BACKGROUND: This is a study of the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which shows high mortality worldwide, and the effects of smoking on COPD by using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey V. METHODS: FEV1/FEV6<0.73 was used as a diagnostic criterion of COPD. Frequency analysis for prevalence, descriptive statistics for general characteristics and ventilation rate according to age-specifications, and complex sample logistic regression analysis for the effect of smoking on COPD prevalence were used. IBM SPSS Statistics 21 Standard, Complex Samples for Medical Science(Windows) was used for data analysis(alpha=0.05). RESULTS: Prevalence of COPD was 11.6+/-0.5% of Koreans in their forties or over, and 17.5+/-0.8% in males, and 6.2+/-0.5% in females. There was significant increase of COPD prevalence with age increment. Before adjusting for age and smoking index(SI), the COPD possibilities of past and current-smokers compared with non-smoking males were (odds ratio [OR] 2.112 [95% confidence interval [CI] 1.551-2.875]) and (OR 1.834 [95% CI 1.319-2.551]) respectively. After adjustments with age and SI, the COPD possibility of current-smoking was 2.099 (1.382-3.188) times higher and for past-smoking was 1.463 (1.012-2.115) times higher than non-smoking. The P-value of each group was significant. The regression coefficients (B) of current-smoking and past-smoking were 0.741 and 0.380 respectively. The prevalence of COPD increased 1.102 (1.090-1.115) times for every 1 year of age increase, and 1.012 (1.007-1.018) times for every 1 SI increase (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: After adjusting for age and SI, the prevalence of COPD in smokers was higher than non-smokers. And current-smoking had a higher OR and higher B than past-smoking.
Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Mortality ; Nutrition Surveys* ; Prevalence* ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive* ; Smoke* ; Smoking* ; Ventilation

OBJECTIVE: This study was to determine the effect of different concentration of calcium in medium on the preimplantational development of zygotes and early 2-cell embryos. METHODS: Female mice of ICR strain (5~8 weeks old) were superovulated and mated with fertile males. Zygotes or early 2-cell embryos were collected by flushing the oviducts 31~32 hours after hCG injection. The embryos were cultured in various concentrations of Ca2+ in medium or with EDTA, EGTA and Ni2+. RESULT AND CONCLUSION: Treatment of high concentration of Ca2+ (3.42 mM (2X)~17.1 mM (10X) in medium didn't develop well compared to the control Low concentrations of Ca2+ (0.214 mM (1/8X)~0.855 mM (1/2X)) were deterimental to development beyond 2-cell stage. EDTA, Ca2+ chelating agent was treated with ranged concentrations of eDTA (0.014 mM~0.107 mM) to medium contaning 1.71 mM Ca2+ showed beneficial effect to development to blastocyst compared to the control. EGTA, extracellular Ca2+ chelator, was treated with ranged concentrations of EGTA (0.014~0.107 mM) to the medium contaning 1.71 mM Ca2+. There is no significant difference with the control. Ni2+ (50 micrometer), T-type Ca2+-channel blocker was treated to medium contaning low concentration of Ca2+. It overcame 2-cell block significantly. Rate of degenerated embryos decreased and developmental rate to morula and blastocyst increased more than low Ca2+ concentration alone. Further studies are needed for the overcoming effect of 2-cell block by Ni2+.
Animals ; Blastocyst ; Calcium ; Edetic Acid ; Egtazic Acid ; Embryonic Structures* ; Female ; Flushing ; Humans ; Male ; Mice* ; Morula ; Oviducts ; Zygote

No abstract available.
Counseling* ; Infertility*

Empathy is an essential factor for establishing therapeutic relationship. Especially for pediatric nursing, the nurses need to know how to perceive children's feeling and thought and to express her understanding about them affectively. So, empathy is considered as an important concept in pediatric nursing. This study was attempted to measure the empathic ability of pediatric nurses by pediatric nurse and mothers of hospitalized children. The subject of this study consisted of 83 pediatric nurses and 106 mothers of hospitalized children in 4 hospitals in Seoul and 1 hospital in Kyung-Gi. Data were collected from Jan. 14 to Feb. 6, 1997, by the questionnaire method. The instrument for this study was the Empathic Construct Rating Scale : ECRS(60-item, 5 point scale). Data Were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test and ANOVA. Result of this study are summarized as follows : 1. Pediatric nurses perceived their empathic ability to be moderately high(Mn=3.71) The level of perceived empathic ability of the pediatric nurses showed no significance by general characteristics. 2. The mothers of hospitalized children perceived nurses' empathic ability to be moderate(Mn=3.27). The level of perceived nurses' empathic ability of the mothers of hospitalized children showed significant differences by the experience of hospitalization of the children and the age of the mothers. 3. The perceived nurses' empathic ability of the mothers was significantly low than of the pediatric nurses(t=6.50, P<.001). From the above results, it can be concluded. that the empathic ability of the pediatric nurses is not sufficient for caring children and mothers efficiently. So, the pediatric nurses' empathic ability is needed to improve through facilitative relationship training as refreshment in-service education program.
Child ; Child, Hospitalized ; Education ; Empathy* ; Gyeonggi-do ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Mothers ; Pediatric Nursing ; Seoul ; Child Health ; Surveys and Questionnaires

To determine the causes of and related factors to childhood injuries, the emergency room records and inpatient medical records were reviewed for 4,849 injured children out of 15,790 pediatric patients(<15 years old) who visited the emergency rooms of 3 university hospitals and 2 general hospitals in Taegu from 1 January to 31 December 1987. Out of total injured children, 54.6% were 3-8 years old and the male to female ratio of the total injured children was about 2 : 1. The leading causes of injury were falls and slips (29.1%) and traffic accident(28.2%). The frequency of injury was higher in May-October than the rest of months and 51.6% of the injuries occurred between 15 and 20 o'clock. Falls and slips took place most frequently at the stairway(25.7%). The most common interpersonal violence was inflicted injuries(85.6%) and there were 11 child rapes. Dog bites accounted for 67.6% of all biting injuries and it occurred 2.9 times more in male than in female. CO intoxication was the most common cause of poisoning (45.3%) and scalding accounted for 85.2% of all burns. Common places of drownings were river (32.2%), swimming pool (22.6%) and construction site(19.3%). To prevent childhood injuries, it is recommended to eliminate the hazardous environmental factors, to provide safe playgrounds, to educate the children for safety from kindergarten and the general public through mass communication, to establish a strict safety standard for houses, public buildings and facilities, and playgrounds.
Animals ; Burns ; Child ; Daegu* ; Dogs ; Drowning ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Service, Hospital* ; Female ; Hospitals, General ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Male ; Medical Records ; Poisoning ; Rape ; Rivers ; Swimming Pools ; Violence

OBJECTIVE: The study was performed to compare the survival rate and the development of day 2 mouse embryos which had freezing procedures done. METHODS: We used three different vitrification solutions (EFS, VS14, DPS) and a ultrarapid freezing solution (UFS) for cryopreservation of day 2 mouse embryo. RESULTS: We tested toxicity by exposing embryos to vitrification solutions and a ultrarapid freezing solution. The survival rates are 100%, 97.8%, 95.6% and 100% (EFS, VS14, DPS and UFS). After cultured for 96 hours, hatching rates of each group are 93.5% (no freezing), 95.6% (EFS), 86.4% (VS14), 93.0% (DPS), and 93.0% (UFS). There is no significant differences among groups. The survival rates after thawing cryopreserved embryos are 80.2%, 91.7%, 69.5%, 0% and 91.8% (slow freezing, EFS, VS14, DPS and UFS). Also cultured for 96 hours, the hatching rates are 93.5% (no freezing), 84.1% (slow freezing), 93.9%) (EFS), 48.5% (VS14) and 70.1% (UFS). CONCLUSION:The survival rates of vitrification in EFS solution and ultrarapid freezing are higher than slow freezing (p<0.05). The hatching rate of vitrification in EFS solution cultured for 96 hours is highest, so vitrification of day 2 mouse embryos in EFS solution considered as more effective for cryopreservation.
Animals ; Cryopreservation ; Embryonic Structures* ; Freezing* ; Mice* ; Survival Rate ; Vitrification*

BACKGROUND: The differential diagnosis of clonal and reactive thrombocytosis is clinically relevant because course and treatment are different between them. Several clinical assessments and laboratory tests (degree of such as splenomegaly, duration and degree of thrombocytosis, bone marrow study, cytogenetic study, and platelet function test) are less discriminative, invasive and not commonly available. Therefore, a well discriminative, simple and convenient diagnositic assay is needed. Recently animal experiments demonstrated that recombinant IL-6 administration increased platelets counts by stimulating megakaryocyte maturation and increased hepatic CRP synthesis. So, in this study, we evaluated the usefulness of measurements of IL-6 and CRP levels to distinguish reactive thrombocytosis from clonal thrombocytosis. METHODS: Included in this study were 88 patients with marked thromobocytosis (>600 x10(9)/L) at Asan Medical Center between September, 1995 and March, 1996. The cause of thrombocytosis was determined by reviewing the medical histories. Sixteen patients had clonal thrombocytosis and 72 patients had reactive thrombocytosis. IL-6 was measured by ELISA (Quantikine(TM), R&D system, Inc., Minneapolis, USA) and CRP was assayed by rate immunonephelometry (Array 360 system, Beckman Instruments Inc., USA). RESULTS: The patients with reactive thrombocytosis had significantly higher plasma levels of IL-6 and CRP than patients with clonal thrombocytosis (p<0.01, p<0.001). In 98.6% (71/72) of the patients with reactive thromobocytosis, levels of either IL-6 or CRP were elevated, and 43.8% (7/16) of the patients with clonal thrombocytosis had both IL-6 and CRP in normal range. Of 9 patients with clonal thrombocytosis (56.2%) whose levels of either IL-6 or CRP increased, 7 patients had concomitant acute phase reaction such as infection or post operative status. There was significant correlation between IL-6 and CRP levels (r2=0.4, p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: Elevated levels of either IL-6 or CRP were consistent with reactive thrombocytosis and normal ranges of those suggested clonal thrombocytosis. So measurement of plasma IL-6 and CRP levels is a useful marker for differential diagnosis of clonal and reactive thrombocytosis. For the patients with clonal thrombocytosis who had concomitant acute phase reaction, serial measurements are recommended.
Acute-Phase Reaction ; Animal Experimentation ; Blood Platelets ; Bone Marrow ; C-Reactive Protein* ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Cytogenetics ; Diagnosis, Differential* ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Interleukin-6* ; Megakaryocytes ; Plasma* ; Reference Values ; Splenomegaly ; Thrombocytosis*

No abstract available.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness and the value of Laparoscopic Assisted Vaginal Hysterectomy, and to evaluate the possibility whether to replace abdominal hysterectomy to LAVH. METHOD: A retrospective study of the surgical procedure was performed by one team with one experienced laparoscopist. The operations were carried out in a private hospital, where operative laparoscopic set was available. All 500 patients underwent LAVH from March 1998 to March 1999 at the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Eun hospital. Patients were required hysterectomy for uterine fibroid, chronic pelvic pain and carcinoma in situ of cervix,. etc. RESULTS: The average operating time was 56.4+/-11.8 minutes, and the mean estimated postoperative hemoglobin loss was 0.62+/-1.0 g/dL. The mean uterine weight was 223.9+/-129.7 gram (range from 60gram to 800gram). The most common pathologic finding was adenomyosis(59.6%),and the second most pathologic findig was uterine fibroid(47%). No serious complications occured, but 3 vault hematoma cases occured. The combined procedures were salpingoophorectomy, adhesiolysis, and anterior or posterior colporrhaphy, etc. CONCLUSIONS: LAVH that has been possible to replace abdominal hysterectomy, may be valuable for gynecologic uterine diseases, but the experience is important for laparoscopic surgery. The learning curve influences the results of surgery and incidence of complications. Therefore the procedure may only be carried out by experienced laparoscopists, then the maximum value and advantages of laparoscopic surgery can be obtained. Our experience indicates that LAVH is to reduce almost all incidence of abdominal hysterectomy(0.4%)
Carcinoma in Situ ; Cervix Uteri ; Female ; Gynecology ; Hematoma ; Hospitals, Private ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Hysterectomy, Vaginal* ; Incidence ; Laparoscopy ; Learning Curve ; Leiomyoma ; Obstetrics ; Pelvic Pain ; Retrospective Studies ; Uterine Diseases

It is essential to estimate the size, volume and wall thickness of the gallbladder in diagnosis of the gallbladder disease. Author measured maximum length, A-P diameter, width, wall thickness and volume of gallbladder ultrasonographically in 130 normal adults. The results are as follows; 1. The mean length of the gallbladder was 5.88±0.97 cm. 2. The mean A-P diameter of the gallbladder was 2.49±0.52c, on longitudinal scan and 2.48±0.42cm on coronal scan. 3. The mean width of the gallbladder was 2.48±0.46cm. 4. The mean wall thickness of thegallbladder was 2.09±0.29mm. 4. The mean volume of gallbladder was 27.09±10.07cm² by single cylinder method and 18.27±9.04cm³ by Weill method, but there was linear correlation between the two methods(p<0.001).
Adult ; Diagnosis ; Gallbladder Diseases ; Gallbladder ; Humans ; Methods ; Ultrasonography