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The Role and Localization of Nitric Oxide Synthase in Neurogenic Inflammation of the Rat Airways (백서의 기도 선경성 염증에서 산화질소 합성효소(Nitric Oxide Synthase)의 역할과 분포)

  • Shim, Jae-Jeong;Lee, Sang-Yub;Lee, Sang-Hwa;Suh, Jung-Kyung;Kim, Chul-Hwan;Cho, Jae-Youn;In, Kwang-Ho;Yoo, Seo-Hwa;Kang, Kyung-Ho
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.43 no.3
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    • pp.420-433
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    • 1996
  • Background : There have been many debates about the effects of nitric oxide on the neurogenic inflammation. The role of nitric oxide in the neurogenic inflammation of airways will be required a better understanding of the localization and types of nitirc oxide synthase(NOS) activity in the neurogenic inflammation of airways. Method : To investigate the role of nitric oxide in airway neurogenic inflammation, 1) the effects of neurokinin receptor antagonist (FK224) and nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, $N^{\omega}$-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA) on plasma extravastion were evaluated in four groups of Sprague-Dawley rats ; sham operation group(sham NANC group), electrical vagal stimulation group(NANC2 group), intravenous pretreatment groups with FK224 (1mg/kg ; FK224 group), and L-NNA(1mg/kg ; L-NNA group) 15 minutes before vagal NANC stimulation. 2) NOS activity in trachea with neurogenic inflammation was localized by immunohistochemical stain. Immunohistochemical stain was performed by antibodies specific for inflammatory cells(iNOS), brain(bNOS), and endothelium (eNOS) on trachea obtained from sham NANC, NANC2, and FK224 groups. Results : The results are that plasma extravsation in neurogenic inflammation of rat airways was inhibited by FK224, but enhanced by L-NNA pretreatment(P<0.05). There was significantly increased infiltration of inflammatory cells in subepithelium of neurogenic inflammatory trachea, but the reduction of subepithelial infiltration of inflammatory cells was observed after pretreatment with FK224(P<0.05). Immunostaining with anti-iNOS antibody showed strong reactivity only in infiltrated inflammatory cells in neurogenic rat trachea, and these iNOS reactivity was reduced by pretreatment with FK224. bNOS immunoreactivity was significantly increased only in the nerves both of neurogenic inflammatory and FK224 pretreated trachea compared with sham NANC trachea(p<0.05). eNOS immunoreactivity was not significant change in endothelium in neurogenic inflammation of rat trachea. Conclusion : These results suggest that nitric oxide released from iNOS in infiltrated inflammatory cells has main role in neurogenic inflammation of rat trachea. The presence of bNOS immunoreactivity in the nerves indicates that nitric oxide may be released from the nerves in rat trachea with neurogenic inflammation.

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The Prognostic Indicies of Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia in Immunocompromised Patients other than Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (비 AIDS 면역 결핍 환자들에서 발생한 주폐포자충 폐렴의 예후인자)

  • Park, Wann;Kim, Yoo-Kyum;Lee, Jin-Seong;Ahn, Jong-Jun;Hong, Sang-Bum;Shim, Tae-Sun;Lim, Chae-Man;Lee, Sang-Do;Kim, Woo-Sung;Kim, Dong-Soon;Kim, Won-Dong;Koh, Youn-Suck
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.45 no.4
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    • pp.805-812
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    • 1998
  • Background: Among the variety of opportunistic infections, pneumonia comprises the major morbidity in immunocompromised patients. Pneumocystis carnii pneumonia (PCP) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) pneumonia are common infectious illness of immunocompromised hosts. Although there are many reports regarding to the co-infection of PCP and CMV diagnosed by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid examination, the effects of CMV co-infection on the outcome of PCP is still controversial. The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate the effects of CMV detected by BAL fluid examination on the clinical course of PCP in the immunocompromised patients other than human immunodeficiency virus infection. Method: Ten patients with PCP were enrolled and retrospective analysis of their medical records were done. HIV infected persons were excluded. The PCP was diagnosed by BAL fluid examination with Calcofluor-White staining. CMV was detected in BAL fluid by Shell-vial culture system. Chest radiographic findings were reviewed. We used Fisher's exact test and Mann-Whitney U test for statistical analysis of data. Results: The underlying disorders of patients were idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (n=1), renal transplantation (n=4), necrotizing vasculitis (n=l), systemic lupus erythematosus (n=1), brain tumor (n=1), chronic myelogenous leukemia (n=1), unidentified (n=1). There were no difference in clinical course, APACHE III score, arterial blood gas analysis, white blood cell count, lymphocyte count, serum albumin concentration, chest radiographic findings and mortality between patients with PCP alone (n=4) and those with CMV co-infection (n=6). Univariate analysis regarding to the factors that associated with mortality of PCP were revealed that the application of mechanical ventilation (p=0.028), the level of APACHE III score (p=0.018) and serum albumin concentration (p=0.048) were related to the mortality of patients with PCP. Conclusion: The clinical course of PCP patients co-infected by CMV were not different from PCP only patients. Instead, accompanied respiratory failure, high APACHE III score and poor nutritional status were associated with poor outcome of PCP.

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Effects of Various Chitosan Oligomer Molecular Weight Levels on the Disorders of Lipid Metabolism and Immune-related Factors in Rats Treated 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (다이옥신계 TCDD(2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin)에 노출된 흰쥐의 지질대사 및 면역관련 인자에 대하여 키토산 올리고머의 분자량별 섭취효과)

  • Lee, Joon-Ho;Hwang, Seok-Youn;Lim, Beong-Ou;Lee, Yeon-Sook
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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    • v.41 no.4
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    • pp.471-479
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    • 2012
  • This study was conducted to investigate the effects of various levels of chitosan oligomer (CO) molecular weight on the disorders of lipid metabolism and immune-related factors induced by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), that is a endocrine disrupter, using adult male rats (SD) for 3 weeks. These 40 animals were divided into five groups. Three kinds of CO were used by molecular weight (MW) (less than 1000, 1000~3000, and 5000~10000) and added 4% to basal diets respectively. TCDD (40 ${\mu}g$/kg B.W) was intraperitoneally injected into rats at the beginning of the experiment. The relative weights of the livers were increased in all rats treated with TCDD, and the brain and testis weights were increased in all CO diet groups, compared to the control and TCDD groups. The levels of white blood cells (WBC) and red blood cells (RBC), hemoglobin, hematocrits (HCT), and platelets were significantly lowered by treating TCDD. By the way, RBC and HCT tended to recover by CO diets. The elevation of serum total and HDL cholesterol levels induced by TCDD treatment was significantly reduced by CO (5000~10000 MW) diets. The apparent increasing of the total lipid, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels of rat livers induced by TCDD was tended to be suppressed in those fed CO diets. Especially, diets with less than 1000 MW significantly diminished liver triglycerides. The levels of serum immunoglobulin (Ig) A, IgG1 and IgM were significantly high in rats fed CO (5000~10000 MW) diets. The decreasing levels of IgE by treatment with TCDD tended to recover all the CO diet groups to the level of control group. In histochemical observation, the fat droplets and apoptosis of liver due to TCDD treatment were markedly alleviated in all CO diet groups. These results indicated that CO, though not regular according to molecular weight, can exert improving effects on lipid accumulation, hepatocytic disorders, abnormal blood cells, and some immunoglobulins induced by TCDD.

EFFECT OF NERVE GROWTH FACTOR GENE INJECTION ON THE NERVE REGENERATION IN RAT LINGUAL NERVE CRUSH-INJURY MODEL (백서 설신경 압박손상모델에서 신경성장인자 유전자 주입이 신경재생에 미치는 영향)

  • Gao, En-Feng;Chung, Hun-Jong;Ahn, Kang-Min;Kim, Soung-Min;Kim, Yun-Hee;Jahng, Jeong-Won;Lee, Jong-Ho
    • Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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    • v.28 no.5
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    • pp.375-395
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    • 2006
  • Purpose: Lingual nerve (LN) damage may be caused by either tumor resection or injury such as wisdom tooth extraction, Although autologous nerve graft is sometimes used to repair the damaged nerve, it has the disadvantage of necessity of another operation for nerve harvesting. Moreover, the results of nerve grafting is not satisfactory. The nerve growth factor (NGF) is well-known to play a critical role in peripheral nerve regeneration and its local delivery to the injured nerve has been continuously tried to enhance nerve regeneration. However, its application has limitations like repeated administration due to short half life of 30 minutes and an in vivo delivery model must allow for direct and local delivery. The aim of this study was to construct a well-functioning $rhNGF-{\beta}$ adenovirus for the ultimate development of improved method to promote peripheral nerve regeneration with enhanced and extended secretion of hNGF from the injured nerve by injecting $rhNGF-{\beta}$ gene directly into crush-injured LN in rat model. Materials and Methods: $hNGF-{\beta}$ gene was prepared from fetal brain cDNA library and cloned into E1/E3 deleted adenoviral vector which contains green fluorescence protein (GFP) gene as a reporter. After large scale production and purification of $rhNGF-{\beta}$ adenovirus, transfection efficiency and its expression at various cells (primary cultured Schwann cells, HEK293 cells, Schwann cell lines, NIH3T3 and CRH cells) were evaluated by fluorescent microscopy, RT-PCR, ELISA, immunocytochemistry. Furthermore, the function of rhNGF-beta, which was secreted from various cells infected with $rhNGF-{\beta}$ adenovirus, was evaluated using neuritogenesis of PC-12 cells. For in vivo evaluation of efficacy of $rhNGF-{\beta}$ adenovirus, the LNs of 8-week old rats were exposed and crush-injured with a small hemostat for 10 seconds. After the injury, $rhNGF-{\beta}$ adenovirus($2{\mu}l,\;1.5{\times}10^{11}pfu$) or saline was administered into the crushed site in the experimental (n=24) and the control group (n=24), respectively. Sham operation of another group of rats (n=9) was performed without administration of either saline or adenovirus. The taste recovery and the change of fungiform papilla were studied at 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks. Each of the 6 animals was tested with different solutions (0.1M NaCl, 0.1M sucrose, 0.01M QHCl, or 0.01M HCl) by two-bottle test paradigm and the number of papilla was counted using SEM picture of tongue dorsum. LN was explored at the same interval as taste study and evaluated electro-physiologically (peak voltage and nerve conduction velocity) and histomorphometrically (axon count, myelin thickness). Results: The recombinant adenovirus vector carrying $rhNGF-{\beta}$ was constructed and confirmed by restriction endonuclease analysis and DNA sequence analysis. GFP expression was observed in 90% of $rhNGF-{\beta}$ adenovirus infected cells compared with uninfected cells. Total mRNA isolated from $rhNGF-{\beta}$ adenovirus infected cells showed strong RT-PCR band, however uninfected or LacZ recombinant adenovirus infected cells did not. NGF quantification by ELISA showed a maximal release of $18865.4{\pm}310.9pg/ml$ NGF at the 4th day and stably continued till 14 days by $rhNGF-{\beta}$ adenovirus infected Schwann cells. PC-12 cells exposed to media with $rhNGF-{\beta}$ adenovirus infected Schwann cell revealed at the same level of neurite-extension as the commercial NGF did. $rhNGF-{\beta}$ adenovirus injected experimental groups in comparison to the control group exhibited different taste preference ratio. Salty, sweet and sour taste preference ratio were significantly different after 2 weeks from the beginning of the experiment, which were similar to the sham group, but not to the control group.

Quantitative Evaluation of the Corticospinal Tract Segmented by Using Co-registered Functional MRI and Diffusion Tensor Tractography (정상인에서 기능적 뇌 자기공명영상과 확산텐서영상 합성기법을 이용한 피질척수로의 위치에 따른 정량적 분석)

  • Jang, Sung-Ho;Hong, Ji-Heon;Byun, Woo-Mok;Hwang, Chang-Ho;Yang, Dong-Seok
    • Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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    • v.13 no.1
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    • pp.40-46
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    • 2009
  • Purpose : The purpose of this study was to investigate the quantitative evaluation of the corticospinal tract (CST) at the multiple levels by using functional MRI (fMRI) co-registered to diffusion tensor tractography (DTT). Materials and Methods : Ten normal subjects without any history of neurological disorder participated in this study. fMRI was performed at 1.5 T MR scanner using hand grasp-release movement paradigm. DTT was performed by using DtiStudio on the basis of fiber assignment continuous tracking algorithm (FACT). The seed region of interest (ROI) was drawn in the area of maximum fMRI activation during the motor task of hand grasp-release movement on a 2-D fractional anisotropy (FA) color map, and the target ROI was drawn in the cortiocospinal portion of anterior lower pons. We have drawn five ROIs for the measurement of FA and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) along the corona radiata (CR) down to the medulla. Results : The contralateral primary sensorimotor cortex (SM1) was mainly found to be activated in all subjects. DTT showed that tracts originated from SM1 and ran to the medulla along the known pathway of the CST. In all subjects, FA values of the CST were higher at the level of the midbrain and posterior limb of internal capsule (PLIC) than the level of others. Conclusion : Our study showed that co-registered fMRI and DTT has elucidated the state of CST on 3-D and analyzed the quantitative values of FA and ADC at the multiple levels. We conclude that co-registered fMRI and DTT may be applied as a useful tool for clarifying and investigating the state of CST in the patients with brain injury.

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Anti-inflammatory and Antioxidant Effects of Spiraea prunifolia Sieb. et Zucc. var. simpliciflora Nakai in RAW 264.7 Cells (조팝나무 뿌리 열수 추출물이 RAW264.7 세포에서 미치는 항산화 및 항염증 활성)

  • Sim, Mi-Ok;Lee, Hyun Joo;Jang, Ji Hun;Lee, Hyo Eun;Jung, Ho-Kyung;Kim, Tae-Muk;No, Jong hyun;Jung, Jakyun;Jung, Da Eun;Cho, Hyun-Woo
    • Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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    • v.30 no.4
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    • pp.335-342
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    • 2017
  • Spiraea prunifolia Sieb. et Zucc. var. simpliciflora Nakai (SSN) has been used for the anti-inflammation in traditional folk medicine. To compare water and methanol extracts of SSN, we analyzed major components using LC IT TOF MS. The major components of hot water extract were identified as caffeic acid and p-coumaric acid, but methanol extract was not well established. However, methanol extract was detected with less polarity compounds compared to hot water extract. Next, we investigated the inhibitory effects of SSN water extract on the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory response or $H_2O_2-induced$ oxidative stress in Raw 264.7 macrophage cells. SSN strongly suppressed the production of nitric oxide in LPS-induced inflammatory response without cytotoxcity. The SSN possessed free radical scavenging activities such as DPPH ($IC_{50}=320.2{\mu}g/m{\ell}$), ABTS ($IC_{50}=124.0{\mu}g/m{\ell}$), and superoxide anion radical ($IC_{50}=122.6{\mu}g/m{\ell}$). The total phenol and flavonoid content of SSN was 56.7 mg/g, and 15.1 mg/g, respectively. Furthermore, SSN decreased the $H_2O_2-induced$ cytotoxicity by enhancing the cell viability, and SSN significantly reduced the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) level. Therefore, SSN may be recommended as an effective strategy to prevent and/or treat various inflammation and ROS-induced diseases.

A Study on Gradual Attitudes Change College of Nursing Students (간호대학생의 학년별 태도 변화에 관한 연구)

  • 한정석
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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    • v.3 no.2
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    • pp.121-132
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    • 1973
  • Introduction : Nursing as a profession is gelling wide acceptance today, especially among independent -minded women with necessary physical, mental and academic qualifications. This is particularly true of "comprehensive nursing", which requires to total dedication on the part if the nurse herself-physical, mental and sociocultural. Such comprehensive approach is like-wise called for in the institutional training of professional nurses. Undergraduate nursing courses nowadays place an increasing emphasis on the microscopic approach of training a nurse as an intelligent and well-balanced human being with an optimum degree of cultural sophistication. Greater attention then ever before is now paid to close observation of the individual traits and aptitude of nursing students, so as to permit full development of individual capabilities, interests and propensities within the concept of "comprehensive human education. " Purpose of study 1. To determine the degree of understanding of the part of nursing students of the various aspects of the subject taught in undergraduate nursing course. 2. To determine the motivation of nursing students in choosing the profession and possible subsequent change or attitude and outlook in the course of under graduated studies, as a means of presenting a new practical approach in nursing training based on the concept of "comprehensive human education. " Problems of study 1. The environments of nursing training will impinge on individual nursing students with different psychological impacts from lower to upper classes of under graduated studies. 2. Educational environments will have varying psychological impacts on students: a. Difference in religious faith among students. b. Difference in campus environments. c. Difference in domestic (family) circumstances. d. Difference in innate capabilities of students, 3. The understanding and attitude of individual nursing students towards the science of nursing will Have a close correlation with their respective motivations in choosing-nursing as a profession, and will also be closely influenced by the peculiarities of the subject taught, tile campus environments, etc, Delimitations of the study 1. Two universities offering 4-year nursing courses were selected. Due to the limited number of potential subjects, the optimum conditions of sample collection could not be fulfilled. 2. Subjects were confined to two classes in each university (sophomores and seniors) but without regard to the ages or scholastic achievements of individual students. 3. The conclusions derived from this study should be limited in application to the subject groups covered by the present study: they should not in any event be extended or applied to other groups. Procedures 1. Subjects: 40 nursing students each from the sophomore and senior classes of the "Y" and "K" universities situated in Seoul, aggregating 160 students altogether. 2. Instruments: Use has been made of questionnaires on (1) family backgrounds and (2) general information concerning. 3. Statistical Method: The findings of the present survey have been subjected to critical analysis as to the means, percentages, Cgi squares (X), standard deviations and the significance of the difference in means. Findings 1. Nursing students have chosen their subject of study with a confident outlook towards their future in society. 2. Horsing students have the necessary abilities to complete the prescribed courses of study. 3. The campus life of nursing students has been judged as very constructive, not with-standing certain in adequacies in the available educational facilities and the shortages of teaching staff. 4. The achievement levels of nursing trainees varied greatly according to their respective educational environments as well as their school years. 5. Clear and definite distinctions were discernible between the two universities as regards certain aspects of this survey, while no signifiant difference was observed in other: a. Sophomores and seniors in both universities gave nearly identical answers to questions concerning (1) motivation in choosing nursing as a profession, and (2) the way of spending leisure hours. b. Both universities revealed similar respective differences between sophomores and seniors as regards the abilities of fulfilling academic requirements ill the basic subjects. c. Educational environments have been found to be somewhat superior in the "Y"university to those of the "K" university, particularly as regard general campus and dormitory conditions. d. The high degree of dissatisfaction with the faculty, found in both universities, was considered to be a consequence of the universal phenomenon of "brain drain" and the relative neglect of the "comprehensive approach"in education.

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Influence of $TiO_2$ Concentrations and Irradiation Lights on the Photocatalytic Reaction for Inhibiting Growth of Streptococcus mutans ($TiO_2$ 농도 및 여기광에 따른 광촉매 반응이 Streptococcus mutans의 생장에 미치는 영향)

  • Kang, Si-Mook;Lee, Hae-Na;Kim, Hee-Eun;Kim, Baek-Il
    • Journal of dental hygiene science
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    • v.14 no.3
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    • pp.319-324
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    • 2014
  • The aim of this study was to evaluate influences of titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) concentrations and irradiation times on growth of Streptococcus mutans when irradiated by visible light (405 nm wavelength) and by ultraviolet light (254 nm wavelength). To find the optimal antibacterial concentration of $TiO_2$, 0.01, 0.1, 1.0, and 10.0 mg/ml $TiO_2$ suspension was prepared with sterilized distilled water. S. mutans cultured media was added to $TiO_2$ solution to set the final cell count to $10^4CFU/ml$. The photocatalytic reaction was induced by irradiating 254 nm and 405 nm lights for 10 minutes. To compare the bactericidal activities according to irradiation times, all photocatalytic reaction was carried out with 0.1 mg/ml $TiO_2$ for 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 minutes with both lights. After the photocatalytic reaction, $100{\mu}m$ of the reaction mixture was immediately plated on brain heart infusion agar. These plates were placed at 5% $CO_2$, $37^{\circ}C$, for 24 hours and the bacterial colonies were counted. All experiments were performed in quintuplicate. One-way ANOVA was used to determine whether there were any significant differences between the $TiO_2$ concentrations or the irradiation times. The most effective concentration of $TiO_2$ for its photocatalytic bactericidal effect on S. mutans was 0.1 mg/ml when irradiated with 254 nm and 405 nm lights. The longer the irradiation time, the bigger the bactericidal effect for both wavelengths. Over 99% of bacteria in the inoculum were killed after irradiation with 254 nm for 20 minutes and with 405 nm for 40 minutes. In conclusion, a photocatalytic reaction of $TiO_2$ induced by visible light of 405 nm constitutes the bactericidal effect on S. mutans.

A Comparison on the Characteristics of Cerebrovascular Disease Patients Admitted to Some Western and Oriental Hospitals (일부 양·한방 병원에 입원한 뇌혈관질환 환자의 특성 비교)

  • Yu, Dae-Jin;Ryu, So-Yeon;Park, Jong;Kim, Ki-Soon
    • Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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    • v.26 no.1
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    • pp.65-79
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    • 2001
  • Cerebrovascular disease(CVD) is one of the major causes of death in Korea as well as most countries in the world and the disease gives great burden to humans socio-economically due to its high fatality and common occurrence of disability as the sequelae. This study was performed to investigate the utilization of western hospital(WH) or oriental hospital(OH) due to CVD and compare the type and the clinical characteristics of patients with CVD between WH and OH located in Kwangju City, Chonnam Province and Chonbuk Province. We reviewed the medical records of 1,070 patients who were discharged from 12 WIT and 6 OH from January to March, 2000 and confirmed for the diagnosis of CVD. Fifty-one percent of the subjects were treated at WH and forty-nine percent at OH. Females were more prevalent than males. As well, the most common age group among these subjects was found to be 70 years and older. About 92% in W~H and 80% in OH received brain imaging diagnostic procedures such as CT or MRI. The cerebral infarction was the most common type of CVD when compared by the kind of utilized hospitals, sex, age group except patient Group who was treated at WH and whose age was lower than 50 years old. The cerebral hemorrhage was more frequent than cerebral infarction among this group. The proportion of cerebral hemorrhage was decreasing and that of cerebral infarction was increasing with age. The most common clinical manifestations of undetermined type of CVD was paralysis of lower extremity in WIT and paralysis of upper extremity in OH. In cerebral hemorrhage loss of consciousness in WIT and dysarthria in OH were most frequently manifested, while in the case of cerebral infarction hemiplegia in WIT and dysarthria in OH were the most common complaints. The interval from the onset of disease to admission to the hospital was 5.5 days in WH arid 31.4 days in OH and the difference was statistically significant. Average admission duration of patients at OH was longer than WH, but it was not statistically significant. In conclusion these results suggest that the effort for systematic and efficient management of CVD patients was necessary for close co-operation and role arrangement between WH and OH considering the positive and negative points of western and oriental medicines.

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The Rehabilitation Services Utilization of People with Disabilities in a Rural Area (농촌지역 재가장애인의 재활서비스 이용실태)

  • Choi, Gyeong-Jin;Kim, Keon-Yeop;Lee, Duck-Hee;Han, Chang-Hyun;Choi, Se-Mook
    • Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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    • v.36 no.4
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    • pp.227-237
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    • 2011
  • Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the utilization and its determinants of rehabilitation services of people with disabilities in a rural area. Methods: From March 2 to April 1, 2011, we interviewed 101 disabled people with either physical disabilities or brain lesions. The subjects completed questionnaires about the utilization of rehabilitation services, general characteristics (age, sex, marital status, education level, economic status, health insurance, housing, and employment) and disability characteristics (type, level, comorbidity, reason for the occurrence of the disability, self-rated degree of disability, and daily life care giver). Frequency, Pearson's chi-square test, and a multiple logistic regression were used for statistical analysis. Results: This study showed that 70.3% of the people in this rural area with disabilities were using rehabilitation services. The two most common reasons for not using the services were "doubt about the effectiveness of the service" and "no facilities nearby." The facilities that the disabled people were currently using, in the order of most used to least, were general hospitals or clinics, rehabilitation centers, oriental medicine clinics, and public health centers. Only 19.7% of those who received rehabilitation responded that they were satisfied with the service. Significant factors in the utilization of rehabilitation services were sex, employment, self-rated economic status, and the reason for the occurrence of the disability. Women, people who were currently working, people who were of middle or higher economic status, or people who had acquired a disability were significantly more likely to use the services. Conclusions: A large number of people with disabilities in a rural area use rehabilitation services at present, but accessibility and satisfaction were low. Quantitatively and qualitatively, rehabilitation services for disabled people in a rural area should be centered around Community-based Rehabilitation (CBR). Effective strategies, for example reaching those who have not used the rehabilitation services, will be needed to improve services in rural areas.