Analysis for 6 metals (Cd, Zn, Cu, Ni, Pb, Mn) by Atomic absorption spectrophotometer were made on hair samples of healthy 135 in urban area and 130 in rural area who have not dealt with the above metals in their daily working life. Marked variations were found. Samples of urban area contained more cadmium, copper, lead and manganese than those of rural area. No sexual difference in mean value could be observed and the amount of metals in hair did not increase with age. And no age dependency was found. There was a statistically significant correlation between the concentrations of cadmium and lead in both urban and rural people; Pb=1.50 Cd + 6.69 (r = 0.213, p<0.05) in urban area. Pb=1.44 Cd + 3.67 (r = 0.327, p<0.001) in rural area.
Absorption ; Cadmium ; Copper ; Hair* ; Humans* ; Manganese ; Metals

In all enterprises of Korea employing workers more than five, employees have a duty of conducting a periodic health screening for improvement and maintaining healthful living and working conditions of employees. The health screening is performed annually in line workers and biennially in table workers under the supervision of the government. But there are some argument to the health screening programme in view of effectiveness, efficiency, reliability and etc. In order to obtain basic reference materials for increasing the efficiency of periodic health screening programme for workers and understand the attitude of health screening institutions and enterprises toward the periodic health screening, mail questionnaire survey was conducted in July 1987. The questionnaire went to 950 health screening institutions and 700 enterprises in whole land but they were returned from 254 health institutions and 187 enterprises, which were analyzed. The results were as follows: 1) The attitude of the respondents toward the necessity and benefit of the periodic health screening was showed highly positive responses in both of screening institutions and enterprises, and it was more positive in screening institutions. The attitude toward the affirmative and the contentment was showed less positive than that of the necessity and benefit. 2) The respondent recognized may problems on regard to the screening programme. The health screening institutions lie in the state of competition with other institutions for undertaking the screening programme. 3) One of major complaints from enterprises was the lack of sincerity in performing the screening programme. They wanted more practical and reliable health screening examination rather than showy one. 4) Health screening institutions and enterprises showed some mutual contradictions in the matter of screening fee, and so the screening fee should be adjusted to the appropriate cost.
Surveys and Questionnaires ; Fees and Charges ; Korea* ; Mass Screening* ; Mortuary Practice ; Organization and Administration ; Postal Service ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Drugs, Investigational ; Humans ; Plasma

OBJECTIVETo explore guiding role of three-column theory in manipulative reduction, small splint fixation and early rehabilitative exercises of Colles fracture.

METHODSFrom August 2011 to February 2012,47 patients with Colles fractures were treated by manipulative reduction small splinting fixation and early rehabilitative exercises under the guidance of three-column theory, including 21 males and 26 females aged from 40 to 76 years old with an average of (65.5 +/- 2.3). According to AO fracture classification, 27 patients were type A (including 18 cases with type A2 and 9 cases with type A3) and 20 patients were type C (including 10 cases with type C1, 6 cases with type C2 and 4 cases with type C3). Pain and recovery time of swelling, postoperative complications were observed and recorded, Gartland-Werley scoring system were applied for evaluate functional recovery and biomechanical analysis of wrist joint at 12 weeks after operation.

RESULTSAll patients were followed up for 3 to 9 months with average of 5 months. Pain relief time ranged from 5 to 15 d with average of (7.6 +/- 2.2) d,recovery time of swelling of opisthenar was for 6 to 13 d with an average of (8.9 +/- 1.9) d. Two patients occurred tension vesicle within 3 days after operation, but no other complications occurred. According to Gartland-Werley scoring system, 25 cases got excellent results, 18 cases good and 4 cases moderate at 12 weeks after operation.

CONCLUSIONUnder the guidance of three-column theory, treating Colles fracture by manipulative reduction, small splinting fixation and early rehabilitative exercises can reduce pain and swelling time, promote union of fracture, effectively rehabilitate wrist function, improve clinical efficacy, and fit for concept of biomechanics.

Adult ; Aged ; Colles' Fracture ; rehabilitation ; surgery ; therapy ; Exercise Therapy ; Female ; Fracture Fixation ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Treatment Outcome

0.05).Conclusion The SIS method not only can determine multiple index in Chinese materia medica(CMM)simultaneously,but also be simple and accurate.It will be a good quality evaluation pattern for CMM.

This study was designed to investigate the impact of ultra-filtration extract mixture from Astragals mongholicus (UEMAM) o radiosensitivity of H22 ascitic tumor in mice to 12C6+ ions radiation. The H22 ascitic tumor model was established in mice by intraperitoneal injection of 0.2 mL H22 ascitic cells. The animals were subsequently divided into 4 groups randomly, treated with normal saline, UEMAM, heavy ion beam radiotherapy and UEMAM plus heavy ion beam radiotherapy, respectively. The body weights, abdomen circumference of the mice were measured and the mouse behavior was monitored every day; survival time was recorded to evaluate life extension effect; flow cytometry technique was used to detect H22 cell apoptosis and cell cycle; protein levels of p53, Bax, Bcl-2 and cleaved Caspase-3 were analyzed by Western blot; the single cell gel electrophoresis was used to detect the level of deoxyribonucleic acid damage (DNA damage). The results suggest that UEMAM significantly increased survival time, and decreased body weights and abdomen circumference over the saline control group. The treatment increased cell apoptosis, cycle arrest and DNA damage compared to the saline control group. UEMAM significantly enhanced the therapeutic effect of heavy ion beam radiation in survival time, and decreased body weights and abdomen circumference in the tumor-baring mice. The combination increased cell apoptosis, cycle arrest and DNA damage compared to the radiotherapy group. The results of Western blot suggest that the treatment significantly enhanced p53-induced apoptotic signals. The experiment discovered that UEMAM could improve radiosensitivity of H22 ascitic tumor through activation of p53-mediated apoptotic signal pathway.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Astragalus Plant ; chemistry ; Cell Cycle ; Cell Line, Tumor ; DNA Damage ; Ions ; Mice ; Neoplasms, Experimental ; drug therapy ; radiotherapy ; Plant Extracts ; pharmacology ; Radiation Tolerance ; Signal Transduction

The authors have experinced 8 cases of chronic carbon disulfide poisoning in workers engaged in the viacase rayon industry during the period between March 1987 and September 1988. Cases of carbon disulfide poisoning has not been reported in Korea till then. Carbon disulfide is primarily a neurotoxic poison, therefore those symptoms indicating central and peripheral nervous damage are very important. And it has toxic effects on the various organs such as skin, eye, ear, and respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, hepatic, genitourinary, hematological, and endocrine system. Occupational histories were obtained, and clinical findings and laboratory findings were analysed on all cases. 1. Seven (7) cases had been exposed to carbon disulfide for more than 10 years, and 1 case has been exposed for 6 years. 2. Most common symptoms were neurological symptoms such as gait disturbance, extremity weakness, paresthesia, and speech disturbance. 3. Involvement of central nervous system was noted in 7 cases through abnormal findings of electroencephalography, brain computerized tomography, neurological signs, and psychological test. Needle electromyography and nerve conduction study showed polyneuropathy in all cases. Ophthalmological abnormalities were found in 7 cases, mainly retinal microaneurysms and peripheral constriction of the visual field. Renal damage appeared in 4 cases, increase of serum cholesterol and/or triglyceride level appeared in 3 cases, and dercrease of erythrocyte and hemoglobin appeared in 2 cases. And hypertenison appeared in 2 cases, and diabetes appeared in 1 case. One(1) case who has been exposed tn carbon disulfide for 6 years showed polyneuropathy and peripheral constriction of the visual field.
Brain ; Carbon Disulfide* ; Carbon* ; Central Nervous System ; Cholesterol ; Constriction ; Ear ; Electroencephalography ; Electromyography ; Endocrine System ; Erythrocytes ; Extremities ; Gait ; Korea ; Needles ; Neural Conduction ; Paresthesia ; Poisoning* ; Polyneuropathies ; Psychological Tests ; Retinaldehyde ; Skin ; Triglycerides ; Visual Fields

Today, CTDs (Cumulative Trauma Disorders) are one of major hazards in the US and European Industries disrupting work schedules, productivity and increasing workers compensation costs. The increase in injuries and their associated costs has led companies to form committees and implement programs to address this problem. Therefore, it is important that quantitative analysis tools help identify and assess industrial tasks that pose risk to workers. However, the process of quantifying risk in upper limb tasks is still in its infancy stage and calls for better measurement techniques are not going unheard. As the first work of quantification, baseline CTD checklist for risk assessment was developed in this study. It was mainly based on previous literature regarding CTDs. The checklist was unique in that its expected user was industrial hygienist who did not have much ergonomic background and in that it was targeted to Korean workers in various types of industries. As the first application of the checklist, some jobs in two industries (VDT, heavy Industry) were evaluated, and compared with the medical data. Eighteen out of thirty items in the checklist was univariately significant (p<0.05) on the results of medical examinations. The correlation between medical data and total risk score from the checklist was 0.62. The feasibility of its use by an industrial hygienist was also checked by comparing with the results by an ergonomist. Their correlation (on the basis of Kendall's tau-b) in terms of total risk score was 0.74. The checklist in this study shows reasonably good performance for the first trial. Further research will have to include continuous refinement and validation for many more industries and many more jobs.
Appointments and Schedules ; Checklist* ; Efficiency ; Risk Assessment* ; Upper Extremity ; Workers' Compensation

The formulation for sustained release tablet of Epinedium component was selected and the evaluation equation of in vitro release was established. The liquidity of component was improved with the help of colloidal silica aided by spray drying, which would be the main drug in the sustained release tablets. Dissolution was selected as an evaluation index to investigate skeletal material type, fillers, impact porogen, lubricants and other materials on the quality of sustained release tablet. The sustained release tablets were prepared by dry compression. Formulation of sustained release preparations was main drug 35%, HPMC K(4M) 20% and HPMC K(15M) 10% as skeleton material, MCC 31% as filler, PEG6000 2% as porogen and magnesium stearate 2% as lubricant. The sustained release tablets released up to 80% in 8 h. The zero order equation, primary equation and Higuchi equation could simulate the release characteristics of sustained release tablets in vitro, the correlation coefficients r were larger than 0.96. The primary equation was most similar in vitro release characteristics and its correlation coefficient r was 0.9950. The preparation method is simple and the results of formulation selection are reliable. It can be used to guide the production of Epimedium component sustained release preparations.
Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; methods ; Delayed-Action Preparations ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Epimedium ; chemistry ; Kinetics ; Tablets ; chemistry

Objective To explore the clinical features,neuroimaging and histopathological findings in patients with idiopathic hypertrophic cranial pachymeningitis (IHCP) with a nodular space occupying effect.Methods Four IHCP cases with a nodular space occupying effect diagnosed in our hospital were retrospectively studied.Results All the 4 patients were men with a mean onset age of 40.25 (33 ～ 50) years old.They all had long disease duration and relapses.The common symptoms of IHCP were chronic headache,multiple cranial nerve palsies and epileptic seizures.CT and MRI of the brain revealed prominent dural partial thickening,which indicated a mass or nodular space occupying effect that mimicked intracranial tumour-like meningioma.The histopathological findings of dura in 2 cases revealed connective tissue proliferation,scattered neutrophile granulocytes and plasmacytes infiltration.Combination therapy of corticosteroid or/and immunosuppressive drugs was effective for the IHCP patients.Conclusions IHCP patients with a nodular space occupying effect usually onset with chronic headache and are often recurrent.The combination therapy of corticosteroid or/and immunosuppressive drugs is effective.The image of the brain presents prominent dural partial thickening,indicating a mass or nodular space occupying effect,which often lead to confusion with intracranial tumours or granulomatosis.