No abstract available.
Epidermal Cyst* ; Herpes Zoster*

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to explore the relationship among fatigue and perceived stress, depressive mood in the working population. We also examined associations with demographic and life style factors and investigated the effect of individual coping skills on these associations. METHODS: Fatigue Severity Scale(FSS), Perceived Stress Scale(PSS), Brief Encounter Psychosocial Instrument - Korean version(BEPSI-K), Beck Depression Inventory(BDI), Stress Coping Skill Questionnaire were administered to 621 civil servants. All of above and other demographic factors are self-administered questionnaire survey and this study is cross sectional. RESULTS: Mean FSS score was 3.04 which was lower than 3.22, the severity cut off score. FSS, PSS, BEPSI-K, BDI were all higher in female. Subjects with active coping skills showed relatively low fatigue, perceived stress, depressive mood than those with passive coping skills. Logistic regression analyses indicated that the PSS, BDI, BEPSI-K in working population increase the risk of fatigue and regular exercise lowers the risk. CONCLUSIONS: Adults who were afflicted by stress, experienced depressive mood or were physically inactive were at much higher risk of feeling fatigue. Since no other large data sets are available for fatigue, the results from this study could serve a very useful purpose, to furnish a basis for comparison with future research results based on more complete data.
Adaptation, Psychological ; Adult ; Dataset ; Demography ; Depression ; Fatigue* ; Female ; Humans ; Life Style ; Logistic Models ; Questionnaires

Fast food is popular among children and adolescents; however, its consumption has often been associated with negative impacts on nutrition and health. This study examined current fast food consumption status among middle school students and explored factors influencing fast food consumption by applying Theory of Planned Behavior. A total of 354 (52.5% boys) students were recruited from a middle school. The subjects completed a pre-tested questionnaire. The average monthly frequency of fast food consumption was 4.05 (4.25 for boys, 3.83 for girls). As expected, fast food consumption was considered to be a special event rather than part of an everyday diet, closely associated with meeting friends or celebrating, most likely with friends, special days. The Theory of Planned Behavior effectively explained fast food consumption behaviors with relatively high R2 around 0.6. Multiple regression analyses showed that fast food consumption behavior was significantly related to behavioral intention (b = 0.61, P < 0.001) and perceived behavioral control (b = 0.19, P < 0.001). Further analysis showed that behavioral intention was significantly related to subjective norm (b = 0.15, P < 0.01) and perceived behavioral control (b = 0.56, P < 0.001). Attitude toward fast food consumption was not significantly associated with behavioral intention. Therefore, effective nutrition education programs on fast food consumption should include components to change the subjective norms of fast food consumption, especially among peers, and perceived behavioral control. Further studies should examine effective ways of changing subjective norms and possible alternatives to fast food consumption for students to alter perceived behavioral control.
Anniversaries and Special Events ; Child ; Diet ; Fast Foods ; Friends ; Humans ; Intention ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody-associated diseases are reported to have distinct pathogenic mechanisms, clinical courses, and therapeutic implications in comparison to other acquired demyelinating syndromes. Here, we report the case of a 6-year-old Korean girl with recurrent steroid-responsive optic neuritis (ON) and an episode of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) with a high MOG antibody titer. Initially, she suffered from left ON with subclinical brain lesions including magnetic resonance imaging hyperintensities in the bilateral frontal subcortical white matter, the left thalamus, and the right cerebral peduncle. Her vision improved dramatically after steroid therapy; however, 3 months after the 1st episode, she developed acute encephalopathy with extensive newly developed ADEM-like lesions and resolution of previous hyperintensities. Despite regular interferon β-1a injection after steroid tapering, she developed a 3rd episode presenting as a right ON. Throughout these three episodes, serological tests associated with autoimmune diseases, viral markers, anti-aquaporin-4 antibodies, and cerebrospinal fluid oligoclonal bands were negative, with the immunoglobulin G index in the normal range. After the 3rd episode, anti-MOG antibody testing was performed and higher titer was detected. Testing for anti-MOG antibodies is highly recommended for relapsing inflammatory demyelinating central nervous system diseases in pediatric patients, in order to define early an adequate long-term treatment.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study examines life stress, dietary attitudes, and snacking frequency for college students living in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. The purpose of this study is to assist college students feeling stressed by offering desirable dietary attitudes and choices of the appropriate snacks by providing educational materials that offer appropriate nutrition education and nutritional information. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A survey was conducted on a total of 600 college students aged 19–29-year-olds living in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province (234 male students and 366 female students). Collected data were analyzed using SPSS WIN 28.0 program. RESULTS: Life stress among college students did not differ significantly between the genders. Male students were more stressed about lover (P < 0.01), while female students were more stressed about value problems (P < 0.01) and future problems (P < 0.05). Dietary attitude ratings were 3.1 for both male and female students with no significant difference. The overall snacking frequency was 4.1 times/day—4.2 times/day for male students and 4.0 times/day for female students—thus, there was no significant difference. Male students consumed ‘beverage’ (P < 0.01) more frequently than female students. Life stress and snacking were positively correlated for ‘biscuit/cookie,’ ‘chip,’ ‘cereal,’ ‘juice/smoothie,’ ‘café americano,’ ‘café latte,’ ‘tea,’ ‘jelly,’ ‘chocolate,’ ‘rice cake,’ ‘milk,’ ‘flavored milk,’ and ‘ice cream’ among male students. Among female students, life stress and snacking were positively correlated with ‘cereal,’ ‘caramel,’ and ‘soymilk,’ and negatively correlated for ‘biscuit/cookie’ and ‘carbonated drink.’ CONCLUSIONS College students should manage their stress by identifying its causes and learning how to deal with stressful situations. Additionally, providing them with proper nutrition education based on the correct nutritional information is essential for promoting good food attitudes and snacking behaviors.

OBJECTIVE: We developed a fully automated smartphone-based stress management application and explored its usability, potential feasibility, and preliminary efficacy for stress management in Korean employees. METHODS: Healthy employees working in large public enterprises were enrolled. Participants used our automated stress management application for four weeks. With the application, they monitored their stress level and life style factors. Personalized stress management techniques, including psychoeducation and cognitive behavioral technique, were also provided based on their stress level and lifestyle pattern. In 2014, additional relaxation techniques were incorporated. Participants’ mental health status and lifestyle pattern were self-assessed at baseline and at 4 weeks after using the application. RESULTS: A total of 68 subjects were recruited. The application generally received high satisfaction rating. After the intervention, perceived stress level was significantly decreased, both in 2013 and 2014 (BEPSI-K score pre. vs. post. 14.27 vs. 11.00, F=12.49, p=0.001 in 2013; 12.05 vs. 10.00, F=17.18, p < 0.001). In 2014, depression symptom severity was also significantly decreased (CES-D score pre- vs. Post-, 17.66 vs. 11.95, F=9.76, p=0.004). The effects were more significant in females and in those < 35 years. CONCLUSION: Our fully automated stress management application is acceptable and usable, showing preliminary efficacy for reducing employees’ stress levels.
Depression ; Female ; Humans ; Life Style ; Mental Health ; Public Sector ; Relaxation Therapy

No abstract available.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Durapatite ; Humans ; Muscles ; Tendinopathy

Kallmann's syndrome is a rare condition, and this is defined as hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and anosmia or hyposmia. The syndrome may be associated with cleft lip, cleft palate, color blindness, skeletal abnormalities, renal agenesis, sensory neural hearing loss, obesity, etc. About 10 cases of Kallmann's syndrome have been reported in Korea, but there are no reports on cases of Kallmann's syndrome with atrophy of the frontal lobe, severe mental retardation and unilateral renal agenesis. We experienced a case of 17-year-old boy with abnormalities of the olfactory system, as was noted on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). He had an atrophy of the frontal lobe, mental retardation, a micropenis and unilateral renal agenesis. Hormonal assay documented low levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), testosterone and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). So, we report here on an unusual case of Kallmann's syndrome along with briefly reviewing the relevant medical literature.
Adolescent ; Atrophy ; Cleft Lip ; Cleft Palate ; Color Vision Defects ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone ; Frontal Lobe ; Genital Diseases, Male ; Hearing Loss ; Humans ; Hypogonadism ; Intellectual Disability ; Kallmann Syndrome ; Kidney ; Kidney Diseases ; Korea ; Luteinizing Hormone ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Obesity ; Olfaction Disorders ; Penis ; Testosterone ; Thyrotropin

BACKGROUND: To determine the most effective method for detecting mycobacteria in formalin- fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue, we compared the results of Ziehl-Neelsen stain (ZNS) and mycobacterial culture with those of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and real-time quantitative PCR (RQ-PCR). METHODS: We analyzed 54 cases diagnosed as chronic granulomatous inflammation. In all cases, ZNS and nested PCR using three different primers, IS6110, Mpb64 and IS6110/Rpobeta were done. RQ-PCR with the IS6110/Rpobeta primer was done in 51 cases. RESULTS: Mycobacteria were identified by ZNS in 15/54 (27.8%) cases. RQ-PCR had the highest sensitivity (80.0%) compared to PCR with IS6110 (73.3%), Mpb64 (60.0%) and IS6110/Rpobeta (73.3%). Specificity was higher in all PCR experiments (79.5-82.1%) than in RQ-PCR (69.4%) experiments. The false negative rate was lowest for RQ-PCR (20.0%) than for PCR with IS6110 (26.7%), Mpb64 (40.0%) and IS6110/Rpobeta (26.7%). The false positive rate was highest for RQ-PCR (30.6%) compared to PCR with IS6110 (20.5%), Mpb64 (17.9%) and IS6110/Rpobeta (20.5%). CONCLUSIONS: RQ-PCR had the highest sensitivity, and the lowest false negative rate, but it also had a higher false positive rate than PCR for detection of mycobacteria in FFPE tissues.
Granulomatous Disease, Chronic ; Inflammation ; Mycobacterium ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Fecal microbiota transplantation is a technique for treating patients suffering from Clostridium difficile infection who do not positively respond to traditional treatment with antibiotics or whose infections have recurred, by transplanting the feces of healthy individuals. The objective of this review is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of fecal microbiota transplantation. A literature search was conducted using 8 Korean databases, Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. Of the 1,410 articles that were initially identified, 30 studies were included in this review. The results show that the incidence of major complications was low and that mild complications resolved. Improvements in the symptoms of diarrhea after treatment were observed and the rate of recurrence was acceptable. On the basis of the current data, fecal microbiota transplantation can be considered a safe and effective technique for treating patients suffering from C. difficile infection who do not positively respond to traditional treatment with antibiotics or whose infections have recurred.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Clostridium difficile ; Diarrhea ; Fecal Microbiota Transplantation* ; Feces ; Humans ; Incidence ; Recurrence