A more elaborate genetic clock for clonal species.

The genetic clock is a well-established tool used in evolutionary biology for estimating divergence times between species, individuals, or cells based on DNA sequence changes. Yu et al. have revisited the clock to make it applicable to clonal multicellular organisms that expand through asexual reproduction mechanisms, enabling more comprehensive evolutionary tracking.

Changes in work status after cancer diagnosis and their associations with depressive symptoms among cancer survivors: findings from the Korean longitudinal study of ageing.

Purpose: Cancer survivors encounter significant psychological suffering and are prone to develop depressive symptoms. Work contributes to personal fulfillment and social connections, and by doing so, enhances a cancer survivor's resilience against adversities. However, maintaining employment can be challenging for some cancer survivors.

Overcoming Cancer Drug Resistance with Nanoparticle Strategies for Key Protein Inhibition.

Drug resistance remains a critical barrier in cancer therapy, diminishing the effectiveness of chemotherapeutic, targeted, and immunotherapeutic agents. Overexpression of proteins such as B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs), protein kinase B (Akt), and P-glycoprotein (P-gp) in various cancers leads to resistance by inhibiting apoptosis, enhancing cell survival, and expelling drugs. Although several inhibitors targeting these proteins have been developed, their clinical use is often hampered by systemic toxicity, poor bioavailability, and resistance development.

Calcium- and Sodium-Rich Food Intake among Koreans with and without Metabolic Syndrome: Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study.

Background: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) is increasing. While calcium and sodium are known nutritional factors used for managing MetS, few studies have focused on food-based analyses. This cross-sectional study examined the distribution of calcium- and sodium-rich food intake among Koreans with MetS.

The effect of dialysis modality on annual mortality: A prospective cohort study.

Despite numerous studies on the effect of each dialysis modality on mortality, the issue remains controversial. We investigated the hazard rate of mortality in patients with incident end-stage renal disease (ESRD) concerning initial dialysis modality (hemodialysis vs. peritoneal dialysis).

Outcomes of Various Classes of Oral Antidiabetic Drugs on Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Importance: Several oral antidiabetic drug (OAD) classes can potentially improve patient outcomes in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to varying degrees, but clinical data on which class is favored are lacking.

Objective: To investigate which OAD is associated with the best patient outcomes in NAFLD and type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Design, Setting, And Participants: This retrospective nonrandomized interventional cohort study used the National Health Information Database, which provided population-level data for Korea.

A Maternity Waiting Home Is an Alternative Approach for the Accessibility of Pregnant Women in an Obstetrically Underserved Area of Korea.

Background: We analyzed whether a maternity waiting home (MWH) for pregnant women in an obstetrically underserved area of Gangwon-do in Korea, which has been in operation since August 2018, has improved the accessibility of a maternity hospital and pregnancy outcomes.

Methods: We compared and analyzed the accessibility of maternity hospitals for 170 pregnant women who applied for the MWH from August 2018 to May 2022. Among the 170 participants, 64 were MWH users and 106 non-users.

Metformin Use and Long-term Clinical Outcomes in Kidney Transplant Recipients.

Rationale & Objective: Metformin has been recommended for some patients with advanced chronic kidney disease. However, the value of metformin in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) with pretransplant diabetes mellitus (DM) or posttransplant DM is uncertain. We investigated the clinical effects of metformin in KTRs.

Direct observation of surface charge and stiffness of human metaphase chromosomes.

Metaphase chromosomes in which both polynucleotides and proteins are condensed with hierarchies are closely related to life phenomena such as cell division, cancer development, and cellular senescence. Nevertheless, their nature is rarely revealed, owing to their structural complexity and technical limitations in analytical methods. In this study, we used surface potential and nanomechanics mapping technology based on atomic force microscopy to measure the surface charge and intrinsic stiffness of metaphase chromosomes.

Fast Responsive, Reversible Colorimetric Nanoparticle-Hydrogel Complexes for pH Monitoring.

Hydrogels containing redox-sensitive colorimetric nanoparticles (NPs) have been used to sense ambient pH in many fields owing to their simple and fast visualization capabilities. However, real-time pH monitoring still has limitations due to its poor response rate and irreversibility. Herein, we developed a fast responsive colorimetric hydrogel called ferrocene adsorption colorimetric hydrogel (FACH).

Primary Angiosarcoma of the Breast: A Single-Center Retrospective Study in Korea.

Due to the rarity of primary angiosarcoma of the breast, optimal management is based on expert opinion. The aim of this study was to review all primary angiosarcomas of the breast obtained from a single center in terms of clinicopathologic characteristics, treatment, and survival outcomes. From 1997 to 2020, 15 patients with primary angiosarcoma of the breast underwent either mastectomy or wide excision.

Macronutrient Intake in Adults Diagnosed with Metabolic Syndrome: Using the Health Examinee (HEXA) Cohort.

Macronutrient intake is important in the prevention and management of metabolic syndrome (MetS). This study aimed to evaluate total energy and macronutrient intake of participants diagnosed with MetS at recruitment of the health examinees (HEXA) cohort, considering the plant and animal sources of each macronutrient. We included 130,423 participants aged 40-69 years for analysis.

Web-Based Text Analysis of the Patient Safety Concerns of Various Healthcare Stakeholders.

Patient safety is a fundamental aspect of the quality of healthcare and there is a growing interest in improving safety among healthcare stakeholders in many countries. The Korean government recognized that patient safety is a threat to society following several serious adverse events, and so the Ministry of Health and Welfare of the Korean government set up the Patient Safety Act in January 2015. This study analyzed text data on patient safety collected from web-based, user-generated documents related to the legislation to see if they accurately represent the specific concerns of various healthcare stakeholders.

The Relationship of Lifestyle Factors with the Prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder by Ecological Factors.

Objective: The association between ecological/lifestyle factors and major depressive disorder (MDD) have been provided but was inconsistent as characteristics of population including race, gender, etc.

Methods: Data were extracted from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and consisted of 35,839 adults including 1,537 with MDD. Ecological factors included age, sex, married status, education, family income, residence, occupation, BMI, self-recognition stress, and history of non-communicable disease.

Comparison of Nicotine Dependence and Biomarker Levels among Traditional Cigarette, Heat-Not-Burn Cigarette, and Liquid E-Cigarette Users: Results from the Think Study.

This study aimed to compare Korean smokers' smoking-related biomarker levels by tobacco product type, including heat-not-burn cigarettes (HNBC), liquid e-cigarettes (EC), and traditional cigarettes (TC). Nicotine dependence levels were evaluated in Korean adult study participants including TC-, EC-, HNBC-only users and nonsmokers ( = 1586) from March 2019 to July 2019 in Seoul and Cheonan/Asan South Korea using the Fagerström Test Score. Additionally, urine samples ( = 832) were collected for the measurement of urinary nicotine, cotinine, OH-cotinine, NNAL(4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol), CYMA(N-acetyl-S-(2-cyanoehtyl)-L-cysteine), or CEMA (2-cyanoethylmercapturic acid) using LC-MS/MS.

The Association of Dietary Macronutrients with Lung Function in Healthy Adults Using the Ansan-Ansung Cohort Study.

This study is aimed to examine the association between macronutrient intake and lung function in healthy adults ( = 5880) using the Ansan-Ansung cohort study. To identify the index of lung function, we used the percentage difference of predicted Forced Expiratory Volume (%FEV) between baseline and follow-up. Based on the median %FEV, subjects were classified by two groups as "decreased vs.

What are the main patient safety concerns of healthcare stakeholders: a mixed-method study of Web-based text.

Objectives: Various healthcare stakeholders define quality of care in different ways. Public policy could advocate all these concerns. This study was conducted to identify the main themes on patient safety of stakeholders expressed before and after the Patient Safety Act was enacted in Korea in 2015.

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase inhibition activates a pathway that branches from the canonical amino acid response in mammalian cells.

Signaling pathways that sense amino acid abundance are integral to tissue homeostasis and cellular defense. Our laboratory has previously shown that halofuginone (HF) inhibits the prolyl-tRNA synthetase catalytic activity of glutamyl-prolyl-tRNA synthetase (EPRS), thereby activating the amino acid response (AAR). We now show that HF treatment selectively inhibits inflammatory responses in diverse cell types and that these therapeutic benefits occur in cells that lack GCN2, the signature effector of the AAR.

Effect of Psychological Distance on Intention in Self-Affirmation Theory.

In previous studies, self-affirmation has been shown to have no effect or have a negative impact on intention to change. We applied construal level theory to examine possible reasons for inconsistencies among findings in existing self-affirmation studies. In Study 1, when female college students in their 20s ( = 113) received health threat information with a psychologically proximal breast cancer message, it induced low-level construal and increased specific physical activity intention.

Effect of dietary patterns on the blood/urine concentration of the selected toxic metals (Cd, Hg, Pb) in Korean children.

This study was aimed to examine the association the blood/urinary concentration of toxic metal (Hg, Pb, and Cd) with children's dietary patterns. This cross-sectional study included 1026 school children aged 8-17 years. Dietary patterns were defined using factor loading scores for 108 foods from a Semi-Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire.

Effects of Internet and Smartphone Addictions on Depression and Anxiety Based on Propensity Score Matching Analysis.

The associations of Internet addiction (IA) and smartphone addiction (SA) with mental health problems have been widely studied. We investigated the effects of IA and SA on depression and anxiety while adjusting for sociodemographic variables. In this study, 4854 participants completed a cross-sectional web-based survey including socio-demographic items, the Korean Scale for Internet Addiction, the Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale, and the subscales of the Symptom Checklist 90 Items-Revised.

Impulsivity and compulsivity in Internet gaming disorder: A comparison with obsessive-compulsive disorder and alcohol use disorder.

Background and aims Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is characterized by a loss of control and a preoccupation with Internet games leading to repetitive behavior. We aimed to compare the baseline neuropsychological profiles in IGD, alcohol use disorder (AUD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in the spectrum of impulsivity and compulsivity. Methods A total of 225 subjects (IGD, N = 86; AUD, N = 39; OCD, N = 23; healthy controls, N = 77) were administered traditional neuropsychological tests including Korean version of the Stroop Color-Word test and computerized neuropsychological tests, including the stop signal test (SST) and the intra-extra dimensional set shift test (IED).

Comparison of DRY and WET vaginal swabs with cervical specimens in Roche Cobas 4800 HPV and Abbott RealTime High Risk HPV tests.

Background: Self-collected vaginal swab samples have been proposed as an alternative specimen collection method for human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA detection.

Objectives: Two vaginal swabs (a cone-shaped flocked swab (DRY) and a L-shape FLOQSwab with 2mL eNAT transport medium (WET)) were compared to standard cervical samples for HPV DNA testing. Additionally, they were also compared by using Roche Cobas 4800 HPV (Roche_HPV) and Abbott Real-time High Risk HPV (Abbott_HPV) tests.