Impact of COVID-19 on healthcare utilization among chronic disease patients in South Korea.

Background: From 2020 to 2022, South Korea has experienced significant direct and indirect damage because of the coronavirus pandemic. Preventive measures aimed at controlling the spread of the virus have inadvertently limited healthcare accessibility for patients without COVID-19, leading to detrimental consequences, particularly for patients with chronic diseases. Hence, there is a growing need to comprehensively examine the changes in healthcare utilization among patients with chronic diseases owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the associated factors and health outcomes.

The Effectiveness of Anti-Apoptotic Agents to Preserve Primordial Follicles and Prevent Tissue Damage during Ovarian Tissue Cryopreservation and Xenotransplantation.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) and Z-VAD-FMK (Z-VAD) as anti-apoptotic agents to preserve ovarian function and prevent tissue damage during ovarian tissue cryopreservation and transplantation. This study consisted of two steps, in vitro and in vivo. In the first step, human ovarian tissues were cryopreserved using slow-freezing media alone, S1P, or Z-VAD (control, S1P, Z-VAD group); based on the outcomes in these groups, Z-VAD was selected for subsequent xenotransplantation.

"Radiological morphometric analysis of the zygomatic arch: Application of osteosynthesis on the upper arch border for rigid fixation".

Background: This study was designed to introduce a novel method of applying osteosynthetic materials to the upper zygomatic arch border for fracture fixation through a temporal incision, and analyze the radiologic morphometric dimensions of the arch to verify its validity.

Methods: Radiological morphometry was analyzed in 51 adult patients with unilateral isolated zygomatic arch fractures. Frequent fracture sites, sites of minimal thickness and height, and their correlation were evaluated, as were the locations and dimensions of fixation vantage points.