Prostate-specific antigen lowering effect of metabolic syndrome is influenced by prostate volume.

Objectives: To investigate the influence of metabolic syndrome on prostate-specific antigen levels by considering prostate volume and plasma volume.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 4111 men who underwent routine check-ups including prostate-specific antigen and transrectal ultrasonography. The definition of metabolic syndrome was based on the modified Adult Treatment Panel III criteria.

Attitudes toward stress and coping among primary caregivers of patients undergoing hemodialysis: A Q-methodology study.

Introduction Hemodialysis (HD) causes many life changes, not only for patients undergoing it but also for their families by allowing them to rely on this lifesaving equipment unless they receive a kidney transplant. The stress of the primary caregivers, who spends the most time in the family taking care of the patient undergoing HD, is quite high. This study was to identify attitudes about stress and coping among primary caregivers of HD patients.

Effects of methylphenidate on body index and physical fitness in Korean children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Objective: The side effects of methylphenidate (MPH) on growth remain a controversial concern. This study aimed to investigate the effect of MPH on clinical symptoms, growth, and physical fitness in Korean children.

Methods: Fifty male children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) treated with methylphenidate (MPH-ADHD), 69 MPH-naïve male children with ADHD (Naïve-ADHD), and 60 age-matched and sex-matched healthy control subjects were recruited.

Predictive factors associated with failure of nonoperative treatment of superior labrum anterior-posterior tears.

Background: Uncertainty remains in the natural course of superior labrum anterior-posterior (SLAP) tears treated conservatively with rehabilitation and activity modification. Our purpose was to evaluate clinical outcomes after nonoperative treatment of type II SLAP tear in young active patients and to identify factors related to negative outcomes.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 63 patients who initially underwent nonoperative treatment for isolated type II SLAP tear.

Multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial of escitalopram on the progression-delaying effects in Alzheimer's disease.

Objectives: A series of preclinical studies have suggested that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants not only stimulate neurogenesis but also have neuroprotective effects. The present study primarily aimed to investigate whether escitalopram would decelerate the brain atrophy of patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD). We also assessed the effects of escitalopram on the cognitive function and neuropsychiatric symptoms of these participants.

Comparison of Repellency Effect of Mosquito Repellents for DEET, Citronella, and Fennel Oil.

To confirm that Korean Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) guidelines are applicable to test the efficacy of mosquito repellents, these guidelines were used to test the efficacy and complete protection times (CPTs) of three representative mosquito repellents: N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (DEET), citronella, and fennel oil. The repellency of citronella oil decreased over time, from 97.9% at 0 h to 71.

Role of Atypical Pathogens and the Antibiotic Prescription Pattern in Acute Bronchitis: A Multicenter Study in Korea.

The role of atypical bacteria and the effect of antibiotic treatments in acute bronchitis are still not clear. This study was conducted at 22 hospitals (17 primary care clinics and 5 university hospitals) in Korea. Outpatients (aged ≥ 18 yr) who had an acute illness with a new cough and sputum (≤ 30 days) were enrolled in 2013.

The cefazolin inoculum effect in methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus blood isolates: their association with dysfunctional accessory gene regulator (agr).

We evaluated the clinical significance of the cefazolin inoculum effect (CIE) in methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) isolates. In total, 146 isolates were recovered from patients with MSSA bacteremia at 9 hospitals in Korea. The CIE was observed in 16 MSSA isolates, and while type A was the only detected β-lactamase in MSSA isolates exhibiting the CIE, no strains expressing type B, C, or D β-lactamases exhibited this effect.

Enhancement of paclitaxel-induced breast cancer cell death via the glycogen synthase kinase-3β-mediated B-cell lymphoma 2 regulation.

Glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) is a serine/threonine protein kinase that is known to mediate cancer cell death. Here, we show that B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), an anti-apoptotic protein, is regulated by GSK-3β and that GSK-3β-mediated regulation of Bcl-2 is crucial for mitochondrial-dependent cell death in paclitaxel-stimulated cells. We demonstrate that MCF7 GSK-3β siRNA cells are more sensitive to cell death than MCF7 GFP control cells and that in the absence of GSK-3β, Bcl-2 levels are reduced, a result enhanced by paclitaxel.

The Effect of Choline Acetyltransferase Genotype on Donepezil Treatment Response in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease.

Objective: We examined the difference in responses to donepezil between carriers and non-carriers of the A allele at the +4 position of the choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) gene in Koreans.

Methods: Patients who met the criteria for probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) (n=199) were recruited. Among these, 145 completed the 12-week follow-up evaluation and 135 completed the 26-week scheduled course.

Establishment of Reference Ranges for Prostate Volume and Annual Prostate Volume Change Rate in Korean Adult Men: Analyses of a Nationwide Screening Population.

We aimed to determine normal reference ranges for prostate volume (PV) and annual PV change rate in a Korean nationwide screening population. Data from men who underwent a routine health check-up were collected from 13 university hospitals. The cohort comprised men aged ≥40 yr who had undergone 2 or more serial transrectal ultrasonographies.

Normative Study of the Literacy Independent Cognitive Assessment in Illiterate and Literate Elderly Koreans.

Objective: The aim of this study was to provide normative data on the Literacy Independent Cognitive Assessment (LICA) and to explore the effects of age, education/literacy, and gender on the performance of this test.

Methods: Eight hundred and eighty-eight healthy elderly subjects, including 164 healthy illiterate subjects, participated in this study. None of the participants had serious medical, psychiatric, or neurological disorders including dementia.

Clinicians' Tendencies to Under-Rate Parkinsonian Tremors in the Less Affected Hand.

The standard assessment method for tremor severity in Parkinson's disease is visual observation by neurologists using clinical rating scales. This is, therefore, a subjective rating that is dependent on clinical expertise. The objective of this study was to report clinicians' tendencies to under-rate Parkinsonian tremors in the less affected hand.

Application of whole exome sequencing to a rare inherited metabolic disease with neurological and gastrointestinal manifestations: a congenital disorder of glycosylation mimicking glycogen storage disease.

Background: Rare inherited metabolic diseases with neurological and gastrointestinal manifestations can be misdiagnosed as other diseases or remain as disorders with indeterminate etiologies. This study aims to provide evidence to recommend the utility of whole exome sequencing in clinical diagnosis of a rare inherited metabolic disease.

Methods And Results: A 4-month-old female baby visited an outpatient clinic due to poor weight gain, repeated seizure-like episodes, developmental delay, and unexplained hepatomegaly with abnormal liver function test results.

Comorbidities frequency in Takotsubo syndrome: an international collaborative systematic review including 1109 patients.

Background: To identify predisposing factors that can result in the onset of takotsubo syndrome, we performed an international, collaborative systematic review focusing on clinical characteristics and comorbidities of patients with takotsubo syndrome.

Methods: We searched and reviewed cited references up to August 2013 to identify relevant studies. Corresponding authors of selected studies were contacted and asked to provide additional quantitative details.

A case of shoshin beriberi presenting as cardiogenic shock with diffuse ST-segment elevation, which dramatically improved after a single dose of thiamine.

Shoshin beriberi is a fulminant form of cardiac beriberi caused by thiamine deficiency. We report on a case of an 87-year-old man with shoshin beriberi presenting as cardiogenic shock with diffuse ST-segment elevation, which dramatically improved after thiamine administration. Because of the rarity of the occurrence, lack of diagnostic test and atypical presentation, diagnosing shoshin beriberi is challenging and requires a high index of clinical suspicion.

Menopause Knowledge, Attitude, Symptom and Management among Midlife Employed Women.

Objectives: Midlife women's knowledge, positive attitudes and management toward menopause may improve the quality of peri and post-menopause life. This study was to identify correlations of the knowledge, attitude, symptoms and management toward menopause in middle-aged women.

Methods: We used a cross-sectional questionnaire study applying to 231 perimenopausal and menopausal women aged from 40 to 59 years old.

A Case of Organizing Pneumonia Associated with FOLFIRI Chemotherapy.

The combination chemotherapy of irinotecan with 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin (FOLFIRI regimen) was recently proven to be beneficial in patients with advanced colorectal cancer. Pulmonary toxicity is very rare in adverse effects of irinotecan. No case of organizing pneumonia (also known as bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia) associated with FOLFIRI chemotherapy has been reported.

Fat-suppressed, three-dimensional T1-weighted imaging using high-acceleration parallel acquisition and a dual-echo Dixon technique for gadoxetic acid-enhanced liver MRI at 3 T.

Background: Parallel imaging (PI) techniques are used for overcoming lower spatial and time resolution for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). There is clinical need to overcome inevitable noise by decreased voxel size and signal-to-noise issue by using high-acceleration factor (AF).

Purpose: To determine whether the combination of a modified Dixon three-dimensional (3D) T1-weighted (T1W) gradient echo technique (mDixon-3D-GRE) and high-acceleration ([HA], AF = 5) PI can provide breath-hold (BH) T1W imaging with better image quality than conventional fat-suppressed 3D-T1W-GRE (SPAIR-3D-GRE) for Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced liver MR.

Anti-anaerobic coverage is not necessary for Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscess: a propensity score-matched cohort study.

Although most Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscesses have been reported to be monomicrobial, clinical outcomes have not been compared between antimicrobial therapy with and without anti-anaerobic coverage. A propensity score-matched cohort study was conducted using the 731 cases of K. pneumoniae liver abscess.

S100A3 suppression inhibits in vitro and in vivo tumor growth and invasion of human castration-resistant prostate cancer cells.

Objective: To investigate the role of S100A3 and the effect of S100A3 inhibition on human castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) cells by using in vitro and in vivo functional assays.

Materials And Methods: Using human CRPC cells (PC3 and DU145), S100A3 expression levels were assessed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis. After S100A3-specific small interfering ribonucleic acid (RNA) treatment, cell viability was determined by Cell Counting Kit-8 assay, and apoptotic cell fractions were evaluated by flow cytometry.

Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder after bilateral subthalamic stimulation in Parkinson's disease.

The effect of subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) on rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) in Parkinson's disease (PD) is not well known. We evaluated the change in the incidence of probable RBD after bilateral STN DBS in PD patients. Ninety patients with PD treated with bilateral STN DBS underwent retrospective assessment of RBD by interview before and after DBS.