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Here, we aimed to isolate an acetic acid bacterium that is suitable for the production of unripe Citrus unshiu vinegar from traditional fermented vinegars. We compared the halo sizes of isolates to select a strain with superior acetic acid production capabilities and selected Komagataeibacter kakiaceti P6 (P6) as the final strain. Using Acetobacter pasteurianus CY (CY) and A. pasteurianus KACC 17058 (KACC 17058) as controls, we analyzed the total phenolic compounds, total flavonoid content, antioxidant activities, and organic acids of the selected strain to verify its suitability for acetic acid fermentation. On the 30th day of the fermentation period, P6 showed a total acidity of 4.86%, which was higher than that of control groups (CY, 4.16%; KACC 17058, 4.01%). The total phenolic compounds, total flavonoid content, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl scavenging activity, and ferric ion reducing antioxidant power values significantly increased during fermentation with P6 compared with the initial C. unshiu wine, and no significant differences were observed from the vinegars produced by CY and KACC 17058. Moreover, organic acid analysis revealed that the unripe C. unshiu vinegar produced with P6 had an acetic acid content of 26.15 mg/mL, which was significantly higher than those produced with CY and KACC 17058, indicating that the P6 strain effectively produces acetic acid without adversely affecting other quality aspects during fermentation. In conclusion, the novel P6 strain is expected to be used as a starter for fermenting unripe C. unshiu vinegar, and its excellent acetic acid production capabilities suggest potential applications for other vinegars., Competing Interests: AUTHOR DISCLOSURE STATEMENT The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 by The Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition.)

Distilled soju , a Korean traditional alcoholic beverage, is produced by fermenting rice with a variety of microorganisms including molds, yeasts, and lactic acid-producing bacteria, followed by distillation. Our study sought to improve the quality of distilled soju through co-fermentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Wickerhamomyces anomalus , known for producing volatile aromatic compounds during the early stages of fermentation. Analysis of volatile aromatic compounds in co-fermented distilled soju revealed a substantial increase in compounds with boiling points below 200 °C. Among them, ethyl hexanoate, isobutanol, and isoamyl alcohol were identified as the major volatile aromatic compounds based on Log2 fold change analyses of the volatile aromatic compound pattern. In sensory evaluation, co-fermented distilled soju received higher scores in terms of odor and overall preference. Therefore, incorporating W. anomalus may improve the quality of distilled soju ., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Background: Somatic symptoms, which are common in major depressive disorder (MDD), are associated with a worse prognosis and increased health costs., Aims: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluated the efficacy of aripiprazole augmentation in MDD patients with somatic symptoms., Methods: In all, 41 MDD patients with somatic symptoms completed the study. Participants who had been on a stable dose of antidepressants for at least 1 month were randomly assigned to receive an 8-week adjunctive treatment with either aripiprazole or placebo. The initiation dose of aripiprazole was 2 mg/day, which was later adjusted to 1-10 mg/day. The primary endpoint was the change in the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised-Somatization (SCL-90-R-SOM) score. We collected quantitative electroencephalogram data and performed spectral analyses to obtain the absolute power of frequency bands., Results/outcomes: The aripiprazole group ( n  = 20; 2.98 ± 1.75 mg/day) showed a significant improvement in SCL-90-R-SOM scores compared to the placebo group ( n  = 21; F  = 8.56, p  = 0.006), without significant differences in changes in depression and anxiety symptoms. Compared to the control, the aripiprazole group showed a greater decrease in total alpha power ( F  = 7.03, p  = 0.01). Changes in frontal alpha power were positively correlated with changes in SCL-90-R-SOM scores in the aripiprazole group ( r  = 0.53, p  = 0.014)., Conclusions/interpretation: Aripiprazole adjunctive to antidepressants in patients with MDD and somatic symptoms improved somatic symptom severity without significant safety concerns, and this improvement correlated with a decrease in total and frontal alpha power. Trial Registration: https://cris.nih.go.kr; identifier: KCT0004607.

Deficits in color vision and related retinal changes hold promise as early screening biomarkers in patients with Alzheimer's disease. This study aimed to determine a cut-off score that can screen for Alzheimer's dementia using a novel color vision threshold test named the red, green, and blue (RGB) modified color vision plate test (RGB-vision plate). We developed the RGB-vision plate consisting of 30 plates in which the red and green hues of Ishihara Plate No.22 were sequentially adjusted. A total of 108 older people participated in the mini-mental state examination (MMSE), Ishihara plate, and RGB-vision plate. For the analyses, the participants were divided into two groups: Alzheimer's dementia (n = 42) and healthy controls (n = 38). K-means cluster analysis and ROC curve analysis were performed to identify the most appropriate cut-off score. As a result, the cut-off screening score for Alzheimer's dementia on the RGB-vision plate was set at 25, with an area under the curve of 0.773 (p<0.001). Moreover, there was a negative correlation between the RGB-vision plate thresholds and MMSE scores (r = -0.36, p = 0.02). In conclusion, patients with Alzheimer's dementia had a deficit in color vision. The RGB-vision plate is a potential early biomarker that may adequately detect Alzheimer's dementia., Competing Interests: NO authors have competing interests.

Abstract: To investigate prognosis prediction of motor outcome in anterior choroidal artery (AChA) infarction patients using radiologic and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies.Twenty six patients with complete weakness of the affected hand were recruited. The Motricity Index (MI), Medical Research Council (MRC) scores for the affected finger extensors, Modified Brunnstrom classification (MBC) and Functional Ambulation Category (FAC) were evaluated twice: at onset and the chronic stage (3-4 months after onset). Patients were assigned according to the presence of infarction at the corona radiata (CR); the CR-positive group (infarct presence at the CR and posterior limb of internal capsule [PLIC], 11 patients) and CR-negative group (infarct presence at the PLIC, 15 patients), and the presence of motor evoked potentials at the affected hand muscle: the TMS-positive group (11 patients) and the TMS-negative group (15 patients).At the second evaluation, the MI scores were significantly different between the CR-positive (45.10 ± 7.06) and CR-negative groups (57.90 ± 11.56), and between the TMS-positive (60.37 ± 11.53) and TMS-negative groups (46.70 ± 7.99) (P < .05). The MRC scores for the finger extensors were also significantly different between the CR-positive (0.95 ± 1.01) and CR-negative (2.57 ± 1.33) groups and between the TMS-positive (3.05 ± 0.88) and TMS-negative (1.03 ± 1.14) groups (P < .05). Fourteen (53.85%) of the 26 patients recovered to have a functional hand score (MBC ≥5) and 19 (73.07%) of the 26 patients recovered to have an independent gait score (FAC ≥3) on their second evaluation.The results show that CR involvement in addition to the presence of a PLIC lesion and a TMS-negative response were related to poor motor outcomes in patients with an AChA infarction. Consequently, radiologic and TMS studies can be considered for motor outcome prognosis prediction in patients with an AChA infarction., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interests to disclose., (Copyright © 2021 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)