The type-specific PCR and the sequence analysis of 56 kDa gene of Orientia tsutsugamushi infected in field rodents specimens have shown intratypic genetic heterogeneity in genotype Karp. In sequence comparison, this genetic heterogeneity was mainly due to insertion or deletion of a repeated unit in variable domain I (VDI) region. These results suggested that genetic duplication or deletion of the specific sequence rnight be involved in intratypic genetic heterogeneity of Orientia tsutsugamushi.
Genetic Heterogeneity* ; Genotype* ; Orientia tsutsugamushi* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Rodentia ; Sequence Analysis

There are increasing interest and need for information on health care consumer with the significance of hospital marketing and strategic planning being increasingly emphasized. This study was conducted to investigate the criteria for selection of medical facilities according to the characteristics of health care consumer by the types of medical services on a sample of 1,500 population aged 20 years and above. Major findings are as follows; 1. When considering the criteria for selection of medical facilities into two factors, namely, quality or convenience factors, convenience factor was the major contributor for outpatient and dental services whereas it was quality factor for inpatient services. 2. Females and those residing in large cities selected medical facilities based on convenience factor in the outpatient services. In the case of inpatient service, persons who considered their present health status to be good and whose ages were 50 years old and above choose medical facilities based on quality factor. 3. Persons who considered medical facilities to be profit-making tended to choose medical facilities based on convenience factor for outpatient services. There were no differences in the cases of inpatient and dental services. 4. There was no significant difference on the criteria for selection of medical facilities according to the decision maker for selection or trust on medical facilities. On the use of health service information, selection of medical facilities was based on qPality factor for those who made more use of the information in the cases of outpatient and dental services. 5. Analysis using the logistic regression model on the criteria for the selection of medical facilities with the characteristics of health care consumer as independent variables was performed. The selection of medical facilities was significantly related with residential area, sex, and use of information on medical facilities for outpatient services and with age, average monthly income, and perception of health status for inpatient services. For dental services significant association with residential area and use of information on medical facilities was seen. The results of this study, despite some limitations, can be used as baseline data for marketing and strategic planning of hospital management.
Delivery of Health Care ; Female ; Health Services ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Logistic Models ; Marketing ; Middle Aged ; Outpatients ; Patient Selection

No abstract available.
Bile Ducts, Extrahepatic*

Service diversification is recognized as an important strategy against turbulent environmental change. This study is designed to find out the trend of service diversification in Korean health care organizations and also to identify factors associated with the degree of service diversification. Data were collected from 69 hospitals out of 71 hospitals with over 300 beds. Important findings are summarized below. 1. Types of diversification are closely related to hospital size. Large hospitals have a tendency to provide sophisticated service requiring specialized skills and equipment, while small hospital have concentrated their efforts on health screening programs. 2. The more competitive and bigger hospitals are, the greater number of services that provide. Also, hospitals operating rational management information systems provide more services. Contrary to the expectation, hospitals with a low performance during last 3 years showed more service diversification. 3. A trend of more diversification was observed in hospitals whose chief executive officer used a prospector strategy. 4. A multiple regression analysis revealed that bed size, competitive environment, degree of rational management, and the growth pattern were significantly associated with teh service diversification.
Delivery of Health Care ; Health Facility Size ; Hospital Bed Capacity ; Management Information Systems ; Mass Screening

No abstract available.
Child* ; Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic* ; Humans

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to investigate influencing factors on recovery among alcoholics. METHODS: The participants were 123 hospitalized patients with alcohol use disorder in two hospitals in Gyeonggi province. The data were collected from May 16 to June 4, 2012 using self-report questionnaires including Hanil Alcohol Insight Scale, Alcohol Abstinence Self-Efficacy Scale, and Recovery Scale. The data were analyzed using the SPSS/Win 18.0 program with descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficient and regression analysis. RESULTS: Recovery is positively related to abstinence self-efficacy and duration of abstinence. Recovery differed by insight type, gender, and occupation. Insight, duration of abstinence, gender, and occupation accounted for 59.1% of the variance in recovery of the alcoholics. CONCLUSION: The influencing factors on recovery among alcoholics were insight, duration of abstinence, gender, and occupation. Programs focusing on insight, abstinence self-efficacy, and abstinence maintenance should be developed and provided. When developing the programs, the environmental context in which the alcoholics work should be considered.
Alcoholics ; Humans ; Occupations ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Recovery of Function

The original version of the article contained a mistake.

No abstract available.
Dermoscopy ; Hair Diseases ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Pruritus

BACKGROUND: Intravenous catheter-related complication among the hospitalized patients has been increasing recently in Korea, since many hospitals has tried to save expenses by replacing the foreign-made catheter with domestic-made intravenous catheter. We studied the incidence rate of catheter-related complication and compared the incidence of catheter-related complication between domestic-made and foreign-made ones. We also studied to elucidate whether the morphologic characteristics of the intravenous catheter will effect the incidence of catheter-related complication. METHOD: From July 1 to Sept 30, 1998, we surveyed the incidence rate of intravenous catheter-related complication among the hospitalized patients in the wards of Medicine. Surgery, Obstetric, and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Guro Hospital, Korea University Medical center. We also compared the incidence of complication between domestic-made catheter (catheter A) and foreign-made catheter (catheter B) of three different gages (24G, 22G and 18G). The morphologic characteristics of intravenous catheters has been studied by electron microscopy. RESULT: Complication associated with use of intravenous catheter had been occurred 263 out of 459 cases (57.3%), among those cases, non-infectious complication and infectious complication were 173 cases (37.7%) and 90 cases (19.6%), respectively. Totally, catheter A group showed higher complication than catheter B group [62.0% (160/258) vs 51.2% (103/201), P=.021]. Analysis on the incidence rate of complication according to the products did not show significant differences in the noninfectious complication in every gage groups. However the infectious complication occurred higher in the domestic-made catheter A group than among the foreign-made catheter B group [(24G: 6% vs 0%, P=.026), (22G: 25.6% vs 9.6%, P=.001), (18G: 36.8% vs 13.4%, P=.002)]. Duration of catheter life did not show the difference between catheter A group and catheter B group [48.5hrs vs 50.3hrs, P=.474]. The analysis on risk factors for complication showed that catheter A group is highly related (odd ratio 1.85). The morphologic analysis of the catheter by using electron microscopy showed that the angles in the tip of the introducing needle of catheter Aand catheter Bare 60degrees and 45degrees , respectively, and the bevel between introducing needle and catheter sheath are 50degrees and 27degrees, respectively. CONCLUSION: There was a higher incidence rate of complication related to domestic-made catheter usage, which might influence increasing the period of the hospitalization and the expenses due to the complication. The study of cost effectiveness analysis needs to be performed regarding intravenous catheter-related complication. Morphologically, catheter A showed more blunt angle in the tip and transition area of the introducing needle than the angle of catheter B, which is considered to influence the higher complication incidence. It needs to improve the quality of domestic-made intravenous catheter.
Academic Medical Centers ; Catheter-Related Infections ; Catheters ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Female ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Incidence* ; Infant, Newborn ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Korea ; Microscopy, Electron ; Needles ; Obstetric Surgical Procedures ; Prospective Studies* ; Risk Factors

PURPOSE: The Purposes of this article are to illustrate the typical imaging features of eight patients with this syndrome and to discuss the advantage of each imaging modality with a concise review of literatures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed plain skull radiographs (6), computd tomographic(CT) scans(8), magnetic resonnance(MR) images(4) and cerebral angiograms(3) of eight patients with Sturge-Weber syndrome. We analyzed the radiographic findings of Stu rge-Weber syndrome and compared the findings of CT, MR and angiography. RESULTS: Plain radiographs showed characteristic gyriform calcifications(3) after 2 years of age. CT scans excellently demonstrated cortical calcifications(5), prominently enhancing choroid plexi(5) and dilated periventricular veins(2). MR revealed dilated deep cerebral veins as tubular or spot-like signal void structures at periventricular areas(3) and showed stripes of cortical enhancement after gadolinium infection(2). Angiograph showed dilated tortuous medullary and deep cerebral veins(3) as the collateral pathways of blood shunting. MR was superior to CT in the detection of parenchymal atrophy, venous abnormalities and the extent of angiomatous involvement. Angiography showed enlarged deep cerebral or medullary veins better than MR imaging. CONCLUSION: We think that each imaging modalit including CT, MR or angiography has unique advantages in the diagnosis of this syndrome but MR will be used frequently because of its superior ability for the detection of atrophy, vascular abnormalities and direct visualization of leptomeningeal angiomatosis with contrast enhancement.
Angiography ; Angiomatosis ; Atrophy ; Cerebral Veins ; Choroid ; Diagnosis ; Gadolinium ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Retrospective Studies ; Skull ; Sturge-Weber Syndrome* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Veins