PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine the development of socializing and emotional expressions through vocalizations and joint attention (JA) behaviors in Korean-speaking children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), compared to those with developmental delay (DD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Video samples were collected from 28 toddlers with ASD and 18 age-matched toddlers with DD, and vocalizations were each coded in detail for the purpose of this retrospective research. In addition to some statistical analysis, Computerized Language Analysis was conducted to obtain the final results. RESULTS: Although they produced a higher number of vocalizations than the DD group, the ASD group did not engage in emotional or social interactions with their caretakers, whereas the DD group did. The children with ASD used more atypical vocalizations and socially unengaged vocalizations than the children with DD did. JA using vocalizations in the ASD group, in particular, was largely dyadic, with triadic types occurring at a significantly lower frequency than those in the DD group. CONCLUSION: Results from this study indicate the importance of assessing early vocalizations in toddlers with ASD, suggesting that some common symptoms of ASD, such as lack of typical, emotional, and social functions in early vocalizations, could be used to develop screening and intervention programs related to ASD.
Autism Spectrum Disorder* ; Autistic Disorder* ; Child ; Child Behavior ; Communication Disorders ; Developmental Disabilities ; Humans ; Interpersonal Relations ; Joints ; Mass Screening ; Mother-Child Relations ; Retrospective Studies

Autoimmune diseases (AIDs), a heterogeneous group of immune-mediated disorders, are a major and growing health problem. Although AIDs are currently treated primarily with anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive drugs, the use of stem cell transplantation in patients with AIDs is becoming increasingly common. However, stem cell transplantation therapy has limitations, including a shortage of available stem cells and immune rejection of cells from nonautologous sources. Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology, which allows the generation of patient-specific pluripotent stem cells, could offer an alternative source for clinical applications of stem cell therapies in AID patients. We used nonintegrating oriP/EBNA-1-based episomal vectors to reprogram dermal fibroblasts from patients with AIDs such as ankylosing spondylitis (AS), Sjögren's syndrome (SS) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The pluripotency and multilineage differentiation capacity of each patient-specific iPSC line was validated. The safety of these iPSCs for use in stem cell transplantation is indicated by the fact that all AID-specific iPSCs are integrated transgene free. Finally, all AID-specific iPSCs derived in this study could be differentiated into cells of hematopoietic and mesenchymal lineages in vitro as shown by flow cytometric analysis and induction of terminal differentiation potential. Our results demonstrate the successful generation of integration-free iPSCs from patients with AS, SS and SLE. These findings support the possibility of using iPSC technology in autologous and allogeneic cell replacement therapy for various AIDs, including AS, SS and SLE.
Autoimmune Diseases* ; Fibroblasts ; Humans ; In Vitro Techniques ; Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells* ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic ; Pluripotent Stem Cells ; Spondylitis, Ankylosing ; Stem Cell Transplantation ; Stem Cells ; Transgenes

No abstract available.
Enterovirus ; Meningitis, Aseptic* ; Seoul*

No abstract available.
Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome

The objective of this study was to determine how the neonatal mortality rate has changed since surfactant (S) therapy was introduced in our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and to evaluate the efficacy of surfactant therapy in respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) patients. Incidences of risk babies such as outborns, prematurity, low birth weight infants and RDS, and neonatal mortality rates were compared between 'pre' (control, 1988 to 1991, n=4,861) and 'post' S period (study, 1993 to 1996, n=5,430). In RDS patients of 'post' S period, neonatal mortality rate was compared between S-treated and non-treated patients, and chest X-ray and ventilatory parameters were compared between pre- and post-72 hr of surfactant treatment. Surfactant therapy showed short term effects, judging by the decrease of early neonatal deaths and improvement of chest X-ray and ventilatory parameters in RDS patients. The overall neonatal mortality rate had a tendency to decrease in spite of increased incidences of risk babies in 'post' S period but it was less than expected. The reasons were thought to be that we had a high proportion of risk babies, and there was some bias in patient selection for surfactant therapy and its use. In conclusion, with the active prevention of risk baby delivery and appropriate use of surfactant, better results could be expected.
Female ; Human ; Incidence ; Infant Mortality ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Pulmonary Surfactants/therapeutic use* ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome/mortality* ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome/epidemiology ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome/drug therapy* ; Risk Factors

Purpose: Although imatinib-induced hepatotoxicity may aggravate the patient’s clinical condition and alter the treatment plan, the underlying mechanism of and factors influencing imatinibinduced hepatotoxicity have rarely been investigated. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors affecting on the incidence of hepatotoxicity within 90 days after starting imatinib treatment and time to onset of imatinib-induced hepatotoxicity. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the records of 177 patients receiving imatinib from October 2012 to September 2017. The analyzed factors included sex, age, body weight, body surface area, underlying disease, and concomitant drugs. Results: The proportion of patients with hepatotoxicity within 90 days after imatinib administration was 33.9%. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) increased the incidence of hepatotoxicity approximately 3.8-fold and doubled the hazard of time to reach hepatotoxicity. Patients with liver disease or hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers had a more than 8-fold higher risk of hepatotoxicity and a 5.2-fold increased hazard of hepatotoxicity compared to those without liver disease or HBV. Patients with body weight under 55 kg had a 2.2-fold higher risk for occurrence of hepatotoxicity. Patients with an imatinib dose > 400 mg had a 2.3-fold increased hazard of time to reach hepatotoxicity compared to those with an imatinib dose ≤ 400 mg. Conclusion The findings of this study suggest that the use of PPIs and presence of liver disease or HBV were associated with imatinib-induced hepatotoxicity. Thus, close liver function monitoring is recommended, especially in patients with liver impairment or using PPIs.

BACKGROUND: Cyclosporine is an immunosuppressive agent used to treat and prevent graft versus host reaction (GVHR)-a complication associated with stem cell transplantation. This study aimed to develop a population pharmacokinetic model of cyclosporine and investigate factors affecting cyclosporine clearance in pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients. METHODS: A total of 650 cyclosporine concentrations recorded in 65 patients who underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation were used. Data including age, sex, weight, height, body surface area (BSA), type of disease, chemotherapy before stem cell transplantation, type of donor, serum creatinine levels, total bilirubin concentration, hematocrit value, and type of concomitant antifungal agents and methylprednisolone used were retrospectively collected. Data related to cyclosporine dosage, administration time, and blood concentration were also collected. All data were analyzed using the non-linear mixed effect model; a two-compartment model with first-order elimination was used. RESULTS: The population pharmacokinetic model of cyclosporine using the NONMEM program was as follows: CL (L/h) = 5.9 × (BSA / 1.2)0.9, V2 (L) = 54.5, Q (L/h) = 3.5, V3 (L) = 1080.0, ka (h-1) = 0.000377. BSA was selected as a covariate of cyclosporine clearance, which increased with an increase in BSA. CONCLUSION: A population pharmacokinetic model for Korean pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients was developed, and the important factor affecting cyclosporine clearance was found to be BSA. The model might contribute to the development of the most appropriate dosing regimen for cyclosporine. Further studies on population pharmacokinetics should be carried out, prospectively targeting pediatric patients.

OBJECTIVE: This article examined the psychometric properties of the Korean version of the Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (K-ITSEA). METHODS: Translation and back-translation of the K-ITSEA were conducted after obtaining a permission. Two thousand two hundred thirty six Korean community infants (1,199 boys and 1,037 girls) between the ages of 12 and 36 months (M=34.23, SD=3.80) and 90 clinical infant samples (60 boys and 30 girls) between the ages of 12 and 36 months (M=26.84, SD=6.24) participated in the present study. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analyses supported the Internalizing, Externalizing, Dysregulation, and Competence domains as well as the 17 individual scales that comprise the K-ITSEA. Young children's sex and age differences emerged for some problem and most competence scales. All domains showed adequate intrascale reliability and test-retest reliability. Scale intracorrelation analyses and associations between the K-ITSEA and Korean version of PSI, Korean version of CBCL1.5-5 supported the validity of the assessment. Comparisons of the K-ITSEA scores for the Autism Spectrum Disorder, Psychiatric Disorders and Matched control groups supported the discriminant validity of the K-ITSEA. CONCLUSION: This preliminary results indicate that the K-ITSEA would be a useful assessment for detecting the early childhood's behavior problems and competences in Korean population.
Autism Spectrum Disorder ; Humans ; Infant ; Mental Competency ; Psychometrics ; Reproducibility of Results* ; Weights and Measures

Emerging evidence has emphasized the importance of cancer therapies targeting an abnormal metabolic state of tumor-initiating cells (TICs) in which they retain stem cell-like phenotypes and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺) metabolism. However, the functional role of NAD⁺ metabolism in regulating the characteristics of TICs is not known. In this study, we provide evidence that the mitochondrial NAD⁺ levels affect the characteristics of glioma-driven SSEA1⁺ TICs, including clonogenic growth potential. An increase in the mitochondrial NAD⁺ levels by the overexpression of the mitochondrial enzyme nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase (NNT) significantly suppressed the sphere-forming ability and induced differentiation of TICs, suggesting a loss of the characteristics of TICs. In addition, increased SIRT3 activity and reduced lactate production, which are mainly observed in healthy and young cells, appeared following NNT-overexpressed TICs. Moreover, in vivo tumorigenic potential was substantially abolished by NNT overexpression. Conversely, the short interfering RNA-mediated knockdown of NNT facilitated the maintenance of TIC characteristics, as evidenced by the increased numbers of large tumor spheres and in vivo tumorigenic potential. Our results demonstrated that targeting the maintenance of healthy mitochondria with increased mitochondrial NAD⁺ levels and SIRT3 activity could be a promising strategy for abolishing the development of TICs as a new therapeutic approach to treating aging-associated tumors.
Glioblastoma* ; Lactic Acid ; Metabolism ; Mitochondria ; NAD ; NADP Transhydrogenases ; Phenotype ; Tics ; Up-Regulation*

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a common pathogen of community-acquired pneumonia. Mycoplasma pneumonia causes upper and lower respiratory tract symptoms in all age groups, with the highest attack rates in subjects 5 to 20 years old. In patients with mycoplasma pneumonia, the most common radiographic findings may be reticulonodular or interstitial infiltration, which have a predilection for the lower lobes. Findings that show lung collapse on a chest X-ray are very rare. We report a case of mycoplasma pneumonia that showed right upper lobe collapse.
Humans ; Mycoplasma pneumoniae ; Mycoplasma* ; Pneumonia ; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma* ; Pulmonary Atelectasis ; Respiratory System ; Thorax ; Young Adult