Advancing the quantitative understanding of adverse outcome pathways: current status, methodologies, and future directions.

An adverse outcome pathway (AOP) framework maps the sequence of events leading to adverse outcomes from chemical exposures, providing a mechanistic understanding often absent in traditional methods. The quantitative AOP (qAOP) advances AOP by integrating quantitative data and mathematical modeling, thereby providing a more precise comprehension of relationships between molecular initiating events, key events, and adverse outcomes. This review critically examines three primary methodologies: systems toxicology, regression modeling, and Bayesian network modeling, highlighting their strengths, limitations, and specific data requirements within toxicology.

Multi-modal learning-based algae phyla identification using image and particle modalities.

Algal blooms in freshwater, which are exacerbated by urbanization and climate change, pose significant challenges in the water treatment process. These blooms affect water quality and treatment efficiency. Effective identification of algal proliferation based on the dominant species is important to ensure safe drinking water and a clean water supply.

Metabolomics and network pharmacology approach to identify potential bioactive compounds from Trichoderma sp. against oral squamous cell carcinoma.

This study aimed to profile metabolites from five Trichoderma strains and assess their cytotoxic and pharmacological activities, particularly targeting oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). UHPLC-TOF-MS analysis revealed the presence of 25 compounds, including heptelidic acid, viridiol isomers, and sorbicillinol from the different Trichoderma extracts. Pharmacokinetic analysis showed moderate permeability and low interaction with P-glycoprotein, suggesting good drug absorption with minimal interference in cellular uptake.

The value of magnetic resonance imaging in predicting vesicovaginal fistula in cervical cancer with bladder invasion treated with definitive chemoradiotherapy.

Objectives: To assess the predictive value of magnetic resonance imaging for vesicovaginal fistula development in cervical cancer patients with bladder invasion treated with definitive chemoradiotherapy.

Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of the medical records of 43 cervical cancer patients with bladder invasion between 1999 and 2015. Bladder invasion was confirmed through magnetic resonance imaging (scores ≥3) or cystoscopic findings, with or without biopsy.

Next-generation sequencing analysis of bacterial species present in the sequestrum of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw patients.

Objective: Antiresorptives cases of adverse reactions to highly effective drugs used to treat skeletal-related events that occur during treatment of osteoporosis or malignancy have been reported in the jaw. To date, there is no clear pathophysiology for medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ), but the role of inflammation or infection has been proposed as one of several possible pathogenesis theories. This study was designed to investigate the role of infection in the pathogenesis of MRONJ by analyzing the microbial communities observed in the bone samples from MRONJ patients.

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.

ISCT MSC committee statement on the US FDA approval of allogenic bone-marrow mesenchymal stromal cells.

The December 2024 US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of Mesoblast's Ryoncil (remestemcel-L-rknd)-allogeneic bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC(M)) therapy-in pediatric acute steroid-refractory graft-versus-host-disease finally ended a long-lasting drought on approved MSC clinical products in the United States. While other jurisdictions-including Europe, Japan, India, and South Korea-have marketed autologous or allogeneic MSC products, the United States has lagged in its approval. The sponsor's significant efforts and investments, working closely with the FDA addressing concerns regarding clinical efficacy and consistent MSC potency through an iterative process that spanned several years, was rewarded with this landmark approval.

Expansion of medical school admission quotas in Korea, is it really necessary?

Background: In 2024, the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare enforced a policy to increase the number of medical school students by 2,000 over the next 5 years, despite opposition from doctors. This study aims to predict the trend of excess or shortage of medical personnel in Korea due to the policy of increasing the number of medical school students by 2035.

Methods: Data from multiple sources, including the Ministry of Health and Welfare, National Health Insurance Corporation, and the Korean Medical Association, were used to estimate supply and demand.

Bibliometric analysis of global research trends in vestibular neuritis (1980-2024).

Purpose: Vestibular neuritis (VN) is a common cause of vertigo with significant impact on patients' quality of life. This study aimed to analyze global research trends in VN using bibliometric methods to identify key themes, influential authors, institutions, and countries contributing to the field.

Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search of the Web of Science Core Collection database for publications related to VN from 1980 to 2024.

Encorafenib, cetuximab and chemotherapy in BRAF-mutant colorectal cancer: a randomized phase 3 trial.

Encorafenib + cetuximab (EC) is approved for previously treated BRAF V600E-mutant metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) based on the BEACON phase 3 study. Historically, first-line treatment of BRAF V600E-mutant mCRC with chemotherapy regimens has had limited efficacy. The phase 3 BREAKWATER study investigated EC+mFOLFOX6 versus standard of care (SOC) in patients with previously untreated BRAF V600E mCRC.

Explainable vision transformer for automatic visual sleep staging on multimodal PSG signals.

Polysomnography (PSG) is crucial for diagnosing sleep disorders, but manual scoring of PSG is time-consuming and subjective, leading to high variability. While machine-learning models have improved PSG scoring, their clinical use is hindered by the 'black-box' nature. In this study, we present SleepXViT, an automatic sleep staging system using Vision Transformer (ViT) that provides intuitive, consistent explanations by mimicking human 'visual scoring'.

Adjusting on-scene CPR duration based on transport time interval in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a nationwide multicenter study.

The optimal duration of on-scene cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients remains uncertain. Determining this critical time period requires outweighing the potential risks associated with intra-arrest transport while minimizing delays in accessing definitive hospital-based treatments. This study evaluated the association between on-scene CPR duration and 30-day neurologically favorable survival based on the transport time interval (TTI) in patients with OHCA.

Foliar application of nano biochar solution elevates tomato productivity by counteracting the effect of salt stress insights into morphological physiological and biochemical indices.

Nano-biochar considers a versatile and valuable sorbent to enhance plant productivity by improving soil environment and emerged as a novel solution for environmental remediation and sustainable agriculture in modern era. In this study, roles of foliar applied nanobiochar colloidal solution (NBS) on salt stressed tomato plants were investigated. For this purpose, NBS was applied (0%, 1% 3% and 5%) on two groups of plants (control 0 mM and salt stress 60 mM).

Cardiovascular disease risk in Korean patients with systemic lupus erythematosus compared to diabetes mellitus and the general population.

To evaluate the incidence and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among Korean patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) comparing them to diabetes patients and the general population. This nationwide cohort study focused on incident SLE patients aged over 40 years, matched with diabetes patients and the general population (1:4:4 ratio). CVD was defined as ischaemic heart disease, ischaemic stroke, and cardiac arrest.

Leveraging two-dimensional pre-trained vision transformers for three-dimensional model generation via masked autoencoders.

Although the Transformer architecture has established itself as the industry standard for jobs involving natural language processing, it still has few uses in computer vision. In vision, attention is used in conjunction with convolutional networks or to replace individual convolutional network elements while preserving the overall network design. Differences between the two domains, such as significant variations in the scale of visual things and the higher granularity of pixels in images compared to words in the text, make it difficult to transfer Transformer from language to vision.

Efficient diagnosis of diabetes mellitus using an improved ensemble method.

Diabetes is a growing health concern in developing countries, causing considerable mortality rates. While machine learning (ML) approaches have been widely used to improve early detection and treatment, several studies have shown low classification accuracies due to overfitting, underfitting, and data noise. This research employs parallel and sequential ensemble ML approaches paired with feature selection techniques to boost classification accuracy.

Association between intraoperative fluid management and postoperative outcomes in living kidney donors: a retrospective cohort study.

Optimal fluid strategy for laparoscopic donor nephrectomy (LDN) remains unclear. LDN has been a domain for liberal fluid management to ensure graft perfusion, but this can result in adverse outcomes due to fluid overload. We compared postoperative outcome of living kidney donors according to the intraoperative fluid management.

Characteristics of transition to turbulence in a healthy thoracic aorta using large eddy simulation.

This study employed large eddy simulation (LES) with the wall-adapting local eddy-viscosity (WALE) model to investigate transitional flow characteristics in an idealized model of a healthy thoracic aorta. The OpenFOAM solver pimpleFoam was used to simulate blood flow as an incompressible Newtonian fluid, with the aortic walls treated as rigid boundaries. Simulations were conducted for 30 cardiac cycles and ensemble averaging was employed to ensure statistically reliable results.

Biocompatibility of variable thicknesses of a novel directly printed aligner in orthodontics.

Direct printed aligners (DPAs) offer benefits like the ability to vary layer thickness within a single DPA and to 3D print custom-made removable orthodontic appliances. The biocompatibility of appliances made from Tera Harz TA-28 (Graphy Inc., Seoul, South Korea) depends on strict adherence to a standardized production and post-production protocol, including UV curing.

Solvent-dripping modulated 3D/2D heterostructures for high-performance perovskite solar cells.

The controlled growth of two-dimensional (2D) perovskite atop three-dimensional (3D) perovskite films reduces interfacial recombination and impedes ion migration, thus improving the performance and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Unfortunately, the random orientation of the spontaneously formed 2D phase atop the pre-deposited 3D perovskite film can deteriorate charge extraction owing to energetic disorder, limiting the maximum attainable efficiency and long-term stability of the PSCs. Here, we introduce a meta-amidinopyridine ligand and the solvent post-dripping step to generate a highly ordered 2D perovskite phase on the surface of a 3D perovskite film.

Developmental deficits, synapse and dendritic abnormalities in a Clcn4 KO autism mice model: endophenotypic target for ASD.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is linked to ion channel dysfunction, including chloride voltage-gated channel-4 (CLCN4). We generated Clcn4 knockout (KO) mice by deleting exon 5 of chromosome 7 in the C57BL/6 mice. Clcn4 KO exhibited reduced social interaction and increased repetitive behaviors assessed using three-chamber and marble burying tests.

Social group size alters social behavior and dopaminergic and serotonergic systems.

Social behavior is affected by social structure type, but how neural function changes with social type remains unclear. We investigated whether social group size affects social behaviors based on dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) systems. Four-week-old male mice were housed under different social group sizes: one, two, four, and eight mice per cage (1mpc, 2mpc, 4mpc, 8mpc, respectively).

Singular topological edge states in locally resonant metamaterials.

Band topology has emerged as a novel tool for material design across various domains, including photonic and phononic systems, and metamaterials. A prominent model for band topology is the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) chain, which reveals topological in-gap states within Bragg-type gaps (BG) formed by periodic modification. Apart from classical BGs, another mechanism for bandgap formation in metamaterials involves strong coupling between local resonances and propagating waves, resulting in a local resonance-induced bandgap (LRG).

An ultrasensitive ECL immunosensor with a dual signal amplification strategy using AuNPs@GO@SmMoSe and Gd(MoO) for estriol detection.

Background: Estriol (E3) is a common estrogen responsible for regulating the female reproductive system, but excessive amount can pose health risks to humans and wild life. Therefore, sensitive and accurate detection of estriol level is crucial. A novel competitive ECL immunosensor based on a dual signal amplification strategy of AuNPs@GO@SmMoSe and Gd(MoO) was fabricated for ultrasensitive detection of estriol.