The present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of ethanol administration on the resistance of mice to Cryptococcus neoformans, IL-2 production of murine splenocytes, active systemic anaphylaxis induced by ovalbumin (OVA), serum TNF-alpha production, nitric oxide (NO) production by peritoneal machrophages and B16F10 melanoma colonization in lungs in mice. It was found that ethanol administration significantly inhibited the resistance of mice to C. neoformans infection, IL-2 production, active systemic anaphylaxis induction, serum TNF- alpha production and NO production. Ethanol administration significantly enhanced lung colonization when it was administered before i.v. melanoma inoculation. These results demonstrate that ethanol may play a critical role in tumorigenesis and immunoregulation as an immunomodulator.
Anaphylaxis* ; Animals ; Carcinogenesis ; Colon ; Cryptococcus neoformans ; Cytokines* ; Ethanol ; Interleukin-2 ; Lung ; Melanoma* ; Mice ; Nitric Oxide* ; Ovalbumin ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

"Capsaicin, the pungent principle of hot peppers, is a neurotoxin that depletes primary sensory neurons of neuropeptides like tachykinin. The objectives of these experiment was to examine the effects of capsaicin on Salmonel/a typhimurium-induced production of cytokines such as TNF-a, IL-1B, IL-6, IL-10 and IL-12 and on production of nitric oxide in peritoneal macrophages. In addition, the effects of capsaicin on survival rates of S. typhimurium-infected mice and on nuclear transcription factor (NF-kB) activation were also investigated. Mice were pretreated with a single s.c. injection of 100 ug of capsaicin and were infected i.v. with S. typhimurium (5xO5/mouse) in 0.2 ml volume after capsaicin pretreatment. The serum cytokine levels were measured 30, 60, 120, 180 and 240 min after Salmonella infection, using ELISA kits. The activation of NF-B was also examined by gel shift assay in spleens, thymuses and brains of mice that had been pretreated with a single s.c. injection of 100 ug of capsaicin. It was found that Sa/mone/la infection induced the production of TNF-a, IL-1B, IL-6, IL-10 and IL-12, but capsaicin pretreatment inhibited the production of TNF-a, IL-1B, IL-10 and IL-12, but enhanced IL-6 production 120 min after Salmonella infection. Interestingly, the capsaicin pretreatment inhibited the activation of NF-kB in spleens and thymuses. There were no differences in the numbers of bacteria in livers, brains, spleens, kidneys and lungs between capsaicin- pretreated mice and the control animals in applied experimental conditions. Suprisingly, however, capsaicin pretreatment increased both the survival rates of Sa/mone//a-infected mice and production of nitric oxide by peritoneal macrophages compared with capsaicin-untreated control mice. Taken together, these results indicate that the capsaicin-sensitive primary sensory neurons may play an important modulatory role in the production of cytokine, nitric oxide and NF-B activation and the pathogenesis of salmonellosis."
Animals ; Bacteria ; Brain ; Capsaicin* ; Cytokines* ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Interleukin-10 ; Interleukin-12 ; Interleukin-6 ; Kidney ; Liver ; Lung ; Macrophages, Peritoneal ; Mice ; Neuropeptides ; NF-kappa B* ; Nitric Oxide* ; Salmonella Infections* ; Salmonella typhimurium ; Salmonella* ; Sensory Receptor Cells ; Spleen ; Survival Rate ; Tachykinins ; Thymus Gland ; Transcription Factors

No abstract available.
Humans ; Motor Vehicles*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the predictors of quality of life for elders in Korea. METHODS: The participants were 348 older persons selected by convenience sampling in Y city. Data were collected from September 22 to October 23, 2008 when 348 elders completed a questionnaire which included the Leisure Attitude Scale by Raghep and Beard (1982), Leisure Competence Questionnaire by Witt and Ellis (1987) and the Quality of Life Questionnaire by Mckenna (2001). Cronbach alphas scores for Korean translation of the questionnaires were .85, .90 and .79 respectively. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS Win 14.0 statistics program. RESULTS: The scores for quality of life showed significant positive correlations with the scores for leisure attitude (r=.603, p<.001) and leisure competence (r=.703, p<.001). Leisure competence, leisure attitude, and education were significant predictors and accounted for 54.4% of the variance in quality of life in the elders. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that high leisure competence and positive leisure attitude with learning opportunities will be helpful to promote a better quality of life for elders.
Aged ; Humans ; Korea ; Learning ; Leisure Activities ; Mental Competency ; Quality of Life ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate self-esteem, family function, and social support which might influence stress in college students. METHOD: Data were collected from October 15 to December 20, 2007 when 411 students completed a questionnaire which included Self-esteem scale, Family APGAR questionnaire, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and Global Assessment of Recent Stress scale. The collected data was analyzed with the SPSS Win 14.0 statistics program. RESULTS: The scores for stress showed significantly negative correlations with the scores for self-esteem (r=-.394, p<.001), family function (r=-.215, p<.001), and social support (r=-.249, p<.001). Self-esteem, family function and social support by friends were significant predictors and accounted for 18.5% of the variance in stress in undergraduate students. CONCLUSION: Future stress management programs for undergraduate students should be developed to reinforce self-esteem, family function and social support by friends.
Friends ; Humans ; Questionnaires

Capsaicin, the pungent principle of hot peppers, is a neurotoxin that depletes unmyelinated primary sensory neurons (polymodal nociceptors) of neuropeptides like tachykinins. However, the role of capsaicin-sensitive sensory nerve in the production of cytokines, penicillin V (PEV)-induced active fatal anaphylaxis and other immune responses is not yet fully established. Neonatal mice were pretreated s.c. with a single injection of 10 ug of capsaicin per mouse in volume of 20 ul within 5 days of age. Using 5-8 week old mice pretreated as neonates with capsaicin, the capsaicin- pretreated and vehicle-treated control mice were examined for various parameters of immune responses described above. For the induction of active fatal anaphylaxis with PEV, 8 week old mice pretreated as neonates and age-matched capsaicin- untreated control mice were sensitized i.p. with 500 ug of PEV-ovalbumin conjugate plus 2*10(9) B. pertussis and 1.0 mg alum and challenged i.v. with PEV-bovine serum albumin conjugate 14 days later. It was found that neonatal capsaicin-pretreatment significantly enhanced contact hypersensitivity to TNCB and hemagglutination response to SRBC, but significantly inhibited the proliferation response of rnurine splenocyte to Con A and LPS. Interestingly, neonatal capsaicin pretreatment significantly inhibited the intensity of PEV-induced active fatal anaphylaxis and decreased the mortality due to anaphylactic shock. It also significantly inhibited LPS- induced production of cytokines such as TNF-a, IL-1B, IL-6, IL-10, and IL-12. The capsaicin-pretreatment also resulted in an inhibition of the activation of NF-kB. Taken together, these data showed for the first time that neonatal capsaicin-pretreatment significantly inhibited an antibiotic (PEV)-induced anaphylaxis and production of various cytokines, and suggest that capsaicin-sensitive primary sensory nerve may play an important regulatory role in active fatal anaphylaxis and cytokine production, thus potentially presenting tools for immune intervention. In particular, the data presented also indicated the possibility to selectively down-modulate cytokine production and NF-kB activation may offer a broad application for therapeutic intervention in neuroimmunological diseases and other pathological situations.
Anaphylaxis ; Animals ; Capsaicin* ; Cytokines ; Denervation* ; Dermatitis, Contact ; Hemagglutination ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Interleukin-10 ; Interleukin-12 ; Interleukin-6 ; Mice ; Mortality ; Neuropeptides ; NF-kappa B ; Penicillin V ; Sensory Receptor Cells ; Serum Albumin ; Tachykinins ; Whooping Cough

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the genotype frequencies of interleukin 10 (IL-10) gene polymorphisms and to investigate their association with the risk of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in preterm Korean infants. METHODS: Two hundred fourteen preterm infants born at Ewha Womans University Mok Dong Hospital between November 2003 and July 2008 were studied. The cord blood of preterm neonates and the corresponding maternal blood were analyzed by PCR for IL-10 gene (IL-10 -1082A/G, -819T/C, and -592A/C) polymorphisms. The clinical data of patients were collected retrospectively by chart review. RESULTS: The genotype frequencies of IL-10 genes in Korean mothers with preterm infants differ from other reports. The prevalence of two promoter SNPs of the IL-10 cytokine gene was similar but none had the IL-10-1082GG homozygote. Multiple logistic regression analysis demonstrated the risk of RDS to be significantly lower in the infants of the mothers with an IL-10-592AC/CC genotype than in those with an AA genotype (P= 0.033). The risk of RDS was significantly lower in the mother with an IL-10-819TC/CC genotype than in those with a TT genotype (P=0.030). However, IL-10 polymorphisms in the cord blood were not significantly different in preterm infants with RDS compared with the preterm infants without RDS. When we compared the incidence of RDS and each IL-10 A-1082G/T-819C/A-592C haplotype, the ACC haplotype had a protective effect on RDS (P=0.007). CONCLUSION: We conclude that the maternal IL-10-592A/C and IL-10-819T/C polymorphisms may have a role in the development of the RDS in preterm infants.
Female ; Fetal Blood ; Genotype ; Haplotypes ; Homozygote ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Interleukin-10 ; Logistic Models ; Mothers ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate humanistic knowledge, emotional intelligence, and communication skills among nurses and to identify factors influencing the communication skills of nurses in five hospitals. METHODS: Data were collected from 248 nurses in hospitals from August 25 to September 9, 2015. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlations and enter method regression analysis using the SPSS/Win 22.0 program. RESULTS: There were significant differences in humanistic knowledge according to religion, education, work department, number of night duty, pay level satisfaction, job satisfaction, and job performance. There were significant differences in emotional intelligence according to all general characteristics. There were significant differences in communication skills according to education, position, number of night duty, and job performance. Communication skills showed positive correlations with humanistic knowledge and emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence correlated positively with humanistic knowledge. Emotional intelligence was a significant predictor and accounted for 32% of variance in the communication skills. CONCLUSION: To strengthen communication skills, programs need to be complemented in order to promote humanistic knowledge and emotional intelligence for nurses.
Complement System Proteins ; Education ; Emotional Intelligence* ; Humanities ; Job Satisfaction ; Methods ; Work Performance

PURPOSE: This study was done to evaluate the efficacy of Nei-Guan acupressure on nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing laparoscopic prostatectomy with intravenous patient controlled analgesia (IV-PCA). METHODS: Data were collected between August 13, 2012 and January 31, 2013 at a hospital in Busan. The participants were 45 men, who underwent the surgery laparoscopic prostatectomy, with IV-PCA. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi2-test, repeated measures ANCOVA and Games-Howell test with PASW 18.0. RESULTS: Nei-Guan acupressure had an interaction effect on nausea between group and time (F=5.01, p<.001), group (F=10.80, p<.001), time (F=26.51, p<.001) in laparoscopic prostatectomy with IV-PCA and also an interaction effect on vomiting between group and time (F=2.77, p=.032), group (F=8.89, p=.001), time (F=4.01, p=.022). CONCLUSION: Results indicate that nei-guan acupressure is a potentially effective therapy for the prevention of nausea and vomiting which occur with IV-PCA. Therefore, if patients complain of nausea and vomiting when receiving IV-PCA, nurses can provide patients with information about nei-guan acupressure and help them with nausea and vomiting.
Acupressure* ; Analgesia, Patient-Controlled* ; Busan ; Humans ; Male ; Nausea* ; Prostatectomy* ; Vomiting*

A xanthoma is a localized collection of tissue histiocytes containing lipid and is usually associated with hyperlipidemia. Tendinous and tuberous xanthomatosis have been found in association with familial hypercholesterolemia, Type III hyperlipidemia, beta-sitosterolemia and cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis. Tendinous and tuberous xanthomatosis without hyperlipidemia have been reported very rarely. Especially tendinous xanthomatosis without hyperlipidemia have not been reported at all in korea. We are reporting a patient with tendinous and tuberous xanthomatosis accompanied by normal plasma lipids
Histiocytes ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; Hyperlipoproteinemia Type II ; Korea ; Plasma ; Xanthomatosis ; Xanthomatosis, Cerebrotendinous