The 86 strains of field rodents captured in Chollanamdo were analyzed its infection rates of Orientia tsutsugamushi by nested PCR. The detection rate of O. tsutsugamushi was 14.3 % in A. agrarius whereas O. tsutsugamushi could not be detected in C. lasiura. In locality, the rodents captured in the mountainous area showed higher detection rate than suburban area. In the case of detection rate by organs, the spleen was most appropriate specimen, but in two cases, O. tsutsugamushi could be detected in only kidney specimens. The major serotype of detected O. tsutsugamushi was serotype Karp, but four cases were serotype Boryong. These serotypes were confirmed by nucleotide sequence determination of amplified PCR products. In conclusion, the serotype Karp was the major O. tsutsugamushi in Chollanamdo.
Base Sequence ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Jeollanam-do* ; Kidney ; Orientia tsutsugamushi* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Rodentia* ; Spleen

It is well known that developmental delay or arrest occurs before implantation in mamals, which have undergone in vitro culture. Recently, these phenomena are being attributed to oxygen free radicals, and successful cell culture are being obtained by lowering the oxygen environment of in vitro culture. This is due to the fact that the oxygen concentration in the fallopian tube is around 5%, which is lower than the room air 20% concentraition for in vitro culture. Superoxide dismutase(SOD), which are free radical scavenger, were added to early embryo mice culture and compared the free radical level at each stage of development with that of culture in which free radical scavenging agent was not added. The highest free radical level in control group observed in the late 2-cell stage and was markedly decreased if SOD added to culture media. Blastulation rate, hatching rate, and blastomere count as the parameters of embryo development was significantly increased in the experimental group. This study suggests the possibility of improvement in in-vitro embryo culture with media including free radical scavengers.
Animals ; Blastomeres ; Cell Culture Techniques ; Culture Media ; Embryonic Development ; Embryonic Structures* ; Fallopian Tubes ; Female ; Free Radical Scavengers ; Free Radicals ; Mice* ; Oxygen ; Pregnancy ; Superoxide Dismutase* ; Superoxides*

OBJECTIVE: Aberrant expression of the cell surface proteoglycan, syndecan-1, is found in many malignancies. The current study describes the immunohistochemical study of syndecan-1 expression in normal, hyperplastic, and malignant endometrial tissues for evaluation of application as a parameter of cancer progression in patients with endometrial hyperplasia. METHODS: Immunohistochemical staining of syndecan-1 was performed in 101 formalin fixed, paraffin embedded sections of normal, hyperplastic, and malignant endometrial tissues. We analyzed specimens from patients with normal endometrium (NE, N=10) as controls, and those of simple hyperplasia (SH, N=20), complex hyperplasia without atypia (CH, N=20), atypical hyperplasia (AH, N=20), and endometrial cancer (EC, N=31). RESULTS: The mean rank of expression scores based on the frequency of syndecan-1 staining were 31.6, 20.5, 52.9, 72.1, and 62.1 for NE, SH, CH, AH and EC, respectively (p<0.001). Syndecan-1 expression was significantly greater in CH (p<0.001) or AH (p<0.001) than in SH, and significantly greater in AH compared to CH (p=0.028). Syndecan-1 is more frequently expressed in CH (p=0.042), AH (p<0.001), or EC (p=0.002) than in NE. Syndecan-1 expression did not differ significantly between NE and SH (p=0.248). CONCLUSION: Syndecan-1 expression appears to be useful as a predictive indicator in endometrial hyperplasia.
Endometrial Hyperplasia ; Endometrial Neoplasms ; Endometrium ; Female ; Formaldehyde ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Paraffin ; Proteoglycans ; Syndecan-1

Liver transplantation is an accepted and successful mode of treatment for pediatric end-stage liver disease. A living related liver transplatation(LRLT) in a child has certain potential advantages, such as short cold ischemic time, accurate graft size, and vessel diameter match based on elective preoperative preparations. Recently, microvasular surgery techniques have been introduced in hepatic artery reconstruction but still the possibility of hepatic artery thrombosis remains. Herein, We report an LRLT case, which showed hepatic artery stenosis postoperatively, successfully dilated by balloon angioplasty technique.
Angioplasty, Balloon ; Child ; Cold Ischemia ; Constriction, Pathologic* ; Hepatic Artery* ; Humans ; Liver Diseases ; Liver Transplantation* ; Liver* ; Thrombosis ; Transplants

The purpose of this study is to evaluate salivary flow rate, salivary pH, and cariogenic activity using unstimulated saliva of the head and neck cancer patients. Twenty three cancer patients (19 males, 4 females) who had undergone chemotherapy and radiation therapy and twenty four healthy volunteers (14 males, 10 females) as a control were included. Salivary flow rate, salivary pH, and cariogenic activity using unstimulated saliva were examined. Compared to saliva of the control group, salivary flow rate (p<0.001) and salivary pH (p<0.001) were significantly lower in head and neck cancer patients. The colony counts of Lactobacilli was higher in head and neck cancer patients (p<0.05) than in control group. These salivary factors and cariogenic activity can increase the prevalence of dental caries in head and neck cancer patients.
Dental Caries ; Drug Therapy ; Head and Neck Neoplasms* ; Healthy Volunteers ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Male ; Prevalence ; Saliva*

PURPOSE: This purpose of this study was to develop evidence-based practice guideline for isolation in health care settings to prevent transmission of infectious diseases utilizing guideline adaption process. METHODS: The process of guideline adaptation was performed according to the Korean hospital nurses association's guideline adaptation manual which consisted of three main phases, 9 modules, and 24 steps. RESULTS: The adapted isolation guideline consisted of introduction, overview of isolation guideline, summary of recommendations, recommendations, references, and appendices. The guideline includes 224 recommendations in 4 sections which are organizational administration, standard precautions, transmission-based precautions, and education/counselling. CONCLUSION: The adapted isolation guideline is recommended to be disseminated and utilized by nurses and clinicians nationwide to improve the isolation practices for infected or colonized patients with communicable diseases and to decrease the transmission of infections in the healthcare settings.
Colon ; Communicable Diseases ; Delivery of Health Care ; Disease Transmission, Infectious ; Evidence-Based Nursing ; Evidence-Based Practice ; Humans ; Infection Control ; Patient Isolation

OBJECTIVES: We estimated the population prevalence of antibodies to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), including unreported infections, through a Korea Seroprevalence Study of Monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Retention and Transmission (K-SEROSMART) in 258 communities throughout Korea. METHODS: In August 2022, a survey was conducted among 10,000 household members aged 5 years and older, in households selected through two stage probability random sampling. During face-to-face household interviews, participants self-reported their health status, COVID-19 diagnosis and vaccination history, and general characteristics. Subsequently, participants visited a community health center or medical clinic for blood sampling. Blood samples were analyzed for the presence of antibodies to spike proteins (anti-S) and antibodies to nucleocapsid proteins (anti-N) SARS-CoV-2 proteins using an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. To estimate the population prevalence, the PROC SURVEYMEANS statistical procedure was employed, with weighting to reflect demographic data from July 2022. RESULTS: In total, 9,945 individuals from 5,041 households were surveyed across 258 communities, representing all basic local governments in Korea. The overall population-adjusted prevalence rates of anti-S and anti-N were 97.6% and 57.1%, respectively. Since the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency has reported a cumulative incidence of confirmed cases of 37.8% through July 31, 2022, the proportion of unreported infections among all COVID-19 infection was suggested to be 33.9%. CONCLUSIONS The K-SEROSMART represents the first nationwide, community-based seroepidemiologic survey of COVID-19, confirming that most individuals possess antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 and that a significant number of unreported cases existed. Furthermore, this study lays the foundation for a surveillance system to continuously monitor transmission at the community level and the response to COVID-19.