Eyes as an exposed organ of human body are easily contaminated from environment including air and water and by bacteria on skin of hands and eyelids. Recently the contamination of environment is increasing and new generations of antibiotics are introduced and moreover their abuse is also serious, especially in Korea. All those factors seem to make the normal flora of conjunctiva change. It is true that psychosocial activity and environment change according to age. Therefore the authors investigated bacterial flora of the eye on 408 eyes of 408 Koreans without any inflammations. They were subdivided into eight groups by difference of psychosocial behaviour. In this study overall positive culture rate was 37.5% and total 168 isolates and 19 species were cultured. Major organisms were Staphylococcus epidermidis(42.8%), Staphylococcus aureus(19.0%) and Diphtheroid(14.8%). The rate of positive culture was 26.5% in the neonatal period, 53.3% in the infany, 42.7% in the preschool period, 48.5% in the late childhood, 32.7% in the adolescence, 27.1% in the adulthood, 43.6% in the middle age, and 41.9% in the old age. The highest rate of positive culture was 53.3% of the infancy and the lowest rate 26.5% of the neonatal period. It is interest that this study revealed the difference between male and female. The mean of positive culture rate was similar: 35.5% in male and 39.5% in fernale. The positive culture rate in female was much higher in the preschool period, the late childhood and the old age than in other periods; much lower in the adolescence and the adulthood. There was no significant difference in positive culture rate of each period in male, except the lowest rate in neonatal period and the highest rate in the infancy. The big difference of positive culture between male and female was shown in the late childhood and the adulthood. In the late childhood, female has much higher rate than male and much lower rate in the adulthood. As the result of this study, the authors concluded that normal flora of bacteria in conjunctiva was affected by psychosocial activity and environment according to age.
Adolescent ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Bacteria ; Conjunctiva* ; Eyelids ; Family Characteristics ; Female ; Hand ; Human Body ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Korea ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Skin ; Staphylococcus

No abstract available.
Female ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Ectopic*

BACKGROUND: Levobupivacaine appears attractive as epidural analgesia because it is less cardio- and neurotoxic than its racemic mixture. This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of two different concentrations of levobupivacaine infused epidurally as analgesia for elderly patients undergoing abdominal surgery. METHODS: This prospective study evaluated the quality of postoperative analgesia, the six graded physical activity score, the time to the first passage of flatus, the time to the first oral intake of clear fluid, and the postoperative hospital stay in patients who received a continuous thoracic epidural infusion of levobupivacaine at two different concentrations over a 48 hour period: Group 0.2% (n = 15) or Group 0.25% (n = 15). The incidence of side effects, such as motor block, hypotension, and bradycardia, was also assessed. RESULTS: There were no differences with regard to the verbal numerical rating scale at rest and cough, the total consumption of rescue analgesia, the incidence of side effects, and the overall satisfaction. The physical activity scores at postoperative 24 and 48 hours were similar in both groups. However, the time to the first passage of flatus and time to the first oral intake of clear fluid was significantly faster in Group 0.25% than in Group 0.2% (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The continuous thoracic epidural infusion of levobupivacaine in elderly patients after abdominal surgery at both 0.2% and 0.25% provides a similar quality of analgesia without any significant motor block. However, increasing the concentration to 0.25% provides a more rapid return of the bowel function but does not shorten the postoperative hospital stay.
Aged* ; Analgesia* ; Analgesia, Epidural ; Bradycardia ; Cough ; Flatulence ; Humans ; Hypotension ; Incidence ; Length of Stay ; Motor Activity ; Prospective Studies

Androgen insensitivity syndrome is a genetic syndrome characterized by complete or partial resistance of end organs to the peripheral effect of androgen. The phenotype of this condition is female, despite the normal male karyotype 46,XY. This is the third most common cause of primary amenorrhea after gonadal dysgenesis and mullerian agenesis. There is a congenital insensitivity to androgens, transmitted by means of a maternal X-linked recessive gene responsible for the androgen intracellular receptor. Prophylactic gonadectomy in usually performed due to increased risk for development of malignancy and possible virilization. Pelviscopy provides a minimally invasive technique for the accurate diagnosis and also provides the opportunity for therapeutic management of these patients. Recently we experienced two cases of this syndrome and removed the gonad by pelviscopic surgery, so we presented them with brief review of literature.
Amenorrhea ; Androgen-Insensitivity Syndrome* ; Androgens ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Genes, Recessive ; Gonadal Dysgenesis ; Gonads ; Humans ; Karyotype ; Male ; Phenotype ; Virilism

Objective: To calculate the numbers of weekly infections and prevalence of malaria, and to predict future trend of malaria incidences in South Korea. Methods: Weekly incidences of malaria for 13 years from the period 2001-2013 in South Korea were analyzed. The back-calculation equations were used with incubation period distributions. The maximum likelihood estimation for Poisson model was also used. The confidence intervals of the estimates were obtained by a bootstrap method. A regression model for time series of malaria incidences over 13 years was fitted by the non-linear least squares method, and used to predict futuretrend. Results: The estimated infection curve is narrower and more concentrated in the summer than in the incidence distribution. Infection started around the 19th week and was over around the 41st week. The maximum weekly infection 110 was obtained at the 29th week. The prevalence at the first week was around 496 persons, the minimum number was 366 at 22nd week, and the maximum prevalence was 648 at 34th week. Prevalence drops in late spring with people that falling ill and had had long incubation periods and rose in the summer with new infections. Our future forecast based on the regression model was that an increase at year 2014 compared to 2013 may reach a peak (at maximum about 70 weekly cases) at year 2015, with a decreasing trend after then. Conclusions: This work shows that back-calculation methods could work well in estimating the infection rates and the prevalence of malaria. The obtained results can be useful in establishing an efficient preventive program for malaria infection. The method presented here can be used in other countries where incidence data and incubation period are available.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the accuracy of the registered cause of death in a county and its related factors. METHODS: The data used in this study was based on 504 cases, in a county of Chonnam province, registered between January and December 1998. Study subjects consisted of 388 of the 504 cases, and their causes of death were established by an interview survey of the next of kin or neighbor and medical record surveys. We compared the registered cause of death with the confirmed cause of death, determined by surveys and medical records, and evaluated the factors associated with the accuracy of the registered cause of death. RESULTS: 62.6% of the deaths were concordant with 19 Chapters classification of cause of death. external causes of mortality, endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases, neoplasms and diseases of the circulatory system showed the good agreement between the registered cause of death and the confirmed cause of death. The factors relating to the accuracy of the registered cause of death were the doctors' diagnosis for the cause of death (adjusted Odds Ratio: 2.67, 95% Confidence Interval: 1.21-5.89) and the grade of the public officials in charge of the death registry (adjusted Odds Ratio: 0.30, 95% CI= 0.12-0.78). CONCLUSIONS: The accuracy of the registered cause of death was not high. It could be improved by using the doctors' diagnosis for death and improving the job specification for public officials who deal with death registration.
Cause of Death* ; Classification ; Diagnosis ; Jeollanam-do ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases ; Odds Ratio ; Vital Statistics

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to determine arterial stiffness levels as measured by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and to identify the association between arterial stiffness and inflammatory markers, in healthy adults over 50 years old. METHODS: The study population consisted of 4617 persons over the age of 50 years who participated in the baseline survey of the Dong-gu Study, which was conducted in 2007 and 2008. Arterial stiffness was measured using baPWV. A multiple regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between conventional cardiovascular risk factors and inflammatory markers, including white blood cell (WBC) counts, high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and gamma glutamyltransferase (GGT). RESULTS: After adjustment for conventional cardiovascular risk factors including sex, age, smoking status, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, fasting glucose, hypertension or diabetic medication, total cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid, and alanine aminotransferase, baPWV was significantly associated with WBC counts (beta=0.158, p<0.0001), hs-CRP (beta=0.244, p=0.026), and GGT (beta=0.003, p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: This study shows that arterial stiffness correlates with inflammatory markers. Arterial stiffness may be used as a composite risk factor to identify persons with higher risk for cardiovascular disease. Additionally, arterial stiffness may be a marker for future cardiovascular disease and a target for prevention.
Adult ; Aged ; Alanine Transaminase ; Blood Pressure ; Body Mass Index ; C-Reactive Protein ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cholesterol ; Fasting ; gamma-Glutamyltransferase ; Glucose ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Inflammation ; Leukocytes ; Pulse Wave Analysis ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Triglycerides ; Uric Acid ; Vascular Stiffness

C-arm fluoroscopy is useful equipment in interventional pain management because it helps to guide correct needle targeting for the accurate injection and drug delivery. However, due to increased use of C-arm fluoroscopy in various pain procedures, the risk of radiation exposure is a significant concern for pain physicians. The harmful biological effects of ionizing radiation on the human body are well known. It is therefore necessary to strive to reduce radiation exposure. Lead aprons with thyroid shields are the most fundamental radiation protective devices for interventional procedures, and are very effective. However, the operator's radiation safety cannot be guaranteed because pain physicians seem to lack sufficient interest, knowledge, and awareness about radiation safety. Also, inappropriate care and use of radiation protective devices may result in a higher risk of radiation exposure. The purpose of this article was to review the literature on radiation safety with a focus on lead aprons and thyroid shields and present recommendations related to those devices during C-arm fluoroscopic-guided interventions by pain physicians.
Fluoroscopy ; Human Body ; Needles ; Pain Management ; Protective Devices ; Radiation Exposure ; Radiation Protection ; Radiation, Ionizing ; Thyroid Gland

This study describes the purification and characterization of type II restriction endonuclease of Helicobacter pylori in order to understand the DNA restriction and modification of H. pylori. H. pylori cell extract was subjected to polyethyleneimine treatment, salt precipitation, heparine-sepharose column chromatography, and fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) using Resource Q column and Mono Q column to purify the type II restriction endonuclease. Hpy51-I was characterized to recognize the sequneces 5`-GT(G/C)AC-3`, yielding 5-base 5` protruding ends. The restriction sequence was identical to that of Tsp 45 I. The enzyme exhibited its maximal activity in the presence of 10-20 mM LaCl, but was inhibited completely in the presence of more than 80 mM NaCl. The enzyme showed its maximal activity in the presence of 1-10 mM MgC1(2). The optimal pH and temperature for enzyme activity was pH 9.0 and 37 degrees C, respectively. MnC1(2) could not substitute for MgC1(2) in reaction mixture. And addition of j3-mercaptoethanol and bovine serum albumin in reaction mixture led to loss of enzyme activity of Hpy51-I. The whole cell extract of H. pylori strain 51 was confirmed to carry the enzyme activity for methylation of Hpy51-I-recognised sequence. Hpy51-I digested genomic DNAs of enteric bacteria to less than I kb while it could not cut the genomic DNAs of H. pylori isolates. In this study, the type II restriction enzyme (Hpy51-I) of H. pylori was identified and characterized its biochemical properties, demonstrating that Hpy51-I might be one of the barriers for preventing the introduction of foreign DNAs into H. pylori.
Chromatography ; Chromatography, Liquid ; DNA ; DNA Restriction Enzymes* ; Enterobacteriaceae ; Helicobacter pylori* ; Helicobacter* ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Methylation ; Polyethyleneimine ; Serum Albumin, Bovine

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Diastolic dysfunction may develop in conjunction with or without systolic dysfunction in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The present study investigated the association between left arterial (LA) volume and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in 772 patients with AMI. METHODS: The patients were divided into groups according to LA volume index (LAVI) measured using echocardiography according to the American Society of Echocardiography guidelines: LAVI > or = 40 mL/m2 (Group I: n = 260, 191 males; age, 71.1 +/- 10.8 years) and LAVI < 40 mL/m2 (Group II: n = 512, 432 males; age, 62.8 +/- 12.7 years). The mean observational period was 314.2 +/- 134.6 days. RESULTS: Group I patients were older than those in Group II. Hypertension (56.8% vs. 46.0%, respectively; p = 0.007) and advanced Killip class (42.6% vs. 21.0%, respectively; p < 0.001) were more frequent in Group I than in Group II. MACE was more prevalent in Group I than in Group II (20.3% vs. 13.7%, respectively; p = 0.037). MACE-free survival rates were higher in Group II than in Group I during clinical follow-up. The multivariate analysis revealed that high LAVI was an independent predictor of mortality (hazard ratio, 3.002; confidedce interval, 1.051-8.569; p = 0.040). CONCLUSIONS: LA volume is an independent predictor of adverse cardiac events in patients with AMI, and the LAVI is useful for AMI risk stratification.
Echocardiography ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart Atria ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Male ; Mortality ; Multivariate Analysis ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Prognosis ; Survival Rate