PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to describe the perception and practice of hospital infection control of nursing staff in long-term care hospitals by the level of supplementation of nurses. METHODS: The participants were 212 nurses and nurse assistants in 13 long-term care hospitals in a metropolitan city and the data were gathered by self-reported questionnaires during August 2011 and analyzed by SPSS/WIN program. RESULTS: The beds per a nurse were 15, and the proportion of nurses among nursing staff in long-term care hospitals was about 33%. In general, the level of infection control in practice was lower than that of perception. The highest perception and practice domain was 'Management of disinfection/contamination', and the lower level domains were 'Personal hygiene' and 'Hand washing' There were statistically significant differences in the hospital infection control of perception and practice depending on age, education, career in long-term care hospital, job position, the quantity of beds, nurse, and nurse assistant, beds per a nurse and proportion of nurses in hospitals. CONCLUSION: According to these results, the systematic and continual education on hospital infection control of the nursing staff in long-term hospitals should be carried out. In addition, the policy to add more nurses into long-term care hospitals must be implemented.
Cross Infection ; Humans ; Infection Control ; Long-Term Care ; Nursing Staff ; Surveys and Questionnaires

No abstract available.
Cystatin C* ; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated* ; Humans

No abstract available.
Adipokines ; Diabetes, Gestational ; Female ; Humans ; Insulin Resistance ; Insulin ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women

Objectives: This study aimed 1) to investigate high school students’ reliability on COVID-19 responses in schools and private academies and 2) to identify the differences in COVID-19 prevention practice. Methods: This cross-sectional survey collected data from 200 high school respondents, using an anonymous online questionnaire designed by the Yonsei Global Health Center, from July 2 to 17, 2020 in this study. Chi-square tests were conducted to analyze the differences in preventative practices and practice rates between schools and private academies. Binary logistics regression analysis was conducted to identify the factor affecting the reliability of COVID-19 response. Results: These high school students reliabilityed the schools’ COVID-19 response more than the private academy. In addition, students who studied only at school did more COVID-19 prevention practices than students who studied both at school and academy. There was a significant difference in avoiding public transportation (p=.028), sitting in one row while having a meal (p=.011) in the practice rates depending on the schools’ COVID-19 response. A significant difference in Covering the mouth when coughing and sneezing (p-.041) was also found in the practice rates depending on the private academies’ COVID-19 response. Conclusion The reason why schools were more reliable than private academies was that there are health teachers. Because schools are supervised by the ministry of education, the Ministry of education and local government need to work together to manage and monitor the COVID-19 response in the academies through cooperation between two organizations. In addition, it is necessary to arrange a temporary circulation health teacher who will provide the COVID-19 prevention education at the academies.

The role of amino acids in culture media for IVF-ET was examined in a total of 76 cycles. Patients received clomiphene citrate (CC) followed by hMG or GnRH-a combined with gonadotropins (FSH/hMG) for controlled ovarian hyperstimulation. Severe male (<4 x10(6) motile sperm) or age factor (>39 y) patients were excluded in this study. Pregnancy was classified as clinical if a gestational sac or fetal cardiac activity was seen on ultrasound. No significant differences were found in age, duration of infertility, follicle size, the level of E2 on the day of hCG injection, the mean number of oocytes retrieved, total motile sperm count, fertilization rate and the mean number of embryos transferred between bHTF (without amino acids) and mHTF (with amino acids) groups. However, total ampules of gonadotropins were higher (p<0.01) in mHTF group than bHTF group. Significantly (p<0.05) more clinical pregnancies were recorded in mHTF group (13/30) compared with bHTF group (9/46). The multiple pregnancy rates were 11.1% in bHTF group and 77% in mHTF group. There were one ectopic pregnancy in mHTF group and one heterotopic pregnancy in bHTF group. Abortion rates were 22.2% in bHTF group and 7.7% in mHTF, respectively The ongoing pregnancy or livebirth .ate was significantly (p<0.05) higher in mHTF group (12/30) than bHTF group (7/46). These results suggest that the addition of amino acids in culture media is essential for culture of zygotes in vitro and adjustment of energy substrates in phosphate-free culture media appears to be beneficial for human IVF-ET procedure.
Abortion, Induced ; Age Factors ; Amino Acids* ; Clomiphene ; Culture Media ; Embryonic Structures* ; Female ; Fertilization ; Fertilization in Vitro* ; Gestational Sac ; Gonadotropins ; Humans* ; Infertility ; Male ; Oocytes ; Pregnancy Rate* ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnancy, Ectopic ; Pregnancy, Heterotopic ; Pregnancy, Multiple ; Sperm Count ; Ultrasonography ; Zygote

PURPOSE: We tried to find the patients characteristics of parasternal recunence, to classify the parasternal recunence according to the radiological and clinical features, and to evaluate the efficacy of local radiotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between August 1987 and April 1997, twenty one patients with parastemal recurrence of breast cancer after surgery with or without adjuvant chemotherapy were treated with radiotherapy. Age distribution at initial operation was ranged from 31 to 79 years(median 48 years). Sixteen(76.2%) cancers were in the right breast and five(23.8%) were in the left. The pathologic types were infiltrative ductal carcinoma in 18 patients and medullary carcinoma in 3 patients. Eight patients had stage I, three had stage IIa, six had stage IIb, one had stage IIIa diseases and we had no information about the initial stage of the other 3 patients. Parasternal recurrence were diagnosed by biopsy in 7 patients, and the other 14 recurrences were diagnosed by clinical and radiologic findings such as chest CT, whole body bone scan. All the patients were treated with radiation for the parasternal recurrent tumors. In addition, five patients also received chemotherapy(FAC or Taxol based protocol) and one patient also received partial resection before radiotherapy. Radiotherapy was delivered with Co-60 gamma-ray or 4~6 MV X-ray or electron beam to both supraclavicular lymph nodes and parasternal areas with total doses of 3000~6480 cGy(median 6100 cGy). RESULTS: The range of interval between curative resection and parasternal recurrence were 4~110 months(median 34 months). The main symptoms of the parasternal recurrence were a painless mass(n=10). The duration of symptom before diagnosis ranged from one to 36 months(median 7 months). Among 21, five patients(23.8%) presented distant metastses at the diagnosis of parasternal recurrences. The parasternal recurrences were classified into three groups according to radiologic and clinical findings; the recurrent tumors originated from sternum and invaded into adjacent tissues(Group 1, n=5), tumors originated from intemal mammary lymph nodes and invaded into sternum or parasternal tissues(Group 2, n=6), tumors originated from medial chest wall and invaded into sternum or parasternal tissues(Group 3, n=10). In nineteen patients(19/21; 90.5%) there was complete response of parasternal recurrence following radiotherapy. Although the follow up period was relatively short(3~78 montbs, median 14 months), there were no local recurrence in radiation field in 19 patients with complete response. Among the 16 patients without distant metastases at diagnosis of parasternal recurrence, nine patients were alive without any evidence of disease. CONCLUSION: Chest CT scan is necessary and effective in patients with parastemal discomfort, pain, swelling or palpable mass after mastectomy. And we found that radiotherapy was very effective for the local treatment of parasternal recunence in terms of symptom palliation and local control of tumor. Although we classified the parasternal recurrence into three groups, we could not reach any conclusive results because of short follow up duration and insufficient patients number.
Age Distribution ; Biopsy ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Carcinoma, Ductal ; Carcinoma, Medullary ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Mastectomy ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Paclitaxel ; Radiotherapy ; Recurrence* ; Sternum ; Thoracic Wall ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Smoking is a major health risk factor contributing to substantial morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although most smokers express a desire to quit— or they attempt to do so—, achieving smoking cessation solely through individual willpower is often challenging. Primary care plays a pivotal role in supporting smoking cessation efforts by increasing the likelihood of success. Even brief advice from a physician significantly increases the chance of quitting, and combining counseling with pharmacotherapy further improves cessation rates. Particular attention is required for smokers in special populations, such as those with cardiovascular diseases or mental health conditions, wherein tailored and proactive smoking cessation interventions are crucial. Digital health tools, including smartphone applications and text messaging interventions, have recently emerged as effective strategies to support personalized smoking cessation behaviors. Furthermore, institutional support, such as national programs, quitlines, and post-screening counseling for lung cancer, are critical resources that promote successful cessation. Primary care physicians are uniquely positioned to foster longterm smoking cessation success through sustained relationships with patients by leveraging these tools and resources to provide comprehensive and continuous care.

Smoking is a major health risk factor contributing to substantial morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although most smokers express a desire to quit— or they attempt to do so—, achieving smoking cessation solely through individual willpower is often challenging. Primary care plays a pivotal role in supporting smoking cessation efforts by increasing the likelihood of success. Even brief advice from a physician significantly increases the chance of quitting, and combining counseling with pharmacotherapy further improves cessation rates. Particular attention is required for smokers in special populations, such as those with cardiovascular diseases or mental health conditions, wherein tailored and proactive smoking cessation interventions are crucial. Digital health tools, including smartphone applications and text messaging interventions, have recently emerged as effective strategies to support personalized smoking cessation behaviors. Furthermore, institutional support, such as national programs, quitlines, and post-screening counseling for lung cancer, are critical resources that promote successful cessation. Primary care physicians are uniquely positioned to foster longterm smoking cessation success through sustained relationships with patients by leveraging these tools and resources to provide comprehensive and continuous care.

Smoking is a major health risk factor contributing to substantial morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although most smokers express a desire to quit— or they attempt to do so—, achieving smoking cessation solely through individual willpower is often challenging. Primary care plays a pivotal role in supporting smoking cessation efforts by increasing the likelihood of success. Even brief advice from a physician significantly increases the chance of quitting, and combining counseling with pharmacotherapy further improves cessation rates. Particular attention is required for smokers in special populations, such as those with cardiovascular diseases or mental health conditions, wherein tailored and proactive smoking cessation interventions are crucial. Digital health tools, including smartphone applications and text messaging interventions, have recently emerged as effective strategies to support personalized smoking cessation behaviors. Furthermore, institutional support, such as national programs, quitlines, and post-screening counseling for lung cancer, are critical resources that promote successful cessation. Primary care physicians are uniquely positioned to foster longterm smoking cessation success through sustained relationships with patients by leveraging these tools and resources to provide comprehensive and continuous care.

Smoking is a major health risk factor contributing to substantial morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although most smokers express a desire to quit— or they attempt to do so—, achieving smoking cessation solely through individual willpower is often challenging. Primary care plays a pivotal role in supporting smoking cessation efforts by increasing the likelihood of success. Even brief advice from a physician significantly increases the chance of quitting, and combining counseling with pharmacotherapy further improves cessation rates. Particular attention is required for smokers in special populations, such as those with cardiovascular diseases or mental health conditions, wherein tailored and proactive smoking cessation interventions are crucial. Digital health tools, including smartphone applications and text messaging interventions, have recently emerged as effective strategies to support personalized smoking cessation behaviors. Furthermore, institutional support, such as national programs, quitlines, and post-screening counseling for lung cancer, are critical resources that promote successful cessation. Primary care physicians are uniquely positioned to foster longterm smoking cessation success through sustained relationships with patients by leveraging these tools and resources to provide comprehensive and continuous care.