Antibiotic consumption and utilization at a large tertiary care level hospital in Uganda: A point prevalence survey.

Introduction: Effective antimicrobial stewardship programs require data on antimicrobial consumption (AMC) and utilization (AMU) to guide interventions. However, such data is often scarce in low-resource settings. We describe the consumption and utilization of antibiotics at a large tertiary-level hospital in Uganda.

Antipsychotic continuation during pregnancy and risk of postpartum relapse in women with schizophrenia: nationwide register-based study.

Background: Women with schizophrenia frequently discontinue antipsychotic medications during pregnancy. However, evidence on the risk of postpartum relapse associated with antipsychotic use during pregnancy is lacking.

Aims: To investigate the within-individual association between antipsychotic continuation during pregnancy and postpartum relapse in women with schizophrenia.

Water, sanitation, handwashing, and nutritional interventions can reduce child antibiotic use: evidence from Bangladesh and Kenya.

Antibiotics can trigger antimicrobial resistance and microbiome alterations. Reducing pathogen exposure and undernutrition can reduce infections and antibiotic use. We assess effects of water, sanitation, handwashing (WSH) and nutrition interventions on caregiver-reported antibiotic use in Bangladesh and Kenya, longitudinally measured at three timepoints among birth cohorts (ages 3-28 months) in a cluster-randomized trial.

Direct View of Gate-Tunable Miniband Dispersion in Graphene Superlattices Near the Magic Twist Angle.

Superlattices from twisted graphene mono- and bilayer systems give rise to on-demand many-body states such as Mott insulators and unconventional superconductors. These phenomena are ascribed to a combination of flat bands and strong Coulomb interactions. However, a comprehensive understanding is lacking because the low-energy band structure strongly changes when an electric field is applied to vary the electron filling.

New users of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors are at low risk of incident pancreatic cancer: a nationwide population-based cohort study.

Aim: We aimed to investigate whether sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2is) are associated with a decreased risk of gastrointestinal (GI) cancers in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) compared to other glucose lowering medications (oGLMs).

Methods: This active-comparator, new-user cohort study used the nationwide National Health Insurance Service database of the Republic of Korea from September 2014 to June 2020. From 79,423 new users of SGLT2is and 294,707 new users of oGLMs, we used a propensity score to match 59,954 from each of these two treatment groups.

Association of lung function with visceral adiposity and skeletal muscle mass considering myosteatosis.

Background: Changes in body composition, including loss of muscle mass and obesity, adversely affect lung function.

Research Question: What is the relationship between lung function, visceral adiposity, and skeletal muscle mass, considering myosteatosis measured using computed tomography (CT) scans in middle-aged Korean adults?

Study Design And Methods: We reviewed 15,827 participants (9237 men and 6590 women), with a mean age of 52.5 ± 8.

Circulating apelin levels fail to link sarcopenia-related muscle parameters in older adults.

Background: Based on the compelling experimental evidence supporting apelin's beneficial effects on muscle metabolism, our study aimed to evaluate the role of circulating apelin levels as a biomarker for muscle health in humans.

Methods: This investigation employed a cross-sectional design, encompassing 237 community-dwelling older adults aged ≥65 years who underwent comprehensive geriatric evaluations in South Korea. Sarcopenia diagnosis was based on Asian-specific criteria, and serum apelin concentrations were determined using enzyme immunoassay techniques.

Protection against tuberculosis by vaccination of secreted chorismate mutase (Rv1885c) combined with a hepatitis B virus (HBV)-derived peptide, Poly6, and alum adjuvants.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant global health issue due to the limited efficacy of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, highlighting the need for the development of an improved TB vaccine. In this study, we created a novel TB subunit vaccine consisting of TB-secreted chorismate mutase (TBCM) (Rv1885c) and a hepatitis B virus (HBV)-derived peptide (Poly6), which elicits Type I interferon responses, both with and without an alum adjuvant. We evaluated the immunogenicity, protective efficacy, and therapeutic efficacy of this vaccine candidate in an in vivo mouse model.

Evaluation of RMplex system for differentiating father-son pairs using Y-STRs in a Korean population.

Y-chromosomal short tandem repeats (Y-STRs) at rapidly mutating (RM) loci have been suggested as tools for differentiating paternally related males. RMplex is a recently developed system that incorporates 26 RM loci and four fast-mutating (FM) loci, targeting 44 male-specific loci. Here, we evaluated the RMplex by estimating Y-STR mutation rates and the overall differentiation rates for 542 Korean father-son pairs, as well as the genetic population values for 409 unrelated males.

Optimizing Intravenous Patient-Controlled Analgesia for Cancer Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial on Adjusted Background Infusion Rates.

Purpose: Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) has been considered for managing cancer pain; however, limited research has been conducted on optimizing continuous infusion rates with PCA. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a method that optimizes background infusion (BI) alongside PCA for titrating intravenous (IV) morphine in managing cancer-related pain.

Methods: Forty-four patients with solid tumors who could not manage pain with oral or transdermal opioid analgesics were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive IV morphine through PCA or the conventional method.

Treadmill belt accelerations may not accurately replicate kinematic responses to tripping on an obstacle in older people.

Background: Treadmill belt perturbations have high clinical feasibility for use in perturbation-based training in older people, but their kinematic validity is unclear. This study examined the kinematic validity of treadmill belt accelerations as a surrogate for overground walkway trips during gait in older people.

Methods: Thirty-eight community-dwelling older people were exposed to two unilateral belt accelerations (8 m s-2) whilst walking on a split-belt treadmill and two trips induced by a 14 cm trip-board whilst walking on a walkway with condition presentation randomised.

Effect of Glomerular Hyperfiltration on Incident Cardiovascular Disease in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Background: The effects of glomerular hyperfiltration (GHF) on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) were explored.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study enrolled 1,952,053 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus from the Korean National Health Insurance Service database between 2015 and 2016. Based on age- and sex-specific estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) percentiles, patients were classified into five groups: <5 (low filtration), 5-40, 40-60, 60-95, and >95 (GHF).

C-Reactive Protein Levels and Outcomes in Infarct-Related Cardiogenic Shock: Data from the ECLS-SHOCK Trial.

Background: The impact of systemic inflammation in acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock (AMI-CS) is still a matter of debate. The present ECLS-SHOCK sub-study investigates the association of C-reactive protein (CRP) levels with short-term outcomes in patients with AMI-CS.

Methods: Patients with AMI-CS enrolled in the multicenter, randomized ECLS-SHOCK trial between 2019 and 2022 were included.

Integrating Aerogel into van der Waals Crystals for a High-Strength Thermal Insulator.

Achieving low thermal conductivity and high mechanical strength presents a material design challenge due to intrinsic trade-offs, such as the aerogel's porosity, impeding applications in construction, industry, and aerospace. This study presents a composite that incorporates a silica aerogel within a thermally expanded 2D layered vermiculite matrix. This design overcomes limitations imposed by van der Waals bonding lengths, typically less than 10 Å, which hinder aerogel integration with van der Waals crystals.

Elevated Serum IL-6 as a Negative Prognostic Biomarker in Glioblastoma: Integrating Bioinformatics and Clinical Validation.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most lethal type of primary brain tumor, necessitating the discovery of reliable serum prognostic biomarkers. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of serum Interleukin-6 (IL-6) in GBM patients. Bioinformatics analysis via gene set enrichment analysis was conducted on The Cancer Genome Atlas RNA-seq data to explore the pathways enriched in samples with high expression.

Therapeutic potential of a systemically applied humanized monoclonal antibody targeting Toll‑like receptor 2 in atopic‑dermatitis‑like skin lesions in a mouse model.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a prevalent, persistent inflammatory skin disorder distinguished by pruritic and irritated skin. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are specialized receptors that recognize specific patterns associated with pathogens and tissue damage, triggering an innate immune response that protects the host from invading pathogens. Previously, it was demonstrated that intradermal injection of the humanized anti-TLR2 monoclonal antibody (Ab) Tomaralimab effectively relieved AD-like skin inflammation in BALB/c mouse models exposed to house dust mite extracts.

Prospective Evaluation of Accelerated Brain MRI Using Deep Learning-Based Reconstruction: Simultaneous Application to 2D Spin-Echo and 3D Gradient-Echo Sequences.

Objective: To prospectively evaluate the effect of accelerated deep learning-based reconstruction (Accel-DL) on improving brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) quality and reducing scan time compared to that in conventional MRI.

Materials And Methods: This study included 150 participants (51 male; mean age 57.3 ± 16.

Radiofrequency Ablation for Recurrent Thyroid Cancers: 2025 Korean Society of Thyroid Radiology Guideline.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a minimally invasive treatment modality used as an alternative to surgery in patients with benign thyroid nodules, recurrent thyroid cancers (RTCs), and primary thyroid microcarcinomas. The Korean Society of Thyroid Radiology (KSThR) initially developed recommendations for the optimal use of RFA for thyroid tumors in 2009 and revised them in 2012 and 2017. As new meaningful evidence has accumulated since 2017 and in response to a growing global interest in the use of RFA for treating malignant thyroid lesions, the task force committee members of the KSThR decided to update the guidelines on the use of RFA for the management of RTCs based on a comprehensive analysis of current literature and expert consensus.

Role of Mesoporosity in Hard Carbon Anodes for High-Energy and Stable Potassium-Ion Storage.

Herein, NaCl-templated mesoporous hard carbons (NMCs) have been designed and engineered with tunable surface properties as anode materials for potassium-ion batteries (KIBs) and hybrid capacitors (KICs). By utilizing "water-in-oil" emulsions, the size of NaCl templates is precisely modified, leading to smaller particles that enable the formation of primary carbon structures with reduced particle size and secondary structures with 3D interconnected mesoporosity. These features significantly enhance electrode density, reduce particle-to-particle resistance, and improve electrolyte wettability.

Airway management and functional outcomes in intubated patients with ischemic stroke.

We investigated the functional outcomes in ischemic stroke patients who underwent endotracheal intubation according to airway management (i.e., extubation success, extubation failure, primary tracheostomy) at multiple time points.

Predictors for the Development of Hypergastrinemia in Maintenance Treatment for Mild Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Using a Half-dose Proton Pump Inhibitor.

Background/aims: Serum gastrin levels may be elevated following proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy. We aim to elucidate the predictors for the development of hypergastrinemia in maintenance treatment for mild gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) using a half-dose PPI.

Methods: This study analyzed data from a prospective randomized trial to compare continuous versus on-demand maintenance treatment modalities in patients with mild GERD.

Risk ranking of mycotoxins in plant-based meat and dairy alternatives under protein transition scenarios.

While reducing the consumption of animal-source foods is recommended for planetary and human health, potential emerging food safety risks associated with the transition to dietary patterns featuring plant-based meat (PBMA) and dairy alternatives (PBDA) remain unexplored. We assessed the exposure to mycotoxins and ranked the associated health risks related to the consumption of PBMA and PBDA. We simulated diets by replacing animal-source proteins with their plant-based alternatives.