Neuronal reprogramming is an innovative technique for converting non-neuronal somatic cells into neurons that can be used to replace lost or damaged neurons, providing a potential effective therapeutic strategy for central nervous system (CNS) injuries or diseases. Transcription factors have been used to induce neuronal reprogramming, while their reprogramming efficiency is relatively low, and the introduction of exogenous genes may result in host gene instability or induce gene mutation. Therefore, their future clinical application may be hindered by these safety concerns. Compared with transcription factors, small-molecule compounds have unique advantages in the field of neuronal reprogramming, which can overcome many limitations of traditional transcription factor-induced neuronal reprogramming. Here, we review the recent progress in the research of small-molecule compound-mediated neuronal reprogramming and its application in CNS regeneration and repair.
Humans ; Cellular Reprogramming/drug effects* ; Neurons/cytology* ; Animals ; Transcription Factors ; Small Molecule Libraries/pharmacology* ; Nerve Regeneration

The application of small molecule targeted drugs for lung cancer has significantly improved the survival of lung cancer patients. However, these drugs have a wide variety of types, fast development and market launch of new drugs, complex adverse reactions, and are mostly used at home, which increases the risk of irrational drug use. At the same time, insufficient monitoring of efficacy and safety is also prone to occur, ultimately affecting treatment outcomes. This consensus focuses on 43 small molecule targeted drugs or combinations for lung cancer, providing standardized recommendations for rational drug use and monitoring of efficacy/adverse reactions in clinical practice. The recommendations are regarding drug selection, dosage adjustment, efficacy monitoring, adverse reaction monitoring, and improvement of patient compliance. This consensus aims to improve the rational use and efficacy/safety monitoring quality of small molecule targeted drugs for lung cancer, ensure the effectiveness and safety of drug treatment, prolong the survival of lung cancer patients and improve their quality of life.
.
Humans ; Lung Neoplasms/drug therapy* ; Antineoplastic Agents/adverse effects* ; Consensus ; Molecular Targeted Therapy ; Drug Monitoring ; Small Molecule Libraries/therapeutic use*

Artificial intelligence (AI) researchers and cheminformatics specialists strive to identify effective drug precursors while optimizing costs and accelerating development processes. Digital molecular representation plays a crucial role in achieving this objective by making molecules machine-readable, thereby enhancing the accuracy of molecular prediction tasks and facilitating evidence-based decision making. This study presents a comprehensive review of small molecular representations and AI-driven drug discovery downstream tasks utilizing these representations. The research methodology begins with the compilation of small molecule databases, followed by an analysis of fundamental molecular representations and the models that learn these representations from initial forms, capturing patterns and salient features across extensive chemical spaces. The study then examines various drug discovery downstream tasks, including drug-target interaction (DTI) prediction, drug-target affinity (DTA) prediction, drug property (DP) prediction, and drug generation, all based on learned representations. The analysis concludes by highlighting challenges and opportunities associated with machine learning (ML) methods for molecular representation and improving downstream task performance. Additionally, the representation of small molecules and AI-based downstream tasks demonstrates significant potential in identifying traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) medicinal substances and facilitating TCM target discovery.
Artificial Intelligence ; Drug Discovery/methods* ; Humans ; Machine Learning ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Small Molecule Libraries/chemistry*

Archives ; Breast Neoplasms ; Breast ; Clone Cells ; Drug Therapy ; Ectopic Gene Expression ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Microarray Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplastic Stem Cells ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Prognosis ; Survival Rate

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of odontogenic cysts, tumors, and other lesions among reports in the archives of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Faculty of Dentistry affiliated with Kocaeli University collected over a four-year period.MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, patient records from the archive of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery from 2014 to 2018 were reviewed. Patient demographic information (age and sex) and lesion location were recorded and analyzed.RESULTS: From a total of 475 files reviewed, odontogenic cyst was confirmed in 340 cases (71.6%), and odontogenic tumor was confirmed in 52 cases (10.9%). Regarding odontogenic cyst type, the most common was radicular cyst (216 cases), followed by dentigerous cyst (77 cases) and odontogenic keratocyst (23 cases). Among odontogenic tumors, the most frequent was odontoma (19 cases), followed by ossifying fibroma (18 cases) and ameloblastoma (9 cases). Giant cell granuloma was also reported in 35 cases.CONCLUSION: The distribution pattern of odontogenic cysts and tumors in our retrospective study is relatively similar to that reported in the literature. Complete clinical reports for final diagnosis of these lesions and routine follow-up examinations are very important for treatment.
Ameloblastoma ; Archives ; Biopsy ; Dentigerous Cyst ; Dentistry ; Diagnosis ; Fibroma, Ossifying ; Follow-Up Studies ; Granuloma, Giant Cell ; Humans ; Jaw Neoplasms ; Odontogenic Cysts ; Odontogenic Tumors ; Odontoma ; Prevalence ; Radicular Cyst ; Retrospective Studies ; Surgery, Oral

OBJECTIVE: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of dynamic computed tomography (CT) and gadoxetate-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for characterization of hepatic lesions by using the Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) in a multicenter, off-site evaluation.MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective multicenter study, we evaluated 231 hepatic lesions (114 hepatocellular carcinomas [HCCs], 58 non-HCC malignancies, and 59 benign lesions) confirmed histologically in 217 patients with chronic liver disease who underwent both gadoxetate-enhanced MRI and dynamic CT at one of five tertiary hospitals. Four radiologists at different institutes independently reviewed all MR images first and the CT images 4 weeks later. They evaluated the major and ancillary imaging features and categorized each hepatic lesion according to the LI-RADS v2014. Diagnostic performance was calculated and compared using generalized estimating equations.RESULTS: MRI showed higher sensitivity and accuracy than CT for diagnosing hepatic malignancies; the pooled sensitivities, specificities, and accuracies for categorizing LR-5/5V/M were 59.0% vs. 72.4% (CT vs. MRI; p < 0.001), 83.5% vs. 83.9% (p = 0.906), and 65.3% vs. 75.3% (p < 0.001), respectively. CT and MRI showed comparable capabilities for differentiating between HCC and other malignancies, with pooled accuracies of 79.9% and 82.4% for categorizing LR-M, respectively (p = 0.139).CONCLUSION: Gadoxetate-enhanced MRI showed superior accuracy for categorizing LR-5/5V/M in hepatic malignancies in comparison with dynamic CT. Both modalities had comparable accuracies for distinguishing other malignancies from HCC.
Academies and Institutes ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Contrast Media ; Humans ; Information Systems ; Liver ; Liver Diseases ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Retrospective Studies ; Tertiary Care Centers

BACKGROUND: The medical service delivery system in Korea works inefficiently and patients tend to visit tertiary hospitals by means of the emergency department (ED). Overcrowding of the ED threatens the health and life of emergency patients as a result of the inability to effectively distribute emergency medical resources in the community. To solve this problem, improvement in the medical delivery system and dispersion of patients by strengthening primary care may be helpful. In order to make policy decisions for this, it is necessary to estimate the scale of patients who can be distributed to primary care.METHODS: From January 1 to December 31, 2016, we analyzed the National Emergency Department Information System (NEDIS) data of patients who visited a tertiary ED to examine the proportion of patients eligible for primary medical care. The inclusion and exclusion criteria for primary care were made through the consensus of three physicians.RESULTS: A total of 65,061 NEDIS records were analyzed. Among them, by inclusion criteria, 29,818 cases were Korean Triage and Acuity Scale level 4 and 5, and 11,791 patients visited the ED during the day. After considering the exclusion criteria, there were 6,468 cases who may be suitable for primary medical care.CONCLUSION: Of the patients who visited the ED of tertiary hospitals, approximately 10% of them may be suitable for primary care. There should be a discussion and social consensus to reduce overcrowding in EDs and deliver better medical services.
Consensus ; Emergencies ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Humans ; Information Systems ; Korea ; Primary Health Care ; Tertiary Care Centers ; Tertiary Healthcare ; Triage

The clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) is made step by step. The evidences that have been published were searched and a group of experts make a consensus based in the evidences. The CPGs in the medical field, where utilizations and interests are increasing, must be confirmed in the management of quality. The Korean Appraisal of Guidelines for Research & Evaluation II (K-AGREE II) tool that helps to manage the quality of CPGs and to develop CPGs was translated by the Steering Committee for Clinical Practice Guideline. It is divided into 6 domains and each domains are independent. It is consisted of 23 items as detail and 2 items for the overall evaluation. Only fifteen CPGs are successfully certified using the K-AGREE II tool in the Korean Medical Guideline Information Center from 2013 and 3 CPGs made by the Korea Urological Association and the associated societies are certified successfully. With the level of certification of CPGs is higher, the Korea Urological Association and the associated societies are also try to develop CPGs that meet their level of certification. The Korean clinical practice guideline for the treatment of prostate cancer developed recently is the evidence of effort.
Certification ; Consensus ; Information Centers ; Korea ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; Quality Improvement ; Urology

PURPOSE: To estimate the impact of a health information exchange (HIE) pilot project on ophthalmology department care. METHODS: Study sites included 4 ophthalmic clinics in three regions participating in the HIE pilot project (group A), and 12 clinics with similar distances and numbers of patient referrals as group A but who were not participating in the HIE pilot project (group B). The mean wait time, total medical costs, and ophthalmic examinations of referral patients were analyzed. RESULTS: The mean wait times were 8.4 ± 8.0 days in group A, which included 83 patients, and 11.7 ± 15.4 days in group B, which included 417 patients. The wait time was significantly shorter in group A (p = 0.005). Sensitivity analyses also indicated shorter wait times in group A. In 247 patients in group B who were referred to tertiary referral hospitals automatically through the conventional clinical cooperation center with group A, the wait times were 8.4 ± 8.0 and 7.7 ± 8.8 days, respectively, and the total cost of medical care was 260.6 ± 271.4 and 257.0 ± 251.7 thousand Won, respectively. No differences in these factors were found between the groups (p = 0.503, 0.913, respectively). There were no significant differences in participation in the HIE pilot project regarding ophthalmic examinations conducted within 2 weeks since patient referral (p > 0.050 for all). CONCLUSIONS: The HIE is advantageous because it results in shorter wait times to see an ophthalmologist, due to the automatic referral method based on medical records. However, there are no benefits in reducing total costs of medical care or the number of clinical examinations.
Health Communication ; Health Information Exchange ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Methods ; Ophthalmology ; Pilot Projects ; Referral and Consultation ; Tertiary Care Centers ; Tertiary Healthcare

OBJECTIVES: In the Republic of Korea (ROK), the notified incidence of tuberculosis in foreign-born individuals (NITFBI) has increased recently, as has the rate of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and rifampicin-resistant (RR) tuberculosis in foreigners staying in the ROK. As Jeju Province in ROK has a no-visa entry policy, control programs for NITFBI should be consolidated. The aim was to evaluate the status of NITFBI, with a focus on the distribution of MDR/RR tuberculosis by nationality. METHODS: Data on tuberculosis incidence in individuals born in Jeju Province and in foreign-born individuals were extracted from the Korean Statistical Information Service of Statistics Korea, and the Infectious Disease Surveillance Web Statistics of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, respectively. RESULTS: Among all notified incident cases of tuberculosis, the proportion of NITFBI increased from 1.46% in 2011 to 6.84% in 2017. China- and Vietnam-born individuals accounted for the greatest proportion of the 95 cases of NITFBI. Seven cases of MDR/RR tuberculosis were found, all involving patients born in China. CONCLUSIONS: In Jeju Province, ROK, NITFBI might become more common in the near future. Countermeasures for controlling active tuberculosis in immigrants born in high-risk nations for tuberculosis should be prepared in Jeju Province, since it is a popular tourist destination.
Antitubercular Agents ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) ; China ; Communicable Diseases ; Disease Management ; Drug Resistance ; Emigrants and Immigrants ; Ethnic Groups ; Humans ; Incidence ; Information Services ; Internationality ; Korea ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; Republic of Korea ; Tuberculosis