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In this study, we propose a virtual assistant system that is applied to real life using signal processing and deep learning. First, the overall structure of the proposed system that integrates and controls various modules is introduced, after which we present a multi-modal fusion module that provides services to users. It integrates a natural language processing module for interpreting Korean chatbots and a behavior recognition module for understanding user behavior using an RGB camera. In addition, a hand gesture recognition module was utilized to understand the user's intentions using depth and RGB images. We explain the implementation of a customized service system with several parts: i) a user interface module that interacts with the user, ii) a face recognition module that distinguishes different users, and iii) a voice processing module that can replace the input and output methods through a keyboard and monitor. To check the performance of each module, a testbed was configured in an office environment. Through test results, we successfully demonstrate the realization of the proposed system in real life Finally, we list the challenges discovered during the operation of this system and suggest directions for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coats’ disease is an idiopathic retinal vascular disorder, known to usually occur unilaterally; however, recent studies have highlighted vascular abnormalities in the fellow unaffected eyes. This retrospective study investigated the peripheral vascular features and macular vascular structure of unaffected fellow eyes in patients with unilateral Coats’ disease using multimodal imaging tools. We analysed images of patients, including bilateral ultra-widefield imaging, fluorescein angiography (FA), ultra-widefield FA, or standard fundus photography. Available bilateral optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) images were used for macular vascular structure analysis. OCT-A parameters, including foveal avascular zone (FAZ), perfusion index, and vessel density (VD) in the superficial and deep capillary plexuses (SCP, DCP), were calculated using Image J software. The mean age at diagnosis was 34.5 ± 17.9 years. The mean final best-corrected visual acuity of the affected eyes was logMAR 0.78 ± 0.79, while that of the fellow eyes was logMAR 0.04 ± 0.12. Ten fellow eyes had microaneurysms (47.6%), two had tortuous vessel abnormalities (9.5%), and 11(52.4%) had abnormal vascular findings on FA. Although there was a trend towards larger DCP FAZ (1.201 ± 0.086 vs. 1.072 ± 0.226), and lower DCP VD (8.593 ± 1.583 vs. 10.827 ± 3.392) in the affected eyes as measured by the Cirrus machine, the difference was not statistically significant between affected and fellow eyes when measured using the Zeiss Cirrus machine (P = 0.686, P = 0.343, respectively). However, when measured with the Spectralis machine, DCP FAZ was larger in affected eyes (0.828 ± 0.426 vs. 0.254 ± 0.092, P = 0.002) and DCP VD was lower in affected eyes (6.901 ± 2.634 vs. 17.451 ± 7.207, P = 0.002) compared to the fellow eyes, while other parameters showed no significant variations. These findings indicate that there may be subtle vascular abnormalities primarily located in the peripheral regions of the unaffected fellow eyes in patients with unilateral Coats’ disease, while the macular microvasculature remains unaffected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Huntington's disease (HD) is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin (HTT) gene. CRISPR-Cas9 nuclease causes double-strand breaks (DSBs) in the targeted DNA that induces toxicity, whereas CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) using dead Cas9 (dCas9) suppresses the target gene expression without DSBs. Delivery of dCas9-sgRNA targeting CAG repeat region does not damage the targeted DNA in HEK293T cells containing CAG repeats. When this study investigates whether CRISPRi can suppress mutant HTT (mHTT), CRISPRi results in reduced expression of mHTT with relative preservation of the wild-type HTT in human HD fibroblasts. Although both dCas9 and Cas9 treatments reduce mHTT by sgRNA targeting the CAG repeat region, CRISPRi delays behavioral deterioration and protects striatal neurons against cell death in HD mice. Collectively, CRISPRi can delay disease progression by suppressing mHtt, suggesting DNA DSB-free CRISPRi is a potential therapy for HD that can compensate for the shortcoming of CRISPR-Cas9 nuclease. The use of CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) to repress the expression of mutant with relative preservation of wild-type huntingtin may represent a potential therapeutic strategy to delay disease progression in a mouse model of Huntington's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CRISPR/Cas9 system easily edits target genes in various organisms and is used to treat human diseases. In most therapeutic CRISPR studies, ubiquitously expressed promoters, such as CMV, CAG, and EF1α, are used; however, gene editing is sometimes necessary only in specific cell types relevant to the disease. Therefore, we aimed to develop a retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)-specific CRISPR/Cas9 system. We developed a CRISPR/Cas9 system that operates only in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) by expressing Cas9 under the RPE-specific vitelliform macular dystrophy 2 promoter (pVMD2). This RPE-specific CRISPR/pVMD2-Cas9 system was tested in human retinal organoid and mouse model. We confirmed that this system works specifically in the RPE of human retinal organoids and mouse retina. In addition, the RPE-specific Vegfa ablation using the novel CRISPR-pVMD2-Cas9 system caused regression of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) without unwanted knock-out in the neural retina in laser-induced CNV mice, which is a widely used animal model of neovascular age-related macular degeneration. RPE-specific Vegfa knock-out (KO) and ubiquitous Vegfa KO were comparable in the efficient regression of CNV. The promoter substituted, cell type-specific CRISPR/Cas9 systems can be used in specific 'target cell' therapy, which edits genes while reducing unwanted off- 'target cell' effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the clinical characteristics, imaging features, and predictive factors for spontaneous separation in patients with idiopathic or secondary ERM.The overall cohort was divided into two subgroups: idiopathic ERM (28 eyes, 56%) and secondary ERM (22 eyes, 44%). Electronic records and multimodal imaging were reviewed.Among the 50 eyes included in this study, the self-separation of ERM occurred over a mean duration of 28.1 ± 25.3 months (median: 25.4 months). Compared with the secondary ERM group, the idiopathic group had a shorter interval to separation (idiopathic vs. secondary, 23.4 vs. 34.1 months, respectively; P = .01) and better vision at diagnosis (logMAR 0.094 vs. 0.224; P = .009) and after separation (logMAR 0.097 vs. 0.188; P = .01). Overall, in both subgroups, spontaneous ERM separation appeared to have been induced by posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) (P < .001). Multivariate analysis revealed that the self-separation interval (odds ratio [OR] 0.936) and IRF (OR 0.049) were significantly associated with complete ERM separation (all P < .05). Additionally, secondary ERM (OR 15.224) and lower initial best-corrected visual acuity (OR 267.589) were significantly associated with improvements in vision after self-separation (all P < .05).The self-separation of ERM appears to be induced by PVD development in most eyes. Owing to the possibility of complete spontaneous separation, surgical membrane peeling may be delayed by up to 28 months in eyes without PVD, regardless of whether the cause is idiopathic or secondary. Patients with secondary ERM may experience favorable visual improvement after self-separation despite having poor vision at diagnosis and IRF on OCT.What is known• An epiretinal membrane (ERM), the most prevalent retinal disease in adults, is less understood regarding clinical factors and the accurate mechanism of spontaneous separation.What is new• The separation of ERM appears to be induced by PVD development in most eyes.• Favorable vision outcomes were associated with secondary ERMs and lower initial visual acuity.• Complete ERM separation was associated with a shorter self-resolution interval and the absence of intraretinal fluid (IRF) in OCT imaging.Methods: To investigate the clinical characteristics, imaging features, and predictive factors for spontaneous separation in patients with idiopathic or secondary ERM.The overall cohort was divided into two subgroups: idiopathic ERM (28 eyes, 56%) and secondary ERM (22 eyes, 44%). Electronic records and multimodal imaging were reviewed.Among the 50 eyes included in this study, the self-separation of ERM occurred over a mean duration of 28.1 ± 25.3 months (median: 25.4 months). Compared with the secondary ERM group, the idiopathic group had a shorter interval to separation (idiopathic vs. secondary, 23.4 vs. 34.1 months, respectively; P = .01) and better vision at diagnosis (logMAR 0.094 vs. 0.224; P = .009) and after separation (logMAR 0.097 vs. 0.188; P = .01). Overall, in both subgroups, spontaneous ERM separation appeared to have been induced by posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) (P < .001). Multivariate analysis revealed that the self-separation interval (odds ratio [OR] 0.936) and IRF (OR 0.049) were significantly associated with complete ERM separation (all P < .05). Additionally, secondary ERM (OR 15.224) and lower initial best-corrected visual acuity (OR 267.589) were significantly associated with improvements in vision after self-separation (all P < .05).The self-separation of ERM appears to be induced by PVD development in most eyes. Owing to the possibility of complete spontaneous separation, surgical membrane peeling may be delayed by up to 28 months in eyes without PVD, regardless of whether the cause is idiopathic or secondary. Patients with secondary ERM may experience favorable visual improvement after self-separation despite having poor vision at diagnosis and IRF on OCT.What is known• An epiretinal membrane (ERM), the most prevalent retinal disease in adults, is less understood regarding clinical factors and the accurate mechanism of spontaneous separation.What is new• The separation of ERM appears to be induced by PVD development in most eyes.• Favorable vision outcomes were associated with secondary ERMs and lower initial visual acuity.• Complete ERM separation was associated with a shorter self-resolution interval and the absence of intraretinal fluid (IRF) in OCT imaging.Results: To investigate the clinical characteristics, imaging features, and predictive factors for spontaneous separation in patients with idiopathic or secondary ERM.The overall cohort was divided into two subgroups: idiopathic ERM (28 eyes, 56%) and secondary ERM (22 eyes, 44%). Electronic records and multimodal imaging were reviewed.Among the 50 eyes included in this study, the self-separation of ERM occurred over a mean duration of 28.1 ± 25.3 months (median: 25.4 months). Compared with the secondary ERM group, the idiopathic group had a shorter interval to separation (idiopathic vs. secondary, 23.4 vs. 34.1 months, respectively; P = .01) and better vision at diagnosis (logMAR 0.094 vs. 0.224; P = .009) and after separation (logMAR 0.097 vs. 0.188; P = .01). Overall, in both subgroups, spontaneous ERM separation appeared to have been induced by posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) (P < .001). Multivariate analysis revealed that the self-separation interval (odds ratio [OR] 0.936) and IRF (OR 0.049) were significantly associated with complete ERM separation (all P < .05). Additionally, secondary ERM (OR 15.224) and lower initial best-corrected visual acuity (OR 267.589) were significantly associated with improvements in vision after self-separation (all P < .05).The self-separation of ERM appears to be induced by PVD development in most eyes. Owing to the possibility of complete spontaneous separation, surgical membrane peeling may be delayed by up to 28 months in eyes without PVD, regardless of whether the cause is idiopathic or secondary. Patients with secondary ERM may experience favorable visual improvement after self-separation despite having poor vision at diagnosis and IRF on OCT.What is known• An epiretinal membrane (ERM), the most prevalent retinal disease in adults, is less understood regarding clinical factors and the accurate mechanism of spontaneous separation.What is new• The separation of ERM appears to be induced by PVD development in most eyes.• Favorable vision outcomes were associated with secondary ERMs and lower initial visual acuity.• Complete ERM separation was associated with a shorter self-resolution interval and the absence of intraretinal fluid (IRF) in OCT imaging.Conclusion: To investigate the clinical characteristics, imaging features, and predictive factors for spontaneous separation in patients with idiopathic or secondary ERM.The overall cohort was divided into two subgroups: idiopathic ERM (28 eyes, 56%) and secondary ERM (22 eyes, 44%). Electronic records and multimodal imaging were reviewed.Among the 50 eyes included in this study, the self-separation of ERM occurred over a mean duration of 28.1 ± 25.3 months (median: 25.4 months). Compared with the secondary ERM group, the idiopathic group had a shorter interval to separation (idiopathic vs. secondary, 23.4 vs. 34.1 months, respectively; P = .01) and better vision at diagnosis (logMAR 0.094 vs. 0.224; P = .009) and after separation (logMAR 0.097 vs. 0.188; P = .01). Overall, in both subgroups, spontaneous ERM separation appeared to have been induced by posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) (P < .001). Multivariate analysis revealed that the self-separation interval (odds ratio [OR] 0.936) and IRF (OR 0.049) were significantly associated with complete ERM separation (all P < .05). Additionally, secondary ERM (OR 15.224) and lower initial best-corrected visual acuity (OR 267.589) were significantly associated with improvements in vision after self-separation (all P < .05).The self-separation of ERM appears to be induced by PVD development in most eyes. Owing to the possibility of complete spontaneous separation, surgical membrane peeling may be delayed by up to 28 months in eyes without PVD, regardless of whether the cause is idiopathic or secondary. Patients with secondary ERM may experience favorable visual improvement after self-separation despite having poor vision at diagnosis and IRF on OCT.What is known• An epiretinal membrane (ERM), the most prevalent retinal disease in adults, is less understood regarding clinical factors and the accurate mechanism of spontaneous separation.What is new• The separation of ERM appears to be induced by PVD development in most eyes.• Favorable vision outcomes were associated with secondary ERMs and lower initial visual acuity.• Complete ERM separation was associated with a shorter self-resolution interval and the absence of intraretinal fluid (IRF) in OCT imaging.Key messages: To investigate the clinical characteristics, imaging features, and predictive factors for spontaneous separation in patients with idiopathic or secondary ERM.The overall cohort was divided into two subgroups: idiopathic ERM (28 eyes, 56%) and secondary ERM (22 eyes, 44%). Electronic records and multimodal imaging were reviewed.Among the 50 eyes included in this study, the self-separation of ERM occurred over a mean duration of 28.1 ± 25.3 months (median: 25.4 months). Compared with the secondary ERM group, the idiopathic group had a shorter interval to separation (idiopathic vs. secondary, 23.4 vs. 34.1 months, respectively; P = .01) and better vision at diagnosis (logMAR 0.094 vs. 0.224; P = .009) and after separation (logMAR 0.097 vs. 0.188; P = .01). Overall, in both subgroups, spontaneous ERM separation appeared to have been induced by posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) (P < .001). Multivariate analysis revealed that the self-separation interval (odds ratio [OR] 0.936) and IRF (OR 0.049) were significantly associated with complete ERM separation (all P < .05). Additionally, secondary ERM (OR 15.224) and lower initial best-corrected visual acuity (OR 267.589) were significantly associated with improvements in vision after self-separation (all P < .05).The self-separation of ERM appears to be induced by PVD development in most eyes. Owing to the possibility of complete spontaneous separation, surgical membrane peeling may be delayed by up to 28 months in eyes without PVD, regardless of whether the cause is idiopathic or secondary. Patients with secondary ERM may experience favorable visual improvement after self-separation despite having poor vision at diagnosis and IRF on OCT.What is known• An epiretinal membrane (ERM), the most prevalent retinal disease in adults, is less understood regarding clinical factors and the accurate mechanism of spontaneous separation.What is new• The separation of ERM appears to be induced by PVD development in most eyes.• Favorable vision outcomes were associated with secondary ERMs and lower initial visual acuity.• Complete ERM separation was associated with a shorter self-resolution interval and the absence of intraretinal fluid (IRF) in OCT imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To assess the clinical features, treatment factors, and long-term visual and anatomical outcomes of optic disc pit maculopathy (ODPM) in Korean patients. Methods: Consecutive patients diagnosed between January 2000 and September 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. The primary outcome was best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and anatomical changes (determined by macular thickness reduction and fluid resorption). Secondary outcomes included factors associated with poor visual outcomes (> 3-line decrease or < 20/200 vision). Results: Of the 24 eyes (24 patients, mean age, 42.8 years) in this study, two peak incidence groups were noted: children younger than 14 years (six patients; mean age, 9.7 years) and middle-aged adults (18 patients; 53.8 years). There were no significant differences between groups in terms of clinical features, treatment, and outcomes (P > 0.05). The primary treatment involved immediate (7 eyes) or delayed (9) vitrectomy, laser only (2), or observation only (6). Good (50%) or partial (33%) anatomical response was noted in most cases at the final follow-up (P > 0.05). However, regression analyses showed that poor visual outcomes were associated with low preoperative BCVA (OR, 8.73; 95%CI, 1.34–56.85; P = 0.023) and delayed vitrectomy (OR, 13.00; 95%CI, 1.70–99.38; P = 0.013), while presence of intraretinal fluid in the inner and outer layers reduced the risk (OR, 0.086; 95%CI, 0.01–0.88; P = 0.039). Conclusion: Patients with ODPM may have two peak incidence groups with similar clinical features and treatment outcomes, supporting the idea of heterogeneous mechanisms triggering fluid accumulation. Although the primary treatment choice may not impact long-term anatomical outcomes, delayed vitrectomy may be associated with poorer visual outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to report complications, treatments, and visual prognosis of choroidal osteoma. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed electronic medical records and multimodal images of 41 patients with choroidal osteoma. Results: Visually significant complications included choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in 21 (47.7%) eyes and subretinal fluid (SRF) without CNV in 14 (31.8%) eyes. The most common treatment was intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injection: 13 (61.9%) eyes with CNV received an average of 6.3 injections, and 6 (42.9%) eyes with SRF but without CNV received 1.8 injections. As the first-line treatment, intravitreal anti-VEGF injection induced complete or partial remission in 93.4% of eyes with CNV and 57.1% of eyes with SRF. The probability of legally low vision estimated at 3 and at 5 years was 29.1% and 34.2%, respectively. The presence of CNV and outer retinal tubulation (ORT) was independent risk factors for vision loss (adjusted odds ratio, 8.08 and 6.94, respectively). Conclusions: The development of CNV and ORT was strong risk factors for visual impairment. Due to the frequent recurrence of complications and poor visual prognosis, regular check-ups and appropriate treatment choices are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the clinical features and treatment outcomes of patients with choroidal tuberculoma. Methods: In this retrospective, observational case series, the medical records of five patients with choroidal tuberculoma who were followed up at a university hospital for at least 6 months were analyzed. Results: Of five patients, one was male and four were female. The overall mean age was 38.0 ± 9.4 years (mean follow-up: 41.2 ± 33.8 months). Tuberculin skin test was performed in three patients, and it was positive in two of them. Interferon-gamma assay was performed in two patients and was positive in all two. Three patients had systemic tuberculosis involving the lung or other organs. Five patients were treated with antitubercular therapy for a period of 9.6 ± 8.6 months. Systemic corticosteroid treatment was performed in 3 patients, with a period of 3.5 ± 0.7 months. One patient with a recurrent vascularized tuberculoma was successfully treated with single intravitreal bevacizumab injection. Conclusion: Choroidal tuberculoma can develop without evidence of systemic tuberculosis and can recur despite antitubercular treatment. High index of suspicion is important in early detection, and management of choroidal tuberculoma. In cases of suspected choroidal tuberculoma, positive results on immunological tests would be sufficient to initiate antitubercular therapy even if radiological evidence of systemic tuberculosis is not found. Antitubercular therapy combined with systemic corticosteroids provided favorable results. Intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor may be considered for highly vascularized choroidal tuberculoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An adversary can use SSH communication as a route for information leakage or hacking. Many studies have focused on TCP header analysis to detect encrypted communication. However, SSH detection using TCP header analysis is limited when changing TCP port information or modifying components of the SSH protocol. Various machine-learning (ML) techniques have been introduced to enhance network traffic classification by analyzing TCP headers. Most ML-based traffic classification research has analyzed network packet flows. However, because of the complex structures and the various implementations of the TCP protocol, a lot of time and resources are required for the recombination of network packet flows. This paper presents a novel contribution to overcome the problems of network packet analysis that employs web proxy session logs, which do not require the recombination of packets to prepare a dataset for analysis. Moreover, we propose a hybrid predictive model that is useful for web proxy session log analysis. In the modeling process, we collected the web proxy logs from an actual network of ICT companies (more than 10,000 employees, Seoul, South Korea) and used the random forest and decision tree algorithms for the supervised learning. The detection rate (DR) for the training dataset was 99.9%, which is similar to or higher than that of other studies using ML and deep learning. Using the dataset of DARPA99, we proved that the DR and FPR for our proposed model were better than those achieved by Alshammari et al.'s model. We expect that the proposed predictive model can be used to block illegal attempts at SSH communication over HTTP CONNECT by changing the destination port and to detect novel illegal communication protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the incidence and risk factors of late age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in the fellow eye (FE) without significant drusen of patients with unilateral exudative macular neovascularization (MNV). In this retrospective study, 241 eligible patients who were followed-up for more than 3 years were enrolled. We analyzed the incidence and hazard ratios (HRs) of late AMD in the FE according to demographic and ophthalmologic variables. Hypopigmentation on color fundus photography (CFP) corresponds to shallow irregular RPE elevation (SIRE), so-called "double-layer sign" and/or "attenuation or disruption of RPE and/or ellipsoid zone" on OCT. The 5-year incidence of FE exudative MNV conversion was 8.6%. The 5-year incidence of FE exudative MNV of large hypopigmentation (≥ 0.5 disc area; DA) and small hypopigmentation (< 0.5 DA) on CFP, and SIRE (≥ 1000 µm) and small RPE elevation (< 1000 µm) on OCT were 36.2%, 14.2%, 55.0%, and 15.6%, respectively. The multivariate Cox proportional hazard model revealed that large hypopigmentation, small hypopigmentation, SIRE, and small RPE elevation showed HRs of 23.230, 8.037, 132.589, and 41.823 for FE exudative MNV occurrence, respectively. Hypopigmentation on CFP and SIRE on OCT could represent the same lesion. Even small hypopigmentation and small RPE elevation were significant risk factors for progression to exudative MNV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uveal melanoma(UM) is the most common primary intraocular malignancy in adults. However, the incidence of UM in Asia is 10 to 20 times less than in Western populations. Therefore, for the first time, we report our whole exome sequencing (WES) data analysis to discover differences in the molecular features of Asian and Western UM, and to determine the disparities between the primary tumor before brachytherapy and enucleated samples after brachytherapy. WES of 19 samples (13 primary tumors, 5 enucleation samples after brachytherapy, and 1 liver metastasis) from 13 patients diagnosed with UM and treated between 2007 and 2019 at the Yonsei University Health System (YUHS) were analyzed using bioinformatics pipelines. We identified significantly altered genes in Asian UM and changes in mutational profiles before and after brachytherapy using various algorithms. GNAQ, BAP1, GNA11, SF3B1 and CYSLTR2 were significantly mutated in Asian UM, which is similar that reported frequently in previous Western-based UM studies. There were also similar copy number alterations (M3, 1p loss, 6p gain, 8q gain) in both groups. In paired comparisons of the same patients, DICER1 and LRP1B were distinctly mutated only in tumor samples obtained after brachytherapy using rare-variant association tests (P = 0.01, 0.01, respectively). The mutational profiles of Asian UM were generally similar to the data from previous Western-based studies. DICER1 and LRP1B were newly mutated genes with statistical significance in the regrowth samples after brachytherapy compared to the primary tumors, which may be related to resistance to brachytherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile element insertions (MEIs) typically exceed the read lengths of short-read sequencing technologies and are therefore frequently missed. Recently, a founder Alu insertion in exon 4 of RP1 has been detected in Japanese patients with macular dystrophy by PCR and gel electrophoresis. We aimed to develop a grep search program for the detection of the Alu insertion in exon 4 of RP1 using unprocessed short reads. Among 494 unrelated Korean patients with inherited eye diseases, 273 patients with specific retinal phenotypes who were previously genotyped by targeted panel or whole exome sequencing were selected. Five probands had a single heterozygous truncating RP1 variant, and one of their unaffected parents also carry this variant. To find a hidden genetic variant, whole genome sequencing was performed in two patients, and it revealed AluY c.4052_4053ins328/p.(Tyr1352Alafs*9) insertion in RP1 exon 4. This AluY insertion was additionally identified in other 3 families, which was confirmed by PCR and gel electrophoresis. We developed simplified grep search program to detect this AluY insertion in RP1 exon 4. The simple grep search revealed a median variant allele frequency of 0.282 (interquartile range, 0.232–0.383), with no false-positive results using 120 control samples. The MEI in RP1 exon 4 was a common founder mutation in Korean, occurring in 1.8% of our cohort. The RP1-Alu grep program efficiently detected the AluY insertion, without the preprocessing of raw data or complex installation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ocular adverse events (OAEs) including vision-threatening intraocular inflammation after immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment have been increasingly reported; however, the risk factors associated with OAEs remain elusive. Here, we determined the factors associated with OAEs after ICI treatment. We analyzed 40 consecutive patients who experienced OAEs after ICI treatments. The OAEs included anterior uveitis, chorioretinitis, papillitis, foveal interdigitation zone thickening/serous retinal detachment (IZT/SRD), retinal vascular occlusion, and strabismus and ptosis. Of 40 patients, 18 (45%) were treated with atezolizumab, 13 (33%) with pembrolizumab, 7 (18%) with nivolumab, 1 (3%) with ipilimumab/nivolumab, and the other 1 (3%) with durvalumab/tremelimumab. BRAF/MEK inhibitors were concurrently used in 19 (48%) patients. Occurrence of intraocular inflammation was significantly associated with previous ocular surgery and trauma history (P = 0.015) and pembrolizumab use (P = 0.031). Neuro-ophthalmic complications and IZT/SRD were associated with brain metastasis (P = 0.005) and treatment with BRAF/MEK inhibitor (P < 0.001), respectively. In extensive literature review for clinical cases, we identified seven cases with intraocular inflammation, which were not observed with ipilimumab treatment, that occurred after a change of the drug to pembrolizumab. Collectively, these findings provide better understandings of OAEs after ICI treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The observation of histopathology using optical microscope is an essential procedure for examination of tissue biopsies or surgically excised specimens in biological and clinical laboratories. However, slide-based microscopic pathology is not suitable for visualizing the large-scale tissue and native 3D organ structure due to its sampling limitation and shallow imaging depth. Here, we demonstrate serial optical coherence microscopy (SOCM) technique that offers label-free, high-throughput, and large-volume imaging of ex vivo mouse organs. A 3D histopathology of whole mouse brain and kidney including blood vessel structure is reconstructed by deep tissue optical imaging in serial sectioning techniques. Our results demonstrate that SOCM has unique advantages as it can visualize both native 3D structures and quantitative regional volume without introduction of any contrast agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual field defect is a major indication for surgery of pituitary adenoma, but visual outcome after surgery is difficult to predict. We developed a nomogram that predicts postoperative restoration of visual field defects in patients with pituitary adenoma. This study was a retrospective cohort investigation of patients who were treated for pituitary adenoma between January 2009 and December 2013. We enrolled 111 eyes of 57 patients who completed one ophthalmological evaluation preoperatively and at least two evaluations within 6 months after surgery. Serial changes in visual fields and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness were evaluated. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to select prognostic variables, and a nomogram to predict restoration of visual field defects was constructed. Visual field defects continuously improved until 3 months after surgery. However, average, superior, and inferior RNFL thickness continuously decreased until 6 months after surgery. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that worse preoperative visual field defect (p = 0.018), high MRI compression grade (p = 0.009), and inferior RNFL thinning (p = 0.011) were significantly associated with worse visual outcome. The nomogram that predicts the visual restoration showed an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.84. In conclusion, we developed a nomogram that predicted the restoration of visual field defects after removal of pituitary adenoma. This would allow tailored counseling of individual patients by precisely predicting visual recovery after surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spermatogenesis is a complex process through which spermatogonial stem cells undergo mitosis, meiosis, and cell differentiation to generate mature spermatozoa. During this process, male germ cells experience several translational modifications. One of the major post-translational modifications in eukaryotes is the ubiquitination of proteins, which targets proteins for degradation; this enables control of the expression of enzymes and structural proteins during spermatogenesis. It has become apparent that ubiquitination plays a key role in regulating every stage of spermatogenesis starting from gonocytes to differentiated spermatids. It is understood that, where there is ubiquitination, deubiquitination by deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs) also exists to counterbalance the ubiquitination process in a reversible manner. Normal spermatogenesis is dependent on the balanced actions of ubiquitination and deubiquitination. This review highlights the current knowledge of the role of DUBs and their essential regulatory contribution to spermatogenesis, especially during progression into meiotic phase, acrosome biogenesis, quality sperm production, and apoptosis of germ cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of the study was to evaluate longitudinal analysis of peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and perifoveal ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) thickness in patients being treated with ethambutol (EMB). Methods: This prospective longitudinal cohort study enrolled 37 patients who were treated with EMB for pulmonary tuberculosis. Best-corrected visual acuity, color vision test, automated perimetry, fundus photography, and RNFL and GCIPL thickness were measured at baseline and at 4 and 6 months after the start of EMB treatment, using Cirrus optical coherence tomography. Results: Among 37 patients, EMB-induced optic neuropathy occurred in one patient (2.7 %). In this patient, thickening of the RFNL and thinning of the GCIPL were noted at the onset of symptoms. After discontinuation of EMB, RNFL and GCIPL thickness progressively normalized. Changes in RNFL and GCIPL thickness were not statistically significant in the 36 patients who did not exhibit EMB-induced optic neuropathy-related symptoms during follow-up (all P values > 0.05). Conclusions: Thickening of the peripapillary RNFL and thinning of the perifoveal GCIPL is an effective quantitative and early marker for diagnosis of EMB-induced optic neuropathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent developments have caused the expansion of various cloud computing environments and services. Cloud computing environments have led to research in the areas of data processing, virtual environments, and access control. Information security is the most important research area for these environments security. In this study, we analyzed typical example of network testbeds, which have been used for malicious activity data collection and its subsequent analysis. Further, we propose an effective malicious network application testbed, which is based on a cloud system. We also verified the performance of our new testbed by comparing real malicious activity with the cloud-based testbed results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]