Plasma carotenoid levels were compared among 64 healthy male subjects (control) and 38 patients of ischemic heart disease(IHD) and 20 ones of cerebral infarction(CI) all of whom were over 50years of age. Another 98 healthy male subjects aged 23 to 58 were selected to compare their plasma carotenoid levels by age groups, Levels of lutein, zeaxanthin and crpytoxanthin were lower in IHD(34+/-2, 13+/-1 and 62+/-7 microgram/dl)and CI(36+/-3, 12+/-2 and 41+/-6 microgram/dl)patient groups than in control group (84+/-5, 16+/-2 and 69+/-3 microgram/dl) while those of lycopene, alpha-and beta-carotene varied little among the three groups. The sum of the six carotenoid levels were levels were, therefore,highest(205+/-14 microgram/dl) in the control group followed by IHD(155+/-15 microgram/dl) and CI(128+/-17 microgram/dl) patient groups, Among the 98 healthy male subject for the age group study, levels of the three major carotenoids increased with age from the twenties to the fifities ; lutein, from 64+/-6 to 89+/-8 microgram/dl, cryptoxanthin, 57+/-8 to 73+/-4 microgram/dl and beta-carotene were more significantly correlated(r=0.30 to 0.61, p<0.01), whereas levels of lycopene and alpha-caroteme were significantly(r=0.21 - 0.23, p<0.05) correlated.
beta Carotene ; Cardiovascular Diseases* ; Carotenoids ; Cerebral Infarction ; Daegu* ; Heart ; Humans ; Lutein ; Male ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Plasma*

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence rate of low back pain (LBP) in the high school students and to analyze the differences and correlations with the spinal-pelvic structural variations and disability index with LBP. The subjects are 499 high school students (236 males, 263 females: mean age, 16.38 years). They were assessed for LBP with the numerical rating scale (NRS) and for disability with the Korean version Oswestry disability index (KODI). All subjects were to take the plain radiographic examination for spinal-pelvic structural variations including thoracic, lumbar, thoracolumbar Cobb's angle, lumbar lordotic curve, sacral slope, pelvic tilt and pelvic incidence. All subjects were divided into two groups by NRS scores (0, 1=no/minimum pain group [NMP group], 2-10=low back pain group [LBP group]). The prevalence rate of LBP of all subjects was 56.7% (n=283). NRS and total KODI scores were higher in the LBP group (3.38 cm/11.83%) than NMP group (0.07 cm/2.74%) (p<0.001). In the spinal-pelvic structural variations analysis, the thoracic Cobb's angle was significantly high in LBP group (p<0.05), but others were shown no differences between the both groups (p>0.05). NRS had significantly positive correlation with KODI (p<0.001). NRS and KODI did not demonstrate any correlations with spinal-pelvic structural variations (p>0.05). In conclusion, this study showed high prevalence rate of LBP in the high school students, but did not show significant correlations with the spinal-pelvic structural variations and disability index.
Back Pain ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Low Back Pain* ; Male ; Prevalence

Background: A comprehensive history taking at the first visit could be an important start of treatment. This study investigated the current status of the initial history taking for dental patients in S area, and the implementation and importance of the initial history taking process. Based on this, we intend to provide basic data for the development of organized and standardized questionnaires in dental clinics. Methods: In April 2019, 303 dental clinics in S area were targeted and special dental clinics (orthodontics, children, and disabled) were excluded. The questionnaire consisted of 29 items, including general characteristics, systemic disease history, dental history, oral health behaviors, and the data were obtained through self-administered questionnaire. Results: Initial history taking was mostly implemented using oral and questionnaire at the time of the first visit. Systemic disease history, dental history, and oral health behaviors differed in the work experience of the dental clinic staff. As a result of analyzing the importance according to implementation, there were significant differences in all questions except drug-related items. The importance of the questionnaire was highly recognized, but the reason it was not actually implemented was because of existing the questionnaire in the clinic and lack of time. Conclusion Considering that the initial history taking implementation rate showed low, it is necessary to develop standardize a practical questionnaire and interview skills for dental clinics in the future. In addition, training programs should be provided to dental staff that can recognize the importance of initial history taking questionnaires and contribute to active implementation.

Background: Although the orofacial-function improvement exercise (OFIE; oral exercise) was first introduced in Korea 10 years prior, it is still not covered by medical insurance, and no detailed survey on the dissemination of related programs has been conducted. Therefore, this study investigated the actual status of the education and practice of OFIE among the elderly and at elderly welfare institutions in the Seoul and Gyeonggi Provinces. Methods: Senior citizens aged more than 65 years old, public health centers (total of 69) and elderly welfare institutions (including nursing homes and elderly welfare centers, total of 56) per administrative area in the Seoul and Gyeonggi Provinces were targeted. We analyzed 200 elderly people and 93 institutions who agreed to participate in the survey. For the elderly, general characteristics, experience and route, current practice, and necessity regarding OFIE were investigated. For institutions, the history and plan of education programs on OFIE were investigated. Results: Regardless of the general characteristics, both the rate of experience and practice for OFIE were low overall; moreover, although they felt it was necessary, they had insufficient motivation for its implementation. Moreover, only a few institutions which were operating the education about OFIE regardless of the COVID-19 situation. Conclusion Although OFIE is necessary for the elderly, its distribution remains insufficient. Therefore, further efforts are needed to expand the education and raise the awareness of oral exercise among elderly individuals and senior welfare institutions.

Dissociated horizontal deviation(DHD) is a rare type of dissociative strabismus. It dose not obey the Hering`s law of equal innervation and is expressed in associated with dissociated vertical deviation or asymmetrical nystagmus blockage syndrome. We observed 6 cases of DHD among the patients with refractive accommodative esotropia associated with amblyopia. The mean age of the patients was 3.6 years and the average refractive error was +5.35D in the dominant eyes and +6.29D in the amblyopic eyes. The average visual acuity was 0.38 with the dominant eyes and 0.17 with the amblyopic eyes. The average angle of deviation was 40.0delta with fixation in the dominant eyes and 24.3delta in the amblyopic eyes. The authors speculate that this difference of angle deviation was caused by the weaker accommodative convergence at the time of fixation by the amblyopic eye that appeared to have decreased accommodative amplitudes.
Amblyopia* ; Esotropia* ; Humans ; Jurisprudence ; Refractive Errors ; Strabismus ; Visual Acuity

BACKGROUND: Because specific chromosomal abnormalities are associated with certain hematologic disorders, cytogenetic studies can help classifing the diseases, providing the clues of disease progression and being used to monitor remission after chemotherapy. In this study, cytogenetic analysis was performed. In acute and chronic leukemic patients in Korea and the results were compared with foreign cytogenetic reports, and the typical acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and acute myelocytic leukemia (AML) associated chromosome aberrations were analysed by some calculated parameters to clarify if the specific chromosomal abberations in the specific types or subtypes of leukemias had diagnostic value or not. METHOD: Chromosome studies were done in bone marrow or peripheral blood samples by high resolution banding technique. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of finding or not finding a given aberration were calculated for followings : for the differential diagnosis between ALL and AML when a patient is known to have acute leukemia, for the differential diagnosis among AML and ALL FAB subtypes in a patient with known AML and ALL. RESULTS: The high positive predictive values (1.0) in the AML versus ALL comparison were found for -7, del(7) (q11-34q22-36), +8s, t(8;21) (q22;q22), t(15;17) (q22;q11), inv (16) (q13;q22) and -Y. Among the AML subtypes, the highest sensitivity, positive and negative predictive values were 0.85, 0.97, 0.94 for t(15;17) (q22;q11) in M3, respectively. The high positive predictive values and specificity in the ALL versus AML comparison were found for t(1;19) (q23;p13) ,t(4;11) (q21 ;23) and t(8; 14) (q24;q32) Among the ALL subtypes, the highest negative predictive value was 0.99 for t (8;14) (q24;q32) in L3. Among 398 CML cases, Philadelphia chromosome positive CML were shown in 81.9% that were classic t(9;22) (q34;all) (94.5%), complex variant traslocation(1.8%) and additional secondary chromosome aberrations (3.7%) . CONCLUSION: Total chromosomal aberration rate in acute and chronic leukemia in Korea was lower than that in foreign reports, but the patterns of chromosome aberrations were similar except for t(15;17) (q22;q11) in AML patients. Quantitativly calculated data of sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values in the specific chromosomal aberration might be used for diagnostic markers of acute leukemia.
Bone Marrow ; Chromosome Aberrations ; Cytogenetic Analysis ; Cytogenetics* ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Disease Progression ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Korea* ; Leukemia ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; Philadelphia Chromosome ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; Sensitivity and Specificity

OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to evaluate the common gastrointestinal problems, diet and bowel care patterns, and to estimate the colon transit time in spinal cord injury (SCI). METHOD: Fifteen chronic spinal cord injured persons with upper motor neuron type neurogenic bowel were studied by measuring the colonic transit time and interviews. The colon transit time was studied by using radioopaque markers. RESULTS: Mean total colonic transit time was 43.79 h with right colonic transit time 13.71 h, left colonic transit time 20.36 h, and rectosigmoid colonic transit time 9.71 h. The right colonic transit time was delayed in 35.7% of the subjects, left colonic transit time in 64.3%, and rectosigmoid colonic transit time in 21.4%. The common gastrointestinal problem in SCI were constipation (66.7%). The defecation difficulty (73.3%) was the most significant subjective symptom. Delayed colonic transit time was shown in 80% of perceived 'constipation' group. The average time spent for the defecation was 64.7 minutes per day. 73.3% of the subjects did not control the diet. CONCLUSION: Spinal cord injured persons of upper motor neuron type neurogenic bowel in Korea showed significantly delayed colonic transit time than non SCI adults, similar delayed colon transit time as Western SCI persons who consume less fibers in daily diets.
Adult ; Colon* ; Constipation ; Defecation ; Diet ; Humans ; Korea ; Motor Neurons* ; Neurogenic Bowel* ; Spinal Cord Injuries* ; Spinal Cord*

Background: In modern society, rapid changes in the medical environment have required medical staff to access various information and be competent in active and effective problem-solving through collegial interactions. In line with these changes, universities are aiming to connect education. This study aimed to provide basic data of connected-convergence education by survey the awareness and needs of college students in health-related fields. Methods: This study included 122 college students from the health field. A survey regarding “the awareness and need of connected-convergence education” was conducted and general characteristics of the participants were collected from June to July 2022. Results: The awareness of connected-convergence education was low at 19.7%, but the intention to participate was high at 74.6%. Subject requirements were 18.0% for medical psychology, 13.5% for communication and counseling, 13.5% for medical artificial intelligence technology convergence, and 10.4% for sports health management. In the group showing high satisfaction with the major curriculum, the demand for connected education was also high. For efficient operation, it was investigated that it was necessary to secure specialized training courses, recognition of liberal arts credits, the right to register for courses equal to those of major students, and secure dedicated classrooms. Conclusion Although the awareness and experience of connected-convergence education among the participants were low, the intention to participate was high. As such a plan to revitalize the university curriculum was required. It is timely to discuss the nurturing of convergence-type talents and multidisciplinary thinking skills. It is meaningful to provide basic data necessary for connected-convergence education in health-related fields at university. Universities should strive to enhance job competency in the health field by providing connected-convergence education based on student demands.

Background: In this study, the bleaching effect and surface damage of two types of over-the-counter home tooth bleaching agents were explored using an in vitro study of bleaching agents applied to bovine teeth specimens for 14 days. Methods: Domestic over-the-counter home tooth bleaching agents of gel and patch form that shared common active ingredients and manufacturers were selected and tested. The experiment specimens were made using composite resin with bovine tooth samples and then measured the initial microhardness. Specimens were then divided into a Gel group and a Patch group and underwent bleaching treatment once a day for two weeks for 30 to 60 minutes (recommended) or 7 hours. All specimens were coffee-stained prior to bleaching. The bleaching effect was measured using a spectrophotometer and surface damage was measured using a microhardness meter. Results: The difference in color following the bleaching procedure was positive in both the Gel and Patch group, although there were no statistically significant differences in bleaching effect between groups. There was no significant difference in bleaching effect based on duration. The microhardness test revealed that both the Gel group and the Patch group had surface damage after bleaching. The greatest surface damage was found in the Patch group that had undergone a 7-hour bleaching treatment, although the differences were not statistically significant. Conclusion The bleaching effect of the home tooth bleaching agent was visible to the naked eye. However, longer applications than recommended did not result in greater bleaching, unlike consumers’ expectations, and instead increased the chance of enamel damage. As such, there is a need for consumers to be alert and adhere to recommendations provided by each company.

Corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) plays a major role in coordinating stress responses. We aimed to test whether blocking endogenous CRF activity can prevent the stress-induced dilation of intercellular spaces in esophageal mucosa. Eighteen adult male rats were divided into 3 groups: 1) a non-stressed group (the non-stressed group), 2) a saline-pretreated stressed group (the stressed group), 3) and an astressin-pretreated stressed group (the astressin group). Immediately after completing the experiments according to the protocol, distal esophageal segments were obtained. Intercellular space diameters of esophageal mucosa were measured by transmission electron microscopy. Blood was sampled for the measurement of plasma cortisol levels. Mucosal intercellular spaces were significantly greater in the stressed group than in the non-stressed group. Mucosal intercellular spaces of the astressin group were significantly smaller than those of the stressed group. Plasma cortisol levels in the stressed group were significantly higher than in the non-stressed group. Pretreatment with astressin tended to decrease plasma cortisol levels. Acute stress in rats enlarges esophageal intercellular spaces, and this stress-induced alteration appears to be mediated by CRF. Our results suggest that CRF may play a role in the pathophysiology of reflux-induced symptoms or mucosal damage.
Animals ; Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone/*antagonists & inhibitors/metabolism/pharmacology ; Esophagus/anatomy & histology/*drug effects ; Extracellular Space/*drug effects ; Hydrocortisone/blood ; Male ; Mucous Membrane/anatomy & histology/*drug effects ; Neuroprotective Agents/pharmacology ; Peptide Fragments/*pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; *Stress, Psychological/blood/physiopathology