Factors Related to Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Among Intensive Care Unit Nurses.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify the factors affecting the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms of intensive care unit (ICU) nurses. The variables include event experiences, cognitive flexibility, and co-worker support.

Methods: A survey was conducted among 153 ICU nurses working in a general hospital or an advanced general hospital.

Spironolactone metabolite causes falsely increased progesterone in the Abbott Architect immunoassay.

Background: Immunoassays are important for routine clinical testing and medical diagnosis. However, they are limited by cross-reactivity especially at low analyte concentrations. There is a critical need to investigate compounds that can interfere with immunoassays.

Effects of an Orff Music Activity Intervention Program on the Ego-Resilience, Peer Relationships, Happiness, Interpersonal Care Awareness, Anxiety, and Stress of Children from Multicultural Families in Republic of Korea.

This study developed an interpersonal care-based Orff music activity program for children from multicultural families in Republic of Korea. We measured its effects on ego-resilience, peer relationships, happiness, interpersonal care awareness, anxiety, and stress. The participants were 74 children from third to sixth grade attending 10 regional children's centers in Cheonan-si, Chungcheongnam-do Province, Republic of Korea.

Development of polycaprolactone grafts with improved physical properties and body stability using a screw extrusion-type 3D bioprinter.

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinter including screw extruder was developed, and the polycaprolactone (PCL) grafts fabricated by screw-type and pneumatic pressure-type bioprinters were comparatively evaluated. The density and tensile strength of the single layers printed by the screw-type were 14.07% and 34.

Novel Chitosan Dermal Filler with Enhanced Moldability and Elasticity.

Currently, dermal fillers are largely based on commercialized cross-linked hyaluronic acid (HA) injections, which require a large injection force. Additionally, HA can be easily decomposed by enzymes, and HA-treated tissues present a risk of developing granuloma. In this study, a chitosan-based dermal filler is presented that operates on a liquid-to-gel transition and allows the injection force to be kept ≈4.

Acute progesterone feedback on gonadotropin secretion is not demonstrably altered in estradiol-pretreated women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) demonstrate gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) pulse generator resistance to suppression with 7 days of progesterone and estradiol administration. It remains unknown whether such women demonstrate impairments in acute progesterone negative feedback on LH pulse frequency or progesterone positive feedback on gonadotropin release. This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study designed to test the hypothesis that acute, progesterone-related suppression of LH pulse frequency and progesterone-related augmentation of gonadotropin release are impaired in PCOS.

The Regeneration of Large-Sized and Vascularized Adipose Tissue Using a Tailored Elastic Scaffold and dECM Hydrogels.

A dome-shaped elastic poly(l-lactide--caprolactone) (PLCL) scaffold with a channel and pore structure was fabricated by a combinative method of 3D printing technology and the gel pressing method (13 mm in diameter and 6.5 mm in thickness) for patient-specific regeneration. The PLCL scaffold was combined with adipose decellularized extracellular matrix (adECM) and heart decellularized extracellular matrix (hdECM) hydrogels and human adipose-derived stem cells (hADSCs) to promote adipogenesis and angiogenesis.

Characterization of virulence genes in Escherichia coli strains isolated from pre-weaned calves in the Republic of Korea.

Background: Escherichia coli is an important cause of diarrhea in calves and its diarrheagenic properties are related to presence of certain virulence genes. In this study, the prevalence of virulence genes F5, F17, F41, sta, stx1, stx2, eae, and saa in E. coli isolated from pre-weaned calves presenting with (n= 329) or without diarrhea (n= 360) was explored using multiplex polymerase chain reaction.

Zoonotic potential of Enterocytozoon bieneusi in pre-weaned Korean native calves.

Background: Enterocytozoon bieneusi is the most common microsporidian species infecting humans and various animals worldwide. To date, there has been limited information on the prevalence of infection and genotypes of E. bieneusi in cattle in the Republic of Korea.

Epidemiological Survey on Eimeria spp. Associated with Diarrhea in Pre-weaned Native Korean Calves.

Bovine coccidiosis is one of the most important parasitic diseases affecting calf productivity. Here, we investi- gated the prevalence of Eimeria spp. in pre-weaned native Korean calves and determined the correlation between diar- rhea and Eimeria spp.

Use of a Turn Coil and Channel Above a GMR-SV Device to Observe and Measure the Properties of Deoxidized Red Blood Cells Coupled to Magnetic Beads.

A giant magnetoresistance-spin valve (GMR-SV) having highly sensitive magnetic properties was prepared with a multilayer soft ferromagnetic/non-magnetic/pinned ferromagnetic/anti-ferromagnetic iridium manganese (IrMn) top layer (NiFe/CoFe/Cu/CoFe/IrMn) structure. Micron-sized magnetic beads (MBs) with a diameter of 1 μm immersed in a solution containing 50 mg of Co-Si-OH/ml were attached to red blood cells (RBCs) having the very low magnetization of hemoglobin (HEM) to detect a deoxidized RBC combined with MBs (RBC+MBs). The RBC+MB combinations can be captured on a single-turn μ-coil that maintains a magnetic field large enough to detect the MBs attached to the RBC.

Characteristics and Clinical Significance of De Novo Donor-Specific Anti-HLA Antibodies after Kidney Transplantation.

Background: The association of de novo donor-specific anti-human leukocyte antigens (HLA) antibodies (DSA) and development of antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) is still undetermined.

Methods: We prospectively screened de novo DSA in 167 KTRs during 32 months after kidney transplantation (KT). Timing of DSA detection was at 3, 6, and 12 months post-transplant and annually thereafter and when clinically indicated.

Vascularization of PLGA-based bio-artificial beds by hypoxia-preconditioned mesenchymal stem cells for subcutaneous xenogeneic islet transplantation.

Background: Subcutaneous tissue is an attractive extra-hepatic heterotopic site for islet transplantation; however, poor oxygen tension and blood supply during early engraftment of implanted islets have limited the use of this site in clinical applications.

Methods: This study investigated the vascularization potential of hypoxia-preconditioned mesenchymal stem cells (3% O ; hypo-MSCs) in PLGA-based bio-artificial beds for subsequent subcutaneous islet transplantation. Sheet-typed polymeric PLGA scaffolds coated with hypo-MSCs or normo-MSCs (MSCs cultured under normoxia conditions, 21% O ) were implanted subcutaneously in mice.

Skin Regeneration with a Scaffold of Predefined Shape and Bioactive Peptide Hydrogels.

We developed a highly elastic customized scaffold for soft tissue regeneration and combined them with bioactive hydrogels with stem cell-inducing ability. This was done to mimic mechanical properties of native soft tissues and improve the viability of transplanted cells as well as efficiency of tissue regeneration. The proposed study was aimed at evaluating various characteristics of scaffolds and investigating their tissue-regenerating ability.

Progesterone administration does not acutely alter LH pulse secretion in the mid-follicular phase in women.

It remains unclear how rapidly progesterone suppresses luteinizing hormone (LH) pulse frequency in women. Previous studies suggested that progesterone markedly increases LH pulse amplitude but does not slow LH pulse frequency within 10 h in estradiol-pretreated women studied during the late follicular phase. However, this experimental paradigm may be a model of preovulatory physiology, and progesterone may have different effects at other times of the cycle.

Individualized prediction of mortality using multiple inflammatory markers in patients on dialysis.

This study aimed to evaluate whether the combination of inflammatory markers could provide predictive powers for mortality in individual patients on dialysis and develop a predictive model for mortality according to dialysis modality. Data for inflammatory markers were obtained at the time of enrollment from 3,309 patients on dialysis from a prospective multicenter cohort. Net reclassification index (NRI) and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) were calculated.

Progesterone-Mediated Inhibition of the GnRH Pulse Generator: Differential Sensitivity as a Function of Sleep Status.

Context: During normal, early puberty, luteinizing hormone (LH) pulse frequency is low while awake but increases during sleep. Mechanisms underlying such changes are unclear, but a small study in early pubertal girls suggested that differential wake-sleep sensitivity to progesterone negative feedback plays a role.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that progesterone acutely reduces waking LH pulse frequency more than sleep-associated pulse frequency in late pubertal girls.

Progesterone Suppression of Luteinizing Hormone Pulse Frequency in Adolescent Girls With Hyperandrogenism: Effects of Metformin.

Context: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and adolescent hyperandrogenism (HA) are characterized by rapid luteinizing hormone (LH) pulse frequency. This partly reflects impaired gonadotropin-releasing hormone pulse generator (hypothalamic) sensitivity to progesterone (P4) negative feedback. We assessed whether metformin may improve P4 sensitivity in adolescent HA, for which it is prescribed widely.

Urinary desmosine is associated with emphysema severity and frequent exacerbation in patients with COPD.

Background And Objective: Matrix degradation is a key feature of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Desmosine and isodesmosine (desmosines) are excreted in urine following matrix degradation. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the association between computed tomography (CT) emphysema indices and urinary desmosines in patients with COPD.

Substance P/dexamethasone-encapsulated PLGA scaffold fabricated using supercritical fluid process for calvarial bone regeneration.

Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) scaffolds encapsulated with substance P (SP) and dexamethasone (Dex) by the supercritical CO foaming method were fabricated to treat calvarial bone. We compared the release profiles of SP and Dex according to the incorporation methods using encapsulation or dipping. Ninety percent of the SP or Dex molecules in the scaffolds prepared by the encapsulating method were released by day 14 or day 6, respectively.

Direct analysis of aberrant glycosylation on haptoglobin in patients with gastric cancer.

Based on our previous studies, differential analysis of N-glycan expression bound on serum haptoglobin reveals the quantitative variation on gastric cancer patients. In this prospective case-control study, we explore the clinically relevant glycan markers for gastric cancer diagnosis. Serum samples were collected from patients with gastric cancer (n = 44) and healthy control (n = 44).