No abstract available.
Animals ; Ischemia* ; Muscle, Skeletal* ; Rats* ; Reperfusion*

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical outcomes of patients with vitrified-thawed embryos transferred using either the 0.25 mL straw method and the pull and cut straw (PNC) method. To evaluate the clinical outcomes of patients with transferred embryos that underwent assisted hatching at the cleaved embryo (day 3) or the blastocyst (day 5) stage. METHODS: The study population consisted of women who underwent vitrified-warmed embryo transfer between May 2000 and December 2011 and assisted hatching was performed after warming of embryos. Cycles of thawing between assisted hatching treated and non treated groups were compared for survival and pregnancy rates. RESULTS: The PNC vitrification method improved survival and pregnancy rates in partial lysed embryos. While assisted hatching did not affect the developmental and clinical pregnancy rates of the vitrified-warmed blastocyst group, it did increase the pregnancy rate of poor quality vitrified-warmed cleaved embryos. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that PNC may increase the number of clinical pregnancies via the vitrification of both cleaved embryos and blastocysts. In addition, selective assisted hatching treatment of embryos that show a poor prognosis after warming may increase the rate of clinical pregnancy.
Blastocyst ; Embryo Transfer ; Embryonic Structures ; Female ; Humans ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Rate ; Prognosis ; Vitrification

No abstract available.
Amino Acids* ; Blastocyst* ; Embryonic Structures*

The prostate gland contains numerous neuroendocrine cells that are believed to influence the function of the prostate gland. Our recent study demonstrated the expression of both alpha 1- and alpha 2-ARs, signaling the release of stored Ca2+ and the inhibition of N-type Ca2+ channels, respectively, in rat prostate neuroendocrine cells (RPNECs). In this study, the effects of NA on the resting membrane potential (RMP) of RPNECs were investigated using a whole-cell patch clamp method. Fresh RPNECs were dissociated from the ventral lobe of rat prostate and identified from its characteristic shape; round or oval shape with dark cytoplasm. Under zero-current clamp conditions with KCl pipette solution, the resting membrane potential (RMP) of RPNECs was between 35 mV and 85 mV. In those RPNECs with relatively hyperpolarized RMP (< 60 mV), the application of noradrenaline (NA, 1 micro M) depolarized the membrane to around 40 mV. In contrast, the RPNECs with relatively depolarized RMP (> 45 mV) showed a transient hyperpolarization and subsequent fluctuation at around 40 mV on application of NA. Under voltage clamp conditions (holding voltage, 40 mV) with CsCl pipette solution, NA evoked a slight inward current (< 20 pA). NA induced a sharp increase of cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]c), measured by the fura-2 fluorescence, and the voltage clamp study showed the presence of charybdotoxin-sensitive Ca2+ -activated K+ currents. In summary, adrenergic stimulation induced either depolarization or hyperpolarization of RPNECs, depending on the initial level of RMP. The inward current evoked by NA and the Ca2+ -activated K+ current might partly explain the depolarization and hyperpolarization, respectively.
Animals ; Cytoplasm ; Cytosol ; Fluorescence ; Fura-2 ; Membrane Potentials* ; Membranes* ; Neuroendocrine Cells* ; Norepinephrine* ; Prostate ; Rats*

Bacteremia ; Chlorhexidine ; Disinfectants ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Mucous Membrane ; Orthognathic Surgery ; Povidone-Iodine ; Skin ; Surgery, Oral

BACKGROUND: Shift work disturbs workers' biological clocks and this condition can cause various health problems including cardiovascular disease. The elevated albuminuria level has been significantly associated with the risk of the cardiovascular disease even within a normal reference range. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the association between shift work and microalbuminuria. METHODS: Workers aged over 20 years from the fifth and sixth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey(KNHANES 2012–2014; n = 3000) were included in this analysis. The multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the association between shift work and microalbuminuria stratified by gender. RESULTS: The prevalence of microalbuminuria in male subjects was higher among day workers, but the difference was not significant. However, the prevalence of microalbuminuria among females was higher in shift workers with statistical significance. For female, the Odds ratio of microalbuminuria in shift workers was significantly higher with 1.86 (95% CI 1.02–3.39) compared with day workers. After dividing into 5 subgroups of the shift work pattern, the odds ratio of microalbuminuria for fixed night shift was significantly higher at 4.68 (95% CI 1.29–17.00) compared with day workers. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that shift work was associated with microalbuminuria in female workers. Especially we found out the association between fixed night shift and microalbuminuria in female workers.
Albuminuria ; Biological Clocks ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Odds Ratio ; Prevalence ; Reference Values

BACKGROUND: This study investigated characteristics according to demographic, occupational factors of Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) and related scales to MBI-GS. METHODS: The subjects of the study were 3,331 workers in 3 different workplaces of one electronics company. They filled in demographic factors surveys, occupational factors surveys, MBI-GS, Korean Occupational Stress Scale-Short Form (KOSS-SF), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and World Health Organization Quality Of Life-Abbreviated version (WHOQOL-BREF). The correlations between sub-scales of MBI-GS and KOSS-SF, PHQ-9, WHOQOL-BREF were analyzed respectively. And KOSS-SF, PHQ-9, and WHOQOL-BREF were categorized; mean scores of sub-scales of MBI-GS were compared; and the quartiles of sub-scales of MBI-GS were presented. RESULTS: A comparison of mean scores of MBI-GS according to demographic and occupational factors showed a significant difference according to age, problem drinking behavior, working time, and working duration in exhaustion regardless of sex. In professional efficacy, a significant difference was observed in age, marital status, working type, and working duration. And as a result of correlation analysis, the correlation coefficient between exhaustion and PHQ-9 was the highest regardless of sex. In addition, regardless of sex, exhaustion and cynicism scores tended to increase and professional efficacy score tended to decrease as the work stress level rose. Same tendency is shown in case of the more severe the symptom of depression and the lower quality of life. When the quartile for sub-scales' score of MBI-GS were investigated, the burnout was more pronounced in female than in male. CONCLUSIONS: Many demographic and occupational factors affect burnout were identified in one electronics company, and we investigated which sub-scales of MBI-GS were affected. Through this study, burnout characteristics were identified in a few population group of Korea, and the results are expected to be useful for burnout risk group identification, counseling, etc.
Counseling ; Demography ; Depression ; Drinking Behavior ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Marital Status ; Population Groups ; Quality of Life ; Social Identification ; Weights and Measures ; World Health Organization

BACKGROUND: Lead and cadmium have been identified as risk factors for hearing loss in animal studies, but large-scale studies targeting the general human population are rare. This study was conducted to investigate the link between heavy metal concentrations in blood and hearing impairment, using a national population-based survey. METHODS: The study participants comprised 6409 Koreans aged 20 or older, who were included in the Fifth and Sixth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANES 2010–2013). Hearing impairment was categorized into two types, low- and high-frequency hearing impairment, using pure tone audiometry. Low-frequency hearing impairment was defined as having a binaural average of hearing thresholds for 0.5, 1, and 2 kHz exceeding 25 dB, and high-frequency hearing impairment was defined as having a binaural average of hearing thresholds for 3, 4, and 6 kHz exceeding 25 dB. The blood levels of heavy metals (lead and cadmium) were classified into quartiles. Cross-sectional association between hearing impairment and the level of heavy metals (lead and cadmium) was examined in both sexes. Multivariate logistic regression was used to obtain adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: Among men, the prevalence of low- and high- frequency hearing impairment was 13.9% and 46.7%, respectively, which was higher than the prevalence among women (11.8% and 27.0%, respectively). Regarding lead, the adjusted OR of high-frequency hearing impairment for the highest blood level group versus the lowest group was significant in both men (OR = 1.629, 95% CI = 1.161–2.287) and women (OR = 1.502, 95% CI = 1.027–2.196), after adjusting for age, body mass index, education, smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and noise exposure (occupational, loud, firearm noises). No links were found between blood lead levels and low-frequency hearing impairment, or between blood cadmium levels and low- or high-frequency hearing impairment in either sex. CONCLUSIONS: The present study findings suggest that even exposure to low-level lead is a risk factor for high-frequency hearing loss. A prospective epidemiologic study should be conducted to identify the causal relationship between human health and exposure to heavy metals, and efforts to reduce heavy metal exposure in the general population should continue.
Alcohol Drinking ; Animals ; Audiometry ; Body Mass Index ; Cadmium ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diagnosis ; Education ; Environmental Exposure ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Female ; Hearing Loss ; Hearing Loss, High-Frequency ; Hearing ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Metals, Heavy ; Noise ; Nutrition Surveys ; Odds Ratio ; Prevalence ; Prospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking

BACKGROUND: Cleanroom air is extremely dry, as it is maintained within 1 % of relative humidity. Few studies have assessed the dermatologic life quality of workers in ultralow-humidity environments. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the dermatologic life quality of cleanroom workers using the Skindex-29, compared to those of non-cleanroom workers. METHODS: Study participants were 501 cleanroom workers and 157 non-cleanroom workers from a secondary battery factory, who underwent an employee health examination at a single university hospital from September 2014 to September 2015. Results of the self-administered Skindex-29, and McMonnies questionnaire were analyzed. Other information and disease history were also collected during physician's medical examination. Descriptive and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed. RESULTS: The Skindex-29 score was significantly higher in cleanroom workers than in non-cleanroom workers for all domains, Symptom (16.0 ± 15.9 vs. 6.3 ± 10.2, p < 0.001), Emotion (11.3 ± 17.4 vs. 2.5 ± 7.4, p < 0.001), Function (5.2 ± 11.1 vs. 1.6 ± 4.0, p < 0.001), and Overall (10.8 ± 13.4 vs. 3.5 ± 6.2, p < 0.001). The Skindex-29 score of cleanroom workers was similar to that of patients with skin diseases such as psoriasis, other dermatitis, corns, alopecia etc. Among the cleanroom workers, 37 workers had one or more skin diseases. Among the risk factors, ‘working at cleanroom’, ‘possessing skin disease’ and ‘McMonnies score’ had significant strong correlations with Skindex-29 score, meanwhile age, sex, smoking, drinking and exercise had weak correlations with it.‘Working at cleanroom’ and ‘possessing skin disease’ had highest odds ratios with overall 14.0 (C.I.: 5.9–33.1) and 13.4 (C.I.: 4.5–29.2), and the lowest odds ratios with function domain 3.5(C.I.: 1.7–7.1) and 4.5(C.I.: 2.1–9.5), respectively. The McMonnies score had the highest odds ratio with overall, 6.9(C.I.: 4.5–10.8) and lowest odd ratio with emotion domain 4.2 (C.I.: 2.7–6.4). CONCLUSIONS: Dermatologic life quality among cleanroom workers in the secondary battery factory is shown to be lower than that among non-cleanroom workers in this study. The study suggests that the Skindex-29 may provide helpful information on the dermatologic life quality of cleanroom workers. Therefore, regarding evaluation of dermatologic life quality using Skindex-29, preventive care is necessary for cleanroom workers in ultralow humidity environment.
Alopecia ; Callosities ; Dermatitis ; Drinking ; Humans ; Humidity ; Logistic Models ; Occupational Health ; Odds Ratio ; Psoriasis ; Quality of Life* ; Risk Factors ; Skin ; Skin Diseases ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Zea mays

Behcet's disease (BD) is a multisystemic disorder, which is characterized by recurrent oral aphthous ulcers, genital ulcers, uveitis, and skin lesion. Although intestinal involvement is an uncommon manifestation of the BD, it leads to a poor prognosis, as a result of a high complication, such as intestinal perforation, fistula formation, and massive hemorrhage. Intestinal BD has the tendency for the resistance to conventional medical treatment, and it often requires a surgical intervention because of severe complication. Although the causes of intestinal BD are unknown, some studies show that tumor necrosis factor Alpha (TNF-alpha) plays a key role in the pathogenesis of BD. Therefore, anti-TNF-alpha monoclonal antibody, such as adalimumab, is one of the useful treatment for refractory and relapsed intestinal BD. We describe a patient who had intestinal BD complicated enterocutanous fistula with a good response to adalimumab.
Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized ; Fistula ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Intestinal Perforation ; Intestines ; Prognosis ; Skin ; Stomatitis, Aphthous ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Ulcer ; Uveitis ; Adalimumab