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We investigated whether serum granzyme B (GrB) can reflect the inflammatory burden such as cross-sectional disease activity and organ-specific involvement in immunosuppressive drug-naïve patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (AAV). Seventy-eight immunosuppressive drug-naïve patients with AAV were included in this study. At the time of the first classification, whole blood was obtained from each patient and sera was immediately isolated and stored at – 80°C. On the day of the blood sampling, we performed routine laboratory tests including antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody tests and collected both clinical and laboratory data. AAV-specific indices included Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score (BVAS) and Five-Factor Score (FFS). The median age of patients with AAV was 62 years and 26 patients were men. Serum GrB was not associated with the cross-sectional BVAS; however, patients with serum GrB positivity exhibited higher frequencies of otorhinolaryngological manifestation than those without (p=0.037). When serum GrB levels were compared after dividing the patients into two groups based on the presence of organ-specific involvement, patients with pulmonary involvement exhibited a significantly higher serum GrB than those without (p=0.042). On the other hand, patients with renal involvement showed a significantly lower serum GrB than those without (p=0.023). In addition, serum GrB was inversely correlated with the cross-sectional FFS (r=−0.249, p=0.028). Even though serum GrB could not reflect the inflammatory burden of AAV, serum GrB was associated with otorhinolaryngological, pulmonary, and renal involvement in immunosuppressive drug-naïve patients with AAV.

We investigated whether persistent antiphospholipid syndrome (APLAs) at diagnosis are associated with the risk of thrombotic events during follow-up in patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV).

We investigated whether persistent antiphospholipid syndrome (APLAs) at diagnosis are associated with the risk of thrombotic events during follow-up in patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV).

Approximately one century has passed since a Czech dramatist Capek Karel used a word “robot” for the first time in his satirical work “Rosumovi Univerzální Roboti (Rossum's Universal Robots)” in 1921. Indeed, the existence of a robot started with a literary imagination, when the word was used for the first time about one century ago, but the rot becomes an entity inseparable from human life, including housework and even nursing, in the contemporary society. Today, we have come to see intelligent robots going so far as not only to think and move of their own accord, but also revealing their feelings on their faces. That kind of robots is represented by ASIMO developed in 1980 by Honda in Japan, KISMET developed in the late 1990s by MIT in America, and HUBO developed in 2004 by KAIST in South Korea. Like this, robot research is currently led by Japan, the United States and the Republic of Korea. This presentation is about the robot education system currently implemented from elementary through high schools, the education results and the future prospects in South Korea. On the whole, robot education begins at college levels in America and Japan, but it is made in a systematic way after regular curricular activities at elementary schools in the Republic of Korea. In addition, more than 1000 private institutes for robot education are driving a booming trade and numerous robot competitions, including the International Robot Olympiad (IRO), are held in South Korea. Therefore, not only is the Republic of Korea expected to take the advantageous position first in the future robot education market, but the current robot education system in South Korea will be able to be a good guide for that which will be carried out throughout the world in a few years in the future.