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INTRODUCTION:We aimed to investigate the association of non-daily smoking with depressive symptoms and suicidal behaviours among adolescents by analysing data from the 2016 Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (KYRBWS), a national school-based survey. METHODS:We analysed data from a nationally representative sample of Korean adolescents aged 12-18 years (n = 65,528). We investigated the risks of depressive symptoms, suicide ideation, plan and attempt in adolescent non-daily smokers using multiple logistic regression analyses after adjusting for confounding factors. Taking into account the trajectory of smoking patterns in adolescents, we assessed all analyses with stratification by early (aged 12-15) and late (aged 16-18) adolescents. RESULTS:Among early adolescents, non-daily smokers were more likely to have depressive symptoms, suicide ideation and plan compared with never smokers and even more likely to have depressive symptoms compared with daily smokers. Among late adolescents, non-daily smokers had higher risks of depressive symptoms, suicide ideation, plan and attempt than never smokers, whereas the risk for suicide attempts was lower than daily smokers. CONCLUSIONS:Our findings suggest that non-daily smoking in adolescents was associated with risks for depressive symptoms and suicidal behaviours, and the association was more prominent in early adolescents. Careful attention on the mental health of adolescent non-daily smokers is needed because this is an increasing and easily overlooked group.

Laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) enables continuous high-resolution assessment of microcirculation in real-time. We applied an endoscope to LSCI to measure cochlear blood-flow in an ischemia-reperfusion mouse model. We also explored whether using xenon light in combination with LSCI facilitates visualization of anatomical position. Based on a previous preliminary study, the appropriate wavelength for penetrating the thin bony cochlea was 830 nm. A 2.7-mm-diameter endoscope was used, as appropriate for the size of the mouse cochlea. Our endoscopic LSCI system was used to illuminate the right cochlea after dissection of the mouse. We observed changes in the speckle signals when we applied the endoscopic LSCI system to the ischemia-reperfusion mouse model. The anatomical structure of the mouse cochlea and surrounding structures were clearly visible using the xenon light. The speckle signal of the cochlea was scattered, with an intensity that varied between that of the stapes (with the lowest signal), the negative control, and the stapedial artery (with the highest signal), the positive control. In the cochlear ischemia-reperfusion mouse model, the speckle signal of the cochlea decreased during the ischemic phase, and increased during the reperfusion phase, clearly reflecting cochlear blood-flow. The endoscopic LSCI system generates high-resolution images in real-time, allowing visualization of blood-flow and its changes in the mouse cochlea. Anatomical structures were clearly matched using LSCI along with visible light.

Developments of non-viral carriers have headed toward reducing cytotoxicity, which results from the use of conventional gene carriers, and enhancing gene delivery efficiency. Cys-(d-R9)-Cys repeated reducible poly(oligo-D-arginine) (rPOA) is one of the most efficient non-viral carriers for gene therapy; however, while its efficiency has been verified in the lung and brain, it is necessary to confirm its activity in each organ or tissue since there are differences of gene carrier susceptibility to among tissue types. We therefore tested the compatibility of rPOA in cardiac tissue by in vitro or in vivo experiments and confirmed its high transfection efficiency and low cytotoxicity. Moreover, substantial regenerative effects were observed following transfection with rPOA/pVEGF expression vector complexes (79% decreased infarct size) compared to polyethyleneimine (PEI) (34% decreased infarct size) in a rat myocardial infarction (MI) model. These findings suggest that rPOA efficiently enables DNA transfection in cardiac tissue and can be used as a useful non-viral therapeutic gene carrier for gene therapy in ischemic heart disease.

Obesity is considered to be related to recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF), left atrial thrombus formation, and atrial remodeling. However, whether obesity is an independent risk factor for stroke and other thromboembolic events is still controversial.This study aimed to investigate the effects of body mass index (BMI) on the risks of stroke, thromboembolism, and mortality in AF patients.Patients who were diagnosed with nonvalvular AF were included in this observational, retrospective study. The study population was stratified by BMI at baseline. The Cox proportional hazard model was adopted to calculate adjusted hazard ratios of risk factors for adverse clinical events (stroke, thromboembolism, and mortality).A total of 1286 AF patients (males, 78.30%; mean age, 74.50 years; 94.48% paroxysmal AF) were followed up for a median of 2.1 years (IQR: 1.5-2.9 years). Overall, 159 patients died. A total of 84 strokes and 35 thromboembolic events occurred. Multivariate analysis showed that overweight (25.0≤BMI