PURPOSE: This study is aimed at obtaining the information on the physical fitness level of female flight attendants at a local airline. METHODS: The subjects are 2,409 female flight attendants who have had medical examination and physical fitness tests at an airline medical center from January 2 to December 30, 2008. The independent variables include socio-demographic & behavioral characteristics, and medical examination results, whereas the dependent variable is their physical strength score representing their fitness level. RESULTS: Factors that affect the fitness strength score are age, flight hours per year, and fasting blood sugar level. It is found that physical fitness level is higher when the subjects are over 35, on board for over 850 hours per year and their fasting blood sugar level is over 100 mg/dL. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that for the improvement of flight attendants' health, more exercise to develop cardio-respiratory endurance and muscular strength is needed, and further study needs to be done to develop fitness enhancement programs considering flight attendants' job characteristics, working years, and flight hours per year, and programs for those returning to their workplace after a long-term leave, and new employees.
Blood Glucose ; Fasting ; Female ; Humans ; Physical Fitness

No Abstract Available.

No abstract available.
Actinomycosis*

A clinical study was done on 29 cases of spontaneous pontine hemorrhage which were confirmed by brain CT scan at Keimyung university Dongsan hospital from Jan. 1981 to Feb. 1986. The results are summarized as follows. 1. The incidence of pontine hemorrhage was 7.4% of all spontaneous intracranial parenchymal hemorrhage. 2. The most prevalent age group were 40th and 50th decades and male to female ratio was 2.2:1. 3. The most common precipitating factor was hypertension and most of pontine hemorrhage occurred during daily routine or increased activities. 4. Symptoms on onset were headache, altered consciousness, vomiting, dizziness, motor weakness, dysarthria, sensory disturbance and generalized convulsion, in order of frequency. 5. Cardinal neurologic signs on admission were loss of consciousness, ocular signs e.g. Pinpoint or miotic pupil absent horizontal doll's eye movement ocular bobbing skew deviation MLF syndrome, motor weakness e.g. quadriparesis hemiparesis decerebrate rigidity, positive Babinski sign. 6. Mean size of hematoma on CT was 6.8cc and 44% was under 5cc. Hematoma of 4th ventricle was seen in 36% of pontine hemorrhage. 7. 25 cases of pontine hemorrhage were divided into 3 groups according to the location of hematoma on CT-basilar (2 cases), tegmental (15 cases), diffuse (8 cases). 8. All 29 cases of pontine hemorrhage were treated medically, 21% were improved, and 79% hopeless discharge or death. 9. Mild disturbance of consciousness on admission, small size (under 5cc) of hematoma and absence of hematoma in the 4th ventricle seem to be good prognostic indicators.
Brain ; Consciousness ; Decerebrate State ; Dizziness ; Dysarthria ; Eye Movements ; Female ; Headache ; Hematoma ; Hemorrhage* ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Incidence ; Male ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Ocular Motility Disorders ; Paresis ; Precipitating Factors ; Pupil ; Quadriplegia ; Reflex, Babinski ; Seizures ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Unconsciousness ; Vomiting

We report 3 cases of central pontine myelinolysis (CPM), one is 35-year-old woman with Seehan's syndrome and the others are 45-yearold and 55-year-old men with chronic alcohol ism, who are diagnosed by clinical symptoms of slowly progressive quadriplegia and pseudobulbar palsy, and findings of computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging.
Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myelinolysis, Central Pontine* ; Pseudobulbar Palsy ; Quadriplegia

BACKGROUND: Streptococcus viridans group (SVG) is the normal flora of the upper respiratory tract, skin and genitourinary tract, and is the major causative agent isolated in 30-40% of bacterial endocarditis patients. However, SVG has not been properly identified to the species level for lack of diagnostic system which enables the accurate identification of SVG. Poyart et al. have recently described the identification of SVG to the species level by DNA sequencing of superoxide dismutase gene (sodAint). Using this method, we report here the identification of SVG isolated from the patients in Seoul National University Hospital within recent 2 years. METHODS: According to the method by Poyart et al., a set of two oligonucleotides, D1 (5 '-CCI TAY ICI TAY GAY GCI YTI GAR CC-3 ') and D2 (5 '-ARR TAR TAI GCR TGY TCC CAI ACR TC-3 ') were used as PCR primers, and PCR products of 480-bp size were obtained. The PCR products purified by MicroSpin S-400 HR Column were sequenced using ABI-PRISM 3700 Sequence Analyzer. D1 and D2 were used as sequencing primers. The clinical isolates were respectively identified as the species showing the greatest sequence homology which was demonstrated by the BLAST program provided by NCBI(USA). RESULTS: Clinical strains isolated from 26 patients who had shown two or more positive blood cultures were analyzed by DNA sequencing of superoxide dismutase gene, which showed 6 strains of S. salivarius, five S. oralis, four S. sanguis, three S. pasteuri, three S. equisimilis, two S. gordonii, one S. constellatus, one S. luteciae, and one S. mitis. S. salivarius and S. sanguis were clearly discriminated, while S. equisimilis and S. pyogenes were not. Species identification results by conventional method seldom corresponded to those by DNA sequencing. Among 7 patients suspected to have bacterial endocarditis, S. sanguis were isolated in 4 patients, and S. gordonii, S. oralis, S. pasteuri in one, respectively. Among 17 patients with liver cirrhosis or cancer, S. salivarius were isolated in 6 patients, and S. oralis in four. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we could identify the species of SVG isolated from the patients with bacteremia; S. sanguis were frequently isolated from patients with bacterial endocarditis, while S. salivarius from ones with malignancy. These results imply that a different group of underlying diseases could show correspondingly different group of SVG species which cause bacteremia, and we suggest that further pathophysiological study on the correlations between underlying disease and the species of SVG be performed.
Bacteremia ; Endocarditis, Bacterial ; Homosexuality, Male ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Male ; Oligonucleotides ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Respiratory System ; Seoul ; Sequence Analysis ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Sequence Homology ; Skin ; Streptococcus* ; Superoxide Dismutase ; Viridans Streptococci*

PURPOSE: We evaluated changes in bone mineral density and biochemical bone turn over markers resulting from intravenous administration of zoledronic acid for the purpose of increasing bone mineral density and decreasing bone turnover rate in patients who had received operative treatment after hip fracture. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We carried out a retrospective study of 34 patients who had received injections of zoledronic acid after surgical treatment for hip fracture from January 2009 to June 2010, with a follow up period of more than one year. We evaluated pre and post T-scores of DXA in spine, proximal femur and femoral neck along with biochemical bone metabolic markers, and we then analyzed each factor. RESULTS: T score was enhanced in all cases with pre T-score -4.2 and post T-score -3.3 revealing statistical significance (P<0.05). In addition, two biochemical bone turnover markers were observed to decrease in most patients. Three days after drug administration, 7 patients(20.6%) had minor adverse effects. There were no serious complications such as atrial fibrillation. CONCLUSION: No major adverse effects were observed, only minor ones in patients who had been injected with zoledronic acid for the prevention of osteoporotic fracture after surgical treatment for hip fracture. We confirmed the affirmative effects on changes in bone mineral density and biochemical bone turn over markers associated with the use of this drug.
Administration, Intravenous ; Bone Density ; Diphosphonates ; Femur ; Femur Neck ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hip ; Humans ; Imidazoles ; Osteoporosis ; Osteoporotic Fractures ; Retrospective Studies ; Spine

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the effect of topical analgesic effects of a liposome encapsulated mixture of local anesthetics (lipo-MLA) compared with EMLA. METHODS: 3% lipo-MLA (0.5% tetracaine base, 2.5% lidocaine base) and 5% lipo-MLA (1% tetracaine base, 4% lidocaine base) were encapsulated into liposomal vesicles made with egg yolk phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol and phosphatidyldioleoyl. 3% lipo-MLA and EMLA were applied to volunteers' forearms bilaterally with and without an occlusive dressing. The topical anesthetic effects of the lipo-MLA and EMLA as a control were evaluated by the pinprick test in 28 adult volunteers after 60 minutes of application. The analgesic influence of the concentration of local anesthetics was also compared with 3% and 5% lipo-MLA under a non-occlusive dressing. RESULTS: Analgesic effects of the 3% lipo-MLA were similar with EMLA under an occlusive dressing for 60 minutes. In addition, analgesic effects of the 3% lipo-MLA under a non-occlusive dressing were more potent than EMLA. Lipo-MLA under a non-occlusive dressing showed more potent analgesic effect than lipo-MLA under an occlusive dressing. 5% lipo-MLA was more potent than 3% lipo-MLA under a non-occlusive dressing. CONCLUSIONS: Lipo-MLA has more potent analgesic effects than EMLA without an occlusive dressing and 5% lipo-MLA is more potent than 3% lipo-MLA. Therefore, lipo-MLA appeared to be an improved topical analgesic formulation which provides a more potent and convenient topical application.
Adult ; Anesthetics* ; Anesthetics, Local* ; Bandages ; Cholesterol ; Egg Yolk ; Forearm ; Humans ; Lidocaine ; Liposomes* ; Occlusive Dressings ; Phosphatidylcholines ; Tetracaine ; Volunteers

Three-dimensional (3D) structure of the bronchopulmonary segments should be understood for accurate diagnosis and treatment of lung diseases. Two-dimensional (2D) tools (e.g. anatomy books) or traditional 3D tools (e.g. plastic models) are not sufficient for understanding 3D structure of the bronchopulmonary segments. The lung of a cadaver may not always be available for dissection, when it is needed. To overcome this problem, virtual dissection programs of the lung have been made. However, most programs include either 2D images that do not permit free dissection or radiographs that do not reveal true color and have limited resolution, and cannot represent 3D structure of the bronchopulmonary segments. Moreover, it is necessary to make a virtual dissection program of each race and ethnic group. Thus, we attempted to make a 3D image and virtual dissection program of the lung using a Korean cadaver in order to help medical students and doctors better understand 3D structure of the bronchopulmonary segments. One pair of lungs was extracted from a Korean male cadaver. Dye with specific color was injected into each segmental bronchus to distinguish bronchopulmonary segments. The lungs were embedded with gelatin solution, and serially-sectioned with 1 mm- thickness using a meat slicer. Sectioned specimens from each lung were inputted into the computer using a scanner (300 X 400 resolution, true color). 2D images of the lungs were aligned on the alignment program which was composed using IDL language. In 2D images, the bronchopulmonary segments were manually segmented by help of dye. 3D images of the bronchopulmonary segments were reconstructed through the volume-based rendering of 2D images. With 3D images as the main features, the virtual dissection program of the bronchopulmonary segments was composed using IDL language. Various virtual dissection functions, such as sectioning a lung at free angles to show its plane, identifying the bronchopulmonary segments represented in the sectioned plane, and rotating the selected bronchopulmonary segments at free angles, were established. This virtual dissection program of the bronchopulmonary segments is helpful in better understanding 3D location and shape of the bronchopulmonary segments; it is expected to be used through CD-title or Internet as an educational tool for medical students and doctors.
Bronchi ; Cadaver* ; Continental Population Groups ; Diagnosis ; Ethnic Groups ; Gelatin ; Humans ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional* ; Internet ; Lung ; Lung Diseases ; Male ; Meat ; Plastics ; Students, Medical

Temporal lobe epilepsy is characterized by complex partial seizures with either primary intracranial neoplasms or other non-neoplastic lesions. We reviewed 64 cases of surgically resected temporal lobes and amygdalo-hippocampal regions for temporal lobe epilepsy ansed by non-neoplastic lesions to elucidate the incidence and histologic features of each histologic group for a period of 2 years. The patient's age ranged from 12 to 49 years and the ratio of male to female was 42:22. There were 37 cases(57.8%) with single pathology and an additional 20 cases(31.3%) with dual pathology. The emaining 7 cases(10.9%) had no structural alternations. The most common temporal lobe pathology was hippocampal sclerosis in 41 cases(64.1%), diagnosed alone in 21 cases and as dual lesions in 20 cases. The hippocampal neuron loss was most pro,omemt in CA1, followed by CA4, CA3, and CA2. Amygdaloid sclerosis was present in 28 cases(43.8%), lases had 13 dual lesions, 25 cases also had hippocampal sclerosis. The 20 dual lesions showed that 6 cortical dysplasia, 10 microdysgenesis, 1 chronic non-specific inflammatory lesion, and 3 cysticercosis were associated with the various degree of mesial temporal sclerosis. Neuronoglial malformative lesions were identified in 21 cases(32.8%) including 16 dual lesion cases, which composed of 15 microdysgenesis and 6 cortical dysplasia. Neurofilament immunostain for cortical dysplasia revealed abnormally beaded disarray of axons in dysplastic pyramidal cells. The remaining pathologic lesions observed were 1 cysticercosis, 1 chronic non-specific inflammatory lesion, 3 arteriovenous malformation, 2 fibrous nodule, and 1 fibrous adhesions of the arachnoid.
Female ; Male ; Humans ; Incidence