Challenges and opportunities of developing small-molecule therapies for age-related macular degeneration.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of vision loss in senior adults. The disease can be categorized into two types: wet AMD and dry AMD. Wet AMD, also known as exudative or neovascular AMD, is less common but more severe than dry AMD and is responsible for 90% of the visual impairment caused by AMD and affects 20 million people worldwide. Current treatment options mainly involve biologics that inhibit the vascular endothelial growth factor or complement pathways. However, these treatments have limitations such as high cost, injection-related risks, and limited efficacy. Therefore, new therapeutic targets and strategies have been explored to improve the outcomes of patients with AMD. A promising approach is the use of small-molecule drugs that modulate different factors involved in AMD pathogenesis, such as tyrosine kinases and integrins. Small-molecule drugs offer advantages, such as oral administration, low cost, good penetration, and increased specificity for the treatment of wet and dry AMD. This review summarizes the current status and prospects of small-molecule drugs for the treatment of wet AMD. These advances are expected to support the development of effective and targeted treatments for patients with AMD.

Benefits of social cognitive skills training within routine community mental health services: Evidence from a non-randomized parallel controlled study.

Although social cognitive impairments are evident in patients with schizophrenia across many cultures, psychosocial interventions are less used in Eastern countries. Despite a growing emphasis on community care in mental health services in Eastern countries, the synergistic effects of social cognitive intervention strategies on routine community mental health services are not well documented. This study aimed to adapt a group-based social cognitive skills training (SCST) program for use in a Korean context and evaluate its feasibility and preliminary effects among community-dwelling individuals with schizophrenia. Forty-seven patients were assigned to either the SCST + treatment as usual (TAU) group (n = 21) or the TAU only group (n = 24). Participants completed tasks to assess social cognition, social functioning, neurocognition, and psychiatric symptoms before and after treatment. Over a period of approximately 12 weeks, drop-out rates were comparably low in both groups, and the attendance rates for the SCST program were high (85.7 %, mean sessions attended = 20.56/24 sessions). The SCST + TAU group demonstrated significant improvements in facial affect recognition, social functioning, and psychiatric symptoms compared to the TAU only group. A non-significant trend in theory of mind was observed, along with no improvements in social perception and neurocognition. The adapted version of the SCST program is feasible for implementation and demonstrates promise for enhancing social cognition and functioning in Korean outpatients with schizophrenia.

Screening Tool for Anxiety Disorders: Development and Validation of the Korean Anxiety Screening Assessment.

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Korean Anxiety Screening Assessment (K-ANX) developed for screening anxiety disorders. METHODS: Data from 613 participants were analyzed. The K-ANX was evaluated for reliability using Cronbach's alpha, item-total correlation, and test information curve, and for validity using focus group interviews, factor analysis, correlational analysis, and item characteristics based on item response theory (IRT). The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of the K-ANX were compared with those of the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7). RESULTS: The K-ANX showed excellent internal consistency (α=0.97) and item-total coefficients (0.92-0.97), and a one-factor structure was suggested. All items were highly correlated with the total scores of the BAI, GAD-7, and Penn State Worry Questionnaire. IRT analysis indicated the K-ANX was most informative as a screening tool for anxiety disorders at the range between 0.8 and 1.6 (i.e., top 21.2 to 5.5 percentiles). Higher sensitivity (0.795) and specificity (0.937) for identifying anxiety disorders were observed in the K-ANX compared to the BAI and GAD-7. CONCLUSION: The K-ANX is a reliable and valid measure to screen anxiety disorders in a Korean sample, with greater sensitivity and specificity than current measures of anxiety symptoms.

Development of the Korean Facial Emotion Stimuli: Korea University Facial Expression Collection 2nd Edition.

Background: Developing valid emotional facial stimuli for specific ethnicities creates ample opportunities to investigate both the nature of emotional facial information processing in general and clinical populations as well as the underlying mechanisms of facial emotion processing within and across cultures. Given that most entries in emotional facial stimuli databases were developed with western samples, and given that very few of the eastern emotional facial stimuli sets were based strictly on the Ekman's Facial Action Coding System, developing valid emotional facial stimuli of eastern samples remains a high priority. Aims: To develop and examine the psychometric properties of six basic emotional facial stimuli recruiting professional Korean actors and actresses based on the Ekman's Facial Action Coding System for the Korea University Facial Expression Collection-Second Edition (KUFEC-II). Materials And Methods: Stimulus selection was done in two phases. First, researchers evaluated the clarity and intensity of each stimulus developed based on the Facial Action Coding System. Second, researchers selected a total of 399 stimuli from a total of 57 actors and actresses, which were then rated on accuracy, intensity, valence, and arousal by 75 independent raters. Conclusion: The hit rates between the targeted and rated expressions of the KUFEC-II were all above 80%, except for fear (50%) and disgust (63%). The KUFEC-II appears to be a valid emotional facial stimuli database, providing the largest set of emotional facial stimuli. The mean intensity score was 5.63 (out of 7), suggesting that the stimuli delivered the targeted emotions with great intensity. All positive expressions were rated as having a high positive valence, whereas all negative expressions were rated as having a high negative valence. The KUFEC II is expected to be widely used in various psychological studies on emotional facial expression. KUFEC-II stimuli can be obtained through contacting the corresponding authors.