0.05). The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) was 0.922 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.89–0.95]. In external validation, the discrimination was good, with an AUC value of 0.833 (95% CI 0.70–0.92) for this model. Nomogram calibration plots indicated good agreement between the predicted and observed outcomes, exhibiting close approximation between the predicted and observed probability.CONCLUSION: We constructed a scoring model for predicting massive transfusion during cesarean section in women with placenta previa. This model may help in determining the need to prepare an appropriate amount of blood products and the optimal timing of blood transfusion.]]>
Area Under Curve ; Blood Transfusion ; Calibration ; Cesarean Section ; Cohort Studies ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Early Intervention (Education) ; Erythrocytes ; Female ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Maternal Age ; Nomograms ; Placenta Previa ; Placenta ; Placentation ; Postpartum Hemorrhage ; Pregnancy ; ROC Curve ; Ultrasonography

Neuroinflammation is an important process underlying a wide variety of neurodegenerative diseases. Carvacrol (CAR) is a phenolic monoterpene commonly used as a food additive due to its antibacterial properties, but it has also been shown to exhibit strong antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective effects. Here, we sought to investigate the effects of CAR on inflammation in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, as well as the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects. In our study, lipopolysaccharide was injected into the lateral ventricle of rats to induce memory impairment and neuroinflammation. Daily administration of CAR (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg) for 21 days improved recognition, discrimination, and memory impairments relative to untreated controls. CAR administration significantly attenuated expression of several inflammatory factors in the brain, including interleukin-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α, and cyclooxygenase-2. In addition, CAR significantly increased expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA, and decreased expression of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) mRNA. Taken together, these results show that CAR can improve memory impairment caused by neuroinflammation. This cognitive enhancement is due to the anti-inflammatory effects of CAR medicated by its regulation of BDNF and TLR4. Thus, CAR has significant potential as an inhibitor of memory degeneration in neurodegenerative diseases.
Animals ; Brain ; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; Cytokines ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Food Additives ; Hippocampus ; Inflammation ; Lateral Ventricles ; Lipopolysaccharides ; Memory ; Necrosis ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; Neuroprotective Agents ; Phenol ; Prefrontal Cortex ; Rats ; RNA, Messenger ; Toll-Like Receptor 4

BACKGROUND: Discrimination is a representative social determinant of health. Presenteeism is defined as presenting to work despite of illness and is an indicator of group health. We investigated the association of discrimination and presenteeism with cardiovascular disease using Korean data. METHODS: This study used the fourth Korea Working Conditions Survey (2014) data of 27,662 wage workers (employees). Presenteeism and discrimination related to age, sex, education, birth region, and employment type were ascertained. Self-reported cardiovascular disease was also assessed using the survey questionnaire. General and occupational characteristics found to be significant in univariate analyses were entered into a multivariate logistic regression analysis of the association of discrimination and presenteeism with cardiovascular disease. We also calculated the odds ratios of multiple discriminations and/or presenteeism for cardiovascular disease. RESULTS: In the univariate analyses, sex, age, education, monthly income, employment type, occupation, hours worked per week, workplace scale, and shift work were significantly associated with cardiovascular disease. A multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for general and occupational characteristics showed that discrimination and presenteeism were significantly associated with cardiovascular disease. Finally, the association with cardiovascular disease was strongest when both multiple discriminations and presenteeism were present. CONCLUSIONS: Discrimination and presenteeism are associated with cardiovascular disease, and this association was stronger in the presence of multiple types of discrimination and presenteeism.
Cardiovascular Diseases ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Education ; Employment ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Occupations ; Odds Ratio ; Parturition ; Presenteeism ; Salaries and Fringe Benefits

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study is to evaluate the risk of exposure to second hand smoke (SHS) during working hours by job status and occupation. METHODS: Using the 4th Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS), 49,674 respondents who answered the question about SHS were studied. A chi-square test was carried out to determine whether there is a significant different in SHS exposure frequency by general and occupational characteristics and experience of discrimination at work and logistic regression analysis was carried out to identify the risk level of SHS exposure by variables. RESULTS: In this study, we found that male workers in their 40s and 50s, workers employed in workplaces with fewer than 50 employees, daily workers, and people working outdoors had a higher rate of exposure to SHS than the others. The top five occupations with the highest SHS exposure were construction and mining-related occupations, metal core-makers-related trade occupations, wood and furniture, musical instrument, and signboard-related trade occupations, transport and machine-related trade occupations, transport and leisure services occupations. The least five exposed occupations were public and enterprise senior officers, legal and administrative professions, education professionals, and health, social welfare, and religion-related occupations. CONCLUSION: Tobacco smoke is a significant occupational hazard. Smoking ban policy in the workplace can be a very effective way to reduce the SHS exposure rate in the workplace and can be more effective if specifically designed by the job status and various occupations.
Discrimination (Psychology) ; Education ; Humans ; Interior Design and Furnishings ; Leisure Activities ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Music ; Occupations ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Social Welfare ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Tobacco ; Tobacco Smoke Pollution ; Wood

BACKGROUND: Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) has the potential to serve as a non-invasive prognostic biomarker in some types of neoplasia. The investigation of plasma concentration of cfDNA may reveal its use as a valuable biomarker for risk stratification of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The present prognostic value of plasma cfDNA has not been widely confirmed in DLBCL subjects. Here, we evaluated cfDNA plasma concentration and assessed its potential prognostic value as an early DLBCL diagnostic tool. METHODS: cfDNA concentrations in plasma samples from 40 patients with DLBCL during diagnosis and of 38 normal controls were determined with quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) for the multi-locus L1PA2 gene. RESULTS: Statistically significant elevation in plasma cfDNA concentrations was observed in patients with DLBCL as compared to that in normal controls (P<0.05). A cutoff point of 2.071 ng/mL provided 82.5% sensitivity and 62.8% specificity and allowed successful discrimination of patients with DLBCL from normal controls (area under the curve=0.777; P=0.00003). Furthermore, patients with DLBCL showing higher concentrations of cfDNA had shorter overall survival (median, 9 mo; P=0.022) than those with lower cfDNA levels. In addition, elevated cfDNA concentration was significantly associated with age, B-symptoms, International Prognostic Index (IPI) score, and different stages of disease (all P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Quantification of cfDNA with qPCR at the time of diagnosis may allow identification of patients with high cfDNA concentration, which correlates with aggressive clinical outcomes and adverse prognosis.
B-Lymphocytes ; Diagnosis ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; DNA ; Humans ; Lymphoma, B-Cell ; Plasma ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prognosis ; Sensitivity and Specificity

PURPOSE: This study analyzed a path through which factors influencing death anxiety in the community-dwelling elderly, assuming personal organismic factors and microsystemic factors based on the ecology model purported by Belsky (1980). METHODS: This study was performed with 189 elderly people. Data were collected through a self-report questionnaire. The data were analyzed using the SPSS and AMOS programs. RESULTS: The factors influencing death anxiety in the elderly were depression, family support, social network, and familism value, and the explanatory power of these variables was 22%. Death anxiety increased with higher depression, higher familism value, larger social network, and lower family support. Spiritual well-being and elderly discrimination experience had indirect effects on death anxiety, and these effects were mediated by depression. CONCLUSION: Depression, family support, social network, and familism value were found to influence death anxiety in the elderly, and the strongest effect came from depression. To reduce death anxiety in the elderly, it is important to improve their relationship with their family and friends. Moreover, support should be provided by establishing local systems, and intervention should be provided to alleviate depression.
Aged ; Anxiety ; Depression ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Ecology ; Friends ; Humans

Various commercial assays have recently been developed for detecting glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) and/or toxin A/B to diagnose Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). We compared the performance of two assays for the simultaneous detection of C. difficile GDH and toxin A/B, using 150 stool samples: C. DIFF QUIK CHEK COMPLETE (QCC; TechLab, Blacksburg, VA, USA) and RIDASCREEN Clostridium difficile GDH (RC-GDH) and Toxin A/B (RC-Toxin A/B; R-Biopharm, Darmstadt, Germany). For GDH detection, QCC and RC-GDH showed satisfactory sensitivity (95.7% and 94.3%, respectively) and specificity (92.5% and 93.8%, respectively) compared with C. difficile culture. For toxin A/B detection, QCC showed higher sensitivity than RC-Toxin A/B (60.0% vs 33.3%, P < 0.001) compared with toxigenic C. difficile culture. When the results of QCC or RC-GDH+RC-Toxin A/B were used as the first step of a two-step algorithm for diagnosing CDI, QCC permitted more accurate discrimination than RC of positive or negative results for CDI (77.3% and 65.3%, respectively). QCC is useful for the simultaneous detection of C. difficile GDH and toxin A/B as a part of the two-step algorithm for diagnosing CDI.
Clostridium difficile ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Glutamate Dehydrogenase ; Glutamic Acid ; Sensitivity and Specificity

BACKGROUND: Biportal endoscopic spine surgery (BESS) is a recent addition to minimally invasive spine surgery treatments. It boasts excellent magnification and fine discrimination of neural structures. Selective decompression with preservation of facet joints for structural stability is also feasible owing to access to the spinal canal and foramen deeper inside. This study has a purpose to investigate clinical benefits of BESS for spinal stenosis in comparison to the other common surgical treatments such as microscopic decompression-only (DO) and fusion and instrumentation (FI). METHODS: From December 2013 to March 2015, 30 cases of DO, 48 cases of FI, and 66 consecutive cases of BESS for lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) were enrolled to evaluate the relative clinical efficacy of BESS. Visual analog scale (VAS) for back pain and leg pain, postoperative hemoglobin, C-reactive protein (CRP) changes, transfusion, and postoperative complications were examined. RESULTS: All the patients were followed up until 6 months, and 98 patients (86.7%) for 2 years. At the 6-month follow-up, VAS for back pain improved from 6.8 to 2.8, 6.8 to 3.2, and 6.8 to 2.8 (p = 0.078) for BESS, DO, and FI, respectively; VAS for leg pain improved from 6.3 to 2.2, 7.0 to 2.5, and 7.2 to 2.5 (p = 0.291), respectively. Two cases in the BESS group underwent additional foraminal decompression, but no fusion surgery was performed. Postoperative hemoglobin changes for BESS, DO, and FI were −2.5, −2.4, and −1.3 mL, respectively. The BESS group had no transfusion cases, whereas 10 cases (33.3%) in DO and 41 cases (85.4%) in FI had transfusion (p = 0.000). CRP changes for BESS, DO, and FI were 0.32, 6.53, and 6.00, respectively, at day 2 postoperatively (p = 0.000); the complication rate for each group was 8.6% (two dural tears and one root injury), 6.7% (two dural tears), and 8.3% (two dural tears and two wound infections), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: BESS for LSS showed clinical results not inferior to those of the other open surgery methods in the short-term. Stable hemodynamic changes with no need for blood transfusion and minimal changes in CRP were thought to cause less injury to the back muscles with minimal bleeding. Foraminal stenosis decompression should be simultaneously conducted with central decompression to avoid an additional surgery.
Back Muscles ; Back Pain ; Blood Transfusion ; C-Reactive Protein ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Decompression ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Endoscopy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemodynamics ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Leg ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures ; Pain, Postoperative ; Postoperative Complications ; Spinal Canal ; Spinal Stenosis ; Spine ; Tears ; Treatment Outcome ; Visual Analog Scale ; Wounds and Injuries ; Zygapophyseal Joint

PURPOSE: Many patients with cytology proven node-positive breast cancer receive a neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) treatment. We developed a nomogram to predict the breast and axillary pathologic complete responses (pCR) in patients with a cytologically proven axillary node positive breast cancer with NAC. METHODS: We selected 995 patients who were diagnosed with an invasive breast cancer and axillary lymph nodes metastasis, and who were treated with NAC followed by a curative surgery at the Samsung Medical Center between January 2007 and December 2014. The baseline patient and tumor characteristics, chemotherapy regimen, and tumor and nodal responses were thoroughly analyzed and reviewed. A nomogram was developed using a binary logistic regression model with a cross validation. RESULTS: Axillary pCR was achieved in 47.3% and breast pCR was achieved in 24.3% of the patients after NAC. In this case, the both pCR was associated with an initial clinical tumor stage, negative progesterone receptor status, positive human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 status, and clinical radiologic nodal responses. A nomogram was developed based on the clinical and statistically significant predictors. It had good discrimination performance (area under the curve [AUC], 0.868; 95% confidence interval, 0.84–0.89) and calibration fit as noted in that case. The cross validation had an average AUC 0.853 (0.837–0.869). CONCLUSION: Our nomogram might help to predict breast and axillary pCRs after NAC in patients with an initially node-positive breast cancer. Minimal surgery might be acceptable in patients for whom the nomogram indicates a high probability of achieving pCRs.
Area Under Curve ; Breast Neoplasms ; Breast ; Calibration ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Nomograms ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; Receptors, Progesterone

PURPOSE: The Maternal Role Attainment Scale Form B (MRAS-Form B) was developed based on Mercer's theory and widely used to assess maternal role attainment among Thai mothers in hospitals. To assess the maternal identity among primiparous adolescent mothers in communities, MRAS-Form B remains indistinguishable due to differences in both mothers' ages and circumstances andwas modified to the Maternal Identity Scale (MIS). Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of the MIS. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 397 primiparous Thai teenagers residing with their infants aged 4−12 months. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to confirm the construct validity using Mplus Software. RESULTS: The overall model provided fit well to the empirical data (χ²/df = 2.23, comparative fit index = .93, TuckereLewis index = .92, root mean square error of approximation = .06, standardized root mean square residual = .05). About 33−66% of the variance among MIS items could be explained by three constructs of maternal identity. Convergent validity showed item loadings ranging from .58 to .81; in addition, average variance extracted and composite reliability ranged from .44 to .54 and .82 to .92, respectively. Discriminant validity correlations between constructs were ranging from .74 to .87. The MIS exhibited very good item discrimination values (.52 ≤ corrected item-total correlation ≤.70) and an excellent reliability (Cronbach's α = .95). CONCLUSION: Appropriately for community health nursing, the MIS was a valid and reliable tool, assessing maternal identity among primiparous teenage mothers one year after delivery.
Adolescent ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Community Health Nursing ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Factor Analysis, Statistical ; Humans ; Infant ; Mothers ; Postpartum Period ; Reproducibility of Results