OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate whether maternal negative affectivity (MNA) moderates the effect of genetic polymorphism of SLC6A4 on behavior problems in children. METHODS: Study participants comprised 143 preschoolers and their mothers from South Korea. The Childhood Behavior Checklist and Emotionality, Activity, and Sociability adult scale were used to measure child behavior and maternal affectivity. DNA from saliva was genotyped to determine serotonin transporter polymorphism. RESULTS: MNA appeared to exert effects in externalizing (b=5.78, p<0.001) and internalizing problems (b=6.09, p< 0.001). Interaction between SLCA4 polymorphism and MNA showed effects on externalizing (b=−7.62, p<0.01) and internalizing problems (b=−9.77, p<0.01). Children with two short alleles showed considerable differences in both externalizing and internalizing problems according to MNA; however, children with one short allele or none showed relatively few differences in behavior problems due to maternal affectivity. CONCLUSION: The effect of SLC6A4 polymorphism on child behavior seemed to be moderated by MNA. In addition, the impact of MNA was found to vary based on a child’s genetic risk. High MNA may trigger the risk allele while low MNA causes the risk allele to illicit less behavior problems. Children with two short variants of the SLC6A4 gene may benefit from intervention that modulates MNA.
Adult ; Alleles ; Checklist ; Child ; Child Behavior ; DNA ; Gene-Environment Interaction ; Humans ; Korea ; Maternal Behavior ; Mothers ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Saliva ; Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins

No abstract available.
Cluster Headache ; Frontal Sinus ; Frontal Sinusitis ; Headache ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Sinusitis

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) is characterized by orthostatic headache, diffuse dural thickening, and enhancement in magnetic resonance imaging. Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) has been reported to be a rare complication of SIH. There is no consensus in anticoagulation treatment of CVT secondarily caused by SIH. We report a female patient with SIH complicated by CVT and spontaneously regressed CVT not by anticoagulation but by epidural blood patch.
Blood Patch, Epidural ; Consensus ; Female ; Headache ; Humans ; Intracranial Hypotension ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Venous Thrombosis

No abstract available.
Amnesia, Transient Global* ; Posterior Leukoencephalopathy Syndrome*

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Two conversion scales between the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) have been validated for Korean patients with Parkinson's disease. The aim of the present study was to validate these conversion scales for all patients with cognitive impairments regardless of dementia subtype. METHODS: Medical records of 323 subjects who completed both MMSE and MoCA on the same day were retrospectively reviewed. Mean, median, and root mean squared error (RMSE) of the difference between true and equivalent MMSE scores were calculated. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) between true and equivalent MMSE scores were also calculated. The validity of MoCA-MMSE conversion scales was evaluated according to educational level (low educated: ≤6 years; high educated: ≥7 years) and subtypes of cognitive impairment. RESULTS: The difference between true and equivalent MMSE scores had a median value of 0, a mean value of 0.19 according to the van Steenoven scale, a mean value of 0.57 according to the Lawton scale, RMSE value of 2.2 according to the van Steenoven scale, and RMSE value of 0.42 according to the Lawton scale. Additionally, ICCs between true and equivalent MMSE scores were 0.92 and 0.90 on van Steenovan and Lawton conversion scales, respectively. These results were maintained in subgroup analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Findings of the present study suggest that both van Steenovan and Lawton MoCA-MMSE conversion scales are applicable to transforming MoCA scores into MMSE scores in patients with cognitive impairments regardless of dementia subtype or educational level.
Cognition Disorders* ; Dementia ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Methylenebis(chloroaniline) ; Parkinson Disease ; Retrospective Studies ; Weights and Measures*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening using stool DNA was recently found to yield good detection rates. A multi-target stool DNA test (Cologuard®, Exact Sciences), including methylated genes has been recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The aim of this study was to validate these aberrantly methylated genes as stool-based DNA markers for detecting CRC and colorectal advanced adenoma (AA) in the Korean population. METHODS: A single-center study was conducted in 36 patients with AA; 35 patients with CRC; and 40 endoscopically diagnosed healthy controls using CRC screening colonoscopy. The methylation status of the SFRP2, TFPI2, NDRG4, and BMP3 promoters was investigated blindly using bisulfate-modified stool DNA obtained from 111 participants. Methylation status was investigated by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Methylated SFRP2, TFPI2, NDRG4, and BMP3 promoters were detected in 60.0%, 31.4%, 68.8%, and 40.0% of CRC samples and in 27.8%, 27.8%, 27.8%, and 33.3% of AA samples, respectively. The sensitivities obtained using 4 markers to detect CRC and AA were 94.3% and 72.2%, respectively. The specificity was 55.0%. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that the SFRP2, TFPI2, NDRG4, and BMP3 promoter methylation analysis of stool sample DNA showed high sensitivity but low specificity for detecting CRC and AA. Because of the low specificity, 4 methylated markers might not be sufficient for CRC screening in the Korean population. Further large-scale studies are required to validate the methylation of these markers in the Asian population and to find new markers for the Asian population.
Adenoma ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Colonoscopy ; Colorectal Neoplasms* ; DNA ; Feces ; Genetic Markers ; Humans ; Mass Screening* ; Methylation* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; United States Food and Drug Administration

Ureteral jets are the result of a forceful ejection of urine from the vesicoureteral junction into the urinary bladder. By using color Doppler ultrasonography (US), we aimed to identify distinct ureteral jets in dogs, provide insight into ureteral obstruction, and facilitate study of urodynamics and vesicoureteric sphincter function via pulsed Doppler US. Color Doppler US was applied to detect urinary flow from the right ureteral orifices in eight healthy beagles. Under anesthesia, 0.9% saline (2.5 mL/kg/h) and furosemide (0.5 mg/kg) were administered intravenously to assist in detection of distinct ureteral jets and examine their frequency, velocity, duration, and waveform. In all dogs, ureteral jets were visualized under diuresis and anesthesia within 2 to 5 min (mean 3.57 ± 0.90 min) of the furosemide injection. Mean frequency, peak velocity, and duration of right ureteral jets in seven dogs in whom six ureteral jet waveform patterns were identified were 9.86 ± 3.09 jets/min, 34.07 ± 10.02 cm/sec, and 2.82 ± 1.08 sec, respectively. During the 10 min period starting 10 min after the initial jet appeared, only three waveforms were identified. Color Doppler US of ureteral jets may aid in assessing vesicoureteric sphincter function and ureteral abnormalities, such as ureteral obstruction, in dogs.
Anesthesia ; Animals ; Diuresis ; Dogs* ; Furosemide ; Ultrasonography, Doppler ; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color* ; Ureter* ; Ureteral Obstruction ; Urinary Bladder ; Urodynamics

PURPOSE: This study was designed to assess the types of nursing organizational culture, and degree of self-leadership and burnout as perceived by perioperative nurses, and to identify correlations between these variables. METHODS: Participants were 155 nurses from 3 tertiary hospitals in Seoul and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, Scheffé, and Pearson correlation coefficient. RESULTS: In the types of nursing organizational culture, the mean score for hierarchy-oriented culture was 3.57, and for self-leadership, 3.61 and for burnout, 2.87. In the relationship between the types of nursing organizational culture, self-leadership and burnout, relation-oriented culture (r=.24, p<.01), innovation-oriented culture (r=.23, p<.01) and task-oriented culture (r=.22, p<.01) had a slight positive correlation with self-leadership in that order. The innovation-oriented culture (r=-.29, p<.01) and relation-oriented culture (r=-.42, p<.01) among the types of nursing organizational culture showed a negative correlation with burnout while the hierarchy-oriented culture (r=.28, p<.01) showed a positive correlation with burnout. Self-leadership showed a negative correlation with burnout (r=-.42, p<.01). CONCLUSION: The results show that nurses in operating rooms have a high awareness of hierarchy-oriented culture that affects burnout in a negative way while having a low awareness of relation-oriented culture that has a positive influence on burnout.
Nursing* ; Operating Rooms ; Organizational Culture* ; Seoul ; Tertiary Care Centers

No abstract available.
Granuloma* ; Middle Cerebral Artery*

Foxp3 is a master regulator of CD4⁺CD25⁺ regulatory T-cell (Treg) function and is also a suppressor of SKP2 and HER2/ErbB2. There are an increasing number of reports describing the functions of Foxp3 in cell types other than Tregs. In this context, we evaluated the functions of Foxp3 in ovalbumin- and cockroach-induced asthma models. Foxp3-EGFP-expressing adenovirus or EGFP control adenovirus was administered intratracheally (i.t.), followed by challenge with ovalbumin (OVA) or cockroach extract to induce asthma. Th2 cytokine and immune cell profiles of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), as well as serum IgE levels, were analyzed. Histological analyses were also conducted to demonstrate the effects of Foxp3 expression on airway remodeling, goblet cell hyperplasia and inflammatory responses in the lung. Adenoviral Foxp3 was expressed only in lung epithelial cells, and not in CD4⁺ or CD8⁺ cells. BALF from Foxp3 gene-delivered mice showed significantly reduced numbers of total immune cells, eosinophils, neutrophils, macrophages and lymphocytes in response to cockroach allergen or OVA. In addition, Foxp3 expression in the lung reduced the levels of Th2 cytokines and IgE in BALF and serum, respectively. Moreover, histopathological analysis also showed that Foxp3 expression substantially inhibited eosinophil infiltration into the airways, goblet cell hyperplasia and smooth muscle cell hypertrophy. Furthermore, when Tregs were depleted by diphtheria toxin in Foxp3DTR mice, the anti-asthmatic functions of Foxp3 were not altered in OVA-challenged asthma models. In this study, our results suggest that Foxp3 expression in lung epithelial cells, and not in Tregs, inhibited OVA- and cockroach extract-induced asthma.
Adenoviridae ; Airway Remodeling ; Animals ; Asthma* ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ; Cockroaches ; Cytokines ; Diphtheria Toxin ; Eosinophils ; Epithelial Cells* ; Goblet Cells ; Hyperplasia ; Hypertrophy ; Immunoglobulin E ; Inflammation* ; Lung* ; Lymphocytes ; Macrophages ; Mice ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle ; Neutrophils ; Ovalbumin* ; Ovum ; T-Lymphocytes