MRI-based Deep Learning Algorithm for Assisting Clinically Significant Prostate Cancer Detection: A Bicenter Prospective Study.

Background Although artificial intelligence is actively being developed for prostate MRI, few studies have prospectively validated these tools. Purpose To compare the diagnostic performance of a commercial deep learning algorithm (DLA) and radiologists' clinical reports for cancer detection in participants from two hospitals using histopathologic findings from biopsy specimens as the reference standard. Materials and Methods This prospective bicenter study enrolled participants suspected of having prostate cancer (PCa) who were scheduled for biopsy based on clinical information, including prostate MRI, from December 2022 to July 2023.

Robust phylogenetic tree-based microbiome association test using repeatedly measured data for composition bias.

Background: The effects of microbiota on the host phenotypes can differ substantially depending on their age. Longitudinally measured microbiome data allow for the detection of the age modification effect and are useful for the detection of microorganisms related to the progression of disease whose identification change over time. Moreover, longitudinal analysis facilitates the estimation of the within-subject covariate effect, is robust to the between-subject confounders, and provides better evidence for the causal relationship than cross-sectional studies.

Visual Emphysema as a Category Modifier in Lung-RADS: Secondary Analysis of National Lung Screening Trial.

Objective: The Lung CT Reporting and Data System (Lung-RADS) does not consider emphysema, a lung cancer risk factor detectable on CT, when assessing nodule risk. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of incorporating emphysema into Lung-RADS on lung cancer diagnosis.

Methods: In this secondary analysis of the National Lung Screening Trial data, CT arm participants with noncalcified nodules were assigned to Lung-RADS categories, and their emphysema severity was visually dichotomized.

Family-based exposure assessment of legacy and alternative poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) by multiple pathways.

PFASs are persistent, amphiphilic chemicals that bioaccumulate and cause adverse health effects. Restrictions on major PFASs have increased exposure to precursors and alternatives, requiring examination of contamination from major sources and internal levels. We collected house dust (n = 45), dietary (n = 124), and serum (n = 123) from 48 families and analyzed 30 PFASs.

Prevalence of the Cladosporium cladosporioides Species Complex in the Mycelia-Like Skin Crusts of Migratory Yellow-Throated Buntings (Emberiza elegans) in Korea.

Understanding the ecological characteristics and environmental factors of migratory songbirds is essential for their conservation as well as pathogen management that may cross ecological and political boundaries. In this study, we conducted a bird trapping and banding survey and report on fungal DNA detected from birds with putative fungal skin infections. We analyzed the mycobiome of mycelia-like skin crusts of the yellow-throated bunting (Emberiza elegans), a common migratory songbird with declining population in Korea, using DNA metabarcoding targeting the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) region, the actin (ACT) gene, and the translation elongation factor 1 - α (TEF) gene.

Genomic and pathogenicity analyses to identify the causative agent from multiple serogroups of non-O1, non-O139 in foodborne outbreaks.

In 2013, foodborne outbreaks in Japan were linked to non-O1, non-O139 . However, laboratory tests have detected several serogroups, making it difficult to determine the causative agent. Therefore, whole-genome analyses revealed that only serogroup O144 possesses a genomic island with a type III secretion system (T3SS).

Bringing to light vinyl chloride oligomers, a class of polychlorinated alkanes differing from chlorinated paraffins.

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is one of the most widely used polymers, which contrasts with the low amount of literature on the leaching of associated additives and in particular unintended oligomers, a class of non-intentionally added substances (NIAS). This study sheds light on the occurrence of vinyl chloride oligomers (VCOs) in a variety of PVC analytical standards (n = 4), PVC items employed for construction, medical or food contact applications (n = 14), as well as in foodstuffs and environmental matrices (n = 10). Samples were analysed by liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry hyphenated with chloride-enhanced electrospray ionisation.

Ultrasonic Activation of Persulfate for the Removal of BPA in 20, 28, and 300 kHz Systems.

The effect of ultrasound (US) on persulfate (PS) activation was investigated to determine whether acoustic cavitation can effectively induce PS activation for bisphenol A (BPA) degradation at 20, 28, and 300 kHz under various temperature conditions. The optimal liquid volume in the vessel was geometrically determined to be 400, 900, and 420 mL at 20, 28, and 300 kHz, respectively, using KI dosimetry and sonochemiluminescence image analysis. The pseudo-1st-order reaction kinetic constants in the only PS, only US, and US/PS processes at 20, 28, and 300 kHz were obtained under 5-10 ℃, 15-20 ℃, 25-30 ℃, 45-50 ℃, 55-60 ℃, and no temperature control conditions.

Association between long-term PM exposure and risk of infectious diseases - acute otitis media, sinusitis, pharyngitis, and tonsillitis in children: A nationwide longitudinal cohort study.

Background: Air pollution, particularly particulate matter, has been linked to various health issues, including respiratory infections in children. This study investigates the impact of long-term PM2.5 exposure on acute otitis media (AOM), sinusitis, pharyngitis, and tonsillitis in a large Korean cohort.

Characteristics and exposure determinants of PM, formaldehyde, and total volatile organic compounds in residential indoor air in Korea.

Indoor air pollutant levels can be affected by both internal and external factors. However, most epidemiological studies have focused on outdoor air pollution. Here, we aimed to provide nationally representative data on residential air quality in Korea and to identify the determinants of residential air quality.

Tire-Road-Wear Particles and Glass Beads in the Gizzard of the Endangered Terrestrial Bird, Okinawa Rail ().

This study analyzed microplastics and glass beads (GBs; an indicator of traffic-derived particulate contamination) in 42 gizzards of an endangered terrestrial bird, the Okinawa rail (). Black rubber fragments (BRs) were found in 57% of the specimens (1-184 items/individuals), and GBs were found in 48% (1-32 items/ind.).

Exploring the association between herbal medicine usage and drug-induced liver injury: insights from a nationwide population-based cohort study using SCCS in South Korea.

Introduction: Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a significant health concern caused by exposure to pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter medications, herbal remedies, and dietary supplements. The contribution of prescribed herbal medicines to DILI risk remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the hepatotoxicity risk associated with traditional Korean medicines (TKMs) using nationwide health insurance claims data.

Socioeconomic disparities in depression risk: Limitations of the moderate effect of physical activity changes in Korea.

This study investigates the influence of changes in physical activity (PA) patterns on depression risk across different socioeconomic statuses (SES) in Korea. Utilizing National Health Insurance Data (NHID) from over 1.2 million individuals during 2013-2016, we matched medical aid beneficiaries with health insurance beneficiaries, excluding those with prior depression or incomplete PA data.

Risk of all-cause mortality by various cigarette smoking indices: A longitudinal study using the Korea National Health Examination Baseline Cohort in South Korea.

Introduction: Smoking behaviors can be quantified using various indices. Previous studies have shown that these indices measure and predict health risks differently. Additionally, the choice of measure differs depending on the health outcome of interest.

Evaluation of hazardous substances emitted during mask use.

This study evaluated the inhalation of mask-derived materials by simulating real breathing conditions and examined how the amount of inhaled materials varies with breathing flow rate and duration. Three types of non-certified reusable masks and two types of certified disposable masks were selected. For each mask, five different hazardous materials were captured and analyzed in three replicates with two breathing flow rates of 30 L/min and 85 L/min and two breathing time combinations of 15 min and 60 min.

rs762855 single nucleotide polymorphism modulates the risk for diffuse-type gastric cancer in females: a genome-wide association study in the Korean population.

Background: Intestinal-type gastric cancer (IGC) and diffuse-type gastric cancer (DGC) exhibit different prevalence rates between sexes. While environmental factors like Helicobacter pylori infection and alcohol consumption contribute to these differences, they do not fully account for them, suggesting a role for host genetic factors.

Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis to explore associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the risk of IGC or DGC.

Key risk factors of generalized anxiety disorder in adolescents: machine learning study.

Adolescents worldwide are increasingly affected by mental health disorders, with anxiety disorders, including Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), being particularly prevalent. Despite its significant impact, GAD in adolescents often remains underdiagnosed due to vague symptoms and delayed medical attention, highlighting the need for early diagnosis and prevention strategies. This study utilized data from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (KYRBS) from 2020 to 2023 to analyze factors influencing GAD in adolescents.

Cost-effectiveness of hearing aids in South Korea: a multistate Markov model analysis.

Objectives: This study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of using hearing aids among individuals aged 50 and older with varying levels of hearing loss in South Korea.

Methods: A state-transition Markov model was employed to assess the cost-effectiveness of hearing aid utilization from a societal perspective. We simulated a cohort of patients aged 50, tracking their progression through normal, mild, moderate, and severe stages of hearing loss until death or age 80.

Effect of fasting status on association between exposure to phthalate and phenolics, and thyroid hormones in adult women of reproductive age.

Diet is one of the important exposure sources for many urinary chemicals that have been investigated in association studies for thyroid hormone outcomes. For these chemicals, the fasting status can substantially affect the results of urinary biomonitoring of the study population. Such variability presents challenges for cross-sectional association studies, particularly when the substances of concern have short excretion half-lives.

Identifying Disease Associated Multi-Omics Network With Mixed Graphical Models Based on Markov Random Field Model.

In this article, we proposed a new method named fused mixed graphical model (FMGM), which can infer network structures associated with dichotomous phenotypes. FMGM is based on a pairwise Markov random field model, and statistical analyses including the proposed method were conducted to find biological markers and underlying network structures of the atopic dermatitis (AD) from multiomics data of 6-month-old infants. The performance of FMGM was evaluated with simulations by using synthetic datasets of power-law networks, showing that FMGM had superior performance for identifying the differences of the networks compared to the separate inference with the previous method, causalMGM (F1-scores 0.

Cohort profile: a nationwide retrospective cohort of mortality in people living with HIV in Korea, 1985-2020.

The increasing number of people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Korea has prompted interest in using the national surveillance system as a database for studying their health. To investigate the relationships between socio-demographic and epidemiological characteristics and mortality rates, a nationwide retrospective cohort was formed by integrating surveillance data with the Cause of Death Statistics from Statistics Korea. This integration included incidence reports, epidemiological investigations, and death reports from the surveillance data, enriched with detailed mortality information from the Cause of Death data.

A Review of Mendelian Randomization: Assumptions, Methods, and Application to Obesity-Related Diseases.

Mendelian randomization (MR) is a statistical method that uses genetic variants as instrumental variables to estimate the causal effect of exposure on an outcome in the presence of unmeasured confounding. In this review, we argue that it is crucial to acknowledge the instrumental variable assumptions in MR analysis. We describe widely used MR methods, using an example from obesity-related metabolic disorders.

Sensitivity Analysis for Effects of Multiple Exposures in the Presence of Unmeasured Confounding.

Epidemiological research aims to investigate how multiple exposures affect health outcomes of interest, but observational studies often suffer from biases caused by unmeasured confounders. In this study, we develop a novel sensitivity model to investigate the effect of correlated multiple exposures on the continuous health outcomes of interest. The proposed sensitivity analysis is model-agnostic and can be applied to any machine learning algorithm.