PURPOSE: This study is to investigate the job stress and presenteeism of nurses with work shift. METHODS: The data were collected through questionnaires from 281 clinical nurses working for a university hospital located in D city from 13 to 28 of February, 2009. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Scheffe verification test, Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression using SPSS/WIN 16.0. RESULTS: The mean score of job stress was 3.47. Work overload and psychological burden scored the highest point as the sub-category of work stress factor. Work performance loss out of presenteeism showed 26.89 and perceived productivity, 79.79. Also 94.7% of respondents answered they had health problems. A significantly positive correlation was found among job stress, work performance loss and health issue. To determine the factors affecting persenteeism, work performance loss was associated with work overload and perceived productivity with interpersonal relationship conflict. CONCLUSION: Based on the findings of the study, job stress is positively correlated with work performance loss, and health problems. Therefore, health problems of nurses with work shift need to be considered and plans to manage their job stress affecting presenteeism need to be developed at an earlier stage.
Surveys and Questionnaires ; Efficiency ; Linear Models

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine factors that affect poor quality of life (QOL) of older adults who received home health service. METHOD: The sample 492 older adults participated in the study. The QOL was measured using the scale of QOL of Ware and other data were collected through face-to-face interviews from September to August, 2009. RESULTS: The level of QOL was moderate (Mean 24.4, SD 7.4). The QOL was poorer in older adults (p<.05) and in those living alone (p<.01) compared to older adults and those living with couple or family respectively. The QOL was positively correlated with a sense of mastery (r=.213, p<.05), connection of health (r=.160, p<.05) and a cognitive function (r=.119, p<.01), and negatively correlated with Activities of Daily Living (r=-.266, p<.01) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (r=-.339, p<.01). Sense of mastery, connection of health & welfare, and IADL were significant predictors of QOL. CONCLUSION: Finding suggest that home health service program should incorporate strategies for increasing sense of mastery and capability of performing IADL, and strengthening connection of health service that may improve QOL of older home health service recipients.
Activities of Daily Living ; Adult ; Health Services ; Humans ; Quality of Life

BACKGROUND: In this randomized, double-blinded study, we evaluated the efficacy of ramosetron and ondansetron for preventing postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in gynecologic patients. METHODS: Sixty patients undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy or myomectomy, ASA physical status I or II, aged 30-65 yr, received IV ramosetron 0.3 mg (group R) or ondansetron 4 mg (group O) at the end of surgery (n = 30 each). A standard general inhalational anesthesia and postoperative IV patient-controlled analgesia were used. At postoperative 3, 24 and 48 hours, we assessed pain score (VAS), incidence of PONV, rescue drug consumption, adverse events associated with study medications and overall satisfaction scores. RESULTS: The incidence of PONV showed no difference between groups at each time points after surgery (overall incidence; 59% in group R, 69% in group O). There was no difference in the severity of nausea, pain score and analgesic drug usage. However, the consumption of rescue drug in the ramosetron group was markedly less than that of ondansetron group at postoperative 3 hrs (none vs. 8 patients). No clinically serious adverse events were observed in either of the groups. Overall satisfaction scores were also comparable in both groups (6.5 +/- 3.0 vs. 6.2 +/- 2.7). CONCLUSIONS: Prophylactic therapy with ramosetron is as effective and safe as conventional prophylactic therapy with ondansetron for preventing PONV in women undergoing general anesthesia for gynecologic surgery. Severity of PONV seems significantly less with ramosetron than with ondansetron in the early postoperative period.
Analgesia, Patient-Controlled ; Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, General ; Female ; Gynecologic Surgical Procedures* ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Incidence ; Nausea* ; Ondansetron* ; Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting ; Postoperative Period ; Vomiting*

PURPOSE: Augmentation in the expression of E-selectin on activated vascular endothelial cells regulates leukocyte migration into the tissue. These molecules are also shed into the circulation as a soluble form. The level of soluble forms in the serum has been known to be correlated with those expressed on the endothelial cells, thus it can be used as a marker of inflammation in that tissue. The purpose of this study is to compare the serum levels of soluble E-selectin(sE-selectin) in patients with atopic dermatitis(AD), atopic asthmatics, and healthy non-atopics, and to determine whether sE-selectin levels are correlated with disease activity in patients with atopic dermatitis. METHODS: We examined serum sE-selectin levels, serum total IgE levels, and total eosinophil counts from 18 children with AD, 15 atopic asthmatics and 15 healthy non-atopics. The severity of AD was assessed by clinical scoring(SCORAD index). We compared the sE-selectin levels among the three groups and investigated the correlations with SCORAD index. RESULTS: The children with AD had significantly higher levels of sE-selectin than those of atopic asthmatics(P<0.05) and of healthy non-atopics(P<0.05). There was no difference in the serum sE-selectin levels between the groups of atopic asthmatics and healthy non- atopics. Serum sE-selectin levels were correlated with SCORAD index in patients with AD, (P<0.05) but not significantly correlated with serum total IgE levels and total eosinophil counts. There were no significant correlations among SCORAD index, serum total IgE levels, and total eosinophil counts. CONCLUSION: The serum sE-selectin level is elevated only in patients with AD, not in atopic asthmatics. Therefore, sE-selectin could be considered as a useful marker of the disease activity in AD.
Biomarkers* ; Child ; Dermatitis, Atopic* ; E-Selectin* ; Endothelial Cells ; Eosinophils ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; Inflammation ; Leukocytes

The structural complexity and heterogeneity of cerebral cortex have been obvious since the earliest days of light microscopy. In fact, if there is one word that captures many of the key attributes of cortical structures, it is diversity. Neurodevelopmental approach is the one of the effective ways to understand complicated structures of cerebral cortex. In this experiment, as a first step to clone the genes related with development of cerebral cortex, the developmentally differentially expressed genes were cloned from developing rat brain with ordered differential display PCR(ODD-PCR). Novel genes were screened from these cloned genes by sequencing and sequence analysis with blast search program. The developmental expression patterns of novel genes in the cerebral cortex were investigated with in situ hybridization histochemistry on the developing and adult rat brain sections. Among the forty one developmentally differentially expressed cDNA bands, amplified with InEGA primer and TEAC primer by ODD PCR, twenty novel genes were screened by sequencing and sequence analysis with blast search program. Through the investigation of developmental expression pattern with in situ hybridization histochemistry, specific expression of five novel genes in the developing rat cerebral cortex was identified. 20-E14-2 was highly expressed in the cerebral cortex during the period of neurogenesis. The expression of 20-E20-1, 20-E20-6b, and 20-P0-5 was relatively well matched with neuronal cell migration in the cerebral cortex. And the strong expression of 20-P0-8b was observed in the neuronal cells of cerebral cortex during the period of syanptogenesis. From these results, it may be suspected that the five novel genes play roles in the development of cerebral cortex.
Adult ; Animals ; Brain ; Cell Movement ; Cerebral Cortex* ; Clone Cells* ; Cloning, Organism* ; DNA, Complementary ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization ; Microscopy ; Neurogenesis ; Neurons ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Population Characteristics ; Rats* ; Sequence Analysis

The triad of rash, arthritis, and uveitis seems to be characteristic for early-onset childhood sarcoidosis. We describe an interesting case of early-onset childhood sarcoidosis coexisting enchondromatosis, which clinically masquerade as Langerhans cell histiocytosis. A 33 months old girl presented with skin rash, subcutaneous nodules with polyarthritis, and revealed the involvement of lymph nodes as well as spleen during work-up. She also presented with multiple osteolytic lesions which pathologically proven enchondromatosis. Oral prednisone was prescribed at 2 mg/kg/day for 2 months until when subcutaneous nodules and joint swellings almost disappeared, and then slowly tapered over a period of 5 months. We report an unusual case of early-onset childhood sarcoidosis presented with osteolytic bone lesions which were irrelevant to sarcoidosis.
Administration, Oral ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents/therapeutic use ; Arthritis/complications ; Child, Preschool ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Enchondromatosis/*complications/*diagnosis/drug therapy/radiography ; Exanthema/etiology ; Female ; Humans ; Positron-Emission Tomography and Computed Tomography ; Prednisone/therapeutic use ; Sarcoidosis/*complications/*diagnosis/drug therapy/radiography ; Whole Body Imaging

Gitelman's syndrome is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by hypokalemic metabolic alkalosis, hypomagnesemia, and hypocalciuria that has recently been reported to be linked to thiazide-sensitive Na-Cl cotransporter gene mutation. In this study, we performed renal clearance studies to differentiate Gitelman's from Bartter's syndrome and to confirm the diagnosis in two patients clinically diagnosed with Gitelman's syndrome. Each patient was hydrated by 20 mL/kg body weight of oral water within 30 minutes, which was followed by intravenous half saline. When urinary flow reached 10 mL/min, samples of urine and serum were obtained to calculate the osmolar clearance, free water clearance, chloride clearance, and distal fractional chloride reabsorption. Subsequently, furosemide or hydrochlorothiazide was administered. Samples were collected and the same parameters were calculated. In our patients, chloride clearance was increased more than 10 times after furosemide administration(2.1:25.7 and 2.2:27.4 mL/min/100 mL GFR), but not increased after hydrochlorothiazide treatment(2.1:1.6 and 2.2:2.6 mL/min/100 mL GFR). And the distal fractional chloride reabsorption was significantly decreased by furosemide injection (73%:15% and 75%:4.6%), whereas hydrochlorothiazide had no effect on it(73%:63% and 75%:78%). These findings indicate that our patients have a defect in thiazide-sensitive Na-Cl cotransporter in the distal tubule, which is compatible with the pathophysiology of Gitelman's syndrome.
Alkalosis ; Bartter Syndrome ; Body Weight ; Diagnosis ; Furosemide ; Gitelman Syndrome* ; Humans ; Hydrochlorothiazide ; Solute Carrier Family 12, Member 3 ; Water

Porcine to rat corneal xenotransplantation resulted in severe inflammation and rejection of the corneal stroma, whereas an allograft showed mainly endothelial cell-associated rejection. We, therefore, investigated and compared the gene expression between porcine keratocytes and corneal endothelial cells. RNA was isolated from primary cultured porcine or human keratocytes and porcine corneal endothelial cells. Gene expression was comparatively analyzed after normalization with microarray method using Platinum pig 13 K oligo chip (GenoCheck Co., Ltd., Ansan, Korea). Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed for C1R, CCL2, CXCL6, and HLA-A in porcine keratocytes and corneal endothelial cells. As a result, upregulated expression more than 2 folds was observed in 1,162 genes of porcine keratocytes versus porcine endothelial cells. Among the immune-regulatory genes, SEMA3C, CCL2, CXCL6, F3, HLA-A, CD97, IFI30, C1R, and G1P3 were highly expressed in porcine keratocytes, compared to porcine corneal endothelial cells or human keratocytes. When measured by real-time PCR, the expression of C1R, CCL2, and HLA-A was higher in porcine keratocytes compared to that in porcine corneal endothelial cells. In conclusion, the increased expression of C1R, CCL2, and HLA-A genes in porcine keratocytes might be responsible for the stromal rejection observed in a porcine to rat corneal xenotransplantation.
Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Chemokine CCL2/metabolism ; Complement C1r/metabolism ; Corneal Transplantation/*immunology/pathology ; Endothelium, Corneal/*metabolism/pathology ; *Gene Expression Profiling ; Graft Rejection/*immunology/pathology ; HLA-A Antigens/metabolism ; Humans ; Keratinocytes/*metabolism ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Rats ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Swine ; Transplantation, Heterologous ; Up-Regulation

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Thrombocytopenia is frequently found among patients with chronic liver disease, and its mechanism, especially among patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis had not been established. Therefore to elucidate the mechanism of thrombocytopenia, the relationship between thrombocytopenia and severity of hepatic dysfunction, splenomegaly was measured. We measured the peripheral blood components with splenic volume obtained from a computerized tomography of decompensated liver cirrhosis patients. METHODS: We studied 103 patients who had been diagnosed with decompensated liver cirrhosis with esophageal varices and ascites from January 1982 to August 1999. We checked their counts of platelets, albumin, bilirubin, splenic volume, degree of esophageal varices, hepatic encephalopathy and ascites by retrograde methods. RESULTS: In viral liver cirrhosis, thrombocytopenia and splenomegaly correlated well with disease severity but they didn't in alcoholic cirrhosis. Of special note, the platelet count was significantly lower and the splenic volume was larger in the Child C of viral cirrhosis patients group than in the alcoholic group(p<0.05). CONCLUSION: When we compared decompensated alcoholic with viral liver cirrhosis patients, the degrees of thrombocytopenia and splenomegaly were much less in the former group. The factors for this phenomena are Splenic Pooling theory, Platelet-associated IgG, Thrombopoietin and Toxic Marrow. We suggest that splenomegaly is an important factor among these, but the mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of this hematologic phenomena are not completely understood. Especially in alcoholic liver cirrhosis, many other factors may be involved, including the direct effect of alcohol to bone marrow, so further studies will be needed to establish whether a causal relationship exists.
Alcoholics* ; Ascites ; Bilirubin ; Bone Marrow ; Child ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; Fibrosis ; Hepatic Encephalopathy ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Liver Cirrhosis* ; Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic ; Liver Diseases ; Liver* ; Platelet Count ; Splenomegaly ; Thrombocytopenia* ; Thrombopoietin

Purpose: Microbiota manipulation through selected probiotics may be a promising tool to prevent cancer development as well as onset, to improve clinical efficacy for cancer treatments. The purpose of this study was to evaluate change in microbiota composition after-probiotics supplementation and assessed the efficacy of probiotics in improving quality of life (QOL) in postoperative cancer patients. Methods: Stool samples were collected from 30 cancer patients from February to October 2020 before (group I) and after (group II) 8 weeks of probiotics supplementation. We performed 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing to evaluate differences in gut microbiota between groups by comparing gut microbiota diversity, overall composition, and taxonomic signature abundance. The health-related QOL was evaluated through the EORTC Quality of life Questionnaire Core 30 questionnaire. Results: Statistically significant differences were noted in group II; increase of Shannon and Simpson index (P = 0.004 and P = 0.001), decrease of Bacteroidetes and Fusobacteria at the phylum level (P = 0.032 and P = 0.014, retrospectively), increased of beneficial bacteria such as Weissella (0.096% vs. 0.361%, P < 0.004), Lactococcus (0.023% vs. 0.16%, P < 0.001), and Catenibacterium (0.0% vs. 0.005%, P < 0.042) at the genus level. There was a significant improvement in sleep disturbance (P = 0.039) in group II. Conclusion Gut microbiota in cancer patients can be manipulated by specific probiotic strains, result in an altered microbiota. Microbiota modulation by probiotics can be considered as part of a supplement that helps to increase gut microbiota diversity and improve QOL in cancer patients after surgery.