PURPOSE: We intended to analyze the characteristics of a pediatric low vision population. METHODS: Among 430 patients who visited our low vision clinic from May 1995 to April 2000, 137 patients(31.9%) aged 15 years or less were reviewed to study epidemiologic characteristics, prescribed aids and required magnification. RESULTS: The percentage of pediatric low vision patients was higher than that of developed countries. Male predominance was found. Optic atrophy(41.6%), congenital cataract(12.4%), macular degeneration and dystrophy(9.5%) were the major causes of low vision in this population. The most commonly prescribed low vision aid was a telescope. For near task, light-gathering magnifiers were prescribed most commonly. The visual acuity was improved significantly at near and far distance after correction with low vision aid. The mean required magnification was 3.5 xand this means that a low magnification was sufficient in the majority of cases. CONCLUSIONS: Early rehabilitation and long-range planning for the low vision child are required because of profound effect of childhood visual impairment.
Child ; Developed Countries ; Humans ; Macular Degeneration ; Male ; Optic Atrophy ; Rehabilitation ; Telescopes ; Vision Disorders ; Vision, Low* ; Visual Acuity

A group of pseudophakic patients (21eyes) without complications, such as zonular dam age, posterior synechia and posterior capsular tear, was investigated to determine whether their implants (pharmacia, cilco, AMO) shift under the ciliary muscle stimulation. A change in anterior chamber depth between with accommodation and without accommodation was found. By presenting as accommodation stimulus to the normal fellow eye, the intraocular lens in the pseudophakic eye moved slightly in a forward direction. But, it is not enough to explain apparent accommodation in pseudophakic eyes.
Anterior Chamber* ; Humans ; Lenses, Intraocular

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of commercially available calamansi soju and other alcoholic beverages on the microhardness and erosion of resin restorations. Methods: In this study, we evaluated the effects of Calamansi soju, Chamisul fresh, Cass fresh, and Gancia Moscato D’asti on resin restorations. Jeju Samdasoo and Coca-Cola were used as negative and positive controls, respectively. Specimens to be immersed in the beverages were manufactured using composite resin according to the product instructions. In each group, the surface microhardness was measured using a surface microhardness instrument before and after immersion for 5, 15, 30, and 60 minutes. The pattern of change in the surface of the composite resin was observed under a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Paired t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and repeated measures ANOVA were performed to compare the surface microhardness of the specimens, and the Tukey test was used as a post hoc test. Results: The pH of all beverages except Jeju Samdasoo was ＜5.5, which is the critical pH that can induce erosion. The difference in surface microhardness of the composite resin before and after immersion for 60 minutes was significant in all groups. In particular, the largest change in surface microhardness was observed in the calamansi soju group. In the SEM analysis, loss of composite resin was observed in all groups except the Jeju Samdasoo group, and rough surfaces with pores of various sizes were observed. Conclusion In this study, all beverages except Jeju Samdasoo decreased the microhardness of the composite resin surface, and it was confirmed that calamansi soju had the greatest change.

OBJECTIVE: The prevalence and mortality rate of cardiovascular disease (CVD) have increased among Koreans over the past 20 years. To manage and control this disease, various CVD risk assessment tools such as KOSHA (Korean Occupational Safety and Health Agent) CVD risk assessment, the presence of metabolic syndrome and the Framingham risk score (FRS) have been developed and applied to employees at the workplace. This study was designed to compare the validity of the CVD risk assessment tools mentioned above with the findings of coronary CT angiography (CCTA). METHODS: The subjects of this study who were 490 male-workers aged between 31 and 70, and these subjects were selected among those who had visited a University Hospital for a general health examination and who underwent CCTA from January 2007 to June 2009. Chi-square tests and logistic regression analysis were used to compare and analyze the associations between the CVD risk assessment tools and the coronary artery changes such as calcification and stenosis. RESULTS: Metabolic syndrome (OR=1.90, 95% CI 1.23-2.95) and the Framingham risk score (OR=2.71, 95% CI 1.83-4.01) were the significant and meaningful predictors of coronary artery calcification. On the analysis of the association with coronary artery stenosis, only the Framingham risk score (OR=2.21, 95% CI 1.46-3.36) turned out to be a significant and meaningful predictor. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the Framingham risk score is a relatively valid CVD risk assessment tool. Henceforth, to effectively manage cardiovascular diseases in the workplace, advanced tools and indicators for management should be considered and provided based on meaningful study results.
Aged ; Angiography ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Coronary Stenosis ; Coronary Vessels ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Occupational Health ; Prevalence ; Risk Assessment

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to establish a minimally invasive and reproducible protocol for estimating the gastrointestinal (GI) transit time in mice using barium and radiopaque markers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty 5- to 6-week-old Balb/C female mice weighing 19-21 g were used. The animals were divided into three groups: two groups that received loperamide and a control group. The control group (n = 10) animals were administered physiological saline (1.5 mL/kg) orally. The loperamide group I (n = 10) and group II (n = 10) animals were administered 5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg loperamide orally, respectively. Thirty minutes after receiving the saline or loperamide, the mice was administered 80 microL of barium solution and six iron balls (0.5 mm) via the mouth and the upper esophagus by gavage, respectively. Afterwards, the mice were continuously monitored with fluoroscopic imaging in order to evaluate the swallowing of the barium solution and markers. Serial fluoroscopic images were obtained at 5- or 10-min intervals until all markers had been excreted from the anal canal. For analysis, the GI transit times were subdivided into intestinal transit times (ITTs) and colon transit times (CTTs). RESULTS: The mean ITT was significantly longer in the loperamide groups than in the control group (p < 0.05). The mean ITT in loperamide group II (174.5 +/- 32.3) was significantly longer than in loperamide group I (133.2 +/- 24.2 minute) (p < 0.05). The mean CTT was significantly longer in loperamide group II than in the control group (p < 0.05). Also, no animal succumbed to death after the experimental procedure. CONCLUSION: The protocol for our study using radiopaque markers and barium is reproducible and minimally invasive in determining the GI transit time of the mouse model.
Analysis of Variance ; Animals ; Barium Sulfate/pharmacology ; Contrast Media/administration & dosage ; Female ; Fluoroscopy ; Gastrointestinal Transit/*physiology ; Iron ; Loperamide/administration & dosage ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Prostheses and Implants ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sodium Chloride/administration & dosage ; Surface Properties

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to compare the cardiovascular disease status between large scale industry office and self employed male workers who have gaps in their intensive health management. METHODS: The cross sectional study was carried out with subjects composed of 244 shipyard office male workers and 381 self employed male workers, aged 30 to 55 years. They were given a health exam in a general hospital from January 2007 to June 2009. Information was based on data from self-administered questionnaires, physical examination and laboratory results on blood samples. The degree of coronary artery calcification and stenosis was evaluated by a 64 channel multi-detector computed tomography angiography. RESULTS: The prevalence of hypertension(p<0.01) and diabetes mellitus(p=0.02) and waist circumference(p<0.01) was significantly lower in the shipyard office workers than in self employed workers. Proper drinking(p<0.01) was more commmon in shipyard office workers. The rates of coronary artery calcification and stenosis were estimated to be 18.4% and 11.5% respectively for shipyard office workers and were significantly lower than the 26.5% and 21.5% for self employed workers. After adjustment for age, the probability of coronary artery stenosis in shipyard office workers was lower than in self employed workers (OR=0.56, 95% CI=0.35~0.90). CONCLUSIONS: The study results verified the benefits of a health promotion and intervention program and the healthy worker effect for cardiovascular diseases. More specifically, it verified the benefits regarding coronary artery stenosis in large scale industry office workers. This result should encourage the establishment of health promotion programs and the study of occupational epidemiology.
Aged ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Coronary Stenosis ; Coronary Vessels ; Health Promotion ; Healthy Worker Effect ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Male ; Physical Examination ; Prevalence ; Questionnaires

It is difficult to immunize human lymphocytes in vitro by conventional cell culture methods. Activation of lymphocytes requires not only specific antigen stimulation but also delicate cell to cell interaction. If the cellular organization could be maintained in culture system, lymphocytes could be immunized in vitro with higher frequency. For the purpose of in vitro immunization of human lymphocytes, we used slice culture system which could maintain morphological and functional organization. Human tonsils resected from eleven -year old boy were evenly divided into two pieces, and one was cultivated in conventional cell culture and the other in slice culture system. In the former system, tonsilar mononuclear cells, separated by Ficoll -Hypaque density gradient centrifugation, were cultivated in RPMI 1640 supplemented with 10% human type AB serum in the cell density of 5 x10 6 /ml. In the latter, tonsillar tissues were sliced into small pieces of 8 mm 3 , and were cultivated in Waymouth MB 752/1 medium supplemented with 10% Human type AB serum, gassed under 5% CO2 and 95% O2 at 37 C. After stabilized for one hour, each system wasw challenged with 50 microgram/ml of KLH or 100 microgram/ml of LPS. At 3, 6, 12 and 24 hours after antigen challenge, culture supernatants were assayed for the specific antibody by ELISA, and cells or tissues were analyzed for the expression of CD23 by flow cytometry. The result showed that tonsilar B lymphocytes in slice culture system expressed CD23 as early as 3 hours after antigen challenge, while those in cell culture system expressed CD23 from 6 hours after challenge. Specific antibodies were detected only in supernatants of slice culture system from 6 hours after challenge. These results suggested thathuman lymphocytes could be immunized in vitro if the cellular organization was maintained.
Antibodies ; B-Lymphocytes ; Cell Communication ; Cell Count ; Cell Culture Techniques ; Centrifugation, Density Gradient ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Ficoll ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans* ; Immunization* ; Lymphocytes* ; Male ; Palatine Tonsil

Injection of the tissue adhesive Histoacryl (N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate, enbucrilate) has been more effective than conventional sclerosants in the treatment of active upper G-I bleeding. Histoacryl is an effective sclerosant that is polymerized immediately after contact with blood, and has been used for the treatment of bleeding gastric and esophageal varices. We present here a case of infarction of the caudate lobe that developed after an injection of a Histoacryl -Lipiodol mixture for the hemostasis of duodenal ulcer bleeding.
Duodenal Ulcer* ; Enbucrilate* ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; Hemorrhage* ; Hemostasis ; Infarction* ; Liver* ; Polymers ; Sclerosing Solutions ; Tissue Adhesives

The hippocampus is known as involved in learning and memory functions and the entorhinal cortex plays a crucial role as a gateway connecting the several areas and hippocampal formation. Entorhinal cortex lesions have been employed in numerous studies as the Alzheimer's disease model. The purpose of this study were to identify the CNS hip-pocampal and cholinergic pathway and to investigate the morphological changes of the hippocampal cholinergic inner-vations by using the Pseudorabies virus injection into the hippocampus after entorhinal cortex lesions. The pseudorabies virus and double labelled neurons (ChAT and PRV) were distributed at several different nuclei including agranular insular cortex, bed nucleus of stria terminalis, central amygdala, globus pallidus, lateral segment, lateral hypothalamic area, laterodorsal tegmental nucleus, medial septal nucleus, mesencephalic reticular nucleus, periaqueductal gray matter and substantia innominata The morphological changes were observed in the hippocampal cholinergic innervation after entorhinal cortex lesions. These data suggested that the hippocampal cholinergic innervation showed morphological changes throughout the whole brain areas after entorhinal cortex lesion.
Alzheimer Disease ; Amygdala ; Animals ; Brain ; Entorhinal Cortex* ; Globus Pallidus ; Herpesvirus 1, Suid ; Hippocampus* ; Hypothalamic Area, Lateral ; Learning ; Memory ; Neurons ; Periaqueductal Gray ; Rats* ; Septal Nuclei ; Substantia Innominata

BACKGROUND: In this study, four types of effervescent vitamins marketed in Korea were analyzed for their acidity and vitamin content. For this purpose, bovine teeth were immersed in vitamin, and surface microhardness and appearance were measured before and after immersion to evaluate tooth demineralization and erosion.METHODS: Bovine permanent incisors with sound surface enamel were cut to 5×5 mm size, embedded in acrylic resin, and polished using a polishing machine with Sic-paper. The prepared samples were analyzed for pH, vitamin content, and surface hardness before and after immersion using a surface microhardness meter. Demineralization of surface dental enamel was observed using a scanning electron microscope.RESULTS: The average pH of the four effervescent vitamins was less than 5.5; the pH of the positive control Oronamin C was the lowest at 2.76, while that of the negative control Samdasoo was the highest at 6.86. The vitamin content was highest in Berocca and lowest in the DM company Multivitamin. On surface microhardness analysis, surface hardness values of all enamel samples were found to be decreased significantly after 1 and 10 minutes of immersion (p<0.05). After 10 minutes of immersion, there was a significant difference in the decrease in hardness between the experimental groups (p<0.05). Scanning electron microscopy observation showed that dental enamel demineralization after 10 minutes of immersion was the most severe in Oronamin C except for Samdasoo, followed by DM company Multivitamin and VitaHEIM. Immersion in BeroNew and Berocca resulted in similar effects.CONCLUSION: There is a risk of tooth erosion due to decreased tooth surface microhardness when using the four types of effervescent vitamins and vitamin carbonated beverages with pH below 5.5. Therefore, high pH vitamin supplements are recommended to prevent tooth erosion.
Carbonated Beverages ; Dental Enamel ; Hardness ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Immersion ; Incisor ; Korea ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Tablets ; Tooth ; Tooth Demineralization ; Tooth Erosion ; Vitamins