PURPOSE: This study was performed to assess the degree of cognitive function of elderly by MMSE-K performances and of that effect. METHOD: The subjects were 185 aged over 65 in Daejeon Metropolitan city. Data were collected through personal interview using the questionnaire from 10 to 31, Jan.. 2003. The measures were Korean version of Mini-Mental State Examination(MMSE-K). RESULTS: The mean score of MMSE-K was 22.60+/-5.39. The prevalence of cognitive impairment was estimated as 48.6% by MMSE-K < or =23 and significantly age, gender, and education effect. The subtype score of MMSE-K were significantly lower in female group in each items : orientation in time and place, attention/calculation, language except registration and recall. And the scores were significantly lower in the older group and non-educated group in the all items of MMSE-K. CONCLUSION: Gender, age, and education showed significant effects on total and subtype MMSE-K score. Cognitive function decline were higher in female, older age group, and non-educated group. Therefore, those three factors are thought to be one of important risk factors for development of dementia, also it is assumed to be affected by other variables than age, gender, education effect.
Aged* ; Dementia ; Education ; Female ; Humans ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Risk Factors

PURPOSE: In the field of pediatric surgery, neonatal surgery occupies a special portion and has clinical varieties. Recently many associated physicians, such as pediatric surgeons, neonatologists, anesthetists, pathologists and radiologists, work collaboratively for care. This study was designed to identify characteristics of neonatal surgery based on clinical experiences in a single institute. METHODS: Neonates receiving operation during a 5-year period between Jan. 2003 and Dec. 2007 in Pusan National University Children's Hospital were reviewed. Patients were divided into 2 groups of age after birth; early neonatal (before 7 days) and late neonatal period (after 7 days) and the operation was classified as a primary procedure for definite treatment and a staged procedure including 2nd look operation. We analyzed their clinical data and postoperative results. RESULTS: 286 cases of neonates were included during this period, 118 cases (41.3%) in early neonatal and 168 (58.7%) in late neonatal period. Distribution of diseases was as follows, sequentially; 60 (21.0%) anorectal malformations, 46 (16.1%) intestinal atresia, 44 (15.4%) Hirschsprung's disease, 35 (12.2%) necrotizing enterocolitis, 24 (8.3%) hypertrophic pyloric stenosis, 20 (6.9%) inguinal hernia, 13 (4.5%) malrotation, 9 (3.1%) tumor, 8 (2.7%) diaphragmatic hernia, 6 (2.0%) abdominal wall defect and 21 (7.3%) others. According to the operation, a primary procedure was performed in 205 cases (71.7%) and a staged procedure in 81 cases (28.3%). The morbidity and mortality was 3.1% and 2.8% respectively. CONCLUSION: When considering morbidity and mortality after neonatal surgery for patients who have associated anomalies, collaborative care is necessary to expect a good outcome.
Abdominal Wall ; Enterocolitis, Necrotizing ; Hernia, Diaphragmatic ; Hernia, Inguinal ; Hirschsprung Disease ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Intestinal Atresia ; Pyloric Stenosis, Hypertrophic

PURPOSE: The final aim of operation for anorectal malformations (ARMs) is acquisition of normal bowel habit by preserving an anorectal function. This study was performed to assess the functional results after definite correction of the malformations. METHODS: 37 patients (Group 1) without rectocutaneous fistula and 23 patients (Group 2) with rectocutaneous fistula were Included in the study. The authors examined functional assessment of children over 3-years-old, according to Krickenbeck classification, and analyzed the results. RESULTS: Group 1 showed significant soiling in 24.3% and constipation requiring management in 35.1%.But Group 2 showed constipation in only 8.7%. The results of Krickenbeck assessment are as follows: Group 1 showed good results in 64.9% and poor results in 35.1% with improvement over time. Group 2 showed 91.3%, 8.7%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Constipation rather than soiling was the main functional problem after surgical repair of anorectal malformations but improved over time. It seems that more aggressive management of constipation warrants good results after definite surgical repair.
Child ; Constipation ; Defecation ; Fistula ; Humans ; Soil

Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer in Asian females, and the incidence of breast cancer has been increasing in Asia. Because Asian patients develop breast cancer at a younger age than their Caucasian counterparts, the contributions of BRCA1 and BRCA2 (BRCA1/2) mutations in Asians are expected to be different than in Caucasians. The prevalence of BRCA1/2 mutations in the Asian population varies among countries and studies. Most Asian studies have reported more frequent mutations in BRCA2 than in BRCA1, with the exception of studies from India and Pakistan. In addition, the contribution of large genomic rearrangements of BRCA1/2 genes is relatively small in Asian populations in comparison to other ethnic populations. Various statistical models for the prediction of BRCA1/2 mutations have underestimated the risk of having these genetic mutations in Asians, especially in predicting BRCA2 gene mutation. Until recently, BRCA1/2 mutation analyses in Asia were mostly conducted by independent single institutions with different patient selection criteria and using various genotyping methods. However, a couple of Asian groups have initiated nationwide studies collecting BRCA1/2 mutational data. These national collaborative studies will help a comprehensive understanding of the prevalence of BRCA1/2 mutations in the Asian population.
Asia ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Female ; Genes, BRCA2 ; Humans ; Incidence ; India ; Methods ; Models, Statistical ; Pakistan ; Patient Selection ; Prevalence

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine subjective happiness related factors in Korean nursing students. METHODS: A purposive sample of 200 nursing students was recruited for the cross-sectional survey design. The instruments were perceived stress scale, major satisfaction scale, resilience scale, and subjective happiness scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, hierarchical linear regression, and the Sobel test for testing mediating effects. RESULTS: The mean score of stress, major satisfaction, resilience and subjective happiness was 2.21, 3.95, 3.60 and 5.03, respectively. Perceived health status, stress_positive perception, stress_negative perception, resilience_self confidence, resilience_positivity, resilience_social support had significant effects on subjective happiness. Explained variance for the subjective happiness was 53.4%. Resilience had a partial mediating effect in the relationship between stress and subjective happiness (Sobel test: Z=-5.67, p<.001). Also, resilience had a mediating effect in the relationship between major satisfaction and subjective happiness (Sobel test: Z=5.65, p<.001). CONCLUSION: Based on the findings of this study, nursing intervention programs focusing on improving resilience are recommended to improve subjective happiness in nursing students.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Happiness* ; Humans ; Linear Models ; Negotiating ; Nursing* ; Students, Nursing*

6-Phosphogluconolactonase (6PGL) is one of the key enzymes in the ubiquitous pathways of central carbon metabolism, but bacterial 6PGL had been long known as a missing enzyme even after complete bacterial genome sequence information became available. Although recent experimental characterization suggests that there are two types of 6PGLs (DevB and YbhE), their phylogenetic distribution is severely biased. Here we present that proteins in COG group previously described as 3-carboxymuconate cyclase (COG2706) are actually the YbhE-type 6PGLs, which are widely distributed in Proteobacteria and Firmicutes. This case exemplifies how erroneous functional description of a member in the reference database commonly used in transitive genome annotation cause systematic problem in the prediction of genes even with universal cellular functions.
Bias (Epidemiology) ; Carbon ; Computer Simulation* ; Genome ; Genome, Bacterial* ; Metabolism ; Pentose Phosphate Pathway ; Proteobacteria

PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine the association among sexual double standard, dating violence recognition, and sexual assertiveness among Korean university students. METHODS: Using a cross-sectional survey study in January 2018, Korean university students (N = 322, years; 54.3% female) completed structured questionnaires with the double standard scale, dating violence recognition index, and sexual assertiveness index. The relationship among the variables was analyzed with Pearson's correlations and multiple regression analyses. RESULTS: There were significant correlations among sexual double standard, dating violence recognition, and sexual assertiveness. Sexual double standard (β = .12, p = .043) was determined to influence dating violence recognition. In addition, gender (β = .63, p < .001) and sexual double standard (β = .11, p = .015) were determined to influence dating violence recognition; the explanatory power was 43%. CONCLUSION: These findings will serve as a basis for the development of education programs that help university students to establish appropriate sexual values and enjoy a healthy sex life.
Assertiveness ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Education ; Humans ; Intimate Partner Violence ; Korea ; Reproductive Health ; Sexual Behavior ; Young Adult

Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (Anti-NMDAR) encephalitis is a neuroinflammatory disease mediated by autoantibodies to NMDAR. In the initial clinical stages of anti-NMDAR encephalitis, psychiatric symptoms like delusions, perceptual disturbances, and disorganized speech or behaviors are pronounced even without obvious neurological symptoms. Early treatments like immunotherapy and/or tumor removal are central to good clinical outcomes. Hence, it is important to diagnose early anti-NMDAR encephalitis, distinguishing it from mental disorder. In the present case study, the authors described psychiatric symptoms assessed with Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) of Ms. A, a 26-year-old woman, in the early phase of anti-NMDAR encephalitis. We will discuss the characteristic psychopathology of anti-NMDAR encephalitis toward prompt diagnosis and treatment. Ms. A showed a higher negative subscale score than positive one on the PANSS. Compared with mental disorder, negative symptoms and cognitive impairment would be more prominent in the early stage of anti-NMDAR encephalitis. Rituximab and teratoma removal were effective, and quetiapine showed good tolerability. It is recommended to evaluate anti-NMDAR encephalitis when negative symptoms, cognitive impairment, catatonia, changes in consciousness level, and neurological symptoms are observed, especially in young women.

If large-scale testing programs are being used, OSCE stations may be duplicated into two or more sites. There are a few studies on the reliability of OSCE with duplicated stations in Korea. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of duplication on the reliability of OSCE. At Hanyang university college of medicine, an OSCE is given to all senior medical students(91 per class) upon completion of all clinical clerkship rotations. The examination consisted of twenty one stations and eighteen cases that represented commonly encountered problems in primary care. Each station required seven minutes for its administration, with 6 to 6.5 minutes for the student-SP or model encounter, during which the students performs a complete focused history and/or physical examination and/or procedure and/or management, and another 0.5 to 1 minutes for the evaluator to feedback case-related comments. We analysed the reliability of duplication by comparing total OSCE scores and case scores between two exam sites. We also evaluated the reliability of duplicated stations from student's and professor's subjective response to the OSCE. All 91 fourth-year students attended the OSCE. Standardized Cronbach coefficient of the OSCE was 0.67. The station scores and OSCE total scores were different between two duplication sites. The total OSCE score of one site was slight higher than that of the other site(p=0.03). Of total 19 stations in which students were evaluated by staff evaluator, six stations are more advantageous to one part compared with counterpart stations, other six stations are vice CONCLUSIONS: OSCE reliability can be affected by duplication of examination sites and inter-rater reliability is the most important determining factor. The results demonstrate a need for caution in the interpretation of scores obtained from OSCE with duplicated stations.
Clinical Clerkship ; Humans ; Korea ; Physical Examination ; Primary Health Care

PURPOSE: In the management of Hirschsprung's disease (HD), conventional Duhamel's, Swenson's or Soave's procedures have generally been performed. The author tried a new procedure, a transanal one-stage pull-through procedure (TOP). The aim of this study is to compare functional outcome of TOP with the conventional procedures that are generally used in treating HD. METHODS: Thirty-one cases received TOP procedure from November 2000 to December 2003. The postoperative results were evaluated by performing a retrospective medical record review, and by using as questionnaire. These results were then compared with reports' on patients after using one of the conventional procedures. RESULTS: In this study, the mean age of patients was 73.4 days, the mean hospital stay was 5.7 days and the mean follow-up period was 20.1 months. Postoperative results were as follows: (1) 23 cases (74.2%) had 1~2 times of defecation per day. (2) 26 cases (83.9%) had no problematic soiling. (3) 22 cases (70.9%) had soft consistency of stool. (4) 24 cases (77.4%) had no straining during defecation. (5) 25 cases (80.7%) didn't need stool softner. (6) In 14 cases (45.2%), an anal dilator was necessary for transient postoperative anal stricture. (7) After 24 months of age, a diaper was not necessary in 12 cases (70.6%). (8) The parents felt satisfactory in 28 cases (90.3%) for their children, as compared with the children from other families, and the parents felt satisfactory in 18 cases (94.7%) for the HD children compared with the other children of their family.(9) 23 cases (74.2%) had not shown constipation findings on simple abdomen film. (10) At the first digital rectal examination, perianal rash was found in 13 cases (41.9%), anastomotic stricture had occurred in 12 cases (38.7%), and normal squeezing pressure was felt in 27 cases (87.1%). However, at the last examination during the follow-up period, perianal rash was found in 2 cases (6.5%), the anastomotic stricture had not persisted, and normal squeezing pressure was felt in all cases (100%). (11) On the barium study, 13 months after operation, no retention of contrast within 24 hours was shown in 21 cases (95.5%). (12) According to the SanFilippo system, there were 24 excellent cases (77.4%) and 7 good cases (22.6%), so all the cases showed a favorable functional outcome. (13) In comparison with other reports' results, there was no significant difference between the author's outcomes and other reports' outcomes (p=0.752). CONCLUSION: This transanal one-stage pull-through procedure (TOP) seems to be as effective as the traditional method for the management of HD.
Abdomen ; Barium ; Child ; Constipation ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Defecation ; Digital Rectal Examination ; Exanthema ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hirschsprung Disease* ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Medical Records ; Parents ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Retrospective Studies ; Soil