The 33rd International Congress of the ISBT was held in conjunction with the 33rd Congress of the Korean Society of Blood Transfusion (KSBT) and the 2014 Congress of the Korean Hematology Societies in Seoul. The idea to host an ISBT congress came to birth among KSBT members whilst attending the 18th Regional ISBT Congress held in Hanoi in 2007. Finally after 4 years, this idea became reality when Seoul was awarded to host the 2014 International Congress. After a short period of excitement, we soon had to realize that organising an international congress is a huge challenge with tremendous work involved! During the 3 years of preparation the ISBT headquarters and the local organising committee had several meetings that were not easy. But at the end, our concentrated and energetic discussions turned out to be most productive and made this congress a huge success. Highest appreciation again for their marvelous support goes to Peter Flanagan, ISBT President, and Judith Chapman, ISBT Executive Director. During the Korean day, three parallel sessions were held, attracting not only participants from the field of transfusion medicine but also many clinicians working in the field of hematology and transplantation. Martin Olsson, ISBT Scientific Secretary, and the local scientific committee did a great job in preparing an excellent scientific program that not only dealt with traditional topics of transfusion medicine but also hot topics like cellular therapy and clinical aspects of transfusion medicine. A total of 55 sessions were run in five tracks dealing with immunobiology of blood cells, blood safety, clinical aspects, donors & donation, and cellular therapies. 758 abstracts from 68 countries were submitted, among which 93 high quality abstracts were chosen for oral presentations and 603 for poster presentations. With 77 esteemed invited speakers presenting their cutting-edge research, all sessions were well attended and followed by lively discussions between speakers and the audience. Industry was also well presented and participants had the opportunity to exchange their experiences and take home information about the latest developments provided by the 74 exhibitors. But a congress isn't only about science! The opening ceremony started with the traditional presentation of the talking stick to the Congress President, Prof. Kyou-Sup Han. Afterwards, participants enjoyed the serenity and the flowing movements of Seoungmu, the Buddhist monk's dance, and Pungmulnori, a Korean folk music and dance tradition. All participants were greeted with a taste of Korean cuisine at the welcome reception. During the Speakers Dinner, guests had the chance to learn about the history of Korea and the Korean alphabet. The congress party, however, was the highlight of the social events. Since the congress took place in the middle of Gangnam, the southern part of Seoul, it was a must for everybody to learn dancing "Gangnam Style". Participants were invited onto stage to compete for the best dancer award and soon the stage was filled with joyously dancing participants and within seconds the party hall turned into a twilight zone. The party is over. It is time now to prepare calmly for the next stage. Hopefully ISBT Seoul 2014 will serve as a starting point to motivate many researchers working in the field of transfusion medicine and blood program to become more engaged at an international level.
Awards and Prizes ; Blood Cells ; Blood Safety ; Blood Transfusion ; Dancing ; Hematology ; Humans ; Korea ; Meals ; Music ; Parturition ; Seoul ; Tissue Donors ; Transfusion Medicine

No abstract available.
Humans

No abstract available.
Erythrocytes*

No abstract available.
Erythrocytes*

No abstract available.
Erythrocytes*

No abstract available.
Leukocytes*

Persistent and disabling pain is the hallmark of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS). However, disease severity (as measured by objective indexes such as those that use radiography or serology) is only marginally related to patients' reports of pain severity, and pain-related presentation can differ widely among individuals with CP/CPPS. Increasing evidence in support of the biopsychosocial model of pain suggests that cognitive and emotional processes are crucial contributors to inter-individual differences in the perception and impact of pain. This review describes the growing body of literature relating depression and catastrophizing to the experience of pain and pain-related sequelae in CP/CPPS. Depression and catastrophizing are consistently associated with the reported severity of pain, sensitivity to pain, physical disability, poor treatment outcomes, and inflammatory disease activity and potentially with early mortality. A variety of pathways, from cognitive to behavioral to neurophysiological, seem to mediate these deleterious effects. Collectively, depression and catastrophizing are critically important variables in understanding the experience of pain in patients with CP/CPPS. Pain, depression, and catastrophizing might all be uniquely important therapeutic targets in the multimodal management of a range of such conditions.
Catastrophization ; Depression ; Humans ; Pelvic Pain ; Prostatitis

OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to determine the levels of quality of life (QOL) according to the grade of long-term care service for the elderly people who were admitted from long-term care insurance, and to reveal its association with the physical and mental functioning such as the Activity of Daily Living (ADL), the Instrumental Activity of Daily Living (IADL), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and the Mini-Mental State Examination-Korean version (MMSE-K). METHODS: The interviews were performed during the period from March 1 to May 31, 2009, for 958 elderly people in urban and rural areas. The questionnaire items included various indices such as the ADL, IADL, CES-D, and MMSE-K, as independent variables and the index of QOL, as the dependent ones. For statistical analysis, t-tests were used for the mean scores of QOL according to gender and the grade of long-term care services, and Spearman's correlation was used for each variable. The effects of physical and mental functioning for QOL were assessed by covariance structure analysis. The statistical significance was set at p<0.05. RESULTS: The mean scores of QOL among all the subjects was 55.4 +/- 15.62 (Grade I: 49.7 +/- 14.17, Grade II: 56.8 +/- 14.62, Grade III: 59.4+/-16.36), and it was lower according to the higher grade of long-term care insurance. In terms of the correlation matrix of the QOL and the physical and mental function factors, the QOL showed positive correlation with the ADL, IADL and MMSE-K, while it had negative correlation with depression. On the analysis of covariance, mental functioning (depression and the MMSE-K) had a greater influence on the level of QOL than the physical functioning (ADL and IADL). CONCLUSIONS: The level of the QOL in the elderly people who were admitted from long-term care insurance was lower according to higher the grade of long-term care insurance. Also, the mental functioning (depression and MMSE-K) was more influential on the level of the QOL than the physical functioning (ADL and IADL).
Activities of Daily Living/psychology ; Aged ; Depression/psychology ; Female ; *Health Status ; Humans ; Insurance, Long-Term Care/*statistics & numerical data ; Long-Term Care/*psychology/*statistics & numerical data ; Male ; *Mental Health ; Quality of Life/*psychology ; Residence Characteristics ; Socioeconomic Factors

Laparoscopic adrenalectomy has been the standard method for resecting adrenal gland tumors. Recently, laparoscopic retroperitoneal adrenalectomy (RA) has been more popular than conventional transperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomy (TLA) as an alternative method. Studies comparing laparoscopic RA and TLA showed that laparoscopic RA was superior or at least comparable to TLA in operation time, blood loss, pain score, hospital stay, and return to normal activity. Conversion rates and complication rates were similar. At present, laparoscopic RA has been int the limelight procedure for patients with benign adrenal disease. However, surgeons have been reluctant to offer this operation to patients because of the concerns over inadequate working space and overall perceived higher rate of complications, laparoscopic RA is not popular in urologic field up to now. This article summarizes the latest ideas and issues on laparoscopic RA in the expanding field of laparoscopy in urology.
Adrenal Glands ; Adrenalectomy* ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Length of Stay ; Urology*

No abstract available.
Blood Donors* ; Female ; Humans ; Pregnant Women*