This research group (forensic research via omics markers in environmental health vulnerable areas: FROM) aimed to develop biomarkers for exposure to environmental hazards and diseases, assess environmental diseases, and apply and verify these biomarkers in environmentally vulnerable areas. Environmentally vulnerable areas—including refineries, abandoned metal mines, coal-fired power plants, waste incinerators, cement factories, and areas with high exposure to particulate matter—along with control areas, were selected for epidemiological investigations. A total of 1,157 adults, who had resided in these areas for over 10 years, were recruited between June 2021 and September 2023. Personal characteristics of the study participants were gathered through a survey. Biological samples, specifically blood and urine, were collected during the field investigations, separated under refrigerated conditions, and then transported to the laboratory for biomarker analysis. Analyses of heavy metals, environmental hazards, and adducts were conducted on these blood and urine samples. Additionally, omics analyses of epigenomes, proteomes, and metabolomes were performed using the blood samples. The biomarkers identified in this study will be utilized to assess the risk of environmental disease occurrence and to evaluate the impact on the health of residents in environmentally vulnerable areas, following the validation of diagnostic accuracy for these diseases.

Purpose: To analyze changes in refractive error among elementary school children under the age of 13 who visited an outpatient clinic for eye examinations before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A retrospective analysis of medical records was conducted to calculate the spherical equivalent refractive error of the right eye for 3,854 children aged 6 to 12 who attended our ophthalmology department from 2016 to 2023. We analyzed the average refractive error and myopia prevalence by year and subsequently performed a subgroup analysis by dividing the children into two age groups: 6-9 years old and 10-12 years old. To provide insight into long-term trends, data from 4,351 subjects aged 6-12 years from the 4th, 5th (2008-2012), and 7th (2016) Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys were also analyzed for reference. Results: The mean refractive error for subjects visiting our clinic throughout the study period was -1.51 ± 2.12 D. A trend of increasing myopic values in refractive error was observed from 2017 to 2021, with a more substantial change noted in 2020 compared to other years, though not reaching statistical significance. In the subgroup analysis, the change in refractive error for the 6-9-year-old group was more pronounced in 2020 but did not reach statistical significance, and no specific trend was identified in the 10-12-year-old group. Myopia prevalence exhibited a consistent increase since 2019 in the 6-9 age group, with a higher proportion of moderate myopia in 2020 compared to previous years. Conversely, no distinct trend was observed in the 10-12-year-old group. Conclusions Although statistical significance was not reached, it appears that the increase in indoor activities due to COVID-19 had an impact on the changes in refractive values for elementary school children, especially in the lower grades of elementary school in 2020.

This research group (forensic research via omics markers in environmental health vulnerable areas: FROM) aimed to develop biomarkers for exposure to environmental hazards and diseases, assess environmental diseases, and apply and verify these biomarkers in environmentally vulnerable areas. Environmentally vulnerable areas—including refineries, abandoned metal mines, coal-fired power plants, waste incinerators, cement factories, and areas with high exposure to particulate matter—along with control areas, were selected for epidemiological investigations. A total of 1,157 adults, who had resided in these areas for over 10 years, were recruited between June 2021 and September 2023. Personal characteristics of the study participants were gathered through a survey. Biological samples, specifically blood and urine, were collected during the field investigations, separated under refrigerated conditions, and then transported to the laboratory for biomarker analysis. Analyses of heavy metals, environmental hazards, and adducts were conducted on these blood and urine samples. Additionally, omics analyses of epigenomes, proteomes, and metabolomes were performed using the blood samples. The biomarkers identified in this study will be utilized to assess the risk of environmental disease occurrence and to evaluate the impact on the health of residents in environmentally vulnerable areas, following the validation of diagnostic accuracy for these diseases.

This research group (forensic research via omics markers in environmental health vulnerable areas: FROM) aimed to develop biomarkers for exposure to environmental hazards and diseases, assess environmental diseases, and apply and verify these biomarkers in environmentally vulnerable areas. Environmentally vulnerable areas—including refineries, abandoned metal mines, coal-fired power plants, waste incinerators, cement factories, and areas with high exposure to particulate matter—along with control areas, were selected for epidemiological investigations. A total of 1,157 adults, who had resided in these areas for over 10 years, were recruited between June 2021 and September 2023. Personal characteristics of the study participants were gathered through a survey. Biological samples, specifically blood and urine, were collected during the field investigations, separated under refrigerated conditions, and then transported to the laboratory for biomarker analysis. Analyses of heavy metals, environmental hazards, and adducts were conducted on these blood and urine samples. Additionally, omics analyses of epigenomes, proteomes, and metabolomes were performed using the blood samples. The biomarkers identified in this study will be utilized to assess the risk of environmental disease occurrence and to evaluate the impact on the health of residents in environmentally vulnerable areas, following the validation of diagnostic accuracy for these diseases.

This research group (forensic research via omics markers in environmental health vulnerable areas: FROM) aimed to develop biomarkers for exposure to environmental hazards and diseases, assess environmental diseases, and apply and verify these biomarkers in environmentally vulnerable areas. Environmentally vulnerable areas—including refineries, abandoned metal mines, coal-fired power plants, waste incinerators, cement factories, and areas with high exposure to particulate matter—along with control areas, were selected for epidemiological investigations. A total of 1,157 adults, who had resided in these areas for over 10 years, were recruited between June 2021 and September 2023. Personal characteristics of the study participants were gathered through a survey. Biological samples, specifically blood and urine, were collected during the field investigations, separated under refrigerated conditions, and then transported to the laboratory for biomarker analysis. Analyses of heavy metals, environmental hazards, and adducts were conducted on these blood and urine samples. Additionally, omics analyses of epigenomes, proteomes, and metabolomes were performed using the blood samples. The biomarkers identified in this study will be utilized to assess the risk of environmental disease occurrence and to evaluate the impact on the health of residents in environmentally vulnerable areas, following the validation of diagnostic accuracy for these diseases.

This article aims to introduce the inception and operation of the COVID-19 International Collaborative Research Project, the world’s first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) open data project for research, along with its dataset and research method, and to discuss relevant considerations for collaborative research using nationwide real-world data (RWD). COVID-19 has spread across the world since early 2020, becoming a serious global health threat to life, safety, and social and economic activities. However, insufficient RWD from patients was available to help clinicians efficiently diagnose and treat patients with COVID-19, or to provide necessary information to the government for policy-making. Countries that saw a rapid surge of infections had to focus on leveraging medical professionals to treat patients, and the circumstances made it even more difficult to promptly use COVID-19 RWD. Against this backdrop, the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) of Korea decided to open its COVID-19 RWD collected through Korea’s universal health insurance program, under the title of the COVID-19 International Collaborative Research Project. The dataset, consisting of 476 508 claim statements from 234 427 patients (7590 confirmed cases) and 18 691 318 claim statements of the same patients for the previous 3 years, was established and hosted on HIRA’s in-house server. Researchers who applied to participate in the project uploaded analysis code on the platform prepared by HIRA, and HIRA conducted the analysis and provided outcome values. As of November 2020, analyses have been completed for 129 research projects, which have been published or are in the process of being published in prestigious journals.

Purpose: To assess patient radiation doses during diagnostic and therapeutic neurointerventional procedures from multiple centers and propose dose reference level (RL). Materials and Methods: Consecutive neurointerventional procedures, performed in 22 hospitals from December 2020 to June 2021, were retrospectively studied. We collected data from a sample of 429 diagnostic and 731 therapeutic procedures. Parameters including dose-area product (DAP), cumulative air kerma (CAK), fluoroscopic time (FT), and total number of image frames (NI) were obtained. RL were calculated as the 3rd quartiles of the distribution. Results: Analysis of 1160 procedures from 22 hospitals confirmed the large variability in patient dose for similar procedures. RLs in terms of DAP, CAK, FT, and NI were 101.6 Gy·cm2, 711.3 mGy, 13.3 minutes, and 637 frames for cerebral angiography, 199.9 Gy·cm2, 3,458.7 mGy, 57.3 minutes, and 1,000 frames for aneurysm coiling, 225.1 Gy·cm2, 1,590 mGy, 44.7 minutes, and 800 frames for stroke thrombolysis, 412.3 Gy·cm2, 4,447.8 mGy, 99.3 minutes, and 1,621.3 frames for arteriovenous malformation (AVM) embolization, respectively. For all procedures, the results were comparable to most of those already published. Statistical analysis showed male and presence of procedural complications were significant factors in aneurysmal coiling. Male, number of passages, and procedural combined technique were significant factors in stroke thrombolysis. In AVM embolization, a significantly higher radiation dose was found in the definitive endovascular cure group. Conclusion Various RLs introduced in this study promote the optimization of patient doses in diagnostic and therapeutic interventional neuroradiology procedures. Proposed 3rd quartile DAP (Gy·cm2) values were 101.6 for diagnostic cerebral angiography, 199.9 for aneurysm coiling, 225.1 for stroke thrombolysis, and 412.3 for AVM embolization. Continual evolution of practices and technologies requires regular updates of RLs.

No abstract available.
Arthroplasty ; Hip ; Pelvis

BACKGROUND: Third-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR-TKIs) have proved efficacious in treating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with acquired resistance resulting from the T790M mutation. However, since almost 50% patients with the acquired resistance do not harbor the T790M mutation, retreatment with first- or second-generation EGFR-TKIs may be a more viable therapeutic option. Here, we identified positive response predictors to retreatment, in patients who switched to a different EGFR-TKI, following initial treatment failure. METHODS: This study retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 42 NSCLC patients with EGFR mutations, whose cancers had progressed following initial treatment with gefitinib or erlotinib, and who had switched to a different first-generation EGFR-TKI during subsequent retreatment. To identify high response rate predictors in the changed EGFR-TKI retreatment, we analyzed the relationship between clinical and demographic parameters, and positive clinical outcomes, following retreatment with EGFR-TKI. RESULTS: Overall, 30 (71.4%) patients received gefitinib and 12 (28.6%) patients received erlotinib as their first EGFR-TKI treatment. Following retreatment with a different EGFR-TKI, the overall response and disease control rates were 21.4% and 64.3%, respectively. There was no significant association between their overall responses. The median progression-free survival (PFS) after retreatment was 2.0 months. However, PFS was significantly longer in patients whose time to progression was ≥10 months following initial EGFR-TKI treatment, who had a mutation of exon 19, or whose treatment interval was <90 days. CONCLUSION: In patients with acquired resistance to initial EGFR-TKI therapy, switched EGFR-TKI retreatment may be a salvage therapy for individuals possessing positive retreatment response predictors.
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung* ; Disease-Free Survival ; Erlotinib Hydrochloride ; Exons ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; Retreatment* ; Retrospective Studies ; Salvage Therapy ; Treatment Failure

No abstract available.
Humans ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms* ; Thyroid Nodule*