BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationships between cardiorespiratory fitness and body mass index (BMI), metabolic syndrome risk factors, homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) in male high school students in Korea. Furthermore, the effects of the cardiorespiratory fitness levels on these four factors were examined. METHODS: The level of cardiorespiratory fitness, BMI, percent body fat, waist circumference (WC), systolic blood pressure, glucose, triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), HOMA-IR, and hsCRP of 227 male high school students were measured. Analyses of multiple correlation and simple regression were applied. RESULTS: The results showed that the level of cardiorespiratory fitness correlated negatively with BMI, percent body fat, WC, TG, and HDL-C, in addition to HOMA-IR and hsCRP, and strongly influenced BMI, percent body fat, WC, TG, HDL-C, HOMA-IR, and hsCRP. Comparative analysis of our subjects showed that higher cardiorespiratory fitness levels had positive effects on BMI, metabolic syndrome risk factors, HOMA-IR, and hsCRP. CONCLUSIONS: This study found that there are close correlations between cardiorespiratory fitness and BMI, metabolic syndrome risk factors, HOMA-IR, and hsCRP. It also showed that, compared to lower levels of cardiorespiratory fitness, higher levels had beneficial effects on BMI, metabolic syndrome risk factors, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease risk factors.
Adipose Tissue ; Adolescent ; Blood Pressure ; Body Mass Index ; C-Reactive Protein ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Glucose ; Homeostasis ; Humans ; Insulin ; Korea ; Male ; Physical Fitness ; Risk Factors ; Triglycerides ; Waist Circumference

Primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET) of the ovary are rare tumors with an exclusive or almost exclusive malignant neuroectodermal composition, and are generally regarded as a monodermal expression of an ovarian teratoma. The tumors are basically identical with the lesions of the same name occuring typically in the central nervous system of children. These tumors consist chiefly of undifferentiated small cells resembling neuroblasts. There are also mature, well- differentiated neuroectodermal cells, such as astrocytes and ependymal cells. We report a case of ovarian PNET with glial and neuroblastic differentiation and focal teratomatous foci of non-neural tissue in a 17-year-old female.
Adolescent ; Astrocytes ; Central Nervous System ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Neural Plate ; Neuroectodermal Tumors, Primitive* ; Ovary* ; Teratoma

PURPOSE: The purposes of this article are to identify CT findings distinguishing nasal polyps, that are the most common cause of the nasal polypiod lesions, from other nasal cavity masses and to identify differential points between benign and malignant masses of nasal cavity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We classified 567 cases of pathologically proved nasal cavity masses into 4 different groups on CT according to the sites of origin and surrounding bone changes. RESULT: The nasal polyps were the most common cause of nasal cavity masses(515/567). Group I had a high diagnostic specificity for the nasal polyps (513/515, 99.6%) although inverted papilloma (8/522) and malignant melanoma(1/522) showed similar CT appearances. The representitive nasal mass of Group Ila was the inverted papilloma (15/24, 66.5% of the inverted papilloma). Group III pattern was seen in 3 cases of benign minor salivary gland tumor and 2 cases of pyogenic granuloma. Group IV suggested malignancy and thus was mostly observed in malignant tumors except I case of inverted papilloma and 1 case of granulomatous necrosis. CONCLUSION: The differential diagnosis between nasal polyps and the other nasal cavity masses is possible by characteristic bone changes and their sites of origin revealed on CT. In addition, it is possible to differentiate malignant masses from benign in most cases.
Diagnosis, Differential* ; Granuloma, Pyogenic ; Nasal Cavity* ; Nasal Polyps* ; Necrosis ; Papilloma, Inverted ; Salivary Glands, Minor ; Sensitivity and Specificity

BACKGROUND: Currently, the incidence of hepatitis A is on the increase in Korea. Although there is emphasis on contact precautions, the nosocomial outbreak of hepatitis A virus (HAV) in healthcare personnel has increased within endemic areas because these workers inevitably come in close contact with patients and work under suboptimal hygiene conditions. In this study, we evaluated the necessity of immunization against HAV for healthcare personnel. METHODS: We investigated the seropositivity of serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) anti-HAV antibody (Ab) in 672 healthcare personnel on the basis of their age-group, sex, and occupation in Soon Chun Hyang University Hospital and Soon Chun Hyang University Bucheon Hospital. RESULTS: The subjects were divided into 6 groups on the basis of their ages to identify differences among the various age groups in the number of cases with HAV Ab seropositivity. Significant intergroup differences were noted in this respect: 21-25 years, 2/152 (1.3%); 26-30 years, 33/245 (13.5%); 31-35 years, 70/148 (47.3%); 36-40 years, 52/79 (65.8%); >40 years, 44/48 (91.7%). CONCLUSION: The number of seropositive cases was low among young healthy personnel: low seropositivity is an emerging risk for vulnerable population. With the increase in the incidence of hepatitis A, healthcare personnel have become a risk population for hepatitis A, as are community residents. Therefore, for healthcare personnel working in hospitals, immunization against HAV should be recommended for personnel younger than 30 years, and serological testing for older personnel.
Delivery of Health Care ; Hepatitis ; Hepatitis A ; Hepatitis A Antibodies ; Hepatitis A Vaccines ; Hepatitis A virus ; Humans ; Hygiene ; Immunization ; Immunoglobulin G ; Incidence ; Korea ; Occupations ; Serologic Tests ; Vulnerable Populations

The purposes of this study were to assess the school foodservice purchasing practices and to explore the ways to improve the school foodservice purchasing management. The purchasing questionnaire was composed of three parts, the part one consisted of questions on characteristics of dietitians and school foodservice operations, and the others consisted of questions concerning purchasing practices and importance & performance of food suppliers. 286 dietitians of elementary school foodservice operations in Seoul were participated with the survey. Statistical data analysis was completed using the SPSS/win for descriptive and t-test. The school foodservice operations which employed a chef were 50.3%. Only one third of the dietitians(34.1%) reported having been involved in the selection of food suppliers. In dietitians' demographic data, 36.6% were over 30 years old, 32.4% were 28~29 years of age and 31.0% were below 27 years old. Most of the respondents(68.3%) had overall working experiences less than 58 months and almost half of them(56.3%) were married. The food suppliers' attributes with high scores of mean importance were food quality, maintenance of food quality, accuracy in filling orders, quality of delivery facilities, on time delivery and packaging. Average mean scores for importance and performance were 4.33('important') and 3.50('so-so') out of 5. In the comparison of importance attributes, produce suppliers had a significant higher score on suppliers(P<0.05) than processing food suppliers. Processing food suppliers received significant higher performance scores on product(P<0.05) and service(P<0.05) compared to produce suppliers.
Adult ; Data Interpretation, Statistical ; Food Quality ; Humans ; Nutritionists ; Product Packaging ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Seoul*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper was to examine the relationship between type D personality and cardiovascular disease, and to suggest future research directions. METHOD: A literature search was conducted from the following nine databases: 1) MEDLINE, 2) CINAHL, 3) Pubmed Unrestricted, 4) PsycINFO, 5) KISS, 6) RICHIS, 7) RISS4U, and 8) Nanet. The combinations of the words, "type D personality", "personality", "heart", "cardiovascular", and "coronary" were used for keyword searches to find relevant articles. Twenty eight studies were identified. RESULT: Type D personality has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality in patients with established cardiovascular disease. Type D patients are also at increased risk for impaired quality of life, and seem to benefit less from medical and invasive treatment. CONCLUSION: There is substantial evidence for a relationship between type D personality and clinical outcomes related to cardiovascular disease. Randomized clinical trials are needed to further evaluate the value of controlling type D personality to improve survival and reduce morbidity in patients with cardiovascular disease. Accumulating evidence from this analysis indicates the urgent need to adopt a personality approach in order to optimize the identification of patients at risk for stress related cardiac events.
Aged ; Cardiovascular Diseases/*psychology ; Chronic Disease ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; *Personality ; Risk Factors ; *Stress, Psychological

PURPOSE: This study was done to identify the prevalence of depression and determine the relationship of body mass index and perceived health status to depression for elderly women who live alone in the community. METHODS: A total of 175 adults aged over 60 participated in this cross-sectional descriptive study. Perceived heath status was measured using a self-report one-item questionnaire. Body mass index was calculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters. Depression was assessed using the Korean short version of the geriatric depression scale. Hierarchical linear regression was used to identify associations between variables. RESULTS: Approximately 61.7% of elderly women who lived alone were depressed. The mean score for depression was 7.4 (SD 3.39). Hierarchical linear regression showed body mass index (beta=.25, p<.001) and perceived health status (beta=-.26, p<.001) were independently associated with depression adjusting for general characteristics. These two predictors accounted for 12% of the variance in depression. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that obesity and perceived health status are risk factors for depression in elderly women living alone. Therefore, these factors should be considered when developing intervention program for elderly women with depression.
Adult ; Aged* ; Body Mass Index* ; Depression* ; Female ; Humans ; Linear Models ; Obesity ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Residence Characteristics ; Risk Factors

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the influencing factors on postpartum fatigue in the parturient women. METHODS: The data were collected from July to September, 2006 using self-report questionnaires. The sample was 143 healthy parturient women who visited the outpatient clinic at 2 hospitals for a routine follow up after childbirth. The data were analyzed by using SPSS 12.0 Win program. RESULTS: There were significant differences in the postpartum fatigue by age, religion, sleep hour, and complaint of perceived health problem. The postpartum fatigue were significantly correlated with infant care stress(p<0.001), sleep satisfaction(p<0.001), and feeding difficulty(p=0.016). The multiple regression analysis showed that the postpartum fatigue were significantly predicted by the infant care stress, sleep satisfaction and complaint of perceived health problem. These variables explained 31.8% of the variance of postpartum fatigue. The infant care stress was the main predictor of postpartum fatigue. CONCLUSIONS: It could be concluded that the nursing intervention for reducing the infant care stress should be developed to manage the postpartum fatigue for parturient women. Prospective studies are needed to be conducted to verify the causal relationship between infant care stress and postpartum fatigue.
Ambulatory Care Facilities ; Fatigue* ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant Care ; Nursing ; Parturition ; Postpartum Period* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to describe the pattern of type D personality, to compare the life style and quality of life between type D personality and non-type D personality patients, and to investigate the factors influencing quality of life in patients with hypertension. METHODS: A cross sectional, descriptive study was used. The participants in this study were 193 outpatients who were diagnosed with hypertension at two university hospitals in urban area, Korea. The data was collected from December, 2006 to January, 2007. Type D personality was measured by the DS-14 scale. RESULTS: The prevalence of type D personality was 83.9%. Patients of type D personality were significantly different in educational status, monthly income, fat intake and exercise, and had a lower overall quality of life than patients of non-type D personality. Under controlled general characteristics and life style factors, multiple linear regression analysis was performed. The most significant factor influencing quality of life in hypertensive patients was type D personality, and this factor explained their quality of life with a variance of 14.8%. CONCLUSIONS: Various programs for psychological intervention are required to control for the distressed personality of patients with hypertension. Further studies should be conducted prospectively on a larger patient population.
Educational Status ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Korea ; Life Style* ; Linear Models ; Outpatients ; Prevalence ; Quality of Life* ; Type D Personality*

We herein report a case of transient acrodermatitis enteropathica in a 3-month-old, breast-fed, full-term infant. The patient was presented with a 2-month history of diarrhea and crusted erythema- tous patches on the periorificial area. Similar lesions were seen in his siblings. His serum zinc level and the zinc level in his mother's breast milk were markedly reduced. Diarrhea and skin lesions disappeared promptly with oral zinc supplementation and did not recur when zinc was discontinued after three weeks. Our case indicates that even full-term infants, who feed excl-usively on mothers milk, run a risk of developing zinc deficiency, if the concentration of zinc in the breast milk is very low.
Acrodermatitis* ; Diarrhea ; Humans ; Infant* ; Milk ; Milk, Human ; Mothers ; Siblings ; Skin ; Zinc