Nkx3.2 Inhibits Retinal Degeneration by Modulating Inflammation and Cell Death in RPE.

Purpose: To identify the expression of Nkx3.2 in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and evaluate its physiological role in association with retinal degeneration.

Methods: Nkx3.

Infectious disease diagnostic device using rapid and efficient qPCR assays on a multi-target chip: idream-qPCR.

Photothermal conversion-based quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) is a fast, sensitive, and accurate method to diagnose infectious diseases. However, they have bottlenecks in test throughput scalability, cumbersome oil cover, and a lack of multi-target capability. Here, the authors present an infectious disease diagnostic device with rapid photothermal conversion-based efficient reverse transcription (RT)-qPCR assays on a multi-target chip (idream-qPCR).

Changes in ruminoreticular temperature and body activity in pregnant Hanwoo cows () after lumpy skin disease vaccination.

The first outbreak of lumpy skin disease (LSD) occurred in South Korea in October 2023, and cattle are being vaccinated countrywide to prevent its spread. However, studies regarding the changes in body temperature and activity after LSD vaccination during pregnancy are lacking. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the ruminoreticular temperature and body activity of 18 pregnant and 28 non-pregnant cows using a bolus sensor after LSD vaccination.

Persistently increased expression of PKMζ and unbiased gene expression profiles identify hippocampal molecular traces of a long-term active place avoidance memory and 'shadow' proteins.

Long-term memory formation transiently activates Ca -calmodulin kinase IIα (CaMKII) and atypical protein kinase C isoform iota/lambda (PKC𝜄/λ), whereas persistent activation of the other atypical PKC, protein kinase M zeta (PKMζ), together with its interacting partner, the scaffolding-protein KIBRA, is necessary for maintaining potentiated synapses and memory. Here, we use immediate early gene (IEG) activation during active place avoidance memory expression to tag memory-activated neurons with EYFP, followed by PKMζ immunohistochemistry to learn which hippocampal synaptic pathways are persistently altered. For at least 1 month, PKMζ and EYFP-PKMζ colocalization persistently increase in the hippocampal tri-synaptic pathway (dentate gyrus (DG)→CA3→CA1).

Mitochondrial myopathy revealed postoperative acute respiratory failure: A case report.

Background: Mitochondrial myopathies are characterized by primary dysfunction of the mitochondrial respiratory chain; they typically present as chronic muscle weakness. Clinically visible acute respiratory dysfunctions associated with mitochondrial myopathies occur rarely.

Case Summary: In this report, we present the case of a patient who developed postoperative hypoventilation after undergoing an uneventful administration of general anesthesia.

Vulnerability Assessment and Enhanced Community-based Care and Management of Patients With Tuberculosis in Korea: A Crossover Design.

Objectives: People-centered care and social protection are critical for improving tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate whether a vulnerability assessment tool, developed for an enhanced community-based care and management (ECCM) program in 2 Korean cities, could predict and improve final TB treatment outcomes based on patients' vulnerability levels.

Methods: Treatment outcomes in the ECCM group were compared with those in a control group, stratified by vulnerability level.

HepatoToxicity Portal (HTP): an integrated database of drug-induced hepatotoxicity knowledgebase and graph neural network-based prediction model.

Liver toxicity poses a critical challenge in drug development due to the liver's pivotal role in drug metabolism and detoxification. Accurately predicting liver toxicity is crucial but is hindered by scattered information sources, a lack of curation standards, and the heterogeneity of data perspectives. To address these challenges, we developed the HepatoToxicity Portal (HTP), which integrates an expert-curated knowledgebase (HTP-KB) and a state-of-the-art machine learning model for toxicity prediction (HTP-Pred).

Nanocomposite-based PCR reactors to enhance thermal rate and fluorescence intensity in hand-held qPCR device.

A photonic quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) has usually implemented a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) based disposable inexpensive PCR reactor, worked as the photothermal cycler, to show potential as a point-of-care test (PoCT) for detection nucleic acids. However, the PoCT type photonic qPCR has to overcome the prolonged time for the fabrication of PDMS-based PCR reactors and enable a rapid thermal cycler to shorten diagnosis time with a strong fluorescence intensity. Here, we developed a room-temperature curable titanium dioxide (TiO) nanoparticle dispersed PDMS (TiO-PDMS) nanocomposite to reduce the fabrication time of the PCR reactor which enhanced the speed of photothermal cycles and fluorescence signal intensity of photonic qPCR.

Anatomical Variation of Left Internal Mammary Artery and Thyrocervical Trunk: A Case Report.

We report a rare case of a left internal mammary artery (LIMA) originating from the left thyrocervical trunk (TCT), which arose directly from the aortic arch. A patient in their 70s presented with bilateral distal internal carotid artery aneurysms, diagnosed through computed tomography angiography performed for headache evaluation. Transfemoral cerebral angiography confirmed the aneurysms and incidentally revealed the anomalous origins of the TCT and LIMA, as well as a left vertebral artery directly arising from the aortic arch.

Multi-target-directed therapeutic strategies for Alzheimer's disease: controlling amyloid-β aggregation, metal ion homeostasis, and enzyme inhibition.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative dementia, marked by progressive cognitive decline and memory impairment. Despite advances in therapeutic research, single-target-directed treatments often fall short in addressing the complex, multifactorial nature of AD. This arises from various pathological features, including amyloid-β (Aβ) aggregate deposition, metal ion dysregulation, oxidative stress, impaired neurotransmission, neuroinflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and neuronal cell death.

Impact of Respiratory Phase during Pleural Puncture on Complications in CT-Guided Percutaneous Lung Biopsy.

Purpose: This study investigated whether the respiratory phase during pleural puncture in CT-guided percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy (PTNB) affects complications.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of 477 lung biopsy CT scans performed during free breathing. The respiratory phases during pleural puncture were determined based on the table position of the targeted nodule using CT scans obtained during free breathing.

Drug trials are more likely to disclose full placebo control information than non-drug trials: A cross-sectional study of participant information leaflets of placebo-controlled trials.

Background: This study aimed to investigate whether placebo control is differently disclosed in drug and non-drug randomised clinical trial (RCT) participant information leaflets (PILs) and how this might affect participant blinding and direction of study outcomes.

Methods: PILs were obtained from trials registered in the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number database via email. Placebo descriptions in PILs were categorised as Full Disclosure (FD), Partial Disclosure (PD), or Missing Information (MI).

DRSPRING: Graph convolutional network (GCN)-Based drug synergy prediction utilizing drug-induced gene expression profile.

Great efforts have been made over the years to identify novel drug pairs with synergistic effects. Although numerous computational approaches have been proposed to analyze diverse types of biological big data, the pharmacogenomic profiles, presumably the most direct proxy of drug effects, have been rarely used due to the data sparsity problem. In this study, we developed a composite deep-learning-based model that predicts the drug synergy effect utilizing pharmacogenomic profiles as well as molecular properties.

Assessing Radiation Exposure and Contrast Agent Utilization: A Comparative Analysis of the Woven EndoBridge Device and Stent-Assisted Coil Embolization for Managing Unruptured Wide-Neck Bifurcation Aneurysms.

Purpose: In this study, we determined whether there were significant differences in procedure time, radiation dose, fluoroscopy time, and total contrast media dose when unruptured wideneck bifurcation aneurysms (WNBAs) were treated with the Woven EndoBridge (WEB) device and stent-assisted coil (SAC) embolization.

Materials And Methods: The WEB device and SAC embolization (14:17) were used to treat 31 cases of internal carotid artery bifurcation, anterior communicating artery, middle cerebral artery bifurcation, and basilar bifurcation aneurysms between August 2021 and December 2022. The procedure time, radiation dose, fluoroscopy time, and total contrast medium dose between the 2 treatment groups were compared and analyzed.

Tuberculous Pericarditis Mimicking a Malignant Pericardial Tumor: A Case Report.

Tuberculous pericarditis is an extrapulmonary manifestation of tuberculosis that is most commonly associated with pericardial thickening, effusion, and calcification. We present a case of tuberculous pericarditis mimicking a malignant pericardial tumor in a 77-year-old male. CT revealed an irregular and nodular pericardial thickening.

A Case of Idiopathic Orbital Inflammation With Elevated Anti-Mumps Immunoglobulin M Antibody.

A 21-year-old female presented with periocular swelling, diplopia, and painful ophthalmoplegia in the OS. Orbital magnetic resonance imaging revealed an enhanced soft tissue mass involving the left medial rectus muscle. Laboratory test results revealed leukocytosis, elevated reactive C-reactive protein, and positive serum levels of anti-mumps immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibody without systemic manifestations of mumps infection.

Effects of Melatonin, GM-CSF, IGF-1, and LIF in Culture Media on Embryonic Development: Potential Benefits of Individualization.

The implantation of good-quality embryos to the receptive endometrium is essential for successful live birth through in vitro fertilization (IVF). The higher the quality of embryos, the higher the live birth rate per cycle, and so efforts have been made to obtain as many high-quality embryos as possible after fertilization. In addition to an effective controlled ovarian stimulation process to obtain high-quality embryos, the composition of the embryo culture medium in direct contact with embryos in vitro is also important.

Transarterial Chemoembolization Using Idarubicin Versus Doxorubicin Chemoemulsion in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma (IDADOX): Protocol for a Randomized, Non-inferiority, Double-Blind Trial.

Purpose: This study aims to test the hypothesis that idarubicin-based transarterial chemoembolization (IDA-TACE), using one of the most potent chemotherapeutic agents, could yield oncologic outcomes equivalent to or marginally improved over doxorubicin-based TACE (DOX-TACE).

Materials And Methods: This single-center, prospective, phase II, randomized controlled, non-inferiority, double-blind trial will enroll 128 treatment-naïve patients with HCC (≤ 5 tumors, 1-5 cm in diameter) for conventional TACE. Participants will be randomly assigned (1:1) to either IDA-TACE or DOX-TACE, with stratification by Child-Pugh class.

Persistent Primitive Olfactory Artery Type 4 with Fusiform Aneurysm: A Case Report.

The persistent primitive olfactory artery (PPOA) is a rare variant of the anterior cerebral artery, first reported in 1979. It reportedly has a high correlation with the development of aneurysms, owing to the hemodynamic stress induced by the structural characteristics of the hairpin turn. Herein, we present a rare case of PPOA type 4 with a fusiform aneurysm at the hairpin turn segment in a 46-year-old female with occasional headaches.

Intraretinal microvascular alterations in indirect traumatic optic neuropathy using optical coherence tomography angiography.

Purpose: To quantitatively evaluate macular and peripapillary microvascular alterations in patients with indirect traumatic optic neuropathy (TON) compared to normal controls using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) and determine their associations with other ocular parameters.

Methods: We enrolled 33 eyes of 33 patients with TON and 34 eyes of 34 healthy controls. OCT-A was used to generate microvascular structure images of the superficial retinal capillary plexus (SRCP), deep retinal capillary plexus (DRCP), and radial peripapillary capillary (RPC) segment in the macula and peripapillary area.

APP-C31: An Intracellular Promoter of Both Metal-Free and Metal-Bound Amyloid-β Aggregation and Toxicity in Alzheimer's Disease.

Intracellular C-terminal cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) is elevated in the brains of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and produces a peptide labeled APP-C31 that is suspected to be involved in the pathology of AD. But details about the role of APP-C31 in the development of the disease are not known. Here, this work reports that APP-C31 directly interacts with the N-terminal and self-recognition regions of amyloid-β (Aβ ) to form transient adducts, which facilitates the aggregation of both metal-free and metal-bound Aβ peptides and aggravates their toxicity.

Coordination chemistry of mitochondrial copper metalloenzymes: exploring implications for copper dyshomeostasis in cell death.

Mitochondria, fundamental cellular organelles that govern energy metabolism, hold a pivotal role in cellular vitality. While consuming dioxygen to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the electron transfer process within mitochondria can engender the formation of reactive oxygen species that exert dual roles in endothelial homeostatic signaling and oxidative stress. In the context of the intricate electron transfer process, several metal ions that include copper, iron, zinc, and manganese serve as crucial cofactors in mitochondrial metalloenzymes to mediate the synthesis of ATP and antioxidant defense.