No Abstract Available.
Chondrocytes* ; Phenotype*

OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to determine the smoking status and its associated factors in military life among young Korean men to provide date for smoking prevention in military areas as a part of the health promotion program for soldiers. METHODS: 1,033 infantrymen serving in 17 military units, which are located in suburbs of K city, were enrolled in this study. A questionnaire on the soldiers smoking status and other various characteristics was obtained from October 2nd to 12th, 2000. Logistic regression analysis was performed on the various variables in order to determine the factors related to smoking. RESULTS: 1) 830(80.3%) out of 1033 subjects had smoked cigarettes and 759 persons(73.4%) were regular smokers. 2) Among the 734 soldiers who started smoking before their military service, 714 soldiers(97.2%) continued to smoke after, while 45 soldiers(15.0%) among the 299 non-smokers started smoking after joining the army. 3) Through the logistic regression analysis, the education level, specialty in the army, smoking amongst the friends they met before military service, smoking amongst soldiers in the army, dating girl friends, drinking, satisfaction with their army lives and the presence of convenient smoking places at the barracks were significant factors related to the prevalence of smoking in soldiers. CONCLUSION: the factors related with incidence of smoking in the army are the complicated interactions among the individuals personal background, general charcterisitcs of the solider and the special environment in the barracks. Therefore, to improve national soldiers' health, an active non-smoking campaign and education should be pushed to discourage smoking in the barracks.
Drinking ; Education ; Female ; Friends ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Incidence ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Military Personnel* ; Prevalence ; Smoke* ; Smoking* ; Tobacco Products

This study aims to evaluate CT (Computed Tomography) characteristics through the estimation of HU (Hounsfield Unit) and the corresponding variations using coefficient of variation values for various materials as a function of physical factor. HU values for various materials with varying densities as a function of physical factor were measured using MDCT (Siemens SOMATOM Sensation 4, Germany). The results showed that the HU values were decreased and increased as a function of kVp and material density, respectively. Especially, the HU values for bone and iodine at 140 kVp were 32% and 42% smaller than those at 80 kVp, respectively. In case of iodine, the HU values also decreased and increased as a function of kVp and concentration, respectively. While the HU values were fixed as a function of mAs. The decreased ratio of HU values between 80 keV and 140 keV was different at various concentration and maximum difference was shown as 1.73 at 3% concentration. These results indicated that it may be possible to separate composition of materials, e.g. iodine and bone, using single source CT. The results showed that dual energy techniques using single source CT can be applied to material separation and expand CT imaging techniques to other practical applications.
Iodine ; Sensation

This study aims to evaluate CT (Computed Tomography) characteristics through the estimation of HU (Hounsfield Unit) and the corresponding variations using coefficient of variation values for various materials as a function of physical factor. HU values for various materials with varying densities as a function of physical factor were measured using MDCT (Siemens SOMATOM Sensation 4, Germany). The results showed that the HU values were decreased and increased as a function of kVp and material density, respectively. Especially, the HU values for bone and iodine at 140 kVp were 32% and 42% smaller than those at 80 kVp, respectively. In case of iodine, the HU values also decreased and increased as a function of kVp and concentration, respectively. While the HU values were fixed as a function of mAs. The decreased ratio of HU values between 80 keV and 140 keV was different at various concentration and maximum difference was shown as 1.73 at 3% concentration. These results indicated that it may be possible to separate composition of materials, e.g. iodine and bone, using single source CT. The results showed that dual energy techniques using single source CT can be applied to material separation and expand CT imaging techniques to other practical applications.
Iodine ; Sensation

The esophageal lymphoma is a very rare feature among gastrointestinal lymphoma, and there was no surgical report in Korea. A 62-year-old male patient with submucosal tumor detected on routine esophagoscopy had resection of tumor including the esophageal mucosa, which was confirmed as esophageal lymphoma. As the severe leakage was detected on esophagogram on post-op 7th day, esophagectomy and esophagogastrostomy was followed. Though adjuvant chemotherapy was not performed, there were no evidence of recurrence for 1 year follow up. We experienced a patient with esophageal lymphoma and reported with brief review of literature.
Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Esophagectomy ; Esophagoscopy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Korea ; Lymphoma* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mucous Membrane ; Recurrence

Schwannomas are the most common type of benign peripheral nerve sheath tumors. They typically present as a solitary lesion, but multiple schwannomas rarely occur in patients with neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2), or patients without the other hallmarks of NF2. The latter is termed schwannomatosis. They most commonly occur in the head and neck involving the brachial plexus and spinal nerves. Although rarely found in the extremities, when these masses occur peripherally, they most commonly affect the sciatic, ulnar, and tibial nerve. It is reported that 2.4% to 5% of all patients undergoing schwannoma excision present as schwannomatosis. One-third of patients with schwannomatosis show tumors limited to a single extremity or segment of the spine and it is referred to as segmental schwannomatosis. We report a case of recurred segmental schwannomatosis of the posterior tibial nerve without features of NF2 after schwannoma excision.
Brachial Plexus ; Extremities ; Head ; Humans ; Neck ; Nerve Sheath Neoplasms ; Neurilemmoma ; Neurofibromatoses* ; Neurofibromatosis 2* ; Spinal Nerves ; Spine ; Tibial Nerve

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to test the association between APOA5 3'-UTR variants (rs662799) and cardiometabolic traits in Koreans. SUBJECTS/METHODS: For this study, epidemiological data, Apolipoprotein A5 (APOA5) genotype information, and lymphoblastoid cell line (LCL) biospecimens from a subset of the Ansung-Ansan cohort within the Korean Genome and Epidemiology study (KoGES-ASAS; n = 7,704) as well as epidemiological data along with genomic DNA biospecimens of participants from a subset of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES 2011-12; n = 2,235) were obtained. APOA5 mRNA expression was also measured. RESULTS: APOA5 rs662799 genotype distributions in both the KoGES-ASAS and KNHANES groups were 50.6% for TT, 41.3% for TC, and 8.1% for CC, which are similar to those in previous reports. In both groups, minor C allele carriers, particularly subjects with CC homozygosity, had lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and higher triglyceride levels than TT homozygotes. Linear regression analysis showed that the minor C allele significantly contributed to reduction of circulating HDL cholesterol levels [β = −2.048, P < 0.001; β = −2.199, P < 0.001] as well as elevation of circulating triglyceride levels [β = 0.053, P < 0.001; β = 0.066, P < 0.001] in both the KoGES-ASAS and KNHANES groups. In addition, higher expression levels of APOA5 in LCLs of 64 healthy individuals were negatively associated with body mass index (r = −0.277, P = 0.027) and circulating triglyceride level (r = −0.340, P = 0.006) but not significantly correlated with circulating HDL cholesterol level. On the other hand, we observed no significant difference in the mRNA level of APOA5 according to APOA5 rs662799 polymorphisms. CONCLUSIONS: The C allele of APOA5 rs662799 was found to be significantly associated with cardiometabolic traits in a large Korean population from the KoGES-ASAS and KNHANES. The effect of this genotype may be associated with post-transcriptional regulation, which deserves further experimental confirmation.
Alleles ; Apolipoproteins ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Body Mass Index ; Cell Line ; Cholesterol ; Cholesterol, HDL ; Cohort Studies ; DNA ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Epidemiology ; Genome ; Genotype ; Hand ; Homozygote ; Humans ; Korea ; Linear Models ; Lipoproteins ; Nutrition Surveys ; RNA, Messenger ; Triglycerides

Adolescent ; Clavicle ; Cleidocranial Dysplasia ; Craniofacial Abnormalities ; Delayed Diagnosis ; Early Diagnosis ; Frontal Bone ; Genes, Dominant ; Humans ; Oral Manifestations ; Retention (Psychology) ; Skull ; Sutures ; Tooth ; Tooth, Deciduous ; Tooth, Supernumerary

Radioembolization using ⁹⁰Y microspheres (glass or resin) has been introduced as an effective intraarterial therapy for unresectable primary and metastatic liver cancers. Although the basic therapeutic effect of chemoembolization results from ischemia, the therapeutic efficacy of radioembolization comes from radiation. Furthermore, compared with surgical resection and local ablation therapy, radioembolization is available with less limitation on the sites or number of liver cancers. The radioisotope ⁹⁰Y is a β-radiation emitter without γ-radiation, with the emission of secondary bremsstrahlung photons and small numbers of positrons. Administration of ⁹⁰Y microspheres into the hepatic artery can deliver a high dose of radiation selectively to the target tumor with limited radiation exposure to the surrounding normal parenchyma, and has low systemic toxicity. In general, radioembolization has been considered for patients with unresectable primary or metastatic liver-only or liver-dominant cancers with no ascites or other clinical signs of liver failure, life expectancy of > 12 weeks, and good performance status. Here, we review the current radioactive compounds, pretreatment assessment, and indications for radioembolization in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, and liver metastases from colorectal cancer.
Ascites ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Cholangiocarcinoma ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Electrons ; Hepatic Artery ; Humans ; Ischemia ; Life Expectancy ; Liver Failure ; Liver Neoplasms ; Liver ; Microspheres ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Photons ; Radiation Exposure

Background: In general, women tend to increase serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels after menopause. Hypercholesterolemia is a risk factor that causes atherosclerosis and increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Additionally, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol increases even when attempting to modify lifestyles in menopausal women. Therefore, we wanted to find out what risk factors are associated with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in menopausal women. Methods: Data were gathered from 4,943 subjects who had visited a Health Promotion Center. Variables are measured in body metering and blood tests. Partial correlation analysis was performed to identify the variables that are related to low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and multiple regression analysis was performed to find the variables that can predict low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Results: The mean age of the subjects was 57.3±6.6 years old, the average low density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration was 124.6±33.3 mg/dL, the average body mass index was 23.6±3.2 kg/m 2 , and the average waist circumference was 78.4±8.3 cm, and 21.5 percent of subjects was abdominal obesity. Serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level showed a positive correlation with obesity, oxidative stress-related indices, and inflammatory markers such as ESR, CRP. ESR, body fat mass, total bilirubin, uric acid, fasting plasma glucose, and WBC count showed positive correlation with serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, and age showed negative correlation. Conclusion This study identified several factors, such as inflammatory markers, obesity and oxidative stress related indices were associated with elevated serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in postmenopausal women.