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Plant exosomes are nanosized (30–150 nm) membrane vesicles that contain biomolecules and influence the development of a plant and protect the plant from pathogens. Recently, plant exosomes are in the spotlight as a new biologically active substance. However, whether plant exosomes have similar efficacy to conventional secondary metabolites of plants is unknown. In this study, the difference in efficacy between plant exosomes and conventional secondary metabolites was analyzed with three or four types of plant extracts, including ginseng ( Panax ginseng ) and green tea ( Camellia sinensis ). After 6 h of treatment, the analysis of gene expression pattern of each sample showed that the exosome treatment group and the extract treatment group were clearly distinguished. After selecting the genes that showed differential expression of > twofold change, the number of genes that were up- or downregulated appeared to be 398 or 438 for the extract and 861 or 648 for the exosome, on average. This suggests that the change in transcriptome is more expressed in the exosome treatment group than in the extract treatment group. In addition, in the comparative analysis of expression of genes that are known to affect aging, regeneration, skin barrier, and moisturization— MMP12 , MMP13 , NOTCH3 , FGF12 , HS3ST3A1 , LOX , VIM , ELOVL3 , and KRTI —the exosome treatment group was predicted to more effectively contribute to maintaining a healthy skin when compared to the extract treatment group. The number of genes that were identified to specifically react to the Panax ginseng or Camellia sinensis treatment group during the transcriptome change phase was 11 and 8, respectively. This suggests that exosomes bear its specific effect according to the plant it is derived from. In conclusion, the results of this study indicate that plant exosomes, as natural biologically active substances, have different effects from conventional plant extracts, and have the potential to be commercialized as a cosmeceutical product.

Cognitive training can potentially prevent cognitive decline. However, the results of recent studies using semi-immersive virtual reality (VR)-assisted cognitive training are inconsistent. We aimed to examine the hypothesis that cognitive training using fully immersive VR, which may facilitate visuospatial processes, could improve visuospatial functioning, comprehensive neuropsychological functioning, psychiatric symptoms, and functional connectivity in the visual brain network in predementia. Participants over 60 years old with subjective cognitive decline or mild cognitive impairment from a memory clinic were randomly allocated to the VR (n=23) or the control (n=18) group. The VR group participants received multidomain and neuropsychologist-assisted cognitive training in a fully immersive VR environment twice a week for 1 month. The control group participants did not undergo any additional intervention except for their usual therapy such as pharmacotherapy. Participants of both groups were evaluated for cognitive function using face-to-face comprehensive neuropsychological tests, including the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (RCFT) copy task; for psychiatric symptoms such as depression, apathy, affect, and quality of life; as well as resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) at baseline and after training. Repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to compare the effect of cognitive training between groups. Seed-to-voxel-based analyses were used to identify the cognitive improvement-related functional connectivity in the visual network of the brain. After VR cognitive training, significant improvement was found in the total score (F =14.69, P=.001) and basic components score of the RCFT copy task (F =9.27, P=.005) compared with those of the control group. The VR group also showed improvements, albeit not significant, in naming ability (F =3.55, P=.07), verbal memory delayed recall (F =3.03, P=.09), and phonemic fluency (F =3.08, P=.09). Improvements in psychiatric symptoms such as apathy (F =7.02, P=.01), affect (F =14.40, P=.001 for positive affect; F =4.23, P=.047 for negative affect), and quality of life (F =4.49, P=.04) were found in the VR group compared to the control group. Improvement in the RCFT copy task was associated with a frontal-occipital functional connectivity increase revealed by rsfMRI in the VR group compared to the control group. Fully immersive VR cognitive training had positive effects on the visuospatial function, apathy, affect, quality of life, and increased frontal-occipital functional connectivity in older people in a predementia state. Future trials using VR cognitive training with larger sample sizes and more sophisticated designs over a longer duration may reveal greater improvements in cognition, psychiatric symptoms, and brain functional connectivity. Clinical Research Information Service KCT0005243; https://tinyurl.com/2a4kfasa.

Background/Aim: The effectiveness of using serum thyroglobulin (TG) to predict thyroid cancer recurrence after a thyroid lobectomy is unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the predictive nature of serum TG and TG trends after thyroid lobectomies. Patients and Methods: We analyzed 514 papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) patients. The pre-, low-, high, and last-TG levels were reviewed and stratified into three groups. An ascending TG trend was defined if the last-TG level was more than 200% as high as the value of low-TG level. A descending trend was defined if the last-TG level decreased by more than 50% and a flat trend as between them. Results: During a median follow-up period of 73.0 months, there were 21 (4.1%) recurrences. Most patients showed a descending (54.1%) or flat (35.6%) TG trend, but 10.3% of patients showed an ascending TG trend. Overall and lateral recurrences were significantly higher in the ascending TG group, indicating that an ascending TG trend was a good predictor for recurrence. Other factors such as positive node ratio (PNR), patient risk, age, and sex were not significant risk factors. In a Kaplan–Meier analysis, ascending TG trend was a good predictor of lateral recurrence. Conclusion: TG levels as a predictor of papillary cancer recurrence after thyroid lobectomy were found to be poor classifiers, and optimal cut-off values were not verified. An ascending TG trend was a good predictor of lateral recurrence. Further studies are warranted to investigate whether an ascending TG trend was due to an incomplete thyroid lobectomy or if the cancer had already metastasized to the lateral compartment.

Background The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is known to have discriminative power for patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Recently Cognitive Reserve (CR) has been introduced as a factor that compensates cognitive decline. We aimed to assess whether the MoCA reflects CR. Furthermore, we assessed whether there were any differences in the efficacy between the MoCA and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in reflecting CR. Methods MoCA, MMSE, and the Cognitive Reserve Index questionnaire (CRIq) were administered to 221 healthy participants. Normative data and associated factors of the MoCA were identified. Correlation and regression analyses of the MoCA, MMSE and CRIq scores were performed, and the MoCA score was compared with the MMSE score to evaluate the degree to which the MoCA reflected CR. Results The MoCA reflected total CRIq score (CRI; B = 0.076, P < 0.001), CRI-Education ( B  = 0.066, P  <  0.001), and CRI-Working activity ( B  = 0.025, P  = 0.042), while MMSE reflected total CRI ( B  = 0.044, P  <  0.001) and CRI-Education ( B  = 0.049, P  <  0.001) only. The MoCA differed from the MMSE in the reflection of total CRI ( Z  = 2.30). Conclusion In this study, we show that the MoCA score reflects CR more sensitively than the MMSE score. Therefore, we suggest that MoCA can be used to assess CR and early cognitive decline.

Woody biomass has gained popularity as an environmentally friendly, renewable and sustainable resource for liquid fuel production. Here, we demonstrate biotechnological improvement of the quantity and quality of woody biomass by employing developing xylem (DX)‐preferential production of gibberellin (GA), a phytohormone that positively regulates stem growth. First, for the proof of concept experiment, we produced transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing GA20‐oxidase, a key enzyme in the production of bioactive GAs, from Pinus densiflora (PdGA20ox1) under the control of either a constitutive 35S promoter, designated 35S::PdGA20ox1, or a DX‐specific promoter (originated from poplar), designated DX15::PdGA20ox1. As we hypothesized, both transgenic Arabidopsis plants (35S::PdGA20ox1 and DX15::PdGA20ox1) exhibited an accelerated stem growth that resulted in a large increase of biomass, up to 300% compared to wild‐type control plants, together with increased secondary wall thickening and elongation of fibre cells. Next, we applied our concept to the production of transgenic poplar trees. Both transgenic poplar trees (35S::PdGA20ox1 and DX15::PdGA20ox1) showed dramatic increases in biomass, up to 300%, with accelerated stem growth and xylem differentiation. Cell wall monosaccharide composition analysis revealed that in both Arabidopsis and poplar, glucose and xylose contents were significantly increased. However, undesirable phenotypes of 35S::PdGA20ox1 poplar, including poor root growth and leaf development, were found. Interestingly, DX15::PdGA20ox1 poplar resulted in a reduction of undesirable phenotypes. Our results indicate that the controlled production of GAs through a tissue‐specific promoter can be utilized as an efficient biotechnological tool for producing enhanced plant biomass, minimizing unwanted effects.

Many studies indicate that multifocality is associated with high-risk features of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). Herein, we evaluated the impact of the unilateral multifocality on post-lobectomy recurrence in patients with DTC. We retrospectively analyzed 1,684 patients with DTC who underwent thyroid lobectomy from 2008 to 2015 using logistic regression models to calculate the relative risk on post-lobectomy recurrence. Tumor diameter increased from 4.9 mm to 8.1 mm and the proportion of extrathyroidal extension (ETE) and unilateral multifocality progressively increased from 2008 to 2015 (2.1% to 24.3% and 4.2% to 22.8%, respectively). During the 88.6-month follow-up period, 67 (3.98%) recurrences and 2 (0.12%) deaths were observed. There were 269 (16.0%) multifocal DTC cases. There was no significant difference between the multifocal and unifocal groups in terms of the proportion of recurrences (5.2% vs. 3.7%) and distant metastasis (0.4% vs. 0.1%). Logistic regression analysis revealed age <42.5 years (OR=1.83), tumor diameter greater than 7.5 mm (OR=1.89), and N1a (OR=2.04) were potent risk factors for post-lobectomy recurrence. Conversely, male sex (OR=0.77; p=0.407), ETE (OR=1.16; p=0.698) and multifocality (OR=1.23; p=0.526) were not risk factors for recurrence after thyroid lobectomy. A positive node ratio (PNR) ≥42.0%, N1a stage, a tumor diameter ≥7.5mm and age <42.5 years were significant risk factors for recurrence (Log-rank p=0.001, p=0.001, p=0.004 and p=0.009, respectively). Contrariwise, multifocality and ETE were proven to not be risk factors for DTC recurrence after thyroid lobectomy (Log-rank p=0.099 and p=0.126, respectively). Unilateral multifocality was not a risk factor for DTC recurrence after thyroid lobectomy and could not be considered an indication for immediate completion or total thyroidectomy.

NASICON-type Li1+XFeXTi2-X(PO4)3 (x = 0.1, 0.3, 0.4) solid electrolytes for all-solid-state Li-ion batteries were synthesized using a sol–gel method. This study investigated the impact of substituting Fe3+ (0.645 Å), a trivalent cation, for Ti4+ (0.605 Å) on ionic conductivity. Li1+XFeXTi2-X(PO4)3 samples, subjected to various sintering temperatures, were characterized using TG-DTA, XRD with Rietveld refinement, XPS, FE-SEM, and AC impedance to evaluate composition, crystal structure, fracture-surface morphology, densification, and ionic conductivity. XRD analysis confirmed the formation of single-crystalline NASICON-type Li1+XFeXTi2-X(PO4)3 at all sintering temperatures. However, impurities in the secondary phase emerged owing to the high sintering temperature above 1000 °C and increased Fe content. Sintered density increased with the densification of Li1+XFeXTi2-X(PO4)3, as evidenced by FE-SEM observations of sharper edges of larger quasi-cubic grains at elevated sintering temperatures. At 1000 °C, with Fe content exceeding 0.4, grain coarsening resulted in additional grain boundaries and internal cracks, thereby reducing the sintered density. Li1.3Fe0.3Ti1.7(PO4)3 sintered at 900 °C exhibited the highest density among the other conditions and achieved the maximum total ionic conductivity of 1.51 × 10−4 S/cm at room temperature, with the lowest activation energy for Li-ion transport at 0.37 eV. In contrast, Li1.4Fe0.4Ti1.6(PO4)3 sintered at 1000 °C demonstrated reduced ionic conductivity owing to increased complex impedance associated with secondary phases and grain crack formation.

Individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are more prone to suicidal ideation and behavior. While those who have experienced interpersonal trauma exhibit more suicidality than those who have experienced non-interpersonal trauma, it is unclear how the traumatic effects are related to an individual's personality characteristics. This study examined the association between interpersonal trauma and personality factors with suicidality, and elucidated the moderating role of interpersonal trauma in individuals with PTSD. The study included 6,022 participants from the Korean Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study 2011. The Korean Version of Composite International Diagnostic Interview was used for the survey, including the participants' history of suicidality, the traumas they have experienced, and their PTSD symptoms. The 11-item version of the Big Five Inventory (BFI-11) was used to assess the participants' personality factors. 76 individuals were diagnosed with PTSD, while 810 had been exposed to trauma but were not diagnosed with any DSM-IV mental disorder. Among the individuals with PTSD, those who had experienced interpersonal trauma were more likely to have suicidal ideation than those who had experienced non-interpersonal trauma (p = .020; odds ratio [OR] = 3.643; 95% confidence interval of OR = [1.226, 10.825]). High agreeableness and conscientiousness predicted less suicidality in those exposed to non-interpersonal trauma, while predicting more suicidality in those exposed to interpersonal trauma. Clinicians examining individuals with PTSD should pay closer attention to the trauma that they have experienced, as well as their personality factors, to provide appropriate treatment.

Summary With the exponential growth of the human population and industrial developments, research on renewable energy resources is required to alleviate environmental and economic impacts caused by the consumption of fossil fuels. In this study, we present a synthetic biological application of a wood forming tissue‐specific bicistronic gene expression system to improve both the quantity and quality of woody biomass to minimize undesirable growth penalties. Our transgenic poplars, designed to express both PdGA20ox1 (a GA20‐oxidase from Pinus densiflora producing bioactive gibberellin, GA) and PtrMYB221 (a MYB transcription factor negatively regulating lignin biosynthesis) under the developing xylem (DX) tissue‐specific promoter (i.e., DX15::PdGA20ox1‐2A‐PtrMYB221 poplar), resulted in a 2‐fold increase in biomass quantity compared to wild‐type (WT), without undesirable growth defects. A similar phenotype was observed in transgenic Arabidopsis plants harboring the same gene constructs. These phenotypic consequences were further verified in the field experiments. Importantly, our transgenic poplars exhibited an improved quality of biomass with reduced lignin content (~16.0 wt%) but increased holocellulose content (~6.6 wt%). Furthermore, the saccharification efficiency of our transgenic poplar increased significantly by up to 8%. Our results demonstrate that the controlled production of both GA and a secondary wall modifying regulator in the same spatio‐temporal manner can be utilized as an efficient biotechnological tool for producing the desired multi‐purpose woody biomass.

Acupuncture has been widely used as a therapeutic intervention, and the brain network plays a crucial role in its neural mechanism. This study aimed to investigate the acupuncture mechanism from peripheral to central by identifying how the peripheral molecular signals induced by acupuncture affect the brain neural responses and its functional connectivity. We confirmed that peripheral ERK activation by acupuncture plays a role in initiating acupuncture-induced peripheral proteomic changes in mice. The brain neural activities in the neocortex, hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, periaqueductal grey, and nucleus of the solitary tract (Sol) were significantly changed after acupuncture, and these were altered by peripheral MEK/MAPK inhibition. The arcuate nucleus and lateral hypothalamus were the most affected by acupuncture and peripheral MEK/MAPK inhibition. The hypothalamic area was the most contributing brain region in contrast task PLS analysis. Acupuncture provoked extensive changes in brain functional connectivity, and the posterior hypothalamus showed the highest betweenness centrality after acupuncture. After brain hub identification, the Sol and cingulate cortex were selected as hub regions that reflect both degree and betweenness centrality after acupuncture. These results suggest that acupuncture activates brain functional connectivity and that peripheral ERK induced by acupuncture plays a role in initiating brain neural activation and its functional connectivity.