The purpose of this study was to determine the characteristics of infants' temperaments and eating behaviors, mothers' eating behaviors and feeding practices in poor eating infants. The participants were 80 infants of 12 - 24 months (27 poor eaters and 53 matched normal controls) from a hospital and a public health center. Mothers were questioned about their eating behaviors and feeding practices, and infants' temperaments, eating behaviors, and nutrient intakes by one day food recall. Subjects were divided by mean nutrient adequacy ratio (MAR, < 0.75; poor eater). Intakes of Ca, P, Fe, Zn, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin C, E, folate were below 75% RDA in poor eaters, whereas protein, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B6, C, folate exceeded 125% RDA in good eaters. Rhythmicity of infants' temperaments and eating behaviors, restriction of mothers' eating behaviors and feeding practices were significantly lower, whereas activity levels of infants' temperaments were higher than good eaters. In multiple logistic regression model of poor eaters, activity of infants' temperaments (T, OR: 1.19, CI: 1.05 - 1.35) and attention spans of infants' eating behaviors (A, OR: 1.18, CI: 1.03 - 1.35) were significantly positive, whereas rhythmicity of infants' eating behaviors (R, OR: 0.79, CI: 0.67 - 0.94) was significantly negative [E (the logit) = -6.8644 + 0.1712 x T - 0.2337 x R + 0.1641 x A]. Our findings suggest that examination of eating behaviors, feeding practices, and temperaments will help target interventions to improve infants' food intakes, and these variables should be examined at the time of nutrition counseling.
Ascorbic Acid ; Counseling ; Eating* ; Feeding Behavior* ; Folic Acid ; Humans ; Infant* ; Logistic Models ; Mothers ; Niacin ; Periodicity ; Public Health ; Riboflavin ; Temperament* ; Vitamin B 6

BACKGROUND: In most clinical microbiology laboratories, inoculation of specimens on plates is performed manually and is a time-consuming process. The efficiency of this process can be improved by using an automated instrument. Currently, several automated instruments have been introduced for inoculation of samples. In this study, we have evaluated an automated instrument, PREVI Isola(R) (Biomerieux, France), used for inoculation of body fluids and urine specimens. METHODS: Both manual and automated instrument methods were used to inoculate 74 body fluid and 204 urine samples. Precision was evaluated by testing 3 types of urine samples (A, 6x10(3) colony-forming units (CFU)/mL; B, 3x10(4) CFU/mL; and C, >10(6) CFU/mL) in replicates of 20. Results of the 2 methods were compared by counting the isolated colonies on agar plates after incubation. The time required for both methods was also compared. RESULTS: The coefficient of variation (CV) of samples A, B, and C examined using the automated instrument method was 176.1%, 18.1%, and 12.6%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of testing body fluid samples were 77% and 100%, respectively, and those of urine samples were 87% each. The time required for testing 15 body fluid specimens and that for inoculation of each specimen was 9.7 min shorter using PREVI Isola(R) than using the manual method. CONCLUSIONS: The results of body fluid and urine culture by inoculation using the automated instrument, PREVI Isola(R), showed relative good agreement with those obtained using the manual method. The use of PREVI Isola(R) would be expected to reduce the time and labor involved in inoculating various kinds of specimens.
Agar ; Automation, Laboratory ; Body Fluids ; Microbiological Techniques ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Stem Cells

BACKGROUND: Sclerostin is a secreted Wnt inhibitor produced almost exclusively by osteocytes, which inhibits bone formation. Aromatase inhibitors (AIs), which reduce the conversion of steroids to estrogen, are used to treat endocrine-responsive breast cancer. As AIs lower estrogen levels, they increase bone turnover and lower bone mass. We analyzed changes in serum sclerostin levels in Korean women with breast cancer who were treated with an AI. METHODS: We included postmenopausal women with endocrine-responsive breast cancer (n=90; mean age, 57.7 years) treated with an AI, and compared them to healthy premenopausal women (n=36; mean age, 28.0 years). The subjects were randomly assigned to take either 5 mg alendronate with 0.5 microg calcitriol (n=46), or placebo (n=44) for 6 months. RESULTS: Postmenopausal women with breast cancer had significantly higher sclerostin levels compared to those in premenopausal women (27.8+/-13.6 pmol/L vs. 23.1+/-4.8 pmol/L, P<0.05). Baseline sclerostin levels positively correlated with either lumbar spine or total hip bone mineral density only in postmenopausal women (r=0.218 and r=0.233; P<0.05, respectively). Serum sclerostin levels increased by 39.9%+/-10.2% 6 months after AI use in postmenopausal women; however, no difference was observed between the alendronate and placebo groups (39.9%+/-10.2% vs. 55.9%+/-9.13%, P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Serum sclerostin levels increased with absolute deficiency of residual estrogens in postmenopausal women with endocrine-responsive breast cancer who underwent AI therapy with concurrent bone loss.
Alendronate ; Aromatase Inhibitors* ; Bone Density ; Breast Neoplasms ; Calcitriol ; Estrogens* ; Female ; Hip ; Humans ; Osteocytes ; Osteogenesis ; Osteoporosis ; Spine ; Steroids

This study was conducted to investigate potential differences in vaccine efficacy between patients undergoing palliative chemotherapy and receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. Additionally, the study proved the influence of vaccination timing on vaccine efficacy during active chemotherapy. Anti-receptor-binding domain (RBD) IgG binding antibody assays and surrogate neutralizing antibody assays were performed after BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 vaccination in 45 solid cancer patients (23 adjuvant and 22 palliative chemotherapy) and in 24 healthy controls before vaccination (baseline), at every two to four weeks after the first (post-dose 1) and the second vaccination (post-dose 2). The levels of anti-RBD IgG and neutralizing antibodies increased significantly from baseline through post-dose 1 to post-dose 2 in all three groups. At the post-dose 1, the anti-RBD IgG and neutralizing antibody levels were significantly lower in cancer patients than in healthy controls. However, by post-dose 2, the seropositivity of anti-RBD IgG and neutralizing antibodies uniformly reached 100% across all groups, with no significant disparity in antibody levels among the three groups. Moreover, the antibody titers were not significantly different between patients with a vaccine and chemotherapy interval of more than 14 days or those with less than 14 days. This study demonstrated that after second doses of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, humoral immune responses in patients receiving chemotherapy were comparable to those of healthy controls, regardless of whether the purpose of the anti-cancer treatment was palliative or adjuvant. Furthermore, the timing of vaccination did not affect the level of humoral immunity after the second vaccination.

Background: A healthcare system’s collapse due to a pandemic, such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), can expose healthcare workers (HCWs) to various mental health problems. This study aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the depression and anxiety of HCWs. Methods: A nationwide questionnaire-based survey was conducted on HCWs who worked in healthcare facilities and public health centers in Korea in December 2020. Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) were used to measure depression and anxiety. To investigate factors associated with depression and anxiety, stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis was performed. Results: A total of 1,425 participating HCWs were included. The mean depression score (PHQ-9) of HCWs before and after COVID-19 increased from 2.37 to 5.39, and the mean anxiety score (GAD-7) increased from 1.41 to 3.41. The proportion of HCWs with moderate to severe depression (PHQ-9 ≥ 10) increased from 3.8% before COVID-19 to 19.5% after COVID-19, whereas that of HCWs with moderate to severe anxiety (GAD-7 ≥ 10) increased from 2.0% to 10.1%. In our study, insomnia, chronic fatigue symptoms and physical symptoms after COVID-19, anxiety score (GAD-7) after COVID-19, living alone, and exhaustion were positively correlated with depression. Furthermore, post-traumatic stress symptoms, stress score (Global Assessment of Recent Stress), depression score (PHQ-9) after COVID-19, and exhaustion were positively correlated with anxiety. Conclusion In Korea, during the COVID-19 pandemic, HCWs commonly suffered from mental health problems, including depression and anxiety. Regularly checking the physical and mental health problems of HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic is crucial, and social support and strategy are needed to reduce the heavy workload and psychological distress of HCWs.