Flightdeck behaviour and flight safety are influenced by the national, organizational, and professional cultures of crewmembers. National complexity of the operating environment ensure that error will be an inevitable occurrence. The influences of three cultures that are relevant to the cockpit are described; the professional culture of the pilots, organizational cultures, and the national cultures surrounding individuals and their organizations. This study review the cultural difference of crewmember in Korea based on Hofstede and Helmreich study. The study concludes with a suggestion of CRM in Korea as strategy necessary for a safety culture considering the multi-cultures cockpit.
Humans* ; Korea ; Organizational Culture ; Transportation*

In male reproducible health, fertility and IVF (in-vitro fertilization), semen analysis has been most important. Semen analysis can be divided into concentration, motional and morphological analysis of sperm. The existing method which was developed earlier to analyze semen concentrated on the sperm motility analysis. To provide more useful and precise solutions for clinical problems such as infertility, semen analysis must include sperm morphological analysis. But the traditional tools for semen analysis are subjective, imprecise, inaccurate, difficult to standardize, and difficult to reproduce. Therefore, with the help of development of microcomputers and image processing techniques, we developed a new sperm morphology analyzer to overcome these problems. In this study the agreement on percent normal morphology was studied between different observers and a computerized sperm morphology analyzer on a slide-by-slide basis using strict criteria. Slides from 30 different patients from the SNUH andrology laboratory were selected randomly. Microscopic fields and sperm cells were chosen randomly and percent normal morphology was recorded. The ability of sperm morphology analyzer to repeat the same reading for normal and abnormal cells was studied. The results showed that there was no significant bias between two experienced observers. The limits of agreement were 4.1%~-3.8%. The Pearson correlation coefficient between readers was 0.79. Between the manual and sperm morphology analyzer, the same findings were reported. In this experiments the slides were stained by two different methods, PAP and Diff-Quik staining methods. The limits of agreement were 7.2%~-5.7% and 6.0%~-6.3%, respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficients ware 0.76 and 0.91, respectively. The limits of agreement was tighter below 20% normal forms. In the experiments of repeatability, 52 cells stained by PAP and Diff-Quik staining methods were analyzed three times in succession. Estimating pairwise agreement, the kappa statistic for the pairs were 0.76, 0.81, 0.86, and 0.75, 0.88, 0.88 respectively. In this study it was shown that there was good agreement between manual and computerized assessment of normal and abnormal cells. The repeatability and agreement per slide of computerized sperm morphology analyzer was excellent. The computer's ability to classify normal morphology per slide is promising. Based on results obtained, this system can be of clinical value both in andrology laboratories and IVF units.
Andrology ; Bias (Epidemiology) ; Fertility ; Humans ; Infertility ; Male ; Microcomputers ; Semen ; Semen Analysis ; Sperm Motility ; Spermatozoa*

OBJECTIVE: Among risk factors associated with cerebral infarction, cardiac factors are well known to be very important. However there were only few studies related to correlation between cardiac risk factors and stroke recurrence. So we tried to evaluate cardiac disease as a risk factor of recurrent cerebral infarction. METHOD: Subjects were 118 patients (62 male, 56 female) with cerebral infarction and were divided into first attack group as a control and recurred group. We evaluated the results of transesophageal echocardiographic study and other major risk factors and the results were compared in two groups using X2 test. RESULTS: Control group was 75 patients (39 male, 36 female), and recurred group was 43 patients (23 male, 20 female) and the mean ages were 62.8 years and 66.7 years, respectively. General transesophageal echocardiographic abnormalities were shown in 63 cases (84%) in control group and 40 cases (93%) in recurred group. Among the abnormal transesophageal echocardiographic findings, atherosclerosis of aorta was significantly higher in recurred group (49%) compared to control group (25%) (p<0.05), but there were no significant difference in aortic valve calcification, mitral calcification etc. Among the major risk factors of cerebral infarction, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and alcohol intake showed tendency of high incidence in the recurred group. Patients with abnormal EKG findings concurrent with abnormal transesophageal echocardiographic findings showed in 33 cases (44%) in control group, and 24 cases (56%) in recurred group, but there's no statistical significance. CONCLUSION: Our results do not support the hypothesis that TEE would be able to diagnose the cardiac risk factor for recurred cerebral infarction. However, the prevalence of atherosclerosis of aorta was significantly higher in recurrent group, so further studies would be needed.
Aorta ; Aortic Valve ; Atherosclerosis ; Cerebral Infarction* ; Echocardiography ; Echocardiography, Transesophageal* ; Electrocardiography ; Heart Diseases ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; Hypertension ; Incidence ; Male ; Prevalence ; Recurrence ; Risk Factors* ; Stroke

Forty-four patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss were treated with stellate ganglion block. The results were as follows. The results showed highest incidence in the decade between 30 and 50 years. The incidence of unilateral involvement were 40 cases (90.9%), among them 26 cases (59.1%) were right side. Among 44 patients 8 (18.2%) showed complete recovery, 9 (20.5%) partial recovery and 16 cases (36.4%) slight improvement by pure tone gain. These results showed a relative superiority of stellate ganglion block to other therapeutic regimens such as vasodilators, corticosteroids, anticoagulants etc. The time interval from onset of symptoms to start of stellate ganglion block seems to be important. Prognosis was slight poor in cases of sudden hearing loss with vertigo.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Anticoagulants ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; Hearing Loss, Sudden* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Prognosis ; Stellate Ganglion* ; Vasodilator Agents ; Vertigo

With the development of body sensor technology, wearable health monitoring systems have been an emerging information technology in the 'ubiquitous health care' system. Wearable sensors enable long-term continuous physiological monitoring important in health promotion and management of many chronic disorders. In this paper, we present several wearable health monitoring systems developed by different countries and discuss emerging opportunities, as well as, existing challenges such as standardization, administration, validation, and discrepancy issues between technology and clinical implication.
Health Promotion ; Monitoring, Physiologic ; Telemedicine

The avulsion fracture of calcaneal apophysis by Achilles tendon in children is quite rare. It may occur with the injury of the apophysis on the calcaneal tuberosity in the children below the age of 12 to 15 before the union of the apophysis. The authors surgically treated a 14-year-old gymnast with the avulsion fracture of the calcaneal tuberosity who injured at the landing of the floor exercise. Radiographs at the fourteen months of follow-up showed slight irregularity of the calcaneal tuberosity but there were no pain or limitation of activity. We report a case with the review of literatures.
Achilles Tendon ; Adolescent ; Calcaneus ; Child ; Floors and Floorcoverings ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans

Panner's disease, osteonecrosis of the capitellum of the elbow, was first reported by Panner in 1927. The disease occurs mainly in boys between 6 and 15 years old and shows unilateral distribution. Pain, stiffness, localized tenderness over the lateral condyle of the elbow, and decreased range of motion are the typical clinical symptoms. Conservative treatment is generally recommended for patients in the early stage of this disease. A few cases of Panner's disease have been reported and few are related to long-term follow-up results. To the best of our knowledge, all reported cases were over six years. Therefore, we report on a five-year-old boy diagnosed as Panner's disease that showed resorption and regeneration of the humeral capitellum with no limitation of motion over three years. The current study was exempted from review by the institutional review board because it was a single retrospective case report. Informed consent was obtained from the patient's guardian.
Child* ; Elbow ; Ethics Committees, Research ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Informed Consent ; Male ; Osteochondrosis ; Osteonecrosis ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Regeneration ; Retrospective Studies

This study was undertaken to determine the incidence of the endotrcheal tube contamination by malignant cells in patients with upper respiratory tract cancer undergoing general anesthesia. In 17 patients endotracheal intubation was done and the tube was extubated after completion of the excision of the tumor mass. Following the procedures the outide of the endotracheal tube was swabbed by the cotten tip applicators and the specimens examined cytologically. Two positive cytologic specimens were obtained, they were class III and laryngeal carcinoma in both. This study provides evidence that contamination of the outside of the endotracheal tube can occur when it is passed directly over a carcinoma of the larynx.
Anesthesia, General ; Humans ; Incidence ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Larynx ; Respiratory System*

Intramuscular lipomas are benign adipose tumors of the soft tissues that may resemble liposarcomas because of their size, deep location, and occasionally infiltrative growth. An awareness of their existence is fundamental to treating them correctly, and their differential diagnosis from liposarcoma is essential. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a useful diagnostic tool to differentiate benign adipose tumors from liposarcoma. Marginal excision and biopsy are required for the definite diagnosis and the treatment of symptomatic intramuscular lipomas. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report in South Korea regarding the treatment of an intramuscular giant lipoma of the ankle.

PURPOSE: Familial hypokalemic periodic paralysis (HOKPP) is an autosomal dominant channelopathy characterized by episodic attacks of muscle weakness and hypokalemia. Mutations in the calcium channel gene, CACNA1S, or the sodium channel gene, SCN4A, have been found to be responsible for HOKPP; however, the mechanism that causes hypokalemia remains to be determined. The aim of this study was to improve the understanding of this mechanism by investigating the expression of calcium-activated potassium (KCa) channel genes in HOKPP patients. METHODS: We measured the intracellular calcium concentration with fura-2-acetoxymethyl ester in skeletal muscle cells of HOKPP patients and healthy individuals. We examined the mRNA and protein expression of KCa channel genes (KCNMA1, KCNN1, KCNN2, KCNN3, and KCNN4) in both cell types. RESULTS: Patient cells exhibited higher cytosolic calcium levels than normal cells. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that the mRNA levels of the KCa channel genes did not significantly differ between patient and normal cells. However, western blot analysis showed that protein levels of the KCNMA1 gene, which encodes KCa1.1 channels (also called big potassium channels), were significantly lower in the membrane fraction and higher in the cytosolic fraction of patient cells than normal cells. When patient cells were exposed to 50 mM potassium buffer, which was used to induce depolarization, the altered subcellular distribution of BK channels remained unchanged. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest a novel mechanism for the development of hypokalemia and paralysis in HOKPP and demonstrate a connection between disease-associated mutations in calcium/sodium channels and pathogenic changes in nonmutant potassium channels.
Blotting, Western ; Calcium ; Calcium Channels ; Channelopathies ; Cytosol ; Humans ; Hypokalemia ; Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis* ; Large-Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium Channels ; Membranes ; Muscle Weakness ; Muscle, Skeletal ; Paralysis ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Potassium ; Potassium Channels ; Potassium Channels, Calcium-Activated* ; Reverse Transcription ; RNA, Messenger ; Sodium Channels