PURPOSE: The Purpose of this study is to investigate th relations among ego identity, stress, and internet addiction in high school students. METHODS: In order to get the data by self-questionnaire, 750 subject were selected from Aug. 20 to Aug. 31, 2008. The data was analyzed by percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple regression using SPSS/WIN 12.0 program. RESULTS: Ego identity scores were 39.54, stress scores were 64.68, internet addiction scores were 65.34. There were significantly negative correlations between ego identity and stress, between ego identity and internet addiction. But there was significantly positive correlation between stress and internet addiction. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the most powerful predictor of internet addiction was stress related to individual. CONCLUSION: The findings of study suggest that broad internet addiction and stress program should be provided to prevent problems of internet addiction.
Ego ; Humans ; Internet*

BACKGROUND: The influenza is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses. The primary target groups recommended for annual vaccination are healthcare workers and households which have frequent contact with persons at high risk and can transmit influenza to those persons at high risk. Members of these groups should be vaccinated against the flu so that they can avoid getting infected with continuously mutating influenza viruses. We assessed healthcare workers' knowledge and attitudes regarding influenza vaccination in order to help promote the vaccination rate. METHODS: This survey was carried out in two hospitals affiliated with the Catholic University School of Medicine, from December 2004 to January 2005. Of the 3,023 questionnaires distributed, 2,023 could be evaluated. RESULTS: The most frequently cited reason for receiving influenza vaccine was self-protection against influenza (55.4%). The most common reasons for not receiving influenza vaccine are personal health problems such as concurrent flu, pregnancy or breast-feeding (29.2%). There is no significant difference in the frequency of side effect between two groups receiving and not receiving vaccine. The most frequent side effect of influenza vaccination is flu-like syndrome; People receiving vaccine have more significant knowledge than those people not receiving vaccine about efficacy of flu vaccination, risk of influenza infection of healthcare workers and their need of flu vaccination. CONCLUSION: In order to promote the vaccination rate, education targeting people at high risk need to keep continuous and facilitate access to vaccination.
Delivery of Health Care* ; Education ; Family Characteristics ; Humans ; Influenza Vaccines ; Influenza, Human* ; Orthomyxoviridae ; Pregnancy ; Vaccination* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

No abstract available.
Nursing Homes* ; Nursing* ; Nutritional Status*

BACKGROUND: Serratia marcescens proliferates well in a humid environment or soil and is recently considered as an important pathogen for the severe nosocomial infections. this organism is spreads easily by hand-to-hand transmission, and contaminates medical equipment used for invasive procedures, working environment, medications, and soap. METHODS: We investigated the source of an outbreak of bloodstream infections by S. marcescens isolated that occurred during the period from July to December, 2004, at a university hospital in Gyeonggi Province and attempted to intervene in the outbreak and control it. RESULTS: From July to December, 2004, S. marcescens grew from 296 blood culture from 283 patients. The medical charts of the patients were reviewed, and surveillance cultures were taken to identify the outbreak of nosocomial infections and risk factors. Only four cases of infection were identified and all remaining positive blood cultures were due to contamination. Nine isolates randomly selected from the 296 S. marcescens showed an identical pulsed-field gel electrophoresis pattern. To identify the source of infection, environmental culture and hand cultures of the related medical workers were carried out, but S. marcescens was not isolated. CONCLUSION: As the result of aggressive infection control activities, such as re-education on environmental management methods, hand washing techniques, and blood culture sampling techniques, no more S. marcescens had been grown in blood culture since January, 2005.
Cross Infection ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field ; Gyeonggi-do ; Hand ; Hand Disinfection ; Humans ; Infection Control ; Risk Factors ; Serratia marcescens ; Serratia* ; Soaps ; Soil

No abstract available in English.
Antigen-Antibody Complex ; Arthritis ; Rabbits ; Synovial Membrane

PURPOSE: To compare the effects of full-time and part-time occlusion therapy in patients who had been diagnosed with anisometropic amblyopia after age eight and have begun treatment. METHODS: We included patients eight years old or older who had been diagnosed with anisometropic amblyopia. They were treated with full-time or part-time occlusion therapy and followed up for at least six months. Treatment was considered successful when visual acuity was increased by two lines or more. RESULTS: There were 26 total patients. There were 14 part-time and 12 full-time occlusion therapy patients in the respective groups. Visual acuity for the amblyopic eyes was significantly improved while the non-amblyopic eyes did not show any significant differences after the treatment. The changes in the visual acuity were significantly larger for the full-time treatment group compared to the part-time treatment group. The full-time occlusion group showed a significant difference in visual acuity of the amblyopic eyes after treatment. Lower visual acuity of an amblyopic eye at the first visit led to a greater improvement in visual acuity after the treatment. CONCLUSIONS: With good compliance, occlusion therapy for anisometropic amblyopia can be successful even if it is initiated after eight years of age.
Aged ; Amblyopia ; Compliance ; Eye ; Humans ; Visual Acuity

This study was undertaken to investigate the protective effect of rice bran oil (RBO) on amyloid β protein (Aβ) (25-35)-induced memory impairment and brain damage in an ICR mouse model. Memory impairment was produced by intracerebroventricular microinjection of 15 nmol Aβ (25-35) and assessed using the passive avoidance test. Treatment with RBO at 0.1, 0.5, or 1 mL/kg (p.o. daily for 8 days) protected against Aβ (25-35)-induced memory impairment. Furthermore, Aβ (25-35)-induced decreases in glutathione and increases in lipid peroxidation and cholinesterase activity in brain tissue were inhibited by RBO, and Aβ (25-35)-induced increases of phosphorylated mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and inflammatory factors, and changes in the levels of apoptosis-related proteins were significantly inhibited by RBO. Furthermore, Aβ (25-35) suppressed the PI3K/Akt pathway and the phosphorylation of CREB, but increased phosphorylation of tau (ptau) in mice brain; these effects were significantly inhibited by administration of RBO. These results suggest that RBO inhibits Aβ (25-35)-induced memory impairment by inducing anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory effects, promoting PI3K/Akt/CREB signaling, and thus, inhibiting p-tau formation.

Y-STR haplotyping is a powerful forensic and anthropological tool for identifying male lineages. We used high-resolution Y-STR haplotyping to evaluate the possibility of an ancestral relationship between two individuals with the different surname. Of the 17 Y-STRs genotyped, 16 had identical alleles in two individuals, except for an unambiguously sporadic mutation (one-step mutation) at DYS385 locus. The common allele 11.1 (U3Ains) at DYS439 locus was also observed in these two individuals. Sequencing analysis of these alleles of two samples demonstrated an A insertion at base 3 upstream from the repeat region's first GATA motif. These findings suggested that two individuals were paternally related, even if male individuals live with different surname.
Alleles ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Male

BACKGROUND: Nitrovasodilators are known to induce hypotension through activating nitric oxide (NO)/cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) pathway. By inhibiting the breakdown of cGMP, sildenafil citrate may augment the nitrovasodilator-induced hypotension. The present study was aimed to investigate whether sildenafil would reduce the dose of nitrovasodilators needed to induce the hypotension. METHODS: Ten mongrel dogs were acutely instrumented with a femoral artery catheter and a pulmonary artery catheter. They were intravenously given sodium nitroprusside (SNP; 1-16ng/kg/min) or nitroglycerin (NTG; 2 - 32ng/kg/min) to induce hypotension. The study was composed of two occasions in each animal: one with sildenafil pretreatment (1 mg/kg IV followed by 0.3 mg/kg/h) and the other without to serve as control, one week apart. Hemodynamic parameters were continuously monitored. Plasma cGMP concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: Both SNP and NTG produced dose-dependent reductions in mean arterial pressure (MAP) without affecting the heart rate in both the control and sildenafil groups. Systemic vascular resistance index (SVRI) and mean pulmonary arterial pressure were also decreased. However, SNP caused a greater reduction of MAP and SVRI in the sildenafil group than in the control group; whereas, NTP caused similar reductions in both groups. Neither SNP nor NTG altered the plasma cGMP concentrations. Sildenafil increased the plasma cGMP concentration, which was further increased by SNP, but not by NTG. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that sildenafil may reduce the dose of SNP, but not that of NTG needed to produce hypotension in the dog. The potentiation of SNP-induced hypotension by sildenafil may be related to an augmented cGMP effect.
Animals ; Arterial Pressure ; Catheters ; Citric Acid* ; Dogs* ; Femoral Artery ; Guanosine Monophosphate ; Heart Rate ; Hemodynamics ; Hypotension* ; Nitric Oxide ; Nitroglycerin ; Nitroprusside* ; Plasma ; Pulmonary Artery ; Radioimmunoassay ; Sodium* ; Vascular Resistance ; Sildenafil Citrate

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) is a form of thyroiditis associated with autoimmune antibodies. Few studies have measured thyroid volume in Asians. This study was undertaken to determine the distribution of thyroid volume and to explore possible correlations between thyroid volume and other factors in a Korean cohort. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred eleven patients who underwent (99m)Tc-pertechnetate thyroid scintigraphy between 2009 and 2011 were recruited and their thyroid volume was measured. AIT was defined as having thyroperoxidase antibody (TPOAb) and/or thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) positivity and TRAb negativity, regardless of thyroid function. RESULTS: The mean thyroid volume was 32.1 mL in AIT patients. The distribution of thyroid volume was normal after log transformation. Thyroid volume was larger in patients with both autoantibodies than in patients with only one antibody (p<0.001). The first quartile of patients grouped according to thyroid volume were older (52.1 years, p=0.037) than the patients in other quartile groups. Thyroid volume correlated independently with TPOAb titer, and TgAb titer adjusted for other factors in a multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Thyroid volume in Korean AIT patients had an unimodal distribution and correlated with autoantibody titer.
Antibodies ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Autoantibodies ; Cohort Studies ; Humans ; Multivariate Analysis ; Radionuclide Imaging* ; Thyroglobulin ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroiditis ; Thyroiditis, Autoimmune*