As most medical facilities in Korea have been concentrated in large cities, the need to improve emergency medical services in islands and mountainous areas has emerged. Consequently, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and local governments have introduced emergency medical helicopters (known as helicopter ambulances or air ambulances) with doctors in medically vulnerable areas. Having been introduced in two regions in 2011, air ambulances are operational in seven regions as of the end of 2019. The flight time is from sunrise to sunset, except in Gyeonggi province, which is open all day. Although the criteria for transport vary depending on whether an ambulance is available for operation, it is basically intended for emergency critical diseases, such as severe trauma, stroke, and acute myocardial infarction. From September 23, 2011 to December 31, 2018, a total of 10,367 transfer requests were received, which included 534 (5.2%) interruptions, 2,657 (25.6%) rejects, and 7,176 (69.2%) transfers. A total of 7,209 patients were transferred during this period, which included 1,693 (23.5%) patients of severe trauma, 1,149 (15.9%) patients of stroke, 802 (11.1%) patients of acute myocardial infarction, and 3,565 (49.5%) patients suffering from other emergency diseases. Some economic research on air ambulances in Korea has been reported to be cost-effective, but additional research should be performed. In the future, it is necessary to widen the area of operation of air ambulances and find alternative means of transporting patients during unfavorable conditions such as night or bad weather.

Vibrio mimicus, marine bacteria pathogenic for fish, can causes acute gastroenteritis in human. Iron limmited condition like in human body, may change the surface structure of V. mimicus. In this study we obse'rved the effect of iron limmited condition on outer membrane protein of V. mimicus. Ethylenediamine-di (O-hydroxy-phenylacetic) acid (EDDA), an iron chelator, delayed the time to reach expotential growth of V. mimicus in brain heart infusion medium from 3 hours to 20 hours. Outer membrane protein of V. mimicus-CON (cultured in BHI) and V. mimicus-EDDA (cultured in BHI contain EDDA) were seperated by 1% sarcosine from total cell envelop. SDS-PAGE of V. mimicus-EDDA and V. mimicus-CON showed similar protein profiles contain 37 kDa major protein but 86 and 90 kDa protein were induced differently. Immunological properties of above protein were determined by ELISA and western blotting. 86 kDa EDDA- specific OMP was induced in V. mimicus (isolate 96-1), V. parahaemolyticus (serotype 09), V. alginolyticus (isolate 95-1), E. coli (human isolate) and V. vulnificus ATCC 27562 in iron limmited condition.
Bacteria ; Blotting, Western ; Brain ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Gastroenteritis ; Heart ; Human Body ; Humans ; Iron* ; Membrane Proteins ; Membranes* ; Sarcosine ; Vibrio mimicus* ; Vibrio*

Radiation disasters have a potential to cause a widespread feeling of destruction of safety in life and severe and complicated psychiatric problems to individuals and community. When a radiation accident occurs, it is essential to recognize the importance of psychosocial issues and to focus on the mental health aspect of victims. A radiation accident can produce profound psychological impacts at all levels of society, affecting individuals, families, communities, and the nation as a whole. These psychological effects may create longer-term problems, and the social stigma can be powerful and pervasive. The "post-traumatic stress reaction" has a broad range of disturbances from hyperarousal to psychiatric disorders, and can produce a marked deterioration in the quality of life. The strategy of the continuing care has been modest, based on promoting the victims' self-esteem and ability to cope with the disaster, while providing both social and life support. Rapid and appropriate intervention containing 'information management' is essential to prevent the progression of psychiatric disorders. Consideration of psychosocial factors needs to be an integral part of domestic preparedness efforts including multidimensional approach (planning, education, training, forum, and response operations). Therefore mental health care should be incorporated into the global strategy for victims' care, and this has to be done at a very early stage after the accident.
Disasters ; Education ; Humans ; Information Management ; Mental Health ; Psychology ; Quality of Life ; Radioactive Hazard Release* ; Social Stigma

The p53 gene is believed to play an important role through the mutation and overexpression in the progression of various human malignant tumors. The type IV collagenase (matrix metalloproteinase: MMP-2) initiates the degradation of the extracellular matrix, and consequently may play a role in the tumor invasion and metastasis. To investigate the correlation between clinicopathologic features of the colorectal adenocarcinomas and benign tumors and expression of p53 and MMP-2 proteins, we performed an immunohistochemical study on 40 colorectal adenocarcinomas, 20 adenomas and 20 hyperplastic polyps by using the antibodies to p53 and MMP-2 proteins. The positive expression rate of the p53 protein in adenocarcinomas was 62.5% and significantly higher than in benign tumors. The positive expression rate of the MMP-2 protein was 47.5% in adenocarcinomas, but there was no expression of MMP-2 protein in benign tumors. The difference in p53 and MMP-2 expression rates between malignant and non-malignant tumors was statistically significant. The positive expression rate of p53 protein in the non-metastatic and metastatic adenocarcinomas was 59.1 and 66.7%, respectively. The positive expression rate of MMP-2 protein in the non-metastatic and metastatic adencarcinomas was 45.5 and 50.0%, respectively. The correlation between several clinicopathologic features and expression of p53 and MMP-2 protein was not statistically significant, but the rate of positive MMP-2 immunoreactivity showed a statistically significant difference between Astler-Coller stage B1 C1 group and B2 C2 group of adenocarcinoma (p=0.0431). We concluded that the expression of p53 and MMP-2 protein contributes to the cancer development and MMP-2 may play a certain role in the invasiveness of the colorectal tumor. p53 and MMP-2 protein expression is not correlated with lymph node metastasis.
Adenocarcinoma* ; Adenoma ; Antibodies ; Collagenases ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Extracellular Matrix ; Genes, p53 ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 2* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Polyps

The p53 gene, one of the tumor suppressor genes, is believed to play an important role through mutation and overexpression in the progression of various human malignant tumors. To compare the p53 mutation status between the primary and metastatic lesions of breast cancers and to investigate the mutational pattern of p53, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and polymerase chain reaction and single strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) were performed in 25 cases of breast cancers with paraffin embedded tissue. Mutant protein products or point mutation were detected through IHC or PCR-SSCP method. And flow cytometrical (FCM) analysis were performed in the same paraffin blocks to correlate the DNA ploidy and p53 mutation. The following results are summarized. 1. The detection of the p53 gene mutation and overexpression of the p53 protein were measured in 40% and 48%, respectively, in 25 primary tumors, either or both methods was detected in 64%. 2. A concordance rate of the p53 protein expression between the primary and metastatic lesions of 25 breast cancers was 100%, but the concordance rate of the p53 gene mutation was 72%. 3. The correlation between the p53 mutation and the DNA aneuploidy was not statistically significant (p=0.38) 4. A p53 mutation by IHC or PCR-SSCP was more frequently detected in grade III breast cancers than in grade I or II. 5. Among 5 to 9 exons of the p53 gene, exon 7 was the most frequent mutation spot in this study. 6. Additional mutation of the p53 gene was developed in the three metastatic lesions. With the above results it is suggested that the p53 protein overexpression by immunohistochemistry is not correlated with the p53 mutation by PCR-SSCP. The p53 mutation pattern between the primary and metastatic lesions are not idenitical and an additional point mutation can occur in the metastatic lesion. The DNA aneuploidy is more frequently detected in the cases with the p53 protein overexpression than in the p53 protein negative, but it is not statistically significant.
Aneuploidy ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; DNA* ; Exons ; Genes, p53 ; Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; Humans* ; Immunohistochemistry ; Mutant Proteins ; Paraffin ; Ploidies* ; Point Mutation ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

The p53 gene, one of the tumor suppressor genes, is believed to play an important role through mutation and overexpression in the progression of various human malignant tumors. To compare the p53 mutation status between the primary and metastatic lesions of breast cancers and to investigate the mutational pattern of p53, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and polymerase chain reaction and single strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) were performed in 25 cases of breast cancers with paraffin embedded tissue. Mutant protein products or point mutation were detected through IHC or PCR-SSCP method. And flow cytometrical (FCM) analysis were performed in the same paraffin blocks to correlate the DNA ploidy and p53 mutation. The following results are summarized. 1. The detection of the p53 gene mutation and overexpression of the p53 protein were measured in 40% and 48%, respectively, in 25 primary tumors, either or both methods was detected in 64%. 2. A concordance rate of the p53 protein expression between the primary and metastatic lesions of 25 breast cancers was 100%, but the concordance rate of the p53 gene mutation was 72%. 3. The correlation between the p53 mutation and the DNA aneuploidy was not statistically significant (p=0.38) 4. A p53 mutation by IHC or PCR-SSCP was more frequently detected in grade III breast cancers than in grade I or II. 5. Among 5 to 9 exons of the p53 gene, exon 7 was the most frequent mutation spot in this study. 6. Additional mutation of the p53 gene was developed in the three metastatic lesions. With the above results it is suggested that the p53 protein overexpression by immunohistochemistry is not correlated with the p53 mutation by PCR-SSCP. The p53 mutation pattern between the primary and metastatic lesions are not idenitical and an additional point mutation can occur in the metastatic lesion. The DNA aneuploidy is more frequently detected in the cases with the p53 protein overexpression than in the p53 protein negative, but it is not statistically significant.
Aneuploidy ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; DNA* ; Exons ; Genes, p53 ; Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; Humans* ; Immunohistochemistry ; Mutant Proteins ; Paraffin ; Ploidies* ; Point Mutation ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

No abstract available.
Arthroplasty* ; Knee*

No abstract available.
Audiometry*

INTRODUCTION: The objective of the present study was to investigate the independent effects of major depressive disorder (MDD) and insomnia on somatization, respectively. METHODS: A total of 181 participants (73 males and 108 females ; mean age 41.59+/-8.92) without serious medical problem were recruited from a community and a psychiatric clinic in Republic of Korea. Subjects were divided into 4 groups based on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV axis I disorder (SCID-IV) and sleep questionnaire : 1) normal controls (n=127), 2) primary insomnia (n=11), 3) MDD without insomnia (n=14), and 4) MDD with insomnia (n=29). All participants were requested to complete the somatization subscores of the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R). RESULTS: There were significant between-group differences in somatization score (F=25.30, p<0.001). Subjects with both MDD and insomnia showed higher somatization score compared to normal control (p<0.001), subjects with primary insomnia (p=0.01), or MDD subjects without insomnia (p<0.001). Subjects with primary insomnia had higher somatization score than normal controls (p<0.01), while there was no significant difference between MDD subjects without insomnia and normal controls. In multiple regression, presence of insomnia predicted higher somatization score (beta=0.44, p<0.001), while there was only non-significant association between MDD and somatization (beta=0.14, p=0.08). CONCLUSION: In the current study, insomnia was associated with somatization independently from major depression. Subjects with primary insomnia showed higher somatization. Within MDD patients, presence of insomnia was related to higher somatization. Our finding suggests that insomnia may partly mediate the relationship between depression and somatization.
Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Depression ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Republic of Korea ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders

INTRODUCTION: The objective of the present study was to investigate the independent effects of major depressive disorder (MDD) and insomnia on somatization, respectively. METHODS: A total of 181 participants (73 males and 108 females ; mean age 41.59+/-8.92) without serious medical problem were recruited from a community and a psychiatric clinic in Republic of Korea. Subjects were divided into 4 groups based on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV axis I disorder (SCID-IV) and sleep questionnaire : 1) normal controls (n=127), 2) primary insomnia (n=11), 3) MDD without insomnia (n=14), and 4) MDD with insomnia (n=29). All participants were requested to complete the somatization subscores of the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R). RESULTS: There were significant between-group differences in somatization score (F=25.30, p<0.001). Subjects with both MDD and insomnia showed higher somatization score compared to normal control (p<0.001), subjects with primary insomnia (p=0.01), or MDD subjects without insomnia (p<0.001). Subjects with primary insomnia had higher somatization score than normal controls (p<0.01), while there was no significant difference between MDD subjects without insomnia and normal controls. In multiple regression, presence of insomnia predicted higher somatization score (beta=0.44, p<0.001), while there was only non-significant association between MDD and somatization (beta=0.14, p=0.08). CONCLUSION: In the current study, insomnia was associated with somatization independently from major depression. Subjects with primary insomnia showed higher somatization. Within MDD patients, presence of insomnia was related to higher somatization. Our finding suggests that insomnia may partly mediate the relationship between depression and somatization.
Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Depression ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Republic of Korea ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders