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•DUID cases related to drugs abuse have been reported in Asia, USA, and Europe.•Amphetamine, cocaine, cannabis, BZDs, and opiates were frequently reported in DUID.•Regular testing of drivers was needed to collect data for DUID in traffic accident. Driving Under the Influence of Drugs (DUID) is considered a serious issue related to the abuse of illegal drugs. DUID cases, including deaths, are being continuously reported in Asia, USA, and Europe. This literature review focuses on illegal drug abuse in recent DUID cases reported in Asia, USA, and Europe. To determine illegal drug abuse in DUID suspects, previous studies collected and analyzed biological samples, such as blood, urine, oral fluids, and hair. In addition, there were forensic autopsies and surveys for investigation of illegal drugs in DUID cases and drivers. In previous studies, ketamine, morphine, methamphetamine (MA), and khat were mainly reported in Asia, whereas amphetamine, benzodiazepines (BZDs), and cannabinoids were mainly reported in USA, and synthetic cannabinoids (SCs), opiates, and cocaine were mainly reported in Europe. Since DUID suspects related to illegal drugs have been frequently reported in Asia, USA, and Europe, there is a need to plan for national monitoring for drivers or motor vehicles to regulate and prevent drug abuse and relevant DUID cases.

•Methamphetamine abuse, one among psychotropic drugs, has been occurring steadily in East Asia.•MA abuse tends to increase in youths in South Korea, Japan, and China.•Adverse effects of MA abuse on human are serious, especially in youths. Methamphetamine (MA) abuse continues in East Asia and shows an increasing trend among youths in South Korea, Japan, and China. Although the negative effects of MA abuse on youth are considered as significant problems, few studies have been conducted on the topic in these countries. This paper focuses on the effects of MA on the human body and current MA abuse among youths in South Korea, Japan, and China. To investigate the negative effects of MA on the human body, we searched the keywords “MA,” “human,” and “effect” for studies published from 2013 to 2017. MA activates the neurotransmitter system and the central nervous system, and when used at high dosage or for long term, MA can cause severe neurotoxicity and cardiovascular problems. Online networks contribute to MA abuse by sharing methods for preparing synthetic MA. Despite efforts to reduce MA abuse, social crimes associated with its abuse continue and numbers of illegal MA users are increasing steadily in Korea, Japan, and China. In young users, diverse factors associated with drug addiction, such as curiosity and peer effect, lead to MA abuse and its attendant personal and social problems.

•New psychoactive substances have been abused steadily around the world.•The abuse of synthetic cannabinoids, kratom, and poppers have been reported in Asia.•Three NPS have been abused among youths in Asia, which can lead to serious problems. Abuse of new psychoactive substances (NPSs) among youths is increasing at an unprecedented rate all over the world. In Asia, abuse of synthetic cannabinoids (SCs), kratom, and poppers has been reported, but up to date information related to abuse of these three NPSs is lacking. This literature review focuses on the recent abuse of these three NPS among Asian youth. Many studies have been conducted to investigate the abuse statuses of SCs in Asian youth in Turkey, Japan, and Korea, and many cases of kratom abuse have been reported in Malaysia and Thailand. In addition, concerns have been expressed about the use of kratom in combination with other substances by teenagers. Popper abuse has been reported among many young people in Asia, including Korea and China, and many studies on popper abuse have focused on men who have sex with men in China and Malaysia. Since NPS abuse can have severe adverse effects and create social problems, there is a continuing need to investigate NPS abuse status continuously among young people.

To ensure public safety against veterinary drug residues in food products from animal sources, maximum residue limits (MRLs) should be established by scientific evidence and a transparent estimation process. The Joint Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) developed an Excel workbook-based tool for MRLs evaluation in 2003. In this study, we developed a web-based tool for MRL evaluation, called Korean MRL evaluation tools (KMET). While KMET used algorithms of JECFA workbook, it added some databases (e.g., Korean food consumption database) and provided additional functions (e.g., selection of target marker residue). Web-based KMET enabled regulatory policy makers to update the database. All input data and output results related to MRL evaluation based on residue depletion and food consumption datasets were archived and provided overall processes from the initial depletion data entry to MRL establishment with user-friendly interface. Our results demonstrated the stepwise processes whereby MRL for trichlorfon in the muscle of Paralichthys olivaceus was established with functional descriptions of KMET. MRL for trichlorfon derived from KMET was proposed and notified by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in 2018.

•The abuse of propofol have been reported steadily around the world.•Simple, fast, and sensitive method was established using LC–MS/MS.•The developed method for determination propofol glucuronide in hair was validated.•Segmental hair samples are able to identify chronic use of propofol.•The relationship between propofol use and analytical results was investigated. Propofol abuse has been reported worldwide, suggesting the need to establish analytical methods for human biological samples to investigate the abuse of propofol. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between dose and hair concentration using a simple and rapid analytical method developed and validated in this study. In the sample preparation, hair samples were washed with distilled water and methanol and extracted in methanol during 16h at room temperature. After centrifugation and evaporation, the residue was reconstituted and filtered through a 0.22μm membrane filter before LC–MS/MS analysis. The precursor-to-product ion transitions were 353 → 175, 113 for propofol glucuronide and m/z 370 → 175, 113 for internal standard(propofol glucuronide-d17). The calibration curves were satisfactory (R2=0.9997) and the limits of detection and quantification were 2 and 5pg/mg, respectively. In addition, this study collected the history of propofol use from subjects using a questionnaire and analyzed subjects' hair samples using a validated analytical method. As a result, the concentrations of propofol glucuronide ranged from 7 to 122pg/mg (mean : 51pg/mg). There were cases of positive relationships, but generally there was no correlation between dose and hair concentration.

Climate change has been considered as a main threat for food safety by influencing on crop production and food supply chain through the change in temperature and humidity. To prevent risks of mycotoxins from climate change, it is important to predict mycotoxin risks with statistical approaches and stepwise process to compile large volume of datasets, such as climate change, contamination level, and cultivation area in specific regions. This paper aims at prioritization of vulnerable mycotoxins related to climate change in Korea. In addition, this paper focuses on prioritization of vulnerable raw materials for specific mycotoxins and prediction of vulnerable regions for vulnerable raw materials in Korea. Among six target mycotoxins (deoxynivalenol, fumonisin (B1 and B2), ochratoxin A, patulin, total aflatoxin (B1, B2, G1, and G2), and zearalenone), ochratoxin A (OTA) and total aflatoxin (TA) were identified as specific vulnerable mycotoxins. In addition, 4 raw materials (chestnut, dried red pepper, perilla seed, and soy bean) were identified as vulnerable raw materials for OTA and TA and vulnerable regions were predicted to be moved to the northward areas in Korea. These results can be utilized to design long-term national sampling plan for mycotoxins in food considering climate change in Korea.

[Display omitted] •Ketamine (KT) is one of the most illegally used drugs in China and Taiwan.•KT abuse leads to mental/physical side effects and abnormal functions in organs.•Administration method of KT is snorting followed by injection and oral ingestion.•Careful assessment, early identification or surveillance of KT users is required. In Asian countries, such as China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, ketamine (KT) is one of the most prevalent illicit use drugs. KT is regulated by various drug-related laws in many countries, such as Korea, Taiwan, China, U.S.A, Netherlands, UK, Australia, Mexico, and Canada. This review research explored pharmacology and side effects of KT, the illicit use patterns of KT, the analytical methods of KT in biological samples, and the concentrations of KT from abusers and non-abusers. Many side effects of KT have been reported mental and physical problems. Although many studies conducted various analytical methods for KT, this research focused on the urine and hair analysis and compared some parameters of samples, instruments, columns, extraction methods, internal standards, LOD/LOQ levels, metabolites, NK/K ratio, cut off values, and m/z values. Our research also compared the concentrations of KT in biological samples from abusers and non-abusers. Many rapid and precise analytical methods for illegal KT use are needed to be developed and applied to real samples. To minimize and prevent harm from KT, the authorities and appropriate agencies require a careful assessment, evaluation, early identification, and surveillance of KT users in both clinical and social settings. In addition, there is a need to construct a stricter legislative management and provide preventive education to younger individuals because illegal KT use is relatively common among the young populations.

We evaluated the clinical characteristics, cytokine/chemokine concentrations, viral shedding and antibody kinetics in 30 patients with Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), including 6 non-survivors admitted to 3 MERS-designated hospitals. Old age, low albumin, altered mentality and high pneumonia severity index score at admission were risk factors for mortality. In addition, severe signs of inflammation at initial presentation (at hospital days 1-4), such as high inducible protein-10 (p=0.0013), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (p=0.0007) and interleukin 6 (p=0.0007) concentrations, and poor viral control (high viral load at hospital days 5–10, p<0.001) without adequate antibody titres (low antibody titre at hospital days 11–16, p=0.07) during the course of disease, were associated with mortality.

Platinum-based chemotherapy is the cornerstone treatment for female high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC), but choosing an appropriate treatment for patients hinges on their responsiveness to it. Currently, no available biomarkers can promptly predict responses to platinum-based treatment. Therefore, we developed the Pathologic Risk Classifier for HGSOC (PathoRiCH), a histopathologic image–based classifier. PathoRiCH was trained on an in-house cohort ( n  = 394) and validated on two independent external cohorts ( n  = 284 and n  = 136). The PathoRiCH-predicted favorable and poor response groups show significantly different platinum-free intervals in all three cohorts. Combining PathoRiCH with molecular biomarkers provides an even more powerful tool for the risk stratification of patients. The decisions of PathoRiCH are explained through visualization and a transcriptomic analysis, which bolster the reliability of our model’s decisions. PathoRiCH exhibits better predictive performance than current molecular biomarkers. PathoRiCH will provide a solid foundation for developing an innovative tool to transform the current diagnostic pipeline for HGSOC. Predicting the response to platinum-based chemotherapy in high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) remains challenging. Here, the authors develop the histopathology image-based Pathologic Risk Classifier for HGSOC - PathoRiCH - to predict and stratify HGSOC patient response to therapy, especially when combined with molecular biomarkers.

Accurately classifying and deinterleaving overlapping radar signals presents a significant challenge in complex environments, such as electronic warfare. Traditional methods, such as spectrogram-based analysis, often struggle to differentiate radar signals with similar scan patterns, particularly under low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions. To address these limitations, we propose a novel two-stage classification framework that combines amplitude pattern (AMP) analysis and visibility graphs to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of radar signal classification. In the first stage, AMP analysis groups radar reception signals into broad categories, which reduces noise and isolates signal features. In the second stage, a visibility graph technique is applied to refine these classifications, enabling the practical separation of radar signals with overlapping or similar amplitude features. The proposed method is particularly effective in handling complex scans, such as the Palmer series, which blends search and tracking patterns. Deep learning models, including GoogLeNet and ResNet, are integrated within this framework to improve classification performance further, demonstrating robustness in low-SNR and multi-signal environments. This approach offers significant improvements over conventional methods, providing enhanced performance in differentiating radar signals across various scanning patterns in challenging multi-signal environments.