OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to identify the associations of social capital with suicidal thoughts and attempts in Korean communities with poor health. METHODS: We used the data from community health interviews conducted at 40 administrative sections (dong, eup, or myeon) with high mortality from August to October in 2010, 2011, and 2012 as part of the Health Plus Happiness Plus Projects in Gyeongsangnam-do Province. The 8,800 study subjects composed of 220 adults systematically sampled from each administrative section were asked if they had thought about suicide or had attempted suicide within 1 year. The social participation was measured with 'participation in formal and/or informal group' and trust using responses to three questions about trust of others. RESULTS: The prevalence of suicidal ideation and attempt within 1 year were 10.4% and 0.8%, respectively. The logistic regression analysis revealed that those who participated in only informal groups, or had highest trust level reported less suicidal ideation, or attempt after adjusting for socio-demographic factors (sex, age, marital status, occupation, and food affordability), self-rated health, and health behaviors (smoking, alcohol drinking, and exercise). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggested social capital such as social participation and trust was associated with less suicide ideation and attempt. More studies are warranted for the association of social capital with suicidal behavior.
Adult ; Alcohol Drinking ; Happiness ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Marital Status ; Occupations ; Prevalence ; Social Participation ; Suicidal Ideation ; Suicide ; Suicide, Attempted

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the parenting image of modern Korean society through modern novels published during in the stage of modern change in Korea. METHOD: The data were analyzed through latent content analysis. Modern Korean novels (N=138) written during the Korean modernization stage were chosen for analysis. Five categories and seventeen meaningful sub-categories were drawn out from 636 significant sentences. RESULTS: The parenting images expressed in modern Korean society were as follows: From the category of [Devotional love], 5 sub-categories were drawn: Hedgehog's love, Lavish love, Sacrificial care, Exertion of the mind, and Prayer for the future of their children. From the category of [Stern father and affectionate mother], 3 sub-categories were drawn: Stern and Strict father, Tender and loving mother, and Strong maternal love. From the category of [Enthusiasm for their children's education], 3 sub-categories were drawn: Sense of duty to provide good education for their children, Zeal for their children's education, and Satisfaction with their hard-working children. From the category of [The head of family], 3 sub-categories were drawn: Person who has the right to make decisions, Reliable protector, and Object of filial devotion. From the category of [sexual discrimination], 3 sub-categories were drawn: Preference and favoritism to sons, Attaching importance to education of sons, Regarding daughters as those who help support the family. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study will help to improve the basic understanding the parenting image and parent-child relationship in present day Korea.
Child ; Education ; Fathers ; Head ; Humans ; Korea ; Love ; Mothers ; Nuclear Family ; Parent-Child Relations ; Parenting* ; Parents* ; Religion ; Social Change ; Child Health

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To make stem cell therapy successful as one of treatment options for sensorineural hearing loss, it is essential to culture and obtain sufficient amounts of adult neural stem cells, as well as separating them from adult auditory organs. This study was designed to investigate the proportion of cultured adult neural stem cells and its differentiated cells from guinea pig spiral ganglion. MATERIALS AND METHOD: The spiral ganglions from guinea pigs of 3-6 month age were obtained. The tissues were digested with 0.25 % trypsin and 10 mg/mL of DNase I, cells were then cultured with neurobasal medium (DMEM/F12 containing B27 supplement, L-glutamin, gentamycin) and added with 20 ng/mL of epidermal growth factor and 10 ng/mL of fibroblast growth factor. After 3 passages of culture, neural stem cells and differentiated cells were analyzed with the flow cytometric method. RESULTS: We concluded that neural stem cells were successfully cultured from spiral ganglions and these cells were in process of differentiation into neurons and Schwann cells. The results of flow cytometric analysis of cells in culture medium showed that 1.7% of cells (cell count of 24,300) expressed nestin, 3.45% polysialylated neural cell adhesion molecule, 7.19% (cell count of 66,300) neural cell adhesion molecule, and 3.57% beta III tubulin. CONCLUSION: Though obtaining adult neural stem cells from adult spiral ganglion was successful, the cell count was small. Further studies on the subject of making proper culture medium are needed to obtain adequate amounts of adult neural stem cells.
Adult ; Animals ; Cell Count ; Deoxyribonuclease I ; Epidermal Growth Factor ; Fibroblast Growth Factors ; Flow Cytometry ; Guinea ; Guinea Pigs ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; Humans ; Intermediate Filament Proteins ; Nerve Tissue Proteins ; Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules ; Neural Stem Cells ; Neurons ; Schwann Cells ; Spiral Ganglion ; Stem Cells ; Trypsin ; Tubulin