Relationship between Self-Esteem and Self-Consciousness in Adolescents: An Eye-Tracking Study

OBJECTIVE: Self-esteem and self-consciousness are important determinants of behaviors. This study aimed to explore the relationship between self-esteem and self-consciousness in adolescents using the eye-tracking measurement. METHODS: Fifty-five adolescents with high self-esteem and 58 adolescents with low self-esteem participated in self-consciousness-related eye-tracking experiments of selecting happy, disgusted, and angry facial emotions while recognizing one's own usual expressions and the others' usual expressions toward oneself. RESULTS: When recognizing one's own, adolescents with high self-esteem showed significantly more selection counts and longer fixation time for ‘happy’ than adolescents with low self-esteem. When recognizing the others', adolescents with low self-esteem showed significantly more selection counts and longer fixation time for ‘disgusted’ and ‘angry’ than adolescents with high self-esteem. CONCLUSION: These suggest higher self-esteem is connected to more positive identification of one's usual expressions and others' usual expressions toward oneself. There is a close relationship among low self-esteem, suppressing positive emotions, decreased psychological adjustment, and increased negative emotions.

Early Changes in the Serotype Distribution of Invasive Pneumococcal Isolates from Children after the Introduction of Extended-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines in Korea, 2011-2013

This study was performed to measure early changes in the serotype distribution of pneumococci isolated from children with invasive disease during the 3-year period following the introduction of 10- and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) in Korea. From January 2011 to December 2013 at 25 hospitals located throughout Korea, pneumococci were isolated among children who had invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). Serotypes were determined using the Quellung reaction, and the change in serotype distribution was analyzed. Seventy-five cases of IPD were included. Eighty percent of patients were aged 3-59 months, and 32% had a comorbidity that increased the risk of pneumococcal infection. The most common serotypes were 19A (32.0%), 10A (8.0%), and 15C (6.7%). The PCV7 serotypes (4, 6B, 9V, 14, 18C, 19F, 23F, and 6A) accounted for 14.7% of the total isolates and the PCV13 minus PCV7 types (1, 3, 5, 7F and 19A) accounted for 32.0% of the total isolates. Serotype 19A was the only serotype in the PCV13 minus PCV7 group. The proportion of serotype 19A showed decreasing tendency from 37.5% in 2011 to 22.2% in 2013 (P = 0.309), while the proportion of non-PCV13 types showed increasing tendency from 45.8% in 2011 to 72.2% in 2013 (P = 0.108). Shortly after the introduction of extended-valent PCVs in Korea, serotype 19A continued to be the most common serotype causing IPD in children. Subsequently, the proportion of 19A decreased, and non-vaccine serotypes emerged as an important cause of IPD. The impact of extended-valent vaccines must be continuously monitored.

Relationship Between Self-Referential Processing and Intrinsic Motivation in Patients with Schizophrenia / 대한정신분열병학회지

OBJECTIVES: The close relationship between impaired self-referential processing and intrinsic motivation in schizophrenia has been suggested, but is not investigated yet. The purpose of this study was to explore the characteristics of self-referential processing and its relationship with intrinsic motivation in patients with schizophrenia. METHODS: Nineteen patients with schizophrenia and 24 healthy controls performed a self-referential processing task, in which a face (self, familiar other, or unfamiliar other) and three words (positive, neutral, and negative nouns) were presented. Participants were asked to indicate which word is relevant to the face. Intrinsic motivation and basic psychological needs affecting intrinsic motivation were assessed using self-reports. RESULTS: Compared to healthy controls, the relevance rating between self-face and neutral word was significantly lower in patients with schizophrenia (p=0.02). In patients with schizophrenia, it was negatively correlated with intrinsic motivation (r=-0.47, p=0.04) and competence (r=-0.47, p=0.05) which is known to influence intrinsic motivation. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that there is an impairment in self-referential processing in schizophrenia and it is associated with an impairment in intrinsic motivation. In particular, amotivation in patients with schizophrenia may represent a facet of selfdisorder.

Relationship between Evaluation for the Self and others and Anhedonia in Patients with Schizophrenia / 대한정신분열병학회지

OBJECTIVES: The dysfunctional neural networks underlying self-evaluation in schizophrenia are overlapped with the neural structures involved in emotion regulation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of anhedonia on the self-evaluation attitude of patients with schizophrenia. METHODS: Twenty healthy controls and twenty patients with schizophrenia performed a self-evaluation task, presenting a pair of the face (self, familiar other, and unfamiliar other) and word (negative, neutral, and positive noun) at the same time. Participants were asked to evaluate relevance between the pairs by pressing a corresponding button. Relevance rating scores were compared between the groups and were correlated with the severity of physical and social anhedonia. RESULTS: Patients evaluated the condition of a self face with a negative word and a familiar face with a negative word to be more relevant than healthy controls. In the patient group, the scores of relevance rating in the condition of an unfamiliar other face with a negative word were positively correlated with the anhedonia scale scores (physical : r=0.486, p=0.030 ; social : r=0.499, p=0.025). There was no correlation between the self-evaluation attitude and the severity of anhedonia. CONCLUSION: Patients with schizophrenia evaluate themselves badly in only negative circumstances, and anhedonia is not related to self-evaluation, but rather other-evaluation.

A Case of Solitary Rectal Ulcer Syndrome / 소아과

Solitary rectal ulcer syndrome(SRUS) is a rare disorder in children. The incidence of SRUS is highest in young adults, and sex distribution is equal, or there may be a slight female predominance. There are few investigations about the exact incidences and effective treatment protocols of SRUS in children. The clinical symptoms and signs of SRUS are accompanied by rectal bleeding, mucous discharge, prolonged straining, tenesmus, and localized perineal pain. The time intervals between the onset of symptoms and the establishment of accurate diagnosis varied between five and seven years. It was the reason why most patients showed nonspecific symptoms and laboratory test results. We have described a 12-year-old female patient, who suffered intractable lower abdominal pain for three years, and was diagnosed as a solitary rectal ulcer syndrome by rectosigmoidoscopy.

Efficacy of Pamidronate in Nephropathic Children with Ongoing Long Term Corticosteroid Therapy

BACKGROUND: Steroid-induced osteoporosis(SIO) is one of the serious complications of long- term steroid therapy, especially in growing children. Recently bisphosphonates have been used to treat or prevent SIO in adult, which is rare in children with glomerular diseases. We studied the effect of pamidronate on SIO using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry and biochemical markers of bone turnover. METHODS: Forty four children receiving moderate-to-high doses of steroids were enrolled. They had no history of bone, liver, or endocrine disease. Patients were stratified by their baseline bone mineral density(BMD) findings. All patients received corticosteroids for 3 month and oral calcium supplementation(500 mg/day) daily. Among them, 28 patients were treated with placebo and 16 were treated with pamidronate(125 mg) for 3 months. Blood chemistry and bone mineral density(BMD) were measured at baseline, and 3months. In addition, parathyroid hormone(PTH), serum osteocalcin, and urinary dipyridinoline levels were evaluated. RESULTS:In overall population, the mean lumbar spine BMD decreased from 0.754+/-0.211 (g/cm2) to 0.728+/-0.208(g/cm2) in the placebo group(P0.05). CONCLUSION:Pamidronate appears to be effective in preventing SIO in children with glomerular diseases requiring long-term steroids therapy. Further careful observation and follow-up might be needed for children receiving bisphosphonates such as pamidronate.

Surgical Treatment of the Spontaneous Spinal Epidural Abscess

No abstract available.

Clinical Analysis of Hemangioblastoma

Hemangioblastomas are solid or cystic benign vascular tumors that may arise anywhere in the body. In the central nervous system, they are rare, accounting for only 1-2.5% of all intracranial neoplasms. The purpose of this report is to investigate the postoperative natural history of hemangioblastomas. Since 1987, 13 patients with this condition have been diagnosed and have undergone surgery at this hospital. In all cases, the tumor(mural nodule or solid tumor) was completly removed. The mean post-surgical follow-up period, during which time three patients underwent radiation therapy, was 28.5 months. Ten patients completily recovered, without neurological deficits, and in three, there was mild disability with some neurological deficits; mild paralysis of the vocal cords, transient paralysis of the facial nerve, and cerebellar dysarthria were noted, but these patients had on difficulty in resuming their normal life. In every case, the outcome was successful and during the follow-up period, the condition did not recur.

Spinal Metastases of Cerebral Glioblastoma: Case Report

When the primary tumor is under apparent control, spinal metastases from cerebral glioblastoma via the cerebrospinal pathway are rarely detected clinically. The authors report the case of one adult female patient with cerebral glioblastma who had undergone radiation therapy after the removal of intracranial glioblastoma; nine months after surgery she developed spinal sumptoms connected with spinal seeding, without neurological findings of pirmary tumor recurrence. When she returned to hospital there was no localized sign to suggest that the intracranial lesion might have recurred.

Autologous blood donation in the third trimester of pregnancy / 대한임상병리학회지

No abstract available.