BACKGROUND: Circulating apolipoprotein J (ApoJ) is closely associated with insulin resistance; however, the effect of exercise on circulating ApoJ levels and the association of ApoJ with metabolic indices remain unknown. Here, we investigated whether a combined exercise can alter the circulating ApoJ level, and whether these changes are associated with metabolic indices in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS: Postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes mellitus were randomly assigned into either an exercise (EXE, n=30) or control (CON, n=15) group. Participants in the EXE group were enrolled in a 12-week program consisting of a combination of aerobic and resistance exercises. At baseline, 4, 8, and 12 weeks, body composition and metabolic parameters including homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and serum ApoJ levels were assessed. RESULTS: In the EXE group, ApoJ levels decreased 26.3% and 19.4%, relative to baseline, at 8 and 12 weeks, respectively. Between-group differences were significant at 8 and 12 weeks (P<0.05 and P<0.001, respectively). In the EXE group, 12 weeks of exercise resulted in significant decreases in body weight, percent body fat, and HOMA-IR indices. Concurrently, weight-adjusted appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM/wt) was increased in the EXE group compared with the CON group. Importantly, changes in the ApoJ level were significantly correlated with changes in ASM/wt. CONCLUSION Exercise training resulted in a significant decrease in the circulating ApoJ level, with changes in ApoJ associated with an improvement in some insulin resistance indices. These data suggest that circulating ApoJ may be a useful metabolic marker for assessing the effects of exercise on insulin resistance.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to identify the demographic variables that are affecting performances on the Logical Memory (LM) subtest included in the Korean version of the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS)-IV and to provide normative data on the LM subtest for the middle-age and elderly Korean people.METHODS: The participants were 435 non-demented adults aging from 50 to 90 and with the educational level ranging from 0 to 21 years.RESULTS: Age and education were found to be significantly associated with performance on the LM subtest, while gender effect was not statistically significant. Therefore, we stratified the norm blocks by age and education. Age was divided into three groups: 50–59, 60–74, and 75–90 years. Education was stratified into three groups: 0–8 years, 9–12 years, and 13 years or more.CONCLUSION: The normative data provided in the current study are expected to be useful in clinical and research settings to detect or define subtle changes in episodic memory in Korean adults and elderly, and can also be used for cross-cultural comparison of verbal episodic memory performance among elderly populations using different languages.
Adult ; Aged ; Aging ; Cross-Cultural Comparison ; Education ; Humans ; Logic ; Memory ; Memory, Episodic

PURPOSE: This study investigated the factors affecting the use of empirical antibiotics in febrile infants from 1 month to less than 3 months. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of hospitalized previously healthy infants with fever in Pusan National University Children's Hospital from January 2010 to December 2016. Clinical features, laboratory findings and antibiotic therapy were analyzed. Respiratory viruses were identified by multiplex reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and were reported after 1–3 days. Enterovirus were identified by real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and were reported in several hours. RESULTS: The 129 of 366 subjects used empirical antibiotics and 237 patients didn't used empirical antibiotics. Empirical antibiotics were used more frequently when the fever was longer before admission, respiratory symptoms and ill being appearances were present and C-reactive protein was elevated. The rate of readmission was low in the group not used empirical antibiotics. Most of the patients detected by enterovirus PCR in cerebrospinal fluid didn't used empirical antibiotics. The results of respiratory virus multiplex RT-PCR showed no difference in the use of empirical antibiotics. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, empirical antibiotic prescriptions were affected not respiratory virus multiplex RT-PCR but enterovirus PCR. If multiplex RT-PCR were reported more rapid turn around time, it will affect antibiotic use.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Busan ; C-Reactive Protein ; Cerebrospinal Fluid ; Enterovirus ; Fever ; Humans ; Infant ; Medical Records ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prescriptions ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Retrospective Studies ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

OBJECTIVE: Productivity loss was compared by 3-stage of disease activity and associations between higher disease activity and high productivity loss were identified. METHODS: Data were extracted from Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Patient-reported Outcomes Research, which enrolled 2,000 RA patients (>20-year) on disease-modifying-antirheumatic-drugs (DMARDs) (≥6-month) from December 2012 to June 2013. This included 1,457 RA patients with the disease activity score (DAS-28-ESR) in their medical charts. Productivity loss in time and indirect cost was estimated using The World Health Organization Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ). Baseline characteristics and productivity loss outcomes were compared according to DAS-28-ESR groups. RESULTS: 84.4% were females, 54.2% had low DAS-28-ESR ( < 3.2), and 38.2% and 7.6% had moderate (3.2∼5.1) and high DAS-28-ESR (>5.1). Patients with moderate to high DAS-28-ESR had higher lost productivity time (LPT) and monthly costs of LPT than those with low DAS-28-ESR (time in hours: 110.0±58.4 vs. 132.4±57.2 vs. 71.5±52.0, p < 0.0001; monthly costs of LPT in 1,000 Korean won: 1,097±607 vs. 1,302±554 vs. 741±531, p < 0.0001). Multiple regression analyses revealed significant associations with high LPT in high (adjusted odds ratio [OR]=3.87, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.18∼6.87) and moderate DAS-28-ESR (adjusted OR=1.88, 95% CI: 1.41∼2.52) compared to low DAS-28-ESR. In addition, positive associations with high monthly costs of LPT were observed in high (adjusted OR=3.45, 95% CI: 1.98∼5.99) and moderate DAS-28-ESR (adjusted OR=1.93, 95% CI: 1.43∼2.54) compared to low DAS-28-ESR. CONCLUSION: Timely therapeutic strategies should be taken into consideration given that the RA patients with moderate to high DAS-28-ESR showed strong associations with high productivity loss for effective management of RA.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid* ; Efficiency* ; Female ; Humans ; Odds Ratio ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care) ; Work Performance ; World Health Organization

Infection of cattle with bovine leukemia virus (BLV) has been observed and reported worldwide, including in Korea. The onsite identification of infected cattle would help decreasing and eradicating BLV infections on farms. Here, we present a new immunochromatographic assay that employs monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) for the detection of antibodies against BLV in the field. BLV envelope glycoprotein (gp)51 was expressed in E. coli, and MAbs against recombinant BLV gp51 were generated for the development of an immunochromatographic assay to detect BLV antibodies in cattle. The sensitivity and specificity of the assay were determined by comparing these results with those obtained from a standard enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A total of 160 bovine sera were used to evaluate the new immunochromatographic assay. Using ELISA as a reference standard, the relative specificity and sensitivity of this assay were determined to be 94.7% and 98%, respectively. Because of its high sensitivity and specificity, this BLV antibody detection assay would be suitable for the onsite identification of BLV infection in the field.
Agriculture ; Animals ; Antibodies* ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; Cattle ; Deltaretrovirus Antibodies ; Deltaretrovirus Infections ; Enzootic Bovine Leukosis* ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Glycoproteins ; Immunochromatography* ; Korea ; Leukemia Virus, Bovine* ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Although 3D-complex fractionated atrial electrogram (CFAE) mapping is useful in radiofrequency catheter ablation for persistent atrial fibrillation (AF), the directions and configuration of the bipolar electrodes may affect the electrogram. This study aimed to compare the spatial reproducibility of CFAE by changing the catheter orientations and electrode distance in an in-silico left atrium (LA). We conducted this study by importing the heart CT image of a patient with AF into a 3D-homogeneous human LA model. Electrogram morphology, CFAE-cycle lengths (CLs) were compared for 16 different orientations of a virtual bipolar conventional catheter (conv-cath: size 3.5 mm, inter-electrode distance 4.75 mm). Additionally, the spatial correlations of CFAE-CLs and the percentage of consistent sites with CFAE-CL<120 ms were analyzed. The results from the conv-cath were compared with that obtained using a mini catheter (mini-cath: size 1 mm, inter-electrode distance 2.5 mm). Depending on the catheter orientation, the electrogram morphology and CFAE-CLs varied (conv-cath: 11.5±0.7% variation, mini-cath: 7.1±1.2% variation), however the mini-cath produced less variation of CFAE-CL than conv-cath (p<0.001). There were moderate spatial correlations among CFAE-CL measured at 16 orientations (conv-cath: r=0.3055±0.2194 vs. mini-cath: 0.6074±0.0733, p<0.001). Additionally, the ratio of consistent CFAE sites was higher for mini catheter than conventional one (38.3±4.6% vs. 22.3±1.4%, p<0.05). Electrograms and CFAE distribution are affected by catheter orientation and electrode configuration in the in-silico LA model. However, there was moderate spatial consistency of CFAE areas, and narrowly spaced bipolar catheters were less influenced by catheter direction than conventional catheters.
Atrial Fibrillation ; Catheter Ablation ; Catheters ; Electrodes* ; Electrophysiologic Techniques, Cardiac* ; Heart ; Heart Atria ; Humans

BACKGROUND: Antithyroid drugs (ATDs) can lead to the development of agranulocytosis, which is the most serious adverse effect. Characteristics of ATD-induced agranulocytosis (AIA) have seldom been reported due to the rarity. In this study, we characterized the clinical features for AIA in Korean patients. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed data from patients with AIA diagnosed between 1997 and 2014 at four tertiary hospitals. Agranulocytosis was defined as an absolute neutrophil count (ANC) below 500/mm3. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients (11 males, 43 females) was 38.2+/-14.9 years. Forty-eight patients (88.9%) with AIA had fever and sore throat on initial presentation, 20.4% of patients developed AIA during the second course of treatment, and 75.9% of patients suffered AIA within 3 months after initiation of ATD. The patients taking methimazole (n=39) showed lower levels of ANC and more frequent use of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor than propylthiouracil (n=15) users. The median duration of agranulocytosis was 5.5 days (range, 1 to 20). No differences were observed between the long (> or =6 days) and short recovery time (< or =5 days) groups in terms of age, gender, ATDs, duration of ATDs, or initial ANC levels. Four patients (7.4%) who were taking ATDs for less than 2 months died of sepsis on the first or second day of hospitalization. CONCLUSION: The majority of AIA incidents occur in the early treatment period. Considering the high fatality rate of AIA, an early aggressive therapeutic approach is critical and patients should be well informed regarding the warning symptoms of the disease.
Agranulocytosis* ; Antithyroid Agents ; Fever ; Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor ; Graves Disease ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Korea* ; Male ; Methimazole ; Neutrophils ; Pharyngitis ; Propylthiouracil ; Retrospective Studies ; Sepsis ; Tertiary Care Centers

No abstract available.
Epidermal Cyst ; Scalp