Objective: : The optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD)/eyeball transverse diameter (ETD) ratio is a more reliable marker of intracranial pressure than the ONSD alone. We aimed to investigate the predictive value of the ONSD/ETD ratio (OER) for neurological outcomes in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Methods: : Adult patients with aSAH who visited the emergency department of a tertiary hospital connected to a South Korean university between January 2015 and December 2021 were included. Data on patient characteristics and brain computed tomography scan findings, including the ONSD and ETD, were collected using a predefined protocol. According to the neurological outcome at hospital discharge, the patients were divided into the unfavorable neurological outcome (UNO; cerebral performance category [CPC] score 3–5) and the favorable neurological outcome (FNO; CPC score 1–2) groups. The primary outcome was the association between the OER and neurological outcomes in patients with aSAH. Results: : A total of 171 patients were included in the study, of whom 118 patients (69%) had UNO. Neither the ONSD (p=0.075) nor ETD (p=0.403) showed significant differences between the two groups. However, the OER was significantly higher in the UNO group in the univariate analysis (p=0.045). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the OER for predicting UNO was 0.603 (p=0.031). There was no independent relationship between the OER and UNO in the multivariate logistic regression analysis (adjusted odds ratio, 0.010; p=0.576). Conclusion : The OER was significantly higher in patients with UNO than in those with FNO, and the OER was more reliable than the ONSD alone. However, the OER had limited utility in predicting UNO in patients with aSAH.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a theory on the gambling addiction process in adults who experienced domestic violence in childhood. Methods: Data were collected from 20 adults from May 1st to August 30th, 2020. Data were analyzed using grounded theory methodology as suggested by Strauss and Corbin. Results: The core category of this study was revealed to be ‘becoming addicted to gambling to avoid the physical and emotional pain caused by childhood domestic violence and be rewarded’. The core phenomenon was ‘struggle from pain’, which was derived from casual and contextual conditions: ‘ruthless physical violence’, ‘intolerable psychological pain’, and ‘bystand of violence’, ‘family addiction problem’. ‘parental immoral attitude’, The action and interaction strategies were ‘making money by any means’, and ‘gambling to forget the pain’. The intervening conditions affecting them were ‘a distorted view of money’, ‘resignation to helpless’, and ‘avoiding emotional distress’. The phases abbreviated through the produced process were the trauma phase, the avoidance phase, and the addiction phase. Conclusion Adults became addicted to gambling as a manifestation of distorted compensation mentality in an attempt to avoid the physical and emotional trauma of domestic violence in childhood.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a theory on the gambling addiction process in adults who experienced domestic violence in childhood. Methods: Data were collected from 20 adults from May 1st to August 30th, 2020. Data were analyzed using grounded theory methodology as suggested by Strauss and Corbin. Results: The core category of this study was revealed to be ‘becoming addicted to gambling to avoid the physical and emotional pain caused by childhood domestic violence and be rewarded’. The core phenomenon was ‘struggle from pain’, which was derived from casual and contextual conditions: ‘ruthless physical violence’, ‘intolerable psychological pain’, and ‘bystand of violence’, ‘family addiction problem’. ‘parental immoral attitude’, The action and interaction strategies were ‘making money by any means’, and ‘gambling to forget the pain’. The intervening conditions affecting them were ‘a distorted view of money’, ‘resignation to helpless’, and ‘avoiding emotional distress’. The phases abbreviated through the produced process were the trauma phase, the avoidance phase, and the addiction phase. Conclusion Adults became addicted to gambling as a manifestation of distorted compensation mentality in an attempt to avoid the physical and emotional trauma of domestic violence in childhood.

BACKGROUND: Oligonucleotide chip technology has proven to be a very useful tool in the rapid diagnosis of infectious disease. Rifampin resistance is considered as a useful marker of multidrug-resistance in tuberculosis. Mutations in the rpoB gene coding β subunit of RNA polymerase represent the main mechanism of rifampin resistance. The purpose of this study was to develop a diagnosis kit using oligonucleotide chip for the rapid and accurate detection of rifampin-resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. METHOD: Tle sequence specific probes for mutations in the rpoB gene were designed and spotted onto the glass slide, oligonucleotide chip. 38 clinical isolates of Mycobacterium were tested. A part of rpoB was amplified, labelled, and hybridized on the oligonucleotide chip with probes. Results were analyzed with a laser scanner. Direct sequencing was done to verify the results. RESULT: The low-density oligonucleotide chip designed to determine the specific mutations in the rpoB gene of M. tuberculosis accurately detected rifampin resistance associated with mutations in 28 clinical isolates. Mutations at codons 531, 526, and 513 were confirmed by direct sequencing analysis. CONCLUSION: Mutant detection using oligonucleotide chip technology is a reliable and useful diagnostic tool for the detection of multidrug-resistance in M. tuberculosis.
Clinical Coding ; Codon ; Communicable Diseases ; Diagnosis ; DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases ; Glass ; Mycobacterium ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; Rifampin ; Tuberculosis*

Tumors of the clivus and metastases to the clivus are very rare. Metastasis involving the clivus has previously been described in only two case reports. In skull metastasis, the breast and prostate are the most common primary foci, while metastasis from gastric carcinoma is extremely rare. A review of the English literature revealed only one published case of clivus metastases from gastric adenocarcinoma. There is no literature thoroughly explaining the differential diagnosis between chordoma and metastasis. Here we report a rare case of metastasis to the clivus from a gastric adenocarcinoma in a 42-year-old female patient with sudden blurry vision, presenting as bilateral cranial nerve VI palsy.
Abducens Nerve Diseases* ; Adenocarcinoma* ; Adult ; Breast ; Chordoma ; Cranial Fossa, Posterior* ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Prostate ; Skull ; Skull Base

BACKGROUND: This study quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed the characteristics and trends of papers published in the Journal of the Korean Geriatrics Society. METHODS: Original articles, case reports, review articles published from 2006 to 2013 were retrospectively examined. All of the article research topics, paper-specific corresponding author's affiliations and number of authors were investigated. Original articles were separated and grouped according to research designs. Using the Korean Citation Index, impact factor of this journal was examined and compared with four related journals. RESULTS: Of the 276 articles analyzed, 159 (57.6%) were original articles, 145 (91.2%) were analytic studies, and 36 (22.6%) were experimental studies. The proportion of original articles accounted for about 60% until 2007 but decreased to 41.0% in 2013. By clinical study topics, 37 studies (13.4%) addressed the understanding of geriatric diseases and 45 studies (16.3%) were focused on nervous system diseases. The median number of authors for the 276 studies was 6. Internal medicine accounted for the largest proportion of corresponding author's affiliation (109 studies, 39.5%) studies. Impact factor of the journal increased from 0.05 (4th position) in 2009 to 0.48 (3rd position) in 2011. CONCLUSION: Articles published in the Journal of the Korean Geriatrics Society increasingly included experimental studies based on evidence-centered medicine, with the proportion of original articles decreasing. The impact factor increased annually along with the journal ranking, compared with other journals. Journal of the Korean Geriatrics Society is judged to be qualitatively improving.
Bibliometrics* ; Geriatrics* ; Internal Medicine ; Nervous System Diseases ; Publications ; Research Design ; Retrospective Studies

Lead, one of the most toxic heavy metals, takes longer time to be excreted from the body than other heavy metals. The purpose of this study is, by measuring lead excretion via urine and feces, to find out the effect of vitamin C in lead chelation. Thirty-six rats were randomly assorted into four groups. All 33 rats except for the control group were administered with lead, before orally administered with different doses of vitamin C per kilogram of body weight. The lead excretion levels in urine and feces as well as the survival rate were then measured for each group. The rats with lead administrations (10/13, 76.9%) with lead administrations only, 10/11 rats (90.9%) with lead administrations and low dose of vitamin C, 9/9 rats (100%) with lead administrations and high dose of vitamin C survived. Among the 29 surviving rats, low vitamin C intake group exhibited higher urinary excretion than the lead only group. The urinary excretion level in high dose vitamin C intakegroup was significantly higher than the lead only group. In addition, fecal lead excretion seemed to be increased in the high dose vitamin C intake group, compared to the group with lead administrations only with statistical significance. Through animal experiment, it was found out that administrating high dose of vitamin C accelerated the excretion of lead in body compared to low dose of vitamin C.
Animal Experimentation ; Animals ; Ascorbic Acid* ; Body Weight ; Feces ; Metals, Heavy ; Rats* ; Survival Rate ; Vitamins*

Mycobacterium abscessus (Mabc) is an emerging human pathogen. Less is known about the host immune response to Mabc than to M. tuberculosis. Here, we examined the intracellular signaling pathways that govern the expression of chemokines including (C-C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2) and (C-X-C motif) ligand 2 (CXCL2) in macrophages after infection with Mabc. Specifically, Mabc triggered the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the production of CCL2 and CXCL2 in murine bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs). Mabc-induced CCL2, but not CXCL2, was dependent on the generation of ROS. Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2, MyD88, but not TRIF, was required for Mabc-induced CCL2 and CXCL2 expression. Additionally, Mabc infection significantly induced nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB nuclear translocation and luciferase activity. The activation of NF-kappaB was required for Mabc-induced CCL2, but not CXCL2 expression. Moreover, Mabc-induced ROS generation was required for NF-kappaB activation. Treatment of BMDMs with Mabc rapidly induced the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPKs) pathways. Interestingly, CCL2 expression was dependent on the activation of JNK and ERK1/2 pathways, whereas it was negatively regulated by the p38 MAPK pathway. In contrast, Mabc-dependent CXCL2 expression was not regulated by MAPK pathways. These data suggest that intracellular ROS generation is required for innate and inflammatory responses during Mabc infection of macrophages.
Chemokines ; Humans ; Luciferases ; Macrophages ; Mycobacterium ; NF-kappa B ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; Protein Kinases ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; Toll-Like Receptors ; Tuberculosis

BACKGROUND: Variable-number tandem repeat (VNTR) typing is a promising method to discriminate the Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates in molecular epidemiology. The purpose of this study is to determine the optimal VNTR combinations for discriminating isolated M. tuberculosis strains in Korea. METHODS: A total of 317 clinical isolates collected throughout Korea were genotyped by using the IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), and then analysed for the number of VNTR copies from 32 VNTR loci. RESULTS: The results of discriminatory power according to diverse combinations were as follows: 25 clusters in 83 strains were yielded from the internationally standardized 15 VNTR loci (Hunter-Gaston discriminatory index [HGDI], 0.9958), 25 clusters in 65 strains by using IS6110 RFLP (HGDI, 0.9977), 14 clusters in 32 strains in 12 hyper-variable VNTR loci (HGDI, 0.9995), 6 clusters in 13 strains in 32 VNTR loci (HDGI, 0.9998), and 7 clusters in 14 strains of both the 12 hyper-variable VNTR and IS6110 RFLP (HDGI, 0.9999). CONCLUSION: The combination of 12 hyper-variable VNTR typing can be an effective tool for genotyping Korean M. tuberculosis isolates where the Beijing strains are predominant.
Discrimination (Psychology)* ; Korea* ; Methods ; Minisatellite Repeats ; Molecular Epidemiology ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis* ; Mycobacterium* ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Tandem Repeat Sequences ; Tuberculosis

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify menstrual distress, coping method and relief of symptoms among female nurses who worked with 3-shift. METHODS: A total of 185 participants were recruited from November 18, 2011 to January 30, 2012. The measurement included menstrual distress and coping method questionnaire and relief of symptoms. The data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficients with SPSS 19.0. RESULTS: The level of menstrual distress was moderate (mean 3.0), and there were significant differences in menstrual distress by age, education, stress, regularity of menstrual cycle. Among the coping methods, coping according to menstrual cycle specific was the most frequently used, followed by active recognizing coping, active behavioral coping, and avoidance coping. Among the degree of symptom relief, symptom relief score was the highest when used coping according to menstrual cycle specific. Menstrual distress was associated with stress, adequate amount of sleep, dysmenorrhea and number of coping method total. CONCLUSION: Nurses experienced moderate levels of menstrual distress and used various types of coping to relieve it. There is a need for hospital nurses to develop an effective nursing intervention to relieve the menstrual distress and utilize active coping methods.
Dysmenorrhea ; Female ; Humans ; Menstrual Cycle ; Menstruation ; Surveys and Questionnaires