Serum and urinary biomarkers of vancomycin-induced acute kidney injury: A prospective, observational analysis.

Vancomycin, a first-line drug for treating methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections, is associated with acute kidney injury (AKI). This study involved an evaluation of biomarkers for AKI detection and their comparison with traditional serum creatinine (SCr). We prospectively enrolled patients scheduled to receive intravenous vancomycin for methicillin-resistant S aureus infection.

Evaluation of diagnostic performance of SARS-CoV-2 infection using digital droplet polymerase chain reaction in individuals with or without COVID-19 symptoms.

Background: Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) is commonly used to diagnose SARS-CoV-2, but it has limited sensitivity in detecting the virus in asymptomatic close contacts and convalescent patients. In this study, we propose the use of reverse transcription-digital droplet PCR (RT-ddPCR) to detect SARS-CoV-2 in clinical samples.

Methods: The clinical performance of RT-ddPCR targeting of ORF1ab and N genes was evaluated in parallel with RT-qPCR using 200 respiratory samples collected from close contacts and patients at different phases of infection.

Performance evaluation of four rapid antibody tests for the detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.

Background: The prompt detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is important in the therapeutic management of infected patients. Rapid diagnostic tests are widely used for this purpose. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical performance of four SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin IgG/IgM rapid diagnostic tests in the detection of SARS-CoV-2.

Comparison of Six Antifungal Susceptibilities of 11 Species Using the VITEK2 AST-YS08 Card and Broth Microdilution Method.

We used a Vitek 2 AST-YS08 (YS08) system and the broth microdilution method (BMD) adopted by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) to compare the susceptibility of 184 isolates of 11 species to fluconazole, voriconazole, micafungin, caspofungin, amphotericin B, and flucytosine. In Candida albicans, the categorical agreement (CA) was 79.2%, 91.

The validity of the assignment book-based structured interview in predicting academic performance in medical schools: a retrospective cohort study.

Purpose: Structured interviews have become essential in the medical schools admission selection because structured interviews predict academic achievement after admission. The purpose of this study was to determine validity and fairness of the new structural interview technique, assignment book-based structured interview (ABSI), in predicting future academic achievement of the medical students.

Methods: The validity of this new interview technique and academic achievement was evaluated based on the data of all the applicants and successful applicants who applied for on-time admission between the year 2011 and 2014.

Development of a multiplex Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) assay for on-site diagnosis of SARS CoV-2.

A newly identified coronavirus, designated as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2), has spread rapidly from its epicenter in China to more than 150 countries across six continents. In this study, we have designed three reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) primer sets to detect the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP), Envelope (E) and Nucleocapsid protein (N) genes of SARS CoV-2. For one tube reaction, the detection limits for five combination SARS CoV-2 LAMP primer sets (RdRP/E, RdRP/N, E/N, RdRP/E/N and RdRP/N/Internal control (actin beta)) were evaluated with a clinical nasopharyngeal swab sample.

Multilaboratory Evaluation of the MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry System, MicroIDSys Elite, for the Identification of Medically Important Filamentous Fungi.

With the increasing number of fungal infections and immunocompromised patients, rapid and accurate fungal identification is required in clinical microbiology laboratories. We evaluated the applicability of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) system, MicroIDSys Elite (ASTA Corp., South Korea) for the identification of medically important filamentous fungi.

Erratum: COVID-19 Molecular Testing in Korea: Practical Essentials and Answers From Experts Based on Experiences of Emergency Use Authorization Assays.

[This corrects the article on p. 439 in vol. 40.

COVID-19 Molecular Testing in Korea: Practical Essentials and Answers From Experts Based on Experiences of Emergency Use Authorization Assays.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Early detection of COVID-19 and immediate isolation of infected patients from the naive population are important to prevent further pandemic spread of the infection. Real-time reverse transcription (RT)-PCR to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA is currently the most reliable diagnostic method for confirming COVID-19 worldwide.

Protriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant, inhibits voltage-dependent K+ channels in rabbit coronary arterial smooth muscle cells.

In this study, we explore the inhibitory effects of protriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant drug, on voltage-dependent K+ (Kv) channels of rabbit coronary arterial smooth muscle cells using a whole-cell patch clamp technique. Protriptyline inhibited the vascular Kv current in a concentration-dependent manner, with an IC50 value of 5.05 ± 0.

Comparison of three rapid influenza diagnostic tests with digital readout systems and one conventional rapid influenza diagnostic test.

Background: Rapid influenza diagnostic tests (RIDTs) show variable sensitivities in clinical settings. We aimed to compare three digital RIDTs and one conventional RIDT.

Methods: We assessed 218 nasopharyngeal swabs from patients between neonates and 90 years old in 2016.

Multiple mini-interviews as a predictor of academic achievements during the first 2 years of medical school.

Background: Recently, conventional interviews have been replaced with the multiple mini-interviews (MMI) for medical student selection in Korea. We first introduced the MMI as a new admissions tool in Korea. The aim of this study is to determine whether the MMI accurately predicts academic achievement on both written and performance-based examinations during the first 2 years of medical school.

Multicatalytic colloids with highly scalable, adjustable, and stable functionalities in organic and aqueous media.

Despite a large number of developments of noble metal (or metal oxide) NP-based catalysts, it has been a great challenge to prepare high-performance recyclable catalysts with integrated functionalities that can be used in various solvent media. Here, we report on layer-by-layer (LbL) assembled multicatalysts with high catalytic performance, showing high dispersion and recycling stability in organic and aqueous media. The remarkable advantages of our approach are as follows.

Transistor memory devices with large memory windows, using multi-stacking of densely packed, hydrophobic charge trapping metal nanoparticle array.

Organic field-effect transistor (OFET) memories have rapidly evolved from low-cost and flexible electronics with relatively low-memory capacities to memory devices that require high-capacity memory such as smart memory cards or solid-state hard drives. Here, we report the high-capacity OFET memories based on the multilayer stacking of densely packed hydrophobic metal NP layers in place of the traditional transistor memory systems based on a single charge trapping layer. We demonstrated that the memory performances of devices could be significantly enhanced by controlling the adsorption isotherm behavior, multilayer stacking structure and hydrophobicity of the metal NPs.

Amphiphilic layer-by-layer assembly overcoming solvent polarity between aqueous and nonpolar media.

We introduce a general and versatile methodology that allows a facile incorporation of the functional components with completely different chemistry of hydrophilic/hydrophobic properties within nanocomposite films, and furthermore combine a number of the distinctive advantages of traditional electrostatic layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly in aqueous media and covalent LbL assembly in nonpolar media. Our approach, amphiphilic LbL assembly, is based on the high affinity between sulfonic (or phosphonic) acid-functionalized materials in aqueous media and hydrophobic metal oxide (or metal) NPs stabilized by oleic acid (OA) in nonpolar solvent. For demonstrating the effectiveness of our approach, we show that amphiphilic LbL assembly can be easily applied to the preparation of functional colloid materials allowing the reversible phase transfer between aqueous and nonpolar media, and supercapacitor electrodes with high volumetric capacitance (280 F·cm(-3) at 10 mV·s(-1)) using reduced graphene oxide with sulfonic acid moieties and well-defined OA-Fe3O4 NPs.

Very early onset of amiodarone-induced pulmonary toxicity.

Amiodarone is a widely used antiarrhythmic agent. Among its various adverse effects, amiodarone-induced pulmonary toxicity (APT) is the most life threatening complication, which has been described mostly in patients who have been in treatment with high accumulative doses for a long duration of time. However, amiodarone therapy in short-term duration induced APT was rarely reported.

[Down-Turner syndrome (45,X/47,XY,+21): case report and review].

We report the case of a 3-yr-old boy with Down-Turner mosaicism and review the previous reports of Down-Turner syndrome with documented karyotyping and clinical features. The patient showed clinical features of Down syndrome without significant stigma of Turner syndrome. Cytogenetic analysis of peripheral blood preparations by using G-banding revealed mosaicism with 2 cell lines (45,X[29]/47,XY,+21[4]).

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML-M2) associated with variant t(8;21): report of three cases.

Variants of the t(8;21)(q22;q22) involving chromosome 8, 21, and other chromosomes account for approximately 3% of all t(8;21)(q22;q22) found in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The clinicopathologic features of AML with the variant t(8;21) have not been well established. We report three cases of AML with variants of t(8;21) characterized, respectively, by derivative 8 with the interstitial inverted insertion of 21q and concurrent monosomy 21, t(8;18;21)(p22;q11.

Co-localization of inducible nitric oxide synthase and phosphorylated Akt in the lesional skins of patients with melasma.

Activation of the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)/nitric oxide (NO) pathway in keratinocytes has been reported to be associated with the pathogenesis of melanogenesis. Akt activation plays an important role in the activation of the transcription factor nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB and subsequent elevation of iNOS expression. In the present study, we highly detected both iNOS protein and Akt phosphorylation in keratinocytes of the basal layer of the epidermis at the junction with the dermis of melasma skin biopsy specimens, but not in normal skin tissues, from nine patients using immunohistological analysis.

[Protein profile changes in platelet concentrates according to storage and leukoreduction- analysis using proteomics technology].

Background: Knowing how the protein profile of platelet products changes with storage or leukoreduction may give us greater insight into cell physiology and the cause of transfusion reactions other than cytokines and chemokines.

Methods: We filtered four packs of platelet concentrates (PC) within 24 hr of blood collection and after 120 hrs of storage. Four aliquots of each supernatant in PC were obtained: pre-storage+prefiltration, pre-storage+post-filtration, post-storage+pre-filtration and post-storage+post-filtration.