The impact of shortening patient-doctor contact duration on early peritoneal dialysis-related infections.

Early peritoneal dialysis (PD)-related infection is a severe complication. This study investigated the relationship between patient-doctor contact (PDC) duration and early PD-related infection. In the Peritoneal Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (PDOPPS) Korea, incident dialysis patients receiving PD were divided into two groups based on PDC duration (< 15 min versus ≥ 15 min), which was defined as the duration a nephrologist typically spends with a patient receiving PD during each visit according to the facility practice pattern. Early risks of PD-related infections, such as peritonitis and catheter-related infection (onset within 3 and 12 months of PD), were compared to the PDC duration using Cox regression. The study included 276 patients (184 [66.7%] in the shorter PDC group [< 15 min] and 92 [33.3%] in the longer PDC group [≥ 15 min]). The average age did not differ between the groups. The incidences of 3- and 12-month PD-related infections were significantly lower in the longer PDC group than in the shorter PDC group (3 months: 1.1% versus 9.8%, P = 0.007; 12 months: 9.8% versus 23.4%, P = 0.007). Longer PDC was independently associated with a lower risk of PD-related infections at 3 and 12 months (3 months: adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.11; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.02-0.85, P = 0.034; 12 months: aHR, 0.43; 95% CI 0.19-0.99, P = 0.048). Overall, a longer PDC duration was associated with a significantly lower risk of early PD-related infection.

The impact of quality of life on the survival of elderly patients with end-stage renal disease: a prospective multicenter cohort study in Korea.

Background: Quality of life (QOL) is associated with mortality in dialysis patients. However, the impact of QOL index or score on elderly patients undergoing maintenance dialysis is unclear. We analyzed the relationship between QOL domains and survival in elderly end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients on dialysis. Methods: We included 492 incident ESRD patients aged ≥65 years from a Korean nationwide prospective cohort study who were assessed for QOL with a follow-up duration of 67.3 ± 34.6 months after dialysis initiation. Their QOL was evaluated using the Kidney Disease Quality of Life (KDQOL) instrument, and the effect of each QOL domain on mortality was analyzed. Multivariable Cox regression analysis was performed to identify independent risk factors for death after adjusting for confounding factors. Results: Low physical component summary (PCS) and Short Form-36 score were significantly associated with low survival rate (P < .001 and P = .017, respectively), whereas the mental component summary and ESRD-targeted item scores were not correlated with survival rate. Multivariable Cox regression analysis confirmed that only a high PCS score was associated with better survival (hazard ratio 0.71; 95% confidence interval 0.52-0.97; P = .031). Linear regression analysis revealed that age, sex, modified Charlson comorbidity index, albumin and intact parathyroid hormone were associated with PCS. Among the PCS items, only the physical functioning score was significantly associated with mortality (P = .017). Conclusion: PCS was an independent risk factor for death in elderly ESRD patients. A higher physical functioning score was associated with a better outcome, suggesting the importance of physical condition in elderly dialysis patients.

Add-On Device Powered by Parallelized Adsorption Traps for Preconcentrator-GC-MS Measurement of sub-pmol/mol Levels of NF3.

In this study, an add-on preconcentration device powered by parallelized pretraps (PPTs) was utilized to measure the sub-pmol/mol levels of NF3 in N2. The add-on preconcentrator was coupled to the detachable trap preconcentrator (DTP) with a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer [Anal. Chem. 2019, 91, 3342-3349]. The breakthrough volume of the parallel configuration was found to be substantially higher than that of the serial configuration with the same amount of adsorbent (HayeSep D). Liquid oxygen (LO2) cooling (-183 °C) exhibited better preconcentration performance for NF3 in N2 compared to NF3 in air (N2 + O2) with liquid nitrogen cooling (-195 °C) and NF3 in air with LO2 cooling. The DTP unit was essential to discriminate residual species, such as N2, O2, CO2, and CF4, of which the preconcentrated portion in the PPT can be excessive, enabling the overwhelm filtering capability of the quadrupole mass spectrometer. The limit of detection of NF3 in N2 of the PPT/DTP/gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer was 0.01 ppt, which is significantly better than that determined without using the add-on preconcentration device (0.21 ppt).

Innovative strategies for protein content determination in dried laver (Porphyra spp.): Evaluation of preprocessing methods and machine learning algorithms through short-wave infrared imaging.

In this study, we explored the application of Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) hyperspectral imaging combined with Competitive Adaptive Reweighted Sampling (CARS) and advanced regression models for the non-destructive assessment of protein content in dried laver. Utilizing a spectral range of 900-1700 nm, we aimed to refine the quality control process by selecting informative wavelengths through CARS and applying various preprocessing techniques (standard normal variate [SNV], Savitzky-Golay filtering [SG], Orthogonal Signal Correction [OSC], and StandardScaler [SS]) to enhance the model's accuracy. The SNV-OSC-StandardScaler- Support vector regression (SVR) model trained on CARS-selected wavelengths significantly outperformed the other configurations, achieving a prediction determination coefficient (Rp2) of 0.9673, root mean square error of prediction of 0.4043, and residual predictive deviation of 5.533. These results highlight SWIR hyperspectral imaging's potential as a rapid and precise tool for assessing dried laver quality, aiding food industry quality control and dried laver market growth.

NMR-Based Metabolomic Analysis of Biotic Stress Responses in the Traditional Korean Landrace Red Pepper (Capsicum annuum var. annuum, cv. Subicho).

Korean landrace red peppers (Capsicum annuum var. Subicho), such as the traditional representative Subicho variety, are integral to Korean foods and are often consumed raw or used as a dried powder for cuisine. However, the known vulnerability of local varieties of landrace to biotic stresses can compromise their quality and yield. We employed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy coupled with a multivariate analysis to uncover and compare the metabolomic profiles of healthy and biotic-stressed Subicho peppers. We identified 42 metabolites, with significant differences between the groups. The biotic-stressed Subicho red peppers exhibited lower sucrose levels but heightened concentrations of amino acids, particularly branched-chain amino acids (valine, leucine, and isoleucine), suggesting a robust stress resistance mechanism. The biotic-stressed red peppers had increased levels of TCA cycle intermediates (acetic, citric, and succinic acids), nitrogen metabolism-related compounds (alanine, asparagine, and aspartic acid), aromatic amino acids (tyrosine, phenylalanine, and tryptophan), and γ-aminobutyric acid. These findings reveal the unique metabolic adaptations of the Subicho variety, underscoring its potential resilience to biotic stresses. This novel insight into the stress response of the traditional Subicho pepper can inform strategies for developing targeted breeding programs and enhancing the quality and economic returns in the pepper and food industries.

Cannabis Use Is Associated with Pain Severity and Interference Among Cancer Survivors.

Context: Cannabis use for symptom management among individuals with cancer is increasingly common. Objectives: We sought to describe the (1) prevalence and characteristics of cannabis use, (2) perceived therapeutic benefits of cannabis use, and (3) examine how use of cannabis was associated with self-reported pain, mood, and general health outcomes in a representative sample of patients treated at a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Oregon Health and Science University Knight Cancer Institute. Methods: We conducted a population-based, cross-sectional survey developed in conjunction with 11 other NCI-designated cancer centers and distributed to eligible individuals. The survey inquired about characteristics of cannabis use, perception of therapeutic benefits, pain, mood, and general health. Responses were population weighted. We examined the association of cannabis use with self-reported pain, mood, and general health using logistic regression controlling for relevant sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Results: A total of 523 individuals were included in our analytic sample. A total of 54% endorsed using cannabis at any time since their cancer diagnosis and 42% endorsed using cannabis during active treatment. The most commonly endorsed reasons for use included the following: sleep disturbance (54.7%), pain (47.1%), and mood (42.6%). We found that moderate pain was associated with more than a twofold (odds ratio = 2.4 [95% confidence interval = 1.3-4.6], p = 0.002) greater likelihood of self-reported cannabis use. Depressed mood and general health were not associated with cannabis use. Conclusions: In a state that had early adoption of medical and recreational cannabis legislation, a high number of cancer survivors report cannabis use. Moderate or more severe pain was associated with an increased likelihood to use cannabis, while mood and general health were not associated. Oncologists should be aware of these trends and assess use of cannabis when managing long-term symptoms of cancer and its treatments.

Cardioprotective Effect of SGLT2 Inhibitor in Diabetic Kidney Transplant Recipients: A Multicenter Propensity Score Matched Study.

Introduction: Kidney transplantation (KT) improves the cardiovascular outcomes of patients with end-stage kidney disease. However, cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of premature death and graft loss in KT recipients (KTRs) with diabetes. We evaluated the cardioprotective effects of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) in KTRs with diabetes. Methods: A total of 750 KTRs with diabetes were enrolled from 6 tertiary hospitals. Among them, 129 patients (17.2%) were prescribed SGLT2i. The primary outcome was the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), which comprised myocardial infarction (MI), death from cardiovascular causes, hospitalization for heart failure, and stroke. Multivariable Cox regression analysis and propensity score matching were used to investigate the effect of SGLT2i on clinical outcomes. Results: In the matched cohort, MACE occurred in 5 patients (3.9%) in the SGLT2i group and 15 patients (11.8%) in the non-SGLT2i group, out of 127 patients in each group over 55.3 months. The incidence of MACE and MI was lower in the SGLT2i group than in the non-SGLT2i group (P = 0.036 and 0.008, respectively). In multivariate analysis, the SGLT2i group had a lower risk of MACE and MI than the non-SGLT2i group (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 0.30 and 0.04; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.10-0.88 and 0.004-0.40; P = 0.028 and 0.006, respectively). There was no difference in the incidence of urinary tract infection (UTI) between the 2 groups. Conclusion: SGLT2i significantly decreased the risk of cardiovascular events in KTRs with diabetes, particularly lowering the incidence of MI and death from cardiovascular causes. SGLT2i can be used to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease in KTRs with diabetes.

PD-L1 expression from surgically resected lung tumors predictive of early progression in patients previously treated with targeted therapy for initially unresectable non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Recent evidences showed that resection of lung tumor post-targeted therapy has shown progression-free survival (PFS) benefits in initially unresectable patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate pathologic findings of resected lung tumor samples in patients who have undergone prior epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment, and also to assess the prognostic factors related to outcomes after resection. Methods: The deidentified data of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients admitted to seven university hospitals affiliated with the Catholic University of Korea were obtained from the Clinical Data Warehouse (CDW) database. Among screened patients, 40 individuals who had previously undergone targeted therapies and later received surgical resection of a primary lung tumor were evaluated for the study. Results: All 40 patients were diagnosed with adenocarcinoma. Of these, 36 with EGFR mutations received prior EGFR TKI treatment. Only one postoperative complication, atrial fibrillation, was observed. At the time of resection, 19 patients showed primary lung tumor size regressing or unchanged, while 21 patients showed primary lung tumor regrowth or new lesions being developed before the resection. The group with no programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression from resected samples showed significantly better post-resection PFS when compared to the other group (P=0.01). In the Model II multivariate analysis for post-resection PFS, PD-L1 detection from the resected sample was significantly associated with PFS [P=0.03; hazard ratio (HR) =5.465; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.200-24.885]. Furthermore, an increase in PD-L1 expression compared to the baseline value was associated with an increasing lung tumor burden at the time of resection (P=0.03). Conclusions: Resected specimen following targeted therapy can provide valuable clinical information that can be used to predict the prognosis of patients with initially unresectable NSCLC.

Anti-pneumoconiosis effect of schisantherin A in PMA-induced A549 cells and SiO2/TiO2nanoparticles-induced acute pulmonary injury in mice.

There has been significant global interest in respiratory health driven by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and severe environmental pollution. This study explored the potential of schisantherin A (SchA), a compound derived from Schisandra chinensis, to protect against acute pneumoconiosis. We assessed the effects of SchA on phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-stimulated A549 alveolar epithelial cells and SiO2/TiO2-induced pulmonary injury in mice. In A549 cells, SchA significantly decreased pro-inflammatory mediators such as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and interleukin (IL)-8 levels. SchA-mediated reduction in inflammatory mediators was associated with the downregulation of PMA-stimulated nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling activation. In SiO2/TiO2-induced lung-injured mice, SchA administration significantly reduced MUC5AC production in lung tissue. SchA administration significantly downregulated the overexpression of NK-κB and the subsequent production of COX-2, iNOS, and NOD-like receptor pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasomes. It significantly suppressed expected increases in total cell numbers and pro-inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and IL-1ß in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in SiO2/TiO2-stimulated mice. In contrast, the SiO2/TiO2-mediated decrease in IL-10 levels was significantly improved by SchA treatment. These fundamental results can be used to develop potential treatments involving SchA for acute pneumoconiosis.