OBJECTIVES: We examined the association between social expenditures of the local government and the mortality level in Korea, 2004 to 2010. METHODS: We used social expenditure data of 230 local governments during 2004 to 2010 from the Social Expenditure Database prepared by the Korean Institute for Health and Social Affairs. Fixed effect panel data regression analysis was adopted to look for associations between social expenditures and age-standardized mortality and the premature death index. RESULTS: Social expenditures of local governments per capita was not significantly associated with standardized mortality but was associated with the premature death index (decline of 1.0 [for males] and 0.5 [for females] for each expenditure of 100 000 Korean won, i.e., approximately 100 US dollar). As an index of the voluntary effort of local governments, the self-managed project ratio was associated with a decline in the standardized mortality in females (decline of 0.4 for each increase of 1%). The share of health care was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: There were associations between social expenditures of the local government and the mortality level in Korea. In particular, social expenditures per capita were significantly associated with a decline in premature death. However, the voluntary efforts of local governments were not significantly related to the decline in premature death.
Databases, Factual ; Female ; Financing, Government/*economics ; Health Expenditures/*statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Local Government ; Male ; Mortality/*trends ; Mortality, Premature/*trends ; Regression Analysis ; Republic of Korea

Background: Female farmers have a high prevalence of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) in South Korea. Femoral bowing has been reported to be related to KOA by increasing load on the mechanical axis. This study aimed to investigate factors related to femoral bowing in Korean female farmers. Methods: We analyzed the legs of 264 female farmers registered with the Korea farmers' knee cohort of Jeonnam Center for Farmers' Safety and Health. A structured questionnaire was used to determine sociodemographic variables, agricultural career, cumulative squatting working time (CSWT), and cumulative heavy lifting working time. Femoral bone density was measured and Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grades were obtained from the knee radiographs.Mechanical axis angle (MAA), femoral bowing angle (FBA), anatomical lateral distal femoral angle (aLDFA), anatomical medial proximal tibial angle (aMPTA), and condylar-plateau angle (CPA) were measured. We examined the relationship between the FBA and related factors by using multiple linear regression. Results: The proportion of individuals with radiographic KOA (≥ KL grade 2) in this study was 37.9%. As KL grades increased, MAA, FBA, and CPA increased, whereas aLDFA and aMPTA decreased. FBA increased with age. Multiple linear regression analyses using FBA as a dependent variable showed relationship with higher age, lower height, higher BMI, lower bone mineral density, longer CSWT, and longer agricultural careers. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that external factors related to agricultural work in female farmers was associated with femoral bowing, in addition to internal factors such as age, bone density, height, and obesity.

Background: Female farmers have a high prevalence of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) in South Korea. Femoral bowing has been reported to be related to KOA by increasing load on the mechanical axis. This study aimed to investigate factors related to femoral bowing in Korean female farmers. Methods: We analyzed the legs of 264 female farmers registered with the Korea farmers' knee cohort of Jeonnam Center for Farmers' Safety and Health. A structured questionnaire was used to determine sociodemographic variables, agricultural career, cumulative squatting working time (CSWT), and cumulative heavy lifting working time. Femoral bone density was measured and Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grades were obtained from the knee radiographs.Mechanical axis angle (MAA), femoral bowing angle (FBA), anatomical lateral distal femoral angle (aLDFA), anatomical medial proximal tibial angle (aMPTA), and condylar-plateau angle (CPA) were measured. We examined the relationship between the FBA and related factors by using multiple linear regression. Results: The proportion of individuals with radiographic KOA (≥ KL grade 2) in this study was 37.9%. As KL grades increased, MAA, FBA, and CPA increased, whereas aLDFA and aMPTA decreased. FBA increased with age. Multiple linear regression analyses using FBA as a dependent variable showed relationship with higher age, lower height, higher BMI, lower bone mineral density, longer CSWT, and longer agricultural careers. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that external factors related to agricultural work in female farmers was associated with femoral bowing, in addition to internal factors such as age, bone density, height, and obesity.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to identify any influence of socioeconomic status on smoking and smoking cessation in a situation where genetic factors are controlled. METHODS: The sample for this study was 2502 members of the twins and families cohort who participated in the Korean Healthy Twins Study from 2005 to 2009. Groups of brothers or sisters, including twins and fraternal twins, were compared in terms of smoking and smoking cessation behaviors according to differences in socioeconomic status and gender. RESULTS: In a situation with complete control of genetic factors, results showed that the daily smoking amount, cumulative smoking amount, and dependence on nicotine decreased with higher-status occupations, and the rate of smoking and amount of cumulative smoking decreased with higher levels of education. Regarding smoking cessation behavior, a higher level of education was associated with a lower smoking cessation rate, and no significant gender differences were found. CONCLUSIONS: Environmental factors had a stronger influence on smoking behavior than did genetic factors. Genetic factors had greater influence on smoking cessation than did environmental factors; however, this requires verification in further studies.
Adult ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Sex Factors ; Smoking/*epidemiology/genetics ; *Smoking Cessation ; *Social Class ; *Social Environment ; Socioeconomic Factors

Biopsy is required to confirm lymph node (LN) metastasis in position emission tomography (PET)-positive LN due to the low specificity of PET. Currently, invasive surgical techniques such as mediastinoscopy or mediastinotomy are standard procedures for obtaining LN specimen. It would be desirable to have a less invasive way of sampling suspicious LN. Herein, we report a case of successful endoscopic ultrasonography-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) for the diagnosis of CT-negative and PET-positive LN that was found after curative resection in lung cancer. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first description in Korea to perform EUS-FNA for the evaluation of metastatic LN during the follow-up period after lung cancer resection.
Biopsy ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle* ; Diagnosis ; Electrons* ; Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine Needle Aspiration ; Endosonography ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Korea ; Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung* ; Lymph Nodes* ; Mediastinoscopy ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Pulmonary aspergillosis may present with three different features, according to the immune status of the host. These forms are invasive aspergillosis, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) or aspergilloma. Bronchial involvement is an uncommon type of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. We encountered an unusual case of an endobronchial aspergillosis that completely obstructed the left upper lobe, which was initially thought to be lung cancer. We report this case along with a review of the relevant literature.
Aspergillosis* ; Aspergillosis, Allergic Bronchopulmonary ; Bronchi* ; Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis ; Lung Neoplasms ; Pulmonary Aspergillosis

Expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 and -9 (MMP-2 and MMP-9), which correlates with tumor invasion and metastasis, has been known to be regulated by several intracellular signaling pathways. Since the CD9 membrane protein has been implicated in signal transduction and malignant progression of cancer cells, we examined the functional involvement of CD9 in the regulation of MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression by using stable CD9 transfectant clones of MelJuso human melanoma cells. The CD9 cDNA-transfected cells with elevated CD9 expression displayed increased MMP-2 and decreased MMP-9 expression when compared with the mock transfectant cells. Among several signal pathway inhibitors tested, SB203580 and SP600125, which inhibit p38 MAPK and JNK respectively, completely blocked the CD9-stimulated MMP-2 expression. Phosphorylation levels of p38 MAPK and c-Jun in MelJuso cells were also significantly increased by CD9 transfection. In addition, the down-regulation of p38 MAPK and JNK by siRNA transfection resulted in a decrease in MMP-2 expression by MelJuso cells. Promoter analysis and gel shift assay showed that the CD9-induced MMP-2 expression is mediated by a functional AP-1 site through interactions with AP-1 transcription factors including c-Jun. These results suggest that CD9 induces MMP-2 expression by activating c- Jun through p38 MAPK and JNK signaling pathways in human melanoma cells.
Antigens, CD/*metabolism ; Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay ; Enzyme Activation ; Gelatinase A/genetics/*metabolism ; Gelatinase B/metabolism ; Humans ; JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/antagonists & inhibitors/genetics/*metabolism ; Melanoma/*metabolism/pathology ; Membrane Glycoproteins/*metabolism ; Promoter Regions (Genetics) ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun/*metabolism ; RNA, Small Interfering/pharmacology ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; *Signal Transduction ; Skin Neoplasms/metabolism/pathology ; Transcription Factor AP-1/metabolism ; Transfection ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/antagonists & inhibitors/genetics/*metabolism

Colchicine has been shown to regulate the expression of inflammatory gene, but this compound possesses much weaker anti-inflammatory activity. In this study, we synthesized a new colchicine derivative CT20126 and examined its immunomodulatory property. CT20126 was found to have immunosuppressive effects by inhibiting lymphocyte proliferation without cytotoxicity and effectively inhibit the transcriptional expression of the inflammatory genes, iNOS, TNF-alpha, and IL-1beta, in macrophages stimulated by LPS. This effect was nearly comparable to that of cyclosporine A. This compound also significantly suppressed the production of nitric oxide and Th1-related pro-inflammatory cytokines, IL-1beta, TNF-alpha, and IL-2, with minimal suppression of Th2-related anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-4 and IL-10 in the sponge matrix allograft model. Moreover, administration of CT20126 prolonged the survival of allograft skins from BALB/c mice (H-2d) to the dorsum of C57BL/6 (H-2b) mice. The in vivo immune suppressive effects of CT20126 were similar to that of cyclosporine A. These results indicate that this compound may have potential therapeutic value for transplantation rejection and other inflammatory diseases.
Animals ; Cell Line ; Colchicine/*analogs & derivatives/chemistry/*pharmacology ; Cytokines/*biosynthesis ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation/drug effects ; Graft Survival/*drug effects ; Immunosuppression ; Interleukin-1beta/genetics/metabolism ; Lipopolysaccharides/pharmacology ; Lymphocyte Culture Test, Mixed ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Nitric Oxide/biosynthesis ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II/genetics/metabolism ; Skin Transplantation/*immunology ; Th1 Cells/*drug effects/immunology/metabolism ; Th2 Cells/*drug effects/immunology/metabolism ; Transplantation, Homologous ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/genetics/metabolism

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) whose primary role is to transport cholesterol from peripheral tissues to the liver, is associated with the incidence of coronary heart disease. We analyzed HDL cholesterol levels in a genetically isolated population of extended Mongolian families. A total of 1002 individuals (54.5% women) from 95 families were enrolled. After genotyping by use of 1000 microsatellite markers, we performed a genome-wide linkage search with variance component analysis. The estimated heritability of HDL cholesterol was 0.45, revealing that HDL cholesterol was under significant genetic influence. We found peak evidence of linkage (LOD score=1.88) for HDL cholesterol level on chromosome 6(nearest marker D6S1660) and potential evidences for linkage on chromosomes 1, 12 and 19 with the LOD scores of 1.32, 1.44 and 1.14, respectively. These results should pave the way for the discovery of the relevant genes by fine mapping and association analysis.
Cholesterol ; Cholesterol, HDL ; Coronary Disease ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lipoproteins ; Liver ; Lod Score ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Mongolia ; Plasma

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) whose primary role is to transport cholesterol from peripheral tissues to the liver, is associated with the incidence of coronary heart disease. We analyzed HDL cholesterol levels in a genetically isolated population of extended Mongolian families. A total of 1002 individuals (54.5% women) from 95 families were enrolled. After genotyping by use of 1000 microsatellite markers, we performed a genome-wide linkage search with variance component analysis. The estimated heritability of HDL cholesterol was 0.45, revealing that HDL cholesterol was under significant genetic influence. We found peak evidence of linkage (LOD score=1.88) for HDL cholesterol level on chromosome 6(nearest marker D6S1660) and potential evidences for linkage on chromosomes 1, 12 and 19 with the LOD scores of 1.32, 1.44 and 1.14, respectively. These results should pave the way for the discovery of the relevant genes by fine mapping and association analysis.
Cholesterol ; Cholesterol, HDL ; Coronary Disease ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lipoproteins ; Liver ; Lod Score ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Mongolia ; Plasma