No abstract available.
Humans ; Pregnancy* ; Twins*

Due to the great deal of effort that has gone into the study of osteoclastic differentiation and activation over the last few decades, the mechanisms of these two events have been discovered gradually. Nitric oxide(NO-), which is produced from arginine by a nitric oxide synthase, opened up a new area of biological research. Recently, it has been reported that NO- is produced by osteoblasts stimulated by lipopolysaccharide and several other cytokines. In this study, the effect of sodium nitroprusside(SNP), a donor of nitric oxide(NO-), on osteoclast-like cell formation and on mature osteoclast function was examined. To determine the mechanism of the inhibitory effects of SNP decreased not only the basal 45Ca release but also thee bone resorption induced by PTH and l,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (I ,25[OH]2D3). The inhibitory effect of SNP on bone resorption induced by PTH appeared 2 days after treatment, whereas SNP effect on inhibiting bone resorption induced by l,25[OH]2D3 appeared at the third days. When chicken and rat osteoclasts were cultured on dentin slices, treatment of 300micronM SNP resulted in a significant decrease in dentin resorption by osteoclasts in terms of total resorption area and average individual area. We also examined the effect of SNP on formation of osteoclast-like cells that is TRAP-positive multinucleated cells from chicken and rat bone marrow cells in the presence or absence of 10(-8)M l,25[OH]2D3. The addition of 300 micronM SNP inhibited the formation of TRAP-positive multinucleated cells. The present data suggest that SNP, possibly as a NO- donor, inhibits the osteoclastic differentiation and osteoclastic activity.
Animals ; Arginine ; Bone Marrow Cells ; Bone Resorption ; Chickens ; Cytokines ; Dentin ; Humans ; Nitric Oxide Synthase ; Nitroprusside* ; Osteoblasts ; Osteoclasts* ; Rats ; Sodium* ; Tissue Donors

The Saville's index of the lumbar spine and the Singh's index of the femoral neck is very simple method to measure degree of osteoporosis. Authors compared Singh's index and Savilles index with Dual Photon Absorptiometry(D.P.X.) and studied the reliability and clinical usefulness of two indices. We took the D.P.X. and simple L-spine lateral view in 103 patients in same time and also performed D.P.X. and both hips A-P view in 70 patients, then analyzed and compared each two indices with D.P.X. The Singh's index had less interpersonal difference and intrapersonal difference compared with Saville's spine index. There was some confidence of Singh's index and Saville's spine index compared with the D.P.X., but the relationship between Saville's spine index and D.P.X. was less promising than that of Singh's index. Authors suggest that the Saville's spine index has less clinical usefulness than Singh's index in measurement of osteoporosis.
Femur Neck ; Hip ; Humans ; Methods ; Osteoporosis ; Spine

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis is an important health concern among the postmenopausal women. Therefore, it is necessary to find out acceptable screening tools for osteoporotic patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Risk Index by OSTA as a screening test for osteoporosis. METHODS: The study population was 322 naturally caused menopausal women in Korea. Their was of femoral neck and lumbar spine BMD measured by DEXA. Risk Index by OSTA, based on weight and age, was calculated and the sensitivity and specificity for osteoporosis and osteopenia were evaluated. To find out the proper cut-off point for osteoporosis and osteopenia among the postmenopausal women in Korea, we also compared the sensitivity and specificity of each Risk Index value. RESULTS: The mean age and ages at menopause were 59.1(+/-6.2) and 50.7 (+/-2.7) years, respectively. The prevalence of osteoporosis was 9.6% with femoral neck BMD. For oeteoporosis, using a cut-off point of -1 yielded a sensitivity of 74.3% and a specificity of 52.2% with femoral neck BMD. Using a cut-off of -2 yielded a sensitivity of 87.3% and a specificity of 70.9%. The ROC curve showed an AUROC 0.88 for Risk Index in identifying osteoporosis. CONCLUSION: The Risk Index is an acceptable, simple and useful method in the diagnosis of osteoporosis with a Risk Index of -2 in Korean postmenopausal women.
Bone Diseases, Metabolic* ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Femur Neck ; Humans ; Korea ; Mass Screening* ; Menopause ; Osteoporosis* ; Prevalence ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Spine

Acanthamoeba spp. are single-celled protozoan organisms that are widely distributed in the environment. In this study, to understand functional roles of a mannose-binding protein (MBP), Acanthamoeba castellanii was treated with methyl-alpha-D-mannopyranoside (mannose), and adhesion and cytotoxicity of the amoeba were analyzed. In addition, to understand the association of MBP for amoeba phagocytosis, phagocytosis assay was analyzed using non-pathogenic bacterium, Escherichia coli K12. Amoebae treated with mannose for 20 cycles exhibited larger vacuoles occupying the most area of the amoebic cytoplasm in comparison with the control group amoebae and glucose-treated amoebae. Mannose-selected amoebae exhibited lower levels of binding to Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. Exogenous mannose inhibited >50% inhibition of amoebae (control group) binding to CHO cells. Moreover, exogenous mannose inhibited amoebae (i.e., man-treated) binding to CHO cells by <15%. Mannose-selected amoebae exhibited significantly decreased cytotoxicity to CHO cells compared with the control group amoebae, 25.1% vs 92.1%. In phagocytic assay, mannose-selected amoebae exhibited significant decreases in bacterial uptake in comparison with the control group, 0.019% vs 0.03% (P<0.05). Taken together, it is suggested that mannose-selected A. castellanii trophozoites should be severely damaged and do not well interact with a target cell via a lectin of MBP.
Acanthamoeba castellanii/drug effects/metabolism/*pathogenicity ; Amebiasis/*parasitology ; Animals ; CHO Cells ; Cell Adhesion/drug effects ; Cell Survival ; Cricetinae ; Cricetulus ; Escherichia coli K12/metabolism ; Female ; Mannose/*pharmacology ; Mannose-Binding Lectin/*metabolism ; Phagocytosis ; Protozoan Proteins/metabolism

A 2-year-old girl, previously healthy, was brought to our emergency department due to abdominal pain (cramping), following recurrent hematochezia after an accidental hydrogen peroxide enema (35%, 5 mL) by her caregiver. She was hospitalized and admitted to the pediatric department and treated with NPO (nil per os), intravenous fluid, and parenteral antibiotic therapy. Laboratory, radiologic, endoscopic evaluations were performed. She was discharged with full recovery 10 days after admission. This may be the first case report of acute chemical colitis by accidental hydrogen peroxide enema in children.
Abdominal Pain ; Caregivers ; Child* ; Child, Preschool ; Colitis* ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Enema* ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hydrogen Peroxide* ; Hydrogen*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the differences in the level of disease related knowledge, compliance of health behavior, and educational needs in relation to time (at discharge and 6 months after discharge) among patients underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS: Data were collected from January 1, 2006 to September 30, 2006 and a total of 60 patients participated in the study. The survey was conducted in patients underwent PCI at the time of discharge right after discharge education was provided and at a follow up visit which was 6 months after discharge. RESULTS: The level of disease related knowledge (p<.001), the compliance of health behavior (p<.001), educational need (p=.496), the sub-item of sexual life (p<.001), follow up (p<.001), diet (p=.021), stress (p<.001) in compliance of health behavior, and the sub-item of specific character of disease in educational needs (p=.015) were significantly different between discharge and 6 months after discharge. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggested that further education should be provided to the patients underwent PCI regarding medication, smoking cessation, daily life and exercise at a time of 6 months after discharge in order to increase patient compliance of health behavior.
Compliance ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Diet ; Follow-Up Studies ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Patient Compliance ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; Smoking Cessation

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study is to define the attributable factors related to the marital satisfaction of the professional airmen working for a commercial airlines. METHODS: Data was collected from the all professional civil airline pilots by using self-administrative questionnaire during the three months(2000. 1. 3 - 3. 31). The response rate was 95.2%(472). RESULTS: First, there were statistically significant differences in marital satisfaction by type of religion, in sexual satisfaction by type of housing, work duration, and flying hours. However, there were no significant variables in communication. Second, communication, sexual satisfaction, and number of female kids, and work duration were significantly correlated to marital satisfaction. There was significant correlation between sexual satisfaction and communication, marital years, and work duration. There was also statistical correlation among marital years, number of male kids, female kids, and total number of kids, work duration, and flying hours. Third, communication was the most significant attributable variable, and following sexual satisfaction related to marital satisfaction. CONCLUSION: It is intended that these finding will contribute to assisting the social work practices. It is necessary for the aircrew to develop communication skill to provide a happy marital life. Future research needs to study various methods and psychosocial factors involving quality of marital life for the Korean aircrew.
Diptera ; Female ; Housing ; Humans ; Male ; Psychology ; Social Work ; Surveys and Questionnaires

No abstract available.
Hypothyroidism* ; Megacolon* ; Pericardial Effusion* ; Pregnancy*

Eight strains of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Salmonella typhi were isolated from Kyonggi area during January-February,1997. They were resistant to ampiciUin, amoxicillin, carbeniciillin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim. Eight strains had one plasmid respectively which size was approximately M.W 220 kb and showed same restriction pattern by endonuclease HindIII. The plasmid was similar to the plasmid in size that was related to multidrug resistant S. typhi isolated from southeast Asia. It were transferred by conjugation to recipient E, coli K-12 in frequency of 2.43 x10-4 - 1.73 x 10-2 and transconjugant showed same drug-resistant pattem with donor cells. All of 8 strains produced B-lactamase that was assummed to TEM-1 type by isoelectric focusing and PCR.
Amoxicillin ; Asia, Southeastern ; Chloramphenicol ; Deoxyribonuclease HindIII ; Gyeonggi-do ; Humans ; Isoelectric Focusing ; Korea* ; Plasmids* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Salmonella typhi* ; Salmonella* ; Tetracycline ; Tissue Donors ; Trimethoprim