2023 | Volume 6 KU Research Newsletter A Novel Biosensor Technology for Facilitating the Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease Despite being a common neurodegenerative disorder, an effective cure for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is lacking. Moreover, effective biomarkers for non-invasive, affordable, and early AD diagnosis are also lacking. Now, however, in a recent study published in Biosensors and Bioelectronics, researchers have developed a programmable curved plasmonic nanoarchitecture-based biosensor to facilitate the analysis of exosomal miRNAs and proteins involved in the pathogenesis of AD. This technology opens the doors to efficient and accurate diagnosis of AD and mild cognitive impairment through profiling of exosomal biomarkers in blood and can aid in the prediction of its molecular pathology as well as the progression of cognitive decline in patients with dementia. Read more Diagnosing COVID-19: Extension-Mediated Self-Folding Isothermal Amplification Technology Loop-mediated isothermal amplification is a popular method for diagnosing the COVID-19 disease. However, the method currently suffers from several limitations and can lead to false-positive results. Working a way around these limitations, a recent Biosensors and Bioelectronics paper presents a new isothermal amplification system named “ExIT” or Extension-mediated self-folding Isothermal amplification Technology. It utilizes a newly designed, self-folding primer which serves multiple functions, reducing the chances of false positives. Going ahead, the proposed technology can facilitate the development of novel assays for the diagnosis of various diseases. Read more Dry Electroencephalogram Signals for Predicting Motion Sickness Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are becoming increasingly popular because of their ability to function largely without human intervention. However, AVs must be able to predict motion sickness (MS) when handing over control to the driver to ensure a safe driving environment. Recently, researchers propose a new method for predicting MS in which they collected dry electroencephalogram data for predicting MS in real-life driving scenario using convolutional neural networks. Their findings, published in IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, indicate 89.05% prediction accuracy of the proposed method for predicting MS. Read more Weight-Adjusted Waist Index (WWI): A New Integrated Index for Fat, Muscle, and Bone Health Adults may often suffer from unhealthy body composition, calling for a good measure of musculoskeletal health. The quest for a reliable indicator of musculoskeletal health may have a new solution, according to findings published in the latest Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle article. Scientists utilized data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2008–2011) to evaluate the association between weight-adjusted waist index (WWI) and body composition measures. The WWI is calculated as the ratio of waist circumference (in cm) to the square root of body weight (in kg), as an integrated index of body composition. The study revealed that high WWI values are associated with high fat mass, low muscle mass, and low bone mass in community-dwelling adults. Read more Toward the Production of Useful Chemicals from White Birch The production of chemicals currently relies heavily on fossil fuels, necessitating the development of sustainable biorefineries to produce biomass-derived chemicals. In this regard, a recently published paper in the Chemical Engineering Journal presents an integrated process for co-producing 2,3-butanediol (BDO) and adipic acid from white birch. These monomers are considered versatile chemicals with a wide variety of applications. The proposed technology reduces heating energy requirements by 87%. Through techno-economic analysis, minimum selling price was found to be US$1,292/ton, which has excellent price competitiveness compared to existing petrochemical products. Through life cycle assessment, greenhouse gas emissions were found to be 0.97 kg CO2 eq. and 0.35 kg oil eq./kg 2,3-BDO, very low compared to petrochemical products. Read more Carbon Pricing Spurs Climate Innovation According to a new Journal of Cleaner Production study, carbon pricing policies implemented by governments across the world, including carbon taxes and cap-and-trade, can drive climate innovation. The data analysis, spanning 38 countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development over 34 years, reveals that carbon pricing policy adoption is correlated to an increase in climate mitigation technology-related patent applications. Read more Toward Low Global Warming Potential Refrigerants Solar-assisted heat pumps integrated with photovoltaic thermal modules (PVT-HPs) exhibit superior heating performance. Now, a recent Energy Conversion and Management study explores low global warming potential refrigerants for PVT-HPs, finding R152a refrigerant to be a promising alternative to the conventional refrigerant R134a. R152a leads to 50% lower levelized cost of energy and 20.8% reduction in specific life cycle climate performance, exhibiting a refrigerant substitutability index of 1.431. Read more Novel Modified Zeolites for Desulfurization of Natural Gas Regulations require that natural gas must contain sulfur compounds for self-detection against leaks. However, sulfur can permanently poison catalysts in processes employing natural gas. In a new article in Applied Surface Science, scientists have proposed NaY-zeolites modified by combining Cu ion-exchange process and Na2O or CuO impregnation for desulfurization of natural gas. These compounds exhibited excellent adsorption performance. Read more Different Urban Factors Influence Land Surface and Outdoor Air Temperatures A recent Building and Environment article highlights a case study conducted in Seoul, Korea, to investigate the role of urban factors in land surface temperature (LST) and outdoor air temperature (OAT). The study was conducted using LST derived from satellite data, and OAT measured at a pedestrian level. While land use characteristics such as building coverage and pervious ratios were key factors influencing LST, urban morphological characteristics like building height were found to affect OAT. Read more Characteristics of Refractory Black Carbon in Urban Northeast Asia Black carbon (BC) has severe negative impacts on air quality, human health, and climate. A new research article in Science of The Total Environment investigates the concentrations and size distributions of BC mixing state, and morphology of refractory BC (rBC) in urban Seoul during summer. The rBC shell-to-core-ratio, which increased with O3 and NO2 concentrations, was found to be minimum in the morning rush hour. In addition, the mixing state of rBC emitted from vehicles altered during the day and night. Findings of this study can help in the development of effective pollution and climate mitigation strategies. Read more A Novel Method for Quantifying Microplastics in Municipal Wastewater Plastic pollution due to the accumulation of microplastics (MPs) is a major environmental concern. In a new study published in Environmental Pollution, researchers present a novel sequential analytical method for accurate characterization and quantification of the number and mass of MPs in municipal wastewater. The proposed technology combines Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry techniques for characterization and quantification of MPs. Read more Towards Cooperative Air Transportation Services in Urban Areas Urban-air-mobility (UAM) is a lucrative next-generation transportation technology. In a significant step toward its realization, a new IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Vehicles paper proposes an ingenious air transportation service management algorithm based on multi-agent deep reinforcement learning. This algorithm utilizes centralized training and distribution execution-based communication network method and is expected to pave the way for superior air transportation service quality. 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