Changes in depression trends during and after the COVID-19 pandemic among older adults in Korea.

This study aimed to complement the previous studies conducted within a short period of time by examining the long-term trends in depression levels of older adults through a longitudinal study that includes the period following the onset of COVID-19. For analysis, this study used the data from the 12th (2017) through 16th (2021) Korea Welfare Panel Study, and 2,716 data of older adults 65 years and older were included. Variables included gender, age, equalized annual income (USD $), education background, residential area, living alone and disability status. As a result, two types of changes in depression were identified: the 'rapidly rising' type and the 'steadily increasing'. We found that the lower the equalized annual income, women, the lower the education, living in urban and living alone showed a higher likelihood of belonging to the 'rapidly rising' type. The result suggests that those at risk of depression are at much higher risk during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also necessary to provide timely and effective guidelines to prevent depression in older adults when implementing policies in response to an outbreak of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19.

A study on longitudinal relationship between ultrafine dust and the prevalence of depression.

BACKGROUND: Recently, the fine dust problem caused by rapid industrialization and science and technological development has emerged as a severe social issue worldwide. This also increases the interest in its effect on human life. In particular, there is a growing concern about the harm of fine dust in Korea. METHODS: This study is based on the PM 2.5 data from 2017 to 2021 provided by Air Korea to estimate changes in ultrafine dust. In addition, the data from the Community Health Survey provided by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) from 2017 to 2021 were used to examine the effect between the change in ultra-fine dust and the prevalence of depression. A total of 229 local governments were included in the analysis. The Latent Growth Modeling was carried out to estimate the change in ultra-fine dust and the prevalence of depressions and verify the relationship between ultra-fine dust and the prevalence of depression. RESULTS: The analysis result revealed that the ultra-fine dust concentration continued to decrease from 2017 to 2021. However, the depression prevalence increased from an average of 2.60% in 2017 to an average of 3.12% in 2021, suggesting the need for adequate and sufficient welfare policies for depression treatment. As a result of estimating the initial value and change rate of ultra-fine dust and depression prevalence, the higher the initial value of ultra-fine dust, the greater the decrease in ultra-fine dust. In terms of depression, the lower the initial value of the prevalence of depression, the larger the increase in depression prevalence. CONCLUSIONS: This study is significant in that it revealed the strong association of the longitudinal relationship between ultra-fine dust and depression, one of the biggest issues in Korea, by utilizing large-scale longitudinal data.

A Longitudinal Relationship Between Mother's Smartphone Addiction to Child's Smartphone Addiction.

Children are more likely to become addicted as they become accustomed to using smartphones, and as they observe and imitate their parents using smartphones. This study aims to confirm longitudinally the effect of mother's smartphone addiction on children's smartphone addiction. Latent growth modeling was used to analyze longitudinal relationships between 3615 pairs of children and their mothers from the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey (KCYPS) (2018-2020). As a result, both the mothers and children's smartphone addiction significantly increased over time. The initial value of the mother's smartphone addiction was found to have a significant effect on the child's initial value and the change rate. Moreover, children's smartphone addiction change rate was significantly affected by the change rate of the mother's smartphone addiction. To intervene in children's smartphone addiction, a family-level approach, as well as parental addiction, must also be addressed, and a preventive approach should focus on those with a low risk of addiction.

De Novo Transcriptome Analysis to Identify Anthocyanin Biosynthesis Genes Responsible for Tissue-Specific Pigmentation in Zoysiagrass (Zoysia japonica Steud.).

Zoysiagrass (Zoysia japonica Steud.) is commonly found in temperate climate regions and widely used for lawns, in part, owing to its uniform green color. However, some zoysiagrass cultivars accumulate red to purple pigments in their spike and stolon tissues, thereby decreasing the aesthetic value. Here we analyzed the anthocyanin contents of two zoysiagrass cultivars 'Anyang-jungji' (AJ) and 'Greenzoa' (GZ) that produce spikes and stolons with purple and green colors, respectively, and revealed that cyanidin and petunidin were primarily accumulated in the pigmented tissues. In parallel, we performed a de novo transcriptome assembly and identified differentially expressed genes between the two cultivars. We found that two anthocyanin biosynthesis genes encoding anthocyanidin synthase (ANS) and dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR) were preferentially upregulated in the purple AJ spike upon pigmentation. Both ANS and DFR genes were also highly expressed in other zoysiagrass cultivars with purple spikes and stolons, but their expression levels were significantly low in the cultivars with green tissues. We observed that recombinant ZjDFR1 and ZjANS1 proteins successfully catalyze the conversions of dihydroflavonols into leucoanthocyanidins and leucoanthocyanidins into anthocyanidins, respectively. These findings strongly suggest that upregulation of ANS and DFR is responsible for tissue-specific anthocyanin biosynthesis and differential pigmentation in zoysiagrass. The present study also demonstrates the feasibility of a de novo transcriptome analysis to identify the key genes associated with specific traits, even in the absence of reference genome information.

Chemo-resistant choriocarcinoma metastatic to colon cured by low-anterior resection.

The role of surgery in the treatment of patients with metastatic choriocarcinoma has diminished. We present a case of chemo-resistant metastatic choriocarcinoma salvaged by surgery. A 48-year-old patient presented with uterine perforation and severe intractable hemorrhage, and histological examination revealed a choriocarcinoma. After 6 years of disease-free state, recurrence occurred in the rectosigmoid colon. Seven cycles of EMACO chemotherapy was administered, and the human chorionic gonadotropin level was normalized. Three months after the chemotherapy, the rectosigmoid colon metastasis progressed. Low anterior resection with lymphadenectomy up to the level of the inferior mesenteric artery was conducted. After the operation, the human chorionic gonadotropin level decreased to within the normal range. There has been no evidence of disease for 13 months since the operation. Local resection of metastases seems to play a significant role in curing the disease in a small subset of patients.