PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship between plasma TDRD7 mRNA and lens transparency, and to evaluate plasma TDRD7 mRNA as a potential marker for cataracts and its sub-type by quantitatively analyzing human peripheral blood. METHODS: Plasma RNA was extracted from 40 patients with cataracts, and 30 normal controls of matched age and gender. Blood cholesterol and fasting glucose were measured, and the RNA extracted from the sample was synthesized into cDNA. After polymerase chain reaction, the results were compared after quantifying the TDRD7 mRNA using ABL1 mRNA for normalization. We analyzed the relative gene expression data via the DeltaDeltaCt method. RESULTS: The normalized 2(-DeltaDeltaCt) of plasma TDRD7 mRNA based on ABL1 mRNA was 1.52 ± 0.63 in the case of the control group and 1.05 ± 0.34 in the case of the cataract patients, and the TDRD7 expression level of the cataract patients was lower than that of the control group (p = 0.048). The comparison of the genetic values of different types of cataracts demonstrated that the TDRD7 expression level of the cortical type and mixed type were lower than those of the nuclear type and posterior subcapsular opacity type (p = 0.017). CONCLUSIONS: Human cataracts and the TDRD7 gene loss-of-function mutations are strongly causally related, as the expression level of plasma TDRD7 mRNA in patients with cataracts was statistically significantly lower than in the normal control group.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Cataract/*blood ; Child ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation/*physiology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-abl/genetics ; RNA, Messenger/*blood ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Ribonucleoproteins/*genetics

The purpose of this study is to investigate domestic and international research trends in studies of medical students' characteristics by using the scoping review methods. This study adopted the scoping review to assess papers on the characteristics of medical students. The procedure of research was carried out according to the five steps of the scoping review. The full texts of 100 papers are obtained and are read closely, after which suitable 88 papers are extracted by us for this research. The review is mapped by the year of the study, source, location, author, research design, research subject, objective, and key results. The frequency is analyzed by using Microsoft Excel and SPSS. We found 70 papers (79.5%) on a single medical school, 15 (17.0%) on multiple medical schools, and three (3.4%) on mixed schools, including medical and nonmedical schools. Sixty-nine (79.5%) were cross-sectional studies and 18 (20.5%) were longitudinal studies. Eighty-two papers (93.2%) adopted questionnaire surveys. We summarized research trends of studies on medical students in Korea and overseas by topic, and mapped them into physical health, mental health, psychological characteristics, cognitive characteristics, social characteristics, and career. This study provides insights into the future directions of research for the characteristics of medical students.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Humans ; Korea ; Longitudinal Studies ; Mental Health ; Research Design ; Research Subjects ; Schools, Medical ; Sociological Factors ; Students, Medical

Purpose: Today's students have distinctive generational characteristics and increased psychopathology and generational tension. The authors investigated the negative experiences of Late Millennial students in medical school to draw implications for student support. Methods: The authors explored medical students’ negative experiences using the critical incident technique. The authors conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with 13 medical students, between February and May 2016. The authors focused on occurrences that significantly influenced medical students’ school lives negatively from the students’ perspective. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. The authors classified incidents into frames of reference for the use of faculty development for student support. Results: The authors extracted 22 themes from a total 334 codes and classified them into eight subcategories. Finally, four categories emerged from frames of reference. Students manipulate relationships and colluding for better specialty choice. They experience uncontrolled rifts in interpersonal relationships between peers including lawsuits, sexual assaults, and social network service conflicts. Today’s students feel resentment towards dependent hierarchical relationships with seniors. They struggle with gender discrimination but perpetuate outdated gender role toward the opposite gender. Conclusion Faculty members should understand today’s students’ level of career stress and desire for work life balance. They should motivate students’ professional identity, promote assertiveness against unfair authorities, and focus on mental health, teamwork, and relationship building. All generations need to understand other generations and develop appropriate leadership and gender sensitivity.

Stress-induced cardiomyopathy, known as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, is a newly described clinical entity characterized by transient left ventricular apical ballooning and left ventricular apical dyskinesis, with no significant stenosis on the coronary angiogram. We describe a patient who had transient cardiomyopathy with akinesia of the basal portions of the left ventricle and hyperkinesia of the apex. This is the first case of stress-induced cardiomyopathy with an "inverted Takotsubo" contractile pattern triggered by emotional stress in Korea. The cause of stress-induced cardiomyopathy is unclear, but catecholamines probably play a role in this syndrome. This entity could provide clues to the pathophysiology underlying stress-induced cardiomyopathy.
Cardiomyopathies ; Catecholamines ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Hyperkinesis ; Korea ; Stress, Psychological ; Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy

Recently, the world's first transgenic dogs were produced by somatic cell nuclear transfer. However, cellular senescence is a major limiting factor for producing more advanced transgenic dogs. To overcome this obstacle, we rejuvenated transgenic cells using a re-cloning technique. Fibroblasts from post-mortem red fluorescent protein (RFP) dog were reconstructed with in vivo matured oocytes and transferred into 10 surrogate dogs. One puppy was produced and confirmed as a re-cloned dog. Although the puppy was lost during birth, we successfully established a rejuvenated fibroblast cell line from this animal. The cell line was found to stably express RFP and is ready for additional genetic modification.
Animals ; Animals, Genetically Modified ; Cloning, Organism/methods/*veterinary ; Dogs/*genetics ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Tract/metabolism ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Kidney/metabolism ; Liver/metabolism ; Luminescent Proteins/*genetics/metabolism ; Lung/metabolism ; Male ; Myocardium/metabolism ; Nuclear Transfer Techniques/veterinary ; Spleen/metabolism ; Trachea/metabolism

Somatic cell nuclear transfer allows generation of genetically identical animals using donor cells derived from animals with particular traits. To date, few studies have investigated whether or not these cloned dogs will show identical behavior patterns. To address this question, learning, memory and exploratory patterns were examined using six cloned dogs with identical nuclear genomes. The variance of total incorrect choice number in the Y-maze test among cloned dogs was significantly lower than that of the control dogs. There was also a significant decrease in variance in the level of exploratory activity in the open fields test compared to age-matched control dogs. These results indicate that cloned dogs show similar cognitive and exploratory patterns, suggesting that these behavioral phenotypes are related to the genotypes of the individuals.
Animals ; Clone Cells* ; Dogs* ; Genome ; Genotype ; Humans ; Learning* ; Memory* ; Phenotype ; Tissue Donors

Background: and Purpose: Previous studies suggest that cognitive intervention can mitigate the development of dementia in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, the previous cognitive intervention was mostly provided as a group session, in which MCI patients sometimes had difficulty in regularly attending sessions or were reluctant to participate in group-based classes. Additionally, experienced instructors for traditional cognitive intervention may be unavailable in some chronic-care facilities or community centers. Considering these reasons, we have developed 5 programs for home-based cognitive intervention using a personal robot for MCI patients. In this preliminary study, we aimed to demonstrate the effects of our newly developed home-based cognitive intervention with robots on cognitive function in MCI patients. Methods: We conducted a single-blind randomized controlled trial enrolling 46 MCI patients. Participants were randomized into 2 groups: the robot cognitive intervention (robot) (n=24) group and without cognitive intervention (control) (n=22) group. The interventions comprised 60-min sessions per day for 4 weeks. The primary outcome was the change in cognitive function measured using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. Results: There were no significant baseline demographic or clinical differences between the robot and control groups. After the 4-week cognitive intervention, the robot group showed greater improvement in working memory than did the control group. Conclusions Our home-based cognitive intervention with a personal robot improved the working memory in MCI patients. Further studies with larger samples and longer study periods are required to demonstrate the effects of these programs in other cognitive domains in MCI patients.

Pelvic actionomycosis is a chronic suppurative and granulomatous disease with multiple abscess and draining sinus tracts caused by Actinomyces, a Gram-positive, non-acid-fast, anaerobic bacterium. Actinomycosis is a rare disease, especially in the female genital tract, which is confused with malignancy and other inflammatory diseases because of its infiltrative nature and its tendency to invade normal anatomic barriers. We have experienced a case of pelvic actinomycosis with intestinal fistula and report it with brief review of literatures.
Abscess ; Actinomyces ; Actinomycosis* ; Female ; Humans ; Intestinal Fistula* ; Rare Diseases

PURPOSE: Acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI), which is frequently encountered in pediatric patients, is the leading cause of hospitalization. We aimed to identify particular cytokines that correlated with ALRI clinical characteristics. We also aimed to identify any differences in cytokines between respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-related ALRI and non-RSV-related ALRI. METHODS: Cytokine levels were measured in the sera sampled from 103 pediatric patients diagnosed with ALRI and admitted to Seoul St. Mary's Hospital between May 2012 and April 2013. The correlations between cytokine levels and the length of hospitalization, the number of days with fever, body temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate, oxygen saturation upon admission, and duration of oxygen supplementation were analyzed. RESULTS: In children with ALRI, the level of interleukin (IL)-6, granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), and IL-10 were correlated with a higher body temperature on admission. In addition, the IL-8 level was correlated with pulse rate and respiration rate, and IL-1β level was related with oxygen saturation on admission. In children with RSV-related ALRI, the IL-6 was correlated the with duration of fever, and the IL-1β, IL-2, and IL-8 levels were related to pulse rate and respiration rate. In addition, the increase in interferon-gamma-inducible protein-10 (IP-10) level was correlated with a higher body temperature on admission and a longer duration of hospitalization in children with RSV-related ALRI. CONCLUSION: In children with ALRI, the levels of IL-6, IL-8, IL-1β, G-CSF, and IP-10 were correlated with its clinical features. In children with RSV-related ALRI, the IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, and IP-10 level was correlated with the severity of the disease.
Body Temperature ; Child* ; Cytokines* ; Fever ; Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor ; Heart Rate ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Interleukin-10 ; Interleukin-2 ; Interleukin-6 ; Interleukin-8 ; Interleukins ; Oxygen ; Respiratory Rate ; Respiratory Syncytial Viruses ; Seoul