Purpose: Because family caregivers provide a considerable amount of daily care to persons living with dementia, they are at risk of experiencing poor life satisfaction. Therefore, this study aimed to examine factors associated with the life satisfaction of family caregivers of persons living with dementia. Methods: Data were collected through surveys from family caregivers (N=183), and a multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the factors associated with their life satisfaction. Results: The final model indicated that perceiving support from intimate others as helpful (β=.22, p<.001) was associated with greater life satisfaction, whereas a negative relationship with the care recipients (β=−.15, p=.046) and greater psychological burden (β=−.40, p<.001) were associated with poorer life satisfaction (Adjusted R2=0.49, F=20.42, p<.001). Conclusion Public policy should focus on providing greater support to family caregivers. Furthermore, healthcare professionals should implement intervention programs for family caregivers that focus on lowering their psychological burden.

Purpose: Because family caregivers provide a considerable amount of daily care to persons living with dementia, they are at risk of experiencing poor life satisfaction. Therefore, this study aimed to examine factors associated with the life satisfaction of family caregivers of persons living with dementia. Methods: Data were collected through surveys from family caregivers (N=183), and a multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the factors associated with their life satisfaction. Results: The final model indicated that perceiving support from intimate others as helpful (β=.22, p<.001) was associated with greater life satisfaction, whereas a negative relationship with the care recipients (β=−.15, p=.046) and greater psychological burden (β=−.40, p<.001) were associated with poorer life satisfaction (Adjusted R2=0.49, F=20.42, p<.001). Conclusion Public policy should focus on providing greater support to family caregivers. Furthermore, healthcare professionals should implement intervention programs for family caregivers that focus on lowering their psychological burden.

Purpose: Because family caregivers provide a considerable amount of daily care to persons living with dementia, they are at risk of experiencing poor life satisfaction. Therefore, this study aimed to examine factors associated with the life satisfaction of family caregivers of persons living with dementia. Methods: Data were collected through surveys from family caregivers (N=183), and a multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the factors associated with their life satisfaction. Results: The final model indicated that perceiving support from intimate others as helpful (β=.22, p<.001) was associated with greater life satisfaction, whereas a negative relationship with the care recipients (β=−.15, p=.046) and greater psychological burden (β=−.40, p<.001) were associated with poorer life satisfaction (Adjusted R2=0.49, F=20.42, p<.001). Conclusion Public policy should focus on providing greater support to family caregivers. Furthermore, healthcare professionals should implement intervention programs for family caregivers that focus on lowering their psychological burden.

Purpose: Because family caregivers provide a considerable amount of daily care to persons living with dementia, they are at risk of experiencing poor life satisfaction. Therefore, this study aimed to examine factors associated with the life satisfaction of family caregivers of persons living with dementia. Methods: Data were collected through surveys from family caregivers (N=183), and a multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the factors associated with their life satisfaction. Results: The final model indicated that perceiving support from intimate others as helpful (β=.22, p<.001) was associated with greater life satisfaction, whereas a negative relationship with the care recipients (β=−.15, p=.046) and greater psychological burden (β=−.40, p<.001) were associated with poorer life satisfaction (Adjusted R2=0.49, F=20.42, p<.001). Conclusion Public policy should focus on providing greater support to family caregivers. Furthermore, healthcare professionals should implement intervention programs for family caregivers that focus on lowering their psychological burden.

Purpose: Because family caregivers provide a considerable amount of daily care to persons living with dementia, they are at risk of experiencing poor life satisfaction. Therefore, this study aimed to examine factors associated with the life satisfaction of family caregivers of persons living with dementia. Methods: Data were collected through surveys from family caregivers (N=183), and a multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the factors associated with their life satisfaction. Results: The final model indicated that perceiving support from intimate others as helpful (β=.22, p<.001) was associated with greater life satisfaction, whereas a negative relationship with the care recipients (β=−.15, p=.046) and greater psychological burden (β=−.40, p<.001) were associated with poorer life satisfaction (Adjusted R2=0.49, F=20.42, p<.001). Conclusion Public policy should focus on providing greater support to family caregivers. Furthermore, healthcare professionals should implement intervention programs for family caregivers that focus on lowering their psychological burden.

Background: Quantitation of urine protein is important in dogs with chronic kidney disease.Various analyzers are used to measure urine protein-to-creatinine ratios (UPCR). Objectives: This study aimed to compare the UPCR obtained by three types of analyzers (automated wet chemistry analyzer, in-house dry chemistry analyzer, and dipstick reading device) and investigate whether the differences could affect clinical decision process. Methods: Urine samples were collected from 115 dogs. UPCR values were obtained using three analyzers. Bland-Altman and Passing Bablok tests were used to analyze agreement between the UPCR values. Urine samples were classified as normal or proteinuria based on the UPCR values obtained by each analyzer and concordance in the classification evaluated with Cohen's kappa coefficient. Results: Passing and Bablok regression showed that there were proportional as well as constant difference between UPCR values obtained by a dipstick reading device and those obtained by the other analyzers. The concordance in the classification of proteinuria was very high (κ = 0.82) between the automated wet chemistry analyzer and in-house dry chemistry analyzer, while the dipstick reading device showed moderate concordance with the automated wet chemistry analyzer (κ = 0.52) and in-house dry chemistry analyzer (κ = 0.53). Conclusions Although the urine dipstick test is simple and a widely used point-of-care test, our results indicate that UPCR values obtained by the dipstick test are not appropriate for clinical use. Inter-instrumental variability may affect clinical decision process based on UPCR values and should be emphasized in veterinary practice.

PURPOSE: To measure the thicknesses of the circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and macular retinal ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) by optical coherence tomography (OCT) in healthy Korean children and adolescents. METHODS: Circumpapillary RNFL and macular GCIPL thicknesses were measured by OCT in 352 healthy eyes of 352 children and adolescents (child-adolescent group) aged 5–17 years and in 159 healthy eyes of 159 adults (adult group) aged 18-75 years. The difference in RNFL and GCIPL thicknesses between the groups and the effects of age and refractive errors on the measurements were evaluated. RESULTS: The mean age of the children and adults were 9.7 ± 3.6 and 44.7 ± 15.7 years, respectively. The mean of the average RNFL and GCIPL thicknesses were 103.1 ± 9.2 and 85.7 ± 4.6 µm, respectively, in the children group and 97.8 ± 8.2 and 82.9 ± 4.4 µm, respectively, in the adult group. The child-adolescent group had greater RNFL and GCIPL thicknesses compared to the adult group in all areas (p < 0.05) with the exception of the RNFL thickness in the temporal quadrant (p = 0.555). A thinner RNFL and thinner GCIPL were significantly associated with older age and greater myopia (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The mean RNFL and GCIPL thicknesses measured by OCT in the healthy eyes of children and adolescents were 103.1 and 85.7 µm, respectively. Children and adolescents had a thicker RNFL and GCIPL compared to adults.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Ganglion Cysts ; Humans ; Myopia ; Nerve Fibers ; Refractive Errors ; Retinal Ganglion Cells ; Retinaldehyde ; Tomography, Optical Coherence

A yeast-like strain was isolated from the brain abscess of a patient diagnosed with astrocytoma. Morphological and molecular analysis on D1/D2 domain in the 26S rRNA gene and internal transcript spacer region of the strain revealed that the strain belonged to the genus Pseudozyma. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the isolation of a Pseudozyma strain from brain abscess.
Aged ; Astrocytoma/*complications ; Brain Abscess/complications/diagnosis/*microbiology ; Brain Diseases/*complications ; DNA, Fungal/genetics ; Humans ; Male ; Mycological Typing Techniques ; Phylogeny ; RNA, Ribosomal/genetics ; Ustilaginales/classification/genetics/*isolation &purification

Striatal changes in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is not fully understood yet. We compared structural and functional image differences in the striatum between patients with early onset AD (EOAD) and late onset AD (LOAD) to investigate whether EOAD harbors autosomal dominant AD like imaging findings. The clinical, neuropsychological and neuroimaging biomarkers of 77 probable AD patients and 107 elderly subjects with normal cognition (NC) from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI)-2 dataset were analyzed. Enrolled each subject completed a 3-Tesla MRI, baseline 18F-FDG-PET, and baseline 18F-AV-45 (Florbetapir) amyloid PET studies. AD patients were divided into two groups based on the onset age of clinical symptoms (EOAD <65 yrs; LOAD ≥65 yrs). A standardized uptake value ratio of the striatum and subcortical structures was obtained from both amyloid and FDG-PET scans. Structural MR imaging analysis was conducted using a parametric boundary description protocol, SPHARM-PDM. Of the 77 AD patients, 18 were EOAD and 59 were LOAD. Except for age of symptom onset, there were no statistically significant differences between the groups in demographics and detailed neuropsychological test results. 18F-AV-45 amyloid PET showed marked β-amyloid accumulation in the bilateral caudate nucleus and left pallidum in the EOAD group. Intriguingly, the caudate nucleus and putamen showed maintained glucose metabolism in the EOAD group compared to the LOAD group. Our image findings in the striatum of EOAD patients suggest that sporadic EOAD may share some pathophysiological changes noted in autosomal dominant AD.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to estimate average total fat and fatty acid intakes as well as identify major food sources using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) VI-1 (2013). SUBJECTS/METHODS: Total fat and fatty acid intakes were estimated using 24-hour dietary recall data on 7,048 participants aged > or = 3 years from the KNHANES VI-1 (2013). Data included total fat, saturated fatty acid (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), n-3 fatty acid (n-3 FA), and n-6 fatty acid (n-6 FA) levels. Population means and standard errors of the mean were weighted in order to produce national estimates and separated based on sex, age, income, as well as residential region. Major food sources of fat, SFA, MUFA, PUFA, n-3 FA, and n-6 FA were identified based on mean consumption amounts of fat and fatty acids in each food. RESULTS: The mean intake of total fat was 48.0 g while mean intakes of SFA, MUFA, PUFA, n-3 FA, and n-6 FA were 14.4 g, 15.3 g, 11.6 g, 1.6 g, and 10.1 g, respectively. Intakes of MUFA and SFA were each higher than that of PUFA in all age groups. Pork was the major source of total fat, SFA, and MUFA, and soybean oil was the major source of PUFA. Milk and pork were major sources of SFA in subjects aged 3-11 years and > or = 12 years, respectively. Perilla seed oil and soybean oil were main sources of n-3 FA in subjects aged > or = 50 years and aged < 50 years, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Estimation of mean fatty acid intakes of this study using nationally represented samples of the Korean population could be useful for developing and evaluating national nutritional policies.
Fats* ; Fatty Acids* ; Humans ; Korea* ; Milk ; Nutrition Surveys* ; Perilla ; Soybean Oil