OBJECTIVES: This prospective study was performed to determine effects of clozapine treatment on the quality of life of treatment-resistant schizophrenic patients. METHOD: Subjects were 18 patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Patient's PANSS, BPRS and Simpson-Angus Rating Scale was assessed at 9 time points: baseline, the 2th, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th, 16th, and 20th weeks of treatment. We chose to use the Quality of Life Scale (QLS) developed by Heinrichs and associates to evaluate the effect on the quality of life. The QLS was scaled at every month of treatment. RESULTS: Eighteen of twenty-three patients completed the five months trial of clozapine. Three PANSS factors (positive, negative, general) and BPRS total scores showed a significant improvement at the fifth month of clozapine treatment. The adverse effects of clozapine did not show a significant improvement. After five months of clozapine treatment, there were an increase of 52.69% in the total QLS score and a significant improvement of two QLS factors (interpersonal relations, intrapsychic foundation). Particularly two PANSS factors(negative, general) had a significant correlation with the QLS score. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that clozapine treatment has a positive effect on quality of life of treatment-resistant schizophrenic patients.
Clozapine* ; Humans ; Prospective Studies ; Quality of Life* ; Schizophrenia

PURPOSE: This purpose of this study was to develop and validate a Self-Efficacy Scale for Self-Management of Breast Cancer (SESSM-B). METHODS: The SESSM-B was developed and validated as follows: Item generation, pilot study, and tests of validity and reliability. Twenty-one items were developed through evaluation by 10 experts and 13 items were finally confirmed through item analysis and factor analysis. Psychometric testing was performed with a convenience sample of 303 women with breast cancer. Data were analyzed using factor analysis, Pearson correlation coefficients, and Cronbach's alpha. RESULTS: Five factors evolved from the factor analysis, which explained 69.8% of the total variance. The first factor 'coping with psycho-informational demand' explained 17.2%, 2nd factor 'maintenance of healthy lifestyle' 14.5%. 3rd factor 'management of side-effects' 13.3%, 4th factor 'therapeutic compliance' 12.8%, and 5th factor 'sexual life' 11.9%. SESSM-B also demonstrated a concurrent validity with health-related quality of life scale, EORTC QLQ-C30 & BR23. The internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha, was .78, and reliability of the subscales ranged from .61 to .79. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that the SESSM-B is an easy, reliable, and valid instrument to measure self-efficacy for self-management of breast cancer.
Adaptation, Psychological ; Adult ; Breast Neoplasms/*psychology ; Factor Analysis, Statistical ; Female ; Health Status ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Pilot Projects ; Program Development ; Psychometrics ; Quality of Life ; Questionnaires ; *Self Care ; *Self Efficacy

BACKGROUND: TEL (ETV6)/AML1 (RUNX1) rearrangement is observed in approximately 20-25% of childhood precursor B-ALL and is associated with a favorable outcome. Additional genetic changes, associated with TEL/AML1, are frequently found. We evaluated the prevalence and prognostic significance of TEL/AML1 rearrangement and additional genetic changes in the TEL and AML1 genes in Korean childhood precursor B-ALL. METHODS: We performed FISH using LSITEL/AML1 ES probe (Vysis, USA) in 123 children diagnosed as having precursor B-ALL and assessed clinical relevance of the TEL/AML1 rearrangement and additional genetic abnormalities. RESULTS: The frequency of TEL/AML1 was 17.1% (21/123) in patients with precursor B-ALL. TEL/ AML1-positive group showed male predominance (P=0.012) and younger age of onset than TEL/ AML1-negative group by 1.6 yr (P=0.013). The outcome of TEL/AML1-positive group tended to show lower incidences of relapse (1/21 vs 20/102), death (1/21 vs 17/102) and longer event free survival. Among TEL/AML1-positive patients, unrearranged TEL deletion, AML1 gain, and unrearranged TEL deletion combined with AML1 gain were detected in 61.9%, 23.8%, and 9.5%, respectively. There were no significant differences in the clinical features and outcome according to the presence or absence of additional genetic changes. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of TEL/AML1 and additional genetic changes in TEL and AML1 is higher than previous studies in Korean children, and in close agreement with usually reported one, 20-25%. TEL/AML1-positive group showed a tendency toward better prognosis. Further study is needed to clarify the prognostic significance of additional changes in TEL and AML1 based on a large sample size.
Age Factors ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group/*genetics ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Core Binding Factor Alpha 2 Subunit/*genetics ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Gene Deletion ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Karyotyping ; Leukocyte Count ; Male ; Precursor B-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma/*genetics/mortality ; Prognosis ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ets/*genetics ; Repressor Proteins/*genetics ; Republic of Korea ; Survival Rate ; *Translocation, Genetic

BACKGROUND: Mutations in the gene encoding transforming growth factor-beta induced (TGFBI) are associated with corneal dystrophies. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of the GENEDIA Avellino corneal dystrophy (ACD) mutation detection kit and GENEDIA corneal dystrophy screening master mix (Green Cross Medical Science Co., Korea) by comparing it with an in-house sequencing method. METHODS: The study group consisted of 40 patients with Avellino corneal dystrophy (ACD) and 40 patients suspected to suffer from ACD; 40 healthy individuals were used as the control. All samples used for this study were previously obtained. All results obtained using the kit were evaluated for sensitivity, specificity, and detection limit. RESULTS: The sensitivity of the GENEDIA ACD kit was 100.0% with a positive mean+/-2SD Ct (cycle threshold) value of 25.87+/-1.24 and an excellent coefficient of variation value of 0.02 in ACD group. All normal control samples were negative, indicating a specificity of 100% for the GENEDIA kit. The detection limit was set at a DNA concentration of >0.2 ng/microL. Direct sequencing results obtained using the GENEDIA master mix and the in-house method agreed for all 20 ACD samples. Additional R555W mutation detected in four ACD-suspected samples were suggestive of the diagnosis of granular corneal dystrophy type I. CONCLUSIONS: The GENEDIA ACD detection kit and master mix showed acceptable results, demonstrating high sensitivity and specificity, and may be considered for clinical application. Furthermore, the GENEDIA master mix was useful for the detection of mutations in exons 4 and 12 of the TGFBI gene.
Diagnosis ; DNA ; Exons ; Humans ; Limit of Detection ; Mass Screening* ; Methods ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sensitivity and Specificity

No abstract available.
Angioplasty* ; Budd-Chiari Syndrome* ; Heart Ventricles* ; Stents*

PURPOSE: Alagille syndrome is an autosomal dominant disorder with developmental abnormalities affecting the liver, heart, eyes, vertebrae, and craniofacial region. The Jagged1(JAG1) gene, which encodes a ligand of Notch, has been found mutated in Alagille syndrome. The aim of the study was to investigate the mutation analysis of JAG1 gene in Korean patients with Alagille syndrome. METHODS: Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral leukocytes of 6 patients. The 26 exons of JAG1 gene were amplified and PCR products were directly sequenced. RESULTS: Two novel frameshift mutations were found. 118delC in exon 2 was found in a patient who developed hepatocellular carcinoma at 4 years of age. 999-1000delTG was identified in exon 7. CONCLUSION: Mutations identified in this study are expected to give rise to truncated proteins.
Alagille Syndrome* ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; DNA ; Exons ; Frameshift Mutation ; Heart ; Humans ; Leukocytes ; Liver ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Spine

The present study was performed to evaluate the effects of Tetracycline-HCl on the microstructure change of SLA implant surface according to application time. In the Tetracycline-HCl group, 6 implants were rubbed with sponges soaked 50mg/ml Tetracycline-HCl solution for 0.5min., 1min., 1.5min., 2min., 2.5min. and 3min. In the saline group, another 6 implants conditioned with sponges soaked saline using same methods. One implant wasn't conditioned anything. Then, the changes of surface roughness values were evaluated by optical interferometer & specimens were processed for scanning electron microscopic observation. The results of this study were as follows: 1. In both Tetracycline-HCl group & saline group, there are no significant differences between surface roughness values before & after surface detoxification. And in scanning electron microscopic observation, there are slightl9y changes of implant surface structures but this changes were not significant by comparison with no treatment implant surface. 2. In the changes of surface roughness values & the scanning electron microscopic observation, there were no significant differences between saline & Tetracycline-HCl groups. In conclusion, the detoxification with 50mg/ml Tetracycline-HCl within 3 minutes can be applied for treatment of peri-implantitis in SLA surface implants, without surface microstructure changes.
Peri-Implantitis ; Porifera

PURPOSE: Liver function test abnormalities have been reported frequently in patients receiving total parenteral nutrition (TPN). In adults, it is known that liver complications decrease with the use of cyclic parenteral nutrition (CPN), especially if the shift to cycling was not too late. However, there are few studies about the effects of cycling on liver injury in children beyond the neonatal period. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of the early use of CPN on total parenteral nutrition induced hepatic dysfunction. METHODS: Twelve sets of CPN in 11 children (2 months to 17 years) were included in this study. Data on underlying diseases, age, length of time on TPN, macronutrient intake, complications, and biochemical parameters were collected from clinical records. All children had received CPN in the early period of persistent transaminase elevation or cholestasis complicated by previous continuous PN. The duration of infusion off-time in CPN was 2 hours in patients less than 3 months of age and 4 hours in the older children. RESULTS: All 12 cases showed elevated aminotransferase and 5 of them also showed cholestasis. Serum total bilirubin concentration was normalized in all 5 cases with median periods of 8 days (p<0.05) after initiation of CPN. ALT either decreased significantly or was normalized in all cases with median periods of 30 days (p<0.05) on CPN. The CPN was well tolerated without significant complication except for one case of hyperglycemia. CONCLUSION: The early use of cyclic parenteral nutrition had a beneficial effect in improving hepatic dysfunction complicated by TPN in children.
Adult ; Bilirubin ; Child ; Cholestasis ; Humans ; Hyperglycemia ; Liver ; Liver Function Tests ; Parenteral Nutrition* ; Parenteral Nutrition, Total*

PURPOSE: Nursing is regarded as a female-dominated profession. However, the number of Korean males entering the field of nursing is increasing. This study examines which of the following factors influence professionalism in male and female student nurses: area of nursing, gender identity, gender stereotypes, satisfaction with the field, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal relationships. METHODS: In total, 133 male and 293 female student nurses were selected from four Korean provinces between July 2013 and February 2014 to participate in this study. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, t-tests, chi2-tests of independence, and multiple regression analyses using SPSS/Win 20 software. RESULTS: In males, 47.4% of variance in nursing professionalism was accounted for by grades, interpersonal relationships, gender stereotypes, and satisfaction with the field. In females, 41.9% of variance in nursing professionalism was accounted for by satisfaction with the field, interpersonal relationships, area of nursing, age, emotional intelligence and grades. Common factors that influenced both genders included satisfaction with the field, interpersonal relationships and grades. CONCLUSION: Although males and females revealed no significant differences in overall mean scores of nursing professionalism, several factors influencing nursing professionalism did differ by gender. Therefore, gender-specific nursing educational and training programs may be necessary to promote professionalism among student nurses.
Education ; Emotional Intelligence ; Female ; Gender Identity ; Humans ; Male ; Nursing

Meconium peritonitis is a non-bacterial foreign body and chemical peritonitis caused by meconium contamination resulting from bowel perforation during late intrauterine or early neonatal periods. Prenatal ultrasonographic diagnosis of the meconium peritonitis provides the preparation for proper management and decreasing motality and morbidity of the neonate. We have experienced a case of meconium peritonitis diagnosed by ultrasonography at 34+4 gestational weeks and presented this case with a brief review of the literatures.
Diagnosis ; Foreign Bodies ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Meconium* ; Peritonitis* ; Ultrasonography ; Ultrasonography, Prenatal*