A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the association between perceived occu-pational psychosocial stress at work and the work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSD) among employees using video display terminals. The study included 111 female telecommunication employees from three companies at ChungBuk province. Cases of WRMSD were defined using symptom questionnaire and physical examination conducted by rehabilitation specialist. Information on demographics, individual factors, and perceived psychosocial stress, were obtained by self-administered questionnaire. For assessing perceived psychosocial stress, we used variables from 'job strain model' proposed by Karasek. Associations between perceived psychosocial stress and WRMSD were assessed by multiple logistic regression models. Forty nine (44% to the total) subjects met our operational definition for WRMSD. Age, seniority, housing load were not associated with WRMSD. Perceived psychosocial stress was associated with WRMSD [odds ratio=3.28, 95% confidence interval: 1.05-10.19]. This study suggests that perceived occupational psychosocial stress is related to the prevalence of WRMSD.
Chungcheongbuk-do ; Computer Terminals* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Demography ; Female ; Housing ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Physical Examination ; Prevalence ; Questionnaires ; Rehabilitation ; Specialization ; Telecommunications

The present study was aimed at investigating whether FK506 alters the regulation of nitric oxide(NO) system. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with FK506(1 mg/kg/day, i.m.) for 3 weeks. Control group was without treatment of FK506. Plasma levels and urinary excretion of NO metabolites(nitrite/nitrate, NOx) were measured. The protein expression of NO synthases(NOS) and tissue contents of NOx were determined in the kidney and thoracic aorta. The aorta was also examined of its changes in isometric tension in responses to acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside. The arterial pressure did not significantly differ between FK506-treated and control groups. Plasma NOx levels remained unaltered, while urinary NOx excretion was significantly decreased in FK 506-treated group. Tissue contents of NOx were significantly decreased, although the expression of ecNOS and iNOS proteins was significantly altered neither in the kidney nor in the aorta. Acetylcholine-induced relaxation of the isolated aortic ring was significantly attenuated, whereas sodium nitroprusside-induced relaxation was not significantly affected. These results suggest that FK506 decreases the tissue contents of NO, without significantly affecting the expression of NOS.
Acetylcholine ; Animals ; Aorta ; Aorta, Thoracic ; Arterial Pressure ; Humans ; Kidney ; Male ; Nitric Oxide* ; Nitroprusside ; Plasma ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Relaxation ; Sodium ; Tacrolimus*

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disease characterized by reduced bone mineral density and skeletal microstructural abnormalities. We investigated the correlation between serum uric acid (SUA) levels and bone mineral content (BMC) values as a surrogate marker of bone health. Additionally, we assessed whether the correlation, if any, was evident even after classifying the study population into two groups based on a diagnosis of obesity in these individuals.METHODS: This study included 936 women who visited the healthcare centers that participated in this study. Fasting blood samples were obtained from all women to measure SUA, BMC of the lumbar spine was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. We evaluated the correlation between SUA and BMC in obese and non-obese groups.RESULTS: SUA concentration and BMC were positively correlated (β=0.257, P=0.001); however, this correlation was significant only in the obese group (β=0.203, P=0.001).CONCLUSION: SUA concentration and BMC are positively correlated in women diagnosed obesity.
Absorptiometry, Photon ; Biomarkers ; Body Mass Index ; Bone Density ; Delivery of Health Care ; Diagnosis ; Fasting ; Female ; Humans ; Obesity ; Osteoporosis ; Spine ; Uric Acid

A case of breast sparganosis was confirmed by surgical excision of a worm (fragmented into 5 pieces) in a 59-year-old Korean woman suffering from a palpable mass in the left breast. Mammography and ultrasonography characteristically revealed the presence of several well-defined, isodense and hypoechoic tubular masses, in the upper quadrant of the left breast, each mass consisting of a continuous cord- or worm-like structure. During surgery, a long segment of an actively moving sparganum of Spirometra sp. and 4 small fragments of the same worm, giving a total length of 20.3 cm, were extracted from the upper outer quadrant of the left breast and the axillary region. The infection source remains unclear, because the patient denied ingesting any snake or frog meat or drinking untreated water.
Middle Aged ; Humans ; Female ; Diphyllobothriasis/*diagnosis/parasitology/pathology ; Breast Diseases/*parasitology/pathology/*surgery

Gliosarcoma (GS) is a rare variant (2%) of glioblastoma (GBM) that poses clinical genomic challenges because of its poor prognosis and limited genomic information. To gain a comprehensive view of the genomic alterations in GS and to understand the molecular etiology of GS, we applied whole-exome sequencing analyses for 28 GS cases (6 blood-matched fresh-frozen tissues for the discovery set, 22 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues for the validation set) and copy-number variation microarrays for 5 blood-matched fresh-frozen tissues. TP53 mutations were more prevalent in the GS cases (20/28, 70%) compared to the GBM cases (29/90, 32%), and the GS patients with TP53 mutations showed a significantly shorter survival (multivariate Cox analysis, hazard ratio=23.9, 95% confidence interval, 2.87–199.63, P=0.003). A pathway analysis showed recurrent alterations in MAPK signaling (EGFR, RASGRF2 and TP53), phosphatidylinositol/calcium signaling (CACNA1s, PLCs and ITPRs) and focal adhesion/tight junction (PTEN and PAK3) pathways. Genomic profiling of the matched recurrent GS cases detected the occurrence of TP53 mutations in two recurrent GS cases, which suggests that TP53 mutations play a role in treatment resistance. Functionally, we found that TP53 mutations are associated with the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) process of sarcomatous components of GS. We provide the first comprehensive genome-wide genetic alternation profiling of GS, which suggests novel prognostic subgroups in GS patients based on their TP53 mutation status and provides new insight in the pathogenesis and targeted treatment of GS.
Glioblastoma ; Gliosarcoma* ; Humans ; Prevalence* ; Prognosis