PURPOSE: The present study aimed at developing an integrative stage model of smoking cessation behavior by combining highly predictable constructs extracted from previously verified health behavior models. The fitness of the hypothetical model was also tested. METHODS: The study participants were 214 Chinese students studying in Korea, presenting high smoking rates. Perceived severity, benefit, barrier, self-efficacy, and social support were measured using the modified AttitudeseSocial InfluenceseSelf Efficacy Questionnaire. Demographic and smoking-related characteristics were also evaluated. RESULTS: Results showed that the hypothetical model provides a good fit. Significant psychosocial predictors of smoking cessation stage were perceived benefit (p = .050), barrier (p = .003), and social support (p = .003). Among demographic and smoking-related characteristics, gender (p = .030), duration of smoking (p = .010), and previous smoking cessation experience (p = .020) were found to influence smoking cessation stage. In addition, gender, age, number of cigarettes smoked, previous smoking cessation experience, smoking-related symptoms, and smoking cessation education needs were found to influence psychosocial constructs significantly. CONCLUSION: The significant psychosocial predictors and demographic and smoking-related characteristics defined in the present study appear to be potent and promising predictors of smoking cessation behavior stages for a cohort of Chinese students studying in Korea.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; Cohort Studies ; Education ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Korea* ; Psychology ; Smoke* ; Smoking Cessation* ; Smoking* ; Tobacco Products ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Purpose: This study investigated the mediating effects of acceptance action on the relationship between diabetes distress and self-stigma in older adults with diabetes. Methods: A descriptive research approach was adopted using 187 patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus by an endocrinology doctor. The data were collected from 26 to 31 March, 2020 and were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient analysis, and hierarchical multiple regression. Results: The mean scores for diabetes distress, self-stigma, and acceptance action were 2.98±0.64, 2.54±0.74, and 4.16±0.35, respectively. Acceptance action partially mediated the relationship between diabetes distress and self-stigma (z=1.98, p=.024), with an explanatory power of 51.0%. Conclusion To reduce diabetes self-stigma among old adults in diabetes distress situations, it is necessary to improve their acceptance action and develop step-by-step differentiated acceptance action enhancement programs through multidisciplinary collaborations.

Chronic alcoholism is considered a common cause of malnutrition. Especially, micronutrient deficiency may playa critical role in the incidence of alcoholic liver diseases. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of folate deficiency and ethanol consumption on cholesterol metabolism and the antioxidative system in rats. Plasma concentration of total cholesterol was increased by ethanol administration in folate-fed rats. HDL-cholesterol tended to be higher in the folate-fed group, but it was not significant. The plasma and hepatic levels of malondialdehyde were increased after chronic ethanol feeding, but dietary folate depressed the plasma malondialdehyde content of rats. Ethanol or folate feeding did not significantly change alcohol dehydrogenase activity. But folate feeding increased catalase activity in ethanol-fed rats. There was no significant change in superoxide dismutase activity among the experimental groups. Glutathione peroxidase activity tended to decrease by chronic ethanol feeding, but dietary folate did not affectthe glutathione peroxidase activity of chronic ethanol-fed rats. Glutathionine-S-transferase activity was not affected by ethanol feeding or folate deficiency. The plasma and hepatic levels of retinol decreased after chronic ethanol feeding. The hepatic level of retinol significantly decreased in ethanol-fed rats by folate deficiency. The plasma level of alpha-tocopherol tended to be low in the folate deficient group with ethanol feeding, but there was no difference among the experimental groups in the hepatic level of alpha-tocopherol. These results demonstrate that chronic ethanol consumption changes the plasma cholesterol metabolism and antioxidative system of rats, and optimal folate feeding in ethanol-fed rats exerts protective effects to some extent.
Alcohol Dehydrogenase ; Alcoholism ; alpha-Tocopherol ; Animals ; Catalase ; Cholesterol* ; Ethanol ; Folic Acid* ; Glutathione Peroxidase ; Incidence ; Liver Diseases, Alcoholic ; Malnutrition ; Malondialdehyde ; Metabolism ; Micronutrients ; Plasma* ; Rats* ; Superoxide Dismutase ; Vitamin A

PURPOSE: This study examined and compared the associations of the iron status and food intake with the blood lead, mercury, and cadmium concentrations among Korean adolescent girls, premenopausal women, and postmenopausal women. METHODS: The data from the 2010~2011 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) was used. The subjects were classified into three groups: adolescent girls (n = 268), premenopausal women (n = 1,157), and postmenopausal women (n = 446). The iron status was assessed by hemoglobin, hematocrit, serum ferritin, and iron concentrations, as well as the total iron binding capacity (TIBC). The food intake was estimated by a food frequency questionnaire. RESULTS: The blood heavy metal concentrations and poisoning rate in postmenopausal women were higher than in the other groups. The iron status in the adolescent girls and postmenopausal women was higher than that in the premenopausal women. In the adolescent girls, the iron status was inversely associated with the blood cadmium concentration. The dairy food intake was inversely related to the blood lead and cadmium concentrations. In premenopausal women, the iron status was inversely associated with the cadmium concentrations. The fish and shellfish food intakes were positively associated with the mercury concentrations. In postmenopausal women, the iron status was positively associated with the mercury and cadmium concentrations. Fast foods and fried foods were inversely associated with the lead concentration. CONCLUSION: The premenopausal women showed a lower iron status than the adolescent girls and postmenopausal women. The associations of the iron status with the blood heavy metal concentrations were different among the adolescent girls, premenopausal women, and postmenopausal women. In addition, the relationships of the food intakes with the blood heavy metal concentrations differed among adolescent girls, premenopausal women, and postmenopausal women. Further studies will be needed to confirm these findings.
Adolescent* ; Cadmium ; Eating* ; Fast Foods ; Female* ; Ferritins ; Hematocrit ; Humans ; Iron* ; Korea* ; Nutrition Surveys* ; Poisoning ; Shellfish

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to examine the effect of the body shape discordance, the difference between true body type based on body mass index (BMI) and self-recognized body image, on nutrient intake, weight control attempt, and mental health in Korean adults. METHODS: Subjects were persons aged 19~64 years (4,382 men and 6,226 women) who participated in the 2010~2012 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Subjects were categorized as RL (Group recognized as lighter than BMI criteria), RA (Group with agreement between BMI criteria and self-recognized body image), and RH (Group recognized as heavier than BMI criteria) according to the difference between actual body type based on BMI and self-recognized body image. RESULTS: Means of BMI in RH groups were lower than or equal to that of RA groups in all groups. No significant differences in total energy intake were observed among the three groups in men, but total energy intake was higher in the RL group than in the RH group in 30~49 year old women. Proportion of carbohydrate was the highest in the RL group among 30~49 year old women. RH groups paid more attention to weight control and had less weight gain than other groups. Higher proportions of depressive symptoms were reported in the RH group in 19~29 year old men, while a higher proportion of depressive symptoms were reported in the RL group in 50~64 year old men. CONCLUSION: The current findings suggest an association of perceiving body shape with energy intake, weight control attempt, or depressed mood in some age groups. Body image perception can influence eating, weight control attempt, and depressed mood, therefore proper body image perception should be established in Korean adults.
Adult* ; Body Image* ; Body Mass Index ; Depression ; Eating ; Energy Intake ; Female ; Humans ; Korea* ; Male ; Mental Health* ; Nutrition Surveys* ; Somatotypes ; Weight Gain

Of the congenital coronary artery fistulae, the multiple coronary artery microfistulae, arising from the left and right coronary artery emptying into the left ventricle, are very rare. Little is known about their anatomic and clinical features, especially in apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The clinical findings are heterogeneous, but include, in most cases, a history of typical or atypical angina pectoris. A 67 year old woman was referred for evaluation of chest pain on exertion, and a shortness of breath. The electrocardiographic and echocardiographic findings were typical of apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Coronary arteriography showed normal epicardial coronary arteries, but multiple coronary artery-left ventricular microfistulae arising from the left and right coronary arteries. Transthoracic Doppler echocardiography, using a high frequency transducer, with a low Nyquist limit, demonstrated multiple coronary artery-left ventricular microfistulae just beneath the apical impulse window.
Aged ; Angina Pectoris ; Angiography ; Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic ; Chest Pain ; Coronary Vessels ; Dyspnea ; Echocardiography ; Echocardiography, Doppler* ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Fistula ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Transducers ; Vascular Fistula

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is associated with repetitive head injury and has distinctive neuropathological features that differentiate this disease from other neurodegenerative diseases. Intraneuronal tau aggregates, although they occur in different patterns, are diagnostic neuropathological features of CTE, but the precise mechanism of tauopathy is not known in CTE. We performed whole RNA sequencing analysis of post-mortem brain tissue from patients with CTE and compared the results to normal controls to determine the transcriptome signature changes associated with CTE. The results showed that the genes related to the MAP kinase and calcium-signaling pathways were significantly downregulated in CTE. The altered expression of protein phosphatases (PPs) in these networks further suggested that the tauopathy observed in CTE involves common pathological mechanisms similar to Alzheimer's disease (AD). Using cell lines and animal models, we also showed that reduced PPP3CA/PP2B phosphatase activity is directly associated with increases in phosphorylated (p)-tau proteins. These findings provide important insights into PP-dependent neurodegeneration and may lead to novel therapeutic approaches to reduce the tauopathy associated with CTE.
Alzheimer Disease ; Brain ; Brain Injury, Chronic* ; Cell Line ; Craniocerebral Trauma ; Gene Expression Profiling* ; Humans ; Models, Animal ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; Phosphoprotein Phosphatases ; Phosphotransferases ; Sequence Analysis, RNA ; Tauopathies* ; Transcriptome*