Background: To analyze the factors associated with women's vasomotor symptoms (VMS) using machine learning. Methods: Data on 3,298 women, aged 40–80 years, who attended their general health check-up from January 2010 to December 2012 were obtained from Korea University Anam Hospital in Seoul, Korea. Five machine learning methods were applied and compared for the prediction of VMS, measured by the Menopause Rating Scale. Variable importance, the effect of a variable on model performance, was used for identifying the major factors associated with VMS. Results: In terms of the mean squared error, the random forest (0.9326) was much better than linear regression (12.4856) and artificial neural networks with one, two, and three hidden layers (1.5576, 1.5184, and 1.5833, respectively). Based on the variable importance from the random forest, the most important factors associated with VMS were age, menopause age, thyroid-stimulating hormone, and monocyte, triglyceride, gamma glutamyl transferase, blood urea nitrogen, cancer antigen 19-9, C-reactive protein, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Indeed, the following variables were ranked within the top 20 in terms of variable importance: cancer antigen 125, total cholesterol, insulin, free thyroxine, forced vital capacity, alanine aminotransferase, forced expired volume in 1 second, height, homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance, and carcinoembryonic antigen. Conclusion Machine learning provides an invaluable decision support system for the prediction of VMS. For managing VMS, comprehensive consideration is needed regarding thyroid function, lipid profile, liver function, inflammation markers, insulin resistance, monocyte count, cancer antigens, and lung function.

Background: To analyze the factors associated with women's vasomotor symptoms (VMS) using machine learning. Methods: Data on 3,298 women, aged 40–80 years, who attended their general health check-up from January 2010 to December 2012 were obtained from Korea University Anam Hospital in Seoul, Korea. Five machine learning methods were applied and compared for the prediction of VMS, measured by the Menopause Rating Scale. Variable importance, the effect of a variable on model performance, was used for identifying the major factors associated with VMS. Results: In terms of the mean squared error, the random forest (0.9326) was much better than linear regression (12.4856) and artificial neural networks with one, two, and three hidden layers (1.5576, 1.5184, and 1.5833, respectively). Based on the variable importance from the random forest, the most important factors associated with VMS were age, menopause age, thyroid-stimulating hormone, and monocyte, triglyceride, gamma glutamyl transferase, blood urea nitrogen, cancer antigen 19-9, C-reactive protein, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Indeed, the following variables were ranked within the top 20 in terms of variable importance: cancer antigen 125, total cholesterol, insulin, free thyroxine, forced vital capacity, alanine aminotransferase, forced expired volume in 1 second, height, homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance, and carcinoembryonic antigen. Conclusion Machine learning provides an invaluable decision support system for the prediction of VMS. For managing VMS, comprehensive consideration is needed regarding thyroid function, lipid profile, liver function, inflammation markers, insulin resistance, monocyte count, cancer antigens, and lung function.

Background: This study used machine learning and population data for testing the associations of preterm birth with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and periodontitis. Methods: Retrospective cohort data came from Korea National Health Insurance Service claims data for all women who aged 25–40 years and gave births for the first time as singleton pregnancy during 2015–2017 (405,586 women). The dependent variable was preterm birth during 2015–2017 and the independent variables were GERD (coded as no vs. yes) for each of the years 2002–2014, periodontitis (coded as no vs. yes) for each of the years 2002–2014, age (year) in 2014, socioeconomic status in 2014 measured by an insurance fee, and region (city) (coded as no vs. yes) in 2014. Random forest variable importance was adopted for finding main predictors of preterm birth and testing its associations with GERD and periodontitis. Results: Based on random forest variable importance, main predictors of preterm birth during 2015–2017 were socioeconomic status in 2014, age in 2014, GERD for the years 2012, 2014, 2010, 2013, 2007 and 2009, region (city) in 2014 and GERD for the year 2006. The importance rankings of periodontitis were relatively low. Conclusion Preterm birth has a stronger association with GERD than with periodontitis. For the prevention of preterm birth, preventive measures for GERD would be essential together with the improvement of socioeconomic status for pregnant women. Especially, it would be vital to promote active counseling for general GERD symptoms (neglected by pregnant women).

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Stress has a role in the pathogenesis of functional dyspepsia (FD) and influences food intake in humans and animals. Prokinetic drugs have been used in FD, and some of these drugs reverse the feeding inhibition (FI) induced by acute restraint stress in rats. We aimed to evaluate the effect of DA-9701 on FI induced by acute restraint in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 6 groups: Control (no stress), Stress+vehicle, and Stress+DA-9701 at doses of 1, 3, 10, and 30 mg/kg (n=6~7). DA-9701 or vehicle was administered through gastric gavage 45 minutes before stress. After 60 minutes of stress, pre-weighed chow was given and the weight of remaining food was measured 30 and 60 minutes later. The effect of DA-9701 on FI was compared after pretreatment with WAY100635, a 5HT1A antagonist. RESULTS: The restraint stress group had significantly less food intake than the control group. After feeding, rats given 1 and 3 mg/kg of DA-9701 showed increased food intake at 60 minutes, but this was not statistically significant. Rats given 10 mg/kg of DA-9701 showed significantly increased food intake at 30 minutes and 60 minutes (P < 0.05). Interestingly, rats given 30 mg/kg of DA-9701 showed a significant decrease in food intake, similar to that of the vehicle group. The beneficial effect of 10 mg/kg of DA-9701 on FI was abolished by the pretreatment with WAY100635. CONCLUSIONS: Acute restraint stress reduced food intake in rats and pretreatment with DA-9701 improved stress-induced FI.
Animals ; Dyspepsia ; Eating ; Humans ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Stress, Physiological

BACKGROUND: Penile cancer is a rare malignancy associated with high rates of mortality and morbidity. Currently, the efficacy of adjuvant treatment (AT), including radiotherapy and chemotherapy, for penile cancer remains unclear. Therefore, we investigated the prognostic factors for treatment outcomes and the efficacy of AT in consecutive patients who underwent penectomy for penile cancer at multiple Korean institutions between 1999 and 2013. METHODS: AT was defined as the administration of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or both within 12 months after initial treatment. All patients were divided into two groups according to the AT status. RESULTS: Forty-three patients (median age 67.0 years) with a median follow-up after penectomy of 26.4 (interquartile range: 12.0–62.8) months were enrolled. Patients with AT had a significantly higher pathologic stage. However, no differences in age, histologic grade, or type of surgery were identified according to the presence of AT. The 3- and 5-year cancer-specific survival (CSS) rates were 79.0% and 33.0%, respectively. In a multivariate analysis, American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage ≥ III disease was an independent predictor of CSS and recurrence-free survival (RFS). However, AT was not associated with CSS and RFS. The type of primary surgical treatment and inguinal lymph node dissection at diagnosis were also not significantly associated with overall survival, CSS, or RFS. CONCLUSION: AJCC stage ≥ III disease, which mainly reflects lymph node positivity, is a significant prognosticator in patients with penile cancer. By contrast, AT does not seem to affect CSS and RFS.
Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Joints ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymph Nodes ; Male ; Mortality ; Multivariate Analysis ; Penile Neoplasms* ; Prognosis ; Radiotherapy ; Radiotherapy, Adjuvant

Coprinopsis cinerea was employed to investigate the fungal response to gravity. Mycelium growth revealed a consistent growth pattern, irrespective of the direction of gravity (i.e., horizontal vs. perpendicular). However, the fruiting body grew in the direction opposite to that of gravity once the primordia had formed. For the proteomic analysis, only curved-stem samples were used. Fifty-one proteins were identified and classified into 13 groups according to function. The major functional groups were hydrolases and transferases (16%), signal transduction (15%), oxidoreductases and isomerases (11%), carbohydrate metabolism (9%), and transport (5%). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on a proteomic approach to evaluate the molecular response of C. cinerea to gravity.
Carbohydrate Metabolism ; Fruit ; Gravitation* ; Hydrolases ; Isomerases ; Mycelium ; Oxidoreductases ; Proteome ; Signal Transduction ; Transferases

PURPOSE: A National survey was conducted to assess neonatal intensive care nurses' practice, barriers, knowledge, and belief regarding Kangaroo Care (KC). METHODS: A descriptive survey was conducted. Kangaroo care questionares were sent to nurses in all hospitals in Korea whose were identified as providing neonatal intensive care services(N=263). Descriptive statistics were used to summarized the data. RESULTS: Among 67 neonatal care units, 61.1% adapted KC in their practice. About 60% of nurses in the KC providing hospital actually practiced KC. Major barrier of practicing KC were infant safety concerns, as well as work load of nurses. Respondants who had practiced KC were more knowledgable and were more positive in their belief regarding KC. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that in order to overcome barriers of practicing KC, educational programs are recommended designed for nurses. In addition, development of KC practice guideline is necessary to facilicate successful and safe KC.
Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Kangaroo-Mother Care Method ; Korea ; Macropodidae ; Practice Patterns, Nurses'

Bladder urothelial carcinoma typically occurs in individuals in their sixties or seventies: it rarely occurs in persons <20 years old. Moreover, in young patients, bladder urothelial carcinoma lesions are reported to be solitary and nonmuscle invasive, with low malignant potential. However, 13% of lesions in this age group are reported to be noninvasive high-grade papillary urothelial carcinoma but these are extremely rare in children <15 years. There is no specific consensus regarding treatment of bladder urothelial carcinoma in children and adolescent. In particular, method has been suggested for follow-up of high-grade bladder urothelial carcinoma. Therefore we report our experience of one case the, discuss surveillance methods, and provide a brief review of the literature.
Adolescent ; Child* ; Consensus ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Methods ; Pediatrics ; Urinary Bladder*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Although increasing evidence has indicated that radial access is a beneficial technique, few studies have focused on Korean subjects. The aim of this study was to evaluate current practice of coronary angiography (CAG) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using radial access in South Korea. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 6338 subjects were analyzed from Korean Transradial Intervention prospective registry that was conducted at 20 centers in Korea. After evaluating the initial access, subjects intended for radial access were assessed for their baseline, procedure-related, and complication data. Subjects were categorized into three groups: group of overall subjects (n=5554); group of subjects who underwent PCI (n=1780); and group of subjects who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) (n=167). RESULTS: The rate of radial artery as an initial access and the rate of access site crossover was 87.6% and 4.4%, respectively, in overall subjects. Those rates were 82.4% and 8.1%, respectively, in subjects who underwent PCI, and 60.1% and 4.8%, respectively, in subjects who underwent PPCI. For subjects who underwent CAG, a 6-F introducer sheath and a 5-F angiographic catheter was the most commonly used. During PCI, a 6-F introducer sheath (90.6%) and a 6-F guiding catheter were standardly used. CONCLUSION: The large prospective registry allowed us to present the current practice of CAG and PCI using radial access. These data provides evidence to achieve consensus on radial access in CAG and PCI in the Korean population.
Catheters ; Consensus ; Coronary Angiography* ; Korea ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; Prospective Studies* ; Radial Artery ; Registries

BACKGROUND/AIMS: There have been no reports on the effect of chronic psychological stress on colonic immune cells or the regional differences. We aimed to investigate the effect of chronic psychological stress on the number of mast cells and protease-activated receptor (PAR)-2-positive cells in the rat colonic mucosa. METHODS: Six-week-old and 14-week-old Ws/Ws rats, which lack mast cells after 10 weeks, were used as control and mast cell-deficient groups, respectively. The rats were divided into stress and sham-treated groups. Rats in the stressed group were exposed to water avoidance stress (WAS, 1 hour/day) for 13 days. Fecal pellet output and the number of mast cells and PAR-2-positive cells in colonic mucosa were compared between the WAS and sham groups. RESULTS: In 6-week-old rats, the WAS group showed a significantly higher number of mast cells compared to the sham group. In 14-week-old rats, mast cells were nearly absent in the colonic mucosa. WAS significantly increased PAR-2-positive cells in 14-week-old rats, but not in 6-week-old rats. Indirect estimation of PAR-2-positive mast cells in 6-week-old rats suggested that the majority of increased mast cells following WAS did not express PAR-2. WAS increased mast cells and PAR-2-positive cells mainly in the proximal colon. Fecal pellet output was continuously higher in the WAS group than in the sham group, and the difference was significant for both 6-week-old and 14-week-old rats. CONCLUSIONS: Chronic psychological stress increased the number of mast cells and PAR-2-positive cells in rat colonic mucosa, and these increases were more prominent in the proximal colon.
Animals ; Cell Count* ; Colon* ; Mast Cells* ; Mucous Membrane ; Rats* ; Receptor, PAR-2 ; Stress, Psychological