Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore and assess the experiences of cancer patients and their caregivers who had been admitted to comprehensive nursing care service wards. Methods: Data were collected from 10 patients and 10 caregivers by in-depth interviews. The data were analyzed using content analysis of Downe-Wamboldt. Results: Three categories and seven subcategories were extracted. 1) Realizing institutional limitations of comprehensive nursing care service: ‘Wishing for precise operating systems based on patient severity,’ ‘Anticipating active caregiver participation in treatment process,’ ‘Requiring a countermeasure for safety accidents,’ 2) Professional nursing service which provides relief: ‘Patient-centered professional nursing service,’ ‘Inpatient service that provides relief for patients and caregivers,’ 3) Anticipating continuous use of the service: ‘Inpatient service which users are willing to reuse,’ ‘Wishing for expansion and reinforcement of the service.’ Conclusion Cancer patients and their caregivers experienced institutional limitations while satisfied with professional nursing service and willing to reuse the service. To improve this situation, institutional support such as separate wards for severe patients, measures for active caregiver participation and prevention of safety accidents, and adequate staffing would be helpful for relatively severe level cancer patients and their caregivers.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore and assess the experiences of cancer patients and their caregivers who had been admitted to comprehensive nursing care service wards. Methods: Data were collected from 10 patients and 10 caregivers by in-depth interviews. The data were analyzed using content analysis of Downe-Wamboldt. Results: Three categories and seven subcategories were extracted. 1) Realizing institutional limitations of comprehensive nursing care service: ‘Wishing for precise operating systems based on patient severity,’ ‘Anticipating active caregiver participation in treatment process,’ ‘Requiring a countermeasure for safety accidents,’ 2) Professional nursing service which provides relief: ‘Patient-centered professional nursing service,’ ‘Inpatient service that provides relief for patients and caregivers,’ 3) Anticipating continuous use of the service: ‘Inpatient service which users are willing to reuse,’ ‘Wishing for expansion and reinforcement of the service.’ Conclusion Cancer patients and their caregivers experienced institutional limitations while satisfied with professional nursing service and willing to reuse the service. To improve this situation, institutional support such as separate wards for severe patients, measures for active caregiver participation and prevention of safety accidents, and adequate staffing would be helpful for relatively severe level cancer patients and their caregivers.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore and assess the experiences of cancer patients and their caregivers who had been admitted to comprehensive nursing care service wards. Methods: Data were collected from 10 patients and 10 caregivers by in-depth interviews. The data were analyzed using content analysis of Downe-Wamboldt. Results: Three categories and seven subcategories were extracted. 1) Realizing institutional limitations of comprehensive nursing care service: ‘Wishing for precise operating systems based on patient severity,’ ‘Anticipating active caregiver participation in treatment process,’ ‘Requiring a countermeasure for safety accidents,’ 2) Professional nursing service which provides relief: ‘Patient-centered professional nursing service,’ ‘Inpatient service that provides relief for patients and caregivers,’ 3) Anticipating continuous use of the service: ‘Inpatient service which users are willing to reuse,’ ‘Wishing for expansion and reinforcement of the service.’ Conclusion Cancer patients and their caregivers experienced institutional limitations while satisfied with professional nursing service and willing to reuse the service. To improve this situation, institutional support such as separate wards for severe patients, measures for active caregiver participation and prevention of safety accidents, and adequate staffing would be helpful for relatively severe level cancer patients and their caregivers.

Background: In Korea, during the early phase of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, we responded to the uncertainty of treatments under various conditions, consistently playing catch up with the speed of evidence updates. Therefore, there was high demand for national-level evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for clinicians in a timely manner. We developed evidence-based and updated living recommendations for clinicians through a transparent development process and multidisciplinary expert collaboration. Methods: The National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaborating Agency (NECA) and the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences (KAMS) collaborated to develop trustworthy Korean living guidelines. The NECA-supported methodological sections and 8 professional medical societies of the KAMS worked with clinical experts, and 31 clinicians were involved annually. We developed a total of 35 clinical questions, including medications, respiratory/critical care, pediatric care, emergency care, diagnostic tests, and radiological examinations. Results: An evidence-based search for treatments began in March 2021 and monthly updates were performed. It was expanded to other areas, and the search interval was organized by a steering committee owing to priority changes. Evidence synthesis and recommendation review was performed by researchers, and living recommendations were updated within 3–4 months. Conclusion We provided timely recommendations on living schemes and disseminated them to the public, policymakers and various stakeholders using webpages and social media.Although the output was successful, there were some limitations. The rigor of development issues, urgent timelines for public dissemination, education for new developers, and spread of several new COVID-19 variants have worked as barriers. Therefore, we must prepare systematic processes and funding for future pandemics.

Background: Several T-cell response assays for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are available; however, their comparability and correlations with antibody responses remain unclear. We compared four SARS-CoV-2 T-cell response assays and two anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike antibody assays. Methods: We enrolled 89 participants who had received a booster dose of the BNT162b2 vaccine after two doses of the ChAdOx1 or BNT162b2 vaccine. Fifty-six participants without breakthrough infection (BI) (ChAdOx1/BNT162b2 group: N=27; BNT162b2 group: N=29) and 33 with BI were included. We evaluated two whole-blood interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) (QuantiFERON and Euroimmun), T-SPOT.COVID, an in-house enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay (targeting the spike and nucleocapsid peptides of wild-type and Omicron SARS-CoV-2), Abbott IgG II Quant, and Elecsys Anti-S, using Mann–Whitney U, Wilcoxon signed-rank, and Spearman’s correlation tests. Results: The correlations between the IGRAs and between the ELISPOT assays (ρ=0.60–0.70) were stronger than those between the IGRAs and ELISPOT assays (ρ=0.33–0.57). T-SPOT.COVID showed a strong correlation with Omicron ELISPOT (ρ=0.70). The anti-spike antibody assays showed moderate correlations with T-SPOT.COVID, Euroimmun IGRA, and ELISPOT (ρ=0.43–0.62). Correlations tended to be higher in the BI than in the noninfected group, indicating that infection induces a stronger immune response. Conclusions T-cell response assays show moderate to strong correlations, particularly when using the same platform. T-SPOT.COVID exhibits potential for estimating immune responses to the Omicron variant. To accurately define SARS-CoV-2 immune status, both T-cell and B-cell response measurements are necessary.

Background/Aims: Hypertension (HT) has a significant impact on public health and medical expenses. However, HT is a chronic disease that requires the long-term follow-up of a large number of patients. Methods: The Korean Hypertension Cohort (KHC) study aimed to develop a model for calculating cardiovascular risk in HT patients by linking and utilizing the detailed clinical and longitudinal data from hospitals and the national health insurance claim database, respectively. This cohort had a planned sample size of over 11,000 HT patients and 100,000 non-HT controls. Eligible patients were hypertensive patients, who were presenting for the first time and were diagnosed with HT as a main disease from 2006 to 2011. Long-term survival data over a period of approximately 9 years were obtained from the national health insurance claim and national health examination data. Results: This cohort enrolled 11,083 patients with HT. The mean age was 58.87 ± 11.5 years, 50.5% were male, and 31.4% were never-treated HT. Of the enrolled patients, 32.9% and 37.7% belonged to the high and moderate cardiovascular risk groups, respectively. Initial blood pressures were 149.4 ± 18.5/88.5 ± 12.5 mmHg. During the 2 years hospital data follow-up period, blood pressures lowered to 130.8 ± 14.1/78.0 ± 9.7 mmHg with 1.9 ± 1.0 tablet doses of antihypertensive medication. Cardiovascular events occurred in 7.5% of the overall patients; 8.5%, 8.8%, and 4.7% in the high, moderate, and low risk patients, respectively. Conclusions The KHC study has provided important information on the long-term outcomes of HT patients according to the blood pressure, comorbid diseases, medication, and adherence, as well as health behaviors and health resource use.

Background/Aims: Hypertension (HT) has a significant impact on public health and medical expenses. However, HT is a chronic disease that requires the long-term follow-up of a large number of patients. Methods: The Korean Hypertension Cohort (KHC) study aimed to develop a model for calculating cardiovascular risk in HT patients by linking and utilizing the detailed clinical and longitudinal data from hospitals and the national health insurance claim database, respectively. This cohort had a planned sample size of over 11,000 HT patients and 100,000 non-HT controls. Eligible patients were hypertensive patients, who were presenting for the first time and were diagnosed with HT as a main disease from 2006 to 2011. Long-term survival data over a period of approximately 9 years were obtained from the national health insurance claim and national health examination data. Results: This cohort enrolled 11,083 patients with HT. The mean age was 58.87 ± 11.5 years, 50.5% were male, and 31.4% were never-treated HT. Of the enrolled patients, 32.9% and 37.7% belonged to the high and moderate cardiovascular risk groups, respectively. Initial blood pressures were 149.4 ± 18.5/88.5 ± 12.5 mmHg. During the 2 years hospital data follow-up period, blood pressures lowered to 130.8 ± 14.1/78.0 ± 9.7 mmHg with 1.9 ± 1.0 tablet doses of antihypertensive medication. Cardiovascular events occurred in 7.5% of the overall patients; 8.5%, 8.8%, and 4.7% in the high, moderate, and low risk patients, respectively. Conclusions The KHC study has provided important information on the long-term outcomes of HT patients according to the blood pressure, comorbid diseases, medication, and adherence, as well as health behaviors and health resource use.

Objectives: ：We aimed to evaluate the relationship between disability self-awareness and insight in patients with schizophrenia. Methods: ：We enrolled 58 clinically stable patients with schizophrenia. The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) self-report was used to identify self-awareness of functional ability. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Clinical Global Impression-Schizophrenia Scale (CGI-SCH), and Personal and Social Performance Scale (PSP) were utilized to evaluate clinical symptoms and global function. Whereas Insight Scale for Psychosis (ISP) was applied for insight. Statistical analyses were performed using correlation and linear regression. Results: ：The WHODAS had a significant correlation with the general psychopathology subscale and total score of PANSS, CGI-SCH, and PSP. Moreover, ISP had a strong correlation with the overall WHODAS score and all domains. In the linear regression analysis, ISP had significant effects on the overall WHODAS score after adjusting for additional variables. Conclusion ：Disability self-awareness was significantly correlated with the level of insight in patients with schizophrenia. Clinicians need to consider patients’ insight during the discussion of functional ability.

BACKGROUND: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) stimulates cell proliferation and enhances matrix gene expression and synthesis. However, there have been no comparative study of the PRP effect on the normal and degenerative tenocytes. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of PRP on tenocytes from normal and degenerative tendon. METHODS: Tendon tissues were obtained from patients undergoing arthroscopic repair (n=9) and from healthy donors (n=3). Tenocytes were cultured with 10% (vol/vol) platelet-poor plasma, PRP activated with calcium, and PRP activated with calcium and thrombin. The total cell number was assessed at days 7 and 14. The expressions of type I and III collagen, decorin, tenascin-C, and scleraxis were evaluated by quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. The total collagen and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) synthesis was evaluated at days 7 and 14. RESULTS: No differences were observed between the groups at day 7, but cell proliferation was remarkably increased in tenocytes from the degenerative tendon at day 14. In both tenocyte groups, the gene expressions of type I and III collagen were up-regulated. GAG synthesis was greater in the normal tendon, whereas the expressions of decorin and tenascin-C were increased in tenocytes from the degenerative tendon. Tenocytes from the degenerative tendon had higher fold-change of GAG synthesis and a lower collagen III/I ratio than normal tenocytes. CONCLUSIONS: PRP promoted the cell proliferation and enhanced the synthesis of tendon matrix in both groups. PRP has a greater positive effect on cell proliferation, matrix gene expression and synthesis in tenocytes from degenerative tendon.
Calcium ; Cell Count ; Cell Proliferation ; Collagen ; Decorin ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Plasma ; Platelet-Rich Plasma ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Rotator Cuff ; Tears ; Tenascin ; Tendons ; Thrombin ; Tissue Donors

No abstract available.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Flavobacteriaceae Infections ; Flavobacterium/*genetics/isolation & purification ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic/blood/*diagnosis/microbiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/chemistry/genetics/metabolism ; Republic of Korea ; Sequence Analysis, DNA