This study was conducted to identify risk factors to ensure food safety by evaluating cook supervisors' perceived performance of vegetable safety management at Korean food restaurants in Daegu. Recognition of the potential foodborne illness caused by vegetables was 2.60/5 on average. Inspection items with low scores by respondents during food safety inspection by government agencies were "Wash and sanitize vegetables" and "Keep washed and cut vegetables in the refrigerator". As for storage, perceived performance of "Store vegetable in the refrigerator less than 70% of the refrigerator capacity" scored less than 4 out of 5. About 86% of respondents answered "Water-only washing" for vegetable washing. For perceived performance of vegetable cooking, service, and leftover handling, 11 and three items out of 13 were significantly different depending on the size of restaurants and possession of culinary arts certificates, respectively. Based on results, it is necessary to provide food safety training programs for handling vegetables in order to increase knowledge of cook supervisors. In addition, intensive on-site guidance for safety management of vegetables is needed.
Cooking ; Daegu* ; Education ; Food Safety ; Government Agencies ; Restaurants* ; Risk Factors ; Safety Management* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Vegetables*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Differentiation and de-differentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are important events in atherosclerosis and restenosis after angioplasty. MicroRNAs are considered a key regulator in cellular processes such as differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis. Here, we report the role of new miR-18a-5p microRNA and its downstream target genes in VSMCs and in a carotid balloon injury model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Expression of miR-18a-5p and its candidate genes was examined in VSMCs and in a carotid artery injury model by quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and microRNA microarray analysis. VSMC differentiation marker genes including smooth muscle (SM) alpha-actin and SM22alpha were determined by Western blot, qRT-PCR, and a SM22alpha promoter study. Gene overexpression or knockdown was performed in VSMCs. RESULTS: miR-18a-5p was upregulated in the rat carotid artery at the early time after balloon injury. Transfection of the miR-18a-5p mimic promoted the VSMC differentiation markers SM alpha-actin and SM22alpha. In addition, miR-18a-5p expression was induced in differentiated VSMCs, whereas it decreased in de-differentiated VSMCs. We identified syndecan4 as a downstream target of miR-18-5p in VSMCs. Overexpression of syndecan4 decreased Smad2 expression, whereas knockdown of syndecan4 increased Smad2 expression in VSMCs. Finally, we showed that Smad2 induced the expression of VSMC differentiation marker genes in VSMCs. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that miR-18a-5p is involved in VSMC differentiation by targeting syndecan4.
Actins ; Angioplasty ; Animals ; Antigens, Differentiation ; Apoptosis ; Atherosclerosis ; Blotting, Western ; Carotid Arteries ; Carotid Artery Injuries ; Cell Differentiation* ; Microarray Analysis ; MicroRNAs* ; Muscle, Smooth ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Rats ; Smad2 Protein ; Syndecan-4* ; Transfection

Primary splenic lymphoma (PSL) is often defined as generalized lymphoma with splenic involvement as the dominant feature. It is a rare disease that comprises approximately 1% of all malignant lymphomas. We investigated three cases of non-Hodgkin's splenic lymphoma that had different clinical features on presentation. The patients' survival times from diagnosis ranged from 59 to 143 months, without evidence of relapse after splenectomy and chemotherapy, with or without radiotherapy. This data suggest that PSL is potentially curable. Further studies are needed to evaluate the impact that different treatment modalities without splenectomy have on patient survival.
Splenic Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology/therapy ; Splenectomy ; Middle Aged ; Male ; Lymphoma, Large-Cell, Diffuse/*diagnosis/pathology/therapy ; Lymphoma, B-Cell/*diagnosis/pathology/therapy ; Humans ; Female

BACKGROUND: The primary lymphoma of genitourinary tract is very rare and reported sporadically in Korea. Therefore the aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical characteristics with therapeutic outcome in 15 cases of primary lymphoma of genitourinary tract. METHODS: Reviewed retrospectively medical records of 15 cases with primary lymphoma of genitourinary tract who had been diagnosed from January, 1990 to May, 2002, we analysed the clinical characteristics, stage, disease free survival and overall survival. RESULTS: There were 8 cases of lymphoma of testis, 3 cases of uterine cervix and body, 1 case of ovary, 1 case of vagina, and 2 cases of kidney. The histologic types were all diffuse large B cell, except 5 cases (3 cases T/NK cell, 1 case low grade MALT lymphoma, and 1 case precursor B cell lymphoblastic lymphoma). The median survival duration of all cases is 8.0 months, showing the similarity to that of testis lymphoma (7.0 months). CONCLUSION: In comparison with the prognosis of the lymphomas in uterine body and cervix, it was worse for the testicular and renal lymphoma, even though 3 cases of T/NK cell lymphoma impacted on the prognosis of testicular lymphoma. Therefore, with simultaneous elucidation of the prognostic factors systemically, therapeutic strategy must be continuously sought.
Cervix Uteri ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Kidney ; Korea ; Lymphoma* ; Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone ; Medical Records ; Ovary ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Testis ; Urogenital System ; Vagina

Expression of the natural killer (NK) cell antigen CD56 is uncommon in malignant lymphoma, but when it is, it is almost exclusively of the non-B cell lineage and show a preference for the nasal and nasopharyngeal region. T/NK cell lymphoma is known to be aggressive and refractory to treatment. It is highly associated with the Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), but clinical investigations are rarely reported, that is until recently. We report here, on the clinical features and therapeutic outcomes of patients with T/NK cell lymphomas and its association with EBV. We reviewed fifty-four cases with peripheral T cell lymphomas in the upper aerodigestive tract between Jan. 1987 and Aug. 1998 from the Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine. The diagnosis of T/NK cell lymphoma was made according to the expression of the NK cell markers, CD56 antigen and cytoplasmic CD3 epsilon, in tumor specimens, by immunohistochemistry. Epstein-Barr early region (EBER) RNA was detected using in situ hybridization on paraffin-embedded sections. Among the 54 cases with malignant lymphomas occurring in the upper aerodigestive tract, 20 had T/NK cell lymphoma (37%). The primary sites of T/NK cell lymphomas were the nasal cavity, 12 cases (60%), the tonsils, 4 cases (20%), the nasopharynx, 2 cases (10%), and the oropharynx, 2 case (10%). There were no differences between the features, at diagnosis or therapeutic modalities for patients with T/NK cell lymphoma and non-T/NK cell lymphoma. The complete remission rate of T/NK cell lymphomas was lower than non-T/NK cell lymphomas (65% vs 85%, p=0.02). The overall survival of T/NK cell lymphomas was 13 months (1-74 month), which was significantly lower than non-T/NK cell lymphomas [60.6% with a median follow up of 22 months (1-101 month, p=0.02)]. Disease free survival of T/NK cell lymphomas was 22 months (4-66 month), significantly lower than non-T/NK cell lymphomas [73.8% with a median follow up of 22 months (2-95 month), p=0.04]. The overall survival rates for T/NK cell lymphomas were significantly lower than for EBV positive non-T/NK cell lymphomas (p=0.018). EBER RNA was detected in the paraffin-embedded tissue sections of all T/NK cell lymphomas, compared to only 17.6% (6 of 34 cases) for non- T/NK cell lymphomas. In conclusion, as patients with T/NK cell lymphomas showed poor clinical outcomes, and a high association with EBV positivity, clinical trials with more investigational therapeutic strategies, and further research into the relationship of EBV infection with pathogenesis of T/NK cell lymphoma is warranted.
Adult ; Aged ; Digestive System Neoplasms/*therapy/virology ; Female ; Herpesvirus 4, Human/isolation & purification ; Human ; *Killer Cells, Natural ; Lymphoma/*therapy/virology ; Lymphoma, T-Cell/*therapy/virology ; Male ; Middle Age ; Respiratory Tract Neoplasms/*therapy/virology ; Treatment Outcome

No abstract available.
Antigens, Viral, Tumor* ; Simian virus 40*

PURPOSE: The aim of this retrospective study is to assess the necessity of staging laparotomy in the management of supradiaphragmatic CS I-II Hodgkin's disease. Prognostic factors and the usefulness of prognostic factor groups were also analyzed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 1985 to 1995, fifty one patients who were diagnosed as supradiaphragmatic CS I-II Hodgkin's disease at Yonsei Cancer Center in Seoul, Korea were enrolled in this study. Age range was 4 to 67 with median age of 30. The number of patients with each CS IA, IIA, and IIB were 16, 25, and 10, respectively. Radiotherapy (RT) was delivered using 4 or 6 MV photon beam to a total dose of 19.5 to 55.6Gy (median dose : 45Gy) with a 1.5 to 1.8Gy per fraction. Chemotherapy (CT) was given in 2-12 cycles (median : 6 cycles). Thirty one patients were treated with RT alone, 4 patients with CT alone and 16 patients with combined chemoradiotherapy. RT volumes varied from involved fields (3), subtotal nodal fields (18) or mantle fields (26). RESULTS: Five-year disease-free survival rate (DFS) was 78.0% and overall survival rate (OS) was 87.6%. Fifty patients achieved a complete remission after initial treatment and 8 patients were relapsed. Salvage therapy was given to 7 patients, 1 with RT alone, 4 with CT alone, 2 with RT+CT. Only two patients were successfully salvaged. Feminine gender and large mediastinal adenopathy were significant adverse prognostic factors in the univariate analysis for DFS. The significant adverse prognostic factors of OS were B symptom and clinical stage. When patients were analyzed according to European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) prog-nostic factor groups, the DFS in patients with very favorable, favorable and unfavorable group was 100, 100 and 55.8% (p<0.05), and the OS in each patients' group was 100, 100 and 75.1% (p<0.05), respectively. In very favorable and favorable groups, the DFS and OS were all 100% by RT alone, but in unfavorable group, RT with CT had a lesser relapse rate than RT alone. The subtotal nodal irradiation had better DFS than mantle RT in patients treated with RT. CONCLUSION: In present study, the DFS and OS in patients who did not undergo staging laparotomy were similar with the results in the literatures of which patients were surgically staged. Therefore, we may suggest that staging laparotomy would not influence the outcome of treatments. In univariate analysis, gender, large mediastinal adenopathy, B symptoms and clinical stage were significant prognostic factors for the survival rate. We confirm the usefulness of EORTC prognostic factor groups which may be a good indicator to select the treatment modality.
Chemoradiotherapy ; Disease-Free Survival ; Drug Therapy ; Hodgkin Disease* ; Humans ; Korea ; Laparotomy ; Radiotherapy ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Salvage Therapy ; Seoul ; Survival Rate

PURPOSE: The aim of this retrospective study is to assess the necessity of staging laparotomy in the management of supradiaphragmatic CS I-II Hodgkin's disease. Prognostic factors and the usefulness of prognostic factor groups were also analyzed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 1985 to 1995, fifty one patients who were diagnosed as supradiaphragmatic CS I-II Hodgkin's disease at Yonsei Cancer Center in Seoul, Korea were enrolled in this study. Age range was 4 to 67 with median age of 30. The number of patients with each CS IA, IIA, and IIB were 16, 25, and 10, respectively. Radiotherapy (RT) was delivered using 4 or 6 MV photon beam to a total dose of 19.5 to 55.6Gy (median dose : 45Gy) with a 1.5 to 1.8Gy per fraction. Chemotherapy (CT) was given in 2-12 cycles (median : 6 cycles). Thirty one patients were treated with RT alone, 4 patients with CT alone and 16 patients with combined chemoradiotherapy. RT volumes varied from involved fields (3), subtotal nodal fields (18) or mantle fields (26). RESULTS: Five-year disease-free survival rate (DFS) was 78.0% and overall survival rate (OS) was 87.6%. Fifty patients achieved a complete remission after initial treatment and 8 patients were relapsed. Salvage therapy was given to 7 patients, 1 with RT alone, 4 with CT alone, 2 with RT+CT. Only two patients were successfully salvaged. Feminine gender and large mediastinal adenopathy were significant adverse prognostic factors in the univariate analysis for DFS. The significant adverse prognostic factors of OS were B symptom and clinical stage. When patients were analyzed according to European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) prog-nostic factor groups, the DFS in patients with very favorable, favorable and unfavorable group was 100, 100 and 55.8% (p<0.05), and the OS in each patients' group was 100, 100 and 75.1% (p<0.05), respectively. In very favorable and favorable groups, the DFS and OS were all 100% by RT alone, but in unfavorable group, RT with CT had a lesser relapse rate than RT alone. The subtotal nodal irradiation had better DFS than mantle RT in patients treated with RT. CONCLUSION: In present study, the DFS and OS in patients who did not undergo staging laparotomy were similar with the results in the literatures of which patients were surgically staged. Therefore, we may suggest that staging laparotomy would not influence the outcome of treatments. In univariate analysis, gender, large mediastinal adenopathy, B symptoms and clinical stage were significant prognostic factors for the survival rate. We confirm the usefulness of EORTC prognostic factor groups which may be a good indicator to select the treatment modality.
Chemoradiotherapy ; Disease-Free Survival ; Drug Therapy ; Hodgkin Disease* ; Humans ; Korea ; Laparotomy ; Radiotherapy ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Salvage Therapy ; Seoul ; Survival Rate

PURPOSE: The Skin prick test is simple and cheap in diagnosis of allergic diseases. So the skin prick test has been widely used as the initial diagnostic method of IgE-mediated allergic diseases with the merit of fast detection of causative allergens. But the skin test has some difficulties in application for the infants and young children. IgE MAST(multiple antigen simultaneous test) and IgE RAST(radioallergosorbent test) are representative in vitro diagnostic tests in allergic diseases. IgE MAST has several merits, such as cheap price, simultaneous detection of many allergens, and needlessness of gamma counter, but it has been known to have less sensitivity and specificity. We performed this study to know the differences between the availability of IgE MAST and that of IgE RAST in allergic patients who were diagnosed by clinical findings and skin prick test. METHODS: We have studied 35 asthmatic children (over 3 years of age) who visited allergy clinic from September 1993 to May 1995. All of them were positive in skin prick test on one more allergens among 6 allergens(D.p, D.f, house dust, dog, egg, ragweed). IgE MAST and IgE RAST were evaluated simultaneously. RESULTS: The results were as follows 1) Sensitivity of RAST was 87.1% in D.p, 87.1% in D.f, 68% in house dust and the specificity of RAST was 94.1%, 97.1% and 87.5% respectively. 2) Sensitivity of MAST was 90.3% in D.p, 93.5% in D.f, 80% in house dust and the specificity of MAST was 94.1%, 94.1% and 85% respectively. 3) Total sensitivity of RAST was 70.5% and that of MAST was 73.2%, but there were no significant differences between them(p>0.05). 4) Total specificity of RAST was 91.4% and that of MAST was 89.9%, but there were no significant differences between them(p>0.05). 5) The stronger positive skin reaction, the higher sensitivity and specificity of the two in vitro tests. CONCLUSIONS: There was no significant differences between the two in vitro tests for the diagnosis of asthmatic children, and the both test results correlated well. IgE MAST system is easier, faster and has more cost benefit than IgE RAST. So we conclude that the MAST system is available as a screening test in the diagnosis of allergic diseases.
Allergens ; Animals ; Child* ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Diagnosis* ; Diagnostic Tests, Routine ; Dogs ; Dust ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Immunoglobulin E* ; Infant ; Mass Screening ; Ovum ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Skin ; Skin Tests

PURPOSE: We performed this study in order to compare the feasibility and efficacy of the fiberoptic phototherapy with conventional phototherapy and double phototherapy with single phototherapy for the treatment of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia while watching for any possible side effects of the system. METHODS: During the period of February 1994 till June 1995, randomized controlled study was performed. 130 healthy term infants with non-hemolytic hyperbilirubinemia were enrolled, 45 patients received fiberoptic phototherapy, 40 patients received conventional phototherapy and 45 patients received double phototherapy. Criteria for inclusion in the study were 1) after 37 weeks of gestation 2) negative result of a direct coombs test 3) normal hemoglobin and hematocrit 4) no Rh or ABO incompatibility 5) plasma total bilirubin concentration exceed 10mg/dl during the first 3 days of life. RESULTS: 1) The mean total bilirubin decline level after 24 hours was 0.03 2.03mg/dl and the mean indirect bilirubin decline level after 24 hours was 0.12+/-1.35mg/dl in conventional phototherapy group(p<0.01), but in fiberoptic phototherapy group, the mean total bilirubin level was increased 1.26+/-1.68mg/dl and the mean indirect bilirubin level was increased 1.10+/-1.70mg/dl after 24 hours (p>0.01). 2) The mean total bilirubin decline level after 48 hours was 1.25 2.71mg/dl and the mean indirect bilirubin decline level was 1.17+/-1.52mg/dl in conventional phototherapy group (p<0.01). But in fiberoptic phototherapy group, the mean total bilirubin level was increased 0.97+/-2.81mg/dl and the mean indirect bilirubin level was increased 0.29+/-1.80mg/dl after 48 hours (p>0.01). 3) The mean decline levels of 24 hours-total and indirect bilirubin were 0.01+/-1.23mg/dl and 0.09+/-1.13mg/dl, and the mean decline levels of 48hours-total and indirect bilirubin were 0.92+/-1.85mg/dl and 0.99+/-1.08mg/dl (p<0.01), respectively, in double phototherapy group. But there were no statistically significant differences compared with the mean bilirubin decline levels in single phototheray group. 4) There were no significant differences in side effects such as decreased urine volume (p>0.01) or diarrhea(p>0.01) among three groups. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that fiberoptic phototherapy has less efficacy comparable to that of conventional phototherapy and double phototherapy has no significant differences in effectiveness compared with conventional phototherapy. So we hope further studies on the effects of the fiberoptic phototherapy in preterm infants and in after 48 hours will be done.
Bilirubin ; Coombs Test ; Hematocrit ; Hope ; Humans ; Hyperbilirubinemia ; Hyperbilirubinemia, Neonatal* ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Phototherapy* ; Plasma ; Pregnancy