Menarche is a main indicator of sexual maturity which relates to a reproductive function. The onset of the menstrual cycle differs individually and is influenced by many variables such as socio-economic situation, race, genetics, climate, altitude, nutritional status, and physical growth. Among them physical growth has been known to be the most influencing factor, particularly when expressed as body fat designated by weight. This study intended to investigate the body composition of girls around the menarche period and to evaluate the minimal levels of weight and fat percentage needed for the onset of menarche. A total of 101 female subjects, aged 11 to 13 years, were recruited from the 5th and 6th grades of an elementary school, in Mokpo, Korea. The subjects were placed into one of two groups Pre-menarche and Post-menarche groups according to their experience with menarche. Thereafter, the subjects in the Post-group were placed into 4 subgroups based on the number of menstruations they experienced: Post-I (1 - 3 times), Post-II (4 - 6 times), Post-III (7 - 9 times), and Post-IV (> 10 times). The average age at the onset of menarche of the subjects in Post groups was 11.2 +/- 0.6 years. There were significant differences in the data of anthropometry and body composition between the Pre and Post groups, although the mean ages of both Pre and Post groups were the same. Weight, waist, hip and thigh girths, fat percentage, and lean body mass of the Post groups were significantly higher than those of the Pre group. Height was not significantly different between the groups. Weight was highly correlated with body fat mass (r = 0.92, p < 0.001), fat percentage (r = 0.85, p < 0.001), and body mass index (r = 0.91, p < 0.001). These results indicate that weight, compared with height, reflects body composition well and influences the onset of the menstrual cycle. It could also be suggested that the minimal weight and fat percentage needed for the onset of menarche in Korean females are 41 kg and 17% to 19%, respectively.
Adipose Tissue* ; Altitude ; Anthropometry ; Body Composition ; Body Mass Index ; Body Weight ; Climate ; Continental Population Groups ; Female ; Female* ; Genetics ; Hip ; Humans ; Jeollanam-do ; Korea ; Menarche* ; Menstrual Cycle ; Menstruation ; Nutritional Status ; Thigh

This study was performed to determine the iron status of the adolescent Korean girls before and after menarche. The 101 subjects aged 11-13 years who attending in an elementary school in Mokpo were recruited. They were divided into pre-menarche (A) group or post-menarche (B) group based on their menstruation status. The latter subjects were sub-divided into one of the four groups according to the times of their menstruation B-I(> or =3 times), B-II (4-6 times), B-III (7-9 times) or B-W (> or =10 times). In the total subjects, dietary iron intake, 11.3 mg/day, was below the Korean RDA for iron, the percentage of heme iron to total iron intake, 15%, and the bioavailability of dietary iron, 12.3%, seemed to be low. And their body iron storage, 140.8 mg, seemed to be insufficient. However, they tended to meet body's iron requirement in the cell level. Red blood cell number (RBC), hematocrit (Hct), and hemoglobin (Hb) level in the total subjects were 4.5 1012/I, 39.3%, and 13.0 g/dl, respectively. The subjects in B group had lower (p<0.05) RBC and Hct compared to those in A group and the prevalence of iron-deficiency anemia tended to be high. Serum iron, ferritin, and soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) and sTfR:ferritin ratio were 86.7microgram/d, 17.6microgram/l, 3.58 mg/1, and 230, respectively. Those four indices were not significantly different among the groups. The results of this study imply that, although there a tendency to affect negatively iron status, menstrual blood loss in adolescent females does not deteriorate obviously their iron status during the relatively short period up to 1 you. However, it should be better to improve their iron status after starting menarche by increasing iron intake, especially heme-iron, and enhancing factors for iron absorption.
Absorption ; Adolescent* ; Anemia, Iron-Deficiency ; Biological Availability ; Erythrocytes ; Female* ; Ferritins ; Hematocrit ; Heme ; Humans ; Iron* ; Iron, Dietary ; Jeollanam-do ; Menarche* ; Menstruation ; Prevalence ; Receptors, Transferrin

No abstract available.
Krukenberg Tumor*

No abstract available.
Krukenberg Tumor*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop a Critical Pathway for Uterine Artery Embolization patients. METHOD: There were 6 steps that were taken. Step 1 was selecting a diagnosis, and Step 2 was organizing a development team consisting of 7 experts. Step 3 analyzed the medical records, and Step 4 drew up a preliminary Critical Pathway. Step 5 tested the clinical validity of the preliminary Critical Pathway, and Step 6 developed the final Critical Pathway. RESULT: The contents of the medical practices observed in the medical records were investigated in seven areas: monitoring/assessment, treatment, medication, diet, activity, consults, and education/discharge plan; and a total of 73 items was identified. The validity of the 73 items was examined by a group of specialists. 68 items were adopted, 4 items revised, 1 item removed, and 1 item was added. Using the results, a preliminary Critical Pathway was drawn up. According to the results from examining the clinical validity of the preliminary Critical Pathway with five patients for five weeks, 3 items which showed discrepancy were revised and another 3 items were added. Then, the final Critical Pathway was completed. CONCLUSION: This Critical Pathway needs to be clinically applied and continuously to measure its effects in terms of the length of stay, cost?effectiveness, and the patients' and staffs' satisfaction.
Critical Pathways* ; Diagnosis ; Diet ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Medical Records ; Specialization ; Uterine Artery Embolization* ; Uterine Artery*

A 52-year-old man was found dead in the driver's seat of his tank lorry. The tank lorry was used to transport industrial wastewater to a disposal plant; the material was transferred into a storage tank with the help of compressed air. The wastewater contained methylene chloride and 2-chloropyridine. No respiratory protective equipment was used while working under these conditions. The autopsy report showed extensive edema and congestion of the brain, lung, and intraperitoneal organs. The concentrations of methylene chloride in lung and brain were reported at 398 and 67 mg/kg, respectively.
Autopsy ; Brain ; Compressed Air ; Edema ; Estrogens, Conjugated (USP) ; Humans ; Lung ; Methylene Chloride ; Middle Aged ; Pyridines ; Waste Water

Trichilemmal horn(trichilemmal keratosis) is a rare keratinizing tumor that resembles a cutaneous horn. Histologically, it is characterized by an abrupt maturation of keratinocytes into lamellar keratin without the formation of a granular layer. We describe a case of a trichilemmal horn on the right cheek of a 78-year-old woman.
Aged ; Animals ; Cheek ; Female ; Horns* ; Humans ; Keratinocytes

Background: Cells have heterogeneous cellular diversity in size, morphology, cell cycle, metabolism, differentiation degree, and spatial distribution. The shift of specific cells towards the desired cells is crucial for maintaining uniform cellular function and can be represented by homogeneity and heterogeneity. Here, we developed a simple and direct method for evaluating the homogeneous distribution of desired cells in a constant region. Methods: We differentiated osteoclast progenitors into bone-resorbing multinucleated giant osteoclasts in a 2-dimensional culture plate under 2 conditions. Cells were stained with tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase to assess osteoclast differentiation, images were taken using a microscope and divided into sectors, and the number of osteoclasts (≥3 nuclei) in each sector was counted. To assess the homogeneity of the spatial distribution of osteoclasts, the standard deviation (SD) was calculated from the mean number of osteoclasts within each sector. Results: From the 2 groups, a value with a SD close to 0 indicates high spatial homogeneity while a relatively high SD represents low spatial homogeneity. Conclusions Our findings suggest that spatial homogeneity can be represented as SD.

Lactating women have an increased need of folate in the breastfeeding period and, as a consequence, may be in risk of folate deficiency. Folate content of breast milk, furthermore, is important for infants to support exponential growth. However, little is known about the folate content of breast milk from Korean lactating women and their folate nutritional status. In this study, therefore, we investigated the folate status of Korean lactating women and the folate content of their breast milk during extended lactation. A total of 10 subjects who delivered full-term infants participated this study voluntarily. Dietary folate intakes were measured and blood and breast milk were collected at 1, 2, 3, and 6 months postpartum. The women who did not take folic acid supplements failed to meet the recommended intake (RI) of folate for lactating women during all the study periods but those who did met the RI. The unsupplemented women showed lower plasma folate concentrations compared to the supplemented women and all the women were in suboptimal folate status determined by plasma folate concentration throughout the study periods. But the supplemented women showed lower prevalence of suboptimal folate status only at 3 or 6 months postpartum. Plasma folate concentrations of both groups decreased with the progression of lactation. Erythrocyte folate concentrations were not different between the two groups, however, that of the unsupplemented reduced further as time progressed. Plasma homocysteine levels were not different between the two groups. Concentrations of erythrocyte folate and plasma homocysteine were not changed throughout the study periods. Folate contents of their breast milk through the study periods were not different between the two groups and it decreased as lactation progressed in both groups. The results of this study suggest that the folate nutritional status of Korean lactating women might be deteriorated with the progression of lactation without folic acid supplements.
Breast Feeding ; Erythrocytes ; Female ; Folic Acid ; Homocysteine ; Humans ; Infant ; Korea ; Lactation ; Milk, Human ; Nutritional Status ; Plasma ; Postpartum Period ; Prevalence

Purpose: This study was attempted to identify the importance and performance of person-centered care in nurses in intensive care units (ICU) at general hospitals and to derive the priority of practical person-centered care needs and intervention by analysing their needs. Methods: A total of 156 ICU nurses who wrote a written consent participated in a survey questionnaire on person-centered critical care nursing (PCCN). The collected data were analyzed using paired t-test, Borich’s needs assessment, and the Locus for Focus Model. Results: All 15 items of person-centered care in ICU nurses were found to be significantly higher in perception of importance than performance level (t=17.98, p<.001). According to the analysis of Borich's needs and the Locus of Focus Model, person-centered care items with highest priority in ICU were therapeutic contact, comfort words and actions, and efforts to empathize with patients in the compassion category. Conclusion As a strategy to improve the person-centered nursing performance of ICU nurses in the ‘individuality’, it is necessary for ICU nurses to recognize the ICU patients as an individualized person, not as a disease or machine-dependent entity. Also, it is necessary to develop programs to improve the ICU nurses' compassion competence because ‘compassion’ was a top priority according to Borich's needs assessment model and the Locus for Focus Model.