OBJECTIVE: This study was carried out to compare the effects of the stepwise exposure treatments on the morphological normality, fertilization and blastocyst formation rate of the frozen-thawed mouse mature oocytes by vitrification or ultra-rapid freezing and to use as a fundamental data for the cryopreservation of human oocytes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The morphological normality and fertilization rates of the vitrified and ultra-rapid frozen mouse mature oocytes after three-stepwise exposure treatments (1step, 3step and 5step) were observed. After choosing the 3step exposure treatment groups, we observed the morphological normality and fertilization, blastocyst formation rate vitrified and ultra-rapid frozen mouse mature oocytes. RESULTS: The morphological normality and fertilization rates of the vitrified mouse mature oocytes after three-stepwise exposure treatments (1step, 3step and 5step) were 75%, 85%, 88% and 58%, 61%, 54% respectively. There were no significant differences among treatments (p>0.05). The morphological normality and fertilization rates of the control was 92% and 65%. There were no significant differences in fertilization rate among control and treatments (p>0.05). The morphological normality and fertilization rates of the ultra-rapid frozen mouse mature oocytes after three-stepwise exposure treatments (1step, 3step and 5step) were 83%, 83%, 84% and 75%, 63%, 56% respectively. There were no significant differences among treatments (p>0.05). The morphological normality and fertilization rate of the control was 95% and 67%. There were no significant differences among control and treatments (p>0.05). The morphological normality and fertilization rate of the vitrified or ultra-rapid frozen mouse mature oocytes after 3step exposure treatment were 69% and 75%, respectively. The blastocyst formation rate was 60% and 57%. The results did not differ significantly between vitrification and ultra-rapid freezing (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: As known in the above results, there were no significant differences in the fertilization and blastocyst formation rate of the frozen-thawed mouse mature oocytes by vitrification or ultra-rapid freezing among the control and treatments. It is suggested that vitrification and ultra-rapid freezing method were effective for the cryopreservation of mouse mature oocytes.
Animals ; Blastocyst ; Cryopreservation ; Fertilization ; Freezing* ; Humans ; Mice* ; Oocytes* ; Vitrification*

This study was conducted to develop job standards for clinical dietitian administering clinical nutrition therapy to diabetic patients in hospitals. Based on DACUM (Developing A Curriculum) analysis of 17 members including clinical dietitians, professors majoring in clinical nutrition and researchers, information on duties, tasks and task elements of clinical dietitians for diabetes care were derived and applied to diabetes mellitus-specific clinical nutrition care in hospitals for evaluation. The final developed job standards for clinical dietitians for diabetes care included four duties, 19 tasks and 56 task elements. The duties consisted of nutrition assessment, nutrition diagnosis, nutrition intervention, and nutrition monitoring . evaluation. For application of diabetes mellitus-specific job standards in clinical nutrition care, 108 work activities were developed and classified into 90 basic and 18 recommended types. Performance rates of standardized jobs were 80.2% at nutrition assessment, 99.6% at nutrition diagnosis, 78.5% at nutrition intervention, and 32.9% at nutrition monitoring . evaluation. These results can be applied as guidelines to implement jobs for diabetes mellitus-specific clinical nutrition services in clinical settings. In addition, they would be useful for education standards in educational institutions for education and training of clinical dietitian.
Diabetes Mellitus ; Diagnosis ; Education ; Humans ; Job Description ; Nutrition Assessment ; Nutrition Therapy* ; Nutritionists*

The present study was conducted to provide the basis for improvement of clinical nutrition services through development of job standards of clinical dietitian for the clinical nutrition therapy to cancer patients in hospitals. Developing A Curriculum (DACUM) method was used for job analysis and development of job standards for clinical dietitians for cancer care. Based on DACUM analysis, information about duties, tasks, and task elements of clinical dietitians for cancer care was collected. Developed job standards were applied to clinical nutrition care for cancer patients in hospitals for evaluation. Based on DACUM analysis, consultations from professionals, and field application tests, the final job standards were composed of four duties, 18 tasks, and 56 task elements. The duties consisted of nutritional assessment, nutrition diagnosis, nutrition intervention, and nutrition monitoring.evaluation. For cancer nutrition care, 109 work activities were developed. They were composed of 75 basic and 34 recommended work activities. The application of developed job standards for clinical dietitians for cancer care at 10 hospitals showed a performance rate of 72.3%. In conclusion, job standards for clinical dietitians for cancer care developed in this study might be effectively used as guidelines for providing clinical nutrition services for cancer patients in hospitals.
Curriculum ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Nutrition Assessment ; Nutrition Therapy* ; Nutritionists* ; Referral and Consultation

Dyslipidemia has significantly contributed to the increase of death and morbidity rates related to cardiovascular diseases. Clinical nutrition service provided by dietitians has been reported to have a positive effect on relief of medical symptoms or reducing the further medical costs. However, there is a lack of researches to identify key competencies and job standard for clinical dietitians to care patients with dyslipidemia. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the job components of clinical dietitian and develop the standard for professional practice to provide effective nutrition management for dyslipidemia patients. The current status of clinical nutrition therapy for dyslipidemia patients in hospitals with 300 or more beds was studied. After duty tasks and task elements of nutrition care process for dyslipidemia clinical dietitians were developed by developing a curriculum (DACUM) analysis method. The developed job standards were pretested in order to evaluate job performance, difficulty, and job standards. As a result, the job standard included four jobs, 18 tasks, and 53 task elements, and specific job description includes 73 basic services and 26 recommended services. When clinical dietitians managing dyslipidemia patients performed their practice according to this job standard for 30 patients the job performance rate was 68.3%. Therefore, the job standards of clinical dietitians for clinical nutrition service for dyslipidemia patients proposed in this study can be effectively used by hospitals.
Cardiovascular Diseases ; Curriculum ; Dyslipidemias* ; Humans ; Job Description ; Nutrition Therapy* ; Nutritionists ; Professional Practice

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of depression has been steadily increasing. This study aim to identify associations between smoking, drinking and depression in Korean adults. METHODS: The study subjects were 17,871 adults aged 19 or over who participated in the 5th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2010-2012). We performed multiple logistic regression to identify whether smoking and drinking were independently significant variables to depression after adjusting for the confounding variables. RESULTS: The proportion of having any depressive episodes was a total of 13.4% with 9.1% of male and 16.6% of female, respectively. Among all of smoking behaviors, higher cigarette consumption was only associated with depression in men. However, for women ever-smoking (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]=1.63, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.38-1.92), ex-smoking (aOR=1.38, 95% CI=1.10-1.54), current smoking (aOR=1.89, 95% CI=1.53-2.94) and younger initiation of smoking (aOR=2.34, 95% CI=1.73-3.16) had significantly higher odds for depression. Moreover, and higher cigarette consumption (20 or more per day) showed significantly higher odds ratios for depression both in men (aOR=1.21, 95% CI=1.01-1.54) and women (aOR=2.41, 95% CI=1.32-4.41). For alcoholic drinking behaviors, frequent binge drinking (1 per week: aOR=1.46, 95% CI=1.16-1.85, most everyday: aOR=1.79, 95% CI=1.14-2.80) was an independent risk factor for depressive symptoms in female. CONCLUSIONS: Smoking and drinking behaviors were independently associated with depression especially in female. Smoking and drinking management may benefit depression control as well as health promotion.
Adult* ; Alcohol Drinking ; Alcoholics ; Binge Drinking ; Confounding Factors (Epidemiology) ; Depression* ; Drinking Behavior ; Drinking* ; Female ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Korea* ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Nutrition Surveys* ; Odds Ratio ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Smoke* ; Smoking* ; Tobacco Products

The purpose of this study was to identify the association between health-related behaviors including smoking, alcohol intake, and the practice of a low-salt diet using data from a Community Health Survey conducted in 2008. The study subjects were 129,151 persons (19 years and older) without cardiovascular diseases or diabetes mellitus diagnosis history. An index for evaluating low salinity was created by summing three low salinity-related questions (range: 0~3), and a low-salt diet was defined if the index of low salinity was 3. We examined the levels of smoking and alcohol intake according to the index of low salinity, and conducted multiple logistic regression analysis to examine the odds ratios of low-salt diet practice in relation to smoking and drinking behavior, adjusting for general characteristics. The smoking and drinking status significantly improved as the level of low salinity index increase. Adjusting for general characteristics, those with smoking, alcohol intake, or a combined habit of the two behaviors had significantly lower odds ratios for practice of a low-salt diet. In conclusion, smoking and drinking behavior were negatively associated with the practice of a low-salt diet. Based on these findings, it may be necessary to have comprehensive nutritional education programs that consider the multiple effects of smoking, drinking, and a low-salt diet.
Cardiovascular Diseases ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diet, Sodium-Restricted ; Drinking ; Drinking Behavior ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Odds Ratio ; Salinity ; Smoke ; Smoking

BACKGROUND: Sleep disorder is a common problem in adults and affects physical and mental health. We investigated factors associated with poor sleep quality in Korean primary care. METHODS: A total of 129 couples (129 husbands and 129 wives) aged 30 to 79 years were included in this study from March, 2009 to February, 2010. The subjects were surveyed using a specific questionnaire. Sleep disorder was defined by a Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index global score greater than 5 (poor sleepers). The subjects were divided into a group of good sleepers (n = 160) and a group of poor sleepers (n = 98). Socio-demographic and clinical covariates including age, sex, depression, spouse sleep disorder, and spouse depression were reported. RESULTS: Poor sleep quality was present in 38.0% of total subjects. According to chi-square test results, female, patients with depression, and low sleep quality of spouse were significantly associated with sleep disorder. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, depression increased the risk of poor sleep quality (odds ratio [OR], 7.775; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.555 to 23.661), and non-risky drinking decreased the risk of poor sleep quality (OR, 0.343; 95% CI, 0.128 to 0.924). CONCLUSION: In our study, more than one-third of participants had poor sleep quality. Depression was a strong independent factor associated with sleep problems.
Adult ; Aged ; Depression ; Drinking ; Family Characteristics ; Female ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Mental Health ; Primary Health Care ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders ; Spouses ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND: Lumbar stabilization exercise was used to improve spinal mobilization and stabilization. This research was conducted to investigate the effects of lumbar stabilization exercise programs on shoulder pain and range of motion among a group of elderly individuals. METHODS: The study subjects were 28 elderly patients from C hospital, Gochang, Jeollabukdo. They were randomly divided into 3 groups: lumbar stability exercise group, passive upper arm exercise group, and conservative therapy group. The therapies were conducted for 4 weeks. Shoulder pain and range of motion were measured both before and after therapies. The homogeneity of study subjects was analyzed using the chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests. For the pre-/post-status comparison, the Wilcoxon's signed-ranks tests and Kruskal-Wallis tests were conducted. RESULTS: General characteristics including age, sex, and disease history of the 3 groups were comparable. After 4 weeks of exercise, shoulder pain was significantly reduced in the lumbar stability exercise group (6.4+/-2.9 vs. 3.6+/-3.1, P=.026) and range of motion was significantly increased in the same group. More specifically, right flexion (121.1+/-12.0degrees vs. 137.9+/-11.9degrees, P=.008), right abduction (96.6+/-21.8degrees vs. 129.7+/-50.7degrees, P=.008), and left abduction (92.0+/-21.8degrees vs. 110.3+/-21.2degrees, P=.038) increased significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Shoulder pain and range of motion improved significantly in the lumbar stability exercise group. Further study is needed to look into the longer effects of this exercise program using more subjects.
Aged ; Arm ; Humans ; Range of Motion, Articular* ; Shoulder Pain ; Shoulder*

PURPOSE: Single umbilical artery (SUA), the most common malformation of the umbilical cord, has long been of interest because of its association with congenital malformations. This retrospective study was aimed to evaluate the incidence of SUA and its associated malformations. METHOD: The study population was inborn neonates of Kang-Nam Sacred Heart Hospital of Hallym University. We reviewed retrospectively the medical records of 15 infants with SUA, including 1 infant identified in prenatal ultrasonography. RESULTS: The incidence of SUA was 0.2% (15/9,351 cases). The mean birth weight was 2,658 gram (ranged from 1,060 to 3,700gram), and the mean gestational age was 38 weeks (ranged from 32 to 40 + 3weeks). Six cases (40%) of 15 cases with SUA were associated with congenital malformations : urogenital malformations in 4 cases, cardiovascular malformations in 3 cases, and musculoskeletal malformations in 3 cases. Only 1 case had abmormal karyotype, trisomy 18. CONCLUSION: Because SUA is highly associated with congenital malformations newborns with SUA should have a thorough and complete physical examination at birth and physicians should also be alert to the possibility of congenital malformations not evident at initial examination. Furthermore, prenatal detection of SUA has potential importance, since it may indicate that further work is necessary to rule out associated malformations and to help determine whether management should beltered.
Birth Weight ; Gestational Age ; Heart ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Karyotype ; Medical Records ; Parturition ; Physical Examination ; Retrospective Studies ; Single Umbilical Artery* ; Trisomy ; Ultrasonography, Prenatal ; Umbilical Cord

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between serum creatine kinase (CK) level and pulmonary function in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). METHODS: A total of 202 patients with DMD admitted to the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Gangnam Severance Hospital were enrolled from January 1, 1999 to March 31, 2015. Seventeen patients were excluded. Data collected from the 185 patients included age, height, weight, body mass index, pulmonary function tests including forced vital capacity (FVC), peak cough flow, maximal expiratory pressure (MEP), and maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP), and laboratory measurements (serum level of CK, CK-MB, troponin-T, and B-type natriuretic peptide). FVC, MEP, and MIP were expressed as percentages of predicted normal values. RESULTS: Serum CK activities were elevated above normal levels, even in the oldest DMD group. Serum CK level was strongly correlated with pulmonary functions of sitting FVC (p<0.001), supine FVC (p<0.001), MIP (p=0.004), and MEP (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Serum CK level is a reliable screening test even in patients with advanced DMD, and is a strong predictor of pulmonary functions.
Body Weight ; Cough ; Creatine Kinase* ; Creatine* ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne* ; Reference Values ; Rehabilitation ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Troponin T ; Vital Capacity