Prediction Forecast for Culex tritaeniorhynchus Populations in Korea

AbstractObjectivesJapanese encephalitis is considered as a secondary legal infectious disease in Korea and is transmitted by mosquitoes in the summer season. The purpose of this study was to predict the ratio of Culex tritaeniorhynchus to all the species of mosquitoes present in the study regions.MethodsFrom 1999 to 2012, black light traps were installed in 10 regions in Korea (Busan, Gyeonggi, Gangwon, Chungbuk, Chungnam, Jeonbuk, Jeonnam, Gyeongbuk, Gyeongnam, and Jeju) to capture mosquitoes for identification and classification under a dissecting microscope. The number of mosquitoes captured/week was used to calculate its daily occurrence (mosquitoes/trap/night). To predict the characteristics of the mosquito population, an autoregressive model of order p (AR(p)) was used to execute the out-of-sample prediction and the in-sample estimation after presumption.ResultsCompared with the out-of-sample method, the sample-weighted regression method's case was relatively superior for prediction, and this method predicted a decrease in the frequency of Cx. tritaeniorhynchus for 2013. However, the actual frequency of this species showed an increase in frequency. By contrast, the frequency rate of all the mosquitoes including Cx. tritaeniorhynchus gradually decreased.ConclusionThe number of patients with Japanese encephalitis has been strongly associated with the occurrence and density of vector mosquitoes, and the importance of this infectious disease has been highlighted since 2010. The 2013 prediction indicated an increase after an initial decrease, although the ratio of the two mosquito species decreased. The increase in vector density may be due to changes in temperature and the environment. Thus, continuous prevalence prediction is warranted

Vulvar Skin Metastasis of Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma

In this study, we examined a case where lung cancer metastasized to the vulvar area. A 79-year-old woman that was a heavy smoker was referred to our department with a short (two-week) history of dyspnea, and with a painful nodule on her right labium majora, which she had noticed almost three years earlier. Histopathologically, the specimen appeared as a poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. The chest X-ray, chest computerized tomography scan, and percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy via bronchoscopy revealed squamous cell carcinoma in the right upper lobe of the lung. Based on these clinical and histopathological findings, we concluded that her condition was skin metastasis at the right labium majora from the lung cancer, which occurs very rarely

看護系大学生における外国人保健医療サービス提供に関する認識: 日本と韓国の大学における調査から

Aim: This study was performed to examine associations between nursing students’ knowledge and interest regarding foreign nationals’ medical health challenges and international exchange experience among Korean and Japanese undergraduate nursing students. Methods: An anonymous self-administered structured questionnaire survey was conducted among 200 Korean nursing students in April 2016, and 78 Japanese nursing students in August 2015; both groups were in their 4th year of study at a university. The questionnaire elicited responses related to knowledge and interest regarding foreign nationals’ medical health challenges in Korea or Japan, likelihood of caring for foreign nationals as nurses, and experience related to international exchange. Results: A total of 183（ 91.5%） Korean students and 68（ 91.9%） Japanese students participated in this study. Among Korean students, 120（ 65.6%） reported being aware of foreign nationals’ medical health challenges, while only 23 （33.8%） Japanese participants gave this response. There were significant differences in knowledge and interest scores regarding foreign nationals’ medical health challengesaccording to experience of international exchange in both Korean and Japanese study participants （Mann?Whitney U test, P = 0.001, P = 0.003, respectively）. Korean study participants demonstrated recognition of medical health care provision for foreign nationals as nurses regardless of international exchange experience leve（l Mann?Whitney U test, P = 0.841）, although international exchange experience level was significantly related to recognition of medical health care provision for foreign nationals as nurses among Japanese nursing students（ Mann?Whitney U test, P = 0.030）. Conclusions: Korea and Japan have similar characteristics, such as homogenous and monoculture countries until recently. However, this study demonstrated differences in sensitivity and recognition regarding medical healthcare provision for foreign nationals among Korean and Japanese nursing students. It is necessary to assess the factors responsible for this difference, to prepare nursing students for medical healthcare provision in the global society.目的?本研究は，韓国と日本の看護系大学生における外国人保健医療の知識・関心と国際交流経験の関連を検討することを目的としている．方法?韓国から2016年4月に200人，日本から2015年8月に78人の日本人看護系大学生，いずれも4年生を対象に無記名自記式質問紙による調査が実施された．質問紙内容は，外国人保健医療の知識・関心，将来的な看護職としての外国人保健医療提供可能性の自覚，国際交流経験について構成された．結果?韓国人学生183人（91.5％），日本人学生68人（91.9％）から有効回答を得た．韓国人学生中120人（65.6％）が外国人保健医療ニーズについて認識していたが，日本人学生では23人（33.8％）のみであった．両国の看護学生において，外国人保健医療の知識・関心は，国際交流経験の豊富さと関連していた（マンホイットニーU test， P＝0.001，P＝0.003）．韓国人学生は，国際交流経験の豊富さに関係なく，将来的な看護職としての外国人保健医療提供可能性の自覚をもっていたが（Mann－Whitney U test， P＝0.841），日本人学生では，国際交流経験の豊富さが将来的な看護職としての外国人保健医療提供可能性の自覚に統計的有意に関連していた（Mann－Whitney U test， P＝0.030）．結論?韓国も日本も最近まで単一民族・文化の国であったという類似の特徴を持つが，本調査では両国の看護学生において，外国人保健医療への感度や将来的な看護職としての外国人保健医療提供可能性の自覚に違いが認められた．今後，グローバル社会における外国人保健医療に対応していくために，両国のこういった違いに影響する関連要因について詳細に検証する必要がある

Transient Increase of Higher-Order Aberrations after Lateral Rectus Recession in Children

The changes of higher-order aberrations (HOAs) after bilateral lateral rectus muscle recession were evaluated. Forty eyes of 20 children were enrolled and their wavefront information was assessed until postoperative 3 months. Even though the root mean square (RMS) of total aberration was not changed, the RMS of HOA was transiently increased at postoperative 1 week and returned to baseline level after 1 month. Among individual Zernike coefficient, secondary astigmatism, quadrafoil, secondary coma, secondary trefoil, and pentafoil showed similar tendency with the RMS of HOA. However, coma, trefoil, and spherical aberration were not changed. Regarding recession amount, it did not correlate with any Zernike coefficient. In summary, our data imply that the HOAs are transiently increased after lateral rectus recession surgery. These results are in collusion with previous reports that strabismus surgery induced transient corneal astigmatism

Lacunar Infarction in Type 2 Diabetes Is Associated with an Elevated Intracranial Arterial Pulsatility Index

Purpose: The arterial pulsatility index (PI) is measured by transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (TCD) and is postulated to reflect the vascular resistance distal to the artery being examined. An increased PI of the intracranial artery is often reported with diabetes mellitus (DM), old age, hypertension, intracranial hypertension, vascular dementia, and small artery disease. Microvascular complication of DM, which may contribute to cerebral infarction, involves the small perforating artery and may influence the PI of the proximal artery. Materials and Methods: We performed a TCD examination in patients with type 2 DM with acute lacunar infarction (DML, n = 35), type 2 DM without cerebral infarction (DMO, n = 69), and in control cases with no DM or cerebral infarction (control group, n = 41). We then compared the TCD findings among these groups. Results: The PI was significantly higher in the DML and DMO groups than in the control group (1.05, 0.93, 0.73. respectively, for the right middle cerebral artery; 1.04, 0.90, 0.73, respectively, for the left middle cerebral artery; 0.97, 0.89, 0.70, respectively, for the basilar artery). The PI was also significantly higher in the DML group than in the DMO group for both middle cerebral arteries. The flow velocity was comparable among the three groups. Conclusion: The elevated PI of the intracranial arteries may reflect diabetic cerebral microvascular complications. The PI measurement using TCD may be a useful predictor of lacunar infarction in type 2 DM patients

Favorable effect of corticosteroids in treating acute-on-chronic liver failure underlying chronic hepatitis B

Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) occurs in the presence of a chronic liver disease or cirrhosis, and often results from exacerbation of chronic hepatitis B (CHB). The efficacy of corticosteroid treatment in ACLF patients with underlying CHB remains unclear. We report the case of a 50-year-old woman who experienced ACLF due to CHB exacerbation and was treated with a combination of corticosteroids and nucleot(s)ide analogue (NUC). The patient showed rapid decompensation due to CHB exacerbation. Three months of antiviral therapy produced no improvement in liver function. Combination therapy with corticosteroids and NUC was started, which did result in improvement of liver function. This case shows that the combined therapy of corticosteroids and NUC can be effective in treating ACLF due to CHB exacerbation

Childhood Granulomatous Periorificial Dermatitis

Childhood granulomatous periorificial dermatitis (CGPD), also known as facial Afro-Caribbean childhood eruption (FACE), is a distinctive granulomatous form of perioral dermatitis. It is a condition of unknown etiology, characterized by monomorphous, small, papular eruptions around the mouth, nose and eyes that histopathologically show a granulomatous pattern. It affects prepubescent children of both sexes and typically persists for several months but resolved without scarring. We report a 9 year-old girl with multiple, discrete, monomorphic, papular eruptions of 2-months duration on the perioral and periocular areas. Histopathological examination demonstrated upper dermal and perifollicular granulomatous infiltrate

Identification and characterization of longevity assurance gene related to stress resistance in Brassica

Brassica is a very important vegetable group worldwide and different stresses are a major concern for these crops. Enhancement of resistance against biotic and abiotic stresses by exploiting stress resistance related genes offers the most efficient approach to address this concern. In this study, a stress resistance related gene was identified from the full-length cDNA library of Brassica rapa cv. Osome, which was determined to be Brassica longevity assurance protein (BrLAP) after sequence analysis. A comparison study of this gene showed a high degree of homology with other stress resistance related longevity assurance genes and was shown to be expressed in all organs during all of the developmental growth stages. In addition, this gene significantly responded after cold, drought and ABA stress treatments in Chinese cabbage. All these data revealed that this gene may be involved in plant resistance against stresses.Keywords: Brassica rapa, longevity assurance gene, gene expression, biotic and abiotic stres

Short Term Virologic Efficacies of Telbivudine versus Entecavir against Hepatitis B-Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Telbivudine has been reported to be more effective than lamivudine. However, because of the resistance rate to telbivudine (TLV), the current guidelines recommend entecavir (ETV) or tenofovir (TNV) as the first-line therapy for chronic hepatitis B. We investigated the short term virologic efficacy of TLV in comparison with ETV as the first-line agent of HBV suppression in HBV-related advanced HCC patients. A total of 86 consecutive patients with HBV-related HCC for whom antiviral treatment was initiated in Incheon St. Mary’s Hospital between 2010 and 2013 were analyzed. Virologic responses were investigated on the 4th, 12th, and 24th weeks of the antiviral therapies. In patients with advanced TNM stage cancer (stage 3 or 4) and poor liver function (Child-Pugh class B or C), the virologic response rates at weeks 12 and 24 were 25% (1/4) and 42.8% (3/7) in the TLV group and 33.3% (1/3) and 33.3% (1/3) in the ETV group, respectively (P=0.424, P=0.800). The short term efficacy of TLV was similar to that of ETV. Since TLV is highly cost-effective, it should be considered as a first-line antiviral agent in patients with advanced HCC, poor liver function, and short life expectancies