PURPOSE: To assess relative diagnostic value of Ga-67 planar, Ga-67 SPECT, and CT images for detection of head and neck tumors and cervical lymph node metastasis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty eight patients of pathologically proven head and neck tumors including squamous cell carcinomas(n=32), malignant lymphomas(n=3), undifferentiated carcinomas(n=2), adenocarcinomas(n=l) were enrolled in this study. Ga-67 planar and SPECT images were obtained with intravenous injection of 5mCi of Ga-67 citrate. On the basis of 30 and 20 mm in the greatest diameter of cervical lymph nodes, we compared lesion detectability of Ga-67 planar, SPECT, and CT. RESULTS: Thirty eight cases of head and neck tumors were detected in 29 cases(76.3%) with Ga-67 planar image, 37 cases(97.3%) with Ga-67 SPECT, and 32 cases(84.2%) with CT. 25 of 32 squamous cell carcinomas were positive with Ga-67 planar image and all of 32 cases with Ga-67 SPECT. Both of two undifferentiated carcinomas were positive with Ga-67 planar and SPECT images. Two of three malignant lymphomas were positive with Ga-67 planar image and all of three with Ga-67 SPECT. Eight of nine tumors were negative with Ga-67 planar image and those were less than 30ram. One case of adenocarcinoma was negative with Ga-67 planar and SPECT images. Seven of nine lymph nodes greater than 30mm were positive with Ga-67 planar image and all of nine with Ga-67 SPECT. On the basis of 20mm in greatest diameter, 16 of 21 lymph nodes greater than 20 mm were positive with Ga-67 planar and SPECT images. CONCLUSION: CT providing better resolution than Ga-67 scan permitted analysis of size and location of metastatic cervical nodes, however primary tumors of oral cavity, vocal cord, and nasopharynx were often not detected on CT when metallic and motion artifacts were present, where Ga-67 SPECT was useful. Ga-67 SPECT enabled better anatomical localization than Ga-67 planar image and was useful in detection of lymph nodes greater than 30 mm.
Adenocarcinoma ; Artifacts ; Carcinoma ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Citric Acid ; Head* ; Humans ; Injections, Intravenous ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphoma ; Mouth ; Nasopharynx ; Neck* ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon ; Vocal Cords

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to develop an integrated undergraduate course including a PBL based on a blended learning strategy, and evaluate learners' responses. METHODS: The learning contents of cardiovascular, respiratory, and musculoskeletal medical systems, and nursing diagnoses of 'activity and rest' domain (NANADA's classification II, 2005) were analyzed. Six clinical scenarios with the clients in different life cycles were developed for PBL. Classical lecture and group presentation with on-line self learning were implemented in addition to PBL. The developed course was implemented on 84 junior nursing students in a university for 7 weeks with 5 hours per day, two days per week. Students were asked to complete structured questionnaires including problem solving, critical thinking, and nursing diagnosis differentiation abilities. RESULTS: Learner's evaluation was positive in problem solving skills and in the differentiation ability of nursing diagnoses relevant to an 'activity and rest' functional health pattern. CONCLUSION: Development and implementation of integrated courses based on a blended learning method need to be continued to enhance students' thinking and self-directed learning abilities. Supporting strategies for individual learners should be added for successful blended learning such as individual on-line feedback and consideration of individual learning outcomes.
Classification ; Humans ; Learning ; Life Cycle Stages ; Nursing Diagnosis ; Problem Solving ; Problem-Based Learning ; Students, Nursing ; Thinking ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the impact of an intervention using voice recording of family members on pain, anxiety, and agitation in patients undergoing weaning from mechanical ventilation. Methods: A randomized control pre-post experimental design was implemented to 53 participants, with 27 and 26 participants in the experimental and control groups, respectively. A 70-second voice recording of a family member, repeated three times at 10-minute intervals was used as an intervention for the experimental group. Meanwhile, participants in the control group used headset for 30 minutes. Structured instruments were utilized to measure pain, anxiety, agitation, and the weaning process. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test and the Mann-Whitney U test, or χ2 test, were used for data analysis. Results: The experimental group exhibited significant decrease in pain (Z = - 3.53, p < .001), anxiety (t = 5.45, p < .001), and agitation (Z = - 2.99, p = .003) scores compared with those of the control group. However, there was no significant difference between groups in the weaning process’ simplification (χ2 = 0.63, p = .727). Conclusion Intervention using family members’ voice recording effectively reduces pain, anxiety, and agitation in patients undergoing weaning from mechanical ventilation. This can be actively utilized to provide a more comfortable process for patients.

OBJECTIVE: Capsaicin, a noxious stimulant and main component of the hot flavor of red peppers, has an analgesic effect when administered to humans. We investigated the expression of proopioimelanocortin (POMC) mRNA in the arcuate nucleus of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats after administering capsaicin, hypothesizing that administering capsaicin activates the central opioid system. METHODS: SD rats were divided randomly into two groups; one group received a saline injection and the other received a capsaicin injection. The POMC mRNA level in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus was measured by the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction at 0, 20, 40, 60, and 120 minutes after capsaicin administration. RESULTS: Capsaicin administration resulted in a significantly increased POMC mRNA level, compared to that in saline-treated rats at the 20-minute time point (t=-4.445, p=0.001). However, no significant group differences were observed at other times (t=-1.886, p=0.089; t= -0.973, p=0.353; t=-2.193, p=0.053 for 40, 60, and 120 minutes, respectively). CONCLUSION: The analgesic effect of capsaicin might be associated with increased activity of the cerebral opioid system. This finding suggests that capsaicin acted for nociception and analgesia and could affect alcohol-intake behavior, which might further imply that a food culture could affect drinking behavior.
Analgesia ; Animals ; Arcuate Nucleus ; beta-Endorphin ; Capsaicin ; Capsicum ; Drinking Behavior ; Humans ; Hypothalamus ; Nociception ; Pro-Opiomelanocortin ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; RNA, Messenger

In the present study, we investigated influences of glycogen synthase kinase (GSK) 3beta on the development and/or progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We used transgenic mice expressing a human Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase mutant (SOD1G93A) as an in vivo model of ALS and examined expressional changes of GSK3beta immunohistochemically in the spinal cord, brain stem and cerebellum. With these experiments we demonstrate that the neurons in these regions of symptomatic SOD1G93A transgenic mice showed increased GSK3beta immunoreactivities compared with wild-type SOD1 transgenic mice. In contrast to symptomatic SOD1G93A transgenic mice, few GSK3beta immunoreactivity changes were detected in 8w- and 13w-old presymptomatic SOD1G93A transgenic mice. These data suggest the possibility that GSK3 functions as a modulating factor of apoptosis-related alterations in ALS and that GSK3beta exert differential functions in the development and/or progression of ALS. But the exact functional significances of these changes require further elucidation.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ; Animals ; Brain Stem ; Central Nervous System* ; Cerebellum ; Glycogen Synthase Kinases* ; Glycogen Synthase* ; Glycogen* ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, Transgenic* ; Neurons ; Spinal Cord ; Superoxide Dismutase

PURPOSE: The locoregional failure rate remain high in advanced cervical carcinoma. Chemotherpy(CT) was added to radiotherapy(RT) in order to improve therapeutic result. We performed this study to evaluate the response rate, toxicities and survival benefit of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and to investigate potential role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in treatment of cervical cancer. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The patients(68 cases of cervical cancer) were divided into two groups ; The one group was neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy(n=30) and the other was the radiotherapy(n=38) group. The patients were maintained by regular follow-up and evaluated with regards to treatment related toxicity and effectiveness by response using World Health Organization criteria and 5-year survival rate. RESULTS: 30 patients were assigned to receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy. After chemotherpy, the overall clinical response rate was 46.7%. The response rate of neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed radiotherapy was higher than that of the radiotherapy in cervical cancer (100% vs 84.2%). The 5-year survival rate of patients was not different between two groups(p>0.05). Toxicities of chemotherapy were generally tolerable and usually well resolved with conservative treatment. CONCLUSION: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed radiotherapy help to improve response rate but did not affect survival benefit in the cervical cancer in this study. However, well controlled long-term prospective study will be need to get firm conclusion.
Drug Therapy* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Radiotherapy* ; Survival Rate ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms* ; World Health Organization

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between psychosocial factors and symptom experience of patients with cardiovascular disease over a 6-month follow-up period. METHOD: Baseline data for each of the 138 patients were collected. Eighteen patients were dropped for a final total of 120 patients in the present study. To monitor patients' symptom experience after discharge, each patient was interviewed by telephone, and interviewed directly with a questionnaire at each clinic visit. RESULTS: Mean scores for hostility, anger, anxiety, and depression were 51.63, 22.87, 48.95, and 41.21, respectively. Mean scores for the level of symptom experience at discharge, 3 months and 6 months after discharge were 32.83, 24.79, and 26.70, respectively. There were significant differences in the level of hostility by gender, BMI, job, and monthly income. Also the differences in the level of anxiety and depression were statistically significant according to gender and existence of spouse. In the regression analysis, depression was identified as the significant factor associated with symptom experience at discharge, 3 months, and 6 months after discharge. CONCLUSION: This study presented baseline data to elucidate whether psychosocial factors were associated with the progression of cardiovascular diseases. Accordingly, it suggests that nurses need to take into consideration psychosocial factor as well as physiological factor in symptom management for patients with cardiovascular disease.
Ambulatory Care ; Anger ; Anxiety ; Cardiovascular Diseases* ; Depression ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Hostility ; Humans ; Psychology* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Spouses ; Telephone

Purpose: To assess the symmetry of microvascular parameters measured via optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) between the dominant and non-dominant eyes of normal Korean subjects. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data on 120 eyes of 60 healthy Koreans. The ‘hole-in-the-card’ technique was used to determine ocular dominance. Central macular, peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness, and macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer thickness, were measured via spectral domain OCT. Vessel and perfusion density and the area of the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) were measured via OCTA. We used the paired t-test to compare all between-eye parameters. We calculated areas under receiver operating characteristic curves to determine diagnostic utility. Results: The average participant age was 27.4 ± 2.01 years. Forty-one subjects (68.3%) were right eye-dominant and 19 (31.7%) left eye-dominant. None of the central macular, macular GC-IPL, or peripapillary RNFL thickness differed between the eyes; neither did any OCTA-assessed microvascular parameter (vessel or perfusion density or the FAZ area). Conclusions No OCT or OCTA parameter differed between dominant and non-dominant eyes. No parameter identified ocular dominance.

PURPOSE: It is important to differentiate malignant from benign lesions of intraocular masses in choosing therapeutic plan. Biopsy of intraocular tumor is not recommended due to the risk of visual damage. We evaluated the usefulness of F-18-FDG PET imaging in diagnosing intraocular neoplasms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: F-l8-FDG PET scan was performed in 13 patients (15 lesions) suspected to have malignant intraocular tumors. There were 3 benign lesions (retinal detachment, choroidal effusion and hemorrhage) and 10 patients with 12 malignant lesions (3 melanomas, 7 retinoblastomas and 2 metastatic cancers). Regional eye images (256*256 and 128*128 matrices) were obtained with or without attenuation correction. Whole body scan was also performed in eight patients (3 benign and 6 malignant lesions). RESULTS: All malignant lesions were visualized while all benign lesions were not visualized. The mean peak standardized uptake value (SUV) of malignant lesions was 2.64+/-0.57 g/ml. There was no correlations between peak SUV and tumor volume. Two large malignant lesions (>1000 mm3 ) showed hot uptake on whole body scan. But two medium-sized lesions (100-l000 mm3) looked faint and two small (<100 mm3) lesions were not visualized. The images reconstructed with 256*256 matrix showed lesions more clearly than those with 128X128 matrix. CONCLUSION: F-18-FDG PET scan is highly sensitivity in detecting malignant intraocular tumor. For the evaluation of small-sized intraocular lesions, whole body scan is not appropriate because of low sensitivity. A regional scan with sufficient acquisition time is recommended for that purpose. Image reconstruction in matrix size of 256*256 produced clearer images than the ones in 128X128, but it does not affect the diagnostic sensitivity.
Biopsy ; Choroid ; Diagnosis* ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Melanoma ; Orbital Neoplasms ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Retinoblastoma ; Tumor Burden ; Whole Body Imaging

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate the variables predicting violent behavior in schizophrenic patients. METHODS: Subjects were 65 schizophrenic patients diagnosed according to DSM-IV. Schizophrenic symptom and the insight of patients were evaluated with the Postive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Scale of Unawareness of Mental Disorder (SUMD). Violent behaviors were evaluated with the Modified Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS). The State Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) and the Symptom Checklist-90-Reversion (SCL-90-R) self-reported measures were used for the evaluation of anger state & trait, and general psychopathology. Statistic method used in analized variables were stepwise multiple regression and discriminant analysis as well as t-test. RESULTS: Anger out style, hostility and trait anger variables were extracted as the significant predictors in stepwise multiple regression (37%). Emotion and attitude factors related to anger were more powerful predictor than symptom factors. These three variables could discriminate between violent group and nonviolent group in 72.4%. CONCLUSION: Violent behavior of schizophrenic patients could be predicted more accurately by stable factors such as attitude and emotion related to anger than by symptom factors.
Aggression ; Anger ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Factor VII ; Hostility ; Humans ; Mental Disorders ; Psychopathology ; Schizophrenia