Improvement of Late-Onset Hypogonadism Symptoms of Fermented Extract in TM3 Leydig and TM4 Sertoli Cells.

Background/objectives: Late-onset hypogonadism (LOH), characterized by declining testosterone levels with age, negatively affects the health of men, causing physical, psychological, and sexual dysfunction. Conventional testosterone replacement therapies have side effects, which has led to interest in natural alternatives. We investigated the effects of a standardized fermented extract (FME) on oxidative stress-induced damage in TM3 Leydig and TM4 Sertoli cells.

Virtual reality vs. imagery: comparing approaches in guided meditation.

Introduction: This study compared the influence of virtual reality (VR)-based and traditional (e.g., imagery-based) guided meditation on stress and concentration levels among South Korean adults.

Draft genome for IMGN1, isolated from soil.

Biocontrol using organisms like offers a viable alternative to chemical pesticides, enhancing plant growth and reducing environmental impact. This study details the genome of IMGN1, a strain known for promoting plant growth, advancing our understanding of biocontrol mechanisms.

Ashwagandha Ethanol Extract Attenuates Sarcopenia-Related Muscle Atrophy in Aged Mice.

The investigation focused on the impact of (ashwagandha) extract (WSE) on age-related mechanisms affecting skeletal muscle sarcopenia-related muscle atrophy in aged mice. Beyond evaluating muscular aspects, the study explored chronic low-grade inflammation, muscle regeneration, and mitochondrial biogenesis. WSE administration, in comparison to the control group, demonstrated no significant differences in body weight, diet, or water intake, affirming its safety profile.

Comparison of pharmacogenomic information for drug approvals provided by the national regulatory agencies in Korea, Europe, Japan, and the United States.

Pharmacogenomics, which is defined as the study of changes in the properties of DNA and RNA associated with drug response, enables the prediction of the efficacy and adverse effects of drugs based on patients' specific genetic mutations. For the safe and effective use of drugs, it is important that pharmacogenomic information is easily accessible to clinical experts and patients. Therefore, we examined the pharmacogenomic information provided on drug labels in Korea, Europe, Japan, and the United States (US).

Central metabolites and peripheral parameters associated neuroinflammation in fibromyalgia patients: A preliminary study.

To identify central metabolites and peripheral measures associated with neuroinflammation in fibromyalgia (FM), we scanned [11C]-(R)-PK11195 positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance spectroscopy in FM patients. We measured associations between neurometabolite levels measured by magnetic resonance spectroscopy and the extent of neuroinflammation inferred by the distribution volume ratios of [11C]-(R)-PK11195 positron emission tomography in 12 FM patients and 13 healthy controls. We also examined the associations between peripheral parameters, such as creatinine and C-reactive protein, and neuroinflammation.

Development of a Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Model for Tegoprazan: Application for the Prediction of Drug-Drug Interactions with CYP3A4 Perpetrators.

Tegoprazan is a novel potassium-competitive acid blocker (P-CAB) developed by CJ Healthcare (Korea) for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease and helicobacter pylori infections. Tegoprazan is mainly metabolized by cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4. Considering the therapeutic indications, tegoprazan is likely to be administered in combination with various drugs.

Developing and Aligning a Safety Event Taxonomy for Inpatient Psychiatry.

Objective: The aim of this project was to develop and align an inpatient psychiatric safety event taxonomy that would blend well-established safety events with psychiatry-specific concerns.

Methods: A hybrid inductive-deductive thematic analysis was used to generate novel descriptive safety event categories for inpatient psychiatry and align these categories with an established taxonomic framework. In the inductive phase, an initial taxonomy was developed by describing the semantic subject and context of reported safety concerns.

B16 melanomas evade antitumor immunity by the loss of epitope presentation and the acquisition of tumor resistance to granzyme B.

Melanomas exhibit the highest rate of heterogeneity among cancer cell types. In this study, we tested the two types of B16 melanoma cells (B16-S0-1 and B16-S1-1) showing resistance to antitumor immunity. These cells expressed Trp2 protein.

Dysfunctional energy metabolisms in fibromyalgia compared with healthy subjects.

This study aimed to investigate the levels of creatine (Cr) metabolites in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), thalamus, and insula of patients with fibromyalgia (FM) using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). The levels of Cr and phosphocreatine (PCr) relative to total Cr (tCr), which includes Cr and PCr, in the ACC, thalamus, and insula were determined using MRS in 12 patients with FM and in 13 healthy controls. The FM group had lower levels of PCr/tCr in the ACC and right insula compared to healthy controls.

Body and Hand-Object ROI-Based Behavior Recognition Using Deep Learning.

Behavior recognition has applications in automatic crime monitoring, automatic sports video analysis, and context awareness of so-called silver robots. In this study, we employ deep learning to recognize behavior based on body and hand-object interaction regions of interest (ROIs). We propose an ROI-based four-stream ensemble convolutional neural network (CNN).

Abnormal neurometabolites in fibromyalgia patients: Magnetic resonance spectroscopy study.

This study aimed to investigate distinct neurometabolites in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), right and left thalamus, and insula of patients with fibromyalgia (FM) compared with healthy controls using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Levels of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), N-acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG), total NAA (tNAA = NAA + NAAG), myo-inositol (ml), glutamine (Gln), glutamate (Glu), Glx (Glu + Gln), glycerophosphocholine (GPC), total choline (tCho = GPC + phosphocholine) and glutathione (GSH) levels relative to total creatine (tCr) levels including creatine (Cr) and phosphocreatine (PCr) and relative to Cr levels were determined in the ACC, right and left thalamus, and insula in 12 patients with FM and 13 healthy controls using MRS. In the ACC, NAA/tCr (P = 0.

Abnormal neuroinflammation in fibromyalgia and CRPS using [11C]-(R)-PK11195 PET.

Purpose: Fibromyalgia (FM) and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) share many pathological mechanisms related to chronic pain and neuroinflammation, which may contribute to the multifactorial pathological mechanisms in both FM and CRPS. The aim of this study was to assess neuroinflammation in FM patients compared with that in patients with CRPS and healthy controls.

Methods: Neuroinflammation was measured as the distribution volume ratio (DVR) of [11C]-(R)-PK11195 positron emission tomography (PET) in 12 FM patients, 11 patients with CRPS and 15 healthy controls.

Population Pharmacokinetic Method to Predict Within-Subject Variability Using Single-Period Clinical Data.

Sample sizes for single-period clinical trials, including pharmacokinetic studies, are statistically determined by within-subject variability (WSV). However, it is difficult to determine WSV without replicate-designed clinical trial data, and statisticians typically estimate optimal sample sizes using total variability, not WSV. We have developed an efficient population-based method to predict WSV accurately with single-period clinical trial data and demonstrate method performance with eperisone.

B16 melanoma control by anti-PD-L1 requires CD8+ T cells and NK cells: application of anti-PD-L1 Abs and Trp2 peptide vaccines.

Anti-programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) therapy has been beneficial in treating patients with certain cancers. Here, we tested whether anti-PD-L1 therapy is effective for controlling different types of tumors using animal models of TC-1, MC38 and B16. We found that, despite PD-L1 expression, anti-PD-L1 therapy showed little and some antitumor activity in the TC-1 and MC38 models.

Preliminary bioequivalence of an oral integrating film formulation containing meloxicam with a suspension formulation in beagle dogs.

The oral disintegrating film (ODF) has advantages over suspension and tablet. These include convenience of administration, patient compliance, and accurate dosing. We evaluated the bioequivalence between the ODF and the meloxicam suspension by using a crossover design with a 3-week washout period.

Au(I)-Catalyzed Cyclization of Epoxyalkynes to Allylic Alcohol Containing Spiroketals and Application to the Total Synthesis of (-)-Alotaketal A.

A gold-catalyzed tandem spiroketalization of epoxyalkynes accompanied by epoxide rearrangement into the corresponding allylic alcohol was developed for the construction of functionalized spiroketals. This new synthetic methodology for unsaturated spiroketals warranted a facile total synthesis of alotaketal A from carvone via a corresponding epoxyalkyne precursor.

Highly Selective Room-Temperature Suzuki-Miyaura Coupling of Bromo-2-sulfonyloxypyridines for Unsymmetrical Diarylpyridines.

A new and mild synthetic approach has been developed for the synthesis of pharmaceutically important unsymmetrical diarylpyridines via chemoselective Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reactions of bromo-2-sulfonyloxypyridines. Most reactions allow for facile access to aryl-2-sulfonyloxypyridines at room temperature in yields of 5-99% with excellent chemoselectivity in the presence of Pd(OAc) (2.0 mol %) and AdBnP (2.

Deep neural networks with a set of node-wise varying activation functions.

In this study, we present deep neural networks with a set of node-wise varying activation functions. The feature-learning abilities of the nodes are affected by the selected activation functions, where the nodes with smaller indices become increasingly more sensitive during training. As a result, the features learned by the nodes are sorted by the node indices in order of their importance such that more sensitive nodes are related to more important features.

Disruption of Homeostasis Based on the Right and Left Hemisphere in Patients with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.

Objective: Although the clinical features and pathophysiology of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) have been studied in the peripheral and central nervous systems, few plausible pathological interactions are known among the metabolites in these systems. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate abnormal relationships and interactions between peripheral metabolites and central neurometabolites in patients with CRPS.

Methods: Various metabolites and molecules were measured in the peripheral blood, and central neurometabolites in the right and left thalamus using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in 12 patients with CRPS and 11 healthy controls.

Comparison of analytical performance of i-Smart 300 and pHOx ultra for the accurate determination of pleural fluid pH.

Background: Pleural fluid pH is an essential test for diagnosing complicated parapneumonic effusion. We evaluated the performance of two blood gas analyzers in measuring pleural fluid pH.

Methods: The i-STAT G3+ (Abbott) was used as a reference analyzer to evaluate the pH values obtained from other methods: the i-Smart 300 (i-SENS), the pHOx Ultra (Nova Biomedical), using a clot catcher to filter off microclot, and pH indicator paper.

Comparison of complex regional pain syndrome and fibromyalgia: Differences in beta and gamma bands on quantitative electroencephalography.

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and fibromyalgia (FM) share many features. Both can cause severe pain and are considered to have a mechanism of action, including dysfunction of the sympathetic nervous system. However, they have clinical differences in pain range and degree.

Development and Evaluation of Hyaluronic Acid-Based Hybrid Bio-Ink for Tissue Regeneration.

Background: Bioprinting has recently appeared as a powerful tool for building complex tissue and organ structures. However, the application of bioprinting to regenerative medicine has limitations, due to the restricted choices of bio-ink for cytocompatible cell encapsulation and the integrity of the fabricated structures.

Methods: In this study, we developed hybrid bio-inks based on acrylated hyaluronic acid (HA) for immobilizing bio-active peptides and tyramine-conjugated hyaluronic acids for fast gelation.

Comparison of Angiogenic Activities of Three Neuropeptides, Substance P, Secretoneurin, and Neuropeptide Y Using Myocardial Infarction.

Background: The interplay between neurogenesis and angiogenesis is crucial during the development mediated by neuro-angiogenic morphogens. In particular, the angiogenic activity of neuropeptides and their role in tissue regeneration have long been investigated for better understanding of their biological mechanisms and further applications. However, there have been few studies for direct comparison of angiogenic activities of neuropeptides for and models.