PURPOSE: This study was aimed at assessing the difference of the prevalence of iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia among rural and urban middle school students in relation to dietary habit. METHODS: With a questionnaire, blood samples were obtained from 439 apparently healthy rural and urban middle school students residing in Ulsan. Anemia was defined as hemoglobin level of 12.6 g/dL or less for boys and 11.9 g/dL or less for girls. Iron deficiency was defined as serun ferritin level less than 12 micrograms/L or/and transferrin saturation less than 14%. Iron deficiency anemia was defined as iron deficiency plus low hemoglobin. RESULTS: 1) In boys, the prevalence rate of anemia was 17.2%. Among these anemias, 5.4% were found to be iron deficiency anemia. In girls, the prevalence of anemia increased with age. The prevalence of iron deficiency anemia was 6.9%. 2) In girls, the prevalence rate of anemia in rural area was higher than that of anemia in urban area (12.6% in rural, 6.1% in urban, P<0.01). 3) The prevalence of anemia and iron deficiency in the students with menstruation was 10.6% and 33.1%, which was higher than the prevalence of 2.5% and 7.5% in those who did not have the menarche (P<0.001 and P<0.001, respectively). 4) Dietary intake of rural and urban middle school students was estimated lower in energy, iron than the recommeded dietary allowance (RDA). In girls, dietary intake of rural middle school students was estimated lower in iron, niacin, and vitamin C than that of urban middle school students. 5) Nutritional factors such as energy, carbohydrate, protein, and phosphorus showed positive correlation with RBC, hemoglobin (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: It is recommended to enforce the nutritional education to take enough iron in middle school students to reduce the high prevalence rate of anemia among pubertal students.
Anemia* ; Anemia, Iron-Deficiency ; Ascorbic Acid ; Education ; Female ; Ferritins ; Food Habits ; Humans ; Iron* ; Menarche ; Menstruation ; Niacin ; Phosphorus ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Transferrin ; Ulsan*

Proteoglycan is highly hydrophilic and negatively charged which enable them attract the water. The objective of study was to investigate the effects of Proteoglycan on microtensile bond strength of dentin adhesives and on architecture of dentin collagen matrix of acid etched dentin by removing the chondroitin sulphate attached on Proteoglycan. A flat dentin surface in mid-coronal portion of tooth was prepared. After acid etching, half of the specimens were immersed in 0.1 U/mL chondroitinase ABC (C-ABC) for 48 h at 37degrees C, while the other half were stored in distilled water. Specimens were bonded with the dentin adhesive using three different bonding techniques (wet, dry and re-wet) followed by microtensile bond strength test. SEM examination was done with debonded specimen, resin-dentin interface and acid-etched dentin surface with/without C-ABC treatment. For the subgroups using wet-bonding or dry-bonding technique, microtensile bond strength showed no significant difference after C-ABC treatment (p > 0.05). Nevertheless, the subgroup using rewetting technique after air dry in the Single Bond 2 group demonstrated a significant decrease of microtensile bond strength after C-ABC treatment. Collagen architecture is loosely packed and some fibrils are aggregated together and relatively collapsed compared with normal acid-etched wet dentin after C-ABC treatment. Further studies are necessary for the contribution to the collagen architecture of noncollagenous protein under the various clinical situations and several dentin conditioners and are also needed about long-term effect on bond strength of dentin adhesive.
Adhesives ; Bisphenol A-Glycidyl Methacrylate ; Chondroitin ; Chondroitin ABC Lyase ; Chondroitin Sulfates ; Collagen ; Dentin ; Proteoglycans ; Tooth ; Water

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the surgical impact of benign ovarian mass on ovarian reserve as measured by serum follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), estradiol (E2) and anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) levels, antral follicle count (AFC) and ovarian volumes. In addition, the differences in ovarian reserve impairment between endometrioma cystectomy and non-endometrioma cystectomy were investigated. METHODS: In this prospective study, 22 patients of reproductive age (range, 18.35 years) with benign ovarian masses were enrolled to undergo laparoscopic cystectomy. Of whom 12 had endometriomas and 10 had non-endometriomas. On early follicular phase (day 3) of the cycle preceding the operation and three months after the laparoscopic cystectomy, serum levels of FSH, E2 and AMH, AFC and ovarian volumes were measured in all patients. Data were analyzed with Mann-Whitney U-test and Wilcoxon rank test using SPSS ver. 12.0 for statistic analysis. RESULTS: Median level of serum AMH was significantly decreased from 5.48 ng/mL (interquartile range [IQR], 2.80-7.47) before cystectomy to 2.56 ng/mL (IQR, 1.74-4.32) 3 months postoperation (P<0.05). On the other hand, no significant differences in FSH, E2, AFC and ovarian volumes were found between the preoperative and three months postoperative levels. In a subgroup analysis of the pathologic type of the ovarian cyst, postoperative serum AMH levels were significantly decreased in the endometrioma group, but not in the non-endometrioma group. CONCLUSION: Serum AMH levels were significantly decreased after laparoscopic cystectomy without any changes of other ovarian reserve tests.
Anti-Mullerian Hormone* ; Cystectomy ; Endometriosis ; Estradiol ; Female ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone ; Follicular Phase ; Hand ; Humans ; Ovarian Cysts* ; Prospective Studies*

BACKGROUND: The Apt test is used for differentiating neonatal blood from the maternal blood in the meconium. The test requires a sufficient amount of blood to be detectable to the naked eyes. But many of the specimens in the hospital laboratory contain only a small amount of blood and is not detectable to the naked eyes and usually the results are reported 'impossible to determine' due to the small amount of blood. We developed a latex agglutination test to solve this problem and to differentiate the neonatal blood from the maternal blood in a small amount that was not detectable with the naked eyes. METHODS: Latex reagents for hemoglobin A (Hb A) and hemoglobin F (Hb F) were made. Ten milligrams of meconium were dissolved in 1mL of deionized water (DW). Ten milligrams of meconium that had shown negative results for both of the above reagents were mixed, each with 10microL of whole blood (WB) from 10 pregnant women and 10 neonates who had various hemoglobin concentrations (10-17 g/dL). Each of the 20 mixtures was dissolved in 1 mL of DW (WB 10microL/mL). Then, serial dilutions were made at a ratio of 1:10 until the final concentration of 10 pL/mL. Each of the six dilutes were tested with the two latex reagents. RESULTS: The dilutes of WB 10microL/mL looked red, WB 1microL/mL looked pink and all other dilutes showed no colors to the naked eyes. The reagent for Hb A showed agglutination in dilutes from WB 1microL to 1 nL/mL DW from all of the 20 persons. The reagent for Hb F reacted with dilutes from WB 1microL to 1 nL/mL DW from the ten neonates but did not react with those from any pregnant women. CONCLUSIONS: The latex agglutination test can be applied to the specimen with no color detectable to the naked eyes after dilution. The specimen reacted with both the Hb A and Hb F reagents could be determined as fetal blood and the one that reacted with the reagent only for Hb A could be determined as maternal blood.
Agglutination ; Female ; Fetal Blood ; Fetal Hemoglobin ; Hemoglobin A ; Humans ; Indicators and Reagents ; Infant, Newborn ; Laboratories, Hospital ; Latex Fixation Tests* ; Latex* ; Meconium* ; Pregnant Women ; Water

The objectives of this study was to evaluate the durability of 4 resin cements by means of microtensile bond strength test combined with thermocycling method and fractographic FE-SEM analysis. Experimental groups were prepared according to thermocycling (0, 1,000, 5,000) and the kind of resin cements, those were Variolink II, Multilink, Panavia F 2.0, Rely X Unicem. Flat dentin surfaces were created on mid-coronal dentin of extracted third molars. Then fresh dentin surface was grounded with 320-grit silicon carbide abrasive papers to create uniform smear layers. Indirect composite block (Tescera, Bisco Inc., Schaumburg, IL, USA) was fabricated (12 x 12 x 6 mm3). It's surface for bonding to tooth was grounded with silicon carbide abrasive papers from 180- to 600-grit serially, then sandblasted with 20 - 50 microm alumina oxide. According to each manufacturer's instruction, dentin surface was treated and indirect composite block was luted on it using each resin cement. For Rely X Unicem, dentin surface was not treated. The bonded tooth-resin block were stored in distilled water at 37degrees C for 24 hours. After thermocycling, the bonded tooth-resin block was sectioned occluso-gingivally to 1.0 mm thick serial slabs using an Isomet slow-speed saw (Isomet, Buehler Ltd, Lake Bluff, IL, USA). These sectioned slabs were further sectioned to 1.0 x 1.0 mm2 composite-dentin beams. The specimens were tested with universal testing machine (EZ-Test, Shimadzu, Japan) at a crosshead speed of 1.0 mm/min with maximum load of 500 N. The data was analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Duncan's multiple comparison test at p < or = 0.05 level. Within the limited results, we conclude as follows; 1. The bond strength of Variolink II was evaluated the highest among experimental groups and was significantly decreased after 1,000 thermocycling (p < 0.05). 2. The bond strength of Multilink was more affected by thermocycling than the other experimental groups and significantly decreased after 1,000 thermocycling (p < 0.05). 3. Panavia F 2.0 and Rely X Unicem showed the gradually decreased tendency of microtensile bond strength according to thermocycling but there was no significant difference (p > 0.05). 4. Adhesive based-resin cements showed lower bond strength with or without thermocycling than composite based-resin cements. 5. Variolink II & Multilink showed high bond strength and mixed failure, which was occurred with a thin layer of luting resin cement before thermocycling and gradually increased adhesive failure along the dentin surface after thermocycling. The bonding performance of resin cement can be affected by application procedure and chemical composition. Composite based-resin cement showed higher bond strength and durability than adhesive based-resin cement.
Adhesives ; Aluminum Oxide ; Dentin ; Lakes ; Molar, Third ; Resin Cements* ; Tooth ; Water

BACKGROUND: This study was designed to compare the usual self-checked blood pressure measuring methods by hypertensive patients with standardized methods. METHODS: From May to August 2002, we surveyed 137 hypertensive patients who performed self blood pressure measurements with a self-administered questionnaire. We defined 14 standard methods from the six most frequently recommended guidelines. We asked patients how often they calibrated their sphygmomanometer, and how they learned to measure blood pressure. Also, their upper arm circumferences were measured. RESULTS: The percentage of correct preparations for BP measurement was over 80%, but that of correct technique was low. For example, 'reading from the arm with higher BP by more than 10 mmHg' (4.4%), 'placing midline of the bladder over the arterial pulsation' (21.5%), and 'waiting 2 or more minutes between readings' (21.9%). Only 11.2% of the patients have ever had calibrated their sphygmomanometers. In 20.2% of hypertensive subjects, upper arm circumferences were greater than 30 cm which made blood pressure measurement with a 24 cm-sized bladder incorrect. CONCLUSION: As shown in previous studies, the methods of blood pressure measurement were incorrect in many aspects. Therefore, systematically educating hypertensive patients to measure blood pressure by correct methods and recommending to use a proper-sized cuff are essential.
Arm ; Blood Pressure* ; Calibration ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Sphygmomanometers ; Urinary Bladder ; Surveys and Questionnaires

The objectives of this study was to evaluate the effect of thermocycling on the microTBS (microtensile bond strength) to dentin with four different adhesive systems to examine the bonding durability. Freshly extracted 3rd molar teeth were exposed occlusal dentin surfaces, and randomly distributed into 8 adhesive groups: 3-steps total-etching (Scotchbond Multi-Purpose Plus; SM, All Bond-2; AB), 2-steps total-etching (Single Bond; SB, One Step plus; OS), 2-steps self-etching (Clearfil SE Bond; SE, AdheSE; AD) and single-step self-etching systems (Promp L-Pop; PL, Xeno III; XE). Each adhesive system in 8 adhesives groups was applied on prepared dentin surface as an instruction and resin composite (Z250) was placed incrementally and light-cured. The bonded specimens were sectioned with low-speed diamond saw to obtain 1 x 1 mm sticks after 24 hours of storage at 37degrees C distilled water and proceeded thermocycling at the pre-determined cycles of 0, 1,000 and 2,000. The microTBS test was carried out with EZ-tester at 1 mm/min. The results of bond strength test were statistically analyzed using one-way ANOVA/Duncan's test at the alpha < 0.05 confidence level. Also, the fracture mode of debonded surface and the interface were examined under SEM. The results of this study were as follows; 1. 3-step total etching adhesives showed stable, but bond strength of 2-step adhesives were decreased as thermocycling stress. 2. SE showed the highest bond strength, but single step adhesives (PL, XE) had the lowest value both before and after thermocycling. 3. Most of adhesives showed adhesive failure. The total-etching systems were prone to adhesive failure and the single-step systems were mixed failure after thermocycling. Within limited results of this study, the bond strength of adhesive system was material specific and the bonding durability was affected by the bonding step/procedure of adhesive. Simplified bonding procedures do not necessarily imply improved bonding performance.
Adhesives* ; Dentin* ; Diamond ; Molar ; Tooth ; Water

The objectives of this study was to evaluate the effect of thermocycling on the microTBS (microtensile bond strength) to dentin with four different adhesive systems to examine the bonding durability. Freshly extracted 3rd molar teeth were exposed occlusal dentin surfaces, and randomly distributed into 8 adhesive groups: 3-steps total-etching (Scotchbond Multi-Purpose Plus; SM, All Bond-2; AB), 2-steps total-etching (Single Bond; SB, One Step plus; OS), 2-steps self-etching (Clearfil SE Bond; SE, AdheSE; AD) and single-step self-etching systems (Promp L-Pop; PL, Xeno III; XE). Each adhesive system in 8 adhesives groups was applied on prepared dentin surface as an instruction and resin composite (Z250) was placed incrementally and light-cured. The bonded specimens were sectioned with low-speed diamond saw to obtain 1 x 1 mm sticks after 24 hours of storage at 37degrees C distilled water and proceeded thermocycling at the pre-determined cycles of 0, 1,000 and 2,000. The microTBS test was carried out with EZ-tester at 1 mm/min. The results of bond strength test were statistically analyzed using one-way ANOVA/Duncan's test at the alpha < 0.05 confidence level. Also, the fracture mode of debonded surface and the interface were examined under SEM. The results of this study were as follows; 1. 3-step total etching adhesives showed stable, but bond strength of 2-step adhesives were decreased as thermocycling stress. 2. SE showed the highest bond strength, but single step adhesives (PL, XE) had the lowest value both before and after thermocycling. 3. Most of adhesives showed adhesive failure. The total-etching systems were prone to adhesive failure and the single-step systems were mixed failure after thermocycling. Within limited results of this study, the bond strength of adhesive system was material specific and the bonding durability was affected by the bonding step/procedure of adhesive. Simplified bonding procedures do not necessarily imply improved bonding performance.
Adhesives* ; Dentin* ; Diamond ; Molar ; Tooth ; Water

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of chlorhexidine (CHX) on microtensile bond strength (microTBS) of dentin bonding systems. Dentin collagenolytic and gelatinolytic activities can be suppressed by protease inhibitors, indicating that MMPs (Matrix metalloproteinases) inhibition could be beneficial in the preservation of hybrid layers. Chlorhexidine (CHX) is known as an inhibitor of MMPs activity in vitro. The experiment was proceeded as follows: At first, flat occlusal surfaces were prepared on mid-coronal dentin of extracted third molars. GI (Glass Ionomer) group was treated with dentin conditioner, and then, applied with 2% CHX. Both SM (Scotchbond Multipurpose) and SB (Single Bond) group were applied with CHX after acid-etched with 37% phosphoric acid. TS (Clearfil Tri-S) group was applied with CHX, and then, with adhesives. Hybrid composite Z-250 and resin-modified glass ionomer Fuji-II LC was built up on experimental dentin surfaces. Half of them were subjected to 10,000 thermocycle, while the others were tested immediately. With the resulting data, statistically two-way ANOVA was performed to assess the microTBS before and after thermocycling and the effect of CHX. All statistical tests were carried out at the 95% level of confidence. The failure mode of the testing samples was observed under a scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Within limited results, the results of this study were as follows; 1. In all experimental groups applied with 2% chlorhexidine, the microtensile bond strength increased, and thermocycling decreased the microtensile bond strength (P > 0.05). 2. Compared to the thermocycling groups without chlorhexidine, those with both thermocycling and chlorhexidine showed higher microtensile bond strength, and there was significant difference especially in GI and TS groups. 3. SEM analysis of failure mode distribution revealed the adhesive failure at hybrid layer in most of the specimen, and the shift of the failure site from bottom to top of the hybrid layer with chlorhexidine groups. 2% chlorhexidine application after acid-etching proved to preserve the durability of the hybrid layer and microtensile bond strength of dentin bonding systems.
Acrylic Resins ; Adhesives ; Chimera ; Chlorhexidine ; Dentin ; Glass ; Matrix Metalloproteinases ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Molar, Third ; Phosphoric Acids ; Protease Inhibitors ; Silicon Dioxide

PURPOSE: The aims investigated how how human osteosarcoma cell proliferation and the MAP kinases cascade are regulated, in the MG63 and U2OS human osteosarcoma cell lines after stimulating them with adrenomedullin (AM) with particular focus on extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK 1 and 2) activation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cell proliferation assay was used to examined the effects of AM on the osteosarcoma cell lines (MG63 and U2OS). The effects of AM on ERK1/2 were examed by Western blot analysis. The roles of ERK 1/2 in the AM-induced proliferative signaling pathways in the two cell types were examed using PD98059, a selective inhibitor of the mitogen activated protein-ERK kinase (MEK) pathway. RESULTS: The addition of AM to the medium containing the osteosarcoma MG63 and U2OS cells induced proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. AM strongly activated ERK 1/2 mediated cell proliferation signaling, which was prevented using PD98059. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that AM plays an important role in the proliferation of human osteosarcoma MG63 and U2OS cells, and ERK kinase pathway plays a signal transduction role in AM treated human osteosarcoma MG63 and U2OS cell lines.
Adrenomedullin ; Blotting, Western ; Cell Line ; Cell Proliferation ; Flavonoids ; Humans ; Osteosarcoma ; Phosphotransferases ; Protein Kinases ; Signal Transduction