PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to define and clarify the concept of developmental care for preterm infants. METHODS: The hybrid model method was used to identify the main attributes and indicators. In the field work stage, data were collected in Seoul and Cheonan, Korea. The participants were 5 nurses working in the NICU. RESULTS: The concept of developmental care was found to have six attributes and ten indicators in 2 dimensions. For the nursing practice dimension, four attributes were derived. They were being like intrauterine state, individualization, interaction, and integrative care with awareness of development. For the family centeredness dimension, supporting parental attachment and professional alliance were attributes of developmental care. CONCLUSION: Developmental focused care can facilitate the identification of behavioral responses of newborns and provide individualized interventions for fostering growth and development. This concept analysis could provide guidelines for "developmental care" nursing practice and be useful for research in the neonatal field.
Chungcheongnam-do ; Concept Formation ; Foster Home Care ; Growth and Development ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature* ; Korea ; Nursing ; Nursing Care ; Parents ; Seoul

BACKGROUND: The insulin resistance is common in the patients with essential hypertension, even in the absence of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus(NIDDM) or hyperlipidemia. It is well known that the offspring of patients with NIDDM have shown less insulin sensitivity compared with that of normal parents. But it is not yet known whether the insulin resistance is common in the offspring of patients with essential hypertension in Korea, who have no hypertension, NIDDM and hyperlipidemia. The aims of this study were to find out whether the insulin resistance exist in the middle aged normal offspring of the patients with essential hypertension and whether the insulin resistance is dependent on the metabolic abnormalities such as the body mass index(BMI), obesity and hyperlipidemia. METHODS: The serum lipid profiles and oral glucose tolerance test were performed. The anthropometrical measurement was done. The abdominal CT scan at umbilicus level and thigh CT was performed in the 11 offspring of parents with essential hypertension(group I;male : 7, female : 4)and 24 offspring of parents without essential hypertension, NIDDM, ischemic heart disease and hyperlipidemia(group II; male : 9, female : 15). RESULTS: The average age of group I was 44.1+/-6.9 years, and that of the group II was 47.5+/-9.5 years. There were no significant differences in the blood pressure, weight, BMI, waist to hip ratio, waist to thigh ratio. And there were no significant differences in the serum cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol, serum Na, and plasma renin activities between both groups. Fasting plasma insulin and 2 hour insulin after 75gm glucose ingestion were significantly higher in group I than in group II(8.5+/-3.0mU/mL versus 5.0+/-1.8mU/mL, 61.6+/-31.7mU/mL versus 33.3+/-16.8mU/mL, p<0.05). The insulin sensitivity index was significantly lower in group I than in group II(355.1+/-92.6 versus 451.8+/-88.1, p<0.05). The visceral fat area was wider in group I than in group II(102.0+/-30.7cm2 versus 64.5+/-28.5cm2, p<0.05). The multiple regression analysis with the fasting plasma insulin and insulin sensitivity index as the dependent variables and family history of essential hypertension, visceral fat area and BMI as the predictor variables revealed that only the family history was associated with the fasting plasma insulin and insulin sensitivity index. CONCLUSIONS: The offspring of the parents with essential hypertension showed the insulin resistance with increased visceral fat area in comparison with the offspring of the parents without essential hypertension.
Blood Pressure ; Cholesterol ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; Eating ; Fasting ; Female ; Glucose ; Glucose Tolerance Test ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; Hypertension ; Insulin Resistance* ; Insulin* ; Intra-Abdominal Fat ; Korea* ; Male ; Middle Aged* ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Obesity ; Parents* ; Plasma ; Renin ; Thigh ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Triglycerides ; Umbilicus ; Waist-Hip Ratio

PURPOSE: This study was done to examine current status of women's health nursing practicum and identify necessary core nursing skills in this practicum area. Moreover, one syllabus and evaluation sheets for women's health nursing clinical practicum at one university were reviewed. METHODS: A survey design was used with 81 educators who were teaching maternity or women's health nursing and its practicum. RESULTS: Most clinical sites for practicum were university hospitals (43.0%), women's hospitals (32.7%), or general hospitals (17.3%); but the majority (77.8%) of educators expressed difficulty in finding appropriate practicum places. Common teaching and learning methods were clinical guides for practicum (44.6%), e-learning content (30.2%), and simulation (23.6%). Core nursing skills for this practicum included assessment of stages of labor, preparation of uterine-fetal monitoring devices and interpretation of results, monitoring uterus and fetal activity, and performing Leopold's maneuver. For postpartum care, the following were included; postpartum fundal massage, assessment of breast engorgement, fundus height, and episiotomy sites, inserting urinary catheter, and teaching the use of patient-controlled analgesia. CONCLUSION: To improve the quality of clinical practicum, development of a clear course syllabus, standardized clinical guidebook, and core nursing skills is required and should be shared with all relevant nurse educators.
Analgesia, Patient-Controlled ; Breast ; Clinical Competence ; Education ; Episiotomy ; Female ; Fetal Movement ; Hospitals, General ; Hospitals, University ; Infant, Newborn ; Learning ; Massage ; Maternal-Child Nursing ; Nursing* ; Postnatal Care ; Postpartum Period ; Pregnancy ; Urinary Catheters ; Uterus ; Women's Health*

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to investigate factors related to mental health of university student offspring according to their parents' drinking behavior. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was used in this study. A convenience sample of university students were recruited from three universities in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, Korea. Data were collected using self-report questionnaires with 547 university students. The scales used for this study were the Korean version of the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST-K), Symptom Checklist-90-Revision (SCL-90-R), Rosenberg's Self-esteem Scale, and the Way of Coping Checklist. RESULTS: Participants were classified into three groups; nondrinking-parents group (53.5%), social drinking-parents group (21.8%), and problem drinking-parents group (24.7%). Participants whose parents were problem drinkers had significantly higher scores on all the subcategories of SCL-90-R compared to those of other groups. In the participants group whose parents were problem drinkers, mental health problem had a significant positive correlation to passive coping methods and a negative correlation to self-esteem. There was a significant negative relationship between self-esteem and positive coping methods. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate the mental health of university students may be negatively affected by their parents' drinking behaviors. Special attention and early interventions are needed for university students whose parents have drinking problems.
Adult Children ; Alcohol Drinking ; Alcoholics ; Checklist ; Child ; Drinking ; Drinking Behavior* ; Early Intervention (Education) ; Gyeonggi-do ; Humans ; Korea ; Mass Screening ; Mental Health* ; Parents ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Seoul ; Weights and Measures

Having an understanding of the properties of cytokines is essential for the immunologist, the researcher and the medical practitioner who need to understand immunologic diseases and immunological therapeutic approaches. Cytokines are redundant in their actions on target cells and promiscuous in their receptor reactions. (ED note: That is some cool use of English!) Moreover, many cells concomitantly produce several cytokines that have overlapping actions. Here this review provides conceptual framework to understand the intriguing aspects of the cytokine system.
Cytokines ; Immune System Diseases ; Interleukins

Chemokine KC has been considered to be a murine homologue of human GRO/MGSA and was identified as chemoattractant for monocytes and neutrophils. This study examined the expression of KC mRNA in thioglycollate-elicited mouse peritoneal macrophages that were stimulated in vitro with Candida albicans (CA). Also examined were the inhibitory effects of IL-10 on the CA-induced expression of KC gene by Northern blot analysis. CA was found to induce chemokine gene expression in a gene-specific manner, CXC chemokine IP-10 mRNA expression was not detected in CA-stimulated macrophages. Maximum KC mRNA expression was observed approximately 2 hr after adding CA. The inhibitory action of IL-10 to CA-induced KC mRNA expression on mouse peritoneal macrophages was independent on concentration and stimulation time of IL-10 and was observed approximately one hour after adding IL-10 and CA simultaneously. IL-10 produced a decrease in the stability of KC mRNA, and CA-stimulated macrophages with cycloheximide blocked the suppressive effect of IL-10. These results suggest that CA also induces chemokine KC from macrophages, and IL-10 acts to destabilize CA-induced KC mRNA and de novo synthesis of an intermediate protein is a part of the IL-10 suppressive mechanism.
Animal ; Blotting, Northern ; Candida albicans/metabolism* ; Cells, Cultured ; Chemotactic Factors/genetics* ; Dactinomycin/pharmacology ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Gene Expression Regulation/drug effects* ; Growth Substances/genetics* ; Interleukin-10/pharmacology* ; Interleukin-10/metabolism ; Macrophages/physiology* ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Nucleic Acid Synthesis Inhibitors/pharmacology ; RNA, Messenger/metabolism ; RNA, Messenger/drug effects

BACKGROUND: We previously demonstrated remarkable differences in the expression of IL-8/CXCL8 in aortic tissues and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) from spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) compared to VSMC from normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY). In the present study, we investigated the direct effect of IL-8/CXCL8 on expression of 12-lipoxygenase (LO), a hypertensive modulator, in SHR VSMC. METHODS: Cultured aortic VSMC from SHR and WKY were used. Expression of 12-LO mRNA was determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Phosphorlyation of ERK1/2 and production of 12-LO and angiotensin II subtype 1 (AT1) receptor were assessed by Western blots. IL-8/CXCL8-stimulated DNA synthesis was determined by measuring incorporation of [3H]-thymidine. And effect of IL-8/CXCL8 on vascular tone was determined by phenylephrine-induced contraction of thoracic aortic rings. RESULTS: Treatment with IL-8/CXCL8 greatly increased 12-LO mRNA expression and protein production compared to treatment with angiotensin II. IL-8/CXCL8 also increased the expression of the AT1 receptor. The increase in 12-LO induced by IL-8/CXCL8 was inhibited by treatment with an AT1 receptor antagonist. The induction of 12-LO mRNA production and the proliferation of SHR VSMC by IL-8/CXCL8 was mediated by the ERK pathway. The proliferation of SHR VSMC and the vascular contraction in the thoracic aortic ring, both of which were induced by IL-8/CXCL8, were inhibited by baicalein, a 12-LO inhibitor. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the potential role of IL-8/CXCL8 in hypertensive processes is likely mediated through the 12-LO pathway.
Angiotensin II ; Animals ; Arachidonate 12-Lipoxygenase ; Blotting, Western ; Contracts ; DNA ; Flavanones ; MAP Kinase Signaling System ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular ; Rats ; Rats, Inbred SHR ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Messenger

BACKGROUND: The insulin resistance is reported as the independent risk factor of the DM and the ischemic heart disease. The association between the insulin resistance and the essential hypertension was reported at the various countries and races. We performed this study to know if the hypertensive patients show the increased insulin resistance than that of the normotensive persons and factors that influence the insulin resistance and the blood pressure. METHODS: The serum lipid profiles, OGTT, body habitus measurement and abdominal CT at umbilical level were performed in 24 hypertensive patients(male : 10, female : 14) and 45 normotensive persons(male : 19, female : 26) who showed the same distributions of age, sex, weight and body mass index(BMI). RESULTS: The average age of the hypertensive group was 49.1+/-7.9 years, and that of the normotensive group was 46.1+/-7.6 years(p>0.05). The average blood pressure of the hypertensive group was 152.2+/-14.2/98.4+/-6.4mmHg and that of the normotensive group was 116.8+/-9.4/78.2+/-49.mmHg(p<0.001). The hypertensive group had significantly higher area under curve(AUC) of glucose(246.8+/-30.4 Vs 219.2+/-32.2mg/dL.hr) and AUC of insulin(88.9+/-38.2 Vs 69.6+/-34.2microU/mL.hr) than the normotensive group(p<0.05), while there were no differences in the age, sex, weight, body mass index(BMI) and waist to hip ratio(WHR) between two groups. They had nodifferences in lipid profile and plasma renin activity. In CT assessment, the hypertensive group had significantly higher visceral fat to thigh muscle area ratio(VSFTM ratio)(0.61+/-0.29 Vs 0.47+/-0.20) and visceral fat to thigh muscle and fat area ratio(VSFTMF ratio)(0.27+/-0.10 Vs 0.22+/-0.13)(p<0.05), while they had same degree of visceral fat to subcutaneous fat area(VS) ratio and visceral fat area. The visceral fat area, VSFTM ratio, VS ratio, visceral fat area to thigh fat area ratio(VSFTF ratio) were positively correlated with AUC of insulin and AUC of glucose ordinary(p<0.05). After adjustment for plasma insulin, AUC of insulin, VS ratio, VSFTM ratio, age and BMI, the AUC of glucose was positively correlated with the diastolic blood pressure(R square=0.19, p <0.05) and the AUC of glucose and WTR were positively correlated with the systolic blood pressure(R square=0.26, p<0.05). THe subgroup over the 75 percentile of AUC of glucose, AUC of insulin and VSFTM ratio in study population had significantly higher odds ratio of the hypertension(OR of AUC of glusose : 5.8, OR of AUC of insulin : 3.2, OR of VSFTM ratio : 4.5, p<0.05). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the insulin resistance is more prevalent in the hypertensive patients and associated with the hypertension.
Area Under Curve ; Blood Pressure ; Body Weight ; Continental Population Groups ; Female ; Glucose ; Glucose Tolerance Test ; Hip ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Insulin Resistance* ; Insulin* ; Intra-Abdominal Fat ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Odds Ratio ; Plasma ; Renin ; Risk Factors ; Subcutaneous Fat ; Thigh ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUND: Extracellular sulfatases (Sulfs), sulfatase 1 (Sulf1) and sulfatase 2 (Sulf2), play a pivotal role in cell signaling by remodeling the 6-O-sulfation of heparan sulfate proteoglycans on the cell surface. The present study examined the effects of Sulfs on angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced hypertensive mediator expression and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) proliferation in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). METHODS: Ang II receptors, 12-lipoxygenase (12-LO), and endothelin-1 (ET-1) messenger RNA (mRNA) expressions in SHR VSMCs were analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. VSMCs proliferation was determined by [³ H]-thymidine incorporation. RESULTS: Basal Sulfs mRNAs expression and enzyme activity were elevated in SHR VSMCs. However, Sulfs had no effect on the basal or Ang II-induced 12-LO and ET-1 mRNA expression in SHR VSMCs. The inhibition of Ang II-induced 12-LO and ET-1 expression by blockade of the Ang II type 2 receptor (AT₂ R) pathway was not observed in Sulf1 siRNA-transfected SHR VSMCs. However, Sulf2 did not affect the action of AT₂ R inhibitor on Ang II-induced 12-LO and ET-1 expression in SHR VSMCs. The down-regulation of Sulf1 induced a reduction of AT₂ R mRNA expression in SHR VSMCs. In addition, the inhibition of Ang II-induced VSMCs proliferation by blockade of the AT₂ R pathway was mediated by Sulf1 in SHR VSMCs. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that extracellular sulfatase Sulf1 plays a modulatory role in the AT₂ R pathway that leads to an Ang II-induced hypertensive effects in SHR VSMCs.
Angiotensin II* ; Angiotensins* ; Arachidonate 12-Lipoxygenase ; Blotting, Western ; Down-Regulation ; Endothelin-1 ; Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans ; Hypertension ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular* ; Rats, Inbred SHR* ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Receptor, Angiotensin, Type 2* ; RNA, Messenger ; Sulfatases

BACKGROUND: Extracellular sulfatases (Sulfs), sulfatase 1 (Sulf1) and sulfatase 2 (Sulf2), play a pivotal role in cell signaling by remodeling the 6-O-sulfation of heparan sulfate proteoglycans on the cell surface. The present study examined the effects of Sulfs on angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced hypertensive mediator expression and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) proliferation in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR).METHODS: Ang II receptors, 12-lipoxygenase (12-LO), and endothelin-1 (ET-1) messenger RNA (mRNA) expressions in SHR VSMCs were analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. VSMCs proliferation was determined by [³ H]-thymidine incorporation.RESULTS: Basal Sulfs mRNAs expression and enzyme activity were elevated in SHR VSMCs. However, Sulfs had no effect on the basal or Ang II-induced 12-LO and ET-1 mRNA expression in SHR VSMCs. The inhibition of Ang II-induced 12-LO and ET-1 expression by blockade of the Ang II type 2 receptor (AT₂ R) pathway was not observed in Sulf1 siRNA-transfected SHR VSMCs. However, Sulf2 did not affect the action of AT₂ R inhibitor on Ang II-induced 12-LO and ET-1 expression in SHR VSMCs. The down-regulation of Sulf1 induced a reduction of AT₂ R mRNA expression in SHR VSMCs. In addition, the inhibition of Ang II-induced VSMCs proliferation by blockade of the AT₂ R pathway was mediated by Sulf1 in SHR VSMCs.CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that extracellular sulfatase Sulf1 plays a modulatory role in the AT₂ R pathway that leads to an Ang II-induced hypertensive effects in SHR VSMCs.
Angiotensin II ; Angiotensins ; Arachidonate 12-Lipoxygenase ; Blotting, Western ; Down-Regulation ; Endothelin-1 ; Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans ; Hypertension ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular ; Rats, Inbred SHR ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Receptor, Angiotensin, Type 2 ; RNA, Messenger ; Sulfatases