No abstract available.
Adult* ; Growth Hormone* ; Humans

In their embryology, Aristotle and Galen greatly disagreed on the role of human derived materials like menstrual blood and vaginal secretion (called by them female sperm or semen). This gap made those two ancients also disagree on their understanding of mother's role in the generation of the human body in her womb. During the Middle Ages, especially during the thirteenth century, the scholastics drew on those two ancient thoughts for some rational underpinnings of their philosophical and theological doctrines. However, the manners of adoption and assimilation were varied. For example, Albert the Great strived to reconcile the two in the image of Avicenna, one of the main and the most important sources of Galenist medicine in the thirteenth Century. By contrast, those scholastics who played an important role in the controversy over plurality/unicity of the substantial form, drew on their disagreements. For example, pluralists like Bonaventure, William of la Mare, and Duns Scotus appealed to Galenist medical perspective to underpin their positions and paved ways to decorate Virgin Mary's motherhood and her active contribution to the Virgin birth and to the manhood of her Holy Son. in contrast a unicist like Thomas Aquinas advanced his theory in line with Aristotelian model that Mary's role in her Son's birth and manhood was passive and material. Giles, another unicist, while repudiating Galenist embryology with the support of Averroes's medical work called Colliget, alluded to some theologically crucial impieties with which might be associated some pluralists' Mariology based on the Roman physician's model. In this processus historiae, we can see not only the intertwining of medieval medicine, philosophy, and theology, but some critical moments where medicine provided, side by side with philosophy, natural settings and explanations for religious marvels or miracles such as the Virgin birth, the motherhood of Mary, the manhood of Christ, etc. Likewise, we can observe two medieval maxims coincide and resonate: “philosophia ancilla theologiae” and “philosophia et medicina duae sorores sunt.”
Embryology ; Female ; Human Body ; Humans ; Parturition ; Philosophy ; Spermatozoa ; Theology

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: There are several factors affecting the result of the ossiculoplasty such as the severity of the pathology, the operating technique and the reconstruction material, etc. So far, most of the ossicular materials that have been developed were not perfect and some of the commercialized materials are not suitable for Koreans. We investigated the dimensions of the Korean ossicles and the space between the handle of the malleus and the plane of the stapes in order to standardize the artificial ossicles to fit Koreans. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixteen cadaveric Korean temporal bones which did not have any pathology of tympanic membrane and ossicles were used for this study. We dissected the temporal bones and measured the related dimensions of ossicles under a surgical microscope. RESULTS: The dimensions of the part of ossicles are as follows: (1) length (mm),1) malleus head 3.46+/-0.57, neck 0.91+/-0.17, handle 4.40+/-0.29: 2) incus short process 2.42+/-0.35, long process 3.31+/-0.57: 3) stapes head and neck 0.79+/-0.19, height of crura 2.24+/-0.34: (2) diameter (long, short) (mm), stapes head 0.95+/-0.20, 0.73+/-0.11, footplate 2.91+/-0.20, 1.38+/-0.16. The distance between the stapes head and the malleus handle was 3+/-0.3 mm, and between the stapes footplate and the malleus handle 5.1+/-0.4 mm. The angle between a line from the malleus handle to the head of stapes and a perpendicular line of stapes footplate passing the center of stapes head was 29+/-7 degree. The angle between a line from the malleus handle to the stapes footplate and a perpendicular line of stapes footplate passing the center of stapes head was 17+/-5 degree. CONCLUSION: We collected normal data of dimensions of the Korean ossicles from cadaveric temporal bones. The differences in the dimensions between ossicles of the Korean and the non-Koreans were observed. The observed data from this study should be useful in the development of the artificial ossicular materials suitable for the Koreans.
Cadaver ; Head ; Incus ; Malleus ; Neck ; Pathology ; Stapes ; Temporal Bone ; Tympanic Membrane

No abstract available.
Craniopharyngioma*

The seasonal variations in the parameters of calcium metabolism including 25-hydroxyvitamin D were analyzed in 19 free-living elderly subjects (mean age:68.7±6.7 yr) in Seoul. Mean serum total calcium concentration was 9.0±0.3 mg/dl in March and had risen to 9.3±0.3mg/dl in the following September(p<0.001). Despite their comparable calcium intake. Serum phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase concentrations did not show any seasonal variations, whereas serum PTH concentrations were significantly lower in September than in March(20.1±8.6 vs. 32.5±8.4 pg/ml, p<0.001). Seasonal changes in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations were also found between the value(17.3±6.9 ng/ml) in March and that (28.5±7.4 ng/ml) in September(p<0.001). There was a significant correlation between seasonal increase in 25-hydroxyvitamin D and seasonal reduction in serum PTH/Cr(r=-0.5394, p<0.05). This study suggests that the winter minimum of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration and the elevated PTH may be a contributing risk factor for the development of osteopenia especially in the elderly individuals. When exposure to sunlight is reduced, as in the case of nursing home population, an additional exogenous form of the vitamin D may be advisable.
Aged ; Alkaline Phosphatase ; Bone Diseases, Metabolic ; Calcium ; Geriatrics ; Humans ; Metabolism ; Nursing Homes ; Phosphorus ; Risk Factors ; Seasons ; Seoul ; Sunlight ; Vitamin D

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of bone mineral density on life styles, dietary habits and nutrient intakes among the male college students. The subjects were divided into four groups; Q1 (calcaneus BMD < 25 percentile, n = 117), Q2 (25 percentile < or = calcaneus BMD < 50 percentile, n = 118), Q3 (50 percentile < or = calcaneus BMD < 75 percentile, n = 118), Q4 (calcaneus BMD > or = 75 percentile, n = 116). And they were asked about general characteristics, life style, dietary habit, and nutrient intake using questionnaire and 24-hr recall method. They were measured the bone mineral density of calcaneus using quantitative ultrasound. The average age of the subjects of the study was 23.0 years and the average height, weight, and BMI were 174.7 cm, 69.0 kg, 22.5 kg/m2. The bone mineral density in calcaneus was 0.43 g/cm2 in Q1, 0.50 g/cm2 in Q2, 0.56 g/cm2 in Q3, and 0.69 g/cm2 in Q4 (p < 0.001). The results showed that Q1 tended to have irregular exercise compared to the other three groups. Compared with Q1 and Q2, the frequency of skipping breakfast was lower in Q3 and Q4. Also the results showed that the Q4 was significantly more often to drink coffee compared with the other three groups (p < 0.01). The mean daily energy intake was 2210.6 kcal (88.4% of RDA). The intake of energy, vitamin B2, calcium, and zinc did not meet the Korean RDA. Also the Q2 consumed significantly lower intakes of protein (p < 0.05) and plant protein (p < 0.05) compared to the Q3 and Q4. The Q1 and Q2 consumed significantly lower intakes of vitamin B2 (p < 0.01) compared to the Q3 and Q4. In conclusion, male student in lower bone mineral density appeared to have unhealthy life styles and dietary habits in terms of irregular exercise, high frequency of skipping breakfast and lower intakes of protein, vitamin B2 showing a strong need proper education on meal practices and exercise habits for the bone health.
Bone Density* ; Breakfast ; Calcaneus ; Calcium ; Coffee ; Education ; Energy Intake ; Food Habits* ; Humans ; Life Style* ; Male* ; Meals ; Plants ; Riboflavin ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Ultrasonography ; Zinc

A 31-year-old woman admitted because of fever, chilling and sore throat for 4 days. The symptom was developed after receiving methimazole 20mg per day and carteolol 10mg per day due to Graves disease during last 4 weeks. Physical examination revealed hyperemic enlarged tonsils with whitish plaque. The peripheral blood total neutrophil count was 1,400/mm3 (absolute neutrophil count, ANC 36) and a peripheral blood smear revealed rare neutrophil with lymphocytosis. On the first day of hospitalization, the patient was severely ill with ANC 0, it was decided to administer G-CSF 2ug/kg daily. On the fifth day of hospitalization, ANC in peripheral blood count was persistently zero and bone marrow aspiration and biopsy were performed, which revealed hypocellularity and myeloid hypoplasia. G-CSF given daily for 7days, it was discontinued when the ANC reached 1,539/mm3. The availability of G-CSF may help to shorten the course of agranulocytosis and to reduce its mortality rate.
Adult ; Agranulocytosis* ; Biopsy ; Bone Marrow ; Carteolol ; Colony-Stimulating Factors* ; Female ; Fever ; Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor* ; Granulocytes* ; Graves Disease ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Lymphocytosis ; Methimazole* ; Mortality ; Neutrophils ; Palatine Tonsil ; Pharyngitis ; Physical Examination

BACKGROUND: It is well known that growth hormone (GH) stimulates animal growth, but studies on metabolic effects of growth hormone have recently been increasing. The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects of growth hormone treatment on body composition and glucose metabolism in hypophysectomized growth hormone-deficient rats. METHODS: The 20-week-old rnale Sprague-Dawley rats were hypophysectomized and replaced with cortisol and thyroxine for 8 weeks, then administered with recombinant human growth hormone for 2 weeks. Group 1 consisted of intact controls (n 15), while group 2 consisted of hypophysectomized controls (n 12), and group three consisted of those with GH treatment (n 13). The body weights, body composition, blood glucose levels, plasma insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) levels, euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp test, and glycogen synthase activities in gastrocnemius muscle were measured before and after growth hormone treatment. RESULTS: Plasma IGF-I levels in GH-treated group increased to intact control group levels after 2 weeks of GH treatment. There were significant changes in body composition after the treatment (fat mass significantly decreased and lean body mass significantly increased). There were no changes in glucose metabolism in peripheral tissue after 2 weeks of GH treatment. CONCLUSION: Human GH treatment (4 IU/kg/day) in adult hypophysectomized GH-deficient rats changed the body composition, but did not alter the glucose metabolism in peripheral tissue.
Adult* ; Animals ; Blood Glucose ; Body Composition* ; Body Weight ; Glucose* ; Glycogen Synthase ; Growth Hormone* ; Human Growth Hormone ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I ; Metabolism* ; Muscle, Skeletal ; Plasma ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Thyroxine

PURPOSE: To evaluate the patterns of preoperative pulmonary function tests(PFTs) and their correlation with postoperative pulmonary impairment in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis(AIS), who had orthopaedic operation with or without rib resection thoracoplasty. METHODS: The case records and radiographs of 79 patients(12, boys and 67, girls) of a mean age of 13.3 years(7-15 years) with AIS who underwent orthopaedic operations at the author's institute between 1997 and 2003 were reviewed. RESULTS: The average preoperative coronal Cobb measurement was 56 (range, 32-81 ). Thirty-one patients(39%) had normal values of of PFTs. Forty five patients(57%) with severe scoliosis(Cobb's angle 65-90 ) showed mild to moderate decrease on PFTs with FVC(73%), FEV1(79%), FEV25-75%(58 %). The severity of Cobb's angle were correlated with the decrease in FVC, FEV1, FEV25-75%(P< 0.05). Forty-three patients had thoracoplasty. Twenty-two(51%) of them had pleural effusions. Eleven patients among them had chest tube inserted postoperatively. But, none of the patients had any increased requirement of postoperative ventilatory support. The incidence of postoperative pulmonary effusion in patients with thoracoplasty was a 17-fold increase, compared to the patients without thoracoplasty(O.R.=17, chi-squared-test, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The fall in FVC and FEV1 of patients with mild to moderate scoliosis(Cobb's angle, below 65 ) was mild and was unlikely to be of clinical significance. It appeared that patients with severe AIS had mild to moderate restrictive patterns with reduced lung volumes. Performance of the thoracoplasty was the important risk factor for postoperative pulmonary complications in patients underwent surgical operation.
Adolescent* ; Chest Tubes ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lung ; Pleural Effusion ; Reference Values ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Ribs ; Risk Factors ; Scoliosis* ; Thoracoplasty

No abstract available.
Bone Density* ; Gonads*