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.

Upregulation of interferon-γ response genes in monocytes and T cells identified by single-cell transcriptomics in patients with anti-citrullinated peptide antibody-positive early rheumatoid arthritis.

Introduction: Our aim was to investigate the insufficiently understood differences in the immune system between anti-citrullinated peptide antibody (ACPA)-positive (ACPA) and ACPA-negative (ACPA) early rheumatoid arthritis (eRA) patients.

Methods: We performed multiple cytokine assays using sera from drug-naïve ACPA and ACPA eRA patients. Additionally, we conducted single-cell RNA sequencing of CD45 cells from peripheral blood samples to analyze and compare the distribution and functional characteristics of the cell subsets based on the ACPA status.

Global and Indian Scenarios of Fatal and Non-fatal Occupational Injuries: A Secondary Data Analysis.

Introduction: Fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries are one of the most important public health problems all over the world. Its number greatly varies from country to country over the years. Worldwide approximately 4% of global gross domestic product (GDP) is lost due to occupational injuries.

Second-line treatment patterns and outcomes in advanced HCC after progression on atezolizumab/bevacizumab.

Background & Aims: Atezolizumab/bevacizumab (A/B) is now a standard first-line treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the optimal second-line regimen is not known. We evaluated real-world treatment patterns and outcomes to investigate factors associated with post-progression survival (PPS).

Methods: In this multicenter, international, retrospective study, we examined clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with advanced HCC who progressed on first-line A/B.

A preliminary study of linear accelerator-based spatially fractionated radiotherapy.

Purpose: This study aimed to provide quantitative information for implementing Lattice radiotherapy (LRT) using a medical linear accelerator equipped with the Millennium 120 multi-leaf collimator (MLC). The research systematically evaluated the impact of varying vertex diameters and separations on dose distribution, peak-to-valley dose ratio (PVDR), and normal tissue dose.

Methods: A cylindrical Virtual Water™ phantom was used to create LRT treatments using the Eclipse version 16.

Fluctuation-induced extensive molecular transport modulation of interaction strength.

In our previous work, we studied the thermodynamics of two cases of intercompartmental transport through a carbon nanotube: one involving water molecules and the other involving nonpolar molecules. Free energy calculations indicate that transporting water molecules from one compartment to another a narrow channel is impossible, whereas for nonpolar molecules, only approximately half can be transported. Therefore, the interaction strength between transported molecules significantly affects molecular transport.

Raman Spectroscopy in Cellular and Tissue Aging Research.

The establishment of various molecular, physiological, and genetic markers for cellular senescence and aging-associated conditions has progressed the aging study. To identify such markers, a combination of optical, proteomic-, and sequencing-based tools is primarily used, often accompanying extrinsic labels. Yet, the tools for clinical detection at the molecular, cellular, and tissue levels are still lacking which profoundly hinders advancements in the specific detection and timely prevention of aging-related diseases and pathologies.

Deep Learning-Based Precontrast CT Parcellation for MRI-Free Brain Amyloid PET Quantification.

Purpose: This study aimed to develop a deep learning (DL) model for brain region parcellation using CT data from PET/CT scans to enable accurate amyloid quantification in 18F-FBB PET/CT without relying on high-resolution MRI.

Patients And Methods: A retrospective dataset of PET/CT and T1-weighted MRI pairs from 226 individuals (157 with mild cognitive impairment or dementia and 69 healthy controls) was used. The dataset was split into training/validation (60%) and test (40%) sets.

Efficacy of an Autologous Dermal Fibroblast Injection in Reducing the Retear Rate After Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Interest in biological augmentation for improving bone-tendon interface (BTI) healing after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ARCR) is growing. Dermal fibroblasts, known for collagen synthesis similar to tenocytes, have shown effectiveness in BTI healing in chronic rotator cuff tear (RCT) models in rabbits. However, no human clinical trials have been conducted.

The Associations Between Sleep Duration and Various Metabolic Health Indices Among Adults in the United States: A Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) Using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2021 to 2023 Dataset.

Objective: This study explores the associations between various sleep durations and metabolic health indices, including systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), total cholesterol levels, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and waist circumference.

Methods: Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2021 to 2023, were analyzed. MANOVA and Bonferroni-adjusted ANOVAs were conducted to examine the relationships between sleep duration (sleep deprivation (≤5 h), short sleep (5-7 h), recommended sleep (7-9 h), and long sleep (>9 h)) and metabolic health indices.

Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate Combined With an Appropriate Carrier Effectively Promotes Bone-Tendon Interface Healing in a Rabbit Model of Chronic Rotator Cuff Tear.

Background: The efficacy of bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC) in promoting bone-tendon interface (BTI) healing without any carriers remains a subject of debate.

Purpose: To evaluate BMAC effects with different carriers on tendon regeneration in a rabbit model of chronic rotator cuff tear.

Study Design: Controlled laboratory study.

Cell-specific transcriptional signatures of vascular cells in Alzheimer's disease: perspectives, pathways, and therapeutic directions.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a debilitating neurodegenerative disease that is marked by profound neurovascular dysfunction and significant cell-specific alterations in the brain vasculature. Recent advances in high throughput single-cell transcriptomics technology have enabled the study of the human brain vasculature at an unprecedented depth. Additionally, the understudied niche of cerebrovascular cells, such as endothelial and mural cells, and their subtypes have been scrutinized for understanding cellular and transcriptional heterogeneity in AD.

hERGAT: predicting hERG blockers using graph attention mechanism through atom- and molecule-level interaction analyses.

The human ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG) channel plays a critical role in the electrical activity of the heart, and its blockers can cause serious cardiotoxic effects. Thus, screening for hERG channel blockers is a crucial step in the drug development process. Many in silico models have been developed to predict hERG blockers, which can efficiently save time and resources.

Clinical performance of real-time nanopore metagenomic sequencing for rapid identification of bacterial pathogens in cerebrospinal fluid: a pilot study.

This study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of amplicon-based real-time metagenomic sequencing applied to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for identifying the causative agents of bacterial meningitis. We conducted a 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing using a nanopore-based platform, alongside routine polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing or bacterial culture, to compare its clinical performance in pathogen detection on CSF samples. Among 17 patients, nanopore-based sequencing, multiplex PCR, and bacterial culture detected potential bacterial pathogens in 47.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of extended endoscopic lumbar foraminotomy (EELF) and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF): a prospective observational study.

Lumbar foraminal stenosis can be surgically treated by foraminal decompression or facet joint resection and fusion (transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion, TLIF). While conventional foraminal decompression poses a risk of segmental instability, the endoscopic approach (extended endoscopic lumbar foraminotomy, EELF) resects only the ventral part of the facet joint with a horizontal surgical trajectory. A prospective observational study was performed to analyze the cost-effectiveness of EELF versus TLIF.

Enhancing quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) with advanced artificial intelligence: comparison with manual QCA and visual estimation.

Artificial intelligence-based quantitative coronary angiography (AI-QCA) was introduced to address manual QCA's limitations in reproducibility and correction process. The present study aimed to assess the performance of an updated AI-QCA solution (MPXA-2000) in lesion detection and quantification using manual QCA as the reference standard, and to demonstrate its superiority over visual estimation. This multi-center retrospective study analyzed 1,076 coronary angiography images obtained from 420 patients, comparing AI-QCA and visual estimation against manual QCA as the reference standard.

Lenvatinib versus sorafenib as second-line therapy following progression on atezolizumab-bevacizumab in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma: a multicenter retrospective study from Korea and Japan.

Purpose: Atezolizumab-bevacizumab (AB) is the established first-line systemic therapy for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC). However, the optimal second-line treatment for patients unresponsive to AB remains undefined.

Patients And Methods: This multicenter, retrospective study included patients with uHCC who underwent second-line treatment with lenvatinib (LEN) or sorafenib (SOR) after AB failure at two academic centers between June 2018 and November 2023.

Proton response and neutron spectrum unfolding by solution-grown trans-stilbene scintillator.

This paper reports the proton response function for solution-grown trans-stilbene scintillator from 1 to 25 MeVee and its application for unfolding neutron spectra of Cf-252 and AmBe sources. Low energy proton response was measured by the Time-of-Flight technique at the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science. In contrast, high energy response was investigated using a 45 MeV proton beam at the Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences.

The effect of sarpogrelate compared to aspirin in high- or very-high-risk diabetes for primary prevention.

The benefit of aspirin in primary prevention for atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ASCVD) is questionable due to bleeding complications. We analyzed the Korean National Health Insurance data to compare the efficacy and overall bleeding of sarpogrelate, an antiplatelet agent with lower bleeding risk, versus aspirin in high-/very-high-risk diabetic populations without prior ASCVD. The primary endpoint was net adverse clinical events (NACE), defined as a composite of efficacy and overall bleeding.

A pediatric emergency prediction model using natural language process in the pediatric emergency department.

This study developed a predictive model using deep learning (DL) and natural language processing (NLP) to identify emergency cases in pediatric emergency departments. It analyzed 87,759 pediatric cases from a South Korean tertiary hospital (2012-2021) using electronic medical records. Various NLP models, including four machine learning (ML) models with Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF) and two DL models based on the KM-BERT framework, were trained to differentiate emergency cases using clinician transcripts.

Discovery of two novel Flavobacterium species with potential for complex polysaccharide degradation.

Polysaccharides are recognized for their extensive biological functions, holding significant promise for applications in both medicine and food industries. However, their utilization is frequently constrained by challenges such as high molecular weights and indistinct sugar chain structures. Recently, two novel bacterial strains, N6 and J3, were isolated from the Nakdong River in Korea.

Risk of second primary malignancies among survivors of cutaneous melanoma: A nationwide population-based study in the Republic of Korea.

There is limited data on the risk of second primary malignancies (SPMs) in Asian melanoma survivors. This study aimed to identify the risk of SPMs in Asian melanoma survivors. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) were calculated for overall and specific SPMs.

Bilayer electrified-membrane with pair-atom tin catalysts for near-complete conversion of low concentration nitrate to dinitrogen.

Discharge of wastewater containing nitrate (NO) disrupts aquatic ecosystems even at low concentrations. However, selective and rapid reduction of NO at low concentration to dinitrogen (N) is technically challenging. Here, we present an electrified membrane (EM) loaded with Sn pair-atom catalysts for highly efficient NO reduction to N in a single-pass electrofiltration.