Anthracnose symptoms severely occurred up to 50% on leaves of English ivy growing in greenhouses in Cheongwon area of Korea during disease survey in April, 2000. The symptoms developed as concentric spots with dot-like acervuli on leaves of the plant. A total of 24 isolates of Colletotrichum sp. were obtained from the spotted lesions and identified as Colletotrichum trichellum based on the morphological and cultural characteristics. Leaf spots similar to the original anthracnose symptoms were induced on the host leaves by artificial inoculation with the isolates of the fungus. This is the first record of C. trichellum causing anthracnose of English ivy in Korea.
Colletotrichum* ; Cultural Characteristics ; Fungi ; Hedera* ; Korea* ; Plants

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to investigate that the chronic noise exposure is associated with decreased serum magnesium concentrations and evaluate whether decreased serum magnesium is associated with noise induced hearing loss. METHODS: One hundred seventy-eight male workers exposed to noise were selected and classified three groups by the degree of hearing loss. Hearing threshold levels were less than 30 dB at 1,000 Hz or less than 40 dB at 4,000 Hz in group I, more than 30 dB at 1,000 Hz or more than 40 dB at 4,000 Hz and 15 dB and less of pure tone average(PTA: (500 Hz+1,000 Hz+2,000 Hz)/3) in group II, more than 30 dB at 1,000 Hz or more than 40 dB at 4, 000 Hz and over 15 dB of PTA in group III. RESULTS: Serum magnesium concentrations were 2. 42+/-0. 26 nc/dt in group I, 2. 35+/-0.23 mg(dl in group II, 2.26+/-0.24 ne/dl in group III, respectively and significantly different between group I and group III (p<0. 01). It was negatively correlated with duration of the noise exposure as correlation coefficient(r) of -0.194 (p<0.05). Analysis of the multiple regression on hearing threshold levels showed that serum magnesium, diastolic blood pressure, duration of the noise exposure were statistically significant at 4,000 Hz(p<0.05). While only age was statistically significant at 1,000 Hz(p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that chronic noise exposure may induces decrease in serum magnesium concentrations and that its decreased concentration is related with noise induced hearing loss.
Blood Pressure ; Hearing Loss* ; Hearing* ; Humans ; Magnesium* ; Male* ; Noise*

No abstract available.
Humans ; Rhinitis* ; Skin Tests* ; Skin*

PURPOSE: Health care professionals represent an immediately available resource to promote smoking cessation. However, the content in smoking cessation intervention courses in most institutions is insufficiently covered due to the limited number of class hours. The purpose of this study was to develop a comprehensive tobacco cessation-web-based, multimedia, educational program for a range of medical professionals. METHODS: Based on Jung's Teaching and Learning Structure Plan Model, a development process was proposed comprising four stages: (1) analysis, (2) planning, (3) production, and (4) operation/evaluation. The effectiveness of the program was tested using quasi-experimental design, and the participants in experimental group were required to complete the program. Changes in the level of knowledge and attitude were measured. RESULTS: The educational program developed includes nine topics and 26 sub-topics. A total of 180 storyboards, 15 videos, and 27 pictures were made. After the education, the level of knowledge was significantly increased in the experimental group. CONCLUSION: This web-based program can be recommended as a potential medium for health care professionals to use in counseling smoking cessation. The study findings also indicated that the program may be either offered as a teaching aid or utilized concurrently with lectures for students studying health care-related topics.
Counseling ; Delivery of Health Care ; Humans ; Leadership ; Learning ; Lectures ; Multimedia ; Program Development ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Smoking Cessation ; Tobacco

BACKGROUND: Prevention of postherpetic neuralgia as well as management of the symptoms of the acute stage is an important therapeutic goal in the treatment of herpes zoster. Corticosteroid, acyclovir and sympathetic block have all been advocated as effective therapeutic tools for the treatment of the disease. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to evaluate the necessity of sympathetic block for prevention of postherpetic neuralgia in acute herpes zoster. METHODS: The author observed the duration and degree of pain and the incidence of postherpetic neuralgia in 54 patients with herpes zoster treated with three different therapeutic measures. Group A was treated with triamcinolone acetonide 80mg three times, acyclovir and sympathetic blockade, group B with triamcinolone acetonide 80mg three times and acyclovir, and group C with triamcinolone acetonide 40mg three times and acyclovir. RESULTS: 1. Addition of sympathetic blockade to corticosteroid and acyclovir therapy did not seem to reduce the duration of pain and incidence of postherpetic neuralgia. 2. The Incidence of postherpetic neuralgia was higher in the elderly, especially with underlying systemic disease including diabetes melitus, hypertension, etc. Al] the therapeutic measures could not completely prevent the development of postherpetic neuralgia in those patients. 3. Regarding corticosteroid dosage, daily triamcinolone acetonide 80mg for three consecutive days showed no better effect than daily 40mg for consecutive days. CONCLUSION: When herpes zoster was treated with proper dosages of corticosteroid and acyclovir in its acute stage, sympathetic block showed no additional beneficial effect.
Acyclovir ; Aged ; Herpes Zoster* ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Incidence ; Neuralgia, Postherpetic ; Triamcinolone Acetonide

Fetal echocardiography is used by means of decleration of fetal cardiac anaztomy, to estabilish the diagnosis of congenital heart disease in utero. We attemped fetal echocardiography to ninty three pregnant women after intra uterine period 24 weeks, and estimated cardiac circumference, cardiac axis, pulmonary atery root diameter, arortic root diameter, diameter of inferior vena cava, diameter of superior ve studied how these estimates associate with following gestational na cava, and fractional shortening of ventricles. We ages. Cardiac axis was on the average 37.28 degree and cardiac apex was located in anterior left side of chest area. Aortic root diameter was 0.227 GA-0.043mm (GA=gestational age) at systolic phase, 0.203 GA+0.421mm at diastolic phase. Pulmonaly root diameter was 0.271 GA-0.029mm at systolic phase, 0.251 GA-0.067mm at diastolic phase. Thoracic aorta diameter was 0.195 GA+0.109mm at systolic phase, 0.198 GA+0.794mm at diastolic phase. Fractional shortening was 0.24 (1 Standard Deviation=0.11) in right ventricle, 0.23(1 SD=0.154) at left ventricle, and so ratio of right and left ventricle was 1.04(1 SD=0.51). Once normal fetal cardiac anatomy is understood, structural defects and/or alternation of function can be evaluated antenatally.
Aorta, Thoracic ; Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Diagnosis ; Echocardiography* ; Female ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Pregnant Women ; Thorax ; Vena Cava, Inferior

A 60-year-old woman has experienced of right upper quadrant abdominal discomfort. This partient took cholecytectomy due to gall stone 15 years ago. At that time microscopic finding the neck of gallbladder showed well differentiated papillary adenocarcinoma confined to superficial part of musele layer. 3 years before admission she took T-tube drainage due to obstructive jaundice. The microscopic finding af distal common bile duct showed well differentiated adenocarcinoma. Recently she complained of pain and discomfort on T-tube site and so we perforrned endoscopic retrograde biliary drainage after removal of T-tube. The computed tomogram showed no mass in liver or lymph node enlargement. 4 months after procedure of ERBD; we changed to the new catheter for the prevention of cloggiag of prosthesis. We report here a case of longterm survival over 15 years after the diagnosis of cancer of extrahepatic bile duct.
Adenocarcinoma ; Adenocarcinoma, Papillary ; Bile Ducts, Extrahepatic ; Catheters ; Common Bile Duct* ; Diagnosis ; Drainage ; Female ; Gallbladder* ; Gallstones ; Humans ; Jaundice, Obstructive ; Liver ; Lymph Nodes ; Middle Aged ; Neck ; Prostheses and Implants

Examination is indispensable to medical education. It qualifies medical education, drives medical students to study hard, and provides guides for the students acquiring a large amount of medical knowledge. This study provides an approach to organize the question pool for medical examination. In this approach, many questions in the form of HTML based texts were stored and managed in text-and memo-type field of Microsoft Access database system. They could be retrieved from the database in computer-generated HTML file, which could be read in word processors and web browsers. Several advantages of HTML bases text were emphasized. Though they are essentially text format data which can be stored and processed easily in text-type field of databases, they don't lose character attributes such as bold, italic, underlined, superscript, subscript and so on. Also they can provide table facility and links to external graphic files. This approach can be applied in other medical information retrieval system.
Education, Medical ; Humans ; Information Systems ; Students, Medical ; Web Browser

No abstract available.
Neurofibromatoses* ; Pseudarthrosis* ; Radius*

No abstract available.
Foreign Bodies* ; Skull Base* ; Skull*