Thirty cases of rhabdomyosarcoma in patients under the age of 15 years were reviewed retrospectively to find out characteristics of histologic subtypes related to prognosis. Histologic diagnosis were embryonal in 21(70%), alveolar in 7(23%) and mixed type in 2(7%). Cellular anaplasia was noted in 6 cases. Round to polygonal cells with abundant eosinophilic cytoplasmic rim or globules were most characteristic cytologic feature or rhabdomyosarcomas, being followed by myofibrils. Myxoid and edematous stroma in embryonal type and alveolar pattern in alveolar type wee nost characteristic growth pattern. Immunohistochemically, tumors were positive for desmin, actin and myoglobin in 97%, 27%, and 40%, respectively. Consequently, characteristic cytologic features are important to differentiate rhabdomyosarcomas form other kinds of small round cell tumor and growth pattern is more critical in categorizing histologic subtypes. Desmin is far more useful than actin or myoglobin in the diagnosis of rhabdomyosarcoma.
Child ; Male ; Female ; Humans

Dried specimens of the genus Inocybe collected from mountain areas throughout the Korean country from 1982 to 1998 and preserved in NIAST were investigated. Out of them, Inocybe hystrix were confirmed as an unrecorded species in Korea. In 1991 Lee et al., previously recorded Inocybe kasukayamensis only with its scientific name and korean common name. In this study we report it with full descriptions of morphological characteristics and diagnosis of micro-structures of this species.
Diagnosis ; Korea* ; Porcupines

No abstract available.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid* ; Depression* ; Humans

No abstract available.
Diagnosis* ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Radionuclide Imaging* ; Technetium Tc 99m Pyrophosphate*

PURPOSE: Ginseng has been reported to reduce blood glucose levels in diabetic animals and patients, and it is also reported to slow the aging process by acting as an anti-atherosclerotic agent or as an anti-oxidant. This study was designed to investigate whether ginseng and irbesartan can prevent the development of diabetic nephropathy in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. METHODS: Diabetes was induced in 7 week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats by intravenous injection of 60 mg/kg streptozotocin. Ginseng(1 g/kg/day) or irbesartan (20 mg/kg/day) was given to diabetic rats for 25 weeks. Blood glucose and body weight were checked weekly and urinary albumin excretion was evaluated every 6 weeks. At the end of the experiment, the kidneys were weighed and sliced for microscopic examination. Glomerular size and hyaline deposition were measured on light microscopy(on Masson' trichrome stain and PAS stain) and thickness of glomerular basement membrane(GBM) on electron microscopy. Renal histologic findings of ginseng or irbesartan treated rats were compared with those of normal control and diabetic control groups. RESULTS: The weight gain in diabetic rats was significantly reduced, and the final body weight of diabetic rats was lower than that of normal control rats. There was no significant difference in body weights between the diabetic control, ginseng, and irbesartan treated groups. Mean levels of blood glucose were significantly increased in diabetic rats compared to normal rats, but there was no significant difference in blood glucose among the three groups of diabetic rats. Urinary albumin excretion was increased in the diabetic groups compared to the normal control group, and it was significantly decreased in the irbesartan treated group compared to the diabetic control group at 13th week of treatment. At the end of the experiment, the kindeys of the diabetic rats were examined and showed significantly enlarged than those of the normal rats, and the ratio of kidney weight to body weight was decreased in the ginseng treated group compared to the diabetic control and irbesartan treated group. There was no significant difference in the size of glomerulus, the thickness of GBM, and glomerular hyaline deposition among the three diabetic groups. CONCLUSION: There was no significant hypoglycemic effect of ginseng in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Renal hypertrophy was relatively milder in the ginseng-treated group, but there was no difference in findings of renal histology between the treatment groups.
Aging ; Animals ; Blood Glucose ; Body Weight ; Diabetic Nephropathies* ; Humans ; Hyalin ; Hypertrophy ; Hypoglycemic Agents ; Injections, Intravenous ; Kidney ; Male ; Microscopy, Electron ; Panax* ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Streptozocin ; Weight Gain

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to verify effects of the Empowering A Self-Efficacy (EASE) program on self-efficacy, self-management, and child attitude toward illness in children with epilepsy. METHODS: This was a quasi-experimental study with a non-equivalent control group pre-post test design. Participants were 10 to 15 year old children with epilepsy (11 in the experimental group and 10 in the control group) who were registered at one hospital in S city. The experimental group received the EASE program for 3 weeks. In the first week, a group meeting lasting 570 minutes was conducted on a single day. Over the next two weeks, telephone counselling was conducted twice a week. Data were analyzed using SPSS 18.0. RESULTS: There was a significant difference of pre-post evaluation of the epilepsy self-management scores in the experimental group. However, differences between the experimental group and the control group for seizure self-efficacy and child attitude toward illness were not significant. CONCLUSION: This is the first study in Korea to develop and evaluate an intervention program for children with epilepsy. Further studies are needed to confirm the effects of the EASE program.
Adolescent ; Attitude to Health ; Child ; Epilepsy/pathology/*psychology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; *Power (Psychology) ; Program Development ; *Program Evaluation ; Self Care ; *Self Efficacy ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Translating

No abstract available.
Animals ; Rats* ; Sepsis*

No abstract available.
Fetus*

No abstract available.
Fistula* ; Pyriform Sinus* ; Thyroiditis, Suppurative*

Epidemiologic research has demonstrated that varying grade of physical activity has protective effects on several chronic diseases, including coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, osteporosis, anxiety and depression. Despite the importance of physical activity as an health promotion factor, there have been only a few research data available in Korea. This telephone interview survey on randomly sampled 1,060 adultsaged 15-69 years was carried out to find out the prevalence of self-reported leisure-time physical activity among Korean adults in terms of health promotion practice. The nationwide telephone interview survey was conducted from April through May 1997. Multistage stratified random sampling method was used for sample selection, the respondent was randomly selected from an entire group of adults who lived at the residence connected with the telephone number. A total of 1,060 adults were interviewed and the interviewees' leisure-time physical activity was categorized into four patterns: 'physically inactive', 'irregularly active', 'regularly active, not intensive', and 'regularly active, intensive'. About 53% of the respondents were physically inactive, 15% irregularly active, 14% regularly active, and only 18% were regularly active, intensive. Women were less active than men anc persons of lower socioeconomic status(SES) were less active than higher SES. Physical activity was not significantly associated with smoking status, drinking pattern and overweight, but negatively associated with daily smoking amount and total duration of smoking in smokers. Individuals with higher lever of physical activity were more likely to check blood pressure regularly and have had screening examination for stomach cancer. Conclusively, the proportion of Korean people who perform appropriate level of physical activity in terms of health promotion is still very low, thus an enforced intervention program becomes indispensable to achieve the national health goal by the year 2000.
Adult ; Anxiety ; Blood Pressure ; Chronic Disease ; Coronary Disease ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Depression ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Drinking ; Female ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Interviews as Topic ; Korea ; Leisure Activities* ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Motor Activity* ; Overweight ; Prevalence ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Telephone*