Background: It was to describe collaborative educational efforts under Coronavirus disease 2019 period to advocate pharmacybased immunization delivery and meet unmet needs of partnership institution using virtual learning platforms. Methods: A partnership was established among three pharmacy schools from two countries. The class content included the history of pharmacy immunization, pharmacists’ roles and contribution to public health of the USA. The class also reviewed the value of pharmacists as frontline healthcare workers to foster student insights and the scope of pharmacy. The virtual class featured an interactive video simulation and small breakroom discussion besides a lecture. Results: Participants indicated that public accessibility to pharmacy and six-year education system in South Korea as advantages. However, legislative restrictions, pharmacist burden, and interprofessional disagreements were expressed as barriers to introduce the pharmacist immunization. Conclusion A virtual learning platform was used to advocate for pharmacy-based immunization and fulfilled an unmet educational gap at a partnership institution.

Background: The Omicron variant has become the most prevalent SARS-CoV-2 variant. Omicron is known to induce milder lesions compared to the original Wuhan strain. Fatal infection of the Wuhan strain into the brain has been well documented in COVID-19 mouse models and human COVID-19 cases, but apparent infections into the brain by Omicron have not been reported in human adult cases or animal models. In this study, we investigated whether Omicron could spread to the brain using K18-hACE2 mice susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Results: K18-hACE2 mice were intranasally infected with 1 × 105 PFU of the original Wuhan strain and the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. A follow-up was conducted 7 days post infection. All Wuhan-infected mice showed > 20% body weight loss, defined as the lethal condition, whereas two out of five Omicron-infected mice (40%) lost > 20% body weight. Histopathological analysis based on H&E staining revealed inflammatory responses in the brains of these two Omicron-infected mice. Immunostaining analysis of viral nucleocapsid protein revealed severe infection of neuron cells in the brains of these two Omicron-infected mice. Lymphoid depletion and apoptosis were observed in the spleen of Omicron-infected mice with brain infection. Conclusion Lethal conditions, such as severe body weight loss and encephalopathy, can occur in Omicron-infected K18-hACE2 mice. Our study reports, for the first time, that Omicron can induce brain infection with lymphoid depletion in the mouse COVID-19 model.

PURPOSE: To determine the role of metabolic syndrome (MetS) as a risk factor for acquired premature ejaculation (PE) after considering the various risk factors, such as lower urinary tract symptoms, erectile dysfunction, hypogonadism, and prostatitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2012 to January 2017, records of 1,029 men were analyzed. We performed multivariate analysis to identify risk factors for PE, including the covariate of age, marital status, International Prostate Symptom Score, International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) score, National Institutes of Health-Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) score, serum testosterone levels, and all components of MetS. Acquired PE was defined as self-reported intravaginal ejaculation latency time ≤3 minutes, and MetS was diagnosed using the modified National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. RESULTS: Of 1,029 men, 74 subjects (7.2%) had acquired PE and 111 (10.8%) had MetS. Multivariate analysis showed that the IIEF overall satisfaction score (odds ratio [OR]=0.67, p<0.001), NIH-CPSI pain score (OR=1.07, p=0.035), NIH-CPSI voiding score (OR=1.17, p=0.032), and presence of MetS (OR=2.20, p=0.022) were significantly correlated with the prevalence of acquired PE. In addition, the Male Sexual Health Questionnaire for Ejaculatory Dysfunction scores and ejaculation anxiety scores progressively decreased as the number of components of MetS increased. CONCLUSIONS: MetS may be an independent predisposing factor for the development of acquired PE. Effective prevention and treatment of MetS could also be important for the prevention and treatment of acquired PE.
Academies and Institutes ; Adult ; Anxiety ; Causality ; Cholesterol ; Education ; Ejaculation ; Erectile Dysfunction ; Humans ; Hypogonadism ; Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms ; Male ; Marital Status ; Multivariate Analysis ; Obesity ; Premature Ejaculation ; Prevalence ; Prostate ; Prostatitis ; Reproductive Health ; Risk Factors ; Testosterone

Numerous studies have investigated quantifying dietary intake according to the weight status of children and adolescents. However, studies on differences in quality among diets remain scarce. This study compared diet quality by weight status and examined correlations between quality of diet and obesity in children and adolescents. Two hundred fourteen children and adolescents aged between 9 and 18 years participated in this study (Normal weight n=104, Obesity n=110). The data related to food intake were investigated by dietary records, Diet Quality Index-International (DQI-I), and Nutrition Quotient (NQ) and then compared with Dietary Reference Intakes for Korean (KDRIs). In DQI-I, moderation factor (control of unhealthy foods) score was 21.7 in the normal weight group and 19.5 in the obesity group. The normal weight group showed a higher score for moderation factor than the obesity group (P<0.001). Compared with KDRIs, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin C, vitamin E, calcium, potassium, and zinc intakes were insufficient in both groups. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that DQI-I moderation was negatively associated with obesity (OR=0.77, 95% CI 0.69-0.87) after adjustment for age, gender, income, and total energy intake. Our results suggest that children and adolescents require nutritional education to understand the importance of vitamin and mineral consumption. Especially, education for children and adolescents with obesity needs to emphasize moderation of nutrient intake that can cause diseases with hyper-ingestion such as sodium and high calorie-low nutrition foods.
Adolescent* ; Ascorbic Acid ; Calcium ; Child* ; Diet Records ; Diet* ; Eating ; Education ; Energy Intake ; Folic Acid ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Miners ; Obesity* ; Potassium ; Recommended Dietary Allowances ; Sodium ; Vitamin B 6 ; Vitamin E ; Vitamins ; Zinc

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the relationships between body mass index (BMI) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, international prostate symptom score (IPSS), quality of life (QoL), and prostate volume (PV). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Height, weight, PSA levels, PV, and IPSS were analyzed in 15,435 patients who underwent a prostate examination between 2001 and 2014. Patients aged <50 years or with a PSA level ≥10 ng/mL were excluded. The relationships between BMI and PSA, IPSS, QoL, and PV were analyzed by a scatter plot, one-way analysis of variance, and the Pearson correlation coefficient. RESULTS: The mean age was 71.95±7.63 years, the mean BMI was 23.59±3.08 kg/m2, the mean PSA level was 1.45±1.45 ng/mL, the mean IPSS was 15.53±8.31, the mean QoL score was 3.48±1.25, and the mean PV was 29.72±14.02 mL. PSA, IPSS, and QoL showed a tendency to decrease with increasing BMI, and there were statistically significant differences for each parameter (p≤0.001). PV showed a significant tendency to increase with BMI (p < 0.001). In the correlation analysis, BMI showed a statistically significant correlation (p < 0.001) with PSA, IPSS, and QoL, although the correlations were very weak. In contrast, BMI showed a significant correlation with PV (p < 0.001), with a meaningful Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.124. CONCLUSIONS: Higher BMI was associated with lower PSA levels and higher IPSS and QoL scores. Meanwhile, PV increased with BMI. Although obese individuals had a greater PV, obesity did not aggravate lower urinary tract symptoms.
Body Mass Index* ; Humans ; Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms ; Male ; Obesity ; Prostate ; Prostate-Specific Antigen ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; Quality of Life

PURPOSE: Raman spectroscopy is a vibrational spectroscopic technique, which is capable of providing details on the chemical composition, molecular structure and molecular interactions in cells and tissues. The primary objective of this study was to explore Raman spectroscopy for the detection of spectral changes between normal and cancer tissue in the stomach. METHODS: Tissue specimens were obtained from the resected stomach of advanced gastric cancer patients. The normal gastric and cancer tissues were harvested from the middle, lower portion of the stomach and from the tumor mass, respectively. 19 sets (antrum, body and cancer) of spectral data, with clearly defined histopathological findings, were selected in this study. FT-Raman spectroscopy (Bruker Inc., Karsruhe, Germany) was used for tissue Raman studies, with excitation at 1, 064 nm. The Raman spectra from the gastric tissue specimens were obtained with a 20 minute signal acquisition time. RESULTS: In the range 700~1, 900 cm-1, the Raman spectra of gastric antral tissue were dominated by a number of vibrational modes of biomolecules, such as proteins, lipids and nucleic acids. The Raman spectrum pattern of gastric body tissue was similar to that of the antrum, suggesting the structure and composition between the gastric antrum and body are much the same. The Raman spectra differed significantly between the normal and malignant cancer tissues, with cancers showing higher percentage signals for protein, lipid and nucleic acid compared to normal tissue (P<0.05). Difference were observed in the shapes of the Raman spectra between the normal and cancer tissues, particularly in the spectral ranges 1, 250~1, 255, 1, 330~1, 340 and 1, 440~1, 450 cm-1, which contain signals relating to protein and lipid conformations and CH2 bending mode of nucleic acids. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the ability of Raman spectroscopy to detect biochemical changes in malignant gastric tissue, and may become a useful adjunct to pathological diagnosis allowing guided biopsies and assessment of adequacy of resection margins.
Biopsy ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Molecular Structure ; Nucleic Acids ; Pyloric Antrum ; Spectrum Analysis ; Spectrum Analysis, Raman* ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Stomach*

The reVersible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome (RPLS) describes a syndrome of headaches, confusion, seizures, and visual disturbances associated with transient, predominantly posterior cerebral lesions revealed by neuroimaging. RPLS has been associated clinically with hypertension, immunosuppression, and known triggers include acute renal failure, eclampsia, cyclosporine, and lupus. We report a 45-year-old male with chronic renal failure showed RPLS following hemodialysis and review literatures.
Acute Kidney Injury ; Cyclosporine ; Eclampsia ; Female ; Headache ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Immunosuppression ; Kidney Failure, Chronic* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neuroimaging ; Posterior Leukoencephalopathy Syndrome* ; Pregnancy ; Renal Dialysis ; Seizures