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Whole genome sequencing (WGS) has become an accessible tool in clinical microbiology, and it allowed us to identify a novel Cupriavidus species. We isolated Gram-negative bacillus from the blood of an immunocompromised patient, and phenotypical and molecular identifications were performed. Phenotypic identification discrepancies were noted between the Vitek 2 (bioMérieux, Marcy-l'Étoile, France) and Vitek MS systems (bioMérieux). Using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, it was impossible to identify the pathogen to the species levels. WGS was performed using the Illumina MiSeq platform (Illumina, San Diego, CA), and genomic sequence database searching with a TrueBacTM ID-Genome system (ChunLab, Inc., Seoul, Republic of Korea) showed no strains with average nucleotide identity values higher than 95.0%, which is the cut-off for species-level identification. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the bacteria was a new Cupriavidus species that formed a subcluster with Cupriavidus gilardii. WGS holds great promise for accurate molecular identification beyond 16S rRNA gene sequencing in clinical microbiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the psychometric properties of the Brief PREPARED (B-PREPARED) and the Care Transitions Measure (CTM) in patients discharged from hospitals in Korea, and examine their relationships with health literacy.Design: A cross-sectional study with a follow-up telephone survey 4 weeks post-discharge.Setting: Six medical and surgical wards in a tertiary hospital in Seoul.Participants: 293 patients discharged from general wards.Main Outcome Measures: Psychometric properties of the Korean versions of the B-PREPARED and the 15- and 3-item CTM (CTM-15 and CTM-3), and the 3-item Brief Screening Questionnaire for health literacy.Results: All instruments discriminated well between patients who were satisfied with hospital care and the discharge process, and those who were not. One month post-discharge, the CTM-15 score was significantly higher in patients with good health status than the others, and the CTM-3 score was significantly higher in patients who used outpatient care than the others. However, no significant difference was found in the scores for all instruments by emergency department visits, rehospitalization, and medication adherence. Cronbach's alpha values were 0.69 for B-PREPARED, 0.91 for CTM-15 and 0.67 for CTM-3. Intraclass correlation coefficients were 0.64, 0.75 and 0.66, respectively. Approximately 33% of the participants had limited health literacy. After adjusting for other patient variables, those with inadequate health literacy had lower scores on all instruments.Conclusions: Although the three instruments had acceptable validity and reliability, they showed limited criterion validity. Patients with limited health literacy should be supported to ensure the quality of transitional care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There have been various efforts to identify less costly but still accurate methods for monitoring the response to HIV treatment. We evaluated a pooling method to determine if this could improve screening efficiency and reduce costs while maintaining accuracy in Seoul, South Korea. Methods: We conducted the first prospective study of pooled nucleic acid testing (NAT) using a 5 minipool + algorithm strategy versus individual viral load testing for patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) between November 2011 and August 2012 at an urban hospital in Seoul, South Korea. The viral load assay used has a lower level of detection of 20 HIV RNA copies/ml, and the cost per assay is US$ 136. The 5 minipool +algorithm strategy was applied and 43 pooled samples were evaluated. The relative efficiency and accuracy of the pooled NAT were compared with those of individual testing. Results: Using the individual viral load assay, 15 of 215 (7%) plasma samples had more than 200 HIV RNA copies/ml. The pooled NAT using the 5 minipool + algorithm strategy was applied to 43 pooled samples; 111 tests were needed to test all samples when virologic failure was defined at HIV RNA ≥ 200 copies/ml. Therefore, 104 tests were saved over individual testing, with a relative efficiency of 0.48. When evaluating costs, a total of US$ 14,144 was saved for 215 individual samples during 10 months. The negative predictive value was 99.5% for all samples with HIV RNA ≥ 200 copies/ml. Conclusions: The pooled NAT with 5 minipool + algorithm strategy seems to be a very promising approach to effectively monitor patients receiving ART and to save resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of the study was to investigate empirically the relationship between classroom teacher's judgment and the item and person fit-statistics of the partial credit model. In this study, classroom teacher's judgments were made intuitively checking each item's consistency with the general response pattern and each student's need for additional treatment or advice. The item and person fit statistics of the partial credit model were estimated using the WINSTEPS program (Linacre, 2003). The subjects of this study were 321 sixth grade students in 9 classrooms within 3 elementary schools in Seoul, Korea. For this research, a performance assessment test for 6th grade mathematics was developed. It consisted of 20 polytomous response items and its total scores ranged between 0 and 50. In addition, the 9 classroom teachers made their judgments for each item of the test and for each student in their own classroom. They judged intuitively using 4 categories; (1) well fit, (2) fit, (3) misfit, and (4) badly misfit for each item as well as each student. Their judgments were scored from 1 to 4 for each item as well as each student. There are two significant findings in this study. First, there is a statistically significant relationship between the classroom teacher's judgment and item fit statistic for each item (The median correlation coefficient between the teacher's judgment and the item outfit ZSTD is 0.61). Second, there is a statistically significant relationship between the teacher's judgment and the person fit statistic for each student (The median correlation coefficient between the teacher's judgment and the person outfit ZSTD is 0.52). In conclusion, the item and person fit statistics of the partial credit model correspond with the teacher's judgments for each test item and each student. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to provide appropriate practical training for quality nursing care, it is necessary to evaluate nursing performance competencies in terms of clinical careers. Using convenience sampling, this cross-sectional study aimed to identify the nursing performance competencies and practical education needs of operating room nurses by evaluating nurses' clinical careers. The participants in this study were 182 nurses working in the operating rooms of four general hospitals in Seoul, Korea. Data came from self-report questionnaires regarding nursing performance competencies and practical education needs. The results showed that participants' nursing performance competencies and practical education needs differed significantly across clinical career groups. Further, participants' nursing performance competencies were negatively correlated with practical education needs in terms of clinical career. In order to develop an effective and continuous practical education program for operating nurses, various education programs that reflect nursing performance competencies and practical education needs for particular stages of clinical careers are necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]