To study on the left ventricular contractility and the cardiac vector of fighter pilots, 56 pilots and 15 normal cadets were selected and they were divided into six groups by flight time (hours). To evaluate the left ventricu-lar contractility of subjects, R amplitude of chest V1 , V5 , V6 lead were recorded by ECG, and R-Z interval were recorded by ICG (impedance cardiography). And, to evaluate the cardiac vector of subjects, mean QRS vec-tor of I, II, V2 , V6 lead were recored by ECG. Results of this study are following, 1) Systolic and diastolic blood pressure were decreased against flight time. 2) Sv1 +Rv5 was decreased against flight time; Sv1 +Rv5 was 27.8 mm in 50 hr Group that is the longest among the group, and 23.7 mm in 2,000 hr Group that is the shortest among the groups. V6 /V5 was no significant difference among the groups. 3) R-Z interval was decreased against flight time; R-Z interval was 166.8 X10(-3) sec in 50 hr Group that is the longest among the group, and 154.4 X10(-3) sec in 2,000 hr Group that is the shortest among the groups. 4) In frontal plan, the range of QRS vector axis was +57.3 degrees ~ +78.2 degrees that was deviated to left of body center according to the flight time. In horizon-tal plan, the range of QRS vector axis was -29.6 degrees ~ +47.2 degrees that was deviated to back of body center according to the flight time. In both plan, the amplitude of QRS vector was tend to decreasing against the flight time. Results of this study indicate that the cardiac function of fighter pilots was doubted to degenerate or weaken. Conclusionally, fighter pilots have to increase their cardioventricular fitness by the aerobic training and other methods.
Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Blood Pressure ; Electrocardiography ; Thorax

BACKGROUND: To examine the effect of weight gain during pregnancy and prepregnancy body mass index on infant birth weight in normal term pregnancy. METHODS: We analyzed the weight data from 501 women who were in healthy singleton term pregnancy in a general hospital in Seoul from Jan. 2001 to Jun. 2001. Among the 501 women, 209 women whose data were available to calculate weight gain in every trimester were chosen. To study the effect of maternal weight gain on infant birth weight, multiple regression analysis, controlled for selected covariables, was carried out on the entire sample and on each prepregnancy weight group. RESULTS: In all the subjects both prepregnancy body mass and weight gain significantly influenced birth weight. For the lower and normal BMI, each kilogram of maternal weight gain significantly increased birth weight. CONCLUSION: These observations supports the recent evidence for the association between maternal weight gain and birth weight, but only for woman whose prepregnancy BMI are lower and normal. High maternal prepregnancy BMI did not have any influence of weight gain on birth weight.
Birth Weight* ; Body Mass Index* ; Female ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Infant* ; Parturition* ; Pregnancy* ; Seoul ; Weight Gain*

Urinary tract endometriosis is rare, especially suburethral endometriosis with symptoms of dysuria and urgency is very rare. We report a case of successful surgically treated suburethral endometriosis through the Retzius space.
Dysuria ; Endometriosis ; Female ; Urinary Tract

We sought to determine whether early amniocentesis is a safe and acceptable method of genetic evaluation in early pregnancy. During the 20-month period from February 1994 to September 1995, 80 consecutive early amniocentesis were performed transabdominally at 12(+3)-14(+6) weeks of gestation and 305 consecutive mid-second-trimester transabdominal amniocenteses were performed at 16(+0)-18(+0) weeks of gestation. All amniotic fluid samples were cultured using flask method. There were no significant differences between the early and mid-second-trimester amniocenteses in failed sampling, ambiguous results, pregnancy loss within 4 weeks after the procedure, pregnancy loss from 4 weeks after procedure to 28 weeks of gestation, preterm birth, and perinatal death. We may conclude that early amniocentesis is a safe and acceptable method for prenatal diagnosis.
Amniocentesis* ; Amniotic Fluid ; Female ; Pregnancy ; Premature Birth ; Prenatal Diagnosis

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare vitrification optimization of mouse embryos using electron microscopy (EM) grid, cryotop, and thin plastic strip (TPS) containers by evaluating developmental competence and apoptosis rates. METHODS: Mouse embryos were obtained from superovulated mice. Mouse cleavage-stage, expanded, hatching-stage, and hatched-stage embryos were cryopreserved in EM grid, cryotop, and TPS containers by vitrification in 15% ethylene glycol, 15% dimethylsulfoxide, 10 microg/mL Ficoll, and 0.65 M sucrose, and 20% serum substitute supplement (SSS) with basal medium, respectively. For the three groups in which the embryos were thawed in the EM grid, cryotop, and TPS containers, the thawing solution consisted of 0.25 M sucrose, 0.125 M sucrose, and 20% SSS with basal medium, respectively. Rates of survival, re-expansion, reaching the hatched stage, and apoptosis after thawing were compared among the three groups. RESULTS: Developmental competence after thawing of vitrified expanded and hatching-stage blastocysts using cryotop and TPS methods were significantly higher than survival using the EM grid (p<0.05). Also, apoptosis positive nuclei rates after thawing of vitrified expanded blastocysts using cryotop and TPS were significantly lower than when using the EM grid (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The TPS vitrification method has the advantages of achieving a high developmental ability and effective preservation.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Blastocyst ; Dimethyl Sulfoxide ; Embryonic Structures ; Ethylene Glycol ; Ethylenes ; Ficoll ; Mental Competency ; Mice ; Microscopy, Electron ; Plastics ; Sucrose ; Vitrification

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is a main cause of heart blood vessel disease. To diagnose and treat hypertension, it is necessary to measure blood pressure accurately. There are various factors that influence blood pressure. According to real clinical demonstrators and some recent studies, blood pressure differences between right and left arms are often observed. This study was intended to know whether the differences are really found and wheather the correlation exists between mid-arm circumferences and the blood pressure differences according to right-handed or left-handed which were considered as an important factor in affecting blood pressures. METHODS: One hundred sixty nine college freshmen of year 2001 were chosen. Among them, 103 were right- handed and 66 left-handed. Which arms to be checked first were determined randomly. This sequence was repeated two times on each person. Their mid-arm circumferences were measured, also. RESULTS: For right-handed persons, systolic blood pressure in right arm (119.2+/-12.3 mmHg) was significantly higher than in left arm (118.0+/-12.0 mmHg) (P<0.005). But diastolic blood pressure differences between right arm (75.3+/-10.0 mmHg) and left arm (75.0+/-9.5 mmHg) was not significant statistically. For left-handed persons, systolic blood pressure was 120.3+/-9.9 mmHg in right arm and 120.0+/-10.3 mmHg in left arm. However, diastolic blood pressure in right arm (76.7 9.4 mmHg) was significantly higher than in left arm (75.0+/-8.6 mmHg) (P<0.005). For right handed persons, their arm circumferences (26.2+/-2.8 cm) were significantly thicker than left ones (25.9+/-2.9 cm). For left-handed, left arm circumference (25.9+/-2.7 cm) was significantly thicker than right one (25.5+/-2.6 cm). As for the blood pressure difference in arm tested order, the first measured systolic blood pressure (right arm; 120.9+/-11.7 mmHg, left arm; 120.0+/-11.9 mmHg) was significantly higher than the second measured one (right arm; 118.3+/-11.8 mmHg, left arm; 117.8+/-11.6 mmHg) (P<0.005). However, the first measured diastolic blood pressure (right arm; 76.3+/-10.5 mmHg, left arm; 75.5+/-9.4 mmHg) did not have more significance than the second measured one (right arm; 75.4+/-9.9 mmHg, left arm; 74.6+/-10.8 mmHg). CONCLUSION: The right-handed person's blood pressure was higher in the right arm, but for the left-handed persons it was not significantly different in both arms. The second measurement of blood pressure was lower than the first measurement in both arms. The arm circumference depending on the right/left-handedness influenced the blood pressure, but clear correlation between them was not observed. Therefore, if possible, when the blood pressure is measured, it is advised to check blood pressure in both arms before diagnosing hypertension.
Arm* ; Blood Pressure* ; Blood Vessels ; Hand ; Heart ; Humans ; Hypertension

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) characterized by inflammatory intestinal necrosis is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in newborns. Deep RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) has recently emerged as a powerful technology enabling better quantification of gene expression than microarrays with a lower background signal. A total of 10 transcriptomes from 5 pairs of NEC lesions and adjacent normal tissues obtained from preterm infants with NEC were analyzed. As a result, a total of 65 genes (57 down-regulated and 8 up-regulated) revealed significantly different expression levels in the NEC lesion compared to the adjacent normal region, based on a significance at fold change ≥ 1.5 and P ≤ 0.05. The most significant gene, DPF3 (P < 0.001), has recently been reported to have differential expressions in colon segments. Our gene ontology analysis between NEC lesion and adjacent normal tissues showed that down-regulated genes were included in nervous system development with the most significance (P = 9.3 × 10⁻⁷; P(corr) = 0.0003). In further pathway analysis using Pathway Express based on the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database, genes involved in thyroid cancer and axon guidance were predicted to be associated with different expression (P(corr) = 0.008 and 0.020, respectively). Although further replications using a larger sample size and functional evaluations are needed, our results suggest that altered gene expression and the genes' involved functional pathways and categories may provide insight into NEC development and aid in future research.
Axons ; Colon ; Enterocolitis, Necrotizing* ; Gene Expression Profiling* ; Gene Expression* ; Gene Ontology ; Genome ; Humans* ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Mortality ; Necrosis ; Nervous System ; Pilot Projects* ; Sample Size ; Sequence Analysis, RNA ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; Transcriptome

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of intraperitoneal injection of IGF-I after hypoxic ischemic brain injury on neuronal cell necrosis, apoptosis and expression of proapoptotic and antiapoptotic proteins bax and bcl-2, respectively. METHODS: The right carotid artery was cut between the double ligation. Then allowed to recover for 30 minutes followed by exposure to 8% oxygen at 37degree C for 2 hours. Devided 2 groups, control group(N=30) and IGF-I treated group(N=30). IGF-I treated group received IGF-I 20 microg 2 hours after hypoxic ischemic injury intraperitoneally. Rates were decapitated at 24 hours and 72 hours following hypoxic ischemic brain injury. After then, right hippocampal CA1 and CA3 neuronsof rat brains were examined. RESULTS: The apoptosis and necrosis was significantly less in IGF-I treated group than control group and necrosis was more prominent in CA1 neurons than CA3 neurons. Necrosis was slightly decreased at 72 hours in both groups(P<0.05). The apoptosis was more prominent at 24 hours than 72 hours after hypoxic ischemic injury(P<0.05). Bax protein expression was prominent in control group, especially at 72 hours(P<0.05) and less in the IGF-I treated group than control group. Bcl-2 protein expression was not detected in both group. CONCLUSION: The results from this study suggest that exogenous systemic IGF-I had a neuroprotective effect by inhibition of up-regulation of bax protein expression after hypoxic ischemic brain injury.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; Brain Injuries* ; Brain* ; Carotid Arteries ; Control Groups ; Injections, Intraperitoneal ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I* ; Ligation ; Necrosis ; Neurons ; Neuroprotective Agents ; Oxygen ; Rats* ; Up-Regulation

PURPOSE: We assessed the dynamic characteristics of 16 nebulizer/compressor combinations currently available in Korea. METHODS: The 16 nebulizer/compressor combinations(Pariboy Type 38/Long life, Pariboy Type N/ Long life, Pariboy Type N/Salter 8900, Pariboy Type N/LC, Devilbiss pulmoaid-LT/Hudson, Devilbiss pulmoaid/Hudson, Mesmed neb-300/Own, San-up 3040/Hudson, Midas(Basic)/Own, AirJolie 2/ Hudson, Thomas 1127/Salter 8900, Noel NE-2000/Salter 8900, Omron CX3/Hudson, Chang Woo CWN-100/Salter 8900, Voyage/Mefar, Chang Woo ASI-Pro/Medel jet pulse) were evaluated in terms of particle size and mass output. In addition, we determined the effects of nebulizer fill volume on mass output. RESULTS: Pariboy Type N/Long life has the highest respirable mass of 0.184 mg/min and Mesmed Neb-300/Own has the lowest 0.019 mg/min. Pariboy Type N/Long life has the highest mass output of 0.68 mg/min and the shortest mass median aerodynamic diameter(MMAD) of 3.76 m. All combinations other than Pariboy Type N/Long life produced a MMAD of over 5 m. MMAD over a 5 min nebulization ranged 3.76 to 9.83 m. There were no significant effects of fill volume on mass output. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that there is a wide variation in performance of nebulizer/compressor combinations. The characteristics of nebulizer/compressor combinations should be considered in selecting products.
Korea* ; Nebulizers and Vaporizers ; Particle Size ; Respiratory Therapy

Estimated incidence of round ligament varicosities in pregnancy is not known and often times it is confused with inguinal hernia due to their clinical similarities. When a patient is presented with inguinal mass especially in association with varicosity in the genital region or lower extremity, round ligament varicosity must be considered as a plausible diagnosis. Depiction of "bag of worms" on color Doppler ultrasonography is diagnostic of the round ligament varicosity and it is known to resolve spontaneously following delivery. We report a case of round ligament varicosities that was diagnosed at 29 weeks of gestation with a brief review of the literatures.
Hernia, Inguinal ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lower Extremity ; Pregnancy ; Round Ligament of Uterus ; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color