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The Middle Ordovician conodont fauna consisting of six species was recovered from the upper part of the Lower Limestone and the middle part of the overlying Haengmae Formation in the western Jeongseon area, Korea. Two conodont biozones are established for this interval, the Erraticodon tangshanensis Interval Zone for the upper part of the Lower Limestone and the Eoplacognathus suecicus Range Zone for the uppermost part of the Lower Limestone to the middle part of the Haengmae Formation. The first biozone is comparable to the Darriwilian (early Dw2) Tangshanodus tangshanensis-Histiodella holodentata Zone in North China and the Tangshanodus tangshanensis Zone in South Korea. The second biozone corresponds to the eponymous Dar-riwilian (late Dw2) zones recognized in North China and Korea. The biostratigraphy indicates that the Lower Limestone and Haengmae Formation in the western Jeongseon area is correlated only with lower and middle parts of the Jeongseon Limestone in the central and eastern Jeongseon area, and thus the Jeongseon Limestone is not a valid lithostratigraphic unit for the western Jeongseon area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five sections in western Jeongseon-eastern Pyeongchang provide a relatively complete composite section of carbonate platform facies through the upper part of the Hoedongri Formation. A total of 29 samples (125 kg) yielded 669 relatively well-preserved conodont specimens, which are classified into 16 species representing 10 genera. The fauna is dominated by Panderodus gracilis (Branson and Mehl) (55%), which generally is believed to have been pelagic and eurytopic, and comprises characteristic elements of North China faunal affinities. Other taxa include Aphelognathus solidum Pei, Belodina sp., Eoligonodina prima (Branson and Mehl), Erismodus asymmetricus (Branson and Mehl), E. quadridactylus (Stauffer), Plectodina aculeata (Stauffer), P. alatheta An, Tasmanognathus careyi Burrett, and T. sishuiensis Zhang. This assemblage was assigned to the Tasmanognathus sishuiensis-Erismodus asymmetricus Zone herein. The interval of the zone is between the first and last occurrences of the eponymous species. The lower limit of the zone is unclear due to the absence of conodont data from underlying dolomitic limestone beds. The T. sishuiensis-E. asymmetricus Zone is the youngest conodont zone in the Taebaeksan Basin, Korea and was correlated to the 'upper fauna' of the Yeongheung Formation in Yeongwol, Korea, to the Belodina compressa-Microcoelodus symmetricus Zone in Shandong, to the T. sishuiensis-Erismodus typus Zone in Gansu, and to the T. sishuiensis Zone in the Ordos Basin, North China, representing the interior platform and slope facies of Sandbian age. Based on the recent recognition of the Aurilobodus serratus Zone and T. sishuiensis-E. asymmetricus Zone, the Hoedongri Formation was assigned to the Middle Ordovician to early Late Ordovician (Darriwilian, D3 to Sandbian, Sa2). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To the authors' knowledge, the indications for radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) are unclear; treatment decisions are based on physician judgment. The objective of the current study was to identify the degree of concordance between postsurgical RAI therapy recommended by Watson for Oncology (WFO), a clinical decision support system for oncological therapy, and that recommended by physicians for patients with DTC.Methods: The current retrospective cohort study included 207 patients with DTC who underwent thyroidectomy between 2017 and 2018. Treatment recommendations were considered concordant if WFO rendered recommendations consistent with those of the physicians.Results: Treatment recommendations were concordant for 160 patients (77%). The concordance rate significantly differed according to the American Thyroid Association (ATA) risk category (P < .001) and American Joint Committee on Cancer TNM stage (seventh edition; P = .004). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that treatment recommendations were significantly less likely to be concordant in patients with ATA intermediate-risk and stage III disease compared with those with ATA low-risk and stage I disease (odds ratio, 0.16 [P < .001] and OR, 0.35 [P = .004], respectively).Conclusions: The authors believe the concordance rate between postsurgical RAI therapy recommendations rendered by WFO and those rendered by physicians was too low to justify adopting WFO for the comprehensive screening of patients with DTC. This is particularly true among patients with ATA intermediate-risk and stage III disease, reflecting differences in practice patterns between the United States (where WFO was calibrated) and Korea. Hence, WFO is not a substitute for physicians, and also may require regional customization to improve its assistive capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aquatic extract of Dendropanax morbifera (DP) is typically consumed as a beverage in Korea and China and is also used in various traditional medicines. However, the functional role of DP on diabetes-induced renal fibrosis is unclear. Here, the protective effects of DP extract against diabetes-induced renal fibrosis were evaluated. Streptozotocin (STZ, 60 mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally in rats to induce diabetes. After 5 days, DP extract (25 mg/kg/day) and metformin (50 mg/kg/day) were administered orally to diabetic rats for 28 days. DP administration protected both body and organ weight loss in STZ-treated diabetic rats. Significant improvements in serum blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, and oxidative stress parameters were observed in diabetic rats by DP administration. DP extract markedly protected diabetic-induced histopathological damages in the kidney and pancreas. A significant reduction was observed in microalbumin, kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1), selenium binding protein-1 (SBP1), and pyruvate kinase muscle isozyme M2 (PKM2) levels in the urinary excretion of diabetic rats after the administration of DP extract. The expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and fibrosis marker levels were significantly reduced in the kidney of diabetic rats. Our results strongly indicate that DP extract exhibits protective activity against diabetes-induced renal fibrosis through ameliorating oxidative stress and inflammation. Therefore, we suggest that DP extract can be used as a preventive agent on the progression of diabetic nephropathy and renal fibrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]