We aimed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of darunavir (DRV) in the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infection in Korea. From October 29, 2010, 225 eligible patients with HIV-1 infection receiving DRV were enrolled. DRV was administered with other antiretroviral agents, and followed for 24 weeks. The primary objective was safety evaluation, and effectiveness was assessed by viral load and CD4 T cell counts after 12 weeks and 24 weeks. Adverse drug reactions occurred in 18 patients (9.2%); diarrhea was the most common. Viral load was controlled (<400 copies/mL) in 90.9% of patients. CD4 T cell counts were increased 45.0/mm3 significantly at Week 12 (P = 0.0002), and 70.5/mm3 at Week 24 (P <0.0001). DRV safety and effectiveness was consistent with previous studies.

We aimed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of darunavir (DRV) in the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infection in Korea. From October 29, 2010, 225 eligible patients with HIV-1 infection receiving DRV were enrolled. DRV was administered with other antiretroviral agents, and followed for 24 weeks. The primary objective was safety evaluation, and effectiveness was assessed by viral load and CD4 T cell counts after 12 weeks and 24 weeks. Adverse drug reactions occurred in 18 patients (9.2%); diarrhea was the most common. Viral load was controlled (<400 copies/mL) in 90.9% of patients. CD4 T cell counts were increased 45.0/mm3 significantly at Week 12 (P = 0.0002), and 70.5/mm3 at Week 24 (P <0.0001). DRV safety and effectiveness was consistent with previous studies.

The elective course was introduced to Inha university college of medicine in clinical clerkship from 1998. In August, 1999, a questionnaire about the change of the curriculum was distributed to 36 senior students and 157 clinical professors in Inha university college of medicine. To the elective course, the students' response was : 41.7% answered 'good', 22.2% answered 'non-judgemental', 36.1% answered 'bad', and the professors' response was : 56.4% answered 'good', 30.9% answered 'non-judgemental', 12.8% answered 'bad'. As for the merit of the elective course, the students' response was : 72.2% answered 'to choose the course they want to study (to provide them study motivation)', 41.7% answered 'to study the subject deeply', 19.4% answered 'to be helpful to choose a course after graduation'. Of the professors' response, 83.0% answered 'to choose the course they want to study (to provide them study motivation)', but 44.7% answered 'self-regulating study attitude'. As for the defect of the elective course, the students' response was : 91.7% answered 'the subjects are restricted', 55.6% answered 'to be too long not efficiently', ?% answered 'to hinder from preparing for Korean medical licensing examination'. And the professors answered in the same order. 55.6% of the students' respond answered 'rarely prepared' even though the term of elective course in each department got longer, but 28.7% of the professors' answered 'prepared very much'. As for the period of elective course, the students' response was : 2 weeks for 6 each subjects (72.2%), 1 week for every subjects(22.2%). But the professors' response was : 3 weeks for 4 each subjects(35.1%), 2 weeks for 6 each subjects(35.1%), over 4 weeks for less 3 each subjects (9.6%). As a conclusion the professors in clinical department must prepare meticulously for the elective course.
Clinical Clerkship* ; Curriculum ; Education, Medical ; Humans ; Licensure ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVES: Cigarette smoking had been recorded as the main cause of impaired endothelium- dependent vasodilation in smokers by reducing nitric oxide (NO), a production of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). However, the mechanism of NO impairment via eNOS activity is unclear until now. In this study, cell passage is suggested to be a relevant factor to eNOS expression under cigarette smoking stress. METHODS: Bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs) were chosen as the research subject with passages ranking from 6 to 9 (6P to 9P). After exposure of cigarette smoking extract (CSE) solution, MTT assay and Western blot method were performed to check the cell viability as well as eNOS protein concentration. In these experiments, four concentrations of CSE at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4% were selected for treatment. RESULTS: Our results showed that cells almost died at 4% of CSE. Besides, eNOS protein mass had a linear decrease under the increase of CSE concentration. In addition, the effect of CSE on eNOS expression was dissimilar between different passages. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicated that CSE had effect on both cell viability and eNOS expression. Besides, a reduction in protein mass was matched with the decrease of cell viability due to CSE tress. Last but not least, the response of eNOS protein to different concentration of CSE at different passages was disparate, making the hypothesis about cell passage related inhibition of eNOS caused by CSE solution.
Blotting, Western ; Cell Aging* ; Cell Survival ; Endothelial Cells* ; Humans ; Nitric Oxide ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III ; Nitric Oxide Synthase* ; Research Subjects ; Smoking* ; Vasodilation

The context of specific criteria for the recognition of occupational diseases (ODs) due to physical agents in the Enforcement Decree of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (ED-IACIA) and the Labor Standard Act (LSA) does not describe definite disease along with the agents but listed symptoms or obscure clinical conditions. Moreover, the needs for an amendment of these Acts have recently attracted renewed interest. To establish agreed criteria for compensable ODs due to physical agents, we reviewed the criteria for recognizing ODs on the basis of International Labor Organization (ILO) documents and European Union (EU) guideline. After providing a brief review of the history of OD outbreaks due to physical exposure in South Korea and the responses to them, we describe the basis for the recent amendments to the IACI Act and LSA and assess their appropriateness. On the basis of these findings, this study could be helpful for determining and compensating process of ODs. However, further work is required to ascertain the scientific relationship between diseases caused by physical agents and the exposure criteria.
Accidents, Occupational ; Humans ; Male ; Noise/*adverse effects ; Occupational Diseases/*economics ; Occupational Exposure/adverse effects ; Radiation Injuries/*economics ; Republic of Korea ; Vibration/*adverse effects ; Workers' Compensation/*economics

PURPOSE: Reading speed is one of the methods used to measure near visual function. Although several versions of reading charts in different languages have been introduced, there is no Korean version of the reading chart yet. Therefore, we investigated the reading speed of normal-sighted Korean people using a recently developed reading speed application for the iPad tablet in Korea. METHODS: Normal-sighted participants without presbyopia were included and a third generation retina display iPad was used to measure reading speed. The iPad screen was set to maximum brightness and the examination was performed at a distance of 40 cm. Reading speeds were recorded twice: one for reading the sentence silently (reading only) and one for reading the sentence out loud (reading & speaking). RESULTS: The test sentences used in the application had 18.9 ± 2.6 letters and 6.5 ± 0.7 words on average. Twenty-five males and seventeen females were included. The average of the reading only speed was 202.3 ± 88.4 words per minute (WPM), and that of the reading & speaking speed was 129.7 ± 25.9 WPM, showing a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This Korean reading chart application is the first self-reporting reading chart in Korean. This chart could present a new standard for measuring both reading only and reading & speaking speeds.
Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Pilot Projects* ; Presbyopia ; Retina

PURPOSE: Cell transplantation of myelin-producing exogenous cells is being extensively explored as a means of remyelinating axons in X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy. We determined whether 3,3',5-Triiodo-L-thyronine (T3) overexpresses the ABCD2 gene in the polysialylated (PSA) form of neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM)-positive cells and promotes cell proliferation and favors oligodendrocyte lineage differentiation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PSA-NCAM+ cells from newborn Sprague-Dawley rats were grown for five days on uncoated dishes in defined medium with or without supplementation of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and/or T3. Then, PSA-NCAM+ spheres were prepared in single cells and transferred to polyornithine/fibronectin-coated glass coverslips for five days to determine the fate of the cells according to the supplementation of these molecules. T3 responsiveness of ABCD2 was analyzed using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, the growth and fate of cells were determined using 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine incorporation and immunocytochemistry, respectively. RESULTS: Results demonstrated that T3 induces overexpression of the ABCD2 gene in PSA-NCAM+ cells, and can enhance PSA-NCAM+ cell growth in the presence of bFGF, favoring an oligodendrocyte fate. CONCLUSION: These results may provide new insights into investigation of PSA-NCAM+ cells for therapeutic application to X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy.
ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters/*metabolism ; Adrenoleukodystrophy/genetics/*therapy ; Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Bromodeoxyuridine ; Cell Differentiation ; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2/pharmacology ; Fibronectins/metabolism ; Immunohistochemistry ; Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules/*genetics ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sialic Acids/metabolism ; Stem Cells ; Thyroid Hormones/*metabolism ; Triiodothyronine/pharmacology

The tarsal tunnel is located beneath the flexor retinaculum, which connects the medial malleolus and calacaneus. The tarsal tunnel contains the posterior tibialis tendon, flexor digitorum longus tendon, posterior tibial artery and vein, posterior tibial nerve, and flexor halluces longus tendon. Tarsal tunnel syndrome is a compressive neuropathy of posterior tibial nerve and its branches under the flexor retinaculum. The etiologies of tarsal tunnel syndrome are space-occupying lesion, hypertrophied flexor retinaculum, osteophytes, tarsal coalition, varicose vein, and trauma. The symptoms are foot pain and hypoesthesia or paresthesia at dermatome according to involving nerve branches. Clinical diagnosis can be obtained from a detailed history and physical examination such as compressive test at the tarsal tunnel area. Ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging can reveal the space-occupying lesion, such as ganglion, lipoma, and neuroma. The initial treatments of tarsal tunnel syndrome are conservative management, such as physical therapy, night splint, and steroid injection. Surgical decompression is indicated after failure of conservative managements. Variable results of surgical treatment have been reported. Favorable result after decompression could be obtained from young patients, early onset symptoms, and space-occupying lesion.
Decompression ; Decompression, Surgical ; Diagnosis ; Foot ; Ganglion Cysts ; Humans ; Hypesthesia ; Lipoma ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neuroma ; Osteophyte ; Paresthesia ; Physical Examination ; Splints ; Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome* ; Tendons ; Tibial Arteries ; Tibial Nerve ; Ultrasonography ; Varicose Veins ; Veins

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical features and treatment outcomes of smartphone overusers with acute acquired comitant esotropia. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients ≥ 15 years of age who used a smartphone for > 4 hours a day for > 1 year, and who were diagnosed with acute acquired comitant esotropia from May 2011 to January 2016. We analyzed sex, age at the time of manifestation and duration of esotropia, refractive error, deviated angle at the first and final visits, and the results of refraining from smartphone use, use of the Fresnel prism, and surgery for esotropia. RESULTS: A total of 13 patients were studied, including 8 males and 5 females. The mean age at development of esotropia was 22.7 ± 9.7 years. The mean duration of esotropia before the first visit was 28.0 ± 33.0 months, and the mean follow-up period was 16.4 ± 16.4 months. The mean angle of esotropia was 21.8 ± 7.0 prism diopters (PD) at distance and 22.2 ± 7.9 PD at near. There were eight myopic patients; the other patients were emmetropia. The esotropia of all patients did not improve after refraining from smartphone use. There was no improvement in five patients who were wearing the Fresnel prism for ≥ 4 months. A total of six patients were treated with bilateral medial rectus recession; only one patient remained orthotropic at postoperative 6 months, three patients were undercorrected, and two had a recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Esotropia persisted after refraining from smartphone use or wearing a Fresnel prism in acute acquired comitant esotropia patients who were smartphone overusers, and the surgical prognosis of these patients was relatively poor.
Emmetropia ; Esotropia ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Medical Records ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; Refractive Errors ; Retrospective Studies ; Smartphone

Pilomatricoma, also known as calcifying epithelioma of Malherbe, is a benign adnexal skin tumor arising from hair matrix cells. Clinically, pilomatricoma typically presents as a firm, bluish or red colored, deep-seated nodule with overlying normal skin. Several variants of pilomatricoma have been described including perforating, extruding, bullous, melanocytic, giant, keratoacanthoma-like, exophytic, lymphangiectatic, familial, anetodermic, and multiple. Among these, an extruding variant has been very rarely reported. A 10-year-old girl presented with a 2-month history of a rapid-growing, solitary, firm, skin-colored to pinkish, pedunculated papule with a central crusted perforation on the left cheek. Based on the clinical and histological findings, we made a diagnosis of exophytic pilomatricoma with perforating figure. She had no signs of recurrence of the lesion for 8 months after removal.