Safety and immunogenicity of the bi-cistronic GLS-5310 COVID-19 DNA vaccine delivered with the GeneDerm suction device.

OBJECTIVES: The CoV2-001 phase I randomized trial evaluated the safety and immunogenicity of the GLS-5310 bi-cistronic DNA vaccine through 48 weeks of follow-up. DESIGN: A total of 45 vaccine-naïve participants were recruited between December 31, 2020, and March 30, 2021. GLS-5310, encoding for the SARS-CoV-2 spike and open reading frame 3a (ORF3a) proteins, was administered intradermally at 0.6 mg or 1.2 mg per dose, followed by application of the GeneDerm suction device as part of a two-dose regimen spaced either 8 or 12 weeks between vaccinations. RESULTS: GLS-5310 was well tolerated with no serious adverse events reported. Antibody and T cell responses were dose-independent. Anti-spike antibodies were induced in 95.5% of participants with an average geometric mean titer of ∼480 four weeks after vaccination and declined minimally through 48 weeks. Neutralizing antibodies were induced in 55.5% of participants with post-vaccination geometric mean titer of 28.4. T cell responses were induced in 97.8% of participants, averaging 716 site forming units/106 cells four weeks after vaccination, increasing to 1248 at week 24, and remaining greater than 1000 through 48 weeks. CONCLUSION: GLS-5310 administered with the GeneDerm suction device was well tolerated and induced high levels of binding antibodies and T-cell responses. Antibody responses were similar to other DNA vaccines, whereas T cell responses were many-fold greater than DNA and non-DNA vaccines.

Improvement of bio-crude oil properties via co-pyrolysis of pine sawdust and waste polystyrene foam.

Conversion technology of solid biomass to liquid fuel, named bio-crude oil, has been researched widely for the production of renewable energy to replace fossil fuel oil. As the result of many admirable researches, fast pyrolysis technology for bio-crude oil production is close to commercialization. However, bio-crude oil has unsatisfactory properties compared to general petroleum oil, for instance, low heating value, high water content, and high viscosity. In this study, pine sawdust (SD) biomass was co-pyrolyzed with waste polystyrene foam (WPSF), which was expected to improve the bio-crude oil quality due to high heating value and non-oxygen composition of polystyrene. The co-pyrolysis experiment was conducted in a bubbling fluidized bed reactor under the following conditions: temperature of 500 °C which was chosen based on the results from thermogravimetric analysis of SD and WPSF, nitrogen flow rate of 20-25 L/min., and feeding rate of 200 g/hr. Various mixing ratios of SD/WPSF by weight percentage were tested as follows: 100/0, 95/5, 90/10, 85/15, 80/20, 75/25, 70/30, 60/40, 50/50, 25/75, 0/100. Experimental results showed that in case of only SD feeding the bio-crude oil yield and higher heating value (HHV) were 48.83 wt% and 17.81 MJ/kg respectively. By contrast, oil yield and HHV in case of 25% SD with 75% WPSF mixture were 63.31 wt% and 39.65 MJ/kg respectively. Additional analysis showed that water content, and acetic acid concentration of bio-crude oil from co-pyrolysis of SD/WPSF mixture were decreased almost proportionally with the increasing WPSF ratio. Furthermore, measured values of water content, and acetic acid concentration were lower than the calculated values by linear interpolation, which means that the synergistic effect between SD and WPSF was achieved during the co-pyrolysis. In conclusion, co-pyrolysis of SD and WPSF was found as a promising solution to improve bio-crude oil quality. With this technology, the industrial growth of bio-crude oil area is expected as well as waste plastic.

Highly Conductive Flexible Metal-Ceramic Nanolaminate Electrode for High-Performance Soft Electronics.

Realization of flexible electronics is an attractive challenge because of its great potential in many applications. However, the design of flexible and highly conductive metal electrodes has been a bottleneck for the fabrication of flexible devices because bulk metals are easily fractured when subjected to elongation or compression. Here, we demonstrate metal-ceramic nanolaminates as electrodes for flexible electronic devices. Insertion of ceramic layers, each with a thickness of a few nanometers, into an otherwise metal electrode significantly improved its strength and bending stability and only slightly reduced its electrical conductivity. Finally, we demonstrated that a touch screen panel fabricated with metal-ceramic nanolaminate electrodes was stable to 200 000 cycles of folding to a bending radius of 3 mm.

Factors Associated with a Prolonged Length of Hospital Stay in Patients with Diabetic Foot: A Single-Center Retrospective Study.

BACKGROUND: We conducted this study to identify factors that may prolong the length of the hospital stay (LHS) in patients with diabetic foot (DF) in a single-institution setting. METHODS: In this single-center retrospective study, we evaluated a total of 164 patients with DF, and conducted an intergroup comparison of their baseline demographic and clinical characteristics, including sex, age, duration of diabetes, smoking status, body mass index, underlying comorbidities (e.g., hypertension or diabetic nephropathy), wound characteristics,type of surgery, the total medical cost, white blood cell (WBC) count, C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and albumin, protein, glycated hemoglobin, and 7-day mean blood glucose (BG) levels. RESULTS: Pearson correlation analysis showed that an LHS of >5 weeks had a significant positive correlation with the severity of the wound (r=0.647), WBC count (r=0.571), CRP levels (r=0.390), DN (r=0.020), and 7-day mean BG levels (r=0.120) (P<0.05). In multiple regression analysis, an LHS of >5 weeks had a significant positive correlation with the severity of the wound (odds ratio [OR]=3.297; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.324-10.483; P=0.020), WBC count (OR=1.423; 95% CI, 0.046-0.356; P=0.000), CRP levels (OR=1.079; 95% CI, 1.015-1.147; P=0.014), albumin levels (OR=0.263; 95% CI, 0.113-3.673; P=0.007), and 7-day mean BG levels (OR=1.018; 95% CI, 1.001-1.035; P=0.020). CONCLUSIONS: Surgeons should consider the factors associated with a prolonged LHS in the early management of patients with DF. Moreover, this should also be accompanied by a multidisciplinary approach to reducing the LHS.

The Case of Huge Pure Lipoma of the Spermatic Cord Misdiagnosed as Inguinal Hernia.

Clinically, pure spermatic-cord lipoma has not been recognized as a disease entity but regarded as an incidental finding at the time of hernia repair, because it presents groin symptoms and clinical findings indistinguishable from those of inguinal hernia. We report the successful treatment of case of huge pure spermatic-cord lipoma originally misdiagnosed as inguinal hernia. The patients had tumor excision without orchiectomy. Symptoms improved without any complication. In patients with inguinal hernia symptoms, pure spermatic-cord lipoma should be recognized as a significant clinical entity, and differential diagnosis should be achieved using ultrasonography and computed tomography to avoid unnecessary hernia repair.

Local Excision for the Treatment of Penile Verrucous Carcinoma.

Penile verrucous carcinoma is known for its favorable biologic behavior and lack of metastatic potential. For preservation of function, treatment has been focused on partial penectomy. Despite partial penectomy for preservation of minimal functional and aesthetic aspects, patients have experienced psychosexual problems. A 73-year-old man had a cauliflower-like verrucous carcinoma on the penile glans and coronary sulcus diagnosed by using excisional biopsy. He underwent degloving excision to save the penile shaft and glans penis. Surgical margin was 3 mm. He had been tumor-free at the 2-year follow-up. For maximum preservation of the functional and aesthetic aspects, we recommend degloving excision.

Anisakiasis Involving the Oral Mucosa.

Anisakis is a parasite with life cycles involving fish and marine mammals. Human infection, anisakiasis, occurs with the ingestion of raw infected seafood and usually presents with acute or chronic gastrointestinal symptoms from esophageal or gastric invasion. We report a rare caseinvolving the oral cavity. A 39-year-old male presented with oral and sub-sternal pain of one day duration after eating raw cuttlefish. Physical examination revealed areas of erythema and edema with a central white foreign particle on the labial and buccal mucosa. With microscopic field we could remove the foreign material from the lesions. The foreign material was confirmed to be Anisakis. Anisakis was also removed from the esophagus by esophagogastroduodenoscopy. The patient was discharged the following day without complication. Anisakiasis is frequently reported in Korea and Japan, countries where raw seafood ingestion is popular. The symptoms of acute anisakiasis include pain, nausea, and vomiting and usually begin 2-12 hours after ingestion. The differential diagnosis includes food poisoning, acute gastritis, and acute pancreatitis. A history of raw seafood ingestion is important to the diagnosis of anisakiasis. Treatment is complete removal of the Anisakis to relieve acute symptoms and prevent chronic granulomatous inflammation.

Note: Radial-thrust combo metal mesh foil bearing for microturbomachinery.

This Note proposes a novel radial-thrust combo metal mesh foil bearing (MMFB). Although MMFBs have advantages such as higher stiffness and damping over conventional air foil bearings, studies related to MMFBs have been limited to radial MMFBs. The novel combo MMFB is composed of a radial top foil, thrust top foils, and a ring-shaped metal mesh damper--fabricated by compressing a copper wire mesh--with metal mesh thrust pads for the thrust bearing at both side faces. In this study, the combo MMFB was fabricated in half-split type to support the rotor for a micro gas turbine generator. The manufacture and assembly process for the half-split-type combo MMFB is presented. In addition, to verify the proposed combo MMFB, motoring test results up to 250,000 rpm and axial displacements as a function of rotational speed are presented.

High-quality thin-multiwalled carbon nanotubes synthesized by Fe-Mo/MgO catalyst based on a sol-gel technique: synthesis, characterization, and field emission.

We synthesized thin-multiwalled carbon nanotubes (t-MWCNTs) using Fe-Mo/MgO catalyst by citrate precursor method based on a simple sol-gel technique. Synthesis of high-quality t-MWCNTs with uniform diameters was achieved in large-scale by catalytic decomposition of methane over Fe-Mo/MgO catalyst prepared under Ar-atmosphere. The produced t-MWCNTs had the outer diameters in the range of 4-8 nm, with a Gaussian average diameter of 6.6 +/- 0.1 nm and wall numbers in the range of of 4-7 graphenes. The product yield of the as-synthesized t-MWCNTs was over 450% relative to the used Fe-Mo/MgO catalyst, and TGA showed purity about 85%. The t-MWCNTs showed the low turn-on field about 1.24 V/microm, corresponding to the current density of 0.1 microA/cm2, and the high emission Current density of 10 mA/cm2 at the applied electric field of 2.6 V/microm. The t-MWCNTs indicate good emission stability without any fluctuation of emission current through a lifetime measurement for 20 h. It was confirmed that the field emission performance of t-MWCNTs was similar to DWCNTs and the field emission stability of t-MWCNTs was similar to MWCNTs.

Corn silk induced cyclooxygenase-2 in murine macrophages.

Stimulation of murine macrophages with corn silk induced cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 with secretion of PGE2. Expression of COX-2 was inhibited by pyrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC), and increased DNA binding by nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB), indicating that COX-2 induction proceeds also via the NF-kappaB signaling pathway. A specific inhibitor of COX-2 decreased the expression level of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) stimulated by corn silk. PGE2 elevated the expression level of iNOS, probably via EP2 and EP4 receptors on the surface of the macrophages.

Corn silk induces nitric oxide synthase in murine macrophages.

Corn silk has been purified as an anticoagulant previously and the active component is a polysaccharide with a molecular mass of 135 kDa. It activates murine macrophages to induce nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and generate substantial amounts of NO in time and dose-dependent manners. It was detectable first at 15 h after stimulation by corn silk, peaked at 24 h, and undetectable by 48 h. Induction of NOS is inhibited by pyrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) and genistein, an inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) and tyrosine kinase, respectively, indicating that iNOS stimulated by corn silk is associated with tyrosine kinase and NF-kappaB signaling pathways. IkappaB-alpha degradation was detectible at 10 min, and the level was restored at 120 min after treatment of corn silk. Corn silk induced nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB by phosphorylation and degradation of IkappaB-alpha.