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This study presents a comprehensive overview of the smartphone charging technology evolution from its inception to the present day and its future trends. It also examines the impacts of government regulations and industry standards on smartphone technology development. This review also focuses on topology and architecture comparisons. The suitability of each solution is closely examined based on the complexity, size, efficiency, and flexibility of the system. This review provides a valuable framework for the development of next-generation power architectures and topologies for mobile devices.

Risk management plays a vital role in ensuring the safety and efficiency of tunnel construction by considering various factors, including uncertainties associated with concurrent adverse sources. One key aspect of risk management is prioritizing hazardous zones to devise an optimal countermeasure plan within time and cost constraints. This study developed an advanced tunnel risk management model, combining the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy set theory (FST). The model derived the impact using AHP and the probability using FST. By selectively combining causal factors that met the selection criterion, the risk of each hazardous zone was determined, enabling the prioritization of identified hazardous zones. The model application results indicated that causal combinations associated with significant tunnel convergence posed a relatively high risk. Moreover, the hazardous zones where unstable ground formations were excavated by a gripper tunnel boring machine (TBM) were revealed as the most vulnerable locations. Consequently, adopting a shield TBM or implementing ground reinforcement is recommended. Overall, the developed model effectively prioritizes identified hazardous zones and provides an optimal countermeasure plan, contributing to the overall safety and efficiency of the operations.

This retrospective cross-sectional study assessed older adults aged between 40 and 80 years, registered in the Korean National Health Insurance Service database from 2002 to 2019 to investigate the association between vestibular loss and the risk of dementia. The population was divided into three groups (general, vestibular loss, and hearing loss). The hazard ratios (HRs) of dementia in the vestibular and hearing loss groups were calculated using national population data. In total, 2,347,610 individuals were identified (general: 2,145,609, vestibular loss: 60,525, hearing loss: 141,476). Mean ages were 53.29 years, 58.26 years, and 58.52 years, respectively. Dementia occurred in 127,081 (IR = 4.91 per 1000 person-years), 7705 (IR = 10.79 per 1000 person-years), and 16,116 (IR = 9.63 per 1000 person-years) patients. The vestibular and hearing loss groups had hazard ratios for dementia of 1.084 (95% CI, 1.059–1.110) and 1.074 (95% CI, 1.056–1.092), respectively, compared with the general group. The results of the current study suggest that vestibular loss increases the risk of developing dementia. Therefore, similar to hearing loss, vestibular loss should be considered a risk factor for dementia, and treatments such as adequate vestibular rehabilitation may reduce this risk.

ObjectiveTo analyse the effects of tracheostomy timing on COVID-19 outcomes by comparing mortality rates at different time points (7, 10 and 14 days).DesignSystematic review and meta-analysis.Data sourcesPubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science and Scopus were searched from 31 August 2023 to 6 September 2023.Primary and secondary outcomes measuresThe primary outcome was short-term mortality, defined as intensive care unit (ICU) mortality, hospital mortality and 28-day or 30-day mortality. The secondary outcomes included mechanical ventilation duration, ICU and hospital days.ResultsAmong 3465 patients from 12 studies, the 10-day subgroup analysis revealed higher mortality for earlier tracheostomy than for later tracheostomy (49.7% vs 32.6%, OR 1.91, 95% CI 1.37–2.65). No significant differences were observed at 7- and 14-day marks. Earlier tracheostomy was associated with shorter mechanical ventilation (mean difference=−7.35 days, 95% CI −11.63 to −0.38) and ICU stays (mean difference=−11.24 days, 95% CI −18.50 to −3.97) compared with later tracheostomy. Regarding hospital stay, the later tracheostomy group exhibited a trend towards longer-term inpatients, with no significant difference.ConclusionsNo significant difference in short-term mortality was observed between patients undergoing tracheostomy at 7 and 14 days; however, at 10 days, later tracheostomy resulted in a lower mortality rate. Accordingly, subtle timing differences may impact short-term results in COVID-19 patients. Considering that the later tracheostomy group had longer mechanical ventilation and ICU stays, additional research is required to determine an optimal timing that reduces mortality cost-effectively.

Managing pipeline wear is critical for maintaining excavation efficiency during slurry shield tunnel boring machine (TBM) operations. Yet, the effects of carrier fluid properties on pipe wear in slurries containing coarse particles remain insufficiently understood. To address this gap, this study developed a laboratory-scale test apparatus to simulate slurry flow in the discharge pipelines of a slurry shield TBM, focusing on the influence of carrier fluid viscosity and density on pipe wear. Crushed granite fragments with a uniform size distribution were employed as erodent particles. Pipe wear in both horizontal straight and bending sections was assessed by measuring changes in pipe weights. Results showed that, at higher fluid viscosities with constant density, pipe wear in the straight section decreased, while wear in the bending section remained largely unchanged. In contrast, denser fluids led to more pronounced wear in both sections. Further analysis of wall thickness reduction in the bending sections revealed that the impingement behavior of erodent particles varied with carrier fluid density. These findings provide valuable insights into pipeline wear mechanisms and emphasize the importance of accounting for slurry characteristics when developing effective wear management strategies for slurry shield TBM operations.

Risk management is essential for optimal decision-making during tunnel boring machine (TBM) excavation. Previous methods, however, have struggled with interpreting the uncertainties associated with TBM excavation and managing multiple concurrent adverse factors. This study proposes an interpretable risk management method that effectively addresses these uncertainties and concurrent sources. It employs an expert elicitation framework combined with fuzzy set theory to distribute the confidence levels of experts’ evaluations across multiple classes. The resulting impact, probability, and risk are presented as distributions, allowing for a comprehensive interpretation of expert judgment trends, which reveals how uncertainties are distributed and identifies any dominant class or risk level. The proposed method was applied to a slurry shield TBM tunnel project, where most distributions showed no single dominant class or risk level due to significant uncertainties, emphasizing the need for comprehensive interpretation. Furthermore, the method effectively addressed increased probabilities and risks stemming from concurrent factors, in contrast to when these factors were considered individually. Comparative analysis demonstrated that even meaningful but minor responses can significantly influence the determination of risk levels through comprehensive interpretation.

Winter road safety is threatened by black ice, while traditional de-icing methods, such as chemical spreading and electrically heated pavement systems, raise concerns about environmental impact and economic costs. This study proposed a hydronic heated pavement system utilizing geothermal energy (HHPS-G)-integrated concrete pavement that ensures environmental sustainability and structural stability. The design utilizes hollow steel pipes as both reinforcement and heat exchange conduits, thereby eliminating the need for separate high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes. To enhance upward heat transfer, bottom-ash concrete was introduced as an alternative to conventional insulation, providing thermal insulation and structural strength. A validated numerical model was developed to compare the de-icing and snow-melting performance of different pipe types. The results show that hollow steel pipes reduced the time to reach 0 °C on the concrete pavement surface by 30.86% and improved heat flux by 10.19% compared to HDPE. The depth of pipe installation significantly influenced performance: positioning the pipes near the surface achieved the fastest heating (up to 70.11% faster), while mid-depth placement, recommended for structural integrity, still provided substantial thermal benefits. Variations in insulation thermal conductivity below 1 W/m·K had little effect, whereas replacing the base layer with bottom-ash concrete provided both insulation and strength without the need for separate insulation layers.

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the serious infectious diseases in South Korea, with 49 new cases per 100,000 people and 629 multi-drug resistant (MDR) cases reported in 2020. TB is increasing among immigrants in S. Korea, and various TB case finding strategies are being performed for screening. We compared active case finding (ACF) with passive case finding (semi-PCF) across epidemiological characteristics and investigated a cost-effective strategy for screening immigrants for TB. ACF driven by non-governmental organizations and semi-PCF as part of the government's visa renewal process using CXR with additional acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear and cultures were performed. Epidemiological parameters were compared between the two TB screening projects, and costs were collected. Cost-effectiveness was evaluated using a decision analysis model from the health system perspective. The primary outcome was incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) per averted TB case. Additional probabilistic sensitivity analysis was conducted. ACF (2.02%) showed a higher TB prevalence rate than semi-PCF (0.67%) on CXR. For subjects older than 60 years, the suspected TB rate on CXR was significantly higher in ACF (36.6%) than in semi-PCF (12.2%) (P<0.01). TB incidence among the family visa type was significantly higher in ACF (1.96%) than in semi-PCF (0.88%) (P < 0.0012). Costs for ACF ($666.92) were $20.784 higher than for semi-PCF ($646.13), but TB progression decreased by 0.02, resulting in an ICER of $948.18 per averted TB case. In sensitivity analysis, the indirect costs of ACF and semi-PCF had the highest impact on ICER. ACF found more TB cases than semi-PCF through CXR screening, and suspect cases with old age and family visa type were more common in ACF than in semi-PCF. ACF is cost-effective as a TB screening strategy for immigrants.

Polyhexamethylene guanidine phosphate (PHMG-p) is a major component in humidifier disinfectants, which cause life-threatening lung injuries. However, to our knowledge, no published studies have investigated associations between PHMG-p dose and lung damage severity with long-term follow-up. Therefore, we evaluated longitudinal dose-dependent changes in lung injuries using repeated chest computed tomography (CT). Rats were exposed to low (0.2 mg/kg, n = 10), intermediate (1.0 mg/kg, n = 10), and high (5.0 mg/kg, n = 10) doses of PHMG-p. All rats underwent repeated CT scans after 10 and 40 weeks following the first exposure. All CT images were quantitatively analyzed using commercial software. Inflammation/fibrosis and tumor counts underwent histopathological evaluation. In both radiological and histopathologic results, the lung damage severity increased as the PHMG-p dose increased. Moreover, the number, size, and malignancy of the lung tumors increased as the dose increased. Bronchiolar–alveolar hyperplasia developed in all groups. During follow-up, there was intergroup variation in bronchiolar–alveolar hyperplasia progression, although bronchiolar–alveolar adenomas or carcinomas usually increase in size over time. Thirty-three carcinomas were detected in the high-dose group in two rats. Overall, lung damage from PHMG-p and the number and malignancy of lung tumors were shown to be dose-dependent in a rat model using repeated chest CT scans during a long-term follow-up.

Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation (2024) 22:45 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12962-024-00556-x Following publication of the original article, it came to the attention of the authors that the given and family names of the second author had been erroneously swapped. BK21 FOUR R&E Center for Learning Health Systems, Korea University, Hyunseo Lee, Seoul, South Korea Seokmin Ji, Hyunseo Lee & Mankyu Choi 4. Rights and permissions Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation (2024) 22:45 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12962-024-00556-x Following publication of the original article, it came to the attention of the authors that the given and family names of the second author had been erroneously swapped.