BACKGROUND: Research on the emotional labor of firefighters is actively being carried out, but studies that analyze emotional labor separately by job types, working departments, and other conditions of firefighters are insufficient. The purpose of this study is to investigate the difference in emotional labor level between departments and other conditions of firefighters. METHODS: A total of 287 Korean firefighters were included for analysis. The demands of emotional labor and emotional damage were measured using the Korean Emotional Labor Scale. To analyze the conditions and factors affecting the emotional labor level of the firefighters, logistic regression analysis was performed using the emotional labor high risk group as a dependent variable. RESULTS: The average score of overall emotional labor level of the firefighters was 47.2 ± 17.3, and the prevalence of high risk firefighters with emotional labor was 27.1%. It was found that the emergency medical service and administration departments showed a higher prevalence of high risk emotional labor firefighters than did other departments. The result of multiple logistic regression analysis for the high risk emotional labor firefighters showed that the adjusted odds ratio of emergency medical service department compared to the reference group (the rescue department) was 2.89 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02–8.24). CONCLUSIONS: Among the firefighters, the emergency medical service department is a high risk factor for emotional labor. Therefore, education and prevention training on emotional labor should be more thorough before work shifts.
Daegu ; Education ; Emergency Medical Services ; Firefighters ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Odds Ratio ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors

PURPOSE: Grinding with less stress on 3Y-TZP through proper selection of methods and instruments can lead to a long-term success of prosthesis. The purpose of this study was to compare the phase transformation and physical properties after zirconia surface grinding with 3 different grinding burs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty disc-shaped zirconia specimens were fabricated. Each Ten specimens were ground with AllCeramic SuperMax (NTI, Kahla, Germany), Dura-Green DIA (Shofu Inc., Kyoto, Japan), and Dura-Green (Shofu Inc., Kyoto, Japan). Ten specimens were not ground and used as a control group. After the specimen grinding, XRD analysis, surface roughness test, FE-SEM imaging, and biaxial flexural strength test were performed. RESULTS: After surface grinding, small amount of monoclinic phase in all experimental groups was observed. The phase change was higher in specimens, which were ground with Dura-Green DIA and AllCeramic SuperMax burs. The roughness of surfaces increased in specimens, which were ground with Dura-Green DIA and AllCeramic SuperMax burs than control groups and ground with Dura-Green. All experimental groups showed lower flexural strength than control group, but there was no statistically significant difference between control group and ground with Dura-Green DIA and AllCeramic SuperMax burs. The specimens, which were ground with Dura- Green showed the lowest strength. CONCLUSION: The use of dedicated zirconia-specific grinding burs such as Dura-Green DIA and AllCeramic SuperMax burs decreases the grinding time and did not significantly affect the flexural strength of zirconia, and therefore, they may be recommended. However, a fine polishing process should be accompanied to reduce the surface roughness after grinding.
Prostheses and Implants

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to obtain difference in fracture strength according to the diameter of one-body O-ring-type of mini implant fixture, to determine the resistance of mini implant to masticatory pressure, and to examine whether overdenture using O-ring type mini implant is clinically usable to maxillary and mandibular edentulous patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For this study, 13 mm long one body O-ring-type mini implants of different diameters (2.0 mm, 2.5 mm and 3.0 mm) (Dentis, Daegu, Korea) were prepared, 5 for each diameter. The sample was placed at 30degrees from the horizontal surface on the universal testing machine, and off-axis loading was applied until permanent deformation occurred and the load was taken as maximum compressive strength. The mean value of the 5 samples was calculated, and the compressive strength of implant fixture was compared according to diameter. In addition, we prepared 3 samples for each diameter, and applied loading equal to 80%, 60% and 40% of the compressive strength until fracture occurred. Then, we measured the cycle number on fracture and analyzed fatigue fracture for each diameter. Additionally, we measured the cycle number on fracture that occurred when a load of 43 N, which is the average masticatory force of complete denture, was applied. The difference on compressive strength between each group was tested statistically using one-way ANOVA test. RESULTS: Compressive strength according to the diameter of mini implant was 101.5 +/- 14.6 N, 149 +/- 6.1 N and 276.0 +/- 13.4 N, respectively, for diameters 2.0 mm, 2.5 mm and 3.0 mm. In the results of fatigue fracture test at 43 N, fracture did not occur until 2x106 cycles at diameter 2.0 mm, and until 5x106 cycles at 2.5 mm and 3.0 mm. CONCLUSION: Compressive strength increased significantly with increasing diameter of mini implant. In the results of fatigue fracture test conducted under the average masticatory force of complete denture, fracture did not occur at any of the three diameters. All of the three diameters are usable for supporting overdenture in maxillary and mandibular edentulous patients, but considering that the highest masticatory force of complete denture is 157 N, caution should be used in case diameter 2.0 mm or 2.5 mm is used.
Bite Force ; Collodion ; Compressive Strength ; Denture, Complete ; Denture, Overlay ; Fatigue ; Fractures, Stress ; Humans

PURPOSE: Consensus guidelines clearly define how cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is to be performed, but the parameters of CPR in actual practice are not routinely measured, nor is the quality known. We sought to investigate the actual quality of CPR performed by trained hospital staffs and to determine whether metronome guidance improved the quality of CPR. METHODS: A prospective study was performed on 26 out of hospital cardiac arrest patients who received CPR at an emergency department (ED). In the ED, resuscitation efforts were recorded by using a camcorder. Using the recorded data, we analyzed the parameters of CPR quality such as ventilation and chest compression rates. RESULTS: In the 26 cardiac arrests, the first nine cases constituted group I. The subsequent nine cases, after the rescuers had been re-trained to provide CPR according to the guideline, constituted group II. The final eight cases after the rescuers had been trained to use metronome guidance constituted group III. The average ventilation rate in group I was 30.7 ventilations/min. Although the average ventilation rate in group II was lower than that of group I, it was still higher than the recommended rate. After metronome guidance, the ventilation rate was significantly reduced and approached to the rate of the present guideline. The average chest compression rate in group I was higher than the rate recommended in the present guideline and was significantly reduced after metronome guidance. CONCLUSION: We strongly believe that further study should be performed to consider the survival benefit of good-quality CPR. Devices providing feedback to alert rescuers may be useful for improving the quality of CPR.
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation* ; Consensus ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Heart Arrest ; Humans ; Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest ; Prospective Studies ; Resuscitation ; Thorax ; Ventilation

The increasing number of prostatic biopsies, performed for the investigation of patients at risk of prostate cancer, will result in the more frequent identification of uncommon forms of prostatic pathology. Amyloidosis is a disease characterized by the extracellular deposition of insoluble amyloid fibrils, and may be either systemic or localized. Localized amyloidosis of the prostate is very rare. Herein, we report the case of a 34-year-old man with localized amyloidosis of the prostate, which was found via a transrectal ultrasound-guided prostatic biopsy due to an increased serum prostate-specific antigen level.
Adult ; Amyloid ; Amyloidosis* ; Biopsy ; Humans ; Pathology ; Prostate* ; Prostate-Specific Antigen ; Prostatic Neoplasms

BACKGROUND: Diffuse panbronchiolitis(DPB) is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting the respiratory bronchioles which was first described in Japan in 1966. DPB is prevalent in Japan and is known to be very rare in western countries. The first cases of DPB were reported in Korea in 1992 and the number of the patients has been increasing. The prognosis of DPR had been very poor because there had been no effective treatment for the disease. Hut it has been dramatically changed since the introduction of low-dose long-term erythromycin therapy. In Korea, there is rare experience of 1ong-term follow-up of DPH patients and we presents the results of mean 21.6 months of follow-up after erythromycin treatment. METHODS: We analyzed the long-term follow-up data of 25 DPH patients who were diagnosed in Seoul National University Hospital during the period from September 1989 to December 1994 and followed up more than 6 months with erythromycin therapy. We tried erythromycin 250mg b.i.d. on all the patients and analyzed the changes of subjective symptoms, physical signs, pulmonary function tests, and chest X-rays. RESULTS: 1) The mean follow-up period was 21.6 months. 2) Subjective symptoms improved in 96% of the patients within 3 months and 76% of the patients showed no symptom after 18 months of treatment. 3) Crackles and wheezing decreased in all patients within 3 months and completely disappeared in 76% of the patients after 18 months of treatment. 4) Diffuse small nodular lesions on chest X-ray decreased in 56% of the patients within 3 months and chest PA was normal in 32% of the patients after 12months of treatment. 5) FVC and FEV1 increased remarkably during the first 3 months and slowly increased thereafter, reaching normal level after 12 months of treatment. FEV1/FVC was 60.4% before treatment and in- creased slowly reaching 76.1% after 24 months of treatment. 6) Erythromycin therapy could be finished in 7 patients. The mean duration of medication was 26 months and no evidence of recurrence was found in 6 months of follow-up. 7) No patients had experienced the side effect of erythromycin, CONCLUSION: The prognosis of DPR is very goad when treated with erythromycin. And at least 2 years of erythromycin treatment seems to be needed for DPB patients.
Bronchioles ; Erythromycin* ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Humans ; Japan ; Korea ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Respiratory Sounds ; Seoul ; Thorax

This is a study on the dose-decreasing effect of the first reversed laser beam collimator (RLBC) for C-arm type angiographic equipment. A laser beam was located at the center of each plane at an oblique angle to the angiographic equipment detector. A field of view, which could be seen with the naked eye, was made by focusing the laser beam in the direction of the X-ray source. The height of the table was fixed at 75 cm and the iron balls were located within 2 mm of the top, bottom, left, and right edges of the output image. The time needed for location fixing, fluoroscopy, and measurement of dose area product (DAP) were compared by having 30 radiologists perform location fixing by looking at the fluoroscopic image while performing location fixing (no radiation) and while the RLBC was turned on. In the next test, the time needed for location fixing, fluoroscopy, and DAP were compared when varying the location of the iron balls from 2 to 10 mm from the edges of the output image. The results showed that the time needed for location fixing, the time needed for fluoroscopy, and DAP decreased, both in the first test and the second test. This study confirmed that the use of a RLBC for C-arm type angiographic equipment decreases both the time needed to perform the procedure and the radiation dose received. It is expected that continuous advancement of RLBC technology will contribute greatly to decreasing the dose of radiation needed and improving convenience during angiography.
Angiography ; Fluoroscopy ; Iron

PURPOSE: Pneumonia is a common complication of organophosphate poisoning and increases the incidence of respiratory failure and the duration of mechanical ventilator support. Therefore, we investigated the clinical characteristics of pneumonia as a complication of organophosphate insecticide poisoning and then determined the factors related to the development of pneumonia. METHODS: A retrospective study was performed on patients with organophosphate insecticide poisoning, who were treated at our hospital with medical records and chest radiograph of patients. From January 1, 2001, to July 31, 2004, eighty five patients were included in this study. RESULTS: 1) Thirty-two (71% of the patients developing pneumonia) patients developed pneumonia later than 48 hours from admission and twenty-five (55.6% of the patients developing pneumonia) patients developed pneumonia later than 48 hours after mechanical ventilatory support. 2) The mean onset of pneumonia resistant to initial empirical antibiotics was 4.8 days from admission, and that of susceptible pneumonia was 3.7 days from admission. 3) Patients with pneumonia as a complication needed larger doses of atropine and more 2-pralidoxime injections, as well as longer mechanical ventilatory support, ICU admission, and total hospital admission. CONCLUSION: Most Pneumonia in organophosphate poisoning patients were nosocomial pneumonia & ventilator-associated pneumonia. Thus, to reduce the incidence of pneumonia complication in organophosphate poisoning patients, Physicians must take measures, such as hand-washing and careful periodic drainage of tubing condensate, etc., to reduce the incidence of nosocomial pneumonia. In selecting empirical antibiotics for pneumonia complicating organophosphate poisoning patients, physicians should take regional prevalence of nosocomial pathogens into consideration. In late-onset ventilator-associated pneumonia, physicians must consider pneumonia caused by organisms resistant to commonly used empirical antibiotics.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Atropine ; Drainage ; Humans ; Incidence ; Medical Records ; Organophosphate Poisoning ; Pneumonia* ; Pneumonia, Aspiration* ; Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated ; Poisoning* ; Prevalence ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Retrospective Studies ; Ventilators, Mechanical

We present a patient with meralgia paresthetica by a distended iliopsoas bursa and associated with concurrent osteonecrosis of the femoral head. This manifestation is unusual and extremely rare because classically LFCN dose not pass near the iliopsoas bursa. We presume a mechanism of nerve injury by variation of the course of lateral femoral cutaneous nerve.
Head* ; Humans ; Osteonecrosis*

Background: High concentrations of mercury intake from seafood are known to cause various side effects in humans, including on the nervous system. Various studies have reported the effects of mercury concentrations in humans; however, the association between dyslipidemia, a cardiovascular disease risk factor, and mercury remains controversial.Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the association between mercury accumulation and cholesterol concentrations in a Korean population. Methods: We analyzed data of a sample of 3,228 respondents obtained from the Korean National Environmental Health Survey cycle 3, surveyed between 2015 and 2017, to determine how lipid profiles changed according to the blood mercury concentrations (BHg) and urine mercury concentrations (UHg). Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the effects of mercury concentrations among various factors affecting blood cholesterol levels. Results: The arithmetic mean (AM) of BHg was 2.91 (2.81–3.02) μg/L, and the geometric mean (GM) was 2.71 (2.59–2.85) μg/L. The AM of UHg was 0.52 (0.48–0.56) μg/L, and the GM was 0.35 (0.33–0.38) μg/L. Lipid profiles were more related to the BHg than to the UHg. Total cholesterol (total-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels increased significantly as BHg increased in males, and total-C, triglyceride, and LDL-C levels increased significantly in females. Multiple regression analysis indicated that BHg were significantly associated with total-C, HDL-C, and LDL-C levels. Conclusions We found an association between mercury exposure and the risk of dyslipidemia; however, further studies are required to elucidate a causal association.