No abstract available.

Pelvic actinomycosis is a rare disease, and has variable clinical manifestations and courses, which make it difficult to diagnose the disease initially. We experienced a pelvic actinomycosis in a woman who complained vaginal discharge and lower abdominal pain, and had not been carring a intrauterine contraceptive device. This infection results in tissue destruction, fibrosis, and the formation of draining sinuses. We describe the case with brief review of clinical diagnosis and management.
Abdominal Pain ; Actinomycosis* ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; Intrauterine Devices ; Rare Diseases ; Vaginal Discharge

No abstract available.
Plasmapheresis* ; Prednisolone* ; Purpura, Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic*

Vestibulocollic reflex(VCR) which stabilizes head position in space is essential for an adequate motor performance, and maintenance of balance and posture. The purpose of this study was to measure the VCR in brain stem lesion patients and to evaluate the usefulness of the VCR study in the evaluation of brain stem lesions. The VCR evoked by free fall of the head was measured by the electromyographic signal of the sternocleidomastoid muscles. Twenty normal and ten brain stem lesion subjects were studied by lying supine with the head cradled in a sling, and the VCR was evoked by an abrupt head drop while the sling was released. The electromyographic signal was recorded with surface electrodes from the sternocleidomastoid muscles. In normal subjects, the initial small burst with an onset latency at 20.61+/-3.25 msec was obtained followed by the later larger burst of sternoceidomastoid electromyographic response. But in the subjects with a brain stem lesion, the initial latency was delayed to 46.10+/-10.65 msec and the waveform was smaller and dispersed than that of the normal subjects. The VCR evoked by free fall of the head showed delayed latency and dispersed waveform in patients with a brain stem lesion. This method could be used for the evaluation of brain stem lesions.
Brain Stem ; Deception ; Electrodes ; Electromyography ; Head* ; Humans ; Muscles ; Posture ; Reflex*

The purpose of this study was to compare dental health status of South Korean adults, according to the control protocol of glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). From the measurements of HbA1c levels of 4,991 individuals over the age of 19 who participated in the sixth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the following conclusions were obtained. Glycated hemoglobin was 7.2% in the HbA1c ≥6.6 diabetic group and 5.9% in women and 8.5% in men. The ratio in the glucose non-control group was higher in the older age group, the lower average monthly household income group, and the lower education level group. Both the tissue health index and functioning teeth index indices were slightly higher in both men and women in the glucose control group. The tissue health index was higher in the younger age group, in the higher average monthly household income group, and in the higher education level group. The missing teeth (MT) index was greater among women (3.775 pieces) than among men (2.317 pieces) in the glucose non-control group. Higher age correlated with a greater number of MT, while higher income and education levels correlated with a lower number of MT. In conclusion, we will continue to provide counseling and education on oral health problems, thereby widening the awareness of the importance of oral health care and providing a variety of media and education methods related to medical and oral health that can manage diabetic patients according to the level of HbA1c It should be developed.
Adult ; Counseling ; Education ; Family Characteristics ; Female ; Glucose ; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated* ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Nutrition Surveys ; Oral Health* ; Tooth

Entamoeba histolytica is an enteric tissue-invading protozoan parasite that can cause amebic colitis and liver abscess in humans. E. histolytica has the capability to kill colon epithelial cells in vitro; however, information regarding the role of calpain in colon cell death induced by ameba is limited. In this study, we investigated whether calpains are involved in the E. histolytica-induced cell death of HT-29 colonic epithelial cells. When HT-29 cells were co-incubated with E. histolytica, the propidium iodide stained dead cells markedly increased compared to that in HT-29 cells incubated with medium alone. This pro-death effect induced by ameba was effectively blocked by pretreatment of HT-29 cells with the calpain inhibitor, calpeptin. Moreover, knockdown of m- and micro-calpain by siRNA significantly reduced E. histolytica-induced HT-29 cell death. These results suggest that m- and micro-calpain may be involved in colon epithelial cell death induced by E. histolytica.
Calpain/antagonists & inhibitors/genetics/*metabolism ; *Cell Death ; Cell Line ; Cell Survival/drug effects ; Dipeptides/metabolism ; Entamoeba histolytica/*pathogenicity ; Epithelial Cells/*parasitology ; Gene Knockdown Techniques ; Humans

No abstract available.
Dilatation* ; Urethra*

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of uncertainty and spousal support on infertility-related quality of life in women undergoing assisted reproductive technologies. Methods: In this correlational survey study, 172 infertile women undergoing assisted reproductive technologies for infertility treatment at M hospital in Suwon participated. Data collection took place at the outpatient department of M hospital using a self-report questionnaire from July to August 2019. Data were analyzed using SPSS for Windows version 28.0. Results: The mean scores for uncertainty, spousal support, and infertility-related quality of life were 28.35 (out of 50), 86.67 (out of 115), and 57.98 (out of 100), respectively. Infertility-related quality of life was positively correlated with spousal support and negatively correlated with uncertainty. According to the regression analysis, infertility-related quality of life was significantly affected by uncertainty, total number of assisted reproductive technology treatments, marriage duration, subjective health status, the financial burden of infertility testing, and the presence of a burdensome person. These variables had an explanatory power of 35.0% for infertility-related quality of life. Conclusion Uncertainty was an important factor influencing infertility-related quality of life among women undergoing assisted reproductive technologies. It is necessary to develop and implement a nursing intervention program focused on reducing various forms of uncertainty during assisted reproductive procedures and to consider other factors affecting infertility-related quality of life in the clinical setting.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the levels of compliance with safe handling of antineoplastic agents, time pressure, knowledge of safe handling of antineoplastic agents, and workplace safety climate, and to identify factors influencing compliance with the safe handling of antineoplastic agents among clinical nurses. Methods: For this cross-sectional study, anonymous written surveys were conducted on a convenience sample of 130 clinical nurses at a university-affiliated hospital between July 10 and 20, 2020. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, t-tests, analyses of variance, Pearson’s correlation, and hierarchical multiple regression analysis using SPSS. Results: The average level of compliance with safe handling of antineoplastic agents was 120.81 out of 175. The significant correlates for compliance with safe handling of antineoplastic agents were clinical experience, knowledge of safe handling of antineoplastic agents, and workplace safety climate. These accounted for 38% of the total variance in compliance with the safe handling of antineoplastic agents. Conclusion The findings suggest that to increase compliance with safe handling of antineoplastic agents, workplace safety climate and knowledge of safe handling of antineoplastic agents should be improved. The development and application of an effective training program on the safe handling of antineoplastic agents would lead to improvements in this area.

Background: Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) in patients using oral anticancer treatment are more common than in those using injectable anticancer agents. In addition, DDIs related to anticancer treatment are known to cause clinically significant outcomes, such as treatment failure and severe toxicity. To prevent these negative outcomes, significant DDIs are monitored and managed using the information provided in drug databases. We aimed to evaluate the consistency of information on clinically significant DDIs for tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) between representative drug databases. Methods: We selected clinically significant DDIs involving medications that are co-prescribed with TKIs and met the following criteria: the severity level of DDIs was equal or greater than “D” in Lexicomp® or “major” in Micromedex® . We then analyzed the consistency of the severity classification and evidence level between the drug databases. Spearman’s correlation coefficient was used to identify the relationship between DDI information in the drug databases. Results: In total, 627 DDI pairs were identified as clinically significant; information on these was provided by Lexicomp® and Micromedex® for 571 and 438 pairs, respectively, and both drug databases provided information on 382 DDI pairs.There was no correlation between the severity and evidence level of DDIs provided in the two databases; Spearman’s correlation coefficient for Lexicomp® and Micromedex® was -0.009 (p=0.861) and -0.064 (p=0.209), respectively. Conclusion To judge the significance of DDIs, healthcare providers should consider that the information on DDIs may be different between drug information databases; hence, clinical factors must be considered concurrently.