OBJECTIVES: We investigated the effects of changes in obesity and life style factors, such as cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, and exercise, on the changes in blood pressure and serum cholesterol among Korean men. METHODS: This study included 7,205 healthy male employees in the steel manufacturing industry. Each subject underwent health examination in 1994 and was re-examined in 1997. The study subjects were classified into four categories, according to changes in body mass index (BMI) (loss; stable; mild gain; severe gain), cigarette smoking (quitter; non-smoker; smoker continued; smoker started), alcohol drinking (quitter; non-drinker; drinker continued; drinker started) and exercise (more exercise; continuous regular exercise; continuous irregular or no exercise; less exercise), respectively. We evaluated the relationship between the categories of change in those independent variables and the changes in blood pressure and serum cholesterol, adjusted for BMI in 1994 and age by analysis of variance. RESULTS: The change in systolic blood pressure was positively associated with the changes in BMI (p<0.001) and drinking (p=0.001), but negatively with smoking (p=0.004), compared to the first category of each independent variables. The systolic blood pressure was significantly less increased in the continuous smoking group than quitter or non-smoker. The changes in diastolic blood pressure and serum cholesterol appeared to have statistically significant linear relationships only with the change in BMI. The change in exercise showed a marginal significance with diastolic blood pressure (p=0.088). CONCLUSIONS: These prospective data emphasize the importance of obesity as a determinant of the changes in blood pressure and serum cholesterol. In addition, the changes in smoking and drinking habits can affect systolic blood pressure.
Alcohol Drinking ; Blood Pressure* ; Body Mass Index ; Cholesterol* ; Drinking ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Humans ; Life Style* ; Male ; Obesity ; Prospective Studies ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Steel*

The nucleotide sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of the ribosomal DNA including the 5.8S ribosomal RNA gene (rDNA) have been determined for 11 species in order to analyze their intrageneric relationships. The total length of these sequences ranged from 530 nucleotides for Trichoderma reesei KCTC 1286 to 553 nucleotide for Trichoderma koningii IAM 12534. Generally speaking, the length of ITS1 region was about 30 nucleotides longer than that of the ITS2 region. Also, the sequences of 5.8S rDNA were more conserved in length and variation than those of ITS regions. Although the variable ITS sequences were often ambiguously aligned, the conserved sites were also found. Thus, a neighbor-joining tree was constructed using the full sequence data of the ITS regions and the 5.8S rDNA. The Trichoderma genus used to be grouped on the basis of the morphological features and especially the shape of phialides needs to be reexamined. The phylogenetic tree displayed the presence of monophylogeny in the species of Trichoderma. Therefore, it was difficult to distinguish the intrageneric relationships in the Trichoderma genus.
Base Sequence* ; DNA, Ribosomal* ; Nucleotides ; Phylogeny ; RNA, Ribosomal, 5.8S ; Trichoderma*

No abstract available.
Cutaneous Fistula ; Glomerulonephritis, Membranous* ; Humans ; Sarcoma, Kaposi*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the levels of disaster preparedness competency in public health workers and identify influential factors on disaster preparedness competency. METHODS: The data was collected through self-report questionnaires from a convenience sample of 281 public health workers in 2014 in Korea. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and multiple regression. RESULTS: The mean disaster preparedness competency score was 2.77 and the mean disaster educational needs score was 4.01. Disaster preparedness competency had a statistically significant difference by gender, position, experience of disaster education in workplace, and experience of BLS education. As a result of the multiple regression analysis, disaster preparedness competency accounted for 11.6% of the variance by gender, experience of disaster education in workplace, and experience of BLS education. CONCLUSION: The results of this study reveal that gender, strengthening education of disasters in the workplace, and education of BLS should be taken into consideration and integrated when developing an effective educational program in order to enhance disaster preparedness competency in public health workers.
Disasters* ; Education ; Korea ; Public Health*

PURPOSE: To determine the usefulness of MR urography technique for the evaluation of urinary systems in patients with obstructed urinary tract and normal volunteers with non-obstructed urinary tract after intravenous normal saline and diuretic injection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three normal volunteers and 12 patients with urinary tract obstruction [ureteral calculi(n=8), extraurinary mass(n=1), ureteral tumor invasion(n=3)] underwent MR urography using a 1.0T scanner and a 2D non-breath-hold heavily T2-weighted fast spin-echo sequence. These acquisition were postprocessed with a maximum intensity projection (MIP) algorithm. Two acquisitions were performed, the first prior to saline solution infusion following standard MR urography procedures, and the second, within 2-3 minutes of the infusion of 250 ml saline solution followed by 20 mg of Lasix administered intravenously. For this latter, drug-induced MR urography procedures were followed. RESULTS: In healthy volunteers (n=3) and those experiencing partial obstruction (n=4) by a urinary stone, drug-induced MR urography provided better images of the urinary tract than did standard MR urography. In those in whom a urinary stone or tumor had caused complete obstruction (n=8), standard MR urography provided good images, as did drug-induced MR urography. CONCLUSION: In patients with a partially or non-obstructed urinary tract, drug-induced MR urography provided better anatomic and functional details of the kidney and urinary tract than did standard MR urography. In those experiencing complete obstruction of the urinary tract, however, standard or drug-induced MR urography permitted very adequate evaluation of the tract, and drug-induced MR urography was unnecessary.
Furosemide* ; Healthy Volunteers ; Humans ; Hydronephrosis ; Kidney ; Sodium Chloride ; Ureter ; Urinary Calculi ; Urinary Tract* ; Urography*

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness and tolerance of postoperative external radiotherapy for patients with intracranial meningiomas. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The records of thirty three patients with intracranial meningiomas who were treated with postoperative external irradiation at our institution between Feb, 1988 and Nov, 1999 were retrospectively analyzed. Median age of patients at diagnosis was 53 years with range of 17 to 68 years. Sites of involvement were parasagital, cerebral convexity, sphenoid ridge, parasellar and tentorium cerebelli. Of 33 evaluated patients, 15 transitional, 10 meningotheliomatous, 4 hemangiopericytic, 3 atypical and 1 malignant meningioma were identified. Four patients underwent biopsy alone and remaining 29 patients underwent total tumor resection. A dose of 50 to 60 Gy was delivered in 28-35 daily fractions over a period of 5 to 7 weeks. Follow-up period ranged from 12 months to 8 years. RESULTS: The actuarial survival rates at 5 and 7 years for entire group of patients were 78% and 67%, respectively. The corresponding disease free survival rates were 73% and 61%, respectively. The overall local control rate at 5 years was 83%. One out of 25 patients in benign group developed local failure, while 4 out of 8 patients in malignant group did local failure (p<0.05). Of 4 patients who underwent biopsy alone, 2 developed local failure. There was no significant difference in 5 year actuarial survival between patients who underwent total tumor resection and those who did biopsy alone. Patients whose age is under 60 showed slightly better survival than those whose age is 60 or older, although this was not statistically significant. There was no documented late complications in any patients. CONCLUSION: Based on our study, we might conclude that postoperative external beam radiotherapy tends to improve survival of patients with intracranial meningiomas comparing with surgery alone.
Biopsy ; Diagnosis ; Disease-Free Survival ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Meningioma* ; Radiotherapy* ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

PURPOSE: This study aimed to identify variables influencing the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of adults with epilepsy in order to establish a structural model and design an intervention strategy to improve patients' HRQoL. METHODS: The selected subjects were 212 patients with epilepsy aged between 18 and 70 years who were currently receiving treatment from hospital, general hospital, and clinic. They were surveyed using a structured questionnaire. RESULTS: The goodness of fit measures of the final hypothetical model were as follows: χ2/df=2.51, GFI=.91, AGFI=.90, CFI=.96, SRMR=.04, NFI=.93, and RMSEA=.08. The major variables influencing the HRQoL of adults with epilepsy were epilepsy self-efficacy, depression, social support, and side effects of anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs), which were significant in the mentioned order, whereas the duration of AEDs use and perceived stigma did not show any effects. Six variables accounted for 75.6% of HRQoL. Variables having a direct and total effect on the HRQoL of adults with epilepsy were the side effects of AEDs, social support, epilepsy self-efficacy, and depression, and those with an indirect effect were the side effects of AEDs and social support. CONCLUSION: It is necessary to accurately identify the side effects of AEDs in adults with epilepsy and accurately observe the physical changes caused by depression. In addition, it is imperative to establish an active and effective nursing intervention program to strengthen the self-efficacy of the patients and to improve their quality of life through social support provided by family members and medical professionals.
Adult* ; Depression ; Epilepsy* ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Models, Structural ; Nursing ; Quality of Life*

PURPOSE: To evaluate the results of radiation management on recurrence, survival and prognostic factors of patients with nasopharyngeal cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-nine patients, treated for nasopharyngeal cancer by radiotherapy between January 1984 and June 2000, were retrospectively studied. All patients were followed up for at least 2.5 years. Their median age was 52 years (range 17~78). The histological types were 21 squamous cell carcinoma, 25 undifferentiated carcinoma, and 3 adenoid cystic carcinoma. The tumor stages were as follows: T1 in 14 patients, T2 in 24, T3 in 3, and T4 in 8, and N0 in 17 patients, N1 in 15, N2 in 4 and N3 in 13. Stages I, IIa, IIb ,III, IV and IVb were 4, 7, 12, 5, 8, and 13 patients respectively. Radiation doses of 58~70 Gy (median 68.7 Gy) were given to the nasopahryngeal and involved lymphatic areas and of 46~50 Gy to the uninvolved neck areas. RESULTS: The overall 5 and 10-year actuarial and disease free survival rates were 54.53% and 47%, and 55.7% and 45.3%, respectively. The overall five-year survival rates were 100% in stage I , 80% in stage IIa, 59.5% in stage IIIb, 40% in stage III, and 42.2% in stage IV tumors. Twenty-three patients failed either loco-regionally or distantly. Incidences of local failure, regional failure and distant metastasis for the first failure were 20.4%, 8.2% and 20.4%, respectively. Local recurrences were 4.3% in T1, 12.5% in T2, 0% in T3, and 62.5% in T4 lesions. Distant metastasis was seen in 41.2% of N2-3 lesions. Fifty percent of local recurrence appeared within 2 years of treatment at the primary lesion, whereas 70% of distant metastasis appeared within 2 years following treatment. Young age, female, early T stage, N0 stage, and poorly differentiated carcinoma were all related with good survival. However only stage showed statistically significance. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this study, radiation therapy to nasopharyngeal cancer showed high local recurrence in T4 and increased metastasis in N2-3 lesions. To improve local failure, further radiation doses, such as stereotactic radiation or IMRT radiation, are necessary especially in T4 lesions. The high incidence of distant metastasis in positive lymph node patients, indicates that combined radiation and effective chemotherapeutic agents with appropriated schedule are necessary.
Appointments and Schedules ; Carcinoma ; Carcinoma, Adenoid Cystic ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lymph Nodes ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; Neck ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Radiotherapy* ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

No abstract available.
Hedgehogs ; Tinea ; Trichophyton

No abstract available.
Shock, Septic*