Pneumoconiosis is one of the most important occupational disease in Korea. In Pusan, most of pneumoconiosis is welders' pneumoconiosis developed in shipyard. With clinical (including interview with every patients) and radiological (chest radiographs) methods, author purposed to know the factors related to development of pneumoconiosis in shipyard welders and to apply the results to the concept for health care (management) of shipyard welders. The prevalence rate of welders' pneumoconiosis was calculated by the means of reading of chest radiographs of 547 shipyard welders. The prevalence rate of welders' pneumoconiosis (including suspected pneumoconiosis, category 0/1) was 7.9%. It was lower than that (8.9%) in same area studied in 1989. Prevalence rate increased as total welding duration increased and the welding work began early. It was higher in welders who did not use antidust mask. Probability of the occurance of welder's pneumoconiosis was related with the time that the welder began welding work. Sixteen cases among the 37 who were diagnosed as pneumoconiosis returned normal in the follow-up chest radiographs. There was no case aggrevated. The pertinent management for the personnels and their working environment contributed to the decrease of incidence of the welders' pneumoconiosis and the improvement of the disease. To prevent the occurance of the pneumoconiosis in shipyard welders, it seems to be necessary for the company to be supervised under the any legislation and to educate the welder to use the protective apparatus. It is suggested that considerate and continuous observation under the adequate management is preferable to the immediate conversion of the working department for the pneumoconiotic welders.
Busan ; Delivery of Health Care ; Follow-Up Studies ; Incidence ; Korea ; Masks ; Occupational Diseases ; Pneumoconiosis* ; Prevalence ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Welding

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among academic self-efficacy, socially-prescribed perfectionism, and academic burnout in medical school students and to determine whether academic self-efficacy had a mediating role in the relationship between perfectionism and academic burnout. METHODS: A total of 244 first-year and second-year premed medical students and first- to fourth-year medical students were enrolled in this study. As study tools, socially-prescribed perfectionism, academic self-efficacy, and academic burnout scales were utilized. For data analysis, correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Academic burnout had correlation with socially-prescribed perfectionism. It had negative correlation with academic self-efficacy. Socially-prescribed perfectionism and academic self-efficacy had 54% explanatory power for academic burnout. When socially-prescribed perfectionism and academic self-efficacy were simultaneously used as input, academic self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between socially-prescribed perfectionism and academic burnout. CONCLUSION: Socially-prescribed perfectionism had a negative effect on academic self-efficacy, ultimately triggering academic burnout. This suggests that it is important to have educational and counseling interventions to improve academic self-efficacy by relieving academic burnout of medical school students.
*Burnout, Professional ; *Education, Medical, Undergraduate ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; *Perfectionism ; *Personality ; Regression Analysis ; *Schools, Medical ; Self Concept ; *Self Efficacy ; Students, Medical/*psychology

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to verify the effect of basic psychological needs of learners on student engagement in medical school. METHODS: A total of 91 first-year and second-year medical students participated in this study. Their basic psychological needs were determined. Student engagement scales were utilized to determine their engagement. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Basic psychological needs showed a total explanatory power of 13% for student engagement (F=5.27, p < 0.01). Competence (β=0.295, p < 0.01) had statistically significant effect on student engagement. CONCLUSION: Results of the present study verified that student engagement could be determined by learner's traits. Among psychological traits of learners, student engagement was significantly affected by competence. Thus, medical school should provide various experiences to satisfy competence as a basic psychological need of learners.
Humans ; Mental Competency ; Schools, Medical* ; Students, Medical ; Weights and Measures

The Landsteiner–Wiener (LW) antigen is a type of red blood cell antigen. Anti-LW appears in various situations, including alloantibodies, autoantibodies, and even transiently occurring antibodies. Anti-LW has similar characteristics to anti-D, so it can interfere with interpreting pre-transfusion tests and finding compatible blood. This paper introduces three cases in whom anti-LW was detected through antibody identification tests. All three cases were examined using the column agglutination technique with ID-DiaPanel (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA, USA) on a LISS/Coombs card, ID-DiaPanel p (Bio-Rad) on a NaCl/Enzyme card, and ID-DiaPanel (Bio-Rad) on a LISS/Coombs card using red blood cells treated with dithiothreitol. The auto-control test, direct antiglobulin test, and umbilical cord blood test were also performed. In all three cases, the reaction with D-positive panel cells was stronger than that with the D-negative panel cells, and two of them showed a pan-agglutinated reaction in ID-DiaPanel p (Bio-Rad) with NaCl/Enzyme card. They were reported as anti-LW, and as in these cases, anti-LW can occur under a range of conditions and interfere with proper transfusion. Therefore, it is important to identify anti-LW accurately, and if anti-LW is present, the transfusion of D-negative ABO matched blood should be recommended because of the low expression of the LW-antigen. On the other hand, D-positive blood is not a contraindication when an urgent transfusion is needed.

Microdeletion of 9q22.3 is a rare chromosomal disorder characterized by body overgrowth, facial dysmorphic features and psychomotor delay. The presence of genomic microdeletion or microdu-plication can not be identified by the conventional chromosomal analysis. Microarray comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) is a newly developed molecular cytogenetic technique that enables the identification of minute copy number variation (CNV) in the human genome. Here, we report a case of microdeletion in the 9q22.31-q22.33 region, which included a patched homolog 1 (PTCH1) gene, as detected by CGH and confirmed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analyses in a neonate with prenatal onset of macrosomia, dysmorphism, and muscle hypotonia. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of 9q22.3 microdeletion detected by CGH in Korea.
Chromosome Disorders ; Comparative Genomic Hybridization* ; Cytogenetic Analysis ; Fluorescence ; Genes, vif ; Genome, Human ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization ; Infant, Newborn ; Korea ; Muscle Hypotonia

The present study atternpted. to expiore the new benzodiazepine, midazolam, which is water-soluble, shorter-acting, more potent, and less irritating to inject than diazepam, and which has been used as premedication before induction of anesthesia in various elective surgeries. Forty patients (aged 20 to 50 and in ASA class I or II ) about to undergo simple elective surgery under general anesthesia entered the study. The patients were divided into the study group (n=20) that recieved 0.07 mg/Kg i.m midazolan premedication and the control group (n= 20) that recieved normal saline as sham premedication. The changes in the values of various hemodynamic parameters, i.e., heart rate and systolic, diastolic, mean arterial pressures, were monitored first before tracheal intubation, then at the time of intubation and 5, 10 and 30 minutes after intubation. The concentrations of plasma catecholamines i.e., epinephrine and norepinephrine, were measured before intubation and 5, 30 minutes after intubation. Systolic pressure and plasma epinephrine concentration before induction was significantly low in the study compared with the controls. At the time of intubation, sytolic, diastolic & mean arterial pressures were significantly low in the study group compared with the controls. Heart rates measured at 10 and 30 minutes postintubation were significantly low at 30 minutes postintubation in the study group compared with the controls as was plasma epinephrine levels at each instance of its measurement. In conclusion, midazolam-premedicated patients appear to maintain stable hemodynamies and plasma catecholamine levels. Our findings support that midazolam premedication effectively reduces stress response during induction period making it suitable induction for elective surgery.
Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, General ; Arterial Pressure ; Benzodiazepines ; Blood Pressure ; Catecholamines ; Diazepam ; Epinephrine ; Heart Rate ; Hemodynamics* ; Humans ; Intubation ; Midazolam* ; Norepinephrine ; Plasma* ; Premedication*

OBJECTIVE: Although there are several risk factors to which related intraoperative aneurymal bleeding, the relationship between ventricular drainage to aneurysmal rebleeding is still controversial. We investigate to define the relationship of an immediate ventricular drainage after craniotomies in predissection stage rerupture of aneurysms. METHODS: Randomized prospective and retrospective analyses were performed on 197 consecutive patients with confirmed aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage(SAH) who underwent aneurysmal clipping in acute stage during 5 years. The aneurysmal SAH patients were divided into two groups according to the use of intraoperative ventricular cerebrospinal fluid(CSF) drainage. Various variables including Hunt-Hess grade, Fisher grade, Glasgow coma scale, Glasgow outcome scale, location of aneurysms, and the presence of a "daughter" aneurysm and hydrocephalus were analyzed. RESULTS: Regardless the drained CSF amount, the incidence of the intraoperative aneurysmal rerupture in predissection stage during aneurysmal clipping has not showed any difference in both groups. Depending on the presence of the acute hydrocephalus, the rerupture incidence in dissection stage during aneurysmal surgery was not statistically significant. However, the frequency of rebleeding in patients with ventriculostomy(66% of 24) was significantly higher than in hydrocephalic patients without ventriculostomy(25% of 27) and patients without acute hydrocephalus(22% of 110). CONCLUSION: Routine intraoperative ventricular drainage does not increase the incidence of aneurysmal rebleeding and the more extensive arachnoid dissection is not necessary even during an early surgery. Moreover, it obtains an adequate intraoperative brain relaxation, which resulted in the decrease of retraction injury.
Aneurysm* ; Arachnoid ; Brain ; Craniotomy ; Drainage* ; Glasgow Coma Scale ; Glasgow Outcome Scale ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus ; Incidence* ; Prospective Studies ; Relaxation ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Theileria (T.) buffeli (formerly T. sergenti/T. orientalis) is the major hemo-protozoan distributed in the Far East Asian countries such as Korea, China and Japan. It is responsible for the clinical symptoms of anorexia, ateliosis, anemia, fever and icterus. It also causes abortion and sudden death under severe cases, resulting in economic losses for many livestock farms. The objective of this study was to analyze the genetic diversity of the major surface protein (Msp) gene in T. buffeli in Holstein in Korea, and we characterized the association of the diversification of the Msp gene and its relationship with the pathogenicity of Theileria. For this, complete blood counts and Theileria PCR sequence analysis were performed from 57 Holstein in Jeju Island. A total of 26 PCR positive Holstein (16 anemic and 10 non-anemic) were then randomly selected based on 18s rRNA sequence typing of the Theileria Msp gene. The DNA sequence of the T. buffeli Msp gene in Holstein showed 99.0%, 99.2%, 99.9%, 99.5%, 98.7%, 98.4% and 98.4% homology with T. sergenti, Theileria spp., T. sergenti, Theileria spp., Theileria spp., Theileria spp. and Theileria spp., respectively. The result showed a genetic variation of 57.7% (type I), 3.8% (type II), 15.4% (type III), 7.7% (type IV), 13.5% (type V) and 1.9% (type VI). Type I is the most frequent type in both anemic and non-anemic Holstein while type II was found in only non-anemic Holstein. This results of our study help confirm the diversity of Msp gene types and demonstrate that the gene type distribution of Msp genes varies among Theileria-infected Holstein in Jeju Island.
Anemia ; Anorexia ; Antigenic Variation ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Base Sequence ; Blood Cell Count ; China ; Death, Sudden ; Far East ; Fever ; Genetic Variation ; Humans ; Japan ; Jaundice ; Korea ; Livestock ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sequence Analysis ; Theileria

OBJECTIVE: The authors report a retrospective analysis of the clinical effect of dorsal root entry zone (DREZ) lesioning for neuropathic intractable pain. METHODS: Fourteen patients who underwent dorsal root entry zone lesioning for various types of pain between September 1995 and August 2001 were evaluated retrospectively. Eleven male and three female patients whose ages ranging from 35 to 70 were studied. According to causes of intractable pain, patients were divided into paraplegic pain(7 patients), peripheral nerve injury pain(3), cancer pain(3), phantom limb pain(1) and root avulsion pain(1). Other preoperative pain managements showed no benificial effects. The changes in painful symtoms were closely observed during follow up period. The mean follow period after operation was 32.4 months. RESULTS: Postoperatively, the decrease in level of pain was classified into four groups : excellent, good, fair, poor. Excellent represented no pain without medication : Good, pain tolerable with non-opiate medicine ; Fair, pain tolerable with opiate medicine ; Poor, pain sustained. After operation, three patients were in excellent group, eight in good, one in fair, and two in poor. Twelve patients were in medically tolerable pain group accounting for 85.7%. There were no serious operation releated side effects. CONCLUSION: DREZ lesioning, in our series, provided substantial pain relief and this may be considered an option in management of these types of intractable neuropathic pain.
Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Neuralgia ; Pain Management ; Pain, Intractable* ; Peripheral Nerve Injuries ; Phantom Limb ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Nerve Roots*

OBJECTIVE: To compare the lumbar vertebral bone marrow fat-signal fractions obtained from six-echo modified Dixon sequence (6-echo m-Dixon) with those from single-voxel magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in patients with low back pain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Vertebral bone marrow fat-signal fractions were quantified by 6-echo m-Dixon (repetition time [TR] = 7.2 ms, echo time (TE) = 1.21 ms, echo spacing = 1.1 ms, total imaging time = 50 seconds) and single-voxel MRS measurements in 25 targets (23 normal bone marrows, two focal lesions) from 24 patients. The point-resolved spectroscopy sequence was used for localized single-voxel MRS (TR = 3000 ms, TE = 35 ms, total scan time = 1 minute 42 seconds). A 2 × 2 × 1.5 cm³ voxel was placed within the normal L2 or L3 vertebral body, or other lesions including a compression fracture or metastasis. The bone marrow fat spectrum was characterized on the basis of the magnitude of measurable fat peaks and a priori knowledge of the chemical structure of triglycerides. The imaging-based fat-signal fraction results were then compared to the MRS-based results. RESULTS: There was a strong correlation between m-Dixon and MRS-based fat-signal fractions (slope = 0.86, R² = 0.88, p < 0.001). In Bland-Altman analysis, 92.0% (23/25) of the data points were within the limits of agreement. Bland-Altman plots revealed a slight but systematic error in the m-Dixon based fat-signal fraction, which showed a prevailing overestimation of small fat-signal fractions (< 20%) and underestimation of high fat-signal fractions (> 20%). CONCLUSION: Given its excellent agreement with single-voxel-MRS, 6-echo m-Dixon can be used for visual and quantitative evaluation of vertebral bone marrow fat in daily practice.
Bone Marrow ; Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Fractures, Compression ; Humans ; Low Back Pain ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Spectrum Analysis ; Spine ; Triglycerides