• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 1976

This study was conducted in order to observe some descriptive epidemiological findings and causes of life-long labour force loss in the rural population of Korea, and to consider, on the basis of these observations, some principles of the necessary control measures. The total number of subjects in the study was 27,172, all family members of 4,174 households. The study population was located in the 81 counties, out of a total of 138 counties, where the college students conducted service activities during the summer of 1974. In each village area where these service activities were conducted, one household per student interviewer was randomly selected. Student interviewers were instructed on the contents of the questionnaire prior to the survey. The main contents of the questionnaire form included address, name, sex and age of each family members, and present life-long labour force loss, if any, of each family member. In cases of current labour force loss, the age of onset and causes were recorded. Of the total households surveyed, 8.9% had family members (1-4 in number) with life-long labour force loss. Of the total persons surveyed, the crude prevalence rate for life-long labour force loss was 15.1 per 1,000; and the age-standardized prevalence rates for male and female were 16.3 per 1,000 and 13.4 per 1,000, respectively. The rates, in both sexes, were gradually increased as the ages were increased. The prevalence rates per 1,000, in order, for life-long labour force loss by the causes were 10.2 for senility, 2.4 for impairment of extremities, 1.2 for chronic diseases of internal organs, 0.5 for other conditions of muosculoskeletal system, 0.4 for blindness in both eyes, 0.2 for impairment of spine, 0.2 for psychoses, and 0.1 for epilepsy. Among them the causes of impairment of extremities were stroke, poliomyelitis, accidents, arthritis and injury due to war operation, in that order of higher relative frequency. The frequency ratios by age of onset were also observed by the causes and sex.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.250-256
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• 2006

Purpose: Recently, interest in peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR) has increased, although clinical studies of the effect of $PPAR-{\gamma}$ expression on gastric cancer have not been reported yet. In this study, we investigated the role of $PPAR-{\gamma}$ expression in gastric cancer patients. Materials and Methods: One hundred twenty-eight (128) samples of both gastric cancer and normal tissues were obtained from 128 patients who had undergone at a curative gastrectomy at Seoul Medical Center from Jan. 2001 to Dec. 2005. $PPAR-{\gamma}$ expression was determined by using immunohistochemical staining, and the results were analyzed. The statistical analysis was based on clinicopathological findings and the differences in survival rates. Results: The mean age of the patients was 6n, and the male : female ratio was 1.9 : 1. $PPAR-{\gamma}$ expression was significantly higher in cancer tissues than in normal tissue (81.3% vs. 57.0%, p<0.001). There was insignificant difference between well and moderately differentiated types and poorly differentiated types in terms of the expression of $PPAR-{\gamma}$ (87.0% vs. 74.6%, P=0.074). In the univariate analysis the survival rate was significantly increased when $PPAR-{\gamma}$ was expressed in normal tissue (P=0.003). In the multivariate analysis, only the UICC TNM staging had significance related to the survival rate. Conclusion: The rate of $PPAR-{\gamma}$ expression was higher in cancer tissue than it was in normal tissue from gastric cancer patients. In the univariate analysis, $PPAR-{\gamma}$ expression in normal tissue had significance with respect to survival, but the multivariate analysis showed no such significance. Thus, we should further evaluate more cases to determine whether or not such a significance exists.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.167-173
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• 2007

Purpose: Mistletoe (Viscum album L.) extract is one of the most widely used agents in alternative cancer therapeutic regimens in Europe. This study was conducted to determine the effect of mistletoe extract on immune function in gastric cancer patients. Materials and Methods: Ten patients that had undergone a curative gastrectomy were enrolled in the prospective study. ABNOBAviscum $Q^{(R)}$ was injected subcutaneously three times a week from postoperative-day 7 to week 16 with an increasing dose. All of the patients simultaneously received chemotheraphy with mitomycin, oral 5-FU and a cisplatin regimen. The WBC count, differential count, lymphocyte/WBC ratio and the level of cytokines (IL-$1{\beta}$, IL-2, IL-6, IFN-$\gamma$, TNF-$\alpha$) were checked in the peripheral blood preoperatively, at postoperative week 8 and at postoperative week 16. Results: The WBC and neutrophil counts significantly decreased after treatment on week 8 and week 16 (P=0.001), but the total eosinophil count was slightly increased (P=0.15). The total lymphocyte count also decreased during treatment but the lymphocyte/WBC ratio was slightly increased without statistical significance (P=0.91). The cytokine levels did not significantly change during treatment. Conclusion: It is somewhat difficult to determine the direct effect of mistletoe therapy on immune function as the effect may be compromised by the concurrent chemotherapy. It can be assumed that the slightly increased lymphocyte/WBC ratio and eosinophil count may be a result of the immunomodulatory effect of the mistletoe extract.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.91-97
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• 2016

Objectives: The purpose of this ex vivo study was to compare the antifungal activity of a synthetic peptide consisting of 15 amino acids at the C-terminus of human ${\beta}$-defensin 3 (HBD3-C15) with calcium hydroxide (CH) and Nystatin (Nys) against Candida albicans (C. albicans) biofilm. Materials and Methods: C. albicans were grown on cover glass bottom dishes or human dentin disks for 48 hr, and then treated with HBD3-C15 (0, 12.5, 25, 50, 100, 150, 200, and $300{\mu}g/mL$), CH ($100{\mu}g/mL$), and Nys ($20{\mu}g/mL$) for 7 days at $37^{\circ}C$. On cover glass, live and dead cells in the biomass were measured by the FilmTracer Biofilm viability assay, and observed by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). On dentin, normal, diminished and ruptured cells were observed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The results were subjected to a two-tailed t-test, a one way analysis variance and a post hoc test at a significance level of p = 0.05. Results: C. albicans survival on dentin was inhibited by HBD3-C15 in a dose-dependent manner. There were fewer aggregations of C. albicans in the groups of Nys and HBD3-C15 (${\geq}100{\mu}g/mL$). CLSM showed C. albicans survival was reduced by HBD3-C15 in a dose dependent manner. Nys and HBD3-C15 (${\geq}100{\mu}g/mL$) showed significant fungicidal activity compared to CH group (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Synthetic HBD3-C15 peptide (${\geq}100{\mu}g/mL$) and Nys exhibited significantly higher antifungal activity than CH against C. albicans by inhibiting cell survival and biofilm.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.39 no.4 s.261
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• pp.261-268
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• 2006

Background: Current vascular prostheses are still inadequate for reconstruction of small-diameter vessels. Autologous pericardium can be a good alternative for this purpose as it already possesses good blood compatibility and shows a mechanical behavior similar to that of natural arteries. However, the clinical use of autologous pericardial tissue as a small-diameter vascular graft has limitations due to mixed outcomes from uncertain biological behavior and difficulty to gain reliable patency results in animal experiments. To study this issue, we implanted fresh and glutaraldehyde-treated autologous pericardium as small-diameter arterial grafts in dogs, and compared their time-related changes histologically. Material and Method: As a form of 5mm-diameter arterial graft, one pair of autologous pericardial tissue was used for comparison between the glutaraldehyde-treated and the glutaraldehyde-untreated grafts in the bilateral carotid arteries in the same dog. The patency of the grafts were evaluated at regular intervals with Doppler ultrasonography. After the predetermined periods of 3 days, 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months, the grafts in each animal were explanted. The retrieved grafts were processed for light and electron microscopic analyses following gross observation. Result: Of 7 animals, 2 were excluded from the study because one died postoperatively due to bleeding and the other was documented as one side of the grafts being obstructed. All 10 grafts in the remaining 5 dogs were patent. Grossly, a variable degree of thromboses were observed in the luminal surfaces of the grafts at 3 days and 2 weeks, despite good patency. Pseudointimal smooth blood-contacting surfaces were developed in the grafts at f month and later. By light microscopy, mesothelial cell layers of the pericardial tissue were absent in all explanted grafts. Newly formed endothelial cell layers on the blood-contacting surface were observed in both the glutaraldehyde-treated and fresh grafts at 3 months and later. The collagen fibers became degraded by fragmentation in the fresh graft at 1 month and In the glutaraldehyde-treated graft at 3 months. At 6 months, the collagen layers were no longer visible in either the glutaraldehyde-treated or fresh grafts. By electron microscopy, a greater amount of coarse fibrin fibers were observed in the fresh grafts than in the glutaraldehyde-treated grafts and, more compact and well-arrayed layers were observed in the glutaraldehyde-treated grafts than in the fresh grafts. Conclusion: The glutaraldehyde-treated small-diameter pericardial arterial grafts showed a better endothelialization of the blood-contacting surface and a slower fragmentation of the collagen layers than the fresh grafts, although it has yet to be proven whether these differences are so significant as to affect the patency results between the groups.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.685-695
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• 2009

Background: Calcification is the most frequent cause of clinical failure of bioprosthetic tissues that are fabricated from Glutaraldehyde (GA)-fixed porcine valve or bovine pericardium. We recently used a multi-factorial approach of employing different mechanisms to investigate how to reduce the calcification of bioprosthetic tissues. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the synchronized synergism using ethanol, L-lysine and $NaBH_4$ in glutaraldehyde treated porcine pericardium from the standpoint of calcification and tissue elasticity. Material and Method: Porcine pericardium was fixed with 0.625% GA (commercial fixation). An interim step of ethanol (80%; 1 day at room temperature) or L-lysine (0.1 M; 2 days at $37^{\circ}C$) or $NaBH_4$ (0.1 M; 2 days at room temperature) was followed by completion of the GA fixation (2 days at $4^{\circ}C$ and 7 days at room temperature). The tensile strength and thickness of the samples were measured. The treated pericardiums were implanted subcutaneously into three-week old Sprague-Dawley rats for 8 weeks. The calcium content was assessed by atomic absorption spectroscopy and the histology of the samples. Result: The amount of calcium in the pericardium pretreated with ethanol (13.6${\pm}$10.0 ug/mg, p=0.008), L-lysine (15.3${\pm}$1.0 ug/mg, p=0.002) and both (16.1${\pm}$11.1 ug/mg, p=0.012) was significantly reduced compared with the control (51.2${\pm}$8.5 ug/mg). However, $NaBH_4$ pretreatment (65.7${\pm}$61.8 ug/mg, p=0.653) and combined pretreatment that including ethanol, L-lysine and $NaBH_4$ (92.9${\pm}$58.3 ug/mg, p=0.288) were not significantly different from the controls(51.2${\pm}$8.5 ug/mg). Both the combined pretreatment using ethanol and L-lysine (7.60${\pm}$1.55, p=0.76) and the combined pretreatment that included ethanol, L-lysine and $NaBH_4$ (7.47${\pm}$1.85, p=0.33) increased the tensile strength/thickness ratio compared with that of the controls (4.75${\pm}$1.88). Conclusion: The combined pretreatment using ethanol and L-lysine seemed to decrease the calcification of porcine pericardium fixed with glutaraldehyde, as compared to single pretreatment, and it increase the tissue elasticity, but to the degree that showed synchronized synergism. $NaBH_4$ pretreatment seemed to increase the calcification of porcine pericardium, irrespective of whether single or combined pretreatment was used.

• The Journal of KAIRB
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.19-27
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• 2021

Purpose: This study aimed to analyze the knowledge levels, attitudes, and factors affecting the choices on the education of the participants who completed their education of persons conducting clinical trial workers, and to assess the problems of the current education system for clinical trial workers, leading to improvements. Methods: Clinical trial workers (including principal investigators/subinvestigators, members of the Institutional Review Board [IRB], clinical research coordinators) who were affiliated to one of the 4 university hospitals running their own clinical trial center and IRB in Daegu and completed their education of persons conducting clinical trial workers were the subjects of this study. One hundred seven online questionnaires were answered from 2021-04-02 to 2021-04-17. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis were used to analyze the acquired data. Independent t-test and 1-way analysis of variance were used to analyze the differences in the knowledge levels and attitudes following the characteristics of the education participants. Results: The baseline characteristics of the 107 participants were as follows: the majority of the participants were female (72.0%), were in their 30s (36.4%), had a nursing major (29.0%), were clinical research coordinators (63.6%), had never experienced a principal investigator (79.4%), had participated 3 or more educations (58.9%), had completed their maintenance course (55.1%), had 5 or more years of clinical trial experiences (34.6%). The fields on which participants had low levels of objective knowledge were "types and preparations on audits of clinical trials," "regulations on clinical trials (Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, Korea Good Clinical Practice)." The difficulties that the participants faced were on "annual educations" and "lack of information regarding the educations." Factors that showed significant differences in objective knowledge were sex (p=0.02), number of educations (p=0.004), the curriculum of 2020 (p=0.001). Age (p=0.004), having experienced a principal investigator (p=0.006), number of educations (p<0.001), the curriculum of 2020 (p<0.001), clinical trial career (p=0.001) were factors that significantly affected subjective knowledge. Attitudes toward the education were positively correlated with objective knowledge (r=0.20, p=0.04) and subjective knowledge (r=0.32, p=0.001). Major sources through which information on educations was acquired were "institutional notices," and major factors affecting the choices on the education were "when the education took place" and "where the education took place." "Within the affiliated institution," "Online classes (recorded)" and "IRB and review processes" were each the most preferred place, mode, and content of the education. Conclusion: Knowledge levels varied largely among participants who completed their education of persons conducting clinical trial workers, depending on their characteristics such as the number of educations. Participants also complained about their lack of information on educations. The quality of education may be improved if clinical trial organizations are designated as education facilities. Education programs must be developed considering the knowledge level and demand of the participants. Furthermore, as offline classes may be impossible due to pandemics such as the coronavirus disease 2019, the development of diverse and sophisticated online classes is looked forward to.

• 한국사회정책
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.125-163
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• 2018

Social and health problems related to drinking are serious. Drinking behavior is affected not only by personal factors but also by environment factors. The purpose of this study is to find out how the alcoholic beverage stores in community influence the drinking behaviors of individuals after adjusting the individual level variables and provide it as basic data for alcohol related regulatory policies. In order to identify the factors affecting drinking behavior, we conducted a multilevel logistic regression analysis with high-risk drinking and current drinking as dependent variables. Individual-level data provided by 2015 community health survey from respondents of urban residents, and regional level data provided by the National Statistical office. The variables such as age, education level, and income level were used as individual level variables and the number of basic living allowances, divorce rate, and the number of pubs were used as community level variables. According to the research results, after controlling all variables, the number of bar, retail per $1km^2$ in residential area effect on current drinking. But, they are not effect on high risk drinking. In the high risk drinking, only the divorce rate effect on drinking behavior. As a result of the stratified analysis, there was no difference in the current drinking. But, it shows that the higher the number of retail stores and the total alcohol availability, the higher risk drinking behavior in the 60s. The results of this study suggest that policies aimed not only on individuals but also on the local environment are necessary.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.28-38
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• 2019

Objectives: We searched and reviewed the literature including the laws or acts, statistics, guidelines, papers and conference proceedings related to home visit nursing care in South Korea. Method: We searched and reviewed the literature including the laws or acts, statistics, guidelines, papers and conference proceedings related to home visit nursing care in Korea. Results: There are three types of home care nursing in Korea. Public health center provides home visit nursing to vulnerable population by registered nurses for free, based on community health act in public health center. As of 2017, 1,261,208 people were enrolled in the visiting health program of public health center. Health behavior and disease management has been improved and showed having cost-benefit effect among the enrolled people in visiting health program. Visiting nursing care in long-term care services is provided by registered nurses or nurse aid, based on long-term care act. The cost is paid as the unit price according to service time. 1,095,764 older people used long-term care services in 2017, only 0.2% of total cost used for home visiting nursing. Even though the number of user of home visiting nursing, it was reported that users spent less medical cost and hospitalized shorter. Hospital-based home care nursing is provided to patients and their families under the prescription of a doctor by family nurse specialists who are employed by medical institute based on medical law. Four hundred sixty family nurse specialists worked for hospital-based home care nursing and hospital-based home care services accounted for 0.038% of total medical expenses in 2017. Conclusion: Even though home visit nursing care services are different in aspect of legal basis, personnel, running institutes, and cost basis, home visit nursing care showed cost-benefit effect and good health outcomes. In order to advance home visit nursing care, the integrated home visiting care, improvement of working condition, and revision of legal basis should be considered.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.86-93
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• 2024

Since replication of plasmids must be strictly controlled, plasmids that generally perform rolling circle replication generally maintain a constant copy number by strictly controlling the replication initiator Rep at the transcriptional and translational levels. Plasmid pJB01 contains three orfs (copA, repB, repC or repABC) consisting of a single operon. From analysis of amino acid sequence, pJB01 CopA was homologous to the Cops, as a copy number control protein, of other plasmids. When compared with a CopG of pMV158, CopA seems to form the RHH (ribbon-helix-helix) known as a motif of generalized repressor of plasmids. The result of gel mobility shift assay (EMSA) revealed that the purified fusion CopA protein binds to the operator region of the repABC operon. To examine the functional role of CopA on transcriptional level, 3 point mutants were constructed in coding frame of copA such as CopA R16M, K26R and E50V. The repABC mRNA levels of CopA R16M, K26R and E50V mutants increased 1.84, 1.78 and 2.86 folds more than that of CopA wt, respectively. Furthermore, copy numbers owing to mutations in three copA genes also increased 1.86, 1.68 and 2.89 folds more than that of copA wt, respectively. These results suggest that CopA is the transcriptional repressor, and lowers the copy number of pJB01 by reducing repABC mRNA and then RepB, as a replication initiator.