No abstract available.
Child* ; Humans ; Hypercalciuria*

No abstract available.
Korea* ; Otitis Media* ; Otitis* ; Risk Factors*

A nation-wide survey was conducted to estimate the prevalence of otitis media and allied diseases through physical examination by otolaryngologic doctors from July to October, 1991. A sample study population was selected from a panel to be representative of the Korean population by multistage clustered and stratified random sampling method based on the National Census Data, 1990. Total number of subjects undertaken were 9,321, Which were drawn from 2,899 households residing in 60 different areas throughout the country. The overall prevalence of otitis media was 2.85% (3.10% of males and 2.61% of females). Prevalence of each subtype was as follows; acute otitis media, 0.02%; middle ear effusion, 0.60%; chronic otitis media, 2.19%, respectively. The prevalence of otitis media did not vary by sex, nor by urban-rural difference. There was an increasing tendency of the prevalence of otitis media by age. However, the prevalence of both middle ear effusion and acute otitis media showed a decreasing pattern by age. Particularly noteworthy was a significant geographic variation in the prevalence of otitis media by provinces. The prevalence rate of septal deviation was 21.93% and the presence of septal deviation was significantly related to that of otitis media (p < 0.05). The prevalence rates of nasal allergic symptoms, nasal polyposis and evident cleft palate were 1.14%, 1.00% and 0.07%, respectively. The presence of otitis media was significantly correlated with both nasal allergic symptoms (P < 0.1) and evident cleft palate (P < 0.05), but not with that of nasal polyposis.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cleft Palate/epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Korea/epidemiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Otitis Media/*epidemiology ; Prevalence ; Time Factors

The ultimate goal of periodontal therapy is to promote the regeneration of lost periodontal tissue, there have been many attempts to develop a method to achieve this goal, but none of them was completely successful. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of Bio-Oss(R) on alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) activity in human fetal osteoblasts (hFOB1). The results of this study were as follows, in ALP Activity, 100 microgram/ml Bio-Oss(R) treated group showed significantly increased value than negative control group, but positive group(10(-7) M dexamethasone treated group) showed the highest ALP activity at 3 day. In mineralization assay, numerous mineralized nodules were identified as darkly stained spots in 100 microgram/ml Bio-Oss(R) treated group than two control groups, whereas a small number of mineralized nodules were showed in the positive control. ALP may relate to the initial phase of bone nodule formation. On the basis of these results, this study showed Bio-Oss(R) is capable of accelerating new bone formation through hFOB1 differentiation in vitro.
Alkaline Phosphatase ; Calcification, Physiologic* ; Dexamethasone ; Humans* ; Osteoblasts* ; Osteogenesis ; Regeneration

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the association of social support and quality of life of stroke patients. METHODS: Stroke patients were interviewed by a direct contact survey among 160 person. A structured questionnaire was configured about demographic features, social support and health related quality of life (SF12). Data were collected from July to August 2009. RESULTS: Among social support, satisfaction of dependable when you need help is the highest score (5.3) and console you when you are very upset is the lowest (4.0). Vitality among health related quality of life (HRQOL) is the higest score (55.9) and general health score is the the lowest (17.4). Physical component score (PCS) is lower than mental component. The results of multiple regression analysis about the factors affecting the PCS and MCS score, disability grade and feel better variable gave effect HRQOL. CONCLUSIONS: For improvement of HRQOL, among stroke patients, community social support, specially, when patients feeling generally down-in-the dumps, the rely on to help feel better was needed.
Humans ; Quality of Life ; Stroke ; Surveys and Questionnaires

The recent mumps epidemic in South Korea has generated a large amount of public concern. This study has attempted to analyze molecular epidemiological changes of mumps virus circulating in Gwangju metropolitan area, South Korea. 953 throat swab samples were collected from patients with parotitis from May 2013 to July 2014. The majority (71.5%) of these cases have occurred in middle or high school students aged from 15 to 19 years. All samples were tested using a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) that targets the short hydrophobic (SH) gene of the virus. Mumps virus SH gene was detected in 39.2% (374/953) of samples. And 82 RT-PCR products were randomly selected for nucleotide sequencing analysis. All of these sequences were determined as genotype I by phylogenetic analysis and showed the highest nucleic acid similarity (99%) with Dg1062/Korea/98 (GenBank accession no. AY309060). These results suggested that appearance of new genotype or genetic variation at the nucleotide level could be ruled out to evaluate main cause of recent mumps outbreak in Gwangju metropolitan area.
Genetic Variation ; Genotype ; Gwangju ; Humans ; Korea ; Molecular Epidemiology* ; Mumps ; Mumps virus* ; Parotitis ; Pharynx ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Reverse Transcription

No abstract available.
Arteries* ; Infarction* ; Spinal Cord Vascular Diseases ; Spinal Cord*

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) have been implicated in human diarrhea in several countries. Central to EPEC-mediated disease is its ability to cause intestinal lesions, known as attaching and effacing (A/E) lesion. We investigated 92 EPEC strains isolated from patients with diarrhea in Gwangju for their genotypic and phenotypic characteristics. Sixteen (17.4%) of all strains were found to be typical EPEC because they were bfpA gene positive by PCR. The most of typical EPEC isolates (87.5%) showed a localized adhesion (LA) pattern in Hep-2 cell adherence assay, whereas, only 11 atypical EPEC isolates (14.5%) were adhered to Hep-2 cells in a localized manner. Thirteen of the EPEC strains studied belonged to classical O-serogroups of EPEC and 7 isolates were classified as nonclassical EPEC serogroup and the other isolates could not be serotyped with our antisera. The subtypes of eae, tir, espA and espB genes which are major virulence genes concerned of A/E lesion on chromosome were analyzed by multiplex PCR for finding the original resource. The results showed that the composition of these genes subtypes was homogenous and heterogenous in 12 and 26 isolates, respectively. The others were non-determined type in terms of the gene subtype because of genetic diversity of intimin-coding eae genes. Our findings indicated that EPEC isolates from patients with diarrhea were diverse genetically and phenotypically, which require further study in regard to their virulence and epidemiological significance.
Diarrhea ; Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli* ; Genetic Variation ; Gwangju* ; Humans ; Immune Sera ; Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Virulence

This study was conducted to integrate the results of studies which evaluated or identified the risk factors of CVD(cerebrovascular disorders) for Koreans. We retrieved the literature published in Korean by manual search and the English literature by Medline database to identify studies on the relationship between reported risk factors and CVD conducted for the Korean from 1980 to August, 1997. Hypertension and total serum cholestrol were selected as subjects of quantitative meta-analysis as risk factors of CVD in Koreans. The overall effect sizes of the risk of CVD due to hypertension and total serum cholesterol were calculated by common odds ratio(OR) and average standardized mean difference, retrospectively. Before the integration of each effect sizes into common effect sizes, the heterogeneity tests were conducted. Also, sensitivity tests were conducted for the estimated common effect sizes. Regarding hypertension and CVD, a total of 9 epidemiologic studies were identified with a total of 2,271 cases of CVD. The overall OR of hypertension associated CVD was 4.10(95% confidence interval[CI] 3.56 to 4.71). The OR of hypertension associated with hemorrhagic CVD and ischemic CVD were 6.56(95% CI : 4.92 to 8.80) and 3.28(95% CI : 2.77 to 3.90), retrospectively. The OR of hypertension in relation to hemorrhagic CVD was significantly higher than that of hypertension in relation to overall CVD or ischemic CVD. Regarding serum total cholesterol and ischemic CVD, total 9 epidemiologic studies were identified with a total of 843 cases of ischemic CVD. Average mean difference as an effect size was 0.76, which was judged an important value according to Cohen's criteria. Our data suggested that hypertension was an important risk factor of overall CVD and its subtypes, and that the total serum cholesterol was associated with ischemic CVD in Koreans. For the lack of reliable prospective studies, however, we concluded that further research designed longitudinally would be required in this area.
Cerebrovascular Disorders* ; Cholesterol ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Hypertension ; Population Characteristics ; Research Design ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors*

STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective study for radiographically and clinically assessing nonunion after lumbar spine fusion. OBJECTIVES: We wanted to analyze the risk factors for nonunion that requires surgical treatment after lumbar spine fusion SUMMARY OF THE LITERATURE REVIEW: A diagnosis of the nonunion after lumbar spine fusion was made by using only the only radiologic images. The incidence of nonunion has been underreported because there are many asymptomatic patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The plain X-ray films were evaluated for 1317 patients who could be followed up more than 1 year after lumbar fusion. Nonunion was diagnosed at 1 year after fusion by instability seen on the flexion-extension radiograph and the clinical findings like as sustained pain and local tenderness at the surgical site. The risk factors we reviewed included age, the number of levels fused, associated diseases, smoking, alcohol drinking, the initial diagnosis, a previous history of spinal operation, infection, a clear zone and malposition of pedicle screws and metal failure. The relations between nonunion and the factors mentioned above were analyzed. RESULTS: Thirty-nine patients were diagnosed as having nonunion underwent reoperation and all had surgically confirmed nonunion. Smoking, infection and a previous history of spine operation had a significant influence on nonunion (p < 0.05). Clear zones persisting more than 1 year and metal failure also had a significant influence on nonunion (p < 0.05). Age, the number of fused levels, the initial diagnosis and alcohol drinking were not shown to influence the rate of nonunion (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: A through clinical and radiologic evaluation is essential to diagnose nonunion, and this should not be done according to the radiologic images only. Risk factors such as a previous history of spine operation, infection, smoking, the development of a clear zone and metal failure all showed a statistically significant influence on nonunion. Additionally, preoperative and postoperative evaluation of these parameters is needed to achieve bone union.
Alcohol Drinking ; Humans ; Incidence ; Reoperation ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Spine ; X-Ray Film