No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Orthopedics*

PURPOSE: In the Korean armed forces, vaccination against tetanus is done when personnel join the military service, but we do not know how many military personnel are vaccinated and how many soldiers have protection against tetanus. We performed a qualitative analysis of the tetanus antibody in Korean military personnel by using the TQS (Tetanus Quick Stick) METHODS: This study used a prospective collection method for military personnel visiting to the emergency department of a tertiary armed forces hospital from July 2005 to January 2007. We performed an analysis by using the TQS and asked whether the personnel had been inoculated during military service. RESULTS: The number of enrolled military personnel was 474. Among them, 412 had been vaccinated against tetanus after entering the military service. The positive rate of TQS was 91.3% (373 patients) after vaccination for tetanus. CONCLUSION: Many military personnel were inoculated with tetanus toxoid during military service and have protective antibodies for tetanus. According as TQS should be used for military personnel who visit the emergency department of an armed forces hospital. Also, anti-tetanus immunoglobulin should not normally be used a positive TQS for tetanus prophylaxis.
Antibodies ; Arm* ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; Military Personnel* ; Prospective Studies ; Tetanus Toxoid ; Tetanus* ; Vaccination

OBJECTIVES: The study was conducted to estimate the carcinogenic risks from the ingestion of some carcinogenic pesticides (CPs) in vegetables sampled at a local agricultural product market in Seoul. METHODS: After applying a hazard identification step, we selected four pesticides, such as DDT, dieldrin, folpet, and heptachlor epoxide, for this risk assessment. Concentrations of each pesticide were measured from randomly sampled vegetables. In order to estimate the human exposure levels, we combined the concentration of pesticides in the vegetables with consumption rate of those vegetables. Three scenarios were hypothesized for human exposure assessment. Scenario I was the most conservative which supposed the undetected CPs would be the detection limit values. Scenario II was assumed that the undetected CPs would be a half of the detection limit values, and finally scenario III merely considered only values greater than the detection limit values. We finally presented the estimated carcinogenic risks on the basis of the traditional risk assessment procedure suggested by U.S. EPA. RESULTS: Pesticides including DDT, dieldrin, folpet and heptachlor epoxide were detected in 9 samples (6%) in the range of 0.0006~0.09ppm. The daily intake levels of carcinogenic pesticides were estimated in the range of 0.0009~0.0079 microgram/day. As we expected, excess cancer risks based on scenario I was also the highest (1.1x10-8~ 5.5x10-5). CONCLUSIONS: We found that the estimated risks from the pesticides we investigated were not serious. We, however, propose that a continuos monitoring is needed to make sure for the protection of public health.
DDT ; Dieldrin ; Eating ; Heptachlor Epoxide ; Humans ; Korea* ; Limit of Detection ; Pesticides* ; Public Health ; Risk Assessment* ; Seoul ; Vegetables*

This study was undertaken to acquire some information concerning the mechanism for reduction of nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) dye by neutrophils. Male rabbits weighing more than 2 kilograms were used in this study. The vaccines. The vaccines utilized were bacterial and viral ones such as typhoid, cholera, measles, and mumps vaccines. The histochemical NBT test was carried out using the method by Park et al. With some modification. Vaccines were given the rabbits, and changes were observed in the percentage and number of pseudoeosinophils and NBT-positive pseudoeosils in the peripheral blood. The data obtained thus were discussed and summarized as follow:1. The percentage of the NBT-positive pseudoeosinophils increased in the rabbits to which the bacterial vaccines were given. 2. The percentage of NBT-positive pseudoeosinophils decreased in the rabbits to whick viral vaccines were given. 3. No association was found between the percentage of the NBT-positive pseudoeosinophils and the number of pseudodosinophils following the administeration.
Bacterial Vaccines ; Cholera ; Humans ; Male ; Measles ; Mumps ; Neutrophils ; Nitroblue Tetrazolium* ; Rabbits* ; Typhoid Fever ; Vaccines ; Viral Vaccines

OBJECTIVES: Thls study was conducted to select more reliable neurobehavioral tests that are compatible with the characteristlcs of Korean workers and their health management system. METHODS: To compare the reliability of neurobehavioral tests, test and retest of five computerized and five traditional neurobehavioral tests administered to 85 medical school students and 35 hospital workers. The computerized tests include Simple reaction time, Addition, Symbol digit, Digit span, and Finger tapping speed, while the traditional tests include the trenton visual retention test, Digit symbol, Digit span, Pursuit aiming, and Pegboard. RESULTS: Computerized Addition was found to have the highest test-retest reliability (0.90) of and followed by Finger tapping speed (nondominant hand, 0.89, dominant hand, 0.85), Symbol digit(0.82), and Digit span(0.74). Only two traditional tests, Digit symbol(0.86), and Pursuit aiming(0.72), showed test-retest reliability coefficient greater than 0.70. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the computerized Additions, Symbol digit, Fingel tapping speed, and traditional Digit symbol are more satisfactory for our purposes. These results may allow a reasonable selection of the most appropriate tests for periodical evaluation of central nervous system of workers exposed to neurotoxic substances in Korea.
Central Nervous System ; Fingers ; Hand ; Humans ; Korea ; Reaction Time ; Schools, Medical

The cysteine proteases of Paragonimus westermani metacercariae are involved in metacercarial excystment, host immune modulation, and possibly in tissue penetration. In order to clarify the origin of the enzymes, 28 and 27 kDa cysteine proteases in metacercarial excretory-secretory products were purified through the FPLC system using Mono Q column chromatography. The polyclonal antibodies to the enzymes were produced in BALB/c mice. Immunolocalization studies revealed that both cysteine proteases were distributed at the linings of excretory bladder and excretory concretions of the metacercariae. It was suggested that the excretory epithelium of P. westermani undertake the secretory function of metacercarial cysteine proteases, in addition to its role as a route for eliminating waste products.
Animals ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Computational Biology ; Cysteine Endopeptidases/analysis/isolation & purification/*physiology ; Immunohistochemistry ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Paragonimus/anatomy & histology/*enzymology ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

No abstract available.
Child* ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E* ; Nephrosis, Lipoid*

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Humans ; Infant, Newborn*