e., after short-time fasting and under general anaesthesia differs greatly from levels in samples from awake patients. This emphasizes the need for careful matching of the pre-analytical conditions of samples collected from controls to cases at time of surgery in the discovery as well as clinical use of protein biomarkers. The abundance levels of the plasma proteome in samples collected before incision, i.e., after short-time fasting and under general anaesthesia differs greatly from levels in samples from awake patients. This emphasizes the need for careful matching of the pre-analytical conditions of samples collected from controls to cases at time of surgery in the discovery as well as clinical use of protein biomarkers.Background and objectives Acute heart failure is a common problem encountered in the emergency department (ED). More than 80% of the patients with the condition subsequently require lengthy and repeated hospitalization. In a setting with limited in-patient capacity, the patient flow is often obstructed. Appropriate disposition decisions must be made by emergency physicians to deliver effective care and alleviate ED overcrowding. This study aimed to explore clinical predictors influencing the length of stay (LOS) in patients with acute heart failure who present to the ED. Materials and Methods We conducted prognostic factor research with a retrospective cohort design. Medical records of patients with acute heart failure who presented to the ED of Ramathibodi Hospital from January to December 2015 were assessed for eligibility. Thirteen potential clinical predictors were selected as candidates for statistical modeling based on previous reports. Multivariable Poisson regression was used to estimate the difference in LOS between patients with and without potential predictors. Results A total of 207 patients were included in the analysis. Most patients were male with a mean age of 74.2 ± 12.5 years. The median LOS was 54.6 h (Interquartile range 17.5, 149.3 h). From the multivariable analysis, four clinical characteristics were identified as independent predictors with an increase in LOS. These were patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class III/IV (+72.9 h, 95%Confidence interval (CI) 23.9, 121.8, p = 0.004), respiratory rate >24 per minute (+80.7 h, 95%CI 28.0, 133.3, p = 0.003), hemoglobin level less then 10 mg/dL (+60.4 h, 95%CI 8.6, 112.3, p = 0.022), and serum albumin less then 3.5 g/dL (+52.8 h, 95%CI 3.6, 102.0, p = 0.035). Conclusions Poor NYHA functional class, tachypnea, anemia, and hypoalbuminemia are significant clinical predictors of patients with acute heart failure who required longer LOS.During pregnancy, dysbiosis in the vaginal microbiota directly affects the metabolic profiles, which might impact preterm birth (PTB). In this study, we performed cervicovaginal fluid (CVF) metabolic profiling using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and identified the metabolic markers for predicting PTB. In this nested case-control study, 43 South Korean pregnant women with PTB (n = 22), and term birth (TB; n = 21) were enrolled with their demographic profiles, and CVF samples were collected by vaginal swabs. The PTB group had two subgroups based on post-CVF sampling birth PTB less than (PTB less then 7 d) and more than 7 days (PTB ≥ 7 d). We observed significant differences in the gestational age at birth (GAB), cervical length (CL), and neonatal birth weight among the groups. The principal component analysis (PCA), and partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) scatter plot showed the separation between the PTB less then 7 d group, and the TB group. Out of 28 identified metabolites, acetone, ethanol, ethylene glycol, formate, glycolate, isopropanol, methanol, and trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) were significantly increased in the PTB group compared with the TB group. The ROC curve analysis revealed that the acetone, ethylene glycol, formate, glycolate, isopropanol, methanol, and TMAO had the best predictive values for PTB. Additionally, the correlation analysis of these metabolites showed a strong negative correlation with GAB and CL. These metabolites could be beneficial markers for the clinical application of PTB prediction.Silver (Ag), gold (Au), and copper (Cu) have been utilized as metals for fabricating metal-based inks/pastes for printed/flexible electronics. Among them, Cu is the most promising candidate for metal-based inks/pastes. Cu has high intrinsic electrical/thermal conductivity, which is more cost-effective and abundant, as compared to Ag. Moreover, the migration tendency of Cu is less than that of Ag. Thus, recently, Cu-based inks/pastes have gained increasing attention as conductive inks/pastes for printed/flexible electronics. However, the disadvantages of Cu-based inks/pastes are their instability against oxidation under an ambient condition and tendency to form insulating layers of Cu oxide, such as cuprous oxide (Cu2O) and cupric oxide (CuO). The formation of the Cu oxidation causes a low conductivity in sintered Cu films and interferes with the sintering of Cu particles. In this review, we summarize the surface and interface designs for Cu-based conductive inks/pastes, in which the strategies for the oxidation resistance of Cu and low-temperature sintering are applied to produce highly conductive Cu patterns/electrodes on flexible substrates. First, we classify the Cu-based inks/pastes and briefly describe the surface oxidation behaviors of Cu. Next, we describe various surface control approaches for Cu-based inks/pastes to achieve both the oxidation resistance and low-temperature sintering to produce highly conductive Cu patterns/electrodes on flexible substrates. These surface control approaches include surface designs by polymers, small ligands, core-shell structures, and surface activation. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/e6446.html Recently developed Cu-based mixed inks/pastes are also described, and the synergy effect in the mixed inks/pastes offers improved performances compared with the single use of each component. Finally, we offer our perspectives on Cu-based inks/pastes for future efforts.