A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Walking Exercise on Depression

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to analyze the effects of a walking exercise intervention on depression. METHODS We conducted searches across several databases, including DBpia, KISS, National Assembly Library, and RISS, using the PICOS framework to extract studies for meta-analysis. Following this procedure, we selected three dissertations and 12 journal articles from the literature, focusing on the effects of depression. The R program (ver.4.3.1) was used for meta-analysis to calculate the effect sizes for depression. RESULTS Outcomes from the random-effects model indicated a substantial effect size for depression, -1.00 (95% CI=-1.35, -0.65), signifying a significant effect (z=-5.56, p=.0001). CONCLUSIONS The walking exercise intervention exhibited a positive effect on depression

Piezoresistive tactile sensor discriminating multidirectional forces

Flexible tactile sensors capable of detecting the magnitude and direction of the applied force together are of great interest for application in human-interactive robots, prosthetics, and bionic arms/feet. Human skin contains excellent tactile sensing elements, mechanoreceptors, which detect their assigned tactile stimuli and transduce them into electrical signals. The transduced signals are transmitted through separated nerve fibers to the central nerve system without complicated signal processing. Inspired by the function and organization of human skin, we present a piezoresistive type tactile sensor capable of discriminating the direction and magnitude of stimulations without further signal processing. Our tactile sensor is based on a flexible core and four sidewall structures of elastomer, where highly sensitive interlocking piezoresistive type sensing elements are embedded. We demonstrate the discriminating normal pressure and shear force simultaneously without interference between the applied forces. The developed sensor can detect down to 128 Pa in normal pressure and 0.08 N in shear force, respectively. The developed sensor can be applied in the prosthetic arms requiring the restoration of tactile sensation to discriminate the feeling of normal and shear force like human skin.open0

Transparent and conductive nanomembranes with orthogonal silver nanowire arrays for skin-attachable loudspeakers and microphones

We demonstrate ultrathin, transparent, and conductive hybrid nanomembranes (NMs) with nanoscale thickness, consisting of an orthogonal silver nanowire array embedded in a polymer matrix. Hybrid NMs significantly enhance the electrical and mechanical properties of ultrathin polymer NMs, which can be intimately attached to human skin. As a proof of concept, we present a skin-attachable NM loudspeaker, which exhibits a significant enhancement in thermoacoustic capabilities without any significant heat loss from the substrate. We also present a wearable transparent NM microphone combined with a micropyramid-patterned polydimethylsiloxane film, which provides excellent acoustic sensing capabilities based on a triboelectric voltage signal. Furthermore, the NM microphone can be used to provide a user interface for a personal voice-based security system in that it can accurately recognize a user???s voice. This study addressed the NM-based conformal electronics required for acoustic device platforms, which could be further expanded for application to conformal wearable sensors and health care devices

Metabolite profiles of live or dead carp (Cyprinus carpio) exposed to endosulfan sulfate using a targeted GC–MS analysis

Endosulfan sulfate is a major oxidized metabolite of endosulfan, which is a broad-spectrum chlorinated cyclodiene insecticide. In this study, GC–MS-based metabolic profiles of dead or live carp (Cyprinus carpio) exposed to endosulfan sulfate were investigated to elucidate the molecular toxicological effects of endosulfan sulfate on carp. Three different extraction methods were compared, and a 50% methanol solution was chosen as an efficient extraction method. Carp was exposed to endosulfan sulfate at a concentration of 8 ppb for 2 days. After exposure, the whole body of the fish was homogenized with liquid N2, extracted with the 50% methanol solution and dried before TMS derivatization for GC–MS analyses of the dead and live carp. A SIM (selected ion monitoring)-library of 373 metabolites was applied after GC–MS analysis to detect 146 metabolites in carp. Based on the one-way ANOVA results (P  1.5 or < 0.667), 30 metabolites were identified as biomarkers that were significantly different in the metabolic profiles among the control, dead and live carp. A metabolic pathway analysis using MetaboAnalyst 4.0 revealed that those biomarkers were important for the living or death response to endosulfan sulfate. The pathways indicated by the metabolic pathway analysis included starch and sucrose metabolism, galactose metabolism, glycerolipid metabolism, the citrate cycle and linoleic acid metabolism. These results suggest that these pathways underwent significant perturbations over the exposure period

A Meta-Analysis of Attitudes toward Doping among Korean Athletes

OBJECTIVES The purpose of the current study was to conduct a meta-analysis to comprehensively analyze and identify research on doping attitudes studied in Korea. METHODS Twelve articles were selected for analysis by searching for ‘doping attitudes’ and ‘doping PEAS’ in Korean academic databases. The meta-analysis was conducted using the meta-analysis package in the R program (ver.4.3.2). RESULTS Results indicated that 12 literatures on Korean athletes’ doping attitudes revealed an average PEAS mean score of 37.20 (95% CI = 34.29, 40.11). Moreover, results found that 10 articles on gender differences in Korean athletes’ doping attitudes showed a small effect size of -0.23 (95% CI = -0.34, -0.12), and a significant difference (p < .0001), with that female had higher mean PEAS scores than males. Results indicated that 4 studies on the difference in doping attitudes based on doping experience were found to have publication bias, so we meta-analyzed two additional studies using a trim-and-fill algorithm and found a moderate effect size of -0.64 (95% CI = -1.23, -0.05), with a significant difference (p = .0343). Additionally, Korean athletes with doping experience had higher mean PEAS scores than those without doping experience. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that attitudes may be important in predicting doping intentions or doping behavior

A Triple-Mode Flexible E-Skin Sensor Interface for Multi-Purpose Wearable Applications

This study presents a flexible wireless electronic skin (e-skin) sensor system that includes a multi-functional sensor device, a triple-mode reconfigurable readout integrated circuit (ROIC), and a mobile monitoring interface. The e-skin device&apos;s multi-functionality is achieved by an interlocked micro-dome array structure that uses a polyvinylidene fluoride and reduced graphene oxide (PVDF/RGO) composite material that is inspired by the structure and functions of the human fingertip. For multi-functional implementation, the proposed triple-mode ROIC is reconfigured to support piezoelectric, piezoresistance, and pyroelectric interfaces through single-type e-skin sensor devices. A flexible system prototype was developed and experimentally verified to provide various wireless wearable sensing functions-including pulse wave, voice, chewing/swallowing, breathing, knee movements, and temperature-while their real-time sensed data are displayed on a smartphone

X-ray crystal structure of endosulfan sulfate

X-ray crystallography is an important method used to confirm the three-dimensional structure of a chemical compound. In this study, the crystal structure of endosulfan sulfate was investigated. Endosulfan sulfate is the major metabolite of the insecticide endosulfan, which is composed of two stereoisomers (α and β). From GC–MS analysis, α- and β-endosulfan each gave a single peak in the endosulfan sample, but only one peak was observed for endosulfan sulfate. Interestingly, in X-ray crystallography, two conformers of endosulfan sulfate (A and B) were observed at a ratio of 2(A):1(B). A heterocyclic seven-membered ring of conformer B assumed a horizontal-chair form, differing from two twisted forms of α-endosulfan while a vertical-chair form was observed for conformer A, showing the very similar structure to β-endosulfan; this difference in conformation is caused by differing bond angles at O(1)–C(8)–C(3) and O(2)–C(9)–C(4). In space packing, two asymmetric units were obtained, and three molecules were aligned in the order of A–A–B conformers in each unit. The total potential energy of A was slightly lower (approximately 4 kcal/mol) than B, possibly resulting in the two molecules of A that exist in a rigid crystal state. However, A and B conformers should not exist at room temperature in a solution state for GC–MS analysis, likely due to the small energy difference.The authors research was supported by contract research funds (Grant no. 550–20170104) of the Research Institute for Veterinary Science (RIVS) from the College of Veterinary Medicine and by the BK 21 Plus Program (Grant no. 5260–20150100) for Creative Veterinary Science Research. The funders had no role in study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Comment on "Amplified emission and lasing in photonic time crystals"

Lyubarov et al. (Research Articles, 22 July 2022, p. 425) claim that the spontaneous emission rate of an atom vanishes at the momentum gap edges of photonic Floquet media. We show that their theoretical prediction is based on assumptions that result in misleading interpretations on the spontaneous emission rate in photonic Floquet media