Co-administration of polyethylene glycol with binge ethanol reduces markers of intestinal and hepatic inflammation in C57BL/6J mice by diminishing ethanol absorption through the intestinal wall.

Background: Therapeutic options for managing intestinal and hepatic inflammation associated with alcohol consumption, a prevalent health problem worldwide, remain unavailable. This study examines the potential efficacy of polyethylene glycol (PEG) in mitigating the intestinal and hepatic damage, employing a mouse model for assessment.

Methods: First, the mixture of ethanol (4 g/kg body weight) and PEG (2 g/kg body weight) or an equivalent volume of vehicle was administered orally alcohol consumption.

Relationship between the Geriatric Nutrition Risk Index and the prognosis of severe coronavirus disease 2019 in Korea.

Background: Malnutrition exacerbates the prognosis of various diseases; however, its specific impact on severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outcomes remains underexplored.

Methods: This multicenter study in Korea assessed the nutritional status of 1,088 adults with severe COVID-19 using the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) based on serum albumin levels and body weight. The patients were divided into the GNRI>98 (no-risk) and GNRI≤98 (risk) groups.

Comparison of Rheological and Tribological Properties of Cold Thickened Beverages for Dysphagia Management.

This study investigated the rheological and tribological properties of cold beverages [bottled water (BW), sports drink (SD), orange juice (OJ), and whole milk (WM)] thickened with various concentrations (1%, 2%, and 3%, w/w) of xanthan gum-based food thickeners. All thickened beverages exhibited high pseudoplastic behavior, with increasing thickener concentration leading to higher viscosity and viscoelastic moduli and a lower flow behavior index. Thickened BW, SD, and WM exhibited typical Stribeck curves covering the boundary, mixed, and hydrodynamic lubrication regimes.

Explainable artificial intelligence with UNet based segmentation and Bayesian machine learning for classification of brain tumors using MRI images.

Detecting brain tumours (BT) early improves treatment possibilities and increases patient survival rates. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning offers more comprehensive information, such as better contrast and clarity, than any alternative scanning process. Manually separating BTs from several MRI images gathered in medical practice for cancer analysis is challenging and time-consuming.

Impact of Multidrug-Resistant Bacterial Colonization on Clinical Characteristics, Antibiotic Treatment, and Clinical Outcomes of Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia.

Purpose: To determine effects of colonization with multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDRB) in general wards on characteristics, treatment, and prognosis of hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP).

Methods: This was a multicenter retrospective cohort study of patients with HAP admitted to 16 tertiary or university hospitals in Korea from July 2019 to December 2019. From the entire cohort, patients who developed pneumonia in general wards with known colonization status before the onset of pneumonia were included in this study.

Association between constipation and incident chronic kidney disease in the UK Biobank study.

Despite previous studies supporting a close relationship between constipation and chronic kidney disease (CKD), the potential impact of constipation on incident CKD and the role of laxatives remains uncertain. We analyzed longitudinal data from the UK Biobank, which links baseline assessment data with follow-up data from hospital episode statistics and general practice records. Constipation was defined with diagnostic codes or regular use of laxatives at baseline as reported in the questionnaire.

Augmented prediction of vertebral collapse after osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures through parameter-efficient fine-tuning of biomedical foundation models.

Vertebral collapse (VC) following osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF) often requires aggressive treatment, necessitating an accurate prediction for early intervention. This study aimed to develop a predictive model leveraging deep neural networks to predict VC progression after OVCF using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinical data. Among 245 enrolled patients with acute OVCF, data from 200 patients were used for the development dataset, and data from 45 patients were used for the test dataset.

Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-2 Promotes Wound Healing by Suppressing Matrix Metalloproteinases and Inflammatory Cytokines in Corneal Epithelial Cells.

Tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) modulate extracellular matrix remodeling for maintaining homeostasis and promoting cell migration and proliferation. Pathologic conditions can alter TIMP homeostasis and aggravate disease progression. The roles of TIMPs have been studied in tissue-related disorders; however, their contributions to tissue repair during corneal injury are undefined.

Fusion of transfer learning with nature-inspired dandelion algorithm for autism spectrum disorder detection and classification using facial features.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurologic disorder considered to cause discrepancies in physical activities, social skills, and cognition. There is no specific medicine for treating this disorder; early intervention is critical to improving brain function. Additionally, the lack of a clinical test for detecting ASD makes diagnosis challenging.

Ionic Diode-Based Drug Delivery System.

Drug delivery systems hold promise for delivering cytotoxic drugs by controlling the timing and location of the drug release. However, conventional delivery mechanisms often fall short of achieving spatiotemporally controlled yet sustained release, which is crucial for ensuring drug efficacy and minimizing impact on surrounding tissues. Here, an ionic diode-based drug delivery system is reported that is controlled by an electric potential and capable of releasing drugs at scales ranging from nanogram to microgram.

Cardiovascular Complications, Kidney Failure, and Mortality in Young-Onset Type 1 and 2 Diabetes: Data From the Korean National Health Insurance Service.

Objective: To explore all-cause mortality and the incidence of cardiovascular and renal complications among patients with young-onset diabetes in South Korea using a nationwide registry database.

Research Design And Methods: Data were collected from the Korean National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort database from 2006 to 2019 for patients aged ≤30 years with type 1 (T1D) or 2 diabetes (T2D). The incidence rates of cardiovascular complications (myocardial infarction [MI] and stroke) and kidney failure, as well as all-cause mortality, were compared with those in the general population.

Effect of Ceramides Derivatives from the Peach on Skin Function Improvement in UV-Irradiated Hairless Mice.

This study investigated the protective effects of a ceramides derivates from the peach (PF3) on photoaging by UV-irradiated hairless mice. Mice were randomly divided into seven groups: AIN93G without UVB exposure (normal control, NC), AIN93G with UVB exposure (control, C), AIN93G supplemented 100 mg/kg body weight (BW) of L-ascorbic acid with UVB exposure (AA), AIN93G supplemented 100 mg/kg BW of arbutin with UVB exposure (Arbutin), AIN93G supplemented 10 mg/kg BW of PF3 with UVB exposure (10PF3), AIN93G supplemented 20 mg/kg BW of PF3 with UVB exposure (20PF3), and AIN93G supplemented 40 mg/kg BW of PF3 with UVB exposure (40PF3). The study examined the impact of PF3 on skin hydration, wrinkle formation, and melanogenesis using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR), and Western blot analysis.

Segmentation-Based Measurement of Orbital Structures: Achievements in Eyeball Volume Estimation and Barriers in Optic Nerve Analysis.

Background/objective: Orbital diseases often require precise measurements of eyeball volume, optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD), and apex-to-eyeball distance (AED) for accurate diagnosis and treatment planning. This study aims to automate and optimize these measurements using advanced deep learning segmentation techniques on orbital Computed Tomography (CT) scans.

Methods: Orbital CT datasets from individuals of various age groups and genders were used, with annotated masks for the eyeball and optic nerve.

Correction: Biofilm microbiome in extracorporeal membrane oxygenator catheters.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Concurrent Versus Sequential Adjuvant Capecitabine-Based Chemoradiation in Residual Triple-Negative Breast Cancer After Neoadjuvant-Chemotherapy: A Multicenter Comparative Study.

Purpose: Given the aggressive nature and poor prognosis of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), adjuvant capecitabine has been the standard therapy for residual disease after preoperative systemic therapy (PST). However, the optimal sequence of postoperative radiation therapy (RT) and capecitabine remains unclear. This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of concurrent RT and capecitabine (RT+CAP) versus sequential RT followed by capecitabine (RT→CAP) in patients with residual TNBC after PST.

Analysis of the lymph node metastasis distribution in patients with invasive resectable non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: The current standard for the surgical management of lung cancer involves anatomic lung resection combined with systemic lymph node dissection/sampling. The purpose of this study was to investigate the patterns of pathological lymph nodes in invasive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), explore the occurrence in lymph node metastasis (LNM), and provide recommendations for optimal lymph node resection/sampling in lung cancer operation.

Methods: There were 1,678 patients with NSCLC who underwent lobectomy between 2018 and 2021 at the Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province were reviewed retrospectively.

High-resolution genetic map and SNP chip for molecular breeding in a tetraploid medicinal plant.

Ginseng () renowned as the king of medicinal plants. Ginseng grows slowly under shade conditions, requiring at least 4 years to produce a limited number of seeds. Molecular breeding of ginseng faces challenges due to its the tetraploid genome and the absence of an efficient molecular marker system.

Reprogramming SREBP1-dependent lipogenesis and inflammation in high-risk breast with licochalcone A: a novel path to cancer prevention.

Background: Anti-estrogens have had limited impact on breast cancer (BC) prevention. Novel agents with better tolerability, and efficacy beyond estrogen receptor (ER) positive BC are needed. We studied licochalcone A (LicA) for ER-agnostic BC prevention.

C-reactive protein (CRP) and otorrhoea as prognosticate markers for necrotising otitis externa treatment response: based on a retrospective cohort study of 62 patients.

Background: Recurrence rate of necrotising otitis externa (NOE) after treatment is 15-20%. This is mainly due to a lack of reliable clinical indicator for the resolution of disease.

Aims: We aim to assess the predictability of the otalgia, otorrhoea and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in a large cohort of sixty-two patients for treatment outcome.

The impact of atmospheric ultrafine particulate matter on IgE-mediated type 1 hypersensitivity reaction.

The effect of atmospheric ultrafine particulate matter (UPM) on respiratory allergic diseases has been investigated for decades; however, the precise molecular mechanisms underlying these effects remain poorly understood. In this study, we used a simulated UPM (sUPM) generated via the spark discharge method to refine black carbon, a core particle that closely mimics real-world UPM, including the size (i.e.

Integrative Genomic and Transcriptomic Analysis in Acute Interstitial Pneumonia.

Acute Interstitial Pneumonia (AIP) represents a severe form of diffuse lung injury within the idiopathic interstitial pneumonia spectrum. Given the limited understanding of its molecular basis, this study aims to elucidate AIP's genomic and transcriptomic profiles to uncover its pathophysiological underpinnings and identify potential therapeutic targets. We conducted a comprehensive analysis of genomic and transcriptomic data from lung tissues of 15 AIP patients.

Advancements and challenges of R-loops in cancers: Biological insights and future directions.

R-loops involve in various biological processes under human normal physiological conditions. Disruption of R-loops can lead to disease onset and affect the progression of illnesses, particularly in cancers. Herein, we summarized and discussed the regulative networks, phenotypes and future directions of R-loops in cancers.

Novel Deep Learning-Based Vocal Biomarkers for Stress Detection in Koreans.

Objective: The rapid societal changes have underscored the importance of effective stress detection and management. Chronic mental stress significantly contributes to both physical and psychological illnesses. However, many individuals often remain unaware of their stress levels until they face physical health issues, highlighting the necessity for regular stress monitoring.