monomer-to-catalyst ratio afforded monodispersed polymers with tunable molecular weights and growing polymer chains were extended upon subsequent exposure to additional monomer. Treatment of the halogenated polymers with an alkyllithium reagent resulted in elimination followed by isomerization to afford trans-poly(acetylene). Based on a series of mechanistic and spectroscopic studies, the transformation was proposed to proceed through a cyclobutenyl intermediate that undergoes rearrangement. The methodology was found to be versatile as triblock copolymers containing the halogenated homopolymer were prepared and converted to their poly(acetylene)-containing derivatives. The polymers were characterized using gel permeation chromatography as well as a range of spectroscopic (NMR, FT-IR, UV-vis, and Raman) and analytical techniques

NiH-Catalyzed Proximal-Selective Hydroamination of Unactivated Alkenes

© 2020 American Chemical Society. Reported herein is a modular, NiH-catalyzed system capable of proximal-selective hydroamination of unactivated alkenes with diverse amine sources. The key to the successful implementation of this approach is the promotion of NiH insertion into even highly substituted olefins via coordination of the bidentate directing group to the nickel complex. A wide range of primary and secondary amines can be installed in both internal and terminal unactivated alkenes with excellent regiocontrol under the optimized reaction conditions. This protocol is flexible and general for the preparation of a variety of valuable β- and γ-amino acid building blocks that would otherwise be difficult to synthesize. The utility of this transformation was further demonstrated by the site-selective late-stage modification of complex and medicinally relevant molecules. Combined experimental and computational studies illuminate the detailed reaction mechanism11Nsciescopu