Serum albumin exposure enhances cell invasiveness and paclitaxel resistance in human neuroblastoma cells, with attenuation by valeriana-type iridoid glycosides.

Neuroblastoma, a prevalent extracranial solid tumor in children, arises from undifferentiated nerve cells. While tumor vasculature, often characterized by increased permeability, influences metastasis and recurrence, the direct impact of blood-borne molecules on tumor progression remains unclear. In the present study, we focused on the effect of exposure to albumin, one of the most abundant proteins in the serum, on human neuroblastoma cells. Albumin exposure elevated oxidative stress and led to mitochondria dysfunction via the activation of TGFß and PI3K pathways, accompanied by an increase in the metastatic and invasive properties of neuroblastoma cells. Proteins relevant to the induction of autophagy were upregulated in response to prolonged albumin exposure. Additionally, pre-exposure to albumin before treatment resulted in increased resistance to paclitaxel. Two valeriana-type iridoid glycosides, patrisophoroside and patrinalloside, recently isolated from Nardostachys jatamansi significantly mitigated the effect of albumin on oxidative stress, cell invasiveness, and chemoresistance. These findings illuminate the potential role of blood-borne molecules, such as albumin, in the progression and metastasis of neuroblastoma, as well as the possible therapeutic implications of valeriana-type iridoid glycosides in anti-cancer treatment.

Nitrosative stress drives heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a common syndrome with high morbidity and mortality for which there are no evidence-based therapies. Here we report that concomitant metabolic and hypertensive stress in mice-elicited by a combination of high-fat diet and inhibition of constitutive nitric oxide synthase using Nω-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME)-recapitulates the numerous systemic and cardiovascular features of HFpEF in humans. Expression of one of the unfolded protein response effectors, the spliced form of X-box-binding protein 1 (XBP1s), was reduced in the myocardium of our rodent model and in humans with HFpEF. Mechanistically, the decrease in XBP1s resulted from increased activity of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and S-nitrosylation of the endonuclease inositol-requiring protein 1α (IRE1α), culminating in defective XBP1 splicing. Pharmacological or genetic suppression of iNOS, or cardiomyocyte-restricted overexpression of XBP1s, each ameliorated the HFpEF phenotype. We report that iNOS-driven dysregulation of the IRE1α-XBP1 pathway is a crucial mechanism of cardiomyocyte dysfunction in HFpEF.

Effect of Chronic Kidney Disease on All-Cause Mortality After Hip Fracture Surgery: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

In this retrospective cohort study, we investigated: (1) The impact of comorbid chronic kidney disease (CKD) on postoperative mortality in patients with a hip fracture; (2) mortality variations by dialysis type, potentially indicating CKD stage; (3) the efficacy of different hip fracture surgical methods in reducing mortality for patients with CKD. This study included 25,760 patients from the Korean National Health Insurance Service-Senior cohort (2002-2019) who underwent hip fracture surgery. Participants were categorized as CKD and Non-CKD. Mortality rate was determined using a generalized linear model with a Poisson distribution. The effect size was presented as a hazard ratio (HR) through a Cox proportional-hazard model. During follow-up, we ascertained that 978 patients (3.8%) had CKD preoperatively. Compared to the Non-CKD group, the mortality risk (HR) in the CKD group was 2.17 times higher (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.99-2.37). In sensitivity analysis, the mortality risk of in patients who received peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis was 6.21 (95% CI, 3.90-9.87) and 3.62 times (95% CI, 3.11-4.20) higher than that of patients who received conservative care. Mortality risk varied by surgical method: hip hemiarthroplasty (HR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.86-2.40), open reduction and internal fixation (HR, 2.21; 95% CI, 1.94-2.51), total hip replacement (HR, 2.27; 95% CI, 1.60-3.24), and closed reduction and percutaneous fixation (HR, 3.08; 95% CI, 1.88-5.06). Older patients with CKD undergoing hip fracture surgery had elevated mortality risk, necessitating comprehensive pre- and postoperative assessments and management.

Modulation of NLRP3 inflammasomes activation contributes to improved survival and function of mesenchymal stromal cell spheroids.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are ubiquitous multipotent cells that exhibit significant therapeutic potentials in a variety of disorders. Nevertheless, their clinical efficacy is limited owing to poor survival, low rate of engraftment, and impaired potency upon transplantation. Spheroidal three-dimensional (3D) culture of MSCs (MSC3D) has been proven to better preserve their in vivo functional properties. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the improvement in MSC function by spheroid formation are not clearly understood. NLRP3 inflammasomes, a key component of the innate immune system, have recently been shown to play a role in cell fate decision of MSCs. The present study examined the role of NLRP3 inflammasomes in the survival and potency of MSC spheroids. We found that MSC3D led to decreased activation of NLRP3 inflammasomes through alleviation of ER stress in an autophagy-dependent manner. Importantly, downregulation of NLRP3 inflammasomes signaling critically contributes to the enhanced survival rate in MSC3D through modulation of pyroptosis and apoptosis. The critical role of NLRP3 inflammasome suppression in the enhanced therapeutic efficacy of MSC spheroids was further confirmed in an in vivo mouse model of DSS-induced colitis. These findings suggest that 3D culture confers survival and functional advantages to MSCs by suppressing NLRP3 inflammasome activation.

A Raf-like kinase is required for smoke-induced seed dormancy in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Plants sense and integrate diverse stimuli to determine the timing for germination. A smoke compound, 3,4,5-trimethylfuran-2(5H)-one (trimethylbutenolide, TMB), has been identified to inhibit the seed germination of higher plants. To understand the mode of action, we examined various physiological and molecular aspects of the TMB-dependent inhibition of seed germination in Arabidopsis thaliana The results indicated that the effect of TMB is due to the enhanced physiological dormancy, which is modulated by other dormancy regulatory cues such as after-ripening, stratification, and ABA/GA signaling. In addition, gene expression profiling showed that TMB caused genome-wide transcriptional changes, altering the expression of a series of dormancy-related genes. Based on the TMB-responsive physiological contexts in Arabidopsis, we performed mutant screening to isolate genetic components that underpin the TMB-induced seed dormancy. As a result, the TMB-RESISTANT1 (TES1) gene in Arabidopsis, encoding a B2 group Raf-like kinase, was identified. Phenotypic analysis of the tes1 mutant implicated that TES1 has a critical role in the TMB-responsive gene expression and the inhibition of seed germination. Taken together, we propose that plants have been equipped with a TMB sensory pathway through which the TMB induces the seed dormancy in a TES1-dependent way.

Association Between Economic Activity and Depressive Symptoms Among Women With Parenting Children.

BACKGROUND: Balancing parenting and work life poses challenges for women with children, potentially making them vulnerable to depression owing to their dual responsibilities. Investigating working mothers' mental health status is important on both the individual and societal levels. This study aimed to explore the relationship between economic activity participation and depressive symptoms among working mothers. METHODS: This study was a cross-sectional study and used data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey collected in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020. The participants in the study were women aged 19 to 50 who were residing with their children. In the total, 3,151 participants were used in the analysis. The independent variable was economic activity, categorized into two groups: 1) economically active and 2) economically inactive. The dependent variable was the depressive symptoms, categorized as present for a Patient Health Questionnaire-9 score of ≥ 10 and absent for a score < 10. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the association between economic activity and depressive symptoms, and sensitivity analyses were performed based on the severity of depressive symptoms. RESULTS: Among women with children, economically active women had reduced odds ratio of depressive symptoms compared with economically inactive women (odds ratio [OR], 0.54; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.36-0.80). In additional analysis, women working as wage earners had the lowest odds of depressive symptoms (OR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.28-0.66). Women working an average of 40 hours or less per week were least likely to have depressive symptoms (OR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.25-0.69). CONCLUSION: Economic activity is significantly associated with depressive symptoms among women with children. Environmental support and policy approaches are needed to ensure that women remain economically active after childbirth.

Recent Advances in Electrochemical, Photochemical, and Photoelectrochemical Reduction of CO2 to C2+ Products.

Environmental problems such as global warming are one of the most prominent global challenges. Researchers are investigating various methods for decreasing CO2 emissions. The CO2 reduction reaction via electrochemical, photochemical, and photoelectrochemical processes has been a popular research topic because the energy it requires can be sourced from renewable sources. The CO2 reduction reaction converts stable CO2 molecules into useful products such as CO, CH4 , C2 H4 , and C2 H5 OH. To obtain economic benefits from these products, it is important to convert them into hydrocarbons above C2 . Numerous investigations have demonstrated the uniqueness of the CC coupling reaction of Cu-based catalysts for the conversion of CO2 into useful hydrocarbons above C2 for electrocatalysis. Herein, the principle of semiconductors for photocatalysis is briefly introduced, followed by a description of the obstacles for C2+ production. This review presents an overview of the mechanism of hydrocarbon formation above C2 , along with advances in the improvement, direction, and comprehension of the CO2 reduction reaction via electrochemical, photochemical, and photoelectrochemical processes.

Feasibility of serial neurocognitive assessment using Cogstate during and after therapy for childhood leukemia.

PURPOSE: Neurocognitive impairment is frequently observed among survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) within the domains of attention, working memory, processing speed, executive functioning, and learning and memory. However, few studies have characterized the trajectory of treatment-induced changes in neurocognitive function beginning in the first months of treatment, to test whether early changes predict impairment among survivors. If correct, we hypothesize that those children who are most susceptible to early impairment would be ideal subjects for clinical trials testing interventions designed to protect against treatment-related neurocognitive decline. METHODS: In this pilot study, we prospectively assessed neurocognitive functioning (attention, working memory, executive function, visual learning, and processing speed), using the Cogstate computerized battery at six time points during the 2 years of chemotherapy treatment and 1-year post-treatment (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute ALL Consortium protocol 11-001; NCT01574274). RESULTS: Forty-three patients with ALL consented to serial neurocognitive testing. Of the 31 participants who remained on study through the final time point, 1 year after completion of chemotherapy, 28 (90%) completed at least five of six planned Cogstate testing time points. Performance and completion checks indicated a high tolerability (≥ 88%) for all subtests. One year after completion of treatment, 10 of 29 patients (34%) exhibited neurocognitive function more than 2 standard deviations below age-matched norms on one or more Cogstate subtests. CONCLUSIONS: Serial collection of neurocognitive data (within a month of diagnosis with ALL, during therapy, and 1-year post-treatment) is feasible and can be informative for evaluating treatment-related neurocognitive impairment.

Construct validity and responsiveness of a health-related symptom index for persons either treated or monitored for anal high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL): AMC-A01/-A03.

PURPOSE: To determine whether treatment of anal high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL), vs active monitoring, is effective in reducing incidence of anal cancer in persons living with HIV, the US National Cancer Institute funded the Phase III ANal Cancer/HSIL Outcomes Research (ANCHOR) clinical trial. As no established patient-reported outcomes (PRO) tool exists for persons with anal HSIL, we sought to estimate the construct validity and responsiveness of the ANCHOR Health-Related Symptom Index (A-HRSI). METHODS: The construct validity phase enrolled ANCHOR participants who were within two weeks of randomization to complete A-HRSI and legacy PRO questionnaires at a single time point. The responsiveness phase enrolled a separate cohort of ANCHOR participants who were not yet randomized to complete A-HRSI at three time points: prior to randomization (T1), 14-70 (T2), and 71-112 (T3) days following randomization. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis techniques established a three-factor model (i.e., physical symptoms, impact on physical functioning, impact on psychological functioning), with moderate evidence of convergent validity and strong evidence of discriminant validity in the construct validity phase (n = 303). We observed a significant moderate effect for changes in A-HRSI impact on physical functioning (standardized response mean = 0.52) and psychological symptoms (standardized response mean = 0.60) from T2 (n = 86) to T3 (n = 92), providing evidence of responsiveness. CONCLUSION: A-HRSI is a brief PRO index that captures health-related symptoms and impacts related to anal HSIL. This instrument may have broad applicability in other contexts assessing individuals with anal HSIL, which may ultimately help improve clinical care and assist providers and patients with medical decision-making.

Twenty Years of Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Therapeutics in Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration Treatment.

Neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) is the primary disastrous retinal disease that leads to blindness in the elderly population. In the early 2000s, nAMD resulted in irreversible vision loss and blindness with no available treatment options. However, there have been breakthrough advances in the drug development of anti-angiogenic biological agents over the last two decades. The primary target molecule for treating nAMD is the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and there are currently several anti-VEGF drugs such as bevacizumab, ranibizumab, and aflibercept, which have made nAMD more manageable than before, thus preventing vision loss. Nevertheless, it should be noted that these anti-VEGF drugs for nAMD treatment are not effective in more than half of the patients, and even those who initially gain visual improvements lose their vision over time, along with potential deterioration in the geography of atrophy. As a result, there have been continuous endeavors to improve anti-VEGF agents through better efficacy, fewer doses, expanded intervals, and additional targets. This review describes past and current anti-VEGF therapeutics used to treat nAMD and outlines future directions to improve the effectiveness and safety of anti-VEGF agents.

Surface-Tailored Medium Entropy Alloys as Radically Low Overpotential Oxygen Evolution Electrocatalysts.

Numerous studies have explored new materials for electrocatalysts, but it is difficult to discover materials that surpass the catalytic activity of current commercially available noble metal electrocatalysts. In contrast to conventional transition metal alloys, high-entropy alloys (HEAs) have immense potential to maximize their catalytic properties because of their high stability and compositional diversity as oxygen evolution reactions (OERs). This work presents medium-entropy alloys (MEAs) as OER electrocatalysts to simultaneously satisfy the requirement of high catalytic activity and long-term stability. The surface of MEA electrocatalyst is tailored to suit the OER via anodizing and cyclic voltammetry activation methods. Optimized electrical properties and hydrophilicity of the surface enable an extremely low overpotential of 187 mV for achieving the current density of 10 mA cm-2 alkaline media. Furthermore, a combined photovoltaic-electrochemical system with MEA electrocatalyst and a perovskite/Si tandem solar cell exhibits a solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 20.6% for an unassisted hydrogen generation system. These results present a new pathway for designing sustainable high efficiency water splitting cells.

The transcription factor ORA59 exhibits dual DNA binding specificity that differentially regulates ethylene- and jasmonic acid-induced genes in plant immunity.

Jasmonic acid (JA) and ethylene (ET) signaling modulate plant defense against necrotrophic pathogens in a synergistic and interdependent manner, while JA and ET also have independent roles in certain processes, e.g. in responses to wounding and flooding, respectively. These hormone pathways lead to transcriptional reprogramming, which is a major part of plant immunity and requires the roles of transcription factors. ET response factors are responsible for the transcriptional regulation of JA/ET-responsive defense genes, of which ORA59 functions as a key regulator of this process and has been implicated in the JA-ET crosstalk. We previously demonstrated that Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) GDSL LIPASE 1 (GLIP1) depends on ET for gene expression and pathogen resistance. Here, promoter analysis of GLIP1 revealed ERELEE4 as the critical cis-element for ET-responsive GLIP1 expression. In a yeast one-hybrid screening, ORA59 was isolated as a specific transcription factor that binds to the ERELEE4 element, in addition to the well-characterized GCC box. We found that ORA59 regulates JA/ET-responsive genes through direct binding to these elements in gene promoters. Notably, ORA59 exhibited a differential preference for GCC box and ERELEE4, depending on whether ORA59 activation is achieved by JA and ET, respectively. JA and ET induced ORA59 phosphorylation, which was required for both activity and specificity of ORA59. Furthermore, RNA-seq and virus-induced gene silencing analyses led to the identification of ORA59 target genes of distinct functional categories in JA and ET pathways. Our results provide insights into how ORA59 can generate specific patterns of gene expression dynamics through JA and ET hormone pathways.

Healthcare vulnerability disparities in pancreatic cancer treatment and mortality using the Korean National Sample Cohort: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The gap in treatment and health outcomes after diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is a major public health concern. We aimed to investigate the differences in the health outcomes and treatment of pancreatic cancer patients in healthcare vulnerable and non-vulnerable areas. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study evaluated data from the Korea National Health Insurance Corporation-National Sample Cohort from 2002 to 2019. The position value for relative comparison index was used to define healthcare vulnerable areas. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to estimate the risk of mortality in pancreatic cancer patients according to healthcare vulnerable areas, and multiple logistic regression was used to estimate the difference in treatment. RESULTS: Among 1,975 patients, 279 (14.1%) and 1,696 (85.9%) lived in the healthcare vulnerable and non-vulnerable areas, respectively. Compared with the non-vulnerable area, pancreatic cancer patients in the vulnerable area had a higher risk of death at 3 months (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.33, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.06-1.67) and 6 months (HR: 1.23, 95% CI = 1.03-1.48). In addition, patients with pancreatic cancer in the vulnerable area were less likely to receive treatment than patients in the non-vulnerable area (odds ratio [OR]: 0.70, 95% CI = 0.52-0.94). This trend was further emphasized for chemotherapy (OR: 0.68, 95% CI = 0.48-0.95). CONCLUSION: Patients with pancreatic cancer belonging to medically disadvantaged areas receive less treatment and have a higher risk of death. This may be a result of the late diagnosis of pancreatic cancer among these patients.

Comparison of neuropsychological functioning in pediatric posterior fossa tumor survivors: Medulloblastoma, low-grade astrocytoma, and healthy controls.

BACKGROUND: Neuropsychological comparison of medulloblastoma (MB) and cerebellar low-grade astrocytoma (LGA) survivors to controls can clarify treatment-related neurocognitive late effects. While both brain tumor groups undergo surgery to the posterior fossa, children with MB additionally receive craniospinal irradiation with boost and chemotherapy. This study provides an updated comparison of neuropsychological functioning in these two groups and examines effects of demographic risk factors upon outcomes. PROCEDURE: Forty-two children (16 MB, nine LGA, and 17 controls) completed measures of intellectual functioning, verbal learning/memory, visual-motor integration, and fine-motor functioning. The effects of age at diagnosis, time since diagnosis, gender, fatigue, and social status on neuropsychological functioning were examined. RESULTS: MB survivors demonstrated the worst neurocognitive late effects, but they were less severe and extensive than in prior studies. LGA survivors' mean scores were below normative expectations in working memory, processing speed, and fine-motor functioning. In this overall sample, processing speed difficulties were independent of fine-motor functioning and fatigue. Higher parental education was associated with better intellectual functioning, working memory, delayed recall, and visual-motor integration. Neuropsychological function was not associated with gender, age at diagnosis, or time since diagnosis. CONCLUSION: The results support that contemporary treatment approaches with craniospinal irradiation plus boost and chemotherapy confer the greatest risk for late effects, while surgical resection is associated with subtle but important neurocognitive difficulties. Ultimately, this study furthers our understanding of factors impacting neuropsychological function in pediatric MB and LGA survivors and contributes to empirical support for close monitoring and targeted interventions into survivorship.

Electrochemical conversion of CO2 to value-added chemicals over bimetallic Pd-based nanostructures: Recent progress and emerging trends.

Electrochemical conversion of CO2 to fuels and chemicals as a sustainable solution for waste transformation has garnered tremendous interest to combat the fervent issue of the prevailing high atmospheric CO2 concentration while contributing to the generation of sustainable energy. Monometallic palladium (Pd) has been shown promising in electrochemical CO2 reduction, producing formate or CO depending on applied potentials. Recently, bimetallic Pd-based materials strived to fine-tune the binding affinity of key intermediates is a prominent strategy for the desired product formation from CO2 reduction. Herein, the recent emerging trends on bimetallic Pd-based electrocatalysts are reviewed, including fundamentals of CO2 electroreduction and material engineering of bimetallic Pd-electrocatalysts categorized by primary products. Modern analytical techniques on these novel electrocatalysts are also thoroughly studied to get insights into reaction mechanisms. Lastly, we deliberate over the challenges and prospects for Pd-based catalysts for electrochemical CO2 conversion.

An overview on recent progress in photocatalytic air purification: Metal-based and metal-free photocatalysis.

Air pollution is becoming a distinctly growing concern and the most pressing universal problem as a result of increased energy consumption, with the multiplication of the human population and industrial enterprises, resulting in the generation of hazardous pollutants. Among these, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, Volatile organic compounds, Semi volatile organic compounds, and other inorganic gases not only have an adverse impact on human health both outdoors and indoors, but have also substantially altered the global climate, resulting in several calamities around the world. Thus, the purification of air is a crucial matter to deal with. Photocatalytic oxidation is one of the most recent and promising technologies, and it has been the subject of numerous studies over the past two decades. Hence, the photocatalyst is the most reassuring aspirant due to its adequate bandgap and exquisite stability. The process of photocatalysis has provided many benefits to the atmosphere by removing pollutants. In this review, our work focuses on four main themes. Firstly, we briefly elaborated on the general mechanism of air pollutant degradation, followed by an overview of the typical TiO2 photocatalyst, which is the most researched photocatalyst for photocatalytic destruction of gaseous VOCs. The influence of operating parameters influencing the process of photocatalytic oxidation (such as mass transfer, light source and intensity, pollutant concentration, and relative humidity) was then summarized. Afterwards, the progress and drawbacks of some typical photoreactors (including monolithic reactors, microreactors, optical fiber reactors, and packed bed reactors) were described and differentiated. Lastly, the most noteworthy coverage is dedicated to different types of modification strategies aimed at ameliorating the performance of photocatalysts for degradation of air pollutants, which were proposed and addressed. In addition, the review winds up with a brief deliberation for more exploration into air purification photocatalysis.

Machine learning-assisted evaluation of potential biochars for pharmaceutical removal from water.

A popular approach to select optimal adsorbents is to perform parallel experiments on adsorbents based on an initially decided goal such as specified product purity, efficiency, or binding capacity. To screen optimal adsorbents, we focused on the max adsorption capacity of the candidates at equilibrium in this work because the adsorption capacity of each adsorbent is strongly dependent on certain conditions. A data-driven machine learning tool for predicting the max adsorption capacity (Qm) of 19 pharmaceutical compounds on 88 biochars was developed. The range of values of Qm (mean 48.29 mg/g) was remarkably large, with a high number of outliers and large variability. Modified biochars enhanced the Qm and surface area values compared with the original biochar, with a statistically significant difference (Chi-square value = 7.21-18.25, P < 0.005). K- nearest neighbors (KNN) was found to be the most optimal algorithm with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 23.48 followed by random forest and Cubist with RMSE of 26.91 and 29.56, respectively, whereas linear regression and regularization were the worst algorithms. KNN model achieved R2 of 0.92 and RMSE of 16.62 for the testing data. A web app was developed to facilitate the use of the KNN model, providing a reliable solution for saving time and money in unnecessary lab-scale adsorption experiments while selecting appropriate biochars for pharmaceutical adsorption.

Frequency histograms of three high-sensitivity cardiac troponin assays in a reference population.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac troponin (cTn) values above the 99th percentile upper reference limit (URL) indicate myocardial injury. We established 99th percentile URLs for three high-sensitivity cTn (hs-cTn) assays (Beckman Coulter Access hs-cTnI, Abbott STAT hs-cTnI, and Roche Elecsys hs-cTnT) using a healthy population in Korea. METHODS: Each cTn value was measured by three assays and analyzed by dividing by gender and age. RESULTS: The frequency histograms of log-transformed cTn values for Beckman and Abbott assays exhibited a bell-shaped distribution. The 99th percentile URLs were 9.8, 17.4, and 17.3 ng/L in the total population; 10.9/9.0, 18.9/17.0, and 18.9/17.7 ng/L in the male/female population (p < 0.001 for all three assays); and 11.2/7.2, 19.9/14.5, and 22.7/9.3 ng/L in the older/younger population (p < 0.001 for all three assays) for Beckman, Abbott, and Roche assays, respectively. CONCLUSION: Among the three assays, bell-shaped distributions were observed in a frequency histogram of log-transformed cTn values for healthy population in Beckman and Abbott assays. Also, our findings show that the 99th percentile URLs for cTn levels vary not only by gender but age.

Korean Clinical Practice Guidelines: Current Status of Adherence to the RIGHT Checklist.

BACKGROUND: The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences (KAMS) has been utilizing AGREE II to audit the quality of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) developed in Korea. Monitoring the RIGHT Checklist adherence could help monitor the quality status and discover areas for improvement of CPG development. METHODS: We included 129 CPGs from the past 5 years and assessed each item of the RIGHT Checklist. STATA version 15.0 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Among the seven sections of the RIGHT checklist, sections with a full compliance rate over 60% were 'basic information' (65%) and 'background' (66%). The other sections' mean full compliance rates were 'Evidence' 52%, 'Recommendation' 35%, 'Review and quality assurance' 25% and 'Funding, declaration and management of interest' 17%. Sections with a partial compliance rate over 60% were 'Recommendation' (60%) and 'Funding, declaration and management of interest' (70%). Non-compliance was highest in the 'Review and quality assurance' (17%) domain. In comparison between groups 1 (under median group) and 2 (over median group), group 2 showed a tendency to have multi-stakeholder involvement and present sufficient information on financial resources and conflict of interest declarations. For the CPGs developmental methodology aspect, group 2 provided more pertinent information than group 1 about supporting evidence-making and the process from evidence to recommendation. CONCLUSION: This study evaluated adherence to the RIGHT Checklist of CPGs developed in Korea. It can provide helpful information to develop strategic plans for enhancing the capabilities of developing CPGs in Korea.

Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Cajanin, an Isoflavonoid Derivative Isolated from Canavalia lineata Pods.

The bioactive components of Canavalia lineata (Thunb.) DC pods were investigated using bioactivity-guided isolation, and the chemical structures of flavonoids 1-3, isoflavonoid derivatives 4-11, and phenolic compounds 12 and 13 were identified by comparing NMR, MS, and CD spectral data with previously reported spectroscopic data. Compounds 1-13 were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory effects on LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. Among these compounds, the isoflavonoid derivative cajanin (7) exhibited the most potent anti-inflammatory activity (IC50 of NO = 19.38 ± 0.05 µM; IC50 of IL-6 = 7.78 ± 0.04 µM; IC50 of TNF-α = 26.82 ± 0.11 µM), exerting its anti-inflammatory effects by suppressing the activation and nuclear translocation of the transcription factor NF-κB by phosphorylating IκB and p65. These results suggested that cajanin (7) may be a potential candidate for improving the treatment of inflammatory diseases.