Introduction: Young active patients with significant pain from knee osteoarthritis are a challenging group of patients to treat. For patients with symptomatic osteoarthritis involving both medial and lateral compartments, total knee arthroplasty (TKA) would traditionally be their only surgical option. Knee joint distraction (KJD) is a novel procedure in Asia that offers a joint preserving alternative for this cohort of patients. This study aims to evaluate patients with knee osteoarthritis treated with knee joint distraction (KJD). Materials and methods: Patients were included in this study if they had medial and lateral knee pain refractory to conservative treatment for more than 6 months, aged less than 50 and radiographs confirmed osteoarthritic changes in both the medial and lateral tibio-femoral compartments. An external fixator was placed in the distal femur and proximal tibia, and the knee joint was progressively distracted over a period of 3 days, to a total distance of 5mm. After six weeks, the external fixator is removed. Manipulation under anaesthesia was performed for patients who experienced stiffness post external fixator removal to achieved desired range of motion. Results: A total of three patients underwent KJD from 2020 to 2021. The patients’ age ranged from 44 to 49 years. The mean pre-operative Oxford Knee Score (OKS) was 37.6. At final follow-up at 2 years, the mean post-operative OKS was 17.6. All patients managed to attain the minimal clinically important difference in the OKS. Conclusion: In young patients with symptomatic bicompartmental knee osteoarthritis, KJD can be considered before doing a total knee replacement.

During the Joseon Dynasty of Korea, a reasonable investigation of the dead was well developed even before the introduction of modern forensic techniques from Western countries. Various reviews have been attempted on those investigation records currently stored in the Gyujanggak library, but an in-depth analysis has not been conducted on the extent to which the evidence mobilized at the time is valid from the perspective of modern forensic science. Therefore, we conducted a full-scale forensic review of the Gyujanggak record as an interdisciplinary study between forensic science and humanities. The case of Park Bong-Un which occurred in 1902 was investigated by Korean Empire officials who concluded that the deceased was killed by the beating of the suspect. The entire investigation of the Park Bong-Un case was described by the officials in detail, and the conclusion was made according to a credible process although various methods used in modern forensic investigation were impossible during the period.

During the Joseon Dynasty of Korea, a reasonable investigation of the dead was well developed even before the introduction of modern forensic techniques from Western countries. Various reviews have been attempted on those investigation records currently stored in the Gyujanggak library, but an in-depth analysis has not been conducted on the extent to which the evidence mobilized at the time is valid from the perspective of modern forensic science. Therefore, we conducted a full-scale forensic review of the Gyujanggak record as an interdisciplinary study between forensic science and humanities. The case of Park Bong-Un which occurred in 1902 was investigated by Korean Empire officials who concluded that the deceased was killed by the beating of the suspect. The entire investigation of the Park Bong-Un case was described by the officials in detail, and the conclusion was made according to a credible process although various methods used in modern forensic investigation were impossible during the period.

During the Joseon Dynasty of Korea, a reasonable investigation of the dead was well developed even before the introduction of modern forensic techniques from Western countries. Various reviews have been attempted on those investigation records currently stored in the Gyujanggak library, but an in-depth analysis has not been conducted on the extent to which the evidence mobilized at the time is valid from the perspective of modern forensic science. Therefore, we conducted a full-scale forensic review of the Gyujanggak record as an interdisciplinary study between forensic science and humanities. The case of Park Bong-Un which occurred in 1902 was investigated by Korean Empire officials who concluded that the deceased was killed by the beating of the suspect. The entire investigation of the Park Bong-Un case was described by the officials in detail, and the conclusion was made according to a credible process although various methods used in modern forensic investigation were impossible during the period.

During the Joseon Dynasty of Korea, a reasonable investigation of the dead was well developed even before the introduction of modern forensic techniques from Western countries. Various reviews have been attempted on those investigation records currently stored in the Gyujanggak library, but an in-depth analysis has not been conducted on the extent to which the evidence mobilized at the time is valid from the perspective of modern forensic science. Therefore, we conducted a full-scale forensic review of the Gyujanggak record as an interdisciplinary study between forensic science and humanities. The case of Park Bong-Un which occurred in 1902 was investigated by Korean Empire officials who concluded that the deceased was killed by the beating of the suspect. The entire investigation of the Park Bong-Un case was described by the officials in detail, and the conclusion was made according to a credible process although various methods used in modern forensic investigation were impossible during the period.

Background: Relatives share more genomic regions than unrelated individuals, with closer relatives sharing more regions. This concept, paired with the increased availability of highthroughput single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping technologies, has made it feasible to measure the shared chromosomal regions between individuals to assess their level of relation to each other. However, such techniques have remained in the conceptual rather than practical stages in terms of applying measures or indices. Recently, we developed an index called “genetic distance-based index of chromosomal sharing (GD-ICS)” utilizing large-scale SNP data from Korean family samples and demonstrated its potential for practical applications in kinship determination. In the current study, we present validation results from various real cases demonstrating the utility of this method in resolving complex familial relationships where information obtained from traditional short tandem repeats (STRs) or lineage markers is inconclusive. Methods: We obtained large-scale SNP data through microarray analysis from Korean individuals involving 13 kinship cases and calculated GD-ICS values using the method described in our previous study. Based on the GD-ICS reference constructed for Korean families, each disputed kinship was evaluated and validated using a combination of traditional STRs and lineage markers. Results: The cases comprised those A) that were found to be inconclusive using the traditional approach, B) for which it was difficult to apply traditional testing methods, and C) that were more conclusively resolved using the GD-ICS method. This method has overcome the limitations faced by traditional STRs in kinship testing, particularly in a paternity case with STR mutational events and in confirming distant kinship where the individual of interest is unavailable for testing. It has also been demonstrated to be effective in identifying various relationships without specific presumptions and in confirming a lack of genetic relatedness between individuals. Conclusion This method has been proven effective in identifying familial relationships across diverse complex and practical scenarios. It is not only useful when traditional testing methods fail to provide conclusive results, but it also enhances the resolution of challenging kinship cases, which suggests its applicability in various types of practical casework.

Purpose: This study aimed to assess the feasibility and safety of administering intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) as a boost during breast-conserving surgery (BCS) following neoadjuvant chemotherapy for patients at high risk of breast cancer recurrence. Materials and Methods: Patients who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy received a single 20-Gy dose of IORT during BCS, followed by external beam radiotherapy 4–6 weeks after surgery. Results: The median follow-up duration was 31.0 months (range, 18.0–59.0 months). Initial tumor sizes had a median of 2.6 cm (range: 0.8–5.3 cm), reducing to 0.3 cm (range: 0–4.0 cm) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The most common neoadjuvant chemotherapy regimen was doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide, followed by paclitaxel (n=42, 73.7%). Among 57 patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy before BCS and IORT, 2 patients (3.5%) required secondary surgery to achieve negative resection margins due to initially positive margins. Regional lymph node irradiation was performed in 37 (64.9%) patients. There was no grade 3 or higher adverse events, with 4 patients (7.0%) experiencing grade 2 acute radiation dermatitis and 3 (5.3%) having less than grade 2 breast edema. Binary correlation analysis did not reveal statistically significant associations between applicator size or radiation therapy modality and the risk of treatment-related toxicity. Furthermore, chi-square analysis showed that the grade of treatment-related toxicity was not associated with the fractionated regimen (p=0.375). Conclusion Most patients successfully received IORT as a tumor bed boost after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Thus, IORT may be a safe and feasible option for patients with advanced-stage breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Cell transformation induced by epidermal growth factor (EGF) and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) is a critical event in cancer initiation and progression, and understanding the underlying mechanisms is essential for the development of new therapeutic strategies. Licorice extract contains various bioactive compounds, which have been reported to have anticancer and anti-inflammatory effects. This study investigated the cancer preventive efficacy of licochalcone D (LicoD), a chalcone derivative in licorice extract, in EGF and TPA-induced transformed skin keratinocyte cells. LicoD effectively suppressed EGF-induced cell proliferation and anchorage-independent colony growth. EGF and TPA promoted the S phase of cell cycle, while LicoD treatment caused G1 phase arrest and down-regulated cyclin D1 and up-regulated p21 expression associated with the G1 phase. LicoD also induced apoptosis and increased apoptosis-related proteins such as cleaved-caspase-3, cleaved-caspase-7, and Bax (Bcl-2-associated X protein). We further investigated the effect of LicoD on the AKT signaling pathway involved in various cellular processes and found decreased p-AKT, p-GSK3β, and p-NFκB expression. Treatment with MK-2206, an AKT pharmacological inhibitor, suppressed EGF-induced cell proliferation and transformed colony growth. In conclusion, this study demonstrated the potential of LicoD as a preventive agent for skin carcinogenesis.

Background: With advance of next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques, the need for mitochondrial DNA analysis is increasing not only in the forensic area, but also in medical fields. Methods: Two commercial programs, Converge Software (CS) and Torrent Variant Caller for variant calling of NGS data, were compared with a considerable amount of sequence data of 50 samples with a homogeneous ethnicity. Results: About 2,300 variants were identified and the two programs showed about 90% of consistency. CS, a dedicated analysis program for mitochondrial DNA, showed some advantages for forensic use. By additional visual inspection, several causes of discrepancy in variant calling results were identified. Application of different notation rules for mitochondrial sequence and the minor allele frequency close to detection threshold were the two most significant reasons. Conclusion With prospective improvement of each program, researchers and practitioners should be aware of characteristics of the analysis program they use and prepare their own strategies to determine variants.

Purpose: Pembrolizumab is currently used to treat advanced triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and high-risk early TNBC with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). The tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) level and programmed cell death ligand 1 (PDL1) status are predictors of response to NAC and immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment. We aimed to investigate whether the PD-L1 status in core needle biopsies (CNBs) could represent the whole tumor in TNBC. Materials and Methods: A total of 49 patients diagnosed with TNBC who received upfront surgery without NAC between January 2018 and March 2021 were included. The PD-L1 expression (SP142 and 22C3 clones) and TIL were evaluated in paired CNBs and resected specimens. The concordance PD-L1 status and TIL levels between CNBs and resected specimens were analyzed. Results: PD-L1 positivity was more frequently observed in resected specimens. The overall reliability of TIL level in the CNB was good [intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)=0.847, p<0.001]. The agreements of PD-L1 status were good and fair, respectively (SP142, κ=0.503, p<0.001; 22C3, κ=0.380, p=0.010). As the core number of CNB increased, the reliability and agreement also improved, especially from five tumor cores (TIL, ICC=0.911, p<0.001; PD-L1 [22C3], κ=0.750, p=0.028). Regarding PD-L1 (SP142), no further improvement was observed with ≥5 tumor cores (κ=0.600, p=0.058). Conclusion CNBs with ≥5 tumor cores were sufficient to represent the TIL level and PD-L1 (22C3) status in TNBC.