To elucidate the role of plasmid-mediated AmpC-type B-lactamases in clinical practice, cefoxitin-resistant isolates of E. coli (19 strains) and K. pneumoniae (7 strains) from three hospitals in Korea were studied. All of the 26 isolates produced at least one j3-lactamase and 16 (62%) isolates produced AmpC-type B-lactamases poorly inhibited by clavulanic acid. In 16 such isolates, 4 kinds of AmpC enzymes were detected; the pI 8.0 AmpC enzyme in 11 isolates, the pI 8.9 in 3 isolates of E. coli, the pI 8.5 in 1 isolate of E. coli, and the pI 7.8 in 1 isolate of K pneumoniae. The pI 8.0 and 7.8 AmpC enzymes had an apparent molecular mass of 38 kDa and the pI 8.5 and 8.9 AmpC enzymes had a molecular mass of 35 kDa. Cefoxitin resistance was transmissible in six E. coli and three K pneumoniae strains due to a common AmpC-type B-lactamase with a pl of 8.0. This enzyme was confirmed to be CMY-1 B-lactamase by Southern blotting and PCR analysis. Four E. coli isolates produced large amounts of AmpC-type j3-1actamase. They were chromosomal AmpC hyperproducers carrying some alterations in the promoter and attenuator regions of the ampC chromosomal gene. The pI 7.8 AmpC enzyme is currently under study. In conclusion, this study showed that the CMY-1 plasmid-mediated cephamycinase play an important role in cephamycin resistance of K. pneumoniae and E. coli clinical isolates in Korea.
beta-Lactamases* ; Blotting, Southern ; Cefoxitin ; Clavulanic Acid ; Korea ; Pneumonia* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

PURPOSE: The present study is a descriptive cross-sectional study of cause-and-effect relationship, which used the 7th year data of the Panel Study on Korean Children, to investigate the effects of parenting stress, depression, and family interactions of the parents of early school-age children on children's subjective happiness. METHODS: The present study included data of 1419 pairs of parents who participated in the mother and father survey of the Panel Study on Korean Children. The effects of parenting stress, depression, and parental family interactions on children's subjective happiness were analyzed as actor and partner effects using path analysis. RESULTS: Parenting stress had an actor effect on depression; maternal parenting stress (β=−.21, p < .001) and depression (β=−.30, p < .001) had an actor effect on maternal family interaction; and paternal parenting stress (β=−.18, p < .001) and depression (β=−.17, p < .001) had a partner effect on maternal family interaction. Paternal parenting stress was found to have an actor effect on paternal family interaction (β=−.30, p < .001), and parental depression was found to have actor effect (β=−.23, p < .001) and maternal depression had a partner effect on paternal family interactions (β=−.22, p < .001). Children's subjective happiness was found to have a statistically significant relationship with maternal family interaction (β=.40, p < .001). CONCLUSION: The significance of the study is in its provision of basic data for adjusting parents' family interactions that are closely related to the growth and development of children by confirming the effect of parents' parenting stress, depression, and family interaction on children's subjective happiness.
Child ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Depression ; Fathers ; Growth and Development ; Happiness* ; Humans ; Mothers ; Parenting ; Parents*

OBJECTIVES: Breast cancer has been the most prevalent female cancer in South Korea since 2001. Early detection of this disease is the most effective strategy for reducing mortality. The objective of this study was to identify factors which could predict advanced stage at diagnosis of breast cancer. METHODS: Participants who were initially diagnosed with breast cancer and referred to the Stress Clinic of the Breast Cancer Center at Kyungpook National University Hospital were included. Through a semi-structured interview, the authors investigated psychosocial variables such as the extent of marital and family functioning and emotional-economic family burden as well as sociodemographic and health behavior-, health characteristic- and cancer-related variables. RESULTS: Data were collected from 219 participants. One hundred and twenty(54.8%) subjects were diagnosed with advanced-stage breast cancer. Variables that were significantly different between the advanced-stage and early-stage groups included : monthly breast self examination(p<0.000), annual mammographic screening(p< 0.000), mode of tumor detection(p<0.000), nature of the first symptoms(p<0.000), time to treatment after di-agnosis(p<0.000), overloaded economic and family burden(p=0.018), marital functioning(p<0.000) and family functioning(p<0.00). Logistic regression analysis indicated that irregular annual mammography screening(OR=7.431 ; 95% CI 2.407-22.944) or a lack of screening(OR=25.299 ; 95% CI 7.855-81.482) and a dysfunctional marital relationship(OR=4.772 ; 95% CI 2.244-10.145) were significantly associated with advanced stage at diagnosis of breast cancer. CONCLUSIONS: We reconfirmed screening behavior to be a risk factor for delayed diagnosis of breast cancer. Our findings also emphasized the importance of psychosocial factors such as marital functioning in early detection of breast cancer. Psychiatric consultation in the area of martial functioning could be beneficial for increasing early detection in breast cancer.
Breast ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Delayed Diagnosis* ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Humans ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Mammography ; Marriage* ; Mass Screening ; Mortality ; Psychology* ; Risk Factors ; Time-to-Treatment

We successfully treated a 47 year old male patient who developed diabetes twice and later fell in diabetic ketoacidosis and delirium during the 4 years of olanzapine therapy. For the first 3 months of olanzapine medication the patient gained 14kg and developed diabetes mellitus 3 years later in the maintenance of olanzapine. Fortunately his diabetes was improved after switching his medication to risperidone. 2 months later he remedicated olanzapine by chance and got 15 kg of weight gain. In a year he developed diabetes again and was finally transferred to emergency room due to diabetic ketoacidosis. It was thought that olanzapine played a negative role in the course of patient's diabetes, and it was switched to amisulpride. The result was that blood glucose levels began to be well controlled without any antihyperglycemic agents in 30 days after the complete withdrawal of olanzapine. During a year's follow up after discharge, the patient didn't show any aggravation of psychotic symptoms and any signs of diabetes. He kept his body weight 68 kg which was the same weight when he was discharged from the hospital. This case showed clearly how olanzapine affected the onset and the course of diabetes in a schizophrenic patient. Therefore we report this case with a few olanzapine related considerations.
Blood Glucose ; Body Weight ; Delirium ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diabetic Ketoacidosis* ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hypoglycemic Agents ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Risperidone ; Weight Gain

BACKGROUND: VIM-2 type metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL) producing strains are presently spreading to Pseudomonas spp., Acinetobacter spp. and even to Enterobacteriaceae such as Serratia marcescens, Enterobacter cloacae and Klebsiella pneumoniae in Korea. Recently we determined the phenotype and the genotype of three MBL-producing Providencia rettgeri isolated from urinary specimen of three patients with neurosurgical ward, and analyzed the blaVIM-2 containing integron of a P. rettgeri CBU852. METHODS: EDTA-disk synergy test was used for the screening of MBL, and the PCR for blaIMP-1, blaVIM-1 and blaVIM-2 was performed. The minimal inhibitory concentration of those isolates was determined by broth microdilution method, and the genomic DNA fingerprinting analysis was performed by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). The sequence of the blaVIM-2 containing integron was determined. RESULTS: Three P. rettgeri with reduced imipenem susceptibility showed the positive EDTA-disk synergy test and blaVIM-2 was detected by PCR. Antimicrobial susceptibility test showed the resistance to all beta-lactams tested, ciprofloxacin and aminoglycoside such as gentamicin, tobramycin and amikacin, indicating multidrug resistance of those isolates. RAPD analysis showed the identical DNA fingerprint of those three isolates. The novel class 1 integron, including aacA4, blaVIM-2, orf "ii" and orf "iii", was detected in a P. rettgeri CBU852. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the multidrug resistant P. rettgeri CBU852 had blaVIM-2 containing novel class 1 integron. The emergence of blaVIM-2 producing P. rettgeri could compromise the use of carbapenem in treatment of infections caused by MBL producing bacteria. To our knowledge, this is the first report that VIM-2 MBL gene has been detected in P. rettgeri.
Acinetobacter ; Amikacin ; Animals ; Bacteria ; beta-Lactams ; Ciprofloxacin ; DNA ; DNA Fingerprinting ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; Ecthyma, Contagious ; Enterobacter cloacae ; Enterobacteriaceae ; Genotype ; Gentamicins ; Humans ; Imipenem ; Integrons ; Klebsiella pneumoniae ; Korea ; Mass Screening ; Phenotype ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Providencia* ; Pseudomonas ; Serratia marcescens ; Tobramycin

The evolution and dissemination of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) have compromised the clinical use of third-generation cephalosporins worldwide. Although most ESBLs belong to the TEM and SHV beta-lactamase families, the members of CTX-M, a novel ESBL family, are increasing worldwide in Gram-negative bacteria. We examined the prevalence of CTX-M ESBL in clinical isolates of the family Enterobacteriaceae collected from three university hospitals located in three different cities in Korea. Among a total of 603 isolates collected, 163 isolates (27.0%) revealed > or =2 microgram/ ml of MIC against cefotaxime, and 93 isolates (15.4%) produced ESBL confirmed by the double disk synergy test. Among 93 ESBL-producing isolates, blaCTX-M genes were detected in 41 isolates by PCR method and they included 1 isolate of C. freundii, 3 of E. aerogenes, 2 of E. cloacae, 17 of E. coli, 9 of K. pneumoniae, and 9 of S. marcescens. Thus, the overall prevalence of CTX-M ESBL-producing isolates among the family Enterobacteriaceae was 6.8% (41 of 603 isolates) and the proportion of CTX-M-producers among the ESBL-producing isolates was 44.1% (41 of 93 isolates). Further determination of the blaCTX-M subtype by nucleotide sequencing revealed blaCTX-M-3 in 17, blaCTX-M-15 in 11, blaCTX-M-14 in 9, and blaCTX-M-9 in 4 isolates. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the dissemination of CTX-M ESBL among clinical isolates of the family Enterobacteriaceae in Korea.
beta-Lactamases* ; Cefotaxime ; Cephalosporins ; Cloaca ; Enterobacteriaceae* ; Gram-Negative Bacteria ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Korea* ; Pneumonia ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence*

The evolution and dissemination of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) have compromised the clinical use of third-generation cephalosporins worldwide. Although most ESBLs belong to the TEM and SHV beta-lactamase families, the members of CTX-M, a novel ESBL family, are increasing worldwide in Gram-negative bacteria. We examined the prevalence of CTX-M ESBL in clinical isolates of the family Enterobacteriaceae collected from three university hospitals located in three different cities in Korea. Among a total of 603 isolates collected, 163 isolates (27.0%) revealed > or =2 microgram/ ml of MIC against cefotaxime, and 93 isolates (15.4%) produced ESBL confirmed by the double disk synergy test. Among 93 ESBL-producing isolates, blaCTX-M genes were detected in 41 isolates by PCR method and they included 1 isolate of C. freundii, 3 of E. aerogenes, 2 of E. cloacae, 17 of E. coli, 9 of K. pneumoniae, and 9 of S. marcescens. Thus, the overall prevalence of CTX-M ESBL-producing isolates among the family Enterobacteriaceae was 6.8% (41 of 603 isolates) and the proportion of CTX-M-producers among the ESBL-producing isolates was 44.1% (41 of 93 isolates). Further determination of the blaCTX-M subtype by nucleotide sequencing revealed blaCTX-M-3 in 17, blaCTX-M-15 in 11, blaCTX-M-14 in 9, and blaCTX-M-9 in 4 isolates. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the dissemination of CTX-M ESBL among clinical isolates of the family Enterobacteriaceae in Korea.
beta-Lactamases* ; Cefotaxime ; Cephalosporins ; Cloaca ; Enterobacteriaceae* ; Gram-Negative Bacteria ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Korea* ; Pneumonia ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence*

BACKGROUND: Recently, new plasmid-mediated extended-spectrum beta-lactamases have been reported. These are not derived from TEM or SHV enzymes but are related to cephalosporins of Enterobacteriaceae (AmpCenzymes), that confer to all cephalosporins including cefoxitin. METHODS: Fifteen clinical isolates of cefoxitin-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae were charaterized. Antimicroilutin method. Crude beta-lactamases were prepared by sonication and isoelectric focusing of the enzyme preparations was performed in polyacrylamide gel. The transmissibility of resistance was tested by mating to E. coli J53. We performed PCR and hybridization for further characterization of the AmpC-type beta-lactamse. RESULTS: Seven strains were found to have the plasmid-mediated AmpC type beta-lactamase as a pI of 8.0 and this was confirmed to be cmy-1 beta-lactamase by PCR and hybridization analysis. These strains were resistant to ampicillin and piperacillin with MICs above 128microgram/ml. Cefoxitin resistance could be transferred from 4 strains via a large plasmi with molecular sizes approximately 77 or 130 kb. The molecular weight of CMY-1 enzyme is approximately 38kDa. We analyzed the OMP of six cefoxitin-resistance K. pneumoniae. Two of six strains were lacking a major OMP of approximately 40 kDa, but four of them showed another 39 kDa sized band just below the 40 kDa major OMP, which were thought to be a modified 40 kDa OMP. CONCLUSION: With these results, we conclude that resistance to cefoxitin in K. pneumoniae isolated from Korean patients is either associated with the productin of CMY-a, a plasmid-mediated AmpC type beta-lactamase, of altered expressin of an outer membrane protein.
Ampicillin ; beta-Lactamases* ; beta-Lactams ; Cefoxitin ; Cephalosporins ; Enterobacteriaceae ; Humans ; Isoelectric Focusing ; Klebsiella pneumoniae* ; Klebsiella* ; Membrane Proteins ; Molecular Weight ; Piperacillin ; Pneumonia ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sonication

Many antibiotic resistance genes found in gram-negative clinical isolates are a part of a gene cassette inserted into an integron. Incidence of the integron carriage in extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs)-producing clinical isolates is considerably high. In this study, the presence of class 1 integron was investigated among ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae, and the genetic location of the integron and bla(ESBL) was determined to elucidate the genetic linkage of the integron and bla(ESBL) gene. Thirty-nine clinical isolates of ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae and 36 transconjugants were used. The presence of class 1 integron was examined by PCR and Southern hybridization, and the location of ESBL gene and integron was studied by Southern hybridization with the probes for bla(TEM), bla(SHV), bla(CMY-1), and integron. PCR and Southern blot hybridization studies showed that 31 of 39 (79.5%) clinical isolates and 21 of 36 (58.3%) transconjugants carried integrons. Furthermore, integron was found to be on the same conjugative plasmid on which bla(SHV-ESBL) or bla(CMY-1) gene was located, suggesting high genetic linkage of integron and blaESBL genes. A sequencing study showed that PCR-amplified inserted gene cassettes contained aminoglycoside resistance genes (aadA2, aadA5, aacA4, aadB) as well as catB5, dfrA12, dfrA17, OXA-1, and OXA-2 variant. Notably, aacA4, which had been rarely found in previous studies, was the most predominant gene cassette. In conclusion, the coincidence of an ESBL gene and class 1 integron/ gene cassette on the same conjugative plasmid has potential implications for the spread of ESBL-mediated drug resistance and may be responsible for the multi-drug resistance in these isolates.
beta-Lactamases ; Blotting, Southern ; Drug Resistance ; Drug Resistance, Microbial ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; Genes, vif ; Genetic Linkage ; Incidence ; Integrons* ; Plasmids ; Pneumonia* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to gain insights into empathy, cyberbullying, and cybervictimization among Filipino adolescents. Methods: The participants were 168 junior high school students in the 7th to 10th grades at a public high school in Cavite Province, Philippines. Data were collected on demographic characteristics, the Basic Empathy Scale, and Revised Cyber Bullying Inventory-II scores. The data were analyzed in SPSS using descriptive statistics (frequency and mean), the independent t-test, bivariate correlation, and one-way analysis of variance. Results: The degree of empathy did not show a statistically significant relationship with cyberbullying (r=-.07, p=.359) but did show a significant relationship with cybervictimization (r=.18, p=.025). Furthermore, cyberbullying had a statistically significant association with cybervictimization (r=.60, p<.001). Conclusion Although empathy does not necessarily affect cyberbullying, higher levels of empathy were found among cyberbullying victims. However, an alarming result of this study is the possibility that victims may become cyberbullies. Therefore, we should highlight empathy as part of efforts to prevent cyberbullying and to solve various cyber-related problems. Since cyberbullying and cybervictimization are closely related, it is important to focus on this relationship and to make multilateral efforts to ensure that cyberbullying does not lead to other negative issues.