A case of vocal cord gnathostomiasis diagnosed with sectional morphologies in a histopathological specimen from a Chinese woman living in Korea.

This study aimed to describe a rare case of gnathostomiasis in the vocal cord. A 54-year-old Chinese woman living in Korea visited with a chief complaint of voice change at the outpatient department of otorhinolaryngology in Hallym Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University on August 2, 2021. She had eaten raw conger a few weeks before the voice change developed, but her medical history and physical examinations demonstrated neither gastrointestinal symptoms nor other health problems. A round and red cystic lesion, recognized in the anterior part of the right vocal cord, was removed using forceps and scissors through laryngeal microsurgery. The histopathological specimen of the cyst revealed 3 cross-sections of a nematode larva in the lumen of the cyst wall composed of inflammatory cells and fibrotic tissues. They differ in diameter, from 190 µm to 235 µm. They showed characteristic cuticular layers with tegumental spines, somatic muscle layers, and gastrointestinal tracts such as the esophagus and intestine. Notably, intestinal sections consisted of 27-28 lining cells containing 0-4 nuclei per cell. We tentatively identified the nematode larva recovered from the vocal cord cystic lesion as the third-stage larva of Gnathostoma, probably G. nipponicum or G. hispidum, based on the sectional morphologies.

Unraveling the Mechanism and Practical Implications of the Sol-Gel Synthesis of Spinel LiMn2O4 as a Cathode Material for Li-Ion Batteries: Critical Effects of Cation Distribution at the Matrix Level.

Spinel LiMn2O4 (LMO) is a state-of-the-art cathode material for Li-ion batteries. However, the operating voltage and battery life of spinel LMO needs to be improved for application in various modern technologies. Modifying the composition of the spinel LMO material alters its electronic structure, thereby increasing its operating voltage. Additionally, modifying the microstructure of the spinel LMO by controlling the size and distribution of the particles can improve its electrochemical properties. In this study, we elucidate the sol-gel synthesis mechanisms of two common types of sol-gels (modified and unmodified metal complexes)-chelate gel and organic polymeric gel-and investigate their structural and morphological properties and electrochemical performances. This study highlights that uniform distribution of cations during sol-gel formation is important for the growth of LMO crystals. Furthermore, a homogeneous multicomponent sol-gel, necessary to ensure that no conflicting morphologies and structures would degrade the electrochemical performances, can be obtained when the sol-gel has a polymer-like structure and uniformly bound ions; this can be achieved by using additional multifunctional reagents, namely cross-linkers.

A rice seed-specific glycine-rich protein OsDOR1 interacts with GID1 to repress GA signaling and regulates seed dormancy.

Seed dormancy is an important agronomic trait under the control of complex genetic and environmental interactions, which have not been yet comprehensively understood. From the field screening of rice mutant library generated by a Ds transposable element, we identified a pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) mutant dor1. This mutant has a single insertion of Ds element at the second exon of OsDOR1 (LOC_Os03g20770), which encodes a novel seed-specific glycine-rich protein. This gene successfully complemented the PHS phenotype of dor1 mutant and its ectopic expression enhanced seed dormancy. Here, we demonstrated that OsDOR1 protein binds to the GA receptor protein, OsGID1 in rice protoplasts, and interrupts with the formation OsGID1-OsSLR1 complex in yeast cells. Co-expression of OsDOR1 with OsGID1 in rice protoplasts attenuated the GA-dependent degradation of OsSLR1, the key repressor of GA signaling. We showed the endogenous OsSLR1 protein level in the dor1 mutant seeds is significantly lower than that of wild type. The dor1 mutant featured a hypersensitive GA-response of α-amylase gene expression during seed germination. Based on these findings, we suggest that OsDOR1 is a novel negative player of GA signaling operated in the maintenance of seed dormancy. Our findings provide a novel source of PHS resistance.

Are ChatGPT's knowledge and interpretation ability comparable to those of medical students in Korea for taking a parasitology examination?: a descriptive study

This study aimed to compare the knowledge and interpretation ability of ChatGPT, a language model of artificial general intelligence, with those of medical students in Korea by administering a parasitology examination to both ChatGPT and medical students. The examination consisted of 79 items and was administered to ChatGPT on January 1, 2023. The examination results were analyzed in terms of ChatGPT's overall performance score, its correct answer rate by the items' knowledge level, and the acceptability of its explanations of the items. ChatGPT's performance was lower than that of the medical students, and ChatGPT's correct answer rate was not related to the items' knowledge level. However, there was a relationship between acceptable explanations and correct answers. In conclusion, ChatGPT's knowledge and interpretation ability for this parasitology examination were not yet comparable to those of medical students in Korea.

Recent Issues in Medical Journal Publishing and Editing Policies: Adoption of Artificial Intelligence, Preprints, Open Peer Review, Model Text Recycling Policies, Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing 4th Version, and Country Names in Titles.

In Korea, many editors of medical journal are also publishers; therefore, they need to not only manage peer review, but also understand current trends and policies in journal publishing and editing. This article aims to highlight some of these policies with examples. First, the use of artificial intelligence tools in journal publishing has increased, including for manuscript editing and plagiarism detection. Second, preprint publications, which have not been peer-reviewed, are becoming more common. During the COVID-19 pandemic, medical journals have been more willing to accept preprints to adjust rapidly changing pandemic health issues, leading to a significant increase in their use. Third, open peer review with reviewer comments is becoming more widespread, including the mandatory publication of peer-reviewed manuscripts with comments. Fourth, model text recycling policies provide guidelines for researchers and editors on how to appropriately recycle text, for example, in the background section of the Introduction or the Methods section. Fifth, journals should take into account the recently updated 4th version of the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, released in 2022. This version includes more detailed guidelines on journal websites, peer review processes, advisory boards, and author fees. Finally, it recommends that titles of human studies include country names to clarify the cultural context of the research. Each editor must decide whether to adopt these six policies for their journals. Editor-publishers of society journals are encouraged to familiarize themselves with these policies so that they can implement them in their journals as appropriate.

Journal metrics, document network, and conceptual and social structures of the Korean Journal of Anesthesiology from 2017 to July 2022: a bibliometric study.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to identify the directions of research published in the Korean Journal of Anesthesiology (KJA) and identify the main topics and journal network through a bibliometric analysis. The results can be reflected in strategies for the journal's promotion to a top-ranking journal in the anesthesiology category. METHODS: KJA articles from January 1, 2017 to September 11, 2022 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection on September 11, 2022, and analyzed using Biblioshiny. Journal metrics, the document network, the conceptual structure, and social structures were elucidated. RESULTS: Out of 525 articles, fewer than half (48.6%) were from Korean corresponding authors. The impact factor steeply increased from 2.316 in 2019 to 5.167 in 2021. The Hirsch index of KJA was 24. A co-occurrence network of Keywords Plus showed four clusters of central keywords: surgery, management, anesthesia, and mortality. The conceptual structure map of Keywords Plus showed a main cluster of anesthesia and analgesia, while another minor cluster included intubation and induction. The co-citation network demonstrated that KJA was in the same cluster of anesthesiology journals. The collaboration network of the authors' countries showed that Korean authors collaborated mainly with researchers in the United States and Canada. CONCLUSIONS: These results show KJA's developmental process of promotion to a top-tier journal in the anesthesiology category. Furthermore, the following strategies are suggested for journal promotion: recruitment of articles on emerging and highly citable topics; and more active collaboration of society members with researchers worldwide.

Validation of a Modified Version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index for Medical Students Using Rasch Analysis.

Construct: Empathy has been accepted to interweave both cognitive aspects (the ability to put oneself in another person's place), and affective (or emotional) aspects, indicating an emotional reaction or response to another person's emotional state. Literature supports the positive influences of empathy on doctor-patient relationship, patient satisfaction, and positive clinical outcomes. Background: Many studies have dealt with the development of empathy measurement tools for physicians and medical students. A frequently used empathy measuring instrument for medical students is the "Interpersonal Reactivity Index" (IRI) which was designed to measure the multi-dimensional aspects of empathy in the general adult population. Most previous literature which validated IRI for medical students has used factor analysis, whilst studies applying Rasch models have been limited. Our study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of a modified version of IRI for medical students using Rasch analysis. Approach: Medical students (1,293) from 15 medical schools in South Korea participated in an online questionnaire consisting of 28 items of the Korean translated version of IRI. We applied exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using polychoric correlation matrix to determine the optimal number of factors followed by Rasch analysis and McDonald's Omega calculation. Findings: The adapted IRI-MS (IRI for medical students) consisted of 17 items in four dimensions: empathic concern (5), fictitious situation (4), perspective taking (4), and personal distress (4). The overall fit of IRI-MS revealed an acceptable goodness-of-fit for all 17 items and a positive point measure correlation for all items. Reliability indices from the Rasch modeling and McDonald's Omega values of all four dimensions were satisfactory for research. We found the Wright-Andrich maps and category probability curves of the IRI's four dimensions to be less than optimal in measuring empathy levels with adequate precision. Conclusions: Rasch analysis of IRI-MS fell short from being able to prove satisfactory validity in measuring the multidimensional nature of empathy in medical students. However, our study applying Rasch analysis may serve as groundwork for future studies, to further develop from the shortcomings of our findings.Supplemental data for this article are available online at at www.tandfonline.com/htlm .

Effect of structural variation in the promoter region of RsMYB1.1 on the skin color of radish taproot.

Accumulation of anthocyanins in the taproot of radish is an agronomic trait beneficial for human health. Several genetic loci are related to a red skin or flesh color of radish, however, the functional divergence of candidate genes between non-red and red radishes has not been investigated. Here, we report that a novel genetic locus on the R2 chromosome, where RsMYB1.1 is located, is associated with the red color of the skin of radish taproot. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 66 non-red-skinned (nR) and 34 red-skinned (R) radish accessions identified three nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the third exon of RsMYB1.1. Although the genotypes of SNP loci differed between the nR and R radishes, no functional difference in the RsMYB1.1 proteins of nR and R radishes in their physical interaction with RsTT8 was detected by yeast-two hybrid assay or in anthocyanin accumulation in tobacco and radish leaves coexpressing RsMYB1.1 and RsTT8. By contrast, insertion- or deletion-based GWAS revealed that one large AT-rich low-complexity sequence of 1.3-2 kb was inserted in the promoter region of RsMYB1.1 in the nR radishes (RsMYB1.1nR), whereas the R radishes had no such insertion; this represents a presence/absence variation (PAV). This insertion sequence (RsIS) was radish specific and distributed among the nine chromosomes of Raphanus genomes. Despite the extremely low transcription level of RsMYB1.1nR in the nR radishes, the inactive RsMYB1.1nR promoter could be functionally restored by deletion of the RsIS. The results of a transient expression assay using radish root sections suggested that the RsIS negatively regulates the expression of RsMYB1.1nR, resulting in the downregulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis genes, including RsCHS, RsDFR, and RsANS, in the nR radishes. This work provides the first evidence of the involvement of PAV in an agronomic trait of radish.

Electrochemical Properties of Multilayered Sn/TiNi Shape-Memory-Alloy Thin-Film Electrodes for High-Performance Anodes in Li-Ion Batteries.

Sn is a promising candidate anode material with a high theoretical capacity (994 mAh/g). However, the drastic structural changes of Sn particles caused by their pulverization and aggregation during charge-discharge cycling reduce their capacity over time. To overcome this, a TiNi shape memory alloy (SMA) was introduced as a buffer matrix. Sn/TiNi SMA multilayer thin films were deposited on Cu foil using a DC magnetron sputtering system. When the TiNi alloy was employed at the bottom of a Sn thin film, it did not adequately buffer the volume changes and internal stress of Sn, and stress absorption was not evident. However, an electrode with an additional top layer of room-temperature-deposition TiNi (TiNi(RT)) lost capacity much more slowly than the Sn or Sn/TiNi electrodes, retaining 50% capacity up to 40 cycles. Moreover, the charge-transfer resistance decreased from 318.1 Ω after one cycle to 246.1 Ω after twenty. The improved cycle performance indicates that the TiNi(RT) and TiNi-alloy thin films overall held the Sn thin film. The structure was changed so that Li and Sn reacted well; the stress-absorption effect was observed in the TiNi SMA thin films.

Burnout of Faculty Members of Medical Schools in Korea.

BACKGROUND: There is no national survey on medical school faculty members' burnout in Korea. This study aimed to investigate burnout levels and explore possible factors related to burnout among faculty members of Korean medical schools. METHODS: An anonymous online questionnaire was distributed to 40 Korean medical schools from October 2020 to December 2020. Burnout was measured by a modified and revalidated version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Service Survey. RESULTS: A total of 996 faculty members participated in the survey. Of them, 855 answered the burnout questions, and 829 completed all the questions in the questionnaire. A significant number of faculty members showed a high level of burnout in each sub-dimension: 34% in emotional exhaustion, 66.3% in depersonalization, and 92.4% in reduced personal accomplishment. A total of 31.5% of faculty members revealed a high level of burnout in two sub-dimensions, while 30.5% revealed a high level of burnout in all three sub-dimensions. Woman faculty members or those younger than 40 reported significantly higher emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Long working hours (≥ 80 hours/week) showed the highest reduced personal accomplishment scores (F = 4.023, P = 0.018). The most significant stressor or burnout source was "excessive regulation by the government or university." The research was the most exasperating task, but the education was the least stressful. CONCLUSION: This first nationwide study alerts that a significant number of faculty members in Korean medical schools seem to suffer from a high level of burnout. Further studies are necessary for identifying the burnout rate, related factors, and strategies to overcome physician burnout.