To determine the role of diabetes mellitus (DM) in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), we explored the clinical characteristics of patients with DM and compared risk factors such as age, ...glycemic control, and medications to those without DM.
This was a retrospective cohort study of 117 confirmed patients with COVID-19 which conducted at a tertiary hospital in Daegu, South Korea. The primary outcome was defined as the severe and critical outcome (SCO), of which the composite outcomes of acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock, intensive care unit care, and 28-day mortality. We analyzed what clinical features and glycemic control-related factors affect the prognosis of COVID-19 in the DM group.
After exclusion, 110 participants were finally included. DM patients (
=29) was older, and showed higher blood pressure compared to non-DM patients. DM group showed higher levels of inflammation-related biomarkers and severity score, and highly progressed to SCO. After adjustment with other risk factors, DM increased the risk of SCO (odds ratio OR, 10.771;
<0.001). Among the DM patients, SCO was more prevalent in elderly patients of ≥70 years old and age was an independent risk factor for SCO in patients with DM (OR, 1.175;
=0.014), while glycemic control was not. The use of medication did not affect the SCO, but the renin-angiotensin system inhibitors showed protective effects against acute cardiac injury (OR, 0.048;
=0.045).
The COVID-19 patients with DM had higher severity and resulted in SCO. Intensive and aggressive monitoring of COVID-19 clinical outcomes in DM group, especially in elderly patients is warranted.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a well-known endocrine disrupter used widely. Despite the potential risk of human exposure to BPA, little information exists concerning maternal and fetal exposure to BPA during ...pregnancy in Korea. This study purposed to evaluate the correlation between maternal and fetal exposure, and to determine exposure levels to BPA in Korean pregnant women and their fetuses. Maternal blood and umbilical cord blood were collected from 300 subjects, and total BPA levels were measured. Blood BPA concentrations ranged from non-detectable to 66.48
μg/L in pregnant women and from non-detectable to 8.86
μg/L in umbilical cords. Serum BPA levels in most pregnant women were higher than in corresponding fetal umbilical cords and a positive correlation was found between in maternal and fetal BPA concentrations (
p
<
0.05).
Welding often results in welding distortion during the assembly process. The welding distortion of thin-plate structures such as the living quarters of ships and offshore installations is a more ...significant problem than in the case of thick-plate structures. Pre-stressing/heating and fairing, which are additional works to mitigate and control welding distortion, are inevitable, and the construction planning is accordingly delayed. In order to prevent welding distortion and minimize the additional work during the assembly process, increasing the plate thickness and/or the number of stiffeners may be a simple solution, but it may give rise to problems related to cost and weight. In this study, the welding distortion control effect of the type of stiffeners on the door openings of various living quarter structures was investigated using an experimental method and a finite element method. The results showed the feasibility of mitigating and controlling the welding distortion, and the optimum selection of the type of stiffeners was confirmed.
Effects of debranching time, storage time, and storage temperature on production and structural properties of slowly digestible starch (SDS) were investigated. Waxy sorghum starch was hydrolyzed by ...isoamylase for various times (0-24 hr), and the variously debranched products were stored at -30, 1, and 30 degrees C for 1-6 days. Optimal conditions for SDS production were isoamylase treatment for 8 hr and storage at 1 degrees C for three days, resulting in SDS content of 27.0% in the optimum product. Microscopic observation revealed that rapidly digestible starch (RDS) and SDS were removed from the edges and surfaces of the optimum product by alpha-amylase digestion. Digestion conditions that removed RDS and SDS resulted in a residue with a higher transition temperature and enthalpy than raw starch on a differential scanning calorimetric thermogram. Removal of RDS alone did not cause distinct decrements of peak temperature (T(p)) and enthalpy (deltaH) compared with stored starch. The optimum SDS product showed an amorphous type of X-ray diffractogram. Digestive removal of RDS from the optimum product gave a residue with X-ray peaks similar to B type, which supports that it is partly crystalline. Removal of RDS and SDS gave broader peaks in the X-ray pattern.
To determine the prevalence of mitochondrial diseases (MD) in Hong Kong (HK) and to evaluate the clinical characteristics and genetic landscape of MD patients in the region.
This study ...retrospectively reviewed the phenotypic and molecular characteristics of MD patients from participating public hospitals in HK between January 1985 to October 2020. Molecularly and/or enzymatically confirmed MD cases of any age were recruited via the Clinical Analysis and Reporting System (CDARS) using relevant keywords and/or International Classification of Disease (ICD) codes under the HK Hospital Authority or through the personal recollection of treating clinicians among the investigators.
A total of 119 MD patients were recruited and analyzed in the study. The point prevalence of MD in HK was 1.02 in 100,000 people (95% confidence interval 0.81-1.28 in 100,000). 110 patients had molecularly proven MD and the other nine were diagnosed by OXPHOS enzymology analysis or mitochondrial DNA depletion analysis with unknown molecular basis. Pathogenic variants in the mitochondrial genome (72 patients) were more prevalent than those in the nuclear genome (38 patients) in our cohort. The most commonly involved organ system at disease onset was the neurological system, in which developmental delay, seizures or epilepsy, and stroke-like episodes were the most frequently reported presentations. The mortality rate in our cohort was 37%.
This study is a territory-wide overview of the clinical and genetic characteristics of MD patients in a Chinese population, providing the first available prevalence rate of MD in Hong Kong. The findings of this study aim to facilitate future in-depth evaluation of MD and lay the foundation to establish a local MD registry.
Door Opening부의 보강재 형상변화에 따른 용접 변형 특성 이동훈(Dong-Hun Lee); 서정관(Jung-Kwan Seo); 이명수(Myung-Su Yi) ...
Han-guk haeyang gonghak hoeji (Online),
2019, Letnik:
33, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Welding often results in welding distortion during the assembly process. The welding distortion of thin-plate structures such as the living quarters of ships and offshore installations is a more ...significant problem than in the case of thick-plate structures. Pre-stressing/heating and fairing, which are additional works to mitigate and control welding distortion, are inevitable, and the construction planning is accordingly delayed. In order to prevent welding distortion and minimize the additional work during the assembly process, increasing the plate thickness and/or the number of stiffeners may be a simple solution, but it may give rise to problems related to cost and weight. In this study, the welding distortion control effect of the type of stiffeners on the door openings of various living quarter structures was investigated using an experimental method and a finite element method. The results showed the feasibility of mitigating and controlling the welding distortion, and the optimum selection of the type of stiffeners was confirmed.
Objectives To evaluate the prevalence of abnormal voiding and bowel habits in healthy children, and to identify possible relationships between personal and familial factors and voiding and/or bowel ...habits. Methods A randomly selected cross-sectional study was conducted in 19 240 children (5-13 years old) nationwide in the Republic of Korea. Parents were asked to complete questionnaires, which included items about nocturnal enuresis, daytime dysfunctional voiding symptoms (DVSs), and abnormal bowel habits (ABHs). Rates and associated factors were investigated. Results The overall rates of DVS, ABH, and of both were 46.4%, 31.3%, and 18.4%, respectively, and nocturnal enuresis was reported in 919 (5.6%). Daytime dysfunctional voiding symptoms were as follows: increased voiding frequency in 419 (2.5%), decreased voiding frequency in 720 (4.4%), urgency in 2740 (16.6%), daytime incontinence in 1854 (11.2%), urge incontinence in 2775 (16.8%), and holding maneuvers or postponed voiding in 3888 (23.5%). ABHs were as follows: constipation by frequency in 1103 (6.7%), constipation by the Bristol scale in 1941 (11.8%), fecal incontinence in 1293 (7.8%), and difficult or painful defecation in 2609 (15.8%). Delayed stool control, history of urinary tract infection, and a double-income family were positively associated with DVS or ABH or both. Furthermore, fathers with a low level of education and a low income were found to be associated with higher risk of ABH or DVS or both. Conclusions Delayed stool control, a history of urinary tract infection, a low paternal level of education, a double-income family, and a lower family income had a negative effect on voiding or bowel habits in children.
Summary Objectives The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of inappropriate antimicrobial therapy on the outcome of patients with hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) caused by ...Acinetobacter baumannii. Methods All cases of HAP caused by A. baumannii from January 2000 to March 2006 at the Samsung Medical Center (Seoul, Korea) were analyzed retrospectively. Results A total of 116 patients with clinically significant Acinetobacter HAP were enrolled. Among the A. baumannii isolates, 60.3% showed multi-drug resistance (MDR), 16.4% were found to have imipenem resistance, and 15.5% had pan-drug resistance (PDR). The mean APACHE II score of the patients was 22.3 ± 7.9. The overall in-hospital and pneumonia-related mortality rates were 47.4% and 37.9%, respectively. The univariate analysis showed that the factors associated with pneumonia-related mortality were: MDR, PDR, high APACHE II score, inappropriate empirical antimicrobial therapy, and inappropriate definitive antimicrobial treatment (All p < 0.05). Among these, a high APACHE II score and inappropriate definitive antimicrobial therapy were found to be independent factors associated with a high mortality, after adjustment for other variables. Conclusions The appropriate definitive antimicrobial therapy should be provided in patients with HAP caused by A. baumannii.
We integrated genetic risk scores (GRS) and environmental factors for identifying high-risk subjects for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) occurrence by using case-control study. A total of 447 ...patients diagnosed with OSCC and 580 unrelated subjects were recruited from two medical centers in Taiwan. A multinomial logistic regression model was conducted to access interaction between GRS and betel quid (BQ) chewing. We employed ROC curve to compare the accuracy of OSCC occurrence. Four tag SNPs were found in
, and
genes that were significantly associated with OSCC occurrence. GRS was calculated by the four tag SNP risk alleles. The higher GRS (scores = 4) remained independently associated with risk of OSCC after adjustment for age, the use of alcohol, BQ, and cigarette: adjusted OR = 4.42 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.34-14.55. The GRS and BQ chewing interaction showed an increased risk for OSCC occurrence with adjusting for other substance use and age (OR = 70.77; 95% CI, 8.70-575.73). The synergy index was 16.58 (95% CI, 2.27-70.56), suggesting a positive additive interaction between GRS and BQ chewing. The areas under the ROC curves (AUROC) were 0.91 for combined GRS and BQ chewing with sensitivity of 88.6% and specificity of 86.7%. The AUROC of GRS and BQ chewing is above 90%, which may be valuable in identifying high-risk subjects. Early screening can allow the clinician to provide the appropriate intervention and to reduce the OSCC occurrence.
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