PURPOSE: To understand the essentials of rearing conflict experience by three shift nurses in advanced general hospitals. METHODS: The design was a qualitative research of phenomenology. Participants were 7 shift nurses working in advanced general hospitals who were rearing young children. Data were collected individually through in-depth interview on their life experiences. Data were analyzed by Colaizzi's phenomenological methodology. RESULTS: Eighteen themes were drawn from 256 meaningful experiences and these themes were integrated to six theme clusters. The most influencing themes were ‘Regret that I cannot satisfy even the slightest wish’, ‘Fail to care for kids’, and ‘Mutual feeling to care giver between appreciation and inconvenience’. Other themes were as follows: ‘Body and mind are broken’, ‘The need for a three-shift system to support nurses who are rearing children’, ‘Doing my best for work and child rearing’. CONCLUSION: The nature of three-shift nurses working in advanced hospital and caring kids is explained as ‘lives with conflict’ between work and home. This study suggests it is necessary to establish a 24-hour care center for 3-shift nurses to keep working while rearing their children.
Caregivers ; Child ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Life Change Events ; Qualitative Research

Organ transplantation is limited by the shortage of human organs. Many studies have sought to overcome this hurdle by using animal organs. Porcine organs, especially from miniature pigs, have been used for organ xenotransplantation rather than nonhuman primates. While the molecular profiling for transplantation is well known in humans and rodents, the situation for pigs is almost completely unknown. The present study examined protein regulation of the developing stages of the pancreatic proteome (4 day-old miniature neonate, 19 day-old miniature piglet, and 14 month-old miniature adult pigs) using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry. Thirteen different expressed spots were observed and nine were identified. The data presented within this study provides critical direction relating to the development of pancreas of miniature pigs, which will assist future proteome analysis of the pancreas, and advance our understanding of the hurdles facing xenotransplantation.
Adult ; Animal Structures ; Electrophoresis* ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Mass Spectrometry* ; Organ Transplantation ; Pancreas* ; Primates ; Proteome ; Rodentia ; Swine* ; Transplantation, Heterologous ; Transplants

Due to the shortage of human organ donors for transplant, various studies of xenotransplantation, or the use of animal organs instead of human organs, have been carried out. The organs of porcine are thought to be safer and of a more suitable size for xenotransplantationthan those of nonhuman primates. Understanding the levels of expression of proteins, and their post-translational regulation, would be very practical between different species and among developing stages, though the molecular profiling for xenotransplantation has been rarely studied for porcine, while that of human and rodent is well known. Here, in this present study, we report protein regulation of the developing stages of liver (4-day old neonate, 19-day old piglet and 14-month old adult miniature pigs) using 2-DE and MALDI-TOF. From images of the three different stages, a total of 8 spotswhich were differently regulated were identified, and 5 spots were identified with MALDI-TOF MS. The data presented within this study provides critical direction relating to the development of livers of miniature pigs, which will assist future proteome analysis of the liver, and advance our understanding of the hurdles facing xenotransplantaion.
Adult ; Animal Structures ; Electrophoresis ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Liver ; Mass Spectrometry ; Primates ; Proteins ; Proteome ; Rodentia ; Swine ; Tissue Donors ; Transplantation, Heterologous ; Transplants

Multiple congenital melanocytic nevi (MCMN), defined as the distribution of more than three small- or medium- sized congenital melanocytic nevi (CMN) on the body without a giant CMN, is a rare disease comprising about 4% of patients with CMN. Because MCMN accompanies neurodevelopmental delay, including seizures in 25% of patients as well as the risk of malignant melanoma, it must be carefully followed-up. We report a case of MCMN with developmental delay in a 19-month-old Korean boy. He had a history of febrile seizure when he was 18 months old. He showed a speech delay after the 1-year-follow up, even though there was no evidence of neurocutaneous melanosis (NCM) on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at the first visit. As MRI has a low sensitivity for detecting NCM in patients with MCMN older than 4-months, close neurodevelopmental assessments should be considered to provide a chance for early rehabilitation.
Brain ; Humans ; Infant ; Language Development Disorders ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Melanoma ; Melanosis ; Neurocutaneous Syndromes ; Nevus, Pigmented ; Rare Diseases ; Seizures ; Seizures, Febrile

Lethal neonatal rigidity and multifocal seizure syndrome (RMFSL) is a severe autosomal recessive epileptic encephalopathy characterized by rigidity, intractable multifocal seizures, microcephaly, apnea, and bradycardia immediately after birth. RMFSL is related to a mutation in breast cancer 1-associated ataxia telangiectasia mutated activation-1 protein (BRAT1). We report a case of a female infant born to non-consanguineous Korean parents who developed hypertonia, dysmorphic features, progressive encephalopathy with refractory seizures at birth, and worsening intermittent apnea, leading to intubation and death at 137 days of age. The initial repeated electroencephalographic findings were normal; however, a pattern of focal seizures emerged at 35 days of life. Rapid trio whole-exome sequencing revealed heterozygous mutations c.1313_1314delAG p.(Gln438Argfs*51) and c.1276C>T p. (Gln426*) in BRAT1. After genetic counseling for pregnancy planning, a preimplantation genetic diagnosis for targeted BRAT1 mutations was successfully performed, and a healthy baby was born. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of a Korean patient with compound heterozygous mutations in BRAT1. An early and accurate genetic diagnosis can help provide timely treatment to patients and indicate the need for reproductive counseling for parents for family planning.

BACKGROUND: The evidence for H. pylori as a gastrointestnal pathogen is now very strong, if not overwhelming. Among the pathogenic factors of H. pylori, flagella and urease are considered to be major factors causing the gastrododenal disease. We observed the gene diversity of H. pylori using the PCR-amplified 1.4Kb fla A gene and 0.9Kb ure B gene and examined the relationship between the gene pattern and the gastroduodenal disease. METHOD: Fifty-one cases of isolated strains were cultured at the Helicobacter-selective blood agar plates. To compare the gene diversity among the isolates of gastroduodenal disease genotypes was analyzed by PCR-based RFLP. 1.4Kb fla A gene and 0.9Kb ure B genes from isolates were amplified by PCR and digested with Hae 3 restriction enzymes to observe the restriction fragment length polymophysm. Protein patterns were also compared to examine the antigenic variations. Total cell proteins, and octyl-glucose extracts from isolates were analyzed by SDS-PAGE gel electrophoresis. RESULTS: 41 cases (80.4%) of H. pylori were isolated in the 51 cases of gastroduodenal diseases. We could classify theses isolates 3 types of PCR-RFLP in the fla A gene, 900+500bp, 500+500+400bp, 600+800bp, and 9 types in the ure B gene. PCR-RFLP in the fla A gene and ure B gene of the isolates was different from the standard strain of Australia and the genetic diversity was not related to the types of the gastroduodenal disease. We demonstrated variations in the protein pattern and antigenic profiles among the isolates by SDS-PAGE analysis. These data also did not show any relationship between protein pattern and types of gastroduodenal diseases. CONCLUSION: Tese studies showed many different gene diversity in the flagella and urease gene without any relationship with the types of gastoduodenal disease. And variable protein pattern were noted among the strains of H. pylori. Further studies to demonstrate the pathgenecity of H. pylori should be continued even if there was no relationship between the genomic diversity of the flagella or urease and the types of gastroduodenal disease.
Agar ; Australia ; DNA* ; Electrophoresis ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Flagella ; Genes, vif ; Genetic Variation ; Genotype ; Helicobacter pylori* ; Helicobacter* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Urease

Eosinophilic gastroenteritis is an uncommon disease characterized by the presence of abnormal gastrointestinal symptoms, eosinophilic infiltration in one or more areas of the gastrointestinal tract, an absence of the indentifiable cause of eosinophilia and the exclusion of eosinophilic involvement in organs other than gut. The etiology is unknown, and the pathogenesis is poorly understood. Clinical presentations depend on the region of gastrointestinal tract involved and the depth of bowel involvement. We experienced a case of eosinophilic gastroenteritis involving entire GI tract with eosinophilic ascites in a 72-year-old female with abdominal distention and pain. The patient was treated with corticosteroid successfully. We report this case with a brief review of the literatures.
Aged ; Ascites* ; Eosinophilia ; Eosinophils* ; Female ; Gastroenteritis* ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Humans

BACKGROUND: To study the distribution of the polymorphism of apo E and angiotensin converting enzyme genotypes in type 2 diabetic patients and to evaluate possible association between the apo E genotypes and angiotensin converting enzyme genotypes and intima-media thickness of the common carotid artery. METHODS: Study participants were 206 type 2 diabetic patients (112 men and 94 women), aged 18-81 years. HbA1C, albuminuria, and lipid status were assessed by standard laboratory techniques ; the apo E genotypes were assessed by modified amplification refractory mutation system of polymerase chain reaction technique and the angiotensin converting enzyme genotypes were assessed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction technique. The intima-media thickness was measured by high-resolution ultrasonography. RESULTS: The apo E allele frequencies of patients were E2 11%, E3 72%, and E4 17%. Mean HDL-cholesterol was lower in E4 carrier (n=35) than E2 (n=148) and E3 (n=35) carrier. E2 carriers has less common carotid intima-media thickness than E3 and E4 carriers (p< 0.05). The angiotensin converting enzyme genotypes were distributed as follows ; II 38%, ID 47%, DD 15%. The intima-media thickness value did not differ among patients with various genotypes. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that only apo E polymorphism was determinant for the intima-media thickness. CONCLUSION: Our results suggested that apo E polymorphism was associated with carotid artery intima-media thickness in type 2 diabetic patients. But we could not find an association between carotid artery intima-media thickness and angiotensin converting enzyme genotype in this patients population.
Albuminuria ; Angiotensins* ; Apolipoproteins E ; Apolipoproteins* ; Carotid Arteries* ; Carotid Artery, Common ; Carotid Intima-Media Thickness ; Diabetes Mellitus* ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Ultrasonography

PURPOSE: This study analyzed the value of (99m)Tc - M I B I SPECT(Single Photon Emission Com-puted Tomography) in the diagnosis of myocardial contusion after blunt chest trauma . METHODS: We evaluated 24 patients with cardiac contusions after blunt chest trauma who were diagnosed by clinical symptoms, chest x-ray, electrocardiogram(ECG), and Creatine phospho-kinase(CPK). (99m)Tc-MIBI SPECT was performed within 48 hours along with the above tests prospectively. RESULTS: 1. Among the 24 patients, 14 patients were finally diagnosed as having a myocardial contusion by means of ECG, echocardiography, (99m)Tc-MIBI SPECT, and cardiac enzyme. 2. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of (99m)Tc - MIBI SPECT were 46.7%, 66.7%, and 54.2%, respectively. The same results for initial ECG were 46.6%, 88.9%, and 62.5%. 3. For those who had positive findings in (99m)Tc - MIBI SPECT, average hospital stay was 14.5 days and abnormal electrocardiogram was found in 90.0%. However, for those who had negative findings, average hospital stay was 11.2 days and abnormal electrocardiogram was found in 35.7%. CONCLUSION: (99m)Tc-MIBI SPECT is not a definite modality in diagnosing myocardial contusion, but can be useful in diagnosing and determining the need for hospitalization after cardiac contusion.
Contusions* ; Creatine ; Diagnosis ; Echocardiography ; Electrocardiography ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Prospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Thorax ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon*

PURPOSE: This study analyzed the value of (99m)Tc - M I B I SPECT(Single Photon Emission Com-puted Tomography) in the diagnosis of myocardial contusion after blunt chest trauma . METHODS: We evaluated 24 patients with cardiac contusions after blunt chest trauma who were diagnosed by clinical symptoms, chest x-ray, electrocardiogram(ECG), and Creatine phospho-kinase(CPK). (99m)Tc-MIBI SPECT was performed within 48 hours along with the above tests prospectively. RESULTS: 1. Among the 24 patients, 14 patients were finally diagnosed as having a myocardial contusion by means of ECG, echocardiography, (99m)Tc-MIBI SPECT, and cardiac enzyme. 2. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of (99m)Tc - MIBI SPECT were 46.7%, 66.7%, and 54.2%, respectively. The same results for initial ECG were 46.6%, 88.9%, and 62.5%. 3. For those who had positive findings in (99m)Tc - MIBI SPECT, average hospital stay was 14.5 days and abnormal electrocardiogram was found in 90.0%. However, for those who had negative findings, average hospital stay was 11.2 days and abnormal electrocardiogram was found in 35.7%. CONCLUSION: (99m)Tc-MIBI SPECT is not a definite modality in diagnosing myocardial contusion, but can be useful in diagnosing and determining the need for hospitalization after cardiac contusion.
Contusions* ; Creatine ; Diagnosis ; Echocardiography ; Electrocardiography ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Prospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Thorax ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon*