OBJECTIVE: A number of studies to improve in vitro culture conditions have been tried over past ten years by using co-culture system with helper somatic cells. However, the mechanism of coculture is poorly understood. This study was designed to understand the mechanism for the mode of actual action of co-culture system of ICR strain's 1-cell embryos with human oviduct epithelial cells by examining the effect of conditioned medium and contactless coculture using a cell culture insert on the embryo development and by measuring the level of superoxide anion from conditioned medium after co-culture. METHODS: ICR strain's zygote embryos were cultured in medium alone (control), coculture, conditioned medium, or contactless coculture system for 6 days. Conditioned media (CM) were prepared as following 5 groups. All CM were collected after culturing oviduct cells for 2 days. CM-1 was stored at -20degrees C until use, and CM-2 was prepared just before use as a culture medium. CM-3 was cocultured with embryos and retrieved just before use. CM-4 and CM-5 were derives from the microfilteration of CM-2 and CM-3, respectively, using Microcon-10 (10 kDa molecular weight cut-off). The percentage of the embryos developed to hatched blastocyst stage and the level of superoxide anion in supernatant from medium alone culture (control), coculture, and contactless coculture were measured. RESULTS: The rates of embryo development to the hatched blastocyst stage were significantly higher in coculture (43%) than in control (0%) (p<0.05). The CM-1 group had no embryo development since 2-cell embryonic stage, whereas the CM-2, CM-3, CM-4 and CM-5 groups had the improved development to 4 or 8 cell embryo stage, but the similar rate of development to hatched blastocyst compared to control. The effect of coculture on embryo develpment was disappeared in the contactless coculture group. The level of superoxide anion was significantly reduced in coculture group compared to control. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that the present coculture system overcomes the 2-cell block in vitro and improves the embryo development. This beneficial effect may be due to the direct cell-cell contact between embryo and helper cells or the removal of deleterious components from medium rather than the embryotrophic factors.
Animals ; Blastocyst ; Cell Culture Techniques ; Coculture Techniques* ; Culture Media, Conditioned ; Embryonic Development ; Embryonic Structures ; Epithelial Cells ; Female ; Humans ; Molecular Weight ; Oviducts ; Pregnancy ; Superoxides ; T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer ; Zygote

No abstract available.
Glaucoma* ; Manometry* ; Mass Screening*

This study was intended to examine the effects of providing nursing information about surgery in a surgical ward over a 50 day period from September, 1st to October 20th, 1998 in K University Hospital in Seoul. This quasiexperimental study used only a nonequivalent control group and an adopted post-test. A total of 54 patients were assigned to the control and experimental groups according to their admission dates to the hospital. Those who entered from September, 1st to 20th were selected as the control group, while those patients admitted from September 21th to October 20th were chosen as the experimental group. The experimental group consisted of 27 patients and received planned nursing information using a booklet. The twenty seven patients in the control group received the usual pre-operative (pre-op) care. The patient's satisfaction was measured on the 4th day after surgery with a post-operative (post-op) Satisfaction Scale. The scale was developed by Lee, Yoon Hee(1995) and modified by the present researchers. No significant general characteristic differences were found between the control and the experimental groups. The booklet included information on tests and treatment about the operation and preventive methods for post-op complications, such as deep breathing and coughing, position change, lower extremity exercise, early ambulation, aseptic technique, observation of bleeding, use of equipment, and proper food management. Data was analyzed using the x2-test, t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficient through an SPSS computer program. The results were as follows: 1. The hypothesis that the patients who were provided with planned nursing information would have a higher satisfaction level than those who received usual nursing care was supported(t=8.48, P=0.0004). 2. The mean score of the Satisfaction Scale was higher in experimental group than that of the control group. In particular, the experimental group was highly satisfied with the items such as 'nurse has patience' and 'skillful injection giving'. The control group showed the highest score with the item of 'nurse co-works treatment with medical team'. Both groups revealed the lowest score with the item of 'explanation about test results'. 3. No significant correlation was observed between the patients' satisfaction and their general characteristics. Those satisfaction scores measured before and after the operation did not correlate significantly (r=0.097, P=0.790). The above findings indicate that the provision of planned nursing information before surgery improved patient's satisfaction after abdominal surgery. Accordingly, nurses should provide information about the operation before surgery to increase patient's satisfaction, which in turn promotes the quality of their nursing care.
Cough ; Early Ambulation ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Lower Extremity ; Nursing Care ; Nursing* ; Pamphlets ; Patient Satisfaction ; Respiration ; Seoul

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of IL-10 on development of collagen-induced arthritis, on humoral and cellular immunity and on the endogenous production of IL-10 in DBA/1J mice. METHODS: DBA/1J mice were immunized with chicken type II collagen in Freund s complete adjuvant. Murine recombinant IL-10 was given intraperitoneally twice a week from the day of second immunization (week 3) in doses of 0.002ug, 0. 02ug and 0. 2ug for 3 different groups, respectively. Dexamethasone was injected in one group to suppress the arthritis development and this group was used as negative control group. Levels of anti-collagen antibodies, serum IL-10 and stimulation indices of splenic monocytes to collagen were measured at the end of study. RESULTS: The 0. 02ug IL-10 and 0. 2ug IL-10 treated groups developed earlier and more severe arthritis (week 6 and 8) compared to that of the control group while the 0. 002ug IL-10 group has shown similar course to the control group in terms of incidence and severity of arthritis, At week 10, all groups with or without IL-10 injections developed arthritis with similar degree of severity while dexamethasone group showed far less incidence and severity of arthritis. The serum levels of anti-collagen antibody, IL-10 and spleen monocyte stimulation indices to collagen antigen showed no difference among control group, IL-10 injected groups and dexamethasone injected group. CONCLUSION: This study shows IL-10 could worsen the arthritis in CIA with the dosage used in this study without significant influence on the level of anti-collagen antibodies or stimulation indices of spenic monocyte to collagen.
Animals ; Antibodies ; Arthritis ; Arthritis, Experimental* ; Chickens ; Collagen ; Collagen Type II ; Dexamethasone ; Immunity, Cellular ; Immunization ; Incidence ; Interleukin-10* ; Mice ; Monocytes ; Spleen

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to explore perceived cognitive function and its related factors in breast cancer patients that had received or were receiving adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery. METHODS: A cross-sectional and correlational design was used in this study. A total of 118 women who had undergone or were undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy after breast cancer surgery recruited from a convenience sample from a university hospital in Korea were included in the study. The attentional function index was used to measure perceived cognitive function while the linear analogue self-assessment scale was used to measure mood disturbance. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were done to determine possible predictors of perceived cognitive function in patients with breast cancer. RESULTS: Perceived cognitive function and mood disturbance had a mean score of 66.22 (SD = 13.43) and 159.78 (SD = 81.40), respectively. Mood disturbance was a statistically significant predictor of cognitive function in patients with breast cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Breast cancer patients with mood disturbance may experience decrements in perceived cognitive function. Nurses should be aware of mood changes and its influence on perceived cognitive function in breast cancer patients.
Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Cognition ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Self-Assessment

PURPOSE: This study was conducted using the theory of planned behavior to analyze factors influencing mothers' intention to vaccinate their children against hepatitis A (HA). METHODS: This descriptive study used a questionnaire. The participants were 100 mothers with children under 19 years. The collected data were analyzed by the t-test, analysis of variance, and the Mann-Whitney U test. The Pearson's correlation was used to test the correlations among variables. Stepwise multiple regression was used to identify factors related to HA vaccination intention. RESULTS: The attitude of mothers with children under 19 to HA vaccination were quite positive (6.2 of 7), and their perceived behavioral control (5.73 of 7), subjective norm (5.54 of 7), and vaccination intention (5.96 of 7) were relatively high. Attitude toward HA vaccination was the strongest influencing factor, followed by subjective norm. The explanatory power of attitude and subjective norm for HA vaccination was 84%. CONCLUSION: HA vaccination is very important for preventing HA. Mothers' positive attitudes toward HA vaccination were an important factor influencing their children's HA vaccination. Providing education on the benefits of HA vaccination and the vaccination schedule may foster positive attitude toward vaccination.
Appointments and Schedules ; Child ; Education ; Hepatitis A* ; Hepatitis* ; Humans ; Intention* ; Mothers ; Vaccination

PURPOSE: This study was to identify changes in cognitive function and fatigue following chemotherapy in patients with stomach or colorectal cancer. METHODS: Of the participants, 67 underwent adjuvant chemotherapy, while 66 healthy participants made up the comparison group. Three assessment tools were used: 1) the Korean Mini-Mental State Examination; 2) Everyday Cognition; 3) Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue. The questionnaires were administered in three stages, before chemotherapy, towards the end of chemotherapy, and 6 months after the final chemotherapy session. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and repeated measures analysis of variance (RM ANOVA). RESULTS: At the post-chemotherapy stage, 38.8% of the patients who underwent adjuvant chemotherapy complained of subjective cognitive impairment and reported greater difficulty in the cognitive domains of attention and concentration, memory, and executive function. RM ANOVA revealed a significant decline in cognitive function after chemotherapy. However, improvement was observed six months after the completion of chemotherapy (F=42.68, p< .001). Cancer-related fatigue also showed similar patterns as observed in the case of cognitive function (F=44.76, p< .001). CONCLUSION: Chemotherapy was associated with increased cognitive decline and fatigue in cancer patients with cancer. Nursing intervention programs need to be developed to counteract cognitive decline and fatigue in patients undergoing chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Chronic Disease ; Cognition Disorders ; Cognition ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Drug Therapy ; Executive Function ; Fatigue ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms ; Healthy Volunteers ; Humans ; Longitudinal Studies ; Memory ; Nursing ; Prospective Studies ; Stomach

Purpose: Since 2016, the Korean Triage and Acuity Scale (KTAS) algorithm has been applied to the triage process in the emergency departments (EDs) of Korea. This study aimed to investigate the facilitators of and barriers to a well-run triage function based on how Korean emergency nurses perceived the triage process and their experiences with it. Methods: Data were collected using focus group interviews from June 2018 to January 2019. Twenty emergency nurses were divided into two junior and four senior groups based on their level of clinical experience. All interviews were recorded as they were spoken and transcribed. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: The participants recognized the need for the KTAS algorithm to efficiently classify emergency patients and were working on it properly. According to the data, we extracted 4 themes and 20 subthemes. Four themes were as follows: (1) awareness about the necessity of triage, (2) facilitators to triage process, (3) barriers to triage process, and (4) suggestions for the establishment and development of triage. Conclusion From the findings of this study, various vulnerabilities of the triage process were identified, and solutions were suggested from the emergency nurses’ perspective. Educational, staffing, financial support, and periodic updates of the KTAS are needed to promote the triage process in the future.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identified the male nurses' encounter in adapting themselves in the hospital settings dominated by the female nurses in number. METHOD: Data were collected through the in-depth interview of 16 male nurses and analysed through the grounded theory methodology. RESULT: The behaviors of male nurses for job-adaptation can be summarized as a series of struggles to consolidate their own ground. They have made tremendous efforts to hold their own ground in the nursing profession composed of a large numbers of female nurses, while they have experienced many difficulties and problems as minorities. They have struggled to adapt themselves professionally through efforts such as; challenging the social and professional barriers, identifying the job identity, empowering themselves through self-development and dedication, expanding their influence among colleagues. In spite of these efforts, they had the perception that nursing is not a lifelong occupation for them. Thus, they had tendency to find outlets of change to occupations. CONCLUSION: A specific strategy is needed to provide an environment that is helpful for males in integrating into and adapting to the nursing profession.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to survey the present conditions of adolescents' Internet use and to investigate the relations of Internet addiction to depression, social anxiety and problems in peer relationship. METHOD: Eight hundred and sixty-nine high-school students(male/female=371/498) were included in the study, each of whom completed a standard questionnaire related to Internet use determined. We assessed internet addiction and depressive symptoms of adolescents using Youngs Internet Addiction Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory(BDI), respectively. Social Avoidance and Distress Scale were employed to measure social anxiety and avoidance. Fear of Negative Evaluation-Brief Scale was for fear of negative evaluation by other people. An Index of Peer relation was devoted to problems in peer relationships. Chi-square test and ANOVA were used to identify the present conditions of Internet addiction and to analyze the relations of Internet addiction with depression, social anxiety and problems in peer relationship. RESULTS: 1) Of these 869 subjects, 371(42.7%) were male students and 498(57.3%) were female. The mean age was 16.27 years(SD=0.82) and there was no significant difference between two sex groups. 2) Of these 869 subjects, 291(33.4%) showed addictive tendency and among them 18 subjects(2.07%) were classified into obvious addiction group. In this study, we defined upper 30% of Internet addiction scores as 'addiction group' and lower 30% as 'normal control group'. 3) Male students had significantly higher mean scores of Internet addiction scale than females and there was significantly higher rates of male students in addiction group. 4) Comparing two groups, there was no statistically significant difference in terms of the preferred types of Internet media, although addiction groups tended to use chatting and E-mail more, normal control group tended to use information search more. And there was no significant difference regarding games on the Internet. 5) There was more depressive tendency in line with more sensitive response against negative-evaluation and more problems of peer relationship in addiction group. However, there was no significant difference regarding anxiety on social situation. CONCLUSION: Compared to previous studies, findings from this study showed that the rates classified as the group of obvious Internet addiction were relatively lower. However, including those who had tendency of Internet addiction, about 30% of all subjects had problems related to Internet use. In addition, depression or relationship problems were triggered more severely in Internet addiction group. With these findings in mind we finally suggest that therapeutic approach to comorbid psychopathology as well as Internet addiction itself should be required.
Adolescent* ; Anxiety* ; Depression* ; Electronic Mail ; Female ; Humans ; Internet* ; Male ; Psychopathology ; Surveys and Questionnaires