No abstract available.
Aged* ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Motor Activity*

Bleaching creams containing hydroquinone are modestly effective in treating some cutane ous pigmentary disorders. Hydroquinone creams frequently cause mild irritant reactions and postinflammatory hyperpigmentation, but rarely allergic reactions. A case of allergic contact dermatitis due to hydroquinone in a 21-year-old woman was confirmed by the patch test.
Dermatitis, Allergic Contact* ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperpigmentation ; Hypersensitivity ; Patch Tests ; Young Adult

No abstract available.
Animals ; Rats* ; Urinary Bladder Neck Obstruction* ; Urinary Bladder*

This study was designed to identify the relationship between perceived social support and discernd powerlessness held by the elderly residing in a rural community. The purpose of this study was to contribute to theoretical understanding of the relationship of these two variables and eventually to the more effective adaptation of the elderly to their situation. The subjects for this study were the 89 elderly residing in a rural community. Data were collected by a questionnaire from June 2 to 20, 1998. The data were analysed by descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlated coefficient and stepwise multiple regression using a SAS program. The results of this study can be summarized as follows. 1. The relationship between perceived social support and discernd powerlessness was significant(r = -.23502, p=.0266). Especially, discernd elderly's powerlessness shows a highly significant relationship with family and neighborhood support(family r= -.45096, p=.0001, neighborhood r= -.35681, p=.0006). In the support patterns, the discernd powerlessness of the elderly has a significant relationship to emotional, informational and evaluational support. Therefore the hypothesis that, "the lower the degree of social support peiceived by the elderly, the higher the degree of discened powerlessness" was supported. 2. Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that the most powerful predictor of discened powerlessness was family support in support system (R2 = .2034), and emotional support (R2 = .0627) in support patterns. 3. General characteristic related to the degree of social support was only residential status(P< .05), but the degree of family support was related to spouse(t=2.390. p<.01). residential status(t= -2.157, p<.05), and household.
Aged* ; Family Characteristics ; Humans ; Residence Characteristics ; Rural Population*

Ganglia in soft tissue are common and usually occur in close relations with joints, tendon sheaths, or tendons. However, intra-osseous ganglia are very rare. We report a case of intra-osseous ganglion arising from the right sided proximal humerus in a 33 year-old woman. It was multiple cysts surrounded by thin rims of sclerotic bone in the subchondral epiphysis without other features of degenerative joint disease or destruction of adjacent soft tissue.
Female ; Humans ; Cysts

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this present study was to compare mouse embryo development in 3 commercial media and hatching competence of mouse embryo with or without enzymatic treatment. METHODS: Collected 375 mouse embryos were divided into three groups, and then cultured in IVF-20 (G2), Medicult IVF (M3), P-1 (blastocyst M), respectively. Three day mouse morulae were cultured in G2 media treated with pronase. The results were analyzed using Chi-square test, and considered statistically significant when p<0.01. RESULTS: The developmental rate of 2 cell mouse embryo after 72 hours was highest in IVF-20 (G2) among conventional 3 media. The hatching rate of mouse morulae was low when clultured in G2 media without pronase during 48 hours. However, it was higher when cultured in media treated with l mg/ml, 2.5 mg/ml, 5 mg/ml pronase, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Using good media and digestion of zona pellucida with enzymatic treatment improve development and hatching rate of embryo. Therefore, implantation and pregnancy rate could be improved.
Animals ; Digestion ; Embryonic Development ; Embryonic Structures* ; Female ; Mental Competency ; Mice* ; Morula ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Rate ; Pronase* ; Zona Pellucida

Most instances of choriocarcinoma of the ovary are gestational in origin. In contrast, nongestational choriocarcinoma of the ovary is an exceedingly rare primary germ cell neoplasm that has worse prognosis than gestational neoplasm. We report a case of pure nongestational choriocarcinoma of the ovary in view of the rarity of its kind. The patient was a 35-year-old Korean unmarried woman who had suffered from vaginal bleeding and feeling of abdominal inflation for two months. The X-ray studies and CT scanning revealed a child head sized cystic mass on the right pelvic cavity and multiple nodular densities in both lung fields and the liver. The mass in pelvic cavity was excised and histologically confirmed to be a nongestational pure choriocarcinoma, arising from the right side ovary.
Child ; Male ; Female ; Humans

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to describe and understand elementary school health teachers' role perception in their own perspectives. METHODS: Data were collected from three focus groups composed of five participants for each group. Each focus group had an interview for two and a half hours on the average. The main question was "What is your perception on the roles of health teachers in elementary schools?" Qualitative data from transcribed notes and field notes were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Five main roles were identified from the participants. The participants perceived themselves as 'an expert of health education in school and community', 'a health service provider for school members', 'a health guardian for school members', 'the coordinator of healthcare related works in school', and 'the leader of school health'. CONCLUSION: The participants have multiple role identities, which are very important for health management of school members. And the roles such as an expert of health education and a leader for school health are recently emphasized. The findings of this study can provide useful information to design orientation programs for newly appointed health teachers and continuing education programs for enhancing role performance of health teachers in elementary schools.
Delivery of Health Care ; Education, Continuing ; Focus Groups ; Health Education ; Health Services ; Humans ; School Health Services

BACKGROUND: Lipids of horny layer forming multiple lamellar structure in the intercellular space acts as a skin barrier having a primary protective function and keeps softness and flexibility of the skin by absorbing and maintaining moistures. Among the intercellular lipids, ceramides mainly contribute to this important role. In xerotic eczema, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, ichthyosis, and experimentally induced scaly lesion showing dryness and scales, the amount of ceramides is decreased or distribution of ceramide is changed. In addition to lipids, free amino acids, a component of NMFs, serve as a water retainer and are decreased in ichthyosis or experimentally induced scaly lesion. Hand eczema has dry and scaly lesion showing impaired skin barrier and low water content. So, changes of ceramides or free amino acids can be considered in the lesion of hand eczema. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to confirm the relationship between the development of hand eczema and changes of ceramides or free amino acids. METHOD: The lipids and free amino acids in scales from lesion of hand eczema were analyzed by using high performance thin layer chromatography and amino acid analyzer. RESULTS: Amounts of total lipids extracted were 0.63+/-0.33 microgram/cm2 in hand eczema and 0.44+/-0.26 microgram/cm2 in control. There was no difference between the two groups. Cholesterol sulfate, glucosyl ceramide, cholesterol, triglyceride, sterol ester, and n-alkane showed no difference between hand eczema and control. But ceramides were significantly decreased in hand eczema(11.0+/-5.5%) compared with control(21.4+/-8.0%)(p<0.05). Especially, ceramide type IV was significantly decreased in hand eczema (6.6+/-5.3%) compared with control(15.6+/-6.2%)(p<0.05) but ceramide type III in hand eczema did not differ from control. Amounts of total free amino acids in 10mg of scale were 10.4+/-3.1nmol in hand eczema and 9.5+/-3.0nmol in control. There was no significant difference between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Dry skin and scales in hand eczema are related to the decrease of total amount of ceramides and ceramide type IV than amino acids in horny layer. To clarify the exact pathogenesis of hand eczema, further investigations on all types of ceramides and their defect in the process on biosynthesis of ceramides will be necessary.
Amino Acids* ; Ceramides* ; Cholesterol ; Chromatography, Thin Layer ; Dermatitis ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Eczema* ; Extracellular Space ; Hand* ; Ichthyosis ; Pliability ; Psoriasis ; Skin ; Triglycerides ; Water ; Weights and Measures

BACKGROUND: Lipids of horny layer forming multiple lamellar structure in the intercellular space acts as a skin barrier having a primary protective function and keeps softness and flexibility of the skin by absorbing and maintaining moistures. Among the intercellular lipids, ceramides mainly contribute to this important role. In xerotic eczema, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, ichthyosis, and experimentally induced scaly lesion showing dryness and scales, the amount of ceramides is decreased or distribution of ceramide is changed. In addition to lipids, free amino acids, a component of NMFs, serve as a water retainer and are decreased in ichthyosis or experimentally induced scaly lesion. Hand eczema has dry and scaly lesion showing impaired skin barrier and low water content. So, changes of ceramides or free amino acids can be considered in the lesion of hand eczema. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to confirm the relationship between the development of hand eczema and changes of ceramides or free amino acids. METHOD: The lipids and free amino acids in scales from lesion of hand eczema were analyzed by using high performance thin layer chromatography and amino acid analyzer. RESULTS: Amounts of total lipids extracted were 0.63+/-0.33 microgram/cm2 in hand eczema and 0.44+/-0.26 microgram/cm2 in control. There was no difference between the two groups. Cholesterol sulfate, glucosyl ceramide, cholesterol, triglyceride, sterol ester, and n-alkane showed no difference between hand eczema and control. But ceramides were significantly decreased in hand eczema(11.0+/-5.5%) compared with control(21.4+/-8.0%)(p<0.05). Especially, ceramide type IV was significantly decreased in hand eczema (6.6+/-5.3%) compared with control(15.6+/-6.2%)(p<0.05) but ceramide type III in hand eczema did not differ from control. Amounts of total free amino acids in 10mg of scale were 10.4+/-3.1nmol in hand eczema and 9.5+/-3.0nmol in control. There was no significant difference between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Dry skin and scales in hand eczema are related to the decrease of total amount of ceramides and ceramide type IV than amino acids in horny layer. To clarify the exact pathogenesis of hand eczema, further investigations on all types of ceramides and their defect in the process on biosynthesis of ceramides will be necessary.
Amino Acids* ; Ceramides* ; Cholesterol ; Chromatography, Thin Layer ; Dermatitis ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Eczema* ; Extracellular Space ; Hand* ; Ichthyosis ; Pliability ; Psoriasis ; Skin ; Triglycerides ; Water ; Weights and Measures