Unified framework for brain connectivity-based biomarkers in neurodegenerative disorders.

Background: Brain connectivity is useful for deciphering complex brain dynamics controlling interregional communication. Identifying specific brain phenomena based on brain connectivity and quantifying their levels can help explain or diagnose neurodegenerative disorders.

Objective: This study aimed to establish a unified framework to identify brain connectivity-based biomarkers associated with disease progression and summarize them into a single numerical value, with consideration for connectivity-specific structural attributes.

Clinical Accuracy of Non-Contact Forehead Infrared Thermometer Measurement in Children: An Observational Study.

We evaluated the clinical reliability and utility of temperature measurements using no-contact forehead infrared thermometers (NCFITs) by comparing their temperature measurements with those obtained using infrared tympanic thermometers (IRTTs) in children. In this observational, prospective, and cross-sectional study, we enrolled 255 children (aged 1 month to 18 years) from the pediatric surgery ward at a tertiary medical center in Korea. The mean age of the children was 9.

Endoscopic biopsy of pineal tumors: two burr hole trans-foramen of Monro approach and endonasal trans-tuber cinereum approach.

Introduction: The pineal region is a challenging area for neurosurgeons due to its innate anatomical features, such as its deep location, surrounding large draining veins, and adjacent critical neural structures.

Discussion: There is a high proportion of malignant tumors in the pineal gland, especially in children, and they are frequently accompanied by obstructive hydrocephalus. These cases require that surgical procedures can make a pathological diagnosis to guide further treatment strategies and immediately resolve increased intracranial pressure.

Clinical Characteristics and Disease Burden of Severe Asthma According to Oral Corticosteroid Dependence: Real-World Assessment From the Korean Severe Asthma Registry (KoSAR).

Purpose: Oral corticosteroids (OCS) are commonly used in patients with severe asthma, but they are associated with several adverse events. We estimated the prevalence of patients with OCS-dependent asthma in a large nationwide registry for severe asthma and delineated their clinical characteristics.

Methods: This cross-sectional study analyzed enrollment data of the patients recruited in the Korean Severe Asthma Registry (KoSAR) from 2010 to 2019.

Intradermal testing increases the accuracy of an immediate-type cefaclor hypersensitivity diagnosis.

Background: Hypersensitivity reactions to cefaclor have increased in accordance with its frequent use. However, only limited data are available on the diagnostic value of skin tests for these conditions, particularly intradermal tests (IDTs).

Objective: To evaluate the clinical usefulness of IDT compared to the ImmunoCAP test in patients with cefaclor-induced immediate-type hypersensitivity.

Clinical Features and Long-term Prognosis of Crohn's Disease in Korea: Results from the Prospective CONNECT Study.

Background/aims: The prospective Crohn's Disease Clinical Network and Cohort Study is a nationwide multicenter cohort study of patients with Crohn's disease (CD) in Korea, aiming to prospectively investigate the clinical features and long-term prognosis associated with CD.

Methods: Patients diagnosed with CD between January 2009 and September 2019 were prospectively enrolled. They were divided into two cohorts according to the year of diagnosis: cohort 1 (diagnosed between 2009 and 2011) versus cohort 2 (between 2012 and 2019).

Implementation of an integrated home internet of things system for vulnerable older adults using a frailty-centered approach.

Although integrated home internet of things (IoT) services can be beneficial, especially for vulnerable older adults, the hurdle of usability hinders implementation of the technology. This study aimed to evaluate the practical usability of home IoT services in older adults, by frailty status, and to determine the potential obstacles. From August 2019 to July 2020, we randomly selected 20 vulnerable older adults (prefrailty group [n = 11], and frailty group [n = 9]) who had already been identified as needing home IoT services in a community-based prospective cohort study, the Aging Study of the Pyeongchang Rural Area.

Prospective multicentre randomised clinical trial comparing survival rates, quality of life and nutritional status between advanced gastric cancer patients with different follow-up intensities: study protocol for the STOFOLUP trial.

Introduction: Patients who underwent curative gastrectomy for gastric cancer are regularly followed-up for the early detection of recurrence and postoperative symptom management. However, there is a lack of evidence with regard to proper surveillance intervals and diagnostic tools. This study aims to evaluate whether frequent surveillance tests have a survival benefit or improve the quality of life in patients who underwent curative resection for advanced gastric cancer.

A Soft Voting Ensemble-Based Model for the Early Prediction of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) Disease Severity in Lungs Disease Patients.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which is one of the lung diseases, is quite rare but fatal in nature. The disease is progressive, and detection of severity takes a long time as well as being quite tedious. With the advent of intelligent machine learning techniques, and also the effectiveness of these techniques, it was possible to detect many lung diseases.

Power Spectral Changes of Quantitative EEG in the Subjective Cognitive Decline: Comparison of Community Normal Control Groups.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to compare and analyze the power spectral changes between subjective cognitive decline (SCD) subjects and normal controls (NC) while checking the preclinical stage of AD in the SCD subjects and to use the derived data for biomarker research that can diagnose early-stage AD in the future.

Methods: We recruited 23 SCD patients and 23 normal control subjects and QEEG analysis including power spectral density (PSD) and source-level analysis were performed. An automated preprocessing procedure and statistical analysis were performed by iSync Brain (iMediSync Inc.

Comparative perianal fistula closure rates following autologous adipose tissue-derived stem cell transplantation or treatment with anti-tumor necrosis factor agents after seton placement in patients with Crohn's disease: a retrospective observational study.

Background: Perianal fistula is one of the most common complications in Crohn's disease, and various medical and surgical treatments are being tried. The aim of this study was to compare the perianal fistula closure rates following treatment with anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) agents or autologous adipose tissue-derived stem cell (auto-ASC) transplantation with Crohn's disease (CD).

Methods: CD patients who underwent seton placement for perianal fistula from January 2015 to December 2019 at a tertiary referral center were retrospectively reviewed.

Discontinuation Rate of Newly Prescribed Donepezil in Alzheimer's Disease Patients in Asia.

Background And Purpose: The rate of donepezil discontinuation and the underlying reasons for discontinuation in Asian patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are currently unknown. We aimed to determine the treatment discontinuation rates in AD patients who had newly been prescribed donepezil in routine clinical practice in Asia.

Methods: This 1-year observational study involved 38 institutions in seven Asian countries, and it evaluated 398 participants aged 50-90 years with a diagnosis of probable AD and on newly prescribed donepezil monotherapy.

The Senolytic Drug JQ1 Removes Senescent Cells via Ferroptosis.

Background: Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent, non-apoptotic programmed cell death. Cellular senescence contributes to aging and various age-related diseases through the expression of a senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). Senescent cells are often resistant to ferroptosis via increased ferritin and impaired ferritinophagy.

Validation of the Korean Version of the Anosognosia Questionnaire for Dementia.

Objective: Anosognosia is a common phenomenon in individuals with dementia. Anosognosia Questionnaire for dementia (AQ-D) is a well-known scale for evaluating anosognosia. This study aimed to establish a Korean version of the AQ-D (AQ-D-K) and to evaluate the reliability and validity of the AQ-D-K in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia.

Efficacy and Safety of Rebamipide versus Its New Formulation, AD-203, in Patients with Erosive Gastritis: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Active Control, Noninferiority, Multicenter, Phase 3 Study.

Background/aims: : The mucoprotective drug rebamipide is used to treat gastritis and peptic ulcers. We compared the efficacy of Mucosta (rebamipide 100 mg) and its new formulation, AD-203 (rebamipide 150 mg), in treating erosive gastritis.

Methods: This double-blind, active control, noninferiority, multicenter, phase 3 clinical trial randomly assigned 475 patients with endoscopically proven erosive gastritis to two groups: AD-203 twice daily or Mucosta thrice daily for 2 weeks.

Efficacy of S-pantoprazole 10 mg in the Symptom Control of Non-erosive Reflux Disease: A Phase III Placebo-controlled Trial.

Background/aims: S-isomer (S) pantoprazole is more bioavailable and less dependent on cytochrome 2C19 than is racemic pantoprazole. We aim to evaluate the efficacy and safety of 10 mg S-pantoprazole for treatment of non-erosive reflux disease (NERD).

Methods: In this phase 3, double-blind, randomized placebo controlled, multicenter study, 174 NERD patients were randomized to one of both treatment groups: 10 mg S-pantoprazole, or placebo once daily for 4 weeks.

Functional Restoration of Pituitary after Pituitary Allotransplantation into Hypophysectomized Rats.

Long-term hormone replacement therapy due to panhypopituitarism can lead to serious complications and thus, pituitary transplantation is considered a more desirable. We investigated functional restoration after allotransplatation of the pituitary gland. We transplanted extracted pituitary gland into the omentum of an hypophysectomized rat.

Predictors of treatment response to pharmacotherapy in patients with persistent postural-perceptual dizziness.

The study aimed to identify the predictors of response to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for 12 weeks in patients with persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD). Short-term treatment responses were studied in 197 outpatients [127 (64.5%) women, mean age ± SD = 51.

Impact of genetic variants on major bleeding after percutaneous coronary intervention based on a prospective multicenter registry.

Although dual antiplatelet therapy is essential for patients who undergo percutaneous coronary interventions, the risk of bleeding remains an unsolved problem, and there is limited information on the potential relationship between genetic variants and major bleeding. We analyzed the correlations between four major single nucleotide polymorphisms (CYP2C19, ABCB1, PON1, and P2Y12 G52T polymorphisms) and clinical outcomes in 4489 patients from a prospective multicenter registry. The primary endpoint was major bleeding, defined as a Bleeding Academic Research Consortium ≥ 3 bleeding event.

Mitochondria exert age-divergent effects on recovery from spinal cord injury.

The extent that age-dependent mitochondrial dysfunction drives neurodegeneration is not well understood. This study tested the hypothesis that mitochondria contribute to spinal cord injury (SCI)-induced neurodegeneration in an age-dependent manner by using 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) to uncouple electron transport, thereby increasing cellular respiration and reducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. We directly compared the effects of graded DNP doses in 4- and 14-month-old (MO) SCI-mice and found DNP to have increased efficacy in mitochondria isolated from 14-MO animals.

Development and Validation of a Symptom-Focused Quality of Life Questionnaire (KOQUSS-40) for Gastric Cancer Patients after Gastrectomy.

Purpose: Patients who have undergone gastrectomy have unique symptoms that are not appropriately assessed using currently available tools. This study developed and validated a symptom-focused quality of life (QoL) questionnaire for patients who have received gastrectomy for gastric cancer.

Materials And Methods: Based on a literature review, patient interviews, and expert consultation by the KOrean QUality of life in Stomach cancer patients Study group (KOQUSS), the initial item pool was developed.

Maternal Hematologic Neoplasms during Pregnancy: Histologic Findings in the Placenta.

Placental metastasis of maternal neoplasms is well documented in solid tumors, unlike hematologic neoplasms. We reviewed placental findings from deliveries complicated by maternal hematologic neoplasms exploring the prevalence and patterns of placental transmission and insufficiency. In the 8-yr study period, 11 cases were analyzed.

Mouse-human co-clinical trials demonstrate superior anti-tumour effects of buparlisib (BKM120) and cetuximab combination in squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck.

Background: Recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck (R/M SCCHN) is a common cancer with high recurrence and mortality. Current treatments have low response rates (RRs).

Methods: Fifty-three patients with R/M SCCHN received continuous oral buparlisib.

Technical feasibility of a newly designed bendable forceps for difficult endoscopic tissue samplings (with video).

Background: Biopsies with conventional forceps beyond the operating range are difficult and cumbersome. Thus, we developed a new bendable forceps for improved access to gastrointestinal lesions and evaluated its technical feasibility.

Methods: A bendable forceps was constructed with two channels and a two-stage knob.