A 74-year-old female patient was diagnosed with unilateral vocal fold paralysis without any brain lesions, but with a history of influenza infection 1 week ago. No significant manifestations were observed in the oral phase in the Video Fluoroscopic Swallowing Study (VFSS). However, during swallowing aspiration, 50% of the residue after swallowing was measured as semisolid, and aspiration was observed when swallowing in the liquid form. The Penetration Aspiration Scale (PAS) score was 6 points, and the Functional Dysphagia Scale (FDS) was 46 points.Vocal-fold adduction was performed by injecting hyaluronic acid. Four days after the vocal fold injection, VFSS showed no aspiration during the swallowing of semisolids. Moreover, compared to the initial test, 10% of the residue measured after swallowing semisolids was decreased. No aspiration was observed when swallowing the liquid.Scores obtained for the Penetration Aspiration Scale (PAS) and the Functional Dysphagia Scale (FDS) were 4 and 26, respectively. Taken together, our results indicate that in a situation where upper respiratory infections are increasing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, hyaluronic acid injections have the potential to improve dysphagia in patients with unilateral vocal fold paralysis due to a viral infection.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test the validity of the Korean version of the Nurses’ Involvement in Dying Patients and Family Care (NIDPFC) instrument. Methods: Data were collected from 410 registered nurses at a university hospital, general hospitals, and a convalescent hospital. Data were collected from June 23 to July 17, 2020. Internal consistency reliability, construct validity, and criterion validity were examined using the SPSS and AMOS software. Results: Of the 35 preliminary items of the instrument, 24 items were finally selected after evaluating the content validity, analyzing the items, and assessing construct validity. The following four factors were derived: “burden” (seven items), “deep involvement” (eight items), “resilience” (five items), and “empathy” (four items), with a cumulative explanatory variance of 55.2%. For criterion validity, a significant positive relationship was found between the NIDPFC and attitudes toward caring for the dying. For internal consistency reliability, the Cronbach’s α was 0.82. Conclusion The validity and reliability of the NIDPFC were verified. Therefore, the NIDPFC is an effective instrument to use in further studies.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test the validity of the Korean version of the Nurses’ Involvement in Dying Patients and Family Care (NIDPFC) instrument. Methods: Data were collected from 410 registered nurses at a university hospital, general hospitals, and a convalescent hospital. Data were collected from June 23 to July 17, 2020. Internal consistency reliability, construct validity, and criterion validity were examined using the SPSS and AMOS software. Results: Of the 35 preliminary items of the instrument, 24 items were finally selected after evaluating the content validity, analyzing the items, and assessing construct validity. The following four factors were derived: “burden” (seven items), “deep involvement” (eight items), “resilience” (five items), and “empathy” (four items), with a cumulative explanatory variance of 55.2%. For criterion validity, a significant positive relationship was found between the NIDPFC and attitudes toward caring for the dying. For internal consistency reliability, the Cronbach’s α was 0.82. Conclusion The validity and reliability of the NIDPFC were verified. Therefore, the NIDPFC is an effective instrument to use in further studies.

OBJECTIVES: The Illness Intrusiveness Rating Scale (IIRS) is a well-validated self-report instrument for assessing negative impact of chronic illness and/or adverse effects of its treatment on everyday life domains. Although extensive literature probed its psychometric properties in medical illness, little attention was paid for its validity for psychiatric population. This study aimed to test factorial structure of the Korean Version of the IIRS (IIRS-K) in a consecutive sample of psychiatric outpatients. METHODS: Data set of 307 first-visit patients of psychiatric clinic at Guri Hanyang univ. Hospital were used. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency were tested in IIRS-K. We also checked Spearman's correlation analysis between IIRS-K, Zung's self-report anxiety scale and Zung's self-report depression scale. RESULTS: 76.9% of the patients were with anxiety disorder and depressive disorder. The principal component factor analysis of the IIRS-K extracted three-factor structure accounted for 63.2% of total variance that was contextually similar to the original English version. This three-factor solution showed the best fit when tested confirmatory factor analysis compared to the original IIRS, two-factor model of IIRS-K suggested from medical outpatients, and one-factor solution. The IIRS-K also showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.90) and good convergent validity with anxiety and depression scales. CONCLUSIONS The IIRS-K showed the three-factor structure that was similar but not identical to original version. Overall, this study proved factorial validity of the IIRS-K and it can be used for Korean clinical population.

OBJECTIVES: Disrupted integrities of the fornix and stria terminalis have been suggested in schizophrenia. However, very few studies have focused on the fornix and stria terminalis comparing first-episode schizophrenia (FESZ), chronic schizophrenia (CS), and healthy controls (HCs) with the application of diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) technique. The objective of this study is to compare the connectivity of the fornix and stria terminalis among FESZ, CS, and HCs. METHODS: We included the 44 FESZ patients, 39 CS patients and 20 HCs in this study. Voxel-wise statistical analysis of the fractional anisotropy (FA) data was performed using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics to analyze the connectivity of fornix and stria terminalis. In addition, the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS) and the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) were used to evaluate clinical symptom severities. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the FESZ, CS, and HCs in age, sex, education years. The SAPS and SANS scores of the schizophrenia groups showed no significant differences. FA values of the right fornix cres/stria terminalis in the CS group were significantly lower than those in FESZ and HCs. There were no significant differences of FA values of the right fornix cres/stria terminalis between the FESZ and the HCs. Pearson correlation analyses revealed that significant correlation between FA values of the right fornix cres/stria terminalies of the the FESZ group and positive, negative symptom scales, and FA values of the right fornix cres/stria terminalis of the CS group and negative symptom scales. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that FA values of the fornix and stria terminalis in the CS were lower than in the FESZ and the HCs. These results suggest that the fornix and stria terminalis can play a role in pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Thus current study can broaden our understanding of the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
Anisotropy ; Education ; Fornix, Brain ; Humans ; Schizophrenia ; Septal Nuclei ; Weights and Measures ; White Matter

The L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase gene (Gulo) encodes an essential enzyme in the synthesis of ascorbic acid from glucose. On the basis of previous findings of bone abnormalities in Gulo-/- mice under conditions of ascorbic acid insufficiency, we investigated the effect of ascorbic acid insufficiency on factors related to bone metabolism in Gulo-/- mice. Four groups of mice were raised for 4 weeks under differing conditions of ascorbic acid insufficiency, namely, wild type; ascorbic acid-sufficient Gulo-/- mice, 3-week ascorbic acid-insufficient Gulo-/- mice, and 4-week ascorbic acid-insufficient Gulo-/- mice. Four weeks of ascorbic acid insufficiency resulted in significant weight loss in Gulo-/- mice. Interestingly, average plasma osteocalcin levels were significantly decreased in Gulo-/- mice after 3 weeks of ascorbic acid insufficiency. In addition, the tibia weight in ascorbic acid-sufficient Gulo-/- mice was significantly higher than that in the other three groups. Moreover, significant decreases in trabecular bone volume near to the growth plate, as well as in trabecular bone attachment to the growth plate, were evident in 3- or 4-week ascorbic acid-insufficient Gulo-/-. In summary, ascorbic acid insufficiency in Gulo-/- mice results in severe defects in normal bone formation, which are closely related to a decrease in plasma osteocalcin levels.
Animals ; Ascorbic Acid* ; Down-Regulation* ; Glucose ; Growth Plate ; L-Gulonolactone Oxidase ; Metabolism ; Mice ; Osteocalcin* ; Osteogenesis* ; Plasma ; Tibia ; Weight Loss

GV1001 is a peptide derived from the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) sequence that is reported to have anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory effects. Enolase1 (ENO1) is a glycolytic enzyme, and stimulation of this enzyme induces high levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines from concanavalin A (Con A)-activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and ENO1-expressing monocytes in healthy subjects, as well as from macrophages in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Therefore, this study investigated whether GV1001 downregulates ENO1-induced pro-inflammatory cytokines as an anti-inflammatory peptide. The results showed that GV1001 does not affect the expression of ENO1 in either Con A-activated PBMCs or RA PBMCs. However, ENO1 stimulation increased the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-1beta, and IL-6, and these cytokines were downregulated by pretreatment with GV1001. Moreover, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB were activated when ENO1, on the surface of Con A-activated PBMCs and RA PBMCs, was stimulated, and they were successfully suppressed by pre-treatment with GV1001. These results suggest that GV1001 may be an effective anti-inflammatory peptide that downregulates the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines through the suppression of p38 MAPK and NF-kappaB activation following ENO1 stimulation.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Concanavalin A ; Cytokines ; Down-Regulation* ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Interleukin-6 ; Interleukins ; Macrophages ; Monocytes ; NF-kappa B ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; Protein Kinases ; Telomerase ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha