BACKGROUND: Notified tuberculosis (TB) cases in Korea have not decreased over the last decade (2001-2010). METHODS: To clarify the reasons, we analyzed an annual report on notified tuberculosis patients and age-specific population drift in Korea. RESULTS: Compared to the age-specific notified TB cases between 2001 and 2010, distinctive features in notified TB cases and new cases increased markedly in people aged 45-54 years and in patients over 65 years old, whereas those between 15-34 years in 2010 decreased drastically. In particular, notified TB individuals over 65 years old occupied 29.6% of the cases in 2010, which was 1.5 times higher than that in 2001. The main reason not to decrease in notified TB patients for the last decade (2001-2010) was due to the increasing elderly population as well as the aging of baby boomers, which have a higher risk of TB development. CONCLUSION: Korea needs to pay attention to the older population in order to successfully decrease the burden of TB in the future.
Aged ; Aging ; Humans ; Korea ; Population Dynamics ; Population Growth ; Tuberculosis

The rice water weevil (RWW) Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus Kuschel (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is an invasive insect pest of rice Oryza sativa L. in China. Little is known about the interactions of this weevil with indigenous herbivores. In the present study, adult feeding and population density of the weevil, injury level of striped stem borer Chilo suppressalis (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and pink stem borer Sesamia inferens (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) to rice, as well as growth status of their host plants were surveyed in a rice field located in Southeastern Zhejiang, China, in 2004 with the objective to discover interspecific interactions on the rice. At tillering stage, both adult feeding of the weevil and injury of the stem borers tended to occur on larger tillers (bearing 5 leaves) compared with small tillers (bearing 2~4 leaves), but the insects showed no evident competition with each other. At booting stage, the stem borers caused more withering/dead hearts and the weevil reached a higher density on the plants which had more productive tillers and larger root system; the number of weevils per tiller correlated negatively with the percentage of withering/dead hearts of plants in a hill. These observations indicate that interspecific interactions exist between the rice water weevil and the rice stem borers with negative relations occurring at booting or earlier developmental stages of rice.
Animals ; Coleoptera ; growth & development ; Oryza ; growth & development ; parasitology ; Population Density ; Weevils ; growth & development

OBJECTIVETo describe secular trends on physical growth of children in China during the year of 1985-2005 and to analyze the urban-suburban-rural difference and its change.

METHODSThe measurements of height, weight and chest circumference obtained from two serial national cross-sectional surveys for children aged 0 to 7 years in China were used to analyze the secular trends, and the growth differences among urban, suburban and rural children were compared.

RESULTSThe average weight and height for both boys and girls from urban, suburban and rural areas have significantly increased in most age groups during the past 20 years; The average chest circumference increased slightly, ranging from 0.0 to 2.0 cm. From 1985 to 2005, the urban-suburban difference in height had become smaller, and that in weight showed similar trend for children under 3 years old but became larger after 3 years old; the suburban-rural difference both in height and weight became larger after 6 months old. The increment per decade in height was the greatest in the suburban group while the greatest increment in weight was the urban group.

CONCLUSIONPositive secular trends were observed among urban, suburban and rural areas in Chinese children under 7 years old during the 1980s and the 2000s, reflecting a rapid socio-economic development in China.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Anthropometry ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; Female ; Growth ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Rural Population ; Suburban Population ; Urban Population

PURPOSE: This study examined factors influencing subjective quality of life in baby boom generation men. METHODS: This was a descriptive survey study. Data were collected from 279 baby boom generation men from September to October 2012. The instruments used included a subjective quality of lifescale, a self-esteem scale, a spiritual well-being scale, a communication with spouse scale, a social support scale, and a job satisfaction scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA and Scheffe test, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and Hierarchical multiple regression. RESULTS: All variables were positively correlated with subjective quality of life. As a result, factors influencing subjective life of quality were self-esteem (beta=.21, p<.000), social support (beta=.20, p<.002), job satisfaction (beta=.19, p<.001), communication with spouse (beta=.15, p<.004), spiritual well-being(beta=.16, p<.004), and family income (beta=.15. p<.023). These factors accounted for 61% of the total variances. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate a need to develop nursing intervention programs for community health nurses in consideration of these variables to improve the subjective quality of life for baby boom generation men.
Humans ; Job Satisfaction ; Male* ; Nursing ; Population Growth* ; Quality of Life* ; Spouses

Recently, new methods have been developed for estimating the current and recent changes in effective population sizes. Based on the methods, the effective population sizes of Korean populations were estimated using data from the Korean Association Resource (KARE) project. The overall changes in the population sizes of the total populations were similar to CHB (Han Chinese in Beijing, China) and JPT (Japanese in Tokyo, Japan) of the HapMap project. There were no differences in past changes in population sizes with a comparison between an urban area and a rural area. Age-dependent current and recent effective population sizes represent the modern history of Korean populations, including the effects of World War II, the Korean War, and urbanization. The oldest age group showed that the population growth of Koreans had already been substantial at least since the end of the 19th century.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; HapMap Project ; History, Modern 1601- ; Humans ; Korean War ; Linkage Disequilibrium ; Population Density* ; Population Growth ; Rural Population ; Urban Population ; Urbanization ; World War II

It has been demonstrated that the epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR) gene, the normal human counterpart of the viral erb-B oncogene, is amplified and overexpressed in 40-50% of malignant astrocytomas. Although little is known about the functional status of the overexpressed protein molecule, overexpression of a growth factor receptor evenly distributed throughout a tumor would be an ideal target for monoclonal antibody or growth factor receptor targeted therapy. We undertook the immunohistochemical study of the EGFR with malignancy grade. The results were as follows 1) Expression of EGFR was deteced in 1 case(6.7%) of low grade astrocytoma, 14 cases(63.6%) of anaplastic astrocytoma and 19 cases(73.1%) of glioblastoma multiforme. It was more frequent in malignant astrocytoma that low grade astrocytoma(p<0.01). 2) The distributed proportion and staing density of EGFR-expressed tumor cells was more increased in glioblastoma multiforme than anaplastic astrocytoma. 3) Regional heterogeneity of EGFR-expressed tumor cells was recognized in cases of EGFR expressed malignant astrocytoma. These results suggest that overexpression of EGFR would be involved in malignant progression of astrocytoma, and the use of monoclonal antibody or growth factor receptor targeted therapy maybe limited due to heterogeneity of EGFR expressed tumor cells in malignant asrotcytoma.
Astrocytoma ; Epidermal Growth Factor* ; Glioblastoma ; Humans ; Oncogenes ; Population Characteristics ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor*

Since the first description of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with activating epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation as a distinct clinical entity, studies have proved EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) as a first choice of treatment. The median response duration of TKIs as a first-line treatment for EGFR mutant tumors ranges from 11 to 14 months. However, acquired resistance to EGFR-TKIs is inevitable due to various mechanisms, such as T790M, c-Met amplification, activation of alternative pathways (IGF-1, HGF, PI3CA, AXL), transformation to mesenchymal cell or small cell features, and tumor heterogeneity. Until development of a successful treatment strategy to overcome such acquired resistance, few options are currently available. Here we provide a summary of the therapeutic options after failure of first line EGFR-TKI treatment for NSCLC.
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Drug Resistance ; Epidermal Growth Factor ; Lung ; Population Characteristics ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor

Natural increase rate in population is reached to 1.7% in 1975 from 2.55 in 1996 because of the effect of Governmental Family Planning Program. The average number of present children and ideal children is just the same, 2.4 people, in this investigation. So, I assume that the number of present and ideal children is approaching each other. The rate of unmarried female workers who don't know even one thing about the knowledge of contraception was 23.9%, and especially that of rural women was 31.5% and 41.3% of them has never experienced contraception. "Boy-preference" presented 60.1% of unmarried female workers and 79.1% of married women. "Connection of a family line" related to "Transfer to next generation of a family line" presented 38.0% and "Trustworthiness" related to "Leadership of a family" presented 26.0%( total 64.0%). As this point, we can find that this rate reveals the traditional sense of patriarchal system in society and family. The rate of women of experienced artificial abortion has been 52.1% and that of women using it as birth control caused by "Many children" and "Short birth-interval" 46.6% of women of experienced pregnancy. So, we can that artificial abortion is a main cause of Maternal Health destruction.
Child ; Contraception ; Family Planning Services* ; Female ; Humans ; Maternal Health ; Population Growth ; Pregnancy ; Single Person

PURPOSE: We investigated the relationships between metastasis-free interval (MFI) and tumor characteristics, and assessed the prognostic value of MFI for survival after metastasis in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Furthermore, we compared MFI among the subtypes. METHODS: We identified 335 patients with postoperative tumor recurrence at distant site(s). All patients underwent curative resection and had a MFI of at least 6 months. MFI was categorized as short (<2 years), intermediate (> or =2 years and <5 years), or long (> or =5 years). Overall survival after metastasis (OSM) was estimated. RESULTS: Patients with a shorter MFI were younger, more likely to have initial metastasis to visceral organs, and had a larger tumor with a higher stage and grade as well as a higher rate of nodal involvement at initial diagnosis. Among 136 patients with known disease subtypes, shorter MFI was associated with the triple-negative subtype while longer MFI was associated with the hormone receptor-positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative subtype. Mortality after metastasis declined sharply with increasing MFI up to approximately 2 years, and continued gradually declining between 2 and 5 years. An MFI longer than 5 years did not add any survival benefit. MFI was a significant prognostic factor for OSM independent of nodal status, stage, metastatic site, and hormone receptor status of the metastasized cancer. CONCLUSION: MFI is closely related to biological characteristics of both primary tumors and their metastases, and has a prognostic value for survival after metastasis. We therefore suggest investigation into treatments targeting improvement of MFI as a potential novel strategy.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Mortality ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Population Characteristics ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; Recurrence*

The seasonal abundance of horse and deer flies (family Tabanidae) was analyzed using Mosquito Magnet(R) traps at 5 sites located near/in the demilitarized zone, northern Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea from late April to early October for 4 consecutive years (2010-2013). A total of 2,999 horse and deer flies (tabanids) belonging to 5 genera and 20 species were collected. Chrysops mlokosiewiczi (90.9%) was the most frequently collected, followed by Haematopota koryoensis (4.8%) and C. suavis (1.0%). The remaining 17 species comprised only of 3.3% of all species collected. C. mlokosiewiczi demonstrated bimodal peak populations during mid-June and early August, while H. koryoensis demonstrated a unimodal peak during mid-July. Overall numbers of tabanids collected were influenced by the previous year's winter temperatures and precipitation. Population abundance was influenced by habitat with most of tabanids collected from habitats near forested areas, followed by rice paddies, and a beef farm.
Animals ; Diptera/*classification/*growth & development ; Ecosystem ; Female ; Male ; Population Dynamics ; Republic of Korea ; Seasons