This study was carried out in order to find out the valuable measure to kill the parasite eggs in night soil. The fresh eggs of Ascaris put into human stool were irradiated with Cobalt 60 of 200,000 to 1,000,000 rad and cultured in test tubes at 25-30 C, washing with 2 percent formalin solution every 24 hours. The continuous development of those eggs were observed under microscope and the proprotions of developed eggs were compared with those of control groups. The major result can be summarized as follows: In general, The eggs in stool developed poorly than the eggs in saline. If the eggs were irradiated with the larger dose of Cobalt 60, the proportion of developed eggs were reduced subsequently. The eggs irradiated with the dose of 1,000,000 rad in saline developed in the proportion of 15.5 percent, whereas irradiated with 200,000 rad 94 percent developed in 4 weeks. The 44.5 percent of eggs in stool irradiated with 200,000 rad developed after 4 weeks, 30.5 percent with 300,000 rad, 25 percent with 500,000 rad and 3.5 percent with 1,000,000 rad respectively. The effective minimum dose of Cobalt 60 irradiation to kill the Ascaris eggs in stool was estimated 1,000,000 rad. Further examination will be required to observe the infectivity of irradiated Ascaris eggs to animals and to evaluate the effect from the standpoint of sanitary engineerings.
parasitology-nematode-Ascaris lumbricoides ; Cobalt 60 ; radiology ; prevention ; egg ; infectivity

OBJECTIVES: This study is to investigate the hypothesis that schizophrenic patients have difficulty in inferring mental state of others. METHODS: Twenty schizophrenic patients and twenty normal subjects were administered to the Cartoon Task required inferring the character's intention in a given context. RESULTS: The schizophrenic patients showed a statistically significant impairment in the Cartoon Task. Both groups chose the card depicting a frequent everyday action significantly more rather than the similar card to the last picture in each story for wrong answers. CONCLUSION: These preliminary results suggest that schizophrenia is associated with a specific deficit of the cognitive ability referred to as social cognition, and this deficit can be detected not only in the acute phase as found in previous research studies, but also in remission. Also when subjects fail to appreciate what is going on in the minds of other people, they seem to rely on a socially familiar experience.
Cognition* ; Humans ; Intention ; Schizophrenia*

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to investigate CD20dim expression on T cells between healthy control subjects and rheumatoid arthritis patients and to investigate the association between CD20dim T cells and clinical manifestations in rheumatoid arthritis. METHODS: Peripheral bloods from twenty seven healthy controls and twenty six rheumatoid patients were evaluated by dual color immunophenotyping. We used IgGla and IgG2a for negative control, then, divided T cells and B cells on CD3/CD19 combination. And we evaluated two subpopulation CD5+CD20dim T cell (CD20dim T cell) and CD5+CD20bright cell(CD5 B cell) on CD5/20 combination for comparison. In order to correlate the CD20dim T cell datas with patient's clinical status, patients charateristcs such as age, disease duration, morning stiffness, rheumatoid factor(RF), and antinuclear antibody(ANA) were reviewed. RESULTS: The mean percent positivity of T cells(CD3) and B cells(CD19) in 27 healthy control donors was 63.2+/-7.7%, and 11.4+/-2.6 %. The mean percentages of CD20dim T cell and CD5 B cell(Leul) were 2.3+/-1.0% and 1.4+/-0.9% and upper limit of reference values of CD20dim T cells and CD5 B cells(Leul) that calculated from normal healthy controls were 4.3%0 and 3. 2 %. Compared with healthy controls, CD20dim T cells were significantly elevated in total patient groups(4.4+/-2.7%, p(0.01). and significantly increased more than upper limit of reference values in eleven of 26 patients. Compared with CD20dim T cells according to disease duration, disease duration of most patients(10/11) with elevated CD20dim T cell were less than 2 years. CONCLUSION: The results indicated that CD20dim T cells were expressed at low levels in healthy controls but elevated levels of CD20dim T cells in rheumatoid arthritis patients were observed and close relationship to CD20dim T cells expression and disease duration was noted.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid* ; B-Lymphocytes ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Immunophenotyping ; Reference Values ; T-Lymphocytes ; Tissue Donors

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical factors that contribute to femoral neuropathy subsequent to abdominal hysterectomy. METHODS: From March 1993 to March 2000, retrospective study on 17 cases of femoral neuropathy subsequent to abdominal hysterectomy was performed. Sixty eight patients who had normal neurologic finding on the lower extremities after the same operation were used as a control group. RESULTS: The incidence of femoral neuropathy subsequent to abdominal hysterectomy was 1.67%. Age, body weight, parity and type of skin incision were significantly different between study and control group. The mean age of the study group was 38.1+6.1 years and that of the control group was 43.2+/-8.9 years(p<0.05). The mean body weight of the study group was 52.9 6.4kg, while that of the control group was 57.8+/-7.4kg(p<0.05). The mean parity of the study group was 1.9+/-0.7 as opposed to 2.6+/-1.3 for the control group(p<0.05). Pfannenstiel`s incision was performed in 13 cases(76.5%) in the study group as opposed to 34 cases(50%) in the control group(p<0.05). There were no correlation between these two groups with respect to patient height, operative time, transfusion and change in hemoglobin level. In the study group, 13 cases(76.5%) with femoral neuropathy on the left side were found, 3 cases(17.6%) on the right side and 1 case(5.9%) on both side. Left side femoral neuropathy was more common than the right(p<0.05). Spontaneous recovery occurred in 16 cases of the study group within 4 months and, although residual symptoms were noted in the remaining 1 case, no serious sequelae have been observed. CONCLUSION: It was suggested that pelvic retractor compresses the femoral nerve during the abdominal hysterectomy. The patients age, body weight, parity and a type of skin incision could be contributing factors to femoral neuropathy.
Body Weight ; Female ; Femoral Nerve ; Femoral Neuropathy* ; Humans ; Hysterectomy* ; Incidence ; Lower Extremity ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Operative Time ; Parity ; Retrospective Studies ; Skin

PURPOSE: This study was undertaken to provide prerequisites for accreditation of medical genetics training program and certification process for medical genetics professionals as clinical specialist and set up guidelines on curriculum of medical genetics training program in Korea. METHODS: Six ad hoc committees for clinical geneticist, clinical cytogeneticist, clinical molecular geneticist, clinical biochemical geneticist, medical genetics technologists and genetic counselors were organized for reviewing current status in Korea as well as foreign countries. Each committee is composed of 6-8 members. They summarized their opinions according to the structured questionnaire inquiring the ways of accrediting training program, qualification of program director, trainee requirements, contents of curriculum, duration of training program, certification process, estimation of numbers of each specialist needed in next 5 years in Korea. RESULTS: Both prerequisites for the accreditation of medical geneticist training institutions and qualification of program director are suggested. Candidacy of trainees requires MD with board of medical specialty, or PhD degree with professional experiences in related field except clinical genetics program which only accepts MD with board of medical specialty, and Non-MD genetic counselor and medical technologists with degrees of BS or MS. General duration of fellowship will be 2-3 years depending on the categories they are enrolled into. Contents of curriculum for each speciality training are described. For the certification of each category, the candidacy should submit a log book detailing the cases they experienced during the fellowship, prove that they successfully completed course work and clinical experiences in the accredited program, and pass the written examination. CONCLUSION: As medical genetics becomes more important in daily routine clinical practice, the accreditation of medical genetics training program and certification of personnel are urgently needed. In this regard, the study will be providing guidelines and prerequisites for accreditation of medical genetics training program and certification process for medical genetics professionals as clinical specialist.
Accreditation ; Certification* ; Counseling ; Curriculum ; Education* ; Fellowships and Scholarships ; Genetics ; Genetics, Medical* ; Humans ; Korea* ; Medical Laboratory Personnel ; Specialization* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Myocardial bridging is defined that short segments of coronary artery descend into the myocardium for a variable distance and each systolic contraction of these fibers can cause narrowing of the artery. Systolic narrow-ing may rarely be caused by connective tissue such as fibrous band. Myocardial ischemia, infarction and sudden death may be seen in some patients with myocardial bridging. Myocardial infarction in association with isolated myocardial bridges with systolic narrowing is uncommon. We report a case of Q wave myocardial infarction in a patient with angiographic systolic narrowing at the middle segment left anterior descending coronary artery which was caused by fibrous band.
Arteries ; Connective Tissue ; Coronary Vessels ; Death, Sudden ; Humans ; Infarction ; Myocardial Bridging* ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Myocardium

BACKGROUND: Reactivation of the polyomavirus and the use of conditioning regimen may be the causes of hemorrhagic cystitis (HC) following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). However, there are only a few reports on the clinical characteristics of viral reactivation in HC following HSCT in Korea, especially in pediatric population.METHODS: 51 patients who received HSCT in Ajou University Hospital from January 2006 to June 2012 were investigated retrospectively. 16 patients were diagnosed with HC following HSCT and were enrolled in this study. Confirmation of polyomavirus was done by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method.RESULTS: Out of the 16 patients diagnosed with HC following HSCT, there were 5 early type HC patients and 11 late type HC patients. Positive PCR results for the BK virus (BKV) and the JC virus were found on 13 and 5 patients, respectively. 4 patients showed positive results for both viruses. For the late type HC, there were 10 patients with positive PCR results for the BKV. Cyclophosphamide was used in 33 patients, and 13 patients eventually developed HC. There was no statistical significance between the incidence of hematuria and the reactivation of the BKV or the conditioning regimens. Most patients were treated conservatively but 4 patients who showed severe hematuria or poor general condition received intravenous cidofovir. After the infusion of cidofovir, hematuria disappeared on average of 65 days and the BKV was undetectable on average of 53 days.CONCLUSION: In our study, activation of the BKV was common in patients who were diagnosed with HC following HSCT. All patients recovered from HC with conservative management and the BKV became undetectable in the majority of patients who were treated with intravenous cidofovir.
BK Virus ; Cyclophosphamide ; Cystitis ; Cytosine ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; Hematuria ; Humans ; Incidence ; JC Virus ; Korea ; Organophosphonates ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polyomavirus ; Retrospective Studies

A 61-year-old man who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer 9 years ago and had been treated with pelvic irradiation and intermittent androgen deprivation therapy visited the emergency room because of back pain and weakness in both legs. Spine magnetic resonance imaging showed a lumbar epidural mass and spine metastasis. The whole-body workup revealed multiple metastases to the lymph nodes, bone, liver, and lung. The serum prostate-specific antigen was 0.02 ng/ml. He underwent laminectomy, posterior fixation, and epidural mass excision, and metastatic adenocarcinoma from the prostate was diagnosed. The patient underwent 1 cycle of docetaxel-based chemotherapy. More chemotherapy could not be done because of his general weakness. The patient died one month later of multiple organ failure.
Adenocarcinoma ; Back Pain ; Disease Progression ; Emergencies ; Humans ; Laminectomy ; Leg ; Liver ; Lung ; Lymph Nodes ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Organ Failure ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prostate ; Prostate-Specific Antigen ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; Spine

BACKGROUND: Bronchial anthracofibrosis usually manifest as a form of obstructive airway disease, and can be accompanied by parenchymal diseases such as pneumonia, and pulmonary tuberculosis. This study investigated the ventilatory dynamics according to the severity of bronchial stenosis in patients with bronchial anthracofibrosis. Method : One hundred and thirteen patients with bronchial anthracofibrosis that was confirmed by bronchoscopy and who had undergone a pulmonary function test were enrolled in this study group. The correlation coefficients between the pulmonary functional parameters and the number of lobes with bronchial stenosis were investigated. RESULTS: The incidence of ventilatory dysfunction was 56(49.6%) for obstructive, 8(7.1%) for restrictive, 2(1.8%) for mixed, and 47(41.6%) for a normal pattern. The FEV1/FVC, FEF25~75%, FEF25%, FEF50%, FEF75%, and PEF showed a significant negative correlation (p<0.05) and the Raw had a significant positive correlation with the number of lobes with bronchial stenosis(p<0.001). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the most common abnormality of the ventilatory function in bronchial anthracofibrosis is an obstructive pattern with a small airway dysfunction according to the severity of bronchial stenosis.
Airway Resistance ; Bronchoscopy ; Constriction, Pathologic* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Pneumonia ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

PURPOSE: This study was designed to assess the clinical manifestations and the effect on prognosis of seizures in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia(ALL). METHODS: The study group consisted of 20 patients(10 males and 10 females) who experienced seizures out of the 198 pediatric ALL patients(117 males and 81 females) who were diagnosed and treated at the Department of Pediatrics, St. Mary's Hospital, the Catholic University of Korea. RESULTS: The overall incidence of seizure developing after the diagnosis of ALL was 10.1% and in 11 patients(5.6%), seizure recurred one or more times. An average of 6.5+/-3.6 months(range 0-42 months) elapsed between the beginning of treatment and the new onset of seizures. In 13 patients(65%), the first seizure occurred during the induction or re-induction chemotherapy phase. Seizure type was partial seizure in 11 patients(55%), and generalized seizure in 9 patients(45%). In 15 patients(88.2%), brain imaging study showed abnormal findings and in 18 patients(90%), EEG revealed abnormal findings. 11 patients were diagnosed with epilepsy and were treated with long-term anticonvulsants. In these patients, 4 patients(36.4%) had no seizure recurrence, but 2 patients(18.2%) showed no response to anticonvulsants. The 5-year survival rate of the patients experiencing seizures was 47%, while the rate was 78% for those did not experience seizures (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Seizures in pediatric patients with ALL was closely related to the 5-year survival rate. Therefore, these patients require early careful observation, evaluation and intensive care. Also, further studies such as ways to diminish the side effects of antileukemic agents are necessary to reduce the risk of seizure.
Anticonvulsants ; Child ; Electroencephalography ; Epilepsy ; Humans ; Incidence ; Critical Care ; Leukemia ; Male ; Neuroimaging ; Pediatrics ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; Seizures ; Survival Rate