PURPOSE: The smoking rates among teenagers in Korea grow gradually since 1980s despite of the numerous programs for youth smoking prevention and cessation have been developed and implemented. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the processes of habituating to smoking among teenagers using the grounded theory methodology. METHOD: Qualitative data was collected via six focus group interviews. A total of 38 people, twelve teachers and 24 middle school students participated in this study. All focus group interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed according to the grounded theory methodology. RESULTS: The overriding theme of the elicited grounded theory was "stepping into a quagmire by a merest chance". The student participants began smoking by a simple chance. The contingent factors to starting smoking were "discord within the family", "family member's smoking", "schoolwork stresses", or "a rebellious spirit". The conditions of smoking included accessibility, going around in group, and the lack of discipline. "Stigmatizing", "involved in mob violence", and "making a poor academic record" coexisted as the covariance of the smoking habituation. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study illustrated the comprehensive and insightful picture of the phenomena under investigation. Nursing implications and further directions for research were discussed.
Adolescent* ; Focus Groups ; Humans ; Korea ; Nursing ; Smoke* ; Smoking* ; Tobacco Products

BACKGROUND: With increasing use of medical radiologic procedures, wearing proper protector should be emphasized to reduce occupational radiation exposures. This research describes the rates of lead apron wearing for radiation protection and assessed occupational factors related to wearing rates for various types of healthcare professionals. METHODS: We conducted a self-administered questionnaire survey through a website, on-site visits, fax, and mail. Of the 13,489 participants, 8858 workers who could not completely separate themselves from radiological procedure areas. Their general characteristics (sex and age), work history (job title, duration of employment, and hospital type), and practices (frequency of radiation procedures, ability to completely separate from radiation, and frequency of wearing protective lead aprons) were examined. RESULTS: The mean rate of lead apron wearing during radiologic procedures was 48.0 %. The rate was different according to sex (male: 52.9 %, female: 39.6 %), hospital type (general hospital: 63.0 %, hospital: 51.3 %, clinic: 35.6 %, dental hospital/clinic: 13.3 %, public health center: 22.8 %), and job title (radiologic technologist: 50.3 %, doctor: 70.3 %, dentist/dental hygienist: 15.0 %, nurse/nursing assistant: 64.5 %) (p < 0.001). By logistic regression analysis stratified by job title, use of lead aprons by radiologic technologists and nurses/nursing assistants was associated with hospital type and exposure frequency score. For doctors, apron wearing was associated with employment duration. For dentists/dental hygienists, apron wearing was associated with the exposure frequency score. CONCLUSIONS: To improve working environments for healthcare professionals exposed to radiation, it is necessary to consider related factors, such as job title, duration of employment, and hospital type, when utilizing a planning and management system to prevent radiation-related health problems.
Delivery of Health Care* ; Employment ; Female ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Postal Service ; Public Health ; Radiation Protection

As a minor blood antigen, the Duffy blood group has 5 antigens which are Fya, Fyb, Fy3, Fy4 and Fy5. When the Duffy group is implicated in delayed transfusion reactions, one expects to find anti-Fya rather than Fyb. We experienced a case of delayed hemolytic transfusion reaction caused by anti-Fyb antibody. A 69 year-old woman was referred having had hematuria, fever, chill and jaundice 9 days after transfusion. The hemoglobin was 9.5mg/dl, reticulocyte count 1.4%, liver function test showed total bilirubin 10.8mg/dL, LDH 5,225IU/L, alkaline phosphatase 26IU/L. Indirect antiglobulin test was positive, while the direct one was negative. A delayed hemolytic transfusion reaction was suspected as patient's serum was reacted with panel cells for the antibody identification test and the anti-Fyb was finally identified. The patient recovered without specific treatment. There were no severe complication and sequele.It appears to be the first reported case of hemolytic transfusion reaction caused by anti-Fyb in Korea.
Aged ; Alkaline Phosphatase ; Bilirubin ; Blood Group Incompatibility ; Coombs Test ; Female ; Fever ; Hematuria ; Humans ; Jaundice ; Korea ; Liver Function Tests ; Reticulocyte Count

Mucinous carcinoma (MC) is a rare subtype of breast cancer, which is composed of tumor cells floating in the abundant extracellular mucin. This form of cancer is usually estrogen receptor/progesterone receptor positive and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) negative. Here, we present a case of HER2-positive MC with an unusual signet ring cell differentiation. It is very rare that a breast tumor consists entirely of signet ring cells. The tumor showed pathologic complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy with trastuzumab and pertuzumab. pCR of HER2-positive MC has rarely been described in literature. It is important to consider the biological heterogeneity of MCs for effective management.
Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous ; Breast Neoplasms ; Carcinoma, Signet Ring Cell ; Cell Differentiation ; Drug Therapy ; Epidermal Growth Factor ; Estrogens ; Humans ; Mucins ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Population Characteristics ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; Receptor, ErbB-2 ; Trastuzumab

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: In the Republic of Korea, “Healthy Restaurant for Sodium Reduction (HRSR)” project have been designated as one of the representative policies for sodium intake reduction. However, as of 2021, only 879 restaurants, less than 0.1% of all restaurants, had been designated. Therefore, to increase the participation of restaurants in this policy, it is necessary to examine the in-depth perception and experience of participants and non-participants in the HRSR.MATERIALS/METHODS: Two focus group discussions were conducted for HRSR project participants and non-participants. RESULTS: A total of 260 semantic units were derived from the 2 groups. The units were further classified into 5 upper categories and 11 subcategories. All the study participants knew the importance of low sodium intake, but they had little information on HRSR project.Various attempts have been made to encourage low sodium practice in restaurants, and the participants reported that the amount of salt used in their restaurants currently is reduced compared to that used in the past. However, they were worried about customers’ complaints about the low sodium in their diet and the insignificant beneficent associated with the policy, which makes restaurant owners reluctant to participate in this policy. All the participants agreed on the urgent need for the improvement of public awareness of low-sodium diets and for substantive government support for HRSR. CONCLUSION This study concluded that strategies such as more active publicity for the practice of sodium reduction in restaurants, identification of approaches to dispel the perception that low-salt diet is not tasty, and development of plans to increase the sale of food in of HRSR, are needed.

Volumetric absorptive microsampling (VAMS) is a novel sampling technique that allows for the collection of an accurate volume of blood by dipping a microsampler tip. The purpose of this study is to compare the requirement of a stabilizing reagent for the conventional venous blood sampling method versus VAMS in the analytical measurement of the concentration of acetylsalicylic acid. A high-performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the accurate determination of acetylsalicylic acid in human blood. The blood samples spiked with acetylsalicylic acid with and without stabilizing reagent were absorbed into VAMS tips. In the whole blood sample, the same concentration was shown regardless of the addition of the stabilizing reagent, but the concentration decreased when the stabilizing reagent was not added to the VAMS sample. To apply the VAMS technology as a new blood sampling method, stabilizing reagents should be added before the analysis of acetylsalicylic acid concentration.
Aspirin ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Humans ; Indicators and Reagents ; Mass Spectrometry ; Methods

Background: Pure mucinous carcinoma (PMC) is a rare type of breast cancer, estimated to represent 2% of invasive breast cancer. PMC is typically positive for estrogen receptors (ER) and progesterone receptors (PR) and negative for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). The clinicopathologic characteristics of HER2-positive PMC have not been investigated. Methods: Pathology archives were searched for PMC diagnosed from January 1999 to April 2018. Clinicopathologic data and microscopic findings were reviewed and compared between HER2-positive PMC and HER2-negative PMC. We also analyzed the differences in disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival according to clinicopathologic parameters including HER2 status in overall PMC cases. Results: There were 21 HER2-positive cases (4.8%) in 438 PMCs. The average tumor size of HER2-positive PMC was 32.21 mm (± 26.55). Lymph node metastasis was present in seven cases. Compared to HER2-negative PMC, HER2-positive PMC presented with a more advanced T category (p < .001), more frequent lymph node metastasis (p = .009), and a higher nuclear and histologic grade (p < .001). Microscopically, signet ring cells were frequently observed in HER2-positive PMC (p < .001), whereas a micropapillary pattern was more frequent in HER2-negative PMC (p = .012). HER2-positive PMC was more frequently negative for ER (33.3% vs. 1.2%) and PR (28.6% vs. 7.2%) than HER2-negative PMC and showed a high Ki-67 labeling index. During follow-up, distant metastasis and recurrence developed in three HER2-positive PMC patients. Multivariate analysis revealed that only HER2-positivity and lymph node status were significantly associated with DFS. Conclusions Our results suggest that HER2-positive PMC is a more aggressive subgroup of PMC. HER2 positivity should be considered for adequate management of PMC.