Aspicilia humida Lee is described as a new lichen-forming fungus from a wetland forest, South Korea. The new species is distinguishable from Aspicilia aquatica (Fr.) Körb., the most similar species, by the absence of prothallus, black disk without green color in water, olivebrown epihymenium, shorter hymenium, hymenium I þ yellowish blue-green, wider paraphysial tips without a vivid pigment, smaller asci, smaller ascospores, and the presence of stictic acid. Molecular analyses employing internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and mitochondrial small subunit (mtSSU) sequences strongly support A. humida as a distinct species in the A. cinerea group. A surrogate key is provided to assist in the identification of all 28 aspicilioid species of Korea.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: End-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients are at a higher risk for cancer, especially renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Acquired cystic kidney disease (ACKD) and long duration of dialysis predict RCC in these patients. We explored the cilnical and pathologic characteristics of renal masses and the factors predicting malignant tumors. METHODS: The study examined the medical records of 38 ESRD patients who underwent partial/total nephrectomy due to renal masses diagnosed by abdominal ultrasound and computed tomography at YUHS from January 1995 to December 2009. RESULTS: Renal masses were recorded in 38 patients (21 males) with a mean age of 48.3+/-13.2 years. Twenty patients (52.6%) were on hemodialysis and 18 patients (47.4%) were on peritoneal dialysis, for a mean period of 106.4+/-62.5 months. ACKD was reported in 23 patients (67.6%). Of the 38 renal masses, 23 (60.5%) were diagnosed as malignant tumors and 15 (39.5%) were benign tumors. Clear cell RCC (n=16) and hematoma (n=6) was the predominant respective types. The patients with malignant tumors had a significantly longer duration of dialysis (122.3+/-61.8 vs. 81.1+/-56.7 months, p<0.05) and a higher prevalence of ACKD (87.0 vs. 46.7%, p<0.01) compared to the patients with benign tumors. CONCLUSIONS: The most common renal mass in ESRD patients was RCC. Malignant tumors were significantly associated with a longer duration of dialysis and ACKD. Therefore, early evaluation and treatment of RCC are mandatory in long-term dialysis patients with ACKD.
Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; Dialysis ; Hematoma ; Humans ; Kidney Diseases, Cystic ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Medical Records ; Nephrectomy ; Peritoneal Dialysis ; Prevalence ; Renal Dialysis

The purpose of nursing education is to prepare the professional practitioner as nurse who will be interested in the health and the related aspects of community and will assume responsibility for contributing toward the improvement of the health for the all. This means that nursing education must provide opportunities for the development of knowledge, skills, and attitudes which make this possible. Consequently, this approach has relevance for nursing education. Faculty engaged in endless debates about what is to be included, and to what death, and what will be given short shrift as a result. Thus, it can be seen why there is so much confusion and lack of agreement between the emphasis and objectives in nursing. This study attempted to review and identify the curriculum content of child nursing in Korea to build and develop the standard curriculum contents for national board examination for nurses and child's health needs for the coming 21st century. The questionnaire was consisted of items for selection and organization of the knowledge components and type of unit with weigh to be attained in child nursing. Response of 34% of nursing program in university and junior college. Content analysis was done by using consensual validation of essential knowledge for curriculum content to identify what is obvious or trivial. This study pointed out that it is not yet apparent that demographic fact has greatly influenced child nursing curriculum content. In a similar vein the majority of content of child nursing devote little time and weigh to social and epidemically significant to child health. It seems to be needed that the content of child nursing may push the paradigm shift in nursing education such as health promotion and prevention for postretinal roles of child and family. In conclusion, it is time to convoke and content and standardization on job analysis for national board exam for nurses in Korea.
Child* ; Curriculum* ; Education, Nursing ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Korea* ; Nursing* ; Veins ; Child Health ; Surveys and Questionnaires

STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective study. OBJECTIVE: We analyzed the clinical and radiographic results of surgical treatment for patients with tuberculous spondylitis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Our study included 18 active tuberculous spondylitis patients (12 males and 6 females) who underwent anterior curettage, strut bone grafting and posterior instrumentation. Their average age was 50.1 years (age range: 24-76 years). The mean follow-up was 43 months. Vertebral bodies from T5 to L5 were involved. The anterior column support was iliac autograft in 10 patients and titanium mesh in 4. All the patients had transpedicular instrumentation with an additional hook in 3 and anterior instrumentation in 1. Except for one paraplegic patient, all the others were able to ambulate wearing TLSO. The mean duration of Anti-Tbc medication was 13.3 months (range: 12 to 18 months). The clinical and radiographic results were analyzed, and they included the segmental kyphotic angle and the complications of instrumentation on the involved vertebrae. RESULT: The subjective satisfaction was greater than good except for 2 patients. These 2 patients' satisfaction was fair due to incomplete neurologic recovery and persistent BG-donor site pain. The three paraplegic patients fully recovered postoperatively. The mean correction of the segmental kyphosis was 13 degrees. The mean correction loss was 0.7 degrees at the final follow-up. Pedicle screws were inserted in the involved vertebrae for 10 patients (n = 30). There was no loosening of instrumentation nor spread or recurrence of infection. One case was complicated by pneumonia. CONCLUSION: For the surgical treatment of active tuberculous spondylitis, anterior column support with strut grafting and posterior instrumentation is mandatory in the destabilized spine after anterior debridement or the correction of kyphosis.
Autografts ; Bone Transplantation ; Curettage ; Debridement* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Kyphosis ; Male ; Pneumonia ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Spine ; Spondylitis* ; Titanium ; Transplants*

PURPOSE: To evaluate the histopathological prognostic factors, relapse pattern and survival in patients with endometrial carcinoma who were treated with surgery and postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy (RT). METHODS AND MATERIALS: From September 1991 to December 1997, 27 patients with endometrial carcinoma treated with surgery and postoperative adjuvant RT at Asan Medical Center were entered in this study. Surgery was performed with total abdominal hysterectomy in six, total abdominal hysterectomy with pelvic lymph node dissection in eight and radical hysterectomy in 13 patients. External RT of 50.4 Gy was done to all patients and among these, additional high dose rate vaginal vault irradiation of 20-25 Gy with fractional dose of 4-5 Gy was boosted in 16 patients. The patients were followed for 6-95 months (median 30). RESULTS: The number of patients according to FIGO stage were I 18 (67%), II 1 (4%) and III 7 (26%). Patients with poor histologic grade, deep myometrial invasion, adnexal involvement, lymphovascular invasion showed more pelvic lymph node involvement, but no statistical significance was indicated. The 5year overall and disease free survival were 100% and 76.8%, respectively. Relapse sites were pelvic, para-aortic lymph node, and multiple metastases including lung, and no vaginal relapse was developed. Factors that were associated with disease free survival were FIGO stage (p=0.01), lymphovascular invasion (p=0.03), pelvic lymph node involvement (p=0.000 1). There was only one Grade 1 rectal bleeding without moderate to severe complications. CONCLUSION: Postoperative adjuvant RT is considered to reduce the loco-regional failure, resulting the improvement of survival. The group of patients with the risk of vaginal failure without vaginal vault irradiation should be investigated according to stage and grade.
Chungcheongnam-do ; Disease-Free Survival ; Endometrial Neoplasms* ; Female ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Lung ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Radiotherapy, Adjuvant ; Recurrence

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Unicenta (UNCNT) and Melsmon in women with the menopausal symptoms, by analysing the changes in the Kupperman index (primary endpoint), and the hormonal change (secondary endpoint). METHODS: This is a randomized, multi-Center, double-Blind, parallel, non-inferiority clinical study of four different tertiary medical centers. We began the participant recruitment in September 2011, with 218 patients applied over 7 months. All participants had the last visit in April 2012. RESULTS: The Unicenta injection was not inferior to that of Melsmon as measured by the Kupperman index following the injection in both the intent-to-treat and the per-protocol populations (P = 0.63, P = 0.85, respectively). Side effects occurred in 14.0% of the cases (15 patients/18 cases) in the case group, and in 12.6% (14 patients/15 cases) in the control group (P value=0.7599). None were reported to be associated with the medication. The laboratory results and the vital signs showed no statistically significant risk for safety. CONCLUSION: The study showed that Unicenta is not inferior to Melsmon in the change of the Kupperman index after 12 days of injection. The efficacy and safety of Unicenta was shown, with the improvement of the menopausal symptoms.
Female ; Humans ; Menopause ; Vital Signs

Several growth factors and polypeptides are not commonly yet used for regenerators of bone tissue or alveolar bone because of the insufficiency of studies on their side effects, genetic engineering for mass production and stability for clinical application. Recently, many natural medicines, which have advantage of less side effects and possibility of long-term use, have been studied for their capacity and effects of anti-bacterial, antiinflammatory and regenerative potential of periodontal tissues. Olibanum, Myrrha, Phlomis Radix, and Cimicifugae Rhizoma have been traditionally used as a drug for treatment of bone disease in oriental medicine. The objective of this study was to examine the ability of alkaline phosphatase(ALP) synthesis of rat calvarial osteoblast(MC3T3-E1) when several natural medicines were supplemented. MC3T3-E1 cells were cultured with alpha-MEM(negative control), dexamethasone(positive control), and each natural medicines for 3 and 5 days. And then ALP synthesis was measured by spectrophotometer for enzyme activity and by naphthol AS-BI staining for morphometry. All of the natural medicines induced higher activity of ALP synthesis than the negative controls. Especially Olibanum induced the higher activity than the positive controls(p<0.05). In the aspects of culturing time, except Cimicifugae Rhizoma, the natural medicines induced higher activity of ALP synthesis at 5 days than at 3 days(p<0.05). In morphometry, all of the natural medicines showed statistical significance compared to the negative control(p<0.05). Myrrha and Phlomis Radix showed larger positively stained area at 5 days than at 3 days, whereas the others did not showed the difference between at 5 and at 3 days(p<0.05). These results indicate that several natural medicines have an inducing ability of ALP synthesis in MC3T3-E1 cells.
Rats ; Animals

It is uncommon that two phenotypically different lymphomas develop in the same person, and especially in the skin. Composite lymphoma is defined as two distinctly demarcated types of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) or its association with Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) within a single organ or tissue. Discordant lymphoma is defined as two types of NHL or the association of HL with NHL at different anatomic sites in the same person. Sequential lymphoma and simultaneous lymphoma are defined as two different types of lymphoma that occur in the same person at different times and at the same times, respectively. We herein report on two cases of sequential composite lymphomas that were limited to the skin. A 57-year-old woman who had had been diagnosed with HL at the face had been treated with chemotherapy for 1.5 years. 6 months later, the patient revisited the dermatologic clinic of our hospital for a one-month history of erythematous nodules on her chest and upper extremities. Punch biopsy was performed and the pathologic diagnosis was mantle cell lymphoma. She refused further treatment. A 68-year old woman, who had been diagnosed as having extranodal marginal zone B cell lymphoma, had been treated with chemotherapy and radiation therapy for one year. After one year, she revisited dermatologic clinic of our hospital for a several-month history of erythematous nodules on her extremities. Punch biopsy from the lesion was performed and the pathologic diagnosis was cutaneous diffuse large B cell lymphoma, the leg type. She was scheduled for chemotherapy (rituximab with cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, vincristine and prednisolone (R-CHOP)). To the best of our knowledge, our cases are the first such cases in the Korean dermatologic literature.
Biopsy ; Composite Lymphoma ; Cyclophosphamide ; Doxorubicin ; Extremities ; Female ; Hodgkin Disease ; Humans ; Leg ; Lymphoma ; Lymphoma, B-Cell ; Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone ; Lymphoma, Mantle-Cell ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin ; Middle Aged ; Prednisolone ; Skin ; Thorax ; Upper Extremity ; Vincristine

BACKGROUNDS/AIMS: Nucleos(t)ide analogues (NUCs) effectively suppress hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication, but hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence often leads to HBV replication despite NUC therapy. The aim of this study was to determine whether high-dose tenofovir (TNF) therapy can suppresses HCC recurrence-associated HBV replication. METHODS: We performed a single-arm prospective study to assess the clinical feasibility of high-dose TNF (hdTNF). We recruited 10 patients during September 2015 and followed up for 3 months or early drop-out. RESULTS: All 10 patients had HCC of advanced stages due to HCC recurrence and gradual progression. The average age of patients was 51.2+/-4.7 years and 9 were male. Three patients did not tolerate the increased TNF dosage and were dropped out early. The other 7 patients were relatively tolerable to the increased dosage of TNF 5 tablets per day. One patient had mild gastrointestinal symptoms and another patient complained of insomnia. Increased HBV replication and HCC progression was observed despite hdTNF for 4-8 weeks. All 7 patients showed tumor progression during the 3 month follow-up. In these patients, blood HBV DNA before hdTNF was 50-200 copies/ml; and 4-8 weeks after hdTNF, the HBV replication status was not improved with blood HBV DNA of 50-300 copies/ml. This clinical study was terminated early after these negative results were confirmed. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicated that high dose of TNF up to 5-fold the recommended dosage is not tolerated by a considerable proportion of patients and also ineffective in suppressing HCC progression-associated HBV replication.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; DNA ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hepatitis B virus* ; Hepatitis B* ; Hepatitis* ; Humans ; Male ; Prospective Studies ; Recurrence ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders ; Tablets ; Tenofovir

OBJECTIVES: This study was aimed to examine the multidimensional relationship between auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) factors of psychopathology in the patients with schizophrenia. And we explored the differences between assessments to hallucination by the clinicians and patients. METHODS: 82 patients with schizophrenia who were assessed by the Hamilton Program for Schizophrenia Voices Questionnaire (HPSVQ), Psychotic Symptom Rating Scale-Auditory Hallucination (PSYRATS-AHS), and the PANSS were recruited. Hwang's five-factor model of PANSS, items and total scores of hallucination scales, Kim's and Haddock's factor models of hallucination were applied to examine the correlations between psychopathology and AVHs. AVH-positive patients was 50 in PANSS-HPSVQ group and 24 in PANSS-PSYRATS-AHS. These two groups were separately analyzed. RESULTS: Among the five factors of the PANSS, negative and depression/anxiety factors were correlated with the total scores of HPSVQ and PSYRATS-AHS, and positive and autistic preoccupation factors were correlated only with the total score of PSYRATS-AHS. The activation factor was correlated with none of the total scores of HPSVQ/PSYRATS-AHS. These correlation patterns of a total score of HPSVQ/PSYRATS-AHS were same in the emotional factor of HPSVQ and physical factor of PSYRATS-AHS respectively. In the items which showed significant correlations, correlation coefficients of PANSS-PSYRATS-AHS group ranged between 0.406-0.755 and those of PANSS-HPSVQ ranged between 0.283-0.420. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggested that the psychopathological domains of schizophrenia were differentially correlated with AVHs and the assessment of AVHs by clinicians and patients showed substantial differences which should be integrated into the therapeutic interventions.
Hallucinations* ; Humans ; Psychopathology* ; Schizophrenia* ; Voice ; Weights and Measures