Obesity is a risk factor for numerous health problems. Behavior therapy is important for obesity treatment. The aim of the present study was to identify the parameters that are associated with successful weight reduction. A database of 123 subjects who underwent weight reduction programs at the Center for Health Promotion, Samsung Medical Center from June 2001 through November 2004 was retrospectively analyzed. The goal of the program was to reduce the body weight by more than 5% during the follow-up period. The study population was divided into 2 categories (the success group and the failure group) based on the outcome of weight reduction. We analyzed the demographic, laboratory and clinical parameters to determine the predictors of successful weight reduction. The prevalence of success group was 36.6% (45/123). Significant correlations for successful weight reduction were found for the follow up period and the frequency of medical visits. Our results suggest that strong motivation was the most important factor for successful weight reduction.

A 70-year-old female who was diagnosed as myxoid chondrosarcoma by fine needle aspiration of a pleural mass is described. She presented with left chest discomfort of 4 months' duration and aggravating dyspnea and chest pain for 2 months. Chest X-ray and CT scan revealed a large lobulated low density mass invading chest wall at the left pleural cavity and massive pleural fluid. Fine needle aspiration was done under the impression of mesothelioma or metastatic cancer. The aspirates from the mass were very cellular and composed of isolated or clustered forms of large plump cells. Abundant cytoplasm was bluish opaque and the margin was rounded in the isolated cells, whereas clustered cells show ill-defined cell borders and aggregating tendency. The nuclei were eccentric, round to ovoid, and had fine chromatin pattern and multiple small nucleoli. Cellular pleomorphism or mitotic figure was not definite. These findings were consistent with cytologic features of chondrosarcoma. Final diagnosis was confirmed as myxoid chondrosarcoma by mediastinoscopic biopsy and the tumor showed strong positivity for S-100 protein.
Aged ; Biopsy ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Chest Pain ; Chondrosarcoma ; Chromatin ; Cytoplasm ; Diagnosis ; Dyspnea ; Eosinophils* ; Female ; Humans ; Mesothelioma ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory* ; Peritonitis* ; Pleural Cavity ; S100 Proteins ; Thoracic Wall ; Thorax ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

PURPOSE: This study was done to examine differences in mammography screening according to breast cancer and social network characteristic. METHODS: Data were collected from 187 married women 35 years and older who were using public health centers, health promotion centers, cultural centers, obstetrics and gynecology hospitals or other relevant community sites. Data were collected between October 24 and December 4, 2008. Data were analyzed using the SPSS/WIN 15.0 program. RESULTS: The participation rate for mammography screening was 35.3%. The following general and breast cancer characteristics showed statistically significant differences: religion, family incomes, regular medical-care, general health examinations during past 2 years, and history of breast disease. The following social network characteristics showed statistically significant differences: social norms and subjective norms. Using logistic regression analysis, regular medical-care, breast cancer risk appraisal, social norm, and subjective norms were highly predictive of subsequent mammography. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that it is important to develop and provide tailored intervention programs through integrated socially mediated programs. By consciously including social network and support systems, breast cancer detection efforts would not end as a one-time event, but naturally build on network structure of adults women, thus facilitating regular mammography screening.
Adult ; Breast ; Breast Diseases ; Breast Neoplasms ; Female ; Gynecology ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Mammography ; Mass Screening ; Obstetrics ; Public Health

BACKGROUND: To determine whether multiple short-term surveillances are as effective as long-term surveillance for estimating the incidence rates of nosocomial infections (NIs), we prospectively performed 9-month surveillance in four intensive care units (ICUs). METHODS: NI surveillance was performed prospectively from November 2002 through July 2003, with long-term surveillance performed over the 9-month period, and short-term surveillance performed during the middle 3 weeks of each calendar quarter. The incidence rate of NIs or device-associated infections was calculated as the number of infections per 1,000 patient-days or device-days. RESULTS: We observed no significant differences between the incidence rates of total NIs determined from these two methods (9.6 [CI95 8.2-11.3] vs 10.4 [CI95 7.5-14.4], P=.66). In addition, these two methods did not differ significantly in estimating the rates of ventilator-associated pneumonia (5.1 [CI95 3.4-7.6] vs 7.5 [CI95 3.8-15.0], P=.35), catheter-associated urinary tract infection (2.4 [CI95 1.7-3.4] vs 1.7 [CI95 0.7-4.1], P=.47), and central line-associated bloodstream infection (2.2 [CI95 1.4-3.4] vs 3.7 [CI95 1.9-7.4], P=.21). Plotting of the NI rates showed that the trends in multiple short-term surveillances were similar to those in long-term surveillance, except in one ICU. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that multiple short-term surveillances could replace long-term surveillance in estimating the baseline incidence rates of NIs in the circumstances of the relatively large number of patients in the ICUs, which would be especially useful in countries with limited resources.
Cross Infection* ; Epidemiology ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infection Control ; Intensive Care Units ; Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated ; Prospective Studies ; Urinary Tract Infections

BACKGROUND: To determine the molecular structure of type II collagen-specific T-cell receptors associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: We generated CII-specific T-cell lines of 8 RA patient s by prolonged in vitro culture with bovine CII (bCII) and the immunogenic peptide (256-270) of human CII. The proliferation response towards CII stimulation was measured from the uptake of 3 H-thymidine. Changes in the secretion of Th 1 and Th2 cytokines in the culture supernatent were measured by ELISA. The TCR clonotypes of these T-cells were examined by RT-PCR/ SSCP analyses of all 22 V beta chains. RESULTS: T-cells from patients' tissue exhibited strong proliferation index upon CII stimulation, which was maintained up to 6 months in the culture. The secretion of INF-gamma from these T-cells increased along with the duration of culture time, while the amount of IL-4 production did not show significant changes. The SSCP band patterns of patients' T-cells appear as discrete bands unlike the smeary streak produced from normal samples. Some SSCP bands, each representing selected expansion of a TCR containing certain subtype of V beta peptides, appeared to be identical in more than one patients. Among these, the expansion of SSCP band representing the V beta 14 CDR3 region persisted after switching the antigen to the immunogenic human peptide (256-270). CONCLUSION: CII-reactive T-cells expressing distinct CDR3 motifs are selectively expanded in the peripheral blood and synovial fluid of RA patients, and their persistent proliferation upon CII stimulation, as well as the production Th 1-type cytokines, may play pivotal roles in RA pathogenesis.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid* ; Cytokines ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Interleukin-4 ; Molecular Structure ; Peptides ; Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational ; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell ; Synovial Fluid ; T-Lymphocytes*

We investigated the actual status of antipsychotics maintenance therapy(AMT) for schizophrenic patients through a mail survey sent to psychiatrists practicing in Seoul and Kyonggj province who had no less than two years of psychiatric expertise and who were below fifty years of age. Out of 453 questionnaires sent, 215 completed questionnaires were returned (response rate 47%). The majority of respondents considered pharmacotherapy as the most important longterm treatment strategy for schizophrenia. Haloperidol was selected by the majority as their first choice neuroleptics. The proposed mean daily maintenance dosage was 383+/-229(75-1250)mg in chlorpromazine equivalent. The mean duration of AMT was 1.8+/-1.0(0.25-7.5)years after the first episode and 3.6+/-1.8(0.5-10)years after multi-episodes. Psychotherapy was regarded as more important by the resident psychiatrists group than by the certified psychiatrists. There were preferential differences for a particular treatment strategy, dosage and duration of AMT among the different clinics. A great number of respondents(93%) regarded long-term continuous maintenance as their major AMT policy, Only a few respondents(4.3%) were satisfied with the established guidelines for AMT in treatment of schizophrenia. The results show considerable variations in psychiatrists opinions on AMT which was influenced by grades of expertise of the clinician and the working environment of the clinic or the hospital. To decrease these variabilities and make clinically useful guidelines, it will be necessary' to do further pharmacoepidemiological studies as well as other types of related clinical research.
Antipsychotic Agents* ; Chlorpromazine ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Drug Therapy ; Haloperidol ; Humans ; Postal Service ; Psychiatry ; Psychotherapy ; Schizophrenia ; Seoul*

Flavimonas oryzihabitans is a yellow-pigmented, non-spore forming, gram-negative bacillus mainly found in damp environments such as soil and stagnant water. F. oryzihabitans is an uncommon cause of clinically significant human infection. This organism has been mainly reported to cause infection related to indwelling intravenous catheters, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis catheters or surgical procedures in immune compromised hosts or cancer patients. We report a case of community-acquired infective endocarditis caused by F. oryzihabitans in a 24-year-old man who had no significant past medical history. He was successfully treated by antimicrobial therapy and mitral valvuloplasty.
Bacillus ; Catheters ; Community-Acquired Infections ; Endocarditis* ; Humans ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory ; Pseudomonas* ; Soil ; Young Adult

Flavimonas oryzihabitans is a yellow-pigmented, non-spore forming, gram-negative bacillus mainly found in damp environments such as soil and stagnant water. F. oryzihabitans is an uncommon cause of clinically significant human infection. This organism has been mainly reported to cause infection related to indwelling intravenous catheters, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis catheters or surgical procedures in immune compromised hosts or cancer patients. We report a case of community-acquired infective endocarditis caused by F. oryzihabitans in a 24-year-old man who had no significant past medical history. He was successfully treated by antimicrobial therapy and mitral valvuloplasty.
Bacillus ; Catheters ; Community-Acquired Infections ; Endocarditis* ; Humans ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory ; Pseudomonas* ; Soil ; Young Adult

Oral administration of antigen has long been used in the induction of immune tolerance in various animal models of autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Alleveation of arthritogenic symptoms has been reported from RA patients who received oral administration of type II collagen (CII) without side effects, however its rather inconsistent therapeutic efficacy and variation among patients calls for more detailed investigation on the mechanism of oral tolerance to be settled as regular treatment for RA. In an attempt to understand the immunogenic processes underpinning tolerance induction by orally administered CII, we analyzed changes in the expression of costimulatory molecules and STAT/SOCS signaling messengers in the mouse model of collagen induced arthritis (CIA). We found thatin the spleen of CIA mice, that has been undergone repeated oral feeding of CII prior to the induction of arthritis, showed increased promortion of CTLA4 expressing lymphocytes than in the spleen of PBS fed control. On the other hand, cells expressing CD28 or ICOS were decreased in the spleen of tolerized mice. Tolerance induction by oral CII administration also enhanced the expression of STAT6 in both RNA and protein level, while not affecting the expression of STAT3. The expression of SOCS3, which hasbeen known to transmit STAT-mediated signals from Th2 type cytokines, remained unchanged in the spleen of tolerized mice. Interestingly transcript of SOCS1, which has been associated with Th1 related pathways, was only visible in the spleen of tolerized but not of control mice, suggesting that as in the case of IL-6 signaling, it may exert a feed back inhibition toward the Th1 type stimulation.
Administration, Oral* ; Animals ; Arthritis* ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Autoimmune Diseases ; Collagen ; Collagen Type II* ; Cytokines ; Hand ; Humans ; Immune Tolerance ; Interleukin-6 ; Lymphocytes ; Mice* ; Models, Animal ; RNA ; Spleen

Many risk factors for atherosclerosis have been proposed to identify high risk individuals. We conducted a retrospective study to determine the risk factors for development of carotid stenosis (CS) in Koreans. Database of 2,805 subjects who underwent a check up of carotid artery for health examination were analyzed. Stenosis (%) of common carotid artery or proximal internal carotid artery was examined with ultrasonography. Subjects were divided into 2 groups (Group I; CS <10%, Group II; CS > or =30%). We compared demographic, laboratory and clinical data between 2 groups to determine the risk factors of CS. One hundred ninety seven subjects (7.0%) were categorized as Group II. At age- and sex-adjusted multivariate analysis, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cerebrovascular disease, ischemic heart disease, hyperlipidemia, aspirin medication, current smoking, fasting glucose, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) and leukocyte count were significant risk factors of CS. At stepwise logistic regression analysis, age, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, LDL-C and leukocyte count were independent risk factors. At subgroup analysis by smoking, age and leukocyte count were independent risk factors in smoker and age and hypertension in nonsmoker.
Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Carotid Stenosis/blood/*epidemiology/etiology ; Cholesterol/blood ; Comparative Study ; Female ; Humans ; Korea/epidemiology ; Lipoproteins, LDL Cholesterol/blood ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Smoking/adverse effects