Flow cytometric lymphocyte subset analysis (FCLSA) is essential for assessing immune status across various diseases and clinical settings. We surveyed current clinical laboratory practices related to FCLSA to establish a baseline reference for future standardization in Korea. Nine university hospitals actively performing FCLSA responded to the 22-question survey, which covered seven categories of laboratory practice. These hospitals used commercial reagent antibody kits from either Beckton Dickinson Biosciences (N = 4) or Beckman Coulter Diagnostics (N = 5). Most hospitals performed daily instrument setup and scheduled maintenance every 2–6 months. Two levels of commercial quality control materials were routinely used each day. Sample and reagent antibody volumes varied across hospitals, even when the same reagent kit was used. Acquired cell counts ranged from 5 × 10 3 to 5 × 10 4 cells, with two hospitals adjusting counts based on the cell type analyzed. Most laboratories reported percentages and general opinions; some additionally reported white blood cell and lymphocyte counts, along with lymphocyte percentages. This is the first comprehensive survey on the clinical laboratory practice of FCLSA in Korea.Standardization of FCLSA should be accelerated to ensure reliable and reproducible results.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between socio-cognitive mindfulness, job stress, social support, and turnover intention among general hospital nurses and identify the factors influencing nurses’ turnover intention. Methods: A descriptive survey was conducted among 218 nurses from five general hospitals located in G metropolitan city. The participants completed a questionnaire measuring the study variables, and the data were analyzed using t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and hierarchical multiple regression analysis in SPSS/WIN 28.0. Results: Significant differences were found in turnover intention by gender (t=-2.12, p=.036), family type (t=-3.09, p=.002), work department (F=7.01, p<.001), and work type (t=2.55, p=.011). Socio-cognitive mindfulness was positively related to social support (r=.331, p<.001), and turnover intention was positively related to job stress (r=.347, p<.001). The factors influencing nurses’ turnover intention included job stress (β=.317, p<.001), work department (artificial kidney room: β=-.287, p=.004; emergency room: β=-.219, p=.015), social support (β=-.183, p=.005), and work type (shift work: β=.170, p=.036), respectively. These factors explained 23.4% of the variance. Conclusion The findings indicate the need to develop programs to effectively cope with job stress and implement mentoring systems or psychological support programs to reduce turnover intention among nurses at the organizational level.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between socio-cognitive mindfulness, job stress, social support, and turnover intention among general hospital nurses and identify the factors influencing nurses’ turnover intention. Methods: A descriptive survey was conducted among 218 nurses from five general hospitals located in G metropolitan city. The participants completed a questionnaire measuring the study variables, and the data were analyzed using t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and hierarchical multiple regression analysis in SPSS/WIN 28.0. Results: Significant differences were found in turnover intention by gender (t=-2.12, p=.036), family type (t=-3.09, p=.002), work department (F=7.01, p<.001), and work type (t=2.55, p=.011). Socio-cognitive mindfulness was positively related to social support (r=.331, p<.001), and turnover intention was positively related to job stress (r=.347, p<.001). The factors influencing nurses’ turnover intention included job stress (β=.317, p<.001), work department (artificial kidney room: β=-.287, p=.004; emergency room: β=-.219, p=.015), social support (β=-.183, p=.005), and work type (shift work: β=.170, p=.036), respectively. These factors explained 23.4% of the variance. Conclusion The findings indicate the need to develop programs to effectively cope with job stress and implement mentoring systems or psychological support programs to reduce turnover intention among nurses at the organizational level.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between socio-cognitive mindfulness, job stress, social support, and turnover intention among general hospital nurses and identify the factors influencing nurses’ turnover intention. Methods: A descriptive survey was conducted among 218 nurses from five general hospitals located in G metropolitan city. The participants completed a questionnaire measuring the study variables, and the data were analyzed using t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and hierarchical multiple regression analysis in SPSS/WIN 28.0. Results: Significant differences were found in turnover intention by gender (t=-2.12, p=.036), family type (t=-3.09, p=.002), work department (F=7.01, p<.001), and work type (t=2.55, p=.011). Socio-cognitive mindfulness was positively related to social support (r=.331, p<.001), and turnover intention was positively related to job stress (r=.347, p<.001). The factors influencing nurses’ turnover intention included job stress (β=.317, p<.001), work department (artificial kidney room: β=-.287, p=.004; emergency room: β=-.219, p=.015), social support (β=-.183, p=.005), and work type (shift work: β=.170, p=.036), respectively. These factors explained 23.4% of the variance. Conclusion The findings indicate the need to develop programs to effectively cope with job stress and implement mentoring systems or psychological support programs to reduce turnover intention among nurses at the organizational level.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between socio-cognitive mindfulness, job stress, social support, and turnover intention among general hospital nurses and identify the factors influencing nurses’ turnover intention. Methods: A descriptive survey was conducted among 218 nurses from five general hospitals located in G metropolitan city. The participants completed a questionnaire measuring the study variables, and the data were analyzed using t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and hierarchical multiple regression analysis in SPSS/WIN 28.0. Results: Significant differences were found in turnover intention by gender (t=-2.12, p=.036), family type (t=-3.09, p=.002), work department (F=7.01, p<.001), and work type (t=2.55, p=.011). Socio-cognitive mindfulness was positively related to social support (r=.331, p<.001), and turnover intention was positively related to job stress (r=.347, p<.001). The factors influencing nurses’ turnover intention included job stress (β=.317, p<.001), work department (artificial kidney room: β=-.287, p=.004; emergency room: β=-.219, p=.015), social support (β=-.183, p=.005), and work type (shift work: β=.170, p=.036), respectively. These factors explained 23.4% of the variance. Conclusion The findings indicate the need to develop programs to effectively cope with job stress and implement mentoring systems or psychological support programs to reduce turnover intention among nurses at the organizational level.

Vancomycin, a vital antibiotic for treating gram-positive bacterial infections, requires therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) because of its substantial pharmacokinetic variability. While traditional TDM relies on steady-state trough concentrations, recent guidelines advocate the area under the concentration–time curve (AUC) as the target index. However, detailed protocols for AUC estimation are lacking, leading to potential discrepancies among institutions. We surveyed medical institutions in Korea regarding vancomycin TDM, including AUC estimation. Nineteen participants responded to the TDM case challenge under three patient scenarios. For an ordinary patient in Case 1, the overall CV for AUC values was 0.4% when both trough and peak concentrations were included in the AUC calculation and 1.9% when utilizing only the trough concentration. For Case 2, an older patient with obesity, the corresponding CV was 6.6%. For Case 3 with multiple trough concentrations, the CV was 15.6%, reflecting variations in the selective use of data. Although the agreements in Case 1 were good, significant variability in AUC estimation was noted in cases involving atypical patient characteristics or old TDM data. Our study provides insight into the current status of vancomycin TDM in Korea and underscores the need for standardized operational protocols for AUC estimation.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to elucidate the mechanisms by which Vaccinium oldhamii water extract (VOW) modulates inflammation and insulin sensitivity in 3T3-L1 cells and RAW 264.7 macrophages.MATERIALS/METHODS: VOW's effects on inflammation and insulin resistance were assessed in macrophages and adipocytes. To investigate crosstalk between macrophages and adipocytes, RAW 264.7 cells were cultured in the upper chamber while mature 3T3-L1 cells were cultured in the lower chamber. The medium was collected to measure glucose uptake. RESULTS: Our findings indicate that VOW significantly reduces the protein expression of inflammatory cytokines, including extracellular signal-regulated kinase, Jun N-terminal kinase, mitogen-activated protein kinase p38, and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells, which are upregulated by lipopolysaccharide and inhibit reactive oxygen species expression. In mature 3T3-L1 cells with type 2 diabetes mellitus, VOW treatment enhances the protein expression of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, Ak strain transforming, and insulin receptor substrate, which are critical for insulin sensitivity, and facilitates the translocation of glucose transporter type 4 from the cytosol to the plasma membrane.Additionally, treatment of 3T3-L1 cells with macrophage-conditioned media results in decreased insulin sensitivity, whereas VOW treatment restores insulin signaling protein expression in a dose-dependent manner. CONCLUSION Our study suggests that VOW modulates the interplay between increased insulin sensitivity and inflammation.

Background: Flow cytometric immunophenotyping of hematolymphoid neoplasms (FCIHLN) is essential for diagnosis, classification, and minimal residual disease (MRD) monitoring. FCI-HLN is typically performed using in-house protocols, raising the need for standardization. Therefore, we surveyed the current status of FCI-HLN in Korea to obtain fundamental data for quality improvement and standardization. Methods: Eight university hospitals actively conducting FCI-HLN participated in our survey.We analyzed responses to a questionnaire that included inquiries regarding test items, reagent antibodies (RAs), fluorophores, sample amounts (SAs), reagent antibody amounts (RAAs), acquisition cell number (ACN), isotype control (IC) usage, positiveegative criteria, and reporting. Results: Most hospitals used acute HLN, chronic HLN, plasma cell neoplasm (PCN), and MRD panels. The numbers of RAs were heterogeneous, with a maximum of 32, 26, 12, 14, and 10 antibodies used for acute HLN, chronic HLN, PCN, ALL-MRD, and multiple myeloma-MRD, respectively. The number of fluorophores ranged from 4 to 10. RAs, SAs, RAAs, and ACN were diverse. Most hospitals used a positive criterion of 20%, whereas one used 10% for acute and chronic HLN panels. Five hospitals used ICs for the negative criterion. Positiveegative assignments, percentages, and general opinions were commonly reported. In MRD reporting, the limit of detection and lower limit of quantification were included. Conclusions This is the first comprehensive study on the current status of FCI-HLN in Korea, confirming the high heterogeneity and complexity of FCI-HLN practices. Standardization of FCI-HLN is urgently needed. The findings provide a reference for establishing standard FCI-HLN guidelines.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the educational needs of virtual reality simulations that can be applied to novice nurses during the waiting period before starting work in a hospital. Methods: A convergent mixed methods was used. The survey data were collected from 230 novice nurses, and a focus group interview was conducted with 6 new nurses. The data were collected from November 2022 to January 2023. Descriptive statistics, a frequency analysis, independent t-test, and an Importance-Performance Analysis were performed using SPSS 24.0. Results: Appropriate topics for virtual reality simulation education were indicated to be medications and intravenous injections, which are high priority topics in quantitative and qualitative research. The novice nurses wanted group activity training three to four times a week for two weeks before beginning work in a hospital. They also wanted an immersive virtual reality system based on a real hospital environment. Conclusion Based on the above results, this study provides basic data for the development of a virtual reality simulation education that can improve the adaptation of novice nurses to clinical practice. A strategy was suggested to utilize the waiting time before beginning work in a hospital as educational time.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Poorly regulated inflammation is believed to be the most predominant factor that can result in a wide scope of diseases including atopic dermatitis (AD). Despite many studies on the effect of pear pomace in obesity-related disorders including dysregulated gut microbiota, the protective effect of pear pomace in AD is still unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of pear pomace ethanol extract (PPE) on AD by inhibiting inflammation.MATERIALS/METHODS: In the in vivo experiment, 2, 4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) was applied to NC/Nga mice to induce AD-like skin lesions. After the induction, PPE was administered daily by oral gavage for 4 weeks. The clinical severity score, serum IgE levels, spleen weight, histological changes in dorsal skin, and inflammation-related proteins were measured. In the cell study, RAW 264.7 cells were pretreated with PPE before stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Nitrite oxide (NO) production and nuclear factor kappa B (NFkB) protein expression were detected. RESULTS: Compared to the AD control (AD-C) group, IgE levels were dramatically decreased via PPE treatment. PPE significantly reduced scratching behavior, improved skin symptoms, and decreased ear thickness compared to the AD-C group. In addition, PPE inhibited the DNCB-induced expression of inducible nitrite oxide synthase (iNOS), the receptor for advanced glycation end products, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2, and NF-κB.PPE inhibited the LPS-induced overproduction of NO and the enhanced expression of iNOS and cyclooxygenase-2. Moreover, the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and NF-κB in RAW 264.7 cells was suppressed by PPE. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that PPE could be explored as a therapeutic agent to prevent AD.