INTRODUCTION: Studies evaluating rats and mice have provided convincing evidence that renal adenoma and carcinoma are induced by oral doses of lead acetate and lead subacetate, as well as by parenteral doses of lead phosphate. In addition, at least 2 cases of kidney cancer associated with heavy exposure to lead have been reported. However, there is still not enough information to confirm or rule out an association between kidney cancer and exposure to lead. CASE REPORT: In this study, we describe a case of kidney cancer in 54-year-old male worker that was exposed to lead-stearate while employed in the polyvinyl chloride processing industry for 17 years. The patient presented with gout and hypertension. Further examination revealed proteinuria, glucose in the urine and elevated blood urea nitrogen/creatinine levels. Renal ultrasonography, renal computed tomography and renal biopsy revealed chronic renal failure and renal cell cancer. CONCLUSION: We concluded that the gout and chronic renal failure in this case was caused by chronic lead exposure. However, further study is required to determine if the renal cancer was induced by lead exposure.
Adenoma ; Animals ; Biopsy ; Glucose ; Gout ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Kidney Neoplasms ; Lead ; Lead Poisoning ; Male ; Mice ; Middle Aged ; Occupational Diseases ; Organometallic Compounds ; Polyvinyl Chloride ; Proteinuria ; Rats ; Renal Insufficiency ; Urea

OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to investigate the association between work ability and job stress factors in three manufacturing industries. METHODS: The data were gathered from 705 workers of 3 manufacturing industries, from August 2007 to January 2008. A structured, self-reported questionnaire was used to access the demographic, socioeconomic and work related characteristics. Work ability and job stress factors were determined using two questionnaires: the work ability index (WAI) of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and the Korean Occupational Stress Scale (KOSS), respectively. RESULTS: According to the logistic regression analysis results, WAI was related to job stress factors after adjustment for age, shift work, employment type and exercise. Of the eight subscales, job demand, interpersonal conflict, lack of reward, occupational climate and total score were significantly associated with WAI. In the analysis of each factory, interpersonal conflict, job insecurity and lack of reward were significantly associated with WAI in factory II, and organizational system, lack of reward and total score in factory III, but there was no significant association in factory I. CONCLUSIONS: Job stress factors were significantly associated with WAI in two of the three manufacturing industries. Further and more detailed study needs to be conducted to reduce the job stress and improve the work ability.
Climate ; Employment ; Logistic Models ; Occupational Health ; Questionnaires ; Reward

Patients referred to the Veterinary Medical Center at Chungbuk National University were analyzed. This study aimed to provide information to clinicians in Korea on the factors affecting fracture incidence in patients adapted to Korean companion animal culture. Eighty cases showing-bone fractures were investigated from January, 2005 to December, 2011. Fractures were mainly observed in miniature dogs such as Yorkshire terrier (12%), Poodle (12%), and Maltese (9%). Almost 50% of all cases were less than 1 year old. Total bone fractures in summer and fall constituted 62%. Fracture incidence was higher in male dogs (54%) than female dogs (46%). Hindlimb fracture (37%) was the most common. Distribution of limb fractures was higher in the femur (19), followed by the tibia/fibula (15), radius/ulna (13), humerus (11), and mandible (8). Pelvic fracture was observed in 19 cases. Simple fracture (84%) was the most common fracture type, followed by comminuted fracture (16%). Distal portion was the most common fracture site in long bones (67%), followed by middle (26%) and proximal bones (7%). Fractures were mainly caused by traffic accidents (43%), whereas 28.5% of fractures were due to falling down. Plate & screw (26%) was the most common method of fracture repair, followed by intramedullary pin (24%), wire (11%), external skeletal fixation (10%), screw (9%), amputation (7%), cross pin (6%), IM pin and wire (5%), and rush pin (1%). Among 80 patients, 79%of patients showed a good prognosis after surgery, whereas 13% patients did not experience a good result. This study shows that miniature dogs are prone to falling and fractures, especially in the distal part of long bones.
Accidents, Traffic ; Amputation ; Animals ; Dogs* ; Extremities ; Female ; Femur ; Fracture Fixation ; Fractures, Bone ; Fractures, Comminuted ; General Surgery ; Hindlimb ; Humans ; Humerus ; Incidence ; Korea ; Male ; Mandible ; Pets ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies*

Background: In this study, we aimed to compare the long-term therapeutic outcomes of drug-eluting bead transarterial chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) with those of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for the initial treatment of a single small (≤ 3 cm) hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: From January 2010 to December 2021, 259 consecutive patients who underwent DEB-TACE (67 patients) or RFA (192 patients) as a first-line treatment for a single small HCC were enrolled in this retrospective study. The therapeutic outcomes, including cumulative intrahepatic local tumor progression (LTP), progression-free survival (PFS), and longterm overall survival (OS) rates, were compared between the two groups before and after propensity score (PS) matching. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate the prognostic factors and differences in OS and PFS between the two groups for all 92 patients after PS matching. Results: After PS matching, the 1-, 2-, 3-, and 5-year LTP rates were lower in the RFA group than those in the DEB-TACE group (P < 0.001), and the 1-, 2-, 3-, and 5-year PFS rates in the RFA group were higher than those in the DEB-TACE group (P = 0.007). However, the 1-, 2-, 3-, and 5-year OS rates were not significantly different between the RFA and DEB-TACE groups (P = 0.584).Moreover, the OS was not significantly different between the RFA and DEB-TACE groups in the univariate and multivariate analyses, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.81. The PFS was significantly higher in the RFA group than that in the DEB-TACE group in the univariate analyses, with a HR of 0.44 (P = 0.009). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that albumin (P = 0.019) was an independent prognostic factor for OS. Additionally, the major complication rates were not significantly different between the DEB-TACE and RFA groups (P = 1.000). Conclusion The LTP and PFS rates of RFA were superior to those of DEB-TACE in the initial treatment of single small HCC after PS matching. However, the OS rates were not significantly different between RFA and DEB-TACE. Therefore, DEB-TACE may be considered an efficient substitute for RFA in some patients with a single small HCC who are ineligible for RFA.

Objective: The prolonged coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is likely to cause psychological distress in people. This systematic review aimed to identify the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR)-based psychological intervention among individuals with psychological distress during the COVID-19 crisis. PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, and PsycINFO databases were searched for articles published until July 2022. Methods: The available citations were deduplicated and screened by two authors using the title and abstract information. Eligibility criteria were constructed according to the PICOT guidelines. Empirical studies of all designs and comparator groups were included if they appraised the impact of an immersive VR intervention on any standardized measure indicative of psychological distress (stress, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic symptoms) or improvements in quality of life in participants, including COVID-19 patients, medical staff working with COVID-19 patients, and people who had experienced strict social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: The results were discussed using a narrative synthesis because of the heterogeneity between studies. Seven of the studies met the inclusion criteria. There were two randomized controlled trials and five uncontrolled studies on VR interventions. Conclusion All studies reported significant improvement in a wide range of psychological distress during COVID-19, ranging from stress, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic symptoms to quality of life, supporting the efficacy of VR-based psychological intervention. Our results suggest that VR intervention has potential to ameliorate COVID-19-related psychological distress with efficacy and safety.