Oral allergy syndrome (OAS) is a subtype of food allergy composing of itching sense and edema in the oral cavity, lips, throat, pharynx, and larynx following ingestion of some fresh fruits or vegetables. Although the major pathogenic mechanism of OAS is known to be IgE-mediated response, here we experienced a case of OAS due to crown daisy (CD) and sesame leaf (SL) mediated by a non-IgE antibody mediated mechanism. A 33-year-old female visited our clinic to evaluate numbness of the tongue and gingiva after eating fresh CD and SL for 2 years. The patient had suffered from allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis for 20 years and took medications intermittently. There had been a history of food allergy to crab and shrimp. The serum total IgE level was elevated (404 kU/mL). The skin prick test showed strong positive reactions to tree and weed pollens, but not to CD and SL extracts. Enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay for detecting serum specific IgE to crude extracts of CD and SL showed negative results. The basophil activation test performed with crude extracts of CD or SL showed significant up-regulation of CD63-positive basophils by both CD and SL. In conclusion, we report a case of OAS due to CD and SL, not associated with pollen allergy, which is shown to be mediated by a non-IgE mediated mechanism.
Adult ; Basophils ; Complex Mixtures ; Crowns* ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Eating ; Edema ; Female ; Food Hypersensitivity ; Fruit ; Gingiva ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity* ; Hypesthesia ; Immunoglobulin E ; Larynx ; Lip ; Mouth ; Pharynx ; Pollen ; Pruritus ; Rhinitis ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal ; Sesamum* ; Skin ; Tongue ; Up-Regulation ; Vegetables

Deep learning (DL) is a kind of machine learning technique that uses artificial intelligence to identify the characteristics of given data and efficiently analyze large amounts of information to perform tasks such as classification and prediction. In the field of neuroimaging of neurodevelopmental disorders, various biomarkers for diagnosis, classification, prognosis prediction, and treatment response prediction have been examined; however, they have not been efficiently combined to produce meaningful results. DL can be applied to overcome these limitations and produce clinically helpful results. Here, we review studies that combine neurodevelopmental disorder neuroimaging and DL techniques to explore the strengths, limitations, and future directions of this research area.

This study aimed to investigate if glycated hemoglobin (HgbA1C) as compared to fasting blood glucose is better for reflecting cardiometabolic risk in non-diabetic Korean women. Fasting glucose, HgbA1C and lipid profiles were measured in non-diabetic women without disease (n = 91). The relationships of fasting glucose or HgbA1C with anthropometric parameters, lipid profiles, and liver and kidney functions were analyzed. Both fasting glucose and HgbA1C were negatively correlated with HDL-cholesterol (r = -0.287, p = 0.006; r = -0.261, p = 0.012), and positively correlated with age (r = 0.202, p = 0.008; r = 0.221, p = 0.035), waist circumference (r = 0.296, p = 0.005; r = 0.304, p = 0.004), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (r = 0.206, p = 0.050; r = 0.225, p = 0.032), aspartate transaminase (AST) (r = 0.237, p = 0.024; r = 0.368, p < 0.0001), alanine transaminase (ALT) (r = 0.296, p = 0.004; r = 0.356, p = 0.001), lipid profiles including triglyceride (r = 0.372, p < 0.001; r = 0.208, p = 0.008), LDL-cholesterol (r = 0.315, p = 0.002; r = 0.373, p < 0.0001) and total cholesterol (r = 0.310, p = 0.003; r = 0.284, p = 0.006). When adjusted for age and body mass index, significant relationships of DBP (r = 0.190, p = 0.049), AST (r = 0.262, p = 0.018), ALT (r = 0.277, p = 0.012), and HDL-cholesterol (r = -0.202, p = 0.049) with HgbA1C were still retained, but those with fasting glucose disappeared. In addition, the adjusted relationships of LDL-cholesterol and total cholesterol with HgbA1C were much greater than those with fasting glucose. These results suggest that glycated hemoglobin may be a better predictor than fasting glucose for cardiometabolic risk in non-diabetic Korean women.
Alanine Transaminase ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; Blood Glucose ; Blood Pressure ; Body Mass Index ; Cholesterol ; Fasting* ; Female ; Glucose* ; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated* ; Humans ; Kidney ; Liver ; Triglycerides ; Waist Circumference

Diabetes and impaired fasting glucose are associated with incidence of cerebro-/cardio-vascular diseases. This study hypothesized that fasting glycemic status may reflect cerebrovascular risk in non-diabetic Koreans. Fasting glycemic status, lipid profiles, oxidative stress, and inflammation markers were measured in non-diabetic subjects (healthy controls, n = 112 and stroke n = 41). Systolic blood pressure, fasting glucose, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C), triglycerides, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CPR), interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha were higher, and high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterols were lower in patients with stroke than healthy controls. Fasting glucose positively correlated with hs-CRP, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, oxidized low density lipoprotein (LDL) and malondialdehyde. The significances continued or at least turned to a trend after adjustments for confounding factors. Multiple regression analyses revealed that fasting glucose was mainly associated with cerebrovascular risk (beta'-coefficient = 0.284, p < 0.0001) together with age, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, hs-CRP, body mass index, dietary poly unsaturated fatty acid/saturated fatty acid (PUFA/SFA), and HbA1C (r2 = 0.634, p = 0.044). The subjects were subdivided by their fasting glucose levels [normal fasting glucose: 70-99 mg/dL, n = 91 [NFG-control] and n = 27 [NFG-stroke]; higher fasting glucose: 100-125 mg/dL, n = 21 [HFG-control] and n = 14 [HFG-stroke]). In both controls and stroke patients, HFG groups show higher triglyceride, total- and LDL-cholesterol and lower HDL-cholesterol than NFG groups. Control-HFG group showed significantly higher levels of oxidative stress and inflammation than control-NFG group. Stroke-HFG group also showed significantly higher inflammatory levels than stroke-NFG group, moreover the highest among the groups. Additionally, stroke-NFG group consumed higher PUFA/SFA than stroke-HFG group. Fasting glucose may be a useful indicator for cerebrovascular risk in non-diabetic individuals which may be mediated by oxidative stress and inflammation status.
Blood Pressure ; Body Mass Index ; C-Reactive Protein ; Cholesterol ; Fasting* ; Glucose* ; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated ; Humans ; Incidence ; Inflammation* ; Interleukin-6 ; Lipoproteins ; Malondialdehyde ; Oxidative Stress* ; Stroke ; Triglycerides ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

OBJECTIVES: Nurses and social workers are key persons connecting patients with psychotic disorders to psychiatric treatment. This study investigated the attitude of college students majoring in nursing science and social welfare toward psychiatric medication and stigma toward the mentally ill. METHODS: The study enrolled 553 college students (369 nursing science, 184 social welfare). We administered a five-item questionnaire to assess attitude toward psychiatric medication and a 20-item scale to assess stigma (prejudice regarding the dangerousness of the mentally ill and discrimination against the mentally ill). Factors associated with attitude toward psychiatric medication were identified. In addition, the stigma scale scores were compared with each item on attitude toward psychiatric medication. RESULTS: In the multivariate analysis, students majoring in social welfare had a significantly poorer attitude toward psychiatric medication than those majoring in nursing science. Age, senior grade, and experience to contact the mentally ill were also significantly associated with a good attitude toward medication, while attending psychiatry lectures, having a religion, and gender were not significantly associated with attitude toward psychiatric medication, although they showed relationships in the univariate analyses. For three of the five items, a negative attitude toward psychiatric medication was significantly associated with higher scores on the prejudice and discrimination scales. CONCLUSION: Prejudice toward and discrimination against the mentally ill are closely associated with a negative attitude toward psychiatric medication. An anti-stigma campaign should be developed that includes education to promote knowledge about psychiatric medications and reduce the stigma against the mentally ill. In addition, our findings suggest that experience to contact the mentally ill might improve attitudes toward psychiatric medication.
Dangerous Behavior ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Education ; Humans ; Lectures ; Mentally Ill Persons ; Multivariate Analysis ; Nursing* ; Prejudice ; Psychotic Disorders ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Schizophrenia ; Social Welfare* ; Social Workers ; Weights and Measures

The present study was performed to evaluate the stress distribution on the diameter of the mini-implant and insertion angle to the bone surface. To perform three dimensional finite element analysis, a hexadron of 15 x 15 x 20 mm3 was used, with a 1.0 mm width of cortical bone. Mini-implants of 8 mm length and 1.2 mm, 1.6 mm, and 2.0 mm in diameter were inserted at 90 degrees, 75 degrees, 60 degrees, 45 degrees, and 30 degrees to the bone surface. Two hundred grams of horizontal force was applied to the center of the mini-implant head and stress distribution and its magnitude were analyzed by ANSYS, a three dimensional finite element analysis program. The findings of this study showed that maximum von Mises stresses in the mini-implant and cortical and cancellous bone were decreased as the diameter increased from 1.2 mm to 2.0 mm with no relation to the insertion angle. Analysis of the stress distribution in the cortical and cancellous bone showed that the stress was absorbed mostly in the cortical bone, and little was transmitted to the cancellous bone. The contact area increased according to the increased diameter and decreased insertion angle to the bone surface, but maximum von Mises stress in cortical bone was more significantly related with the contact point of the mini-implant into the cortical bone surface than the insertion angle to the bone surface. The above results suggest that the maintenance of the mini-implant is more closely related with the diameter and contact point of the mini-implant into the cortical bone surface rather than the insertion angle.
Finite Element Analysis* ; Head

Educational evaluation involves data collection and the analysis of various education-related factors to make decisions that improve educational quality. Systematic educational evaluation is essential for enhancing the quality of education. This study reports a case of student-conducted process evaluation of a medical school’s student support system and the procedure for devising improvement plans. Sixteen Inje University College of Medicine students participated in the Education Evaluation Committee (IUCM-EEC) to understand the educational improvement process as learners and actively achieve improvement. The Quality Improvement Committee of the Inje University College of Medicine (IUCM-QIC) decided to reform its student support system based on a previous educational evaluation in 2019. The evaluation of the student support system was conducted for 10 months in 2021 by the student subcommittee, under the guidance of the IUCM-EEC. The CIPP (context-input-process-product) evaluation model was used for a systematic evaluation. Accordingly, the subcommittee developed evaluation criteria and indicators, and analyzed relevant data collected from surveys and the previous literature. For further recommendations and revision ideas, the student subcommittee members interviewed faculty members from six other medical schools and also conducted a focus group interview with the dean and vice deans of IUCM. Finally, the student subcommittee submitted a report to the IUCM-QIC. Communication with various stakeholders is essential for a successful evaluation process. In this case, students, as key stakeholders in education, evaluated the student support system. Their active participation helped improve their understanding of the evaluation process.

PURPOSE: The clinical interpretation of children sensitized to allergens is challenging, particularly in children with food allergies. We aimed to examine clinical differences between children with monosensitization and those with polysensitization to common food allergens and to determine risk factors for polysensitization in young children <10 years of age with immediate-type food allergies. METHODS: The study included children <10 years of age with signs and symptoms indicative of immediate-type food allergies. Serum total IgE level was measured, and ImmunoCAP analysis for food allergens was performed. RESULTS: The mean age of the study subjects was 1.6+/-1.6 years (75 boys and 51 girls). Thirty-eight children (30.2%) were monosensitized and 88 children (69.8%) were polysensitized. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the development of polysensitization to common food allergens was positively associated with a parental history of allergic rhinitis (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 6.28; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.78-22.13; P=0.004), season of birth (summer/fall) (aOR, 3.10; 95% CI, 1.10-8.79; P=0.033), and exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months of age (aOR, 3.51; 95% CI, 1.20-10.25; P=0.022). CONCLUSION: We found significant clinical differences between children with monosensitization and those with polysensitization to common food allergens and identified risk factors for the development of polysensitization in young children with immediate-type food allergies. Clinicians should consider these clinical risk factors when evaluating, counseling, treating, and monitoring young children with food allergies.
Allergens ; Breast Feeding ; Child* ; Counseling ; Food Hypersensitivity* ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; Logistic Models ; Odds Ratio ; Parents ; Parturition ; Rhinitis ; Risk Factors ; Seasons

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of an instrument devised for slit-lamp examination of donor corneas suspended in preservation medium. Methods: The study examined two donor corneas received at Yeouido St. Mary's Hospital in February 2023 and March 2023. The instrument has three main components: a plastic holder to hold the preservation medium bottle, a cube with a mirror for reflecting the slit beam, and a stand to attach the device to the slit-lamp. Using the instrument, the donor corneas were examined via slit-lamp: microscopy with the endothelium facing upward and downward. Specular microscopy and anterior segment optical coherence tomography (OCT) were also performed on the preserved donor corneas. Results: Slit-lamp examination of donor corneas in preservation medium using the instrument showed overall corneal buttoning and optical sections of the donor cornea. Using specular reflection and retroillumination, the endothelial layer was partially visible. However, specular microscopy and anterior segment OCT could not examine the donor cornea in preservation medium using the instrument. Conclusions The devised instrument facilitates slit-lamp examination of donor corneas in preservation medium, enabling a qualitative assessment of donor corneas before corneal transplantation surgery.