PURPOSE: The morphological changes of the eyelids according to gender among different age groups in Korea were analyzed. METHODS: Six-hundred adults without any ocular disease were selected, and sorted by age (ranging from 20 to 79 years), and gender. Each group consisted of 50 adults. Interpalpebral fissure (IPF), marginal reflex distance 1 (MRD1), amount of the upper lid, degree of browptosis, lateral hood width of the eyelid, and protrusion of the eyelid fat were measured. The measured values were analyzed to determine changes related to the aging process. Other age groups were analyzed and compared with the subjects between 20 and 30 years old, using the Student's t-test with SPSS. RESULTS: MRD 1 and IPF slightly decreased with age, but there was no statistical significance. The upper lid amount showed a statistically significant increase at the 7th and 8th decade. The degree of browptosis showed a statistically significant increase from the 7th decade of age in men, and from the 6th decade in women. In particular, the lateral browptosis was more drooped than the center browptosis. The lateral hood width of the eyelid showed a statistically significant increase from the 7th decade of age in men, and from the 6th decade in women. Eyelid fat was most protruded at the central lower part, but there was no statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to understand the change related to aging in the study of eyelid morphology and eyelid operation. The results from present study may be used to determine standard for the safe amount of skin resection in Korean eyelid operations.
Adult ; Aging ; Eyelids ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Reflex ; Skin

This study was undertaken to make current fetal growth curve throughout later part of pregnancy. 5,110 normal singleton deliveries at Il Shin Christian Hospital were included. The 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th percentiles of birth weight were calculated from 21 to 42 weeks' gestation and the 10th, 50th, 90th percentiles of birth weight compared by fetal sex, maternal parity and height were graphed to know the potency of factors. There was a linear growth pattern between 28 and 38 weeks' gestation. During last month of prgnancy, three factors have significant effect on median birth weight but no significant differences in 10th percentiles. Maternal height & parity significantly affeect on 90th percentiles. So, these factors must be considered when diagnosing large for date.
Birth Weight* ; Female ; Fetal Development ; Gestational Age* ; Parity ; Parturition* ; Pregnancy

BACKGROUND: Direct wet mount examination of vaginal secretion, widely applied for the diagnosis of Trichomonas vaginalis infection in woman patients, is rapid and economical. However, the sensitivity of this technique is not so high. In this study enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) was employed for the detection of serum anti-T. vaginalis IgG antibodies from vaginal trichomoniasis patients. METHODS: Eighty sera from trichomonoasis patients who visited a Dr. Yoon Kyong's Obstetric & Gynecologic Clinic in Songnam and 30 non-infected healthy men were tested for detection of anti-T. vaginalis IgG antibody. Soluble lysate and excretory-secretory antigen prepared by mixing of six isolates of T. vaginalis, and lysate from one isolate(KT4) were used as antigen for ELISA. RESULTS: The sensitivity of ELISA using lysate of six isolates was 95.0%, and the sensitivity of the lysate from KT4 and mixed excretory-secretory antigen from 6 isolates were 86.4% and 76.3%, respectively. Specificities of ELISA by three 93.3%, 96.3% and 92.0%, respectively. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that ELISA using mixed lysate of T. vaginalis six isolates could be useful tools for the diagnosis of trichomoniasis.
Antibodies ; Diagnosis ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Gyeonggi-do ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G* ; Male ; Trichomonas vaginalis ; Trichomonas*

Purpose: The aim of the study was to verify the validity and reliability of the Korean version of the General Attitudes towards Artificial Intelligence Scale (GAAIS-K) for nursing students. Methods: Data from 235 participants were collected from April 12 to April 26, 2022. A total of 230 participants’ data were analyzed. The data were analyzed for content, discriminant, known-groups, and construct validity using content validity index, correlation coefficient, and confirmatory factor analyses. The reliability of the GAAIS-K was examined using internal consistency and test-retest analyses. Results: The expert-rated content validity index was ≥.80. The sub-scales of the GAAIS-K were moderately correlated with attitude toward accepting technology, indicative of its discriminant validity. The male students’ positive attitude score was significantly higher than that of the female students, satisfying the known-groups validity. Cronbach’s α for the scale was .86 (positive) and .74 (negative), and the intra-class correlation coefficient for the two-week test-retest reliability was .86 (positive) and .60 (negative). The scores for positive and negative attitudes were 3.68±0.46 and 3.05±0.55. Conclusion This study shows that the GAAIS-K is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing nursing students. Additional research is recommended to continue the evaluation of the GAAIS-K with a focus on healthcare settings.

This study examined the effects of aging on nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP)-positive neurons of the cerebral cortex in young (4 months) and aged (24 months) Wistar rats. Expressional change was assessed by histochemistry, immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR. Nitric oxide (NO) is synthesized by cells containing NOS, and NADPH-diaphorase is a selective histochemical marker for the NOS in the brain. In this study, the coexistence of NADPH-d and VIP was not found in the cerebral cortex of both groups. In the aged group, the number of NADPH-d positive neurons was not significantly changed in cerebral cortex than control groups. However, the number of VIP positive neurons was significantly decreased in cerebral cortex of the aged rats. NADPH-d and VIP positive neurons exhibited morphological characteristics of multipolar or bipolar in most neurons. In the aged group, NADPH-d and VIP positive nerve fibers were more irregular and tortuous compared to the control group. Perikaryal size of NADPH-d positive neurons was not significantly different in both groups. However, significant shrinkage of VIP positive neurons was found in the aged group. The enzyme activity of NADPH-d was increased in the aged group.The basal level of mRNA for NOS and VIP was detected in the cerebral cortex of control group. The expression level of iNOS mRNA was decreased in the aged group. The mRNA for nNOS, eNOS and VIP was not significantly different in both groups. The selective depletion and atrophy VIP positive neurons from the cerebral cortex of aged rats may reflect an increased vulnerability of VIP positive neurons to the aging process compared with NOS positive neurons.
Aging ; Animals ; Atrophy ; Brain ; Cerebral Cortex* ; Immunohistochemistry ; Nerve Fibers ; Neurons ; Nitric Oxide Synthase* ; Nitric Oxide* ; Rats* ; Rats, Wistar ; RNA, Messenger ; Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide*

It has been suspected that various infections, including cytomegalovirus(CMV) infection, are associated with IgA nephropathy. In case of CMV infection, ganciclovir is known to be a treatment of choice for severe CMV infection in general. But ganciclovir has a lot of severe toxicity, so children with normal immunity are seldom treated by ganciclovir when CMV infection is suspected. On the other hand, intravenous immunoglobulin can also be used to treat CMV infection.
Child ; Cytomegalovirus ; Ganciclovir ; Glomerulonephritis, IGA ; Hand ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin A ; Immunoglobulins ; Pregnenediones

PURPOSE: Tumor-associated lymphocyte numbers in breast cancer have been suggested as a new independent predictor of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. We therefore evaluated the relationship between pathologic complete response (pCR) and tumor-associated lymphocytes in tumors of such patients. METHODS: Between 2000 and 2009, we retrospectively evaluated 175 patients with primary breast cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy, followed by definitive surgical resection. Peritumoral lymphocytic infiltration (LI) and CD3+, CD8+, and forkhead box P3 (FOXP3)+ lymphocytes were assessed in pretreatment biopsy specimens. RESULTS: Nineteen (11%) patients achieved pCR. An elevated LI, CD3+, CD8+, or FOXP3+ lymphocytic infiltration; lower clinical T stage; human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 overexpression; and herceptin-based treatment were all significantly associated with pCR. Through a multivariate analysis, LI (odds ratio [OR], 1.26; p=0.024), clinical T stage (OR, 3.06; p=0.041), and the use of a herceptin-based regimen (OR, 4.95; p=0.004) were all significant independent predictors of pCR. Significantly higher numbers of tumor-associated lymphocytes and CD3+, CD8+, and FOXP3+ T-cells were observed in the following: high-grade tumors, tumors of positive nodal status, and tumors negative for hormone receptors. CONCLUSION: Tumor-associated lymphocytes are significantly associated with pCR, suggesting that tumor-associated lymphocytes may be an important pathological factor predicting a response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients.
Biopsy ; Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Humans ; Lymphocyte Count ; Lymphocytes ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; Receptor, erbB-2 ; Retrospective Studies ; T-Lymphocytes

PURPOSE: This study was to determine the mediator or moderator role of social support in the relationship between stress and depression among family caregivers of older adults with dementia. METHOD: Sixty nine family caregivers were randomly selected from health care centers in P city and a face-to-face interview was conducted using questionnaires from January to May of 2002. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and hierarchical multiple regression using SPSS program. RESULT: Family caregivers of older adults with higher dependency in ADLs and higher problematic behaviors, provided care to the older adults for a longer period of time, and perceived less social support reported higher depression. Social support showed mediating effects between stress and depression, while did not show moderating effects. Elderly dependency on ADLs and caregiving duration decreased perceived social support and decreased social support increased depression. CONCLUSION: To increase family and social support to the caregivers of more functionally impaired elderly, family education to increase emotional support and physical assistance to the caregivers and broader and flexible application of social support such as increasing accessibility to the elderly daycare service with lower price may prove beneficial.

Insulinoma is a rare tumor, occurring more often in women and in the older age range. Eighty percent of patients have a single benign tumor, usually 2 cm in diameter, located with about equal frequency in body, head or tail of pancreas and amenable to surgical cure. About 10% have multiple tumors. The remaining 10% of patients have metastatic malignant insulinoma. The symptom of insulinoma is characterized by the periodic attack of hypoglycemia of blood sugar level below 50mg%, by fasting or exertion, and rapid relief of symptom by oral or intravenous administration of glucose. Symptom often lead to misdiagnosis as a neurologic or psychiatric disorder. A case described by authors was 44-year old female with the chief complaints of the loss of consciousness, epileptic seizure although she has been treated by anticonvulsants. Serum blood sugar and insulin level during fasting suggested insulinoma but abdominal computed tomography shows no definitive mass in pancreas. Celiac angiography revealed insulinoma. She transferred to the department of General Surgery and was performed enucleation. Microscopic findings shows the islet cell tumor of pancreas. A brief review of the literature was made.
Adenoma, Islet Cell ; Administration, Intravenous ; Angiography ; Anticonvulsants ; Blood Glucose ; Diagnostic Errors ; Epilepsy ; Fasting ; Female ; Glucose ; Head ; Humans ; Hypoglycemia ; Insulin ; Insulinoma* ; Pancreas ; Tail ; Unconsciousness

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of radiofrequency (RF) ablation for benign thyroid nodules and assess the usefulness of internal factors (ultrasonographic findings) and external factors (treatment-related findings) in prediction of treatment efficacy. METHODS: We evaluated 22 benign thyroid nodules from 19 patients treated with RF ablation between March 2010 and January 2013. The internal and external factors of these nodules were retrospectively reviewed and correlated with the therapeutic success and the volume reduction ratio (VRR). The volume and size of the nodules were determined before treatment, and the VRR was calculated at 6-month and 1-year follow-up examinations after RF ablation. Therapeutic success was defined as a >50% volume reduction. RESULTS: The mean VRRs were 66.1±18.7% at 6 months and 74.3±16.7% at 1 year. The therapeutic success rate after 6 months and 1 year was 81.8% and 90.9%, respectively. At the 1-year follow-up, the margin of the nodule correlated with therapeutic success. Most of the successfully ablated nodules showed well-defined margins on initial ultrasonography (18/20, 90%) (P=0.026). In addition, nodules with ill-defined margins showed a tendency toward having a low VRR at the 6-month and 1-year follow-up examinations. CONCLUSION: RF ablation was effective in decreasing the volume of benign thyroid nodules. Thyroid nodules with well-defined margins tended to show successful outcomes at the 1-year follow-up examination after RF ablation.
Ablation Techniques ; Catheter Ablation* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Nodule* ; Treatment Outcome* ; Ultrasonography*