Anti-Parkinsonian 4-hydroxy-2-pyridones from an endolichenic fungus, Tolypocladium sp. (strain CNC14).

4-Hydroxy-2-pyridone alkaloids have attracted considerable attention because of their intriguing structures and diverse bioactivities. In our previous study, 4-hydroxy-2-pyridone alkaloids were shown to exhibit potent activity against neuron-associated targets. To discover this class of neuroactive compounds, an array of endolichenic fungal extracts was screened by analyzing LC-UV-MS profiles.

Influence of bladder outlet obstruction on age-related changes in male bladder contractility.

Purpose: Changes in bladder contractility due to aging are among the important causes of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in elderly males. The purpose of this study was to observe changes in bladder contractility due to aging in male patients taking medications commonly used to treat LUTS in clinical practice.

Materials And Methods: Male patients aged over 40 years who underwent urodynamic studies for LUTS from January 2012 to December 2024 were included.

Same-day versus Multiday Planning/Treatment Radioembolization with Yttrium-90 Resin Microspheres in Patients with Liver Cancer ≥ 5 cm.

Purpose: To detail the process of resin-based same-day planning/treatment radioembolization for treating liver cancer ≥ 5 cm and to compare it with multiday radioembolization.

Materials And Methods: This single-center retrospective study included 80 patients who tried same-day radioembolization and 120 patients who received multiday radioembolization with resin microspheres between January 2022 and December 2023. For same-day radioembolization, once operators determined the required number and activity of vials, daughter vials were dispensed from a mother vial in the hospital nuclear medicine facility and then delivered to the angiography room.

Myeloid cAMP Reduction Shifts Rhinovirus-Induced Airway Inflammation From Neutrophilic to Eosinophilic by Suppressing M1-Interstitial Macrophages.

Background: Asthma exacerbations caused by human rhinovirus (hRV) infection are characterized by airway neutrophilia and reduced corticosteroid response, leading to significant healthcare costs and lung function impairment. The Gαs subunit of the trimeric G protein regulates immunopathological conditions by modulating cAMP levels. We aimed to investigate the impact of myeloid cAMP levels on neutrophil-dominated asthma exacerbation caused by hRV infection.

Robust Quantification of Affected Brain Volume from Computed Tomography Perfusion: A Hybrid Approach Combining Deep Learning and Singular Value Decomposition.

Volumetric estimation of affected brain volumes using computed tomography perfusion (CTP) is crucial in the management of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and relies on commercial software, which has limitations such as variations in results due to image quality. To predict affected brain volume accurately and robustly, we propose a hybrid approach that integrates singular value decomposition (SVD), deep learning (DL), and machine learning (ML) techniques. We included 449 CTP images of patients with AIS with manually annotated vessel landmarks provided by expert radiologists, collected between 2021 and 2023.

Advancements and Challenges in Acute Heart Failure Management in Korea: Initial Report and Insights from the Korean Heart Failure III Registry.

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a major global health burden. Building on two prior national registries, the Korean Heart Failure III (KorHF III) registry provides a contemporary evaluation of clinical characteristics, treatment patterns, and outcomes in patients hospitalized with acute HF (AHF) in Korea.

Methods And Results: KorHF III prospectively enrolled 7,351 AHF patients from 47 tertiary hospitals between March 2018 and December 2022, with a 2-year follow-up.

Development and evaluation of a comprehensive QA phantom for image quality and geometrical accuracy in CT and CBCT for radiotherapy.

Purpose: This study presents MZ CUBE, a newly developed multipurpose phantom designed to assess both image quality and geometrical accuracy in image-guided radiotherapy.

Methods: The phantom is a 16 × 16 × 16 cm cube made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and designed to evaluate HU constancy, HU uniformity, spatial integrity, spatial resolution, low contrast resolution, and geometrical accuracy. Two CT simulators (Big Bore RT and Discovery RT Gen3) and two cone-beam CT (CBCT) systems (XVI and OBI) were used for verification alongside commercial phantoms (ACR 464 and CatPhan 504).

Korean Red ginseng supplements improve quality of life in patients with mild chronic pancreatitis symptoms: A prospective clinical trial.

Background: Managing symptoms of chronic pancreatitis (CP) remains a significant challenge. Korean Red ginseng (KRG), a well-known herbal supplement, has shown potential benefits in various health conditions, prompting its investigation in CP patients.

Methods: We conducted a single-arm, prospective clinical trial to evaluate the effect of KRG on quality of life in CP patients exhibiting mild symptoms, as defined by a Clinical Global Impression (CGI) score of 0 or 1.

Thrombus composition and distribution patterns by thrombus volume in acute ischemic stroke.

Background: Thrombus burden considerably impacts ischemic stroke presentation and outcomes. However, the relationship between thrombus histology and volume has not been studied well. We investigated whether ischemic stroke thrombus composition and spatial distribution patterns differed with thrombus volume.

Radiotherapy quality assurance program of ongoing clinical trial using stereotactic ablative radiation therapy for recurrent ovarian cancer (SABR-ROC): a dummy run study of a prospective, randomized, multicenter phase III trial (KGOG 3064/KROG 2204).

Background: Recurrent ovarian cancer is often treated with chemotherapy, but many patients experience multiple recurrences with progressively shorter intervals and poorer prognosis. Repeated chemotherapy reduces patients' quality of life. Stereotactic Ablative Radiation Therapy for Recurrent Ovarian Cancer (SABR-ROC) (KGOG3064/KROG 2204) is an ongoing trial investigating the clinical efficacy of stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SABR) for recurrent ovarian cancer.

Species-specific toxic responses of marine phytoplankton to metals leached from cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts.

Cobalt-rich ferromanganese (Fe-Mn) crusts are minerals distributed on the slope of a seabed mountain from a depth of 400 to 7000 m. These crusts are considered a next-generation deep-sea mineral resource with abundant industrially useful metals and rare earth elements. However, the ecological impact of deep-sea mining activity on the marine ecosystem has not been fully elucidated.

Functional Polymorphism (rs2494750) Influences Clinical Outcomes in Patients With Advanced Lung Cancer Treated With EGFR Inhibitors.

Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are the standard first-line treatment for patients with advanced lung cancer harboring activating mutations. This study aimed to investigate the association between genetic polymorphisms in the EGFR signaling pathway and clinical outcomes in patients receiving EGFR-TKI therapy.

Methods: We enrolled 266 patients with advanced lung cancer treated with EGFR-TKIs and examined 30 putative functional polymorphisms across 11 genes involved in the EGFR signaling pathway.

Annual distribution and deposition of atmospheric Pb in Busan, the largest port city in Korea.

This study examined the annual and seasonal variations of Pb in aerosols collected in Busan, a major port city in South Korea. Aerosol samples were obtained during two sampling campaigns: (i) total suspended particles (TSP) from April 2019 to February 2020, and (ii) particulate matter with diameters ≤10 μm (PM) and ≤2.5 μm (PM) from March 2020 to February 2021.

Guardians of silence: transcriptional networks in T cell quiescence.

The maintenance of quiescence in T cells plays a pivotal role in averting undesired immune reactions and fostering immune homeostasis. Upon receiving external signals of cognate antigen and costimulatory molecules, T cells escape a quiescent state and rapidly proliferate within an exceedingly short timeframe. Nevertheless, for the majority of their lifespan, T cells remain inactive before stimulation, yet they are highly poised to future activation, implicating the presence of dynamic and intricate regulatory processes in a seemingly dormant state.

Blood pressure threshold and outcomes after successful endovascular thrombectomy.

Background: Several randomized clinical trials have indicated that intensive blood pressure (BP) lowering is associated with worse outcomes, leaving the optimal BP targets following endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) uncertain.

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between specific systolic BP (SBP) thresholds, time spent outside these thresholds, and clinical outcomes.

Methods: This post hoc analysis of the Outcome in Patients Treated With Intra-Arterial Thrombectomy-Optimal Blood Pressure Control (OPTIMAL-BP) trial, included patients with successful EVT randomized to intensive (<140 mmHg) or conventional (140-180 mmHg) BP management.

Impact of Antiviral Therapy in Cytomegalovirus-Positive Anterior Uveitis: Recurrence Risk and Corneal Endothelial Cell Protection.

Purpose: To evaluate the risk of recurrence of anterior uveitis (AU) with positive polymerase chain reaction results for cytomegalovirus (CMV)-AU before and after initiation of antiviral therapy and compare the efficacy and safety of 2 treatment strategies: (1) initial oral valganciclovir followed by topical 0.15% ganciclovir and (2) continuous topical 2% ganciclovir.

Design: Retrospective cohort study from a tertiary ophthalmic center and a uveitis-specialized private clinic.

Preoperative thrombocytopenia as a predictor of cancer-associated thromboembolism in gastric cancer patients undergoing gastrectomy.

Purpose: Cancer-associated thromboembolism (CAT) is a major complication in gastric cancer, impacting patient outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate preoperative thrombocytopenia as a risk factor for CAT in gastric cancer patients undergoing gastrectomy.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 610 gastric cancer patients who underwent D2 gastrectomy between 2005 and 2017.

Yttrium-90 glass microsphere radioembolization as frontline treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma with localized portal vein invasion.

Objectives: To evaluate the outcomes of yttrium-90 radioembolization (glass microspheres) in patients with unilobar hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and portal vein invasion (PVI) who have preserved liver function.

Materials And Methods: This study included 48 patients with unilobar HCC and PVI, all with Child-Pugh A, treated with radioembolization at a single institution between January 2016 and December 2023. Tumor response was assessed using the modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (mRECIST) and localized mRECIST.

Age-related impact on liver regeneration in older donors after living-donor right hepatectomy: a propensity score-matched cohort study.

Purpose: Given the widening of the donor pool to include patients with steatosis, small-for-size grafts, and older patients, this study examined the effect of age on liver volumetric regeneration after a donor right hepatectomy.

Methods: We enrolled 33 older (≥55 years) and 277 younger (<30 years) donors who underwent donor right hepatectomy between March 2012 and December 2022. After propensity score-matched analysis, the perioperative surgical outcomes and growth rates of the remnant liver in 63 younger and 32 older donors were compared.

Convolutional channel modulator for transformer and LSTM networks in EEG-based emotion recognition.

Electroencephalogram (EEG) signal is receiving much attention from recent studies since it is highly associated with intrinsic emotion. However, EEG signals contain underlying factors of variations across different sessions of the same subject, which make it difficult to learn temporal relationships between successive time steps. To disentangle invariant features, we propose a feature re-weighting mechanism on the extracted EEG features for temporal sequence modeling.

Impact of a computed tomography-based artificial intelligence software on radiologists' workflow for detecting acute intracranial hemorrhage.

Purpose: To assess the impact of a commercially available computed tomography (CT)-based artificial intelligence (AI) software for detecting acute intracranial hemorrhage (AIH) on radiologists' diagnostic performance and workflow in a real-world clinical setting.

Methods: This retrospective study included a total of 956 non-contrast brain CT scans obtained over a 70-day period, interpreted independently by 2 board-certified general radiologists. Of these, 541 scans were interpreted during the initial 35 days before the implementation of AI software, and the remaining 415 scans were interpreted during the subsequent 35 days, with reference to AIH probability scores generated by the software.

Physiological and cellular responses of Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum exposed to different shapes and sizes of polyethylene terephthalate microplastics.

Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous in marine environments and have become a major source of environmental pollution. Although fragmented and fibrous MPs are the most abundant shapes in marine environment, studies on shape- and size-dependent MP toxicity in marine benthic bivalves remain limited. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the chronic effects of different shapes and sizes of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) MPs on Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum, and investigate their physiological and cellular responses.

Association Between Intravenous Antihypertensives and Functional Outcome After Successful Endovascular Thrombectomy.

Background: Intravenous antihypertensives are frequently used to control blood pressure after successful endovascular thrombectomy (EVT), yet studies investigating the relationship between intravenous antihypertensive use and functional outcomes after successful EVT remain limited.

Methods: We conducted an exploratory secondary analysis of the OPTIMAL-BP trial (Outcome in Patients Treated With Intra-Arterial Thrombectomy-Optimal Blood Pressure Control), which compared intensive (systolic blood pressure <140 mm Hg) versus conventional blood pressure management (systolic blood pressure, 140-180 mm Hg) within the first 24 hours after successful recanalization across 19 stroke centers in South Korea between June 2020 and November 2022. Patients were classified according to the administration of intravenous antihypertensives within the initial 24 hours after enrollment.

Mechanical and viscoelastic properties of a temperature-responsive photocurable resin for 3D printed orthodontic clear aligners.

This study investigates the mechanical and viscoelastic properties of TC-85, a biocompatible material specifically designed for orthodontic applications, with a focus on how temperature variations influence its mechanical and viscoelastic properties and their relevance to clinical outcomes. Using a Digital Light Processing (DLP) 3D printer, the photosensitive resin TC-85 is printed, and extensive thermo-mechanical testing is conducted, which includes evaluations of tensile modulus, stress relaxation, and creep behavior. Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) is conducted at temperatures varying from 30 to 45 °C to assess the material's adaptive response to thermal fluctuations.