Purpose: We aimed to evaluate the usefulness and safety of high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) oxygen therapy in children with complex chronic diseases (CCD) with impending respiratory failure in the general ward. Methods: Medical records of subjects with HFNC oxygen use in the general ward at a Korean tertiary children’s hospital were reviewed. Children with CCD and impending respiratory failure were included. treatment success was defined as successful weaning from HFNC oxygen support and treatment failure as weaning failure that led to higher level of respiratory support such as invasive ventilation or noninvasive positive pressure ventilation. Results: Fifty cases were included. Thirty-five cases (70%) were weaned off HFNC oxygen successfully, 15 cases (30%) failed. At the time of HFNC oxygen administration, the treatment failure group showed higher heart rate (P = 0.043), carbon dioxide partial pressure (P = 0.002), and initial inspired oxygen fraction (P = 0.007). Within 72 hours of initial treatment, 20% of patients in the treatmentsuccess group were weaned off the HFNC oxygen and half in the treatment-failure group required invasive ventilation. One case experienced complication. Conclusion HFNC oxygen is safe and effective for respiratory support in the general ward to avoid invasive mechanical ventilation in children with CCD and impending respiratory failure.

Purpose: /Objectives: To determine predictors of fall events in hospitalized patients with cancer, and identification of fall risk. Methods: An analysis of medical records was conducted together with a review of standardized fall reports of 565 patients admitted between January 1 and December 31, 2020. The collected data were analyzed with the chi-squared test, Fisher exact test, independent t-test, and logistic regression analysis using STATA 17 program. Results: There was a statistically significant increased fall risk; accompanied by a guardian (OR=10.30 CI=2.66~39.94), number of attachment devices (OR=1.30, CI=0.46~0.64), medication (OR=0.17, CI=0.04~0.84), pain (OR=4.73, CI=1.59~14.0), walking problem (OR=29.85, CI=9.31~95.74), chemotherapy (OR=5.20, CI=1.81~14.89), and fall risk score (OR=1.83, CI=1.50~2.24). Conclusion These findings can serve as academic evidence to support the role of nurses in assessing the risk of fall events/accidents with regard to cancer patients and the development of individually adjusted fall assessment tools.

Background: The role of the cervix in female sexual functioning is controversial. The loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) induces structural changes in the cervix. This study aimed to investigate whether LEEP affected sexual dysfunction in Korean women. Methods: A prospective cohort study enrolled 61 sexually active women with abnormal Papanicolaou smear or cervical punch biopsy results and required LEEP. The patients were assessed before and six to twelve months after LEEP using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) and the Female Sexual Distress Scale (FSDS). Results: The prevalence of female sexual dysfunction according to FSFI scores before and after LEEP was 62.5% and 66.7%, respectively. LEEP-related changes in total FSFI and FSDS scores were not significant (P = 0.399 and P = 0.670, respectively). The frequency of sexual dysfunction in the desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain subdomains of the FSFI was not significantly altered by LEEP (P > 0.05). The proportion of women experiencing sexual distress according to FSDS scores did not significantly increase after LEEP (P = 0.687). Conclusion A large proportion of women with cervical dysplasia experience sexual dysfunction and distress both before and after LEEP. LEEP itself may be not associated with negative effects on female sexual function.

Objective: We investigated the effects of fusidic acid (FA) on human cervical, thyroid, and breast carcinoma cell lines to determine the potential usefulness of FA in cancer treatment. Methods: Six cancer cell lines (cervical cancer: Caski, HeLa; thyroid cancer: 8505C, TPC1; and breast cancer: MCF-7, MDA-MB-231) were treated with FA. Furthermore the changes in cell growth, cell cycle duration, and extent of apoptosis were analyzed. Results: After FA treatment, the cancer cells showed a decrease in growth rate. In the cell death assay, the cell populations were similar in each cell type after treatment with FA, indicating that growth inhibition by FA was not related to the induction of apoptosis. FA induced cell cycle arrest at a dose that inhibited growth rate, which varied in different cell types. G0/G1 phase arrest occurs in breast cancer, S phase arrest in 8505C thyroid cancer, and G2/M phase arrest in cervical cancer. These results indicate that FA reduces growth rates by inducing cell cycle arrest. Conclusion FA treatment can interfere with cell proliferation by inducing cell cycle arrest in human cervical, thyroid, and breast carcinoma cell lines. Thus, FA can be useful in treating human cervical, thyroid, and breast carcinomas.

Background: This study aimed to analyze the effects of periodontal treatment and individual- and tooth-related factors on tooth extraction in people with disabilities. Methods: The Korea National Health Insurance claims data of individuals with disabilities aged 40∼64 years with chronic periodontitis in 2008 were obtained. Of these, data on the disabled who underwent scaling/root plaining, subgingival curettage/periodontal surgery, or non-periodontal treatments, and data on their teeth were selected. The extraction of 716,688 teeth from 39,097 patients was tracked until 2018, and the patient- and tooth-level factors related to tooth loss were identified using a mixed-effect logistic regression analysis. Results: Data from approximately 17% of the teeth were extracted during a follow-up period of approximately 11 years. Among the tooth-level variables, scaling/root planing treatment at baseline and periodontal treatment during the follow-up period were associated with a lower risk of tooth loss (odds ratio=0.692 and 0.769, respectively, p＜0.001). Non-vital teeth increased the risk of tooth loss by 3.159 times (p＜0.001). Among the patient-level variables, females were less likely to have lost their teeth than males, and those with orthopedic impairment or brain lesions/mental disabilities, a higher age group, lower income level, or residents in medium/small cities or rural areas were more likely to have lost their teeth (p＜0.001). Conclusion Through approximately 11 years of follow-up, scaling or root planing, experience with periodontal treatment at leastonce, female sex, older age, lower income, smaller residential areas, type of disability, and pulp vitality were found to be associated with tooth loss in individuals with disabilities aged 40∼64 years with chronic periodontitis. To prevent tooth loss in individuals with disabilities, it is necessary to establish a dental treatment plan that considers the timing of periodontal treatment and the characteristics of the patient and teeth.

We aimed to investigate associations of dietary diversity (DD) with gut microbial diversity and the development of hen's egg allergy (HEA) in infants. We enrolled 68 infants in a highrisk group and 32 infants in a control group based on a family history of allergic diseases. All infants were followed from birth until 12 months of age. We collected infant feeding data, and DD was defined using 3 measures: the World Health Organization definition of minimum DD, food group diversity, and food allergen diversity. Gut microbiome profiles and expression of cytokines were evaluated by bacterial 16S rRNA sequencing and real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. High DD scores at 3 and 4 months were associated with a lower risk of developing HEA in the high-risk group, but not in the control group. In the high-risk group, high DD scores at 3, 4, and 5 months of age were associated with an increase in Chao1 index at 6 months. We found that the gene expression of IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, and IL-8 were higher among infants who had lower DD scores compared to those who had higher DD scores in high-risk infants. Additionally, high-risk infants with a higher FAD score at 5 months of age showed a reduced gene expression of IL-13. Increasing DD within 6 months of life may increase gut microbial diversity, and thus reduce the development of HEA in infants with a family history of allergic diseases.

Objective: This study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an individually tailored program based on self-measurement of blood glucose on health behavior and HbA1c in diabetes and pre-diabetes patients. Methods: The program consisted of seven sessions for 12 weeks which were carried out every two weeks. Almost all sessions were progressed on untact method except for the first and last session. The 71 subjects were assessed for their knowledge of diabetes, health behavior, the experience of self-measurement of blood glucose, body mass Index (BMI) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) at before and after the program. They were also evaluated on their degree of utilization of blood glucose measurements after the program. Results: Each mean score on their knowledge of diabetes, health behavior and the experience of self-measurement of blood glucose was significantly increased from 14.77, 25.50, and 2.70 to 15.41, 28.40, and 4.81, respectively. Each mean score on both BMI and HbA1c (n=53) was significantly decreased from 24.47kg/m2 and 7.27% to 24.01kg/m2 and 6.67%, respectively. The post-HbA1c had a significant negative correlation(r=-0.415) with the degree of utilization of blood glucose measurements. The degree of utilization of blood glucose measurements had a significant positive correlation(r=0.581) with post-health behavior. Conclusions The program shows effectiveness in improving HbA1c in Type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes patients. The post-HbA1c might be related to the degree of utilization of blood glucose measurements which might be related to the health behavior.

Objective: To conduct a simulation study to determine whether artificial intelligence (AI)-aided mammography reading can reduce unnecessary recalls while maintaining cancer detection ability in women recalled after mammography screening. Materials and Methods: A retrospective reader study was performed by screening mammographies of 793 women (mean age ± standard deviation, 50 ± 9 years) recalled to obtain supplemental mammographic views regarding screening mammographydetected abnormalities between January 2016 and December 2019 at two screening centers. Initial screening mammography examinations were interpreted by three dedicated breast radiologists sequentially, case by case, with and without AI aid, in a single session. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, and recall rate for breast cancer diagnosis were obtained and compared between the two reading modes. Results: Fifty-four mammograms with cancer (35 invasive cancers and 19 ductal carcinomas in situ) and 739 mammograms with benign or negative findings were included. The reader-averaged AUC improved after AI aid, from 0.79 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.74–0.85) to 0.89 (95% CI, 0.85–0.94) (p < 0.001). The reader-averaged specificities before and after AI aid were 41.9% (95% CI, 39.3%–44.5%) and 53.9% (95% CI, 50.9%–56.9%), respectively (p < 0.001). The reader-averaged sensitivity was not statistically different between AI-unaided and AI-aided readings: 89.5% (95% CI, 83.1%–95.9%) vs.92.6% (95% CI, 86.2%–99.0%) (p = 0.053), although the sensitivities of the least experienced radiologists before and after AI aid were 79.6% (43 of 54 [95% CI, 66.5%–89.4%]) and 90.7% (49 of 54 [95% CI, 79.7%–96.9%]), respectively (p = 0.031). With AI aid, the reader-averaged recall rate decreased by from 60.4% (95% CI, 57.8%–62.9%) to 49.5% (95% CI, 46.5%–52.4%) (p < 0.001). Conclusion AI-aided reading reduced the number of recalls and improved the diagnostic performance in our simulation using women initially recalled for supplemental mammographic views after mammography screening.