Association of ultra-processed food with diabetes and impaired fasting glucose in elderly populations (urban and rural): a cross-sectional study / 대한지역사회영양학회지

Objectives@#This study examined the association between ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption and chronic diseases in elderly Koreans. @*Methods@#Data from the 2019–2021 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were analyzed. Dietary intake and UPF consumption were assessed using the NOVA food classification based on 24-hour recall data from 3,790 participants (aged 65+ years).Participants were divided into 4 groups based on the quartile of energy intake from UPFs.Regions were classified as urban or rural. Multivariable logistic regression was employed to estimate the adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) after controlling for potential confounders. @*Results@#Among the participants, 71.3% resided in urban and 28.7% in rural areas.Compared to the urban elderly, rural participants tended to be older, have lower education and income levels, be more likely to live in single-person households, and have a higher smoking rate (P < 0.05). Urban elderly consumed more UPFs daily (146.1 g) compared to rural residents (126.6 g; P < 0.05). “Sugar-sweetened beverages” were the most consumed category in both regions. “Sweetened milk and its products” and “traditional sauces” were prominent in urban areas, while rural elderly consumed more “traditional sauces” and “distilled alcoholic beverages.” Rural areas also had a higher carbohydrate-to-calorie ratio than urban areas. Compared to the lowest quartile of UPF intake, the highest quartile was significantly associated with impaired fasting glucose only in rural areas (AOR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.00–2.19; P for trend = 0.0014). No significant associations were observed for diabetes in either urban or rural areas. @*Conclusions@#This study suggests that high intake of UPFs is associated with increased odds of impaired fasting glucose in rural elderly. Further research is needed to elucidate the specific negative health effects of UPFs in different populations, and targeted efforts should promote healthy diets in both urban and rural areas.

Standardization of the Korean Version of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire for Obsessions and Compulsions in University Students and Patients With Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder

Objective@#The Acceptance and Action Questionnaire for Obsessions and Compulsions (AAQ-OC) is a version of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ) that specifically measures unwanted intrusive thoughts and responses (e.g., experiential avoidance) to them. This study aimed to investigate the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the AAQ-OC in clinical and nonclinical Korean samples. @*Methods@#In this study, 561 university students and 121 patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) completed the AAQ-OC and several other psychological scales. Descriptive, correlation, and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses as well as group comparisons were conducted. @*Results@#The results of the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses indicated a two-factor structure that best fits the data in the university sample: Factors 1 and 2 matched the original Valued Action and Willingness subscales, respectively. The reliability analyses revealed that the AAQ-OC and its factors had excellent internal consistencies. As regards the concurrent validity, the AAQ-OC and its factors had a positive correlation with the AAQ-II and Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire. Compared with the university students, the OCD patients had higher AAQ-OC scores, and their obsessive–compulsive symptoms, particularly the two symptom dimensions of responsibility for harm and mistakes and unacceptable thoughts, were significantly associated with the AAQ-OC and two subscales. @*Conclusion@#The findings of this study confirm the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the AAQ-OC.

Impact of Childhood Maltreatment on Cognitive Function and Its Relationship With Emotion Regulation in Young Adults

Objectives@#Childhood maltreatment can negatively impact cognitive development, including executive function, working memory, and processing speed. This study investigated the impact of childhood maltreatment on cognitive function in young adults using various measurements, including computerized tests, and their relationship with emotional dysregulation. @*Methods@#We recruited 149 healthy individuals with and without maltreatment experiences and used the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale IV (WAIS-IV) and a computerized battery to analyze cognitive function. @*Results@#Both the WAIS-IV and computerized tests revealed that individuals with a history of childhood maltreatment had decreased cognitive function, especially in terms of working memory and processing speed. These individuals tended to employ maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. Among cognitive functions, working memory is negatively related to maladaptive emotion regulation strategies such as catastrophizing. @*Conclusion@#This study highlights the effects of childhood maltreatment on cognitive function in young adulthood. Moreover, the study suggests clinical implications of cognitive interventions for improving emotion regulation and cognitive function in individuals with a history of childhood maltreatment.

Early Postoperative Benefits in Receptive and Expressive Language Development After Cochlear Implantation Under 9 Months of Age in Comparison to Implantation at Later Ages

Objectives@#. The recent expansion of eligibility for cochlear implantation (CI) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to include infants as young as 9 months has reignited debates concerning the clinically appropriate cut-off age for pediatric CI. Our study compared the early postoperative trajectories of receptive and expressive language development in children who received CI before 9 months of age with those who received it between 9 and 12 months. This study involved a unique pediatric cohort with documented etiology, where the timing of CI was based on objective criteria and efforts were made to minimize the influence of parental socioeconomic status. @*Methods@#. A retrospective review of 98 pediatric implantees recruited at a tertiary referral center was conducted. The timing of CI was based on auditory and language criteria focused on the extent of delay corresponding to the bottom 1st percentile of language development among age-matched controls, with patients categorized into very early (CI at 9 months), in children with profound deafness who have a clear deafness etiology and language development delays (<1st percentile).

Consensus Statements on the Definition, Classification, and Diagnostic Tests for Tinnitus: A Delphi Study Conducted by the Korean Tinnitus Study Group

Background@#Tinnitus is a bothersome condition associated with various symptoms. However, the mechanisms of tinnitus are still uncertain, and a standardized assessment of the diagnostic criteria for tinnitus is required. We aimed to reach a consensus on diagnosing tinnitus with professional experts by conducting a Delphi study with systematic review of the literature. @*Methods@#Twenty-six experts in managing tinnitus in Korea were recruited, and a two-round modified Delphi study was performed online. The experts evaluated the level of agreement of potential criteria for tinnitus using a scale of 1–9. After the survey, a consensus meeting was held to establish agreement on the results obtained from the Delphi process. Consensus was defined when over 70% of the participants scored 7–9 (agreement) and fewer than 15% scored 1–3 (disagreement). To analyze the responses of the Delphi survey, the content validity ratio and Kendall’s coefficient of concordance were evaluated. @*Results@#Consensus was reached for 22 of the 38 statements. For the definition of tinnitus, 10 out of 17 statements reached consensus, with three statements achieving complete agreement including; 1) Tinnitus is a conscious perception of an auditory sensation in the absence of a corresponding external stimulus, 2) Tinnitus can affect one’s quality of life, and 3) Tinnitus can be associated with hearing disorders including sensorineural hearing loss, vestibular schwannoma, Meniere’s disease, otosclerosis, and others. For the classification of tinnitus, 11 out of 18 statements reached consensus. The participants highly agreed with statements such as; 1) Vascular origin is expected in pulse-synchronous tinnitus, and 2) Tinnitus can be divided into acute or chronic tinnitus. Among three statements on the diagnostic tests for tinnitus only Statement 3, “There are no reliable biomarkers for sensory or emotional factors of tinnitus.”reached consensus. All participants agreed to perform pure-tone audiometry and tinnitus questionnaires, including the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory and Tinnitus Questionnaire. @*Conclusion@#We used a modified Delphi method to establish a consensus-based definition, a classification, and diagnostic tests for tinnitus. The expert panel reached agreement for several statements, with a high level of consensus. This may provide practical information for clinicians in managing tinnitus.

Is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Effective for Any Obsessive-Compulsive Symptom Dimensions?

Objective@#Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) has been recently introduced for treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Although there are data supporting the efficacy of ACT, only few studies have investigated the effectiveness of ACT against any obsessivecompulsive (OC) symptom dimension or a specific dimension alone. @*Methods@#In total, 64 patients with OCD received an 8-session ACT group program. All measures were evaluated before and after treatment. The Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale was used to assess OCD severity across the four empirically supported symptom dimensions (i.e., contamination, responsibility for harm, unacceptable thoughts, and symmetry). ACT processes were evaluated using the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II), Acceptance and Action Questionnaire for Obsessions and Compulsions (AAQOC), and Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire. @*Results@#After an 8-week program, there were significant reductions in all four OC symptom dimensions after ACT. The unacceptable thoughts and contamination domains had medium effect size. The responsibility for harm and symmetry dimensions had small effect size. The unacceptable thoughts dimension was significantly correlated with all ACT process measures. The symmetry dimension was significantly correlated with AAQ-OC and AAQ-II scores while the responsibility for harm dimension was correlated with AAQ-II alone. However, the contamination dimension was not associated with any process measures. @*Conclusion@#ACT may be effective for managing all four symptom dimensions with small to moderate effect size. Moreover, depending on the symptom dimension, there may be different relationship patterns between symptom reduction and changes in ACT processes.

Heightened but Inefficient Thought-Action Fusion in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: New Insight From a Multiple Trial Version of the Classic Thought-Action Fusion Experiment

Objective@#Thought-action fusion (TAF), which is a tendency to make the relationship between one’s thoughts and external consequences, is a dysfunctional belief linked to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). While the TAF is commonly evaluated using the Thought-Action Fusion Scale (TAFS), it cannot fully reflect the actual experience of experimentally evoked TAF. In the present study, we applied a multiple-trial version of the classic TAF experiment and evaluate two variables, reaction time (RT) and emotional intensity (EI). @*Methods@#Ninety-three patients with OCD and 45 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. The participants were asked to read the name of a close or neutral person embedded in different positive (PS) or negative (NS) TAF statements. During the experiments, RT and EI were gathered. @*Results@#The OCD patients presented with longer RT and lower EI in the NS condition than HCs. In each group, the HCs showed a significant relationship between RT in the NS condition and TAFS scores, whereas the patients did not, although they had higher TAFS scores than the HCs. In contrast, the patients showed a trend toward a correlation between RT in the NS condition and guilt. @*Conclusion@#These findings may indicate our multiple-trial version of the classical TAF showed reliable results of the two new variables, especially RT, in the task and allow to newly identify paradoxical patterns in which the TAFS scores are high but actual performance is impaired, that is, the inefficient activation of TAF in OCD.

Comparison of Office Blood Pressure, Automated Unattended Office Blood Pressure, Home Blood Pressure, and 24-Hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Measurements

Background@#Although previous studies have reported differences of blood pressure (BP) according to BP measurement methods, studies in Korean population were scarce. This study aimed to compare BP differences according to different BP measurement methods and assess hypertension phenotype. @*Methods@#This prospective study recruited 183 individuals (mean 55.9 years; 51.4% males).The BP measurements included office BP (auscultatory attended office BP [ausAOBP], automated attended office BP [aAOBP], and automated unattended office BP [aUAOBP]) and out-of-office BP (home BP [HBP] and ambulatory BP [ABP]) measurements taken within one week of each other. @*Results@#The mean systolic/diastolic BP differences between ausAOBP and other BPs according to different BP measurement methods were 3.5/2.3 mmHg for aAOBP; 6.1/2.9 mmHg for aUAOBP; 15.0/7.3 mmHg for daytime ABP; and 10.6/3.4 mmHg for average HBP.The increasing disparity between ausAOBP and other BPs in multivariable regression analysis was significantly associated with increasing BP. The prevalence of white-coat hypertension and masked hypertension in 107 individuals not taking antihypertensive medication was 25.4–26.8% and 30.6–33.3% based on ausAOBP, daytime ABP, and average HBP, respectively.The prevalence of white-coat uncontrolled hypertension and masked uncontrolled hypertension in 76 of those taking antihypertensive medication was 31.7–34.1% and 17.1– 37.1%, respectively. @*Conclusion@#This study showed a large disparity between office BP and out-of-office BP which became more pronounced when office BP by auscultation increased, suggesting that various BP measurement methods should be used to more accurately assess BP status.

Single-incision versus conventional multiport laparoscopic cholecystectomy in acute cholecystitis according to disease severity: single center retrospective study in Korea

Purpose@#The safety of single-incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy (SILC) for acute cholecystitis (AC) has not yet been confirmed. @*Methods@#This single-center retrospective study included patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) for AC between April 2010 and December 2020.Propensity scores were used to match patients who underwent SILC with those who underwent conventional multiport LC (CMLC) in the entire cohort and in the two subgroups. @*Results@#A total of 1,876 patients underwent LC for AC, and 427 (22.8%) underwent SILC. In the propensity score-matched analysis of the entire cohort (404 patients in each group), the length of hospital stay (2.9 days vs. 3.5 days, p = 0.029) was shorter in the SILC group than in the CMLC group. No significant differences were observed in other surgical outcomes. In grade I AC (336 patients in each group), the SILC group showed poorer surgical outcomes than the CMLC group, regarding operation time (57.6 minutes vs. 52.4 minutes, p = 0.001) and estimated blood loss (22.9 mL vs. 13.1 mL, p = 0.006). In grade II/III AC (58 patients in each group), there were no significant differences in surgical outcomes between the two groups. Postoperative pain outcomes were also not significantly different in the two groups, regardless of severity. @*Conclusion@#This study demonstrated that SILC had similar surgical and pain outcomes to CMLC in patients with AC; however, subgroup analysis showed that SILC was associated with poor surgical outcomes than CMLC in grade I AC. Therefore, SILC should be carefully performed in patients with AC by experienced hepatobiliary surgeons.

Effectiveness of a Group-Based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in a University Hospital * / 생물치료정신의학

Objectives@#：Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) was recently introduced to the treatment of the obsessivecompulsive disorder (OCD). Major core components of ACT can be effectively applied to OCD treatment. Cognitive defusion can make to reduce anxiety related to obsessional thought by observing and flowing the thoughts in a nonjudgemental manner. Value-based commitment can be helpful to confront situations rather than experiential avoidance. Although several studies verified the effectiveness of ACT treatment on OCD, there is a lack of study in Korea. @*Methods@#：Forty-four patients with OCD were randomly assigned to treatment or control groups (22 patients per group). An eight-session, 90-minute ACT program was developed and conducted for 8 weeks for the treatment group. Symptoms were measured before and after 8 weeks, using Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (OCI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire (CFQ). @*Results@#：After eight-week program, the treatment group showed greater reductions in cognitive fusion score (p= 0.001) as well as obsessive-compulsive symptoms measured by both Y-BOCS and OCI (ps<0.001) compared to the control group. Moreover, changes in cognitive fusion score were significantly correlated with changes of Y-BOCS, OCI, and BDI scores (all ps<0.05). @*Conclusions@#：To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first report to verify the effectiveness of a group based ACT program on OCD in Korea. Our ACT program was effective to reduce symptoms of OCD and related cognitive fusion. Future study with longitudinal design and large sample sizes are needed to investigate confirmatory and longterm effects of our ACT program for OCD.

Fabrication Techniques of Nerve Guidance Conduits for Nerve Regeneration

Neuronal loss and axonal degeneration after spinal cord injury or peripheral injury result in the loss of sensory and motor functions. Nerve regeneration is a complicated and medical challenge that requires suitable guides to bridge nerve injury gaps and restore nerve function. Due to the hostility of the microenvironment in the lesion, multiple conditions should be fulfilled to achieve improved functional recovery. Many nerve conduits have been fabricated using various natural and synthetic polymers. The design and material of the nerve guide conduits were carefully reviewed. A detailed review was conducted on the fabrication method of the nerve guide conduit for nerve regeneration. The typical fabrication methods used to fabricate nerve conduits are dip coating, solvent casting, micropatterning, electrospinning, and additive manufacturing. The advantages and disadvantages of the fabrication methods were reported, and research to overcome these limitations was reviewed. Extensive reviews have focused on the biological functions and in vivo performance of polymeric nerve conduits. In this paper, we emphasize the fabrication method of nerve conduits by polymers and their properties. By learning from the existing candidates, we can advance the strategies for designing novel polymeric systems with better properties for nerve regeneration.

ISAR Imaging of High-Speed Maneuvering Target Using Gapped Stepped-Frequency Waveform and Compressive Sensing.

In the case of a stepped-frequency waveform (SFW) inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) system, the translational motion (TM) of a target can be usually divided into two parts: 1) target motion within a pulse repetition interval, called the inter-pulse translational motion (IPTM) and 2) target motion between bursts, called the inter-burst translational motion (IBTM). The former induces severe blurring in the ISAR images as well as range-compressed data (i.e., range profile), and the latter also causes dramatic degradation of the ISAR image quality. In this paper, a novel framework for high-resolution gapped SFW (GSFW) ISAR imaging of high-speed maneuvering target is proposed. The main novelty of the proposed method is twofold: 1) accurate TM parameter estimation in conjunction with a compressive sensing theory using a newly devised cost function and particle swarm optimization and 2) compensation for both the IPTM and IBTM phase errors simultaneously even with the GSFW data set. Simulation results using ideal point scatterers show that the proposed method is capable of precise reconstruction of ISAR image and accurate TM parameter estimation. Experimental results using real measured data verify the robustness and the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Alterations in Functions of Cognitive Emotion Regulation and Related Brain Regions in Maltreatment Victims

Objectives@#Maltreatment experiences can alter brain function related to emotion regulation, such as cognitive reappraisal. While dysregulation of emotion is an important risk factor to mental health problems in maltreated people, studies reported alterations in brain networks related to cognitive reappraisal are still lacking. @*Methods@#Twenty-seven healthy subjects were recruited in this study. The maltreatment experiences and positive reappraisal abilities were measured using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, respectively. Twelve subjects reported one or more moderate maltreatment experiences. Subjects were re-exposed to pictures after the cognitive reappraisal task using the International Affective Picture System during fMRI scan. @*Results@#The maltreatment group reported more negative feelings on negative pictures which tried cognitive reappraisal than the no-maltreatment group (p 20). @*Conclusions@#We found that paradoxical activities in semantic networks were shown in the victims of maltreatment. Further study might be needed to clarify these aberrant functions in semantic networks related to maltreatment experiences.

Prevalence of Addictive Behaviors in Medical Students and Their Association With Stress

Objective@#This study aims to investigate the prevalence of the addictive use of the internet, smartphone, and alcohol in medical students, the association of this addictive use with stress, and the mediating roles of resilience and self-esteem in this association. @*Methods@#A total of 866 medical students completed measures of three addictive uses as well as psychological scales for stress, resilience, and self-esteem. Correlation analyses and parallel mediation analysis were carried out. @*Results@#The prevalence of potential-risk and high-risk users was 5.8% and 1.7% for internet use, 5.4% and 2.2% for smartphone use, 22.6% and 5.3% for alcohol use, respectively. All three addictive behaviors tended to increase in terms of prevalence or mean score according to an increase in a students’ grade. Stress was positively correlated with internet use (r=0.324, p<0.001) and smartphone use (r=0.347, p<0.001). Resilience and self-esteem were found to be mediators in the association between stress and internet use or smartphone use. @*Conclusion@#These findings suggest that addictions in medical students are as prevalent as in a general population and that internet use and smartphone use may be better explained by a stress-addiction model with resilience and self-esteem as mediators than alcohol use.

Increased Risk of Cardio-Cerebrovascular Diseases in Migraine Patients: A Nationwide Population-Based, Longitudinal Follow-Up Study in South Korea

Background@#and Purpose Migraine is reportedly associated with several cardio-cerebrovascular diseases (CCDs), but some of these diseases have not received sufficient attention. We thus attempted to determine the associations of migraine with peripheral arterial disease (PAD), ischemic heart disease (IHD), atrial fibrillation/flutter (AF), ischemic stroke (IS), and hemorrhagic stroke (HS). @*Methods@#The study population was recruited by applying International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes to the database of the Korean National Health Insurance Service from 2002 to 2018. Cumulative incidence curves were plotted to compare the incidence rates of CCDs between the migraine (ICD-10 code G43; n=130,050) and nonmigraine (n=130,050) groups determined using 1:1 propensity-score matching. Cox proportional-hazards regression models were used to obtain adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for CCDs in patients with any migraine, migraine with aura (n=99,751), and migraine without aura (n=19,562) compared with nonmigraine controls. @*Results@#For all CCDs, the cumulative incidence rates were higher in the migraine group than the nonmigraine group (p<0.001 in log-rank test). Any migraine, irrespective of the presence of aura, was associated with PAD (aHR 2.29, 95% CI 2.06–2.53), IHD (aHR 2.17, 95% CI 2.12– 2.23), AF (aHR 1.84, 95% CI 1.70–1.99), IS (aHR 2.91, 95% CI 2.67–3.16), and HS (aHR 2.46, 95% CI 2.23–2.71). aHR was higher in female than in male migraineurs for all of the CCDs. @*Conclusions@#Associations of migraine with CCDs have been demonstrated, which are stronger in females than in males.

Manual centrifuge system: Bearing-based hand spinner made with 3-D printer.

Compact disk (CD) Microfluidic platforms are being studied for medical applications such as blood tests. However, its size is bulky and electricity is needed to realize centrifuge force. In this paper, bearing-based hand spinner is designed using three-dimensional printer. This spinner does not need electricity and keeps rotating direction unlike paperfuge while it is spinning. The properties of spinner vary depending on bearing type which is positioned at the center. The type of weighting area also affects change in RPM over time. When a separation experiment is implemented, separating mixture into red ink and oil and whole blood into red blood cell and plasma are achieved properly with ceramic ball bearing.

Review and Future Perspectives of the Korea Counseling Center for Fertility and Depression Based on User Characteristics: Focusing on Those During Pregnancy and Early After Delivery

Purpose@#This study examined the current status of counseling services provided by the Korea Counseling Center for Fertility and Depression, analyzing the characteristics of peripartum women and baby-rearing mothers and establishing guidelines for providing psychological support, and suggesting measures for improving the system. @*Methods@#Data on 3,660 peripartum women & their spouses and baby-rearing mothers counseled through the service over the last 4 years were collected and a demographic analysis was conducted. By analyzing the clinical information of 216 peripartum women and 219 baby-rearing mothers who have registered with the Center and received routine counseling services, factors affecting depression were identified. Finally, a paired sample t-test was conducted to verify the effect of counseling services. @*Results@#An overall 20.4% of pregnant women & their spouses were screened for high risk for depression, of whom 27.3% received registered counseling services; further, 26.2% of baby-rearing parents were at high-risk group for depression, of whom 25% received registered counseling services. Results of a logistic regression analysis suggested that, for peripartum women, level of education and conflicts with partner and family were the crucial factors predicting moderate or severe depression. For baby-rearing mothers, obstetric history of spontaneous abortion was the crucial predicting factor. @*Conclusion@#For the early detection and prevention of peripartum depression, screening tests that start from early pregnancy should be routinely administered. Further, continuous management—covering the periods before and after childbirth—should be provided by establishing organic ties between domestic projects.

Conformation-specific Antibodies Targeting Aggregated Forms of α-synuclein Block the Propagation of Synucleinopathy

Abnormal aggregation of α-synuclein is a key element in the pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease (PD), dementia with Lewy bodies, and multiple system atrophy. α-synuclein aggregation spreads through various brain regions during the course of disease progression, a propagation that is thought to be mediated by the secretion and subsequent uptake of extracellular α-synuclein aggregates between neuronal cells. Thus, aggregated forms of this protein have emerged as promising targets for disease-modifying therapy for PD and related diseases. Here, we generated and characterized conformation-specific antibodies that preferentially recognize aggregated forms of α-synuclein. These antibodies promoted phagocytosis of extracellular α-synuclein aggregates by microglial cells and interfered with cell-to-cell propagation of α-synuclein. In an α-synuclein transgenic model, passive immunization with aggregate-specific antibodies significantly ameliorated pathological phenotypes, reducing α-synuclein aggregation, gliosis, inflammation, and neuronal loss. These results suggest that conformation-specific antibodies targeting α-synuclein aggregates are promising therapeutic agents for PD and related synucleinopathies.

Optimal drain management following complicated laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis: a propensity-matched comparative study

Purpose@#This study was performed to investigate the effect of drain placement on complicated laparoscopic cholecystectomy (cLC) for acute cholecystitis (AC). @*Methods@#This single-center retrospective study reviewed patients with AC who underwent cLC between January 2010 and December 2020. cLC was defined as open conversion, subtotal cholecystectomy, adjacent organ injury during surgery, operation time of ≥90 minutes, or estimated blood loss of ≥100 mL. One-toone propensity score matching was performed to compare the surgical outcomes between patients with and without drain on cLC. @*Results@#A total of 216 patients (mean age, 65.8 years; 75 female patients [34.7%]) underwent cLC, and 126 (58.3%) underwent intraoperative abdominal drainage. In the propensity score-matched cohort (61 patients in each group), early drain removal (≤postoperative day 3) was performed in 42 patients (68.9%). The overall rate of surgical site infection (SSI) was 10.7%. Late drain removal demonstrated significantly worse surgical outcomes than no drain placement and early drain removal for overall complications (13.1% vs. 21.4% vs. 47.4%, p = 0.006), postoperative hospital stay (3.8 days vs. 4.4 days vs. 12.7 days, p < 0.001), and SSI (4.9% vs. 11.9% vs. 31.6%, p = 0.006). In the multivariate analysis, late drain removal was the most significant risk factor for organ space SSI. @*Conclusion@#This study demonstrated that drain placement is not routinely recommended, even after cLC for AC. When placing a drain, early drain removal is recommended because late drain removal is associated with a higher risk of organ space SSI.

Korean Version of the Thought-Action Fusion Scale: The Evidence for Its Psychometric Properties

Objective@#The Thought-Action Fusion Scale (TAFS) is a self-reported instrument used to measure a cognitive bias, namely, thoughtaction fusion (TAF), in which intrusive thoughts have moral and actual consequences. The aim of this study is to investigate the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the 19-item TAFS (K-TAFS) in Korean samples. @*Methods@#In this study, 628 university students and 93 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) completed the K-TAFS and several other psychological scales. Descriptive analyses, correlations, group comparisons, and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed. @*Results@#The results of the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses indicated a two-factor structure with TAF-Morality and TAFLikelihood that best fits the data in the university sample. The reliability analyses showed that TAFS and its factors had excellent internal consistencies. Regarding the concurrent validity, positive correlations were observed between TAF-Likelihood and cognitive fusion, while the TAFS scores did not show any consistent correlations with other symptoms such as depression and anxiety. Compared to the university students, the OCD patients showed higher TAFS scores and their obsessive-compulsive symptoms were significantly associated with both TAF-Morality and TAF-Likelihood. @*Conclusion@#Overall, the findings of this study support the reliability and validity of the K-TAFS.