Heightened but Inefficient Thought-Action Fusion in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: New Insight From a Multiple Trial Version of the Classic Thought-Action Fusion Experiment.

Objective: Thought-action fusion (TAF), which is a tendency to make the relationship between one's thoughts and external consequences, is a dysfunctional belief linked to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). While the TAF is commonly evaluated using the Thought-Action Fusion Scale (TAFS), it cannot fully reflect the actual experience of experimentally evoked TAF. In the present study, we applied a multiple-trial version of the classic TAF experiment and evaluate two variables, reaction time (RT) and emotional intensity (EI).

Alterations of Power Spectral Density in Salience Network during Thought-action Fusion Induction Paradigm in Obsessive-compulsive Disorder.

Objective: Recent studies highlighted the triple-network model which illustrated the interactions among three large-scale networks including salience network (SN). The functional magnetic resonance imaging used in this study was designed to investigate the characteristics of three large-scale networks associated with the thought-action fusion (TAF) in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) using power spectral density (PSD) analysis.

Methods: This study included 32 OCD patients and 38 age-matched healthy controls (HC).

The Neural Correlates of Positive Versus Negative Thought-action Fusion in Healthy Young Adults.

Objective: Thought-action fusion (TAF), one of the most-studied dysfunctional beliefs in obsessive-compulsive disorder, represents an individual's belief that his/her thoughts directly influence events. TAF belief types are divided into personal thoughts relating to positive (positive TAF) and negative outcomes (negative TAF). However, the neural mechanisms underlying both aspects of the TAF response remain elusive.

Aberrant functional connectivity of neural circuits associated with thought-action fusion in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Background: Cognitive theories of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) stress the importance of dysfunctional beliefs in the development and maintenance of the disorder. However, a neurobiological understanding of these cognitive models, including thought-action fusion (TAF), is surprisingly lacking. Thus, this functional magnetic resonance imaging study aimed to investigate whether altered functional connectivity (FC) is associated with the TAF paradigm in OCD patients.

sp. nov., isolated from commercial solar salt.

Two strains of Gram-stain-positive, strictly aerobic, motile, spore-forming, rod-shaped, moderately halotolerant bacteria, designated as HMF5848 and HME7618, were isolated from salt/brine and subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic investigation. Growth of both yellow-coloured strains occurred in the presence of 1-9 % NaCl (w/v; optimum, 2-3 %), at 15-45 °C (optimum, 37 °C) and pH 6-9 (optimum, pH 7). The major fatty acids were iso-C, iso-C and anteiso-C.

Optic nerve changes in chronic sinusitis patients: Correlation with disease severity and relevant sinus location.

Purpose: This study was to evaluate whether optic nerve damage occurs in eyes with adjacent chronic sinusitis.

Methods: Data were collected from eighty-eight eyes of 46 chronic sinusitis patients and 93 eyes of 57 normal controls. Visual sensitivity using standard automated perimetry (SAP) and inner retinal thickness using optical coherence tomography (OCT) were measured.

Hypergravity enhances the therapeutic effect of dexamethasone in allergic asthma and rhinitis animal model.

We investigated whether the therapeutic effects of dexamethasone for allergic asthma and rhinitis were enhanced in mice when exposed to hypergravity. Forty mice were divided into 5 groups (n = 8/group): Control group received saline intraperitoneally (i.p.

Correlation of Nasal Eosinophilia and Response after Nasal Provocation Test in Patients with Nonallergic Rhinitis.

Objectives We aimed to evaluate the relationship between nasal eosinophilia and nasal hyperresponsiveness to allergen extract. Study Design Retrospective chart review. Setting Academic tertiary rhinologic practice.

Thalassotalea litorea sp. nov., isolated from seashore sand.

A novel Gram-stain-negative, aerobic and rod-shaped marine bacterium, designated strain HMF4135T, was isolated from a sand sample which was collected from the seashore of the South Sea, Republic of Korea. It required NaCl for growth and exhibited optimal growth at 30 °C, with 2 % (w/v) NaCl and at pH 7-8. Cellular fatty acids were dominated by C16 : 0, summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c), C16 : 1ω9c and C12 : 0 3-OH.

Anti-allergic effect of luteolin in mice with allergic asthma and rhinitis.

Aim Of The Study: We aimed to evaluate the anti-allergic effect of luteolin treatment in mice with allergic asthma and rhinitis.

Material And Methods: Thirty-two BALB/c mice (n = 8 for each group) were used. Mice in group A (nonallergic group) were exposed to saline, while those in Group B (allergic group) were exposed to ovalbumin (OVA) intraperitoneal (i.

Usefulness of Allerkin House Dust Mite Extract for Nasal Provocation Testing.

Objectives: We evaluated the clinical usefulness of Allerkin (Lofarma) for nasal provocation testing (NPT) in patients with rhinitis symptoms, by examining changes in nasal symptoms and acoustic parameters after exposure to house dust mite (HDM) extract.

Methods: Twenty patients (16 males and 4 females, mean age: 29.6±14.

Low Concentration PM Had No Effect on Nasal Symptoms and Flow in Allergic Rhinitis Patients.

Objectives: Since Korea is geographically close to China (the origin site for Asian sand dust [ASD]) the health influence of ASD event will be still greater in Korea. We aimed to evaluate the effect of PM (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <10 μm, below 150 μg/m) on the clinical course of allergic rhinitis (AR).

Methods: We enrolled 47 healthy volunteers (group A) and 108 AR patients sensitized to house dust mites (group B).

Recent Updates on the Systemic and Local Safety of Intranasal Steroids.

Background: Allergic rhinitis is a global health problem, and its prevalence rate and socioeconomic burden continue to increase. Intranasal steroid (INS) is the first treatment choice in the majority of patients, because of its ability to effectively control allergic symptoms. However, patients and clinicians are concerned about the potential adverse effects of prolonged INS use.

Effect of Long-Term Antiorthostatic Suspension in a Murine Model of Acute Lung Injury.

Objectives: Antiorthostatic suspension (AOS) is ground-based model of simulated microgravity. There is still no study about the effect of long-term microgravity on the clinical course of acute lung injury. We evaluated the effect of simulated microgravity using AOS in a murine model of acute lung injury by lipopolysaccharide (LPS).

Hormetic Effect of Chronic Hypergravity in a Mouse Model of Allergic Asthma and Rhinitis.

We aimed to evaluate the effect of chronic hypergravity in a mouse model of allergic asthma and rhinitis. Forty BALB/c mice were divided as: group A (n = 10, control) sensitized and challenged with saline, group B (n = 10, asthma) challenged by intraperitoneal and intranasal ovalbumin (OVA) to induce allergic asthma and rhinitis, and groups C (n = 10, asthma/rotatory control) and D (n = 10, asthma/hypergravity) exposed to 4 weeks of rotation with normogravity (1G) or hypergravity (5G) during induction of asthma/rhinitis. Group D showed significantly decreased eosinophils, neutrophils, and lymphocytes in their BAL fluid compared with groups B and C (p < 0.

Hypergravity Effects on the Retina and Intraocular Pressure in Mice.

Background: We investigated the effect of exposure to +10.0 G for 4 h on the intraocular pressure and the retina of mice.

Methods: We exposed 10 mice to +10.

Interleukin-33 and Mast Cells Bridge Innate and Adaptive Immunity: From the Allergologist's Perspective.

Interleukin (IL) 33, a member of the IL-1 superfamily, is an "alarmin" protein and is secreted in its active form from damaged cells undergoing necrotic cell death. Mast cells are one of the main effector cell types in allergic disorders. They secrete a variety of mediators, including T helper 2 cytokines.

Antiallergic effects of anti-interleukin-33 are associated with suppression of immunoglobulin light chain and inducible nitric oxide synthase.

Objective: We aimed to find novel genes that are significantly induced in allergic mice and that are significantly downregulated with anti-interleukin (IL) 33 treatment.

Methods: Thirty-six mice were allocated into each of group A (intraperitoneal [i.p.

Prolonged Anti-Orthostatic Hind Limb Unloading and Murine Allergic Asthma.

Background: Hind limb unloading (HU) is one of the ground-based models of simulated microgravity. As bacterial and viral infections could affect the immune system, the immunologic effect of HU should be studied in a specific-pathogen-free (SPF) laboratory. However, a review of the literature did not reveal any studies on the immunologic effects of prolonged HU in a murine model of allergic disease.

Nasal provocation test is useful for discriminating allergic, nonallergic, and local allergic rhinitis.

Background: No standard study protocol or diagnostic criteria based on nasal provocation test (NPT) and acoustic rhinometry (AR) results are available for allergic rhinitis.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the usefulness of NPT plus AR for the differential diagnosis of local allergic rhinitis (LAR), allergic, and nonallergic rhinitis.

Methods: The medical records and skin-prick test (SPT) and NPT results of 262 patients with symptoms of chronic rhinitis were reviewed.

Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging findings of nasal cavity hemangiomas according to histological type.

Objective: To compare computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings between two histological types of nasal hemangiomas (cavernous hemangioma and capillary or lobular capillary hemangioma).

Materials And Methods: CT (n = 20; six pre-contrast; 20 post-enhancement) and MRI (n = 7) images from 23 patients (16 men and seven women; mean age, 43 years; range, 13-73 years) with a pathologically diagnosed nasal cavity hemangioma (17 capillary and lobular capillary hemangiomas and six cavernous hemangiomas) were reviewed, focusing on lesion location, size, origin, contour, enhancement pattern, attenuation or signal intensity (SI), and bony changes.

Results: The 17 capillary and lobular hemangiomas averaged 13 mm (range, 4-37 mm) in size, and most (n = 13) were round.

Ferruginibacter paludis sp. nov., isolated from wetland freshwater, and emended descriptions of Ferruginibacter lapsinanis and Ferruginibacter alkalilentus.

A Gram-staining-negative, aerobic and rod-shaped bacterium, designated HME8881T, was isolated from a freshwater wetland located in the Republic of Korea. A phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain HME8881T grouped with members of the genus Ferruginibacter. The most closely related species were Ferruginibacter lapsinanis HU1-HG42T (95.

The effect of PM10 on allergy symptoms in allergic rhinitis patients during spring season.

Background: Asian sand dust (ASD) that originates in the Mongolian Desert in the spring induces serious respiratory health problems throughout East Asia (China, Korea, Japan). PM10 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <10 μm) is a major air pollutant component in ASD. We studied the effects of PM10 on allergy symptoms in patients with allergic rhinitis during the spring season, when ASD frequently develops.

Porous high-density polyethylene in functional rhinoplasty: Excellent long-term aesthetic results and safety.

Background: Experience with the use of porous high-density polyethylene (PHDPE) for reconstruction of the nasal framework has been limited.

Objective: To confirm the safety and utility of PHDPE by analyzing aesthetic outcomes and assessing the frequency of complication related to PHDPE in a large, population-based, long-term follow-up study.

Methods: A total of 151 patients who had undergone septoplasty and/or functional rhinoplasty using PHDPE were enrolled.