In this study, the trypsin gene (bgtryp-1) from the German cockroach, Blattella germanica, was cloned via the immunoscreening of patients with allergies to cockroaches. Nucleotide sequence analysis predicted an 863 bp open reading frame which encodes for 257 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence exhibited 42-57% homology with the serine protease from dust mites, and consisted of a conserved catalytic domain (GDSGGPLV). bgtryp-1 was determined by both Northern and Southern analysis to be a 0.9 kb, single-copy gene. SDS-PAGE and Western blotting analyses of the recombinant protein (Bgtryp-1) over-expressed in Escherichia coli revealed that the molecular mass of the expressed protein was 35 kDa, and the expressed protein was capable of reacting with the sera of cockroach allergy patients. We also discussed the possibility that trypsin excreted by the digestive system of the German cockroach not only functions as an allergen, but also may perform a vital role in the activation of PAR-2.
Allergens/analysis/chemistry/*genetics ; Amino Acid Sequence ; Base Sequence ; Blattellidae/*genetics ; Blotting, Western ; Catalytic Domain/genetics ; DNA, Complementary/genetics ; Escherichia coli/metabolism ; Female ; *Genes, Insect ; Humans ; Male ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Molecular Weight ; Receptor, PAR-2/metabolism ; Recombinant Proteins/analysis/biosynthesis/chemistry ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Sequence Alignment ; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid ; Trypsin/analysis/chemistry/*genetics

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to develop and test the effects of an emotional intelligence program for undergraduate nursing students. METHODS: The study design was a mixed method research. Participants were 36 nursing students (intervention group: 17, control group: 19). The emotional intelligence program was provided for 4 weeks (8 sessions, 20 hours). Data were collected between August 6 and October 4, 2013. Quantitative data were analyzed using Chi-square, Fisher's exact test, t-test, repeated measure ANOVA, and paired t-test with SPSS/WIN 18.0. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. RESULTS: Quantitative results showed that emotional intelligence, communication skills, resilience, stress coping strategy, and clinical competence were significantly better in the experimental group compared to the control group. According to the qualitative results, the nursing students experienced improvement in emotional intelligence, interpersonal relationships, and empowerment, as well as a reduction in clinical practice stress after participation in the emotional intelligence program. CONCLUSION: Study findings indicate that the emotional intelligence program for undergraduate nursing students is effective and can be recommended as an intervention for improving the clinical competence of undergraduate students in a nursing curriculum.
Adult ; Clinical Competence ; *Emotional Intelligence ; Female ; Humans ; Interpersonal Relations ; Interviews as Topic ; Male ; Personal Satisfaction ; *Program Development ; *Program Evaluation ; Questionnaires ; Resilience, Psychological ; Social Support ; Students, Nursing/*psychology ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to compare the process of change, decisional balance, and self-efficacy according to the stages of change of exercise on the basis of the Transtheoretical Model in order to investigate factors associated with the change of exercise in adult diabetic patients. METHOD: Data were collected from January to April 2005. The subjects were 160 patients in the G university hospital and public health center in J city. RESULTS: The entire process of change showed the significant difference depending on the stage of change(F=20.007, p=.000). For each process of change, the Consciousness Raising(F=14.602, p=.000), Dramatic Relief(F=7.751, p=.000), Environmental Re-evaluation(F=11.843, p=.000), Self Re-evaluation(F=16.035, p=.000), Social Liberation(F=10.968, p=.000), Counter-conditioning (F=24.090, p=.000), Helping Relationships(F= 7.625, p=.000), Reinforcement Management(F= 16.693, p=.000), Self Liberation(F=11.990, p= .000) and Stimulus Control(F=4.020, p=.002) demonstrated significant differences depending on the stages of change of exercise. For the decisional balance, the Pros showed the significant difference depending on the stage of change(F=14.121, p=.000). For the self efficacy showed significant difference depending on the stage of change(F=17.137, p=.000). CONCLUSION: In order to proceed the stage of change of exercise in patients with Diabetes Mellitus, intensive use of a specific process of change, a stage of change matching is needed.
Adult ; Consciousness ; Diabetes Mellitus* ; Humans ; Public Health ; Self Efficacy

Oriental liver fluke (Clonorchis sinensis) infection was surveyed among residents of Hamyang-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea during the period of January 2001 to March 2002. Total 1,041 stool samples were collected from residents who visited Public Health Center and its branches in Hamyang-gun and examined using formalin-ether sedimentation method. The overall egg positive rate was 16%, male showing higher positive rate (21%) than female (10%). The age group of 30 to 50 years had the highest egg positive rate of C. sinensis from 20% to 22%. The positive examinees were treated with praziquantel and educated individually to prevent reinfection. Egg positive rate in this area was decreased when compared with results recorded in the past, however, still remained more than 10%. This study suggests that periodic examination, treatment as well as education of residents should be continued and systematized.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Child ; Clonorchiasis/drug therapy/*epidemiology/parasitology ; Feces/parasitology ; Female ; Human ; Korea/epidemiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Parasite Egg Count ; Patient Education ; Praziquantel/therapeutic use ; Sex Factors ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Acute gastric anisakiasis with multiple anisakid larvae infection is reported. A 68-year-old woman residing in Busan, Korea, had epigastric pain with severe vomiting about 5 hours after eating raw anchovies. Four nematode larvae penetrating the gastric mucosae in the great curvature of the middle body and fundus were found and removed during gasteroendoscopic examination. Another one thread-like moving larva was found in the great curvature of upper body on the following day. On the basis of their morphology, the worms were identified as the 3rd stage larvae of Anisakis simplex. This case is acute gastric anisakiasis provoking severe clinical problems by the multiple infection and the greatest number of anisakid larvae found in a patient in Korea.
Acute Disease ; Aged ; Animals ; Anisakiasis/*parasitology/surgery ; Anisakis/*growth & development ; Female ; Gastric Mucosa/parasitology/pathology/surgery ; Gastroscopy ; Human ; Stomach Diseases/*parasitology/pathology/surgery

OBJECTIVES: Some helminths have been known to have a treatment effect in inflammatory bowel diseases, including Crohn's disease (CD); however, live parasite therapy can cause unwanted side effects. To develop a safe therapeutic, we investigated the preventive or therapeutic potential of proteins from the third stage larva of A. simplex in a mouse model. We also analyzed the cytokine profile from splenic and mesenteric lymph node lymphocytes to elucidate the underlying immunological mechanism. METHODS: CD was induced in mice with DSS, and the effect of an A. simplex larval protein on CD was assessed. A change in body weight and DAI (disease activity index) were observed in mice. The expression levels of cytokines from mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) compared to splenic lymphocytes were measured with ELISA. RESULTS: Peritoneal administration of preventive and therapeutic A. simplex larval proteins attenuated DSS-induced CD by a reduction of the DAI and weight loss. A shortening of colon length was more definitely observed in the therapeutic group than in the preventive group. The cytokine expression levels were more obvious in lymphocytes from mesenteric lymph nodes than from splenic lymphocytes. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these results suggest that A. simplex proteins can change cytokine profiles and may have a preventive effect in DSS-induced CD mice.
Animals ; Anisakis* ; Body Weight ; Colon ; Crohn Disease* ; Cytokines ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Helminths ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases ; Larva ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphocytes ; Mice* ; Parasites ; Weight Loss

Anisakidosis is caused by Anisakis simplex and other anisakids larvae parasitizing marine fish and cephalopods. A lot of case reports about anisakidosis have been published in Korea because of raw fish eating habits. Recently seafood consumption has continued to increase due to health concerns and thus, it increases the risk for infectious diseases including anisakidosis. The aim of this review is to analyze the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of anisakidosis during the last 10 years in Korea, based on the case reports published from 2000 to 2010. The incidence age was changed from 30s and 40s to 50s. The young generation was considered to consume seafood in various ways, including raw fish as well. The most noticeable change was the appearance of Anisakis allergy patients over the last decade. The patients showed abdominal pain, urticaria after eating sea food. It reaffirmed that anisakid infection induces not only gastric and intestinal anisakidosis but also cause allergic reaction. Anisakid should be considered as a possible causative food allergen provoking allergic responses after eating raw fish.
Abdominal Pain ; Anisakis ; Cephalopoda ; Communicable Diseases ; Eating ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Incidence ; Korea ; Larva ; Methylmethacrylates ; Polystyrenes ; Seafood ; Urticaria

A survey on soil samples collected from the vegetable gardens and vinyl houses in the vicinity of Taegu was conducted for the discovery of helminth eggs and larvae from October 1981 to September 1982. The samples collected were examined utilizing the "Commonly Employed" and Kamiya's techniques. The details of comparative features of larval nematodes are taken from the handbook of parasitology by Matsubasyhi et al. (1965). The results were compared with the data obtained from soil samples collected at the same area by Lee(1976). Five kinds of helminth eggs, ascarid, hookworm, liver fluke, Trichostrongylidae, and whipworm and undetermined eggs were found. Of these, the incidence of ascarid eggs was found to be the highest, 70.5 per cent, followed by whipworm and hookworm eggs, 9.9 and 9.2 per cent, respectively. The average number of ascarid eggs per 100 grams of soil was higher in the vinyl houses, compared with the number in the vegetable gardens than in the vinyl houses. By contrast, the number of hookworm eggs was relatively high in the vegetable gardens. In the monthly incidences of helminth eggs, ascarid eggs were found every month, continuing fairly high incidences all the year round. However, hookworm eggs was found for 8 months from February and September, with low monthly incidences between 4.0 and 22.2 per cent, and Trichostrongylidae eggs were found for 6 months from April to September, with lower incidences than those of hookworm. Three kinds of larval nematodes, the filariform and rhabditoid larvae of hookworm, Trichostrongylidae, and undetermined larvae were found in the soil of farms, but the incidences of larvae were quite low. The average number of larvae per 100 grams of soil was 0.05. When the number of eggs per 100 grams of the soil in 1976 were compared with 1982, pronounced reduction of the number was encountered in all helminth eggs. However, the incidences and the average number of larvae per 100 grams of the soil were so low that it was impossible to compare the data between 1976 and 1982.
parasitology-helminth-nematoda ; Ascarid ; hookworm ; Clonorchis sinensis ; Trichostrongylidae ; Trichuris trichiura ; epidemiology

Four hundred and sixty five randomly selected clones from a cDNA library of Blattella germanica were partially sequenced and searched using BLAST as a means of analyzing the transcribed sequences of its genome. A total of 363 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were generated from 465 clones after editing and trimming the vector and ambiguous sequences. About 42% (154/363) of these clones showed significant homology with other data base registered genes. These new B. germanica genes constituted a broad range of transcripts distributed among ribosomal proteins, energy metabolism, allergens, proteases, protease inhibitors, enzymes, translation, cell signaling pathways, and proteins of unknown function. Eighty clones were not well-matched by database searches, and these represent new B. germanica-specific ESTs. Some genes which drew our attention are discussed. The information obtained increases our understanding of the B. germanica genome.
Sequence Alignment ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Male ; Female ; *Expressed Sequence Tags ; Blattellidae/*genetics ; Base Sequence ; Animals

The status of Dirofilaria immitis infection was assessed in pet dogs of Busan, Korea, and chemoprophylactic effects of microfilaricidal medication were evaluated. A total of 294 pet dogs older than 6 mo were examined, 217 of which had been maintained indoors, and 77 had been kept outdoors. The Snap(R) kit and direct microscopic examinations of the peripheral blood were used. The mean overall parasite positive rates were 10.2% and 6.5%, respectively. Outdoor dogs evidenced adult worm infection rate of 31.2% and microfilaria infection rate of 18.2%. The indoor dogs, however, evidenced adult worm infection rate of 2.8% and microfilaria infection rate of 2.3%. The prevalence in males was more than 2 times that of females. The changing pattern of infection rates by age evidenced a gradual increase, from 2- to 6-year-old dogs, after which, a decrease in infection rates was noted. With regard to chemoprophylaxis, the infection rates of complete and incomplete chemoprophylaxis groups were found to be 2-3 times lower than that of the non-chemoprophylaxis group. The results of the present study indicate that the risk of exposure to D. immitis in pet dogs is quite high, particularly in male outdoor dogs, and chemoprophylactic measures were quite effective.
Animals ; Chemoprevention ; Dirofilaria immitis/growth & development/*isolation & purification ; Dirofilariasis/blood/*epidemiology/parasitology/prevention & control ; Dog Diseases/blood/*epidemiology/parasitology/prevention & control ; Dogs ; Female ; Heart/parasitology ; Korea/epidemiology ; Male ; Mosquito Control ; Prevalence