No abstract available.
Muscle, Smooth* ; Relaxation*

No abstract available.
Aminosalicylic Acid* ; Cycloserine* ; Prothionamide* ; Retreatment* ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary*

No abstract available.
Electroencephalography* ; Neuronal Ceroid-Lipofuscinoses ; Neurons*

No abstract available.
Humans

We found an error in this article. The author's name should be corrected as following: from "Younsuk Koh" to "Younsuck Koh".

BACKGROUND: Critical care physician staffing is a crucial element of the intensive care unit (ICU) organization, and is associated with better outcomes in ICUs. Adult ICUs in Korea have been suffering from inadequate full-time intensivists and nurses because of insufficient reimbursement rates (<50% of the original critical care cost) from the National Health Insurance System. Recently, full-time intensivists have been introduced as a prerequisite for adult ICUs of tertiary hospitals in Korea. The purpose of this study was to examine the perception of intensivist staffing among critical care program directors regarding the barriers and solutions when implementing an intensivist model of critical care in Korea. METHODS: An email survey of critical care program directors in designated teaching hospitals for critical care subspecialty training by the Korean Society of Critical Care Medicine was performed. The survey domains included vision, culture, resources, barriers, and potential solutions to implementing intensivist physician staffing (IPS). RESULTS: Forty-two critical care program directors were surveyed. A total of 28 directors (66.7%) responded to email queries. Of these, 27 directors (96.4%) agreed that IPS would improve the quality of care in the ICU, although half of them reported a negative perception of relevant clinical colleagues for the role of full-time intensivists and poor resources for IPS in their hospitals. Increased financial burden due to hiring full-time intensivists and concerns regarding exclusion from the management of their critically ill patients in the ICU, together with loss of income for primary attending physicians were stated by the respondents to be major barriers to implementing IPS. Financial incentives for the required cost from the health insurance system and enhancement of medical law relevant to critical care were regarded as solutions to these issues. CONCLUSIONS: Critical care program directors believe that intensivist-led critical care can improve the outcome of ICUs. They indicated the financial burden due to IPS and underestimation of a full-time intensivist's role to be major barriers. The program directors agreed that a partnership between hospital leaders and the Ministry of Health and Welfare was needed to overcome these barriers.
Adult* ; Critical Care ; Critical Illness ; Electronic Mail ; Hospitals, Teaching ; Humans ; Insurance, Health ; Intensive Care Units ; Jurisprudence ; Korea ; Motivation ; National Health Programs ; Personnel Staffing and Scheduling ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Tertiary Care Centers

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Population Characteristics* ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroiditis*

PURPOSE: To evaluate the rates of inter- and intraobserver agreement of the BI-RADS US lexicon. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two radiologists reviewed 60 sonograms of solid breast masses to evaluate interobserver agreement. After four weeks, the radiologists reinterpreted the series to evaluate the intraobserver agreement. The radiologists described shape, orientation, margin, lesion boundary, echo pattern, posterior acoustic features and microcalcifications. Final assessment categories and management plans were suggested for each case. The rates of inter- and intraobserver agreements were measured by the use of kappa statistics. RESULTS: Interobserver agreement ranged from the highest for orientation (k=0.65) and shape (k=0.61) to the lowest for posterior acoustic features (k=0.42). For the final assessment categories (k=0.46) and management (k=0.49), interobserver agreements were moderate. Intraobserver agreement ranged from the highest for microcalcifications in mass (k=0.90, 0.82) and orientation (k=0.87, 0.83) and the lowest for echo patterns (k=0.62, 0.57) and posterior acoustic features (k=0.59, 0.65). In the final assessment category and management, intraobserver agreements were substantial or nearly complete (k=0.65-0.83). CONCLUSION: There were variable ranged inter- and intraobserver agreements in the description of the BI-RADS US lexicon of solid breast masses. Among them, margin and lesion boundary showed lower agreements. A modification of the BI-RADS US lexicon with more detailed guidelines, followed by continuous education, are suggested.
Acoustics ; Breast* ; Education ; Information Systems*

No abstract available.
Ascites* ; Liver Cirrhosis* ; Liver* ; Pleural Effusion*