Sexual activities and attitudes of adolescent Koreans

Data regarding the sexual behaviors of 849 Korean adolescents ( years) were collected. Behaviors reported for males vs. females were 36.5 vs. 27.0% for kissing, 27.2 vs. 14.8% for petting, and 22.9 vs. 9.8% for coitus. In addition to reporting a greater number of experiences, males reported a greater number of partners for all three behavior categories. Among those who participated in coitus, nearly one third of the males and two thirds of the females reported only one partner. Two thirds of the males considered their recent experiences with coitus to be satisfactory, whereas over half of the females gave a neutral response. About 37% of males and 55% of females reported that their most recent coital experience was less than a month ago. On average, the coitally active adolescents began sexual activity at about 18 years of age. Interpretations of these data must take into consideration the respondents' hesitancy in the Korean setting to admit to having sexual experiences. Because premarital sex for adolescents is considered very undesirable in the Korean social setting, the respondents' reporting bias might be in the direction of underreporting. Findings are discussed in the context of unplanned pregnancy and abortion. This investigation was supported by the Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction, World Health Organization, Project No. 91207 BSDA.     

Pharmacokinetics of intravenous chloramphenicol sodium succinate in adult patients with normal renal and hepatic function

The pharmacokinetics of chloramphenicol (CAP) and total chloramphenicol succinate (CAPS) were studied in eight hospitalized adult patients with normal renal and hepatic function receiving intravenous chloramphenicol sodium succinate therapy. The steady-state peak concentrations of CAP (8.4–26.0 g/ml) occurred at an average of 18.0 min (range 5.4–40.2) after cessation of the chloramphenicol sodium succinate infusion. Unhydrolyzed CAPS prodrug, representing 26.0±7.0% of the dose, was recovered unchanged in the urine indicating that the bioavailability of CAP from a dose of intravenous chloramphenicol succinate is not complete. A pharmacokinetic model was developed for simultaneous fitting of CAP and CAPS plasma concentration data. Pharmacokinetic parameters determined by simultaneous fitting were: V, 0.81±0.18 liters/kg; t_1/2, 3.20 ±1.02 hr; CL_B, 3.21±1.27 ml/min/kg for chloramphenicol; and V, 0.38±0.13 liters/kg; t_1/2, 0.57±0.12hr; CL_B, 7.72±1.87 ml/min/kg for total chloramphenicol succinate.Supported in part by Faculty Research Council Grant VF648 from the University of North Carolina.     

Diazepam metabolism in human foetal and adult liver

Summary Diazepam was metabolized by human foetal liver microsomes to N-desmethyldiazepam and N-methyloxazepam as early as the 13th week of gestation. The metabolic activity was lower than that of microsomes from adult human liver. Diazepam was shown mainly to be hydroxylated to N-methyloxazepam at substrate concentrations higher than 0.1 mM. Diazepam levels above 1.0 mM were inhibitory to the overall metabolic reaction. SKF 525-A inhibited diazepam metabolism by foetal liver microsomes at a concentration of 0.1 mM. The addition of diazepam to foetal and adult human liver microsomes resulted in a type II spectral change. Its inhibition by carbon monoxide indicated that biotransformation of diazepam was performed by the cytochrome P-450-linked mono-oxygenase system.     

p16和p15第二外显子HapⅡ位点在成人急性髓性白血病中的突变

目的　探讨p16和p15基因第二外显子HapⅡ位点在成人急性髓性白血病 (AML)中的突变。方法　用甲基敏感和甲基非敏感限制性内切酶切消化基因组DNA后 ,经PCR扩增和琼脂糖电泳研究 3 1例AML中无p16/p15基因第二外显子缺失的患者中HapⅡ位点的突变情况。结果　在 3 1例成人AML样本中 ,p16E2 的 4个HapⅡ位点和p15E2 的 6个HapⅡ位点均未发生突变。结论　本研究提示p16和p15基因第二外显子中因甲基化而引起的CCGG位点的突变在成人AML患者中不是主要失活方式。     

韩国留学生班的中药学教学

中药学是研究中药基础理论和临床应用的学科，是中医中药各专业的专业课、基础课和主干学科。结合延边大学医学院韩国留学生班的具体特点，强调重视实践，重视实验课；应用比较法、针对性提问等方式，激发学生的兴趣，强化记忆，探讨理想的中药学教学方法。     

Diagnosis of pneumothorax in critically ill adults

The diagnosis of pneumothorax is established from the patients' history, physical examination and, where possible, by radiological investigations. Adult respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia, and trauma are important predictors of pneumothorax, as are various practical procedures including mechanical ventilation, central line insertion, and surgical procedures in the thorax, head, and neck and abdomen. Examination should include an inspection of the ventilator observations and chest drainage systems as well as the patient's cardiovascular and respiratory systems.Radiological diagnosis is normally confined to plain frontal radiographs in the critically ill patient, although lateral images and computed tomography are also important. Situations are described where an abnormal lucency or an apparent lung edge may be confused with a pneumothorax. These may arise from outside the thoracic cavity or from lung abnormalities or abdominal viscera inside the chest.     

Impairment in short-term but enhanced long-term synaptic potentiation and ERK activation in adult hippocampal area CA1 following developmental thyroid hormone insufficiency.

Thyroid hormones are critical for the development and maturation of the central nervous system. Insufficiency of thyroid hormones during development impairs performance on tasks of learning and memory that rely upon the hippocampus and impairs synaptic function in young hypothyroid animals. The present study was designed to determine if perturbations in synaptic function persist in adult euthyroid animals exposed developmentally to insufficient levels of hormone. Pre- and postnatal thyroid hormone insufficiency was induced by administration of 3 or 10 ppm propylthiouracil (PTU) to pregnant and lactating dams via the drinking water from gestation day (GD) 6 until postnatal day (PN) 30. This regimen produced a graded level of hormonal insufficiency in the dam and the offspring. Population spike and population excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSP) were recorded at the pyramidal cell layer and the stratum radiatum, respectively, in area CA1 of hippocampal slices from adult male offspring. PTU exposure increased baseline synaptic transmission, reduced paired-pulse facilitation, and increased the magnitude of the population spike long-term potentiation (LTP). Phosphorylation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK1 and ERK2) was increased as a function of LTP stimulation in slices from PTU-exposed adult animals. On the other hand, no differences in the basal levels of synaptic proteins implicated in synaptic plasticity (total ERK, synapsin, growth-associated protein-43, and neurogranin) were detected. These results reinforce previous findings of persistent changes in synaptic function and, importantly extend these observations to moderate levels of thyroid hormone insufficiency that do not induce significant toxicity to the dams or the offspring. Such alterations in hippocampal synaptic function may contribute to persistent behavioral deficits associated with developmental hypothyroidism.     

Impacts of Informal Caregiver Availability on Long-term Care Expenditures in OECD Countries

Objective. To quantify the effects of informal caregiver availability and public funding on formal long-term care (LTC) expenditures in developed countries.
Data Source/Study Setting. Secondary data were acquired for 15 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries from 1970 to 2000.
Study Design. Secondary data analysis, applying fixed- and random-effects models to time-series cross-sectional data. Outcome variables are inpatient or home heath LTC expenditures. Key explanatory variables are measures of the availability of informal caregivers, generosity in public funding for formal LTC, and the proportion of the elderly population in the total population.
Data Collection/Extraction Method. Aggregated macro data were obtained from OECD Health Data, United Nations Demographic Yearbooks, and U.S. Census Bureau International Data Base.
Principal Findings. Most of the 15 OECD countries experienced growth in LTC expenditures over the study period. The availability of a spouse caregiver, measured by male-to-female ratio among the elderly, is associated with a $28,840 (1995 U.S. dollars) annual reduction in formal LTC expenditure per additional elderly male. Availability of an adult child caregiver, measured by female labor force participation and full-time/part-time status shift, is associated with a reduction of $310 to $3,830 in LTC expenditures. These impacts on LTC expenditure vary across countries and across time within a country.
Conclusions. The availability of an informal caregiver, particularly a spouse caregiver, is among the most important factors explaining variation in LTC expenditure growth. Long-term care policies should take into account behavioral responses: decreased public funding in LTC may lead working women to leave the labor force to provide more informal care.     

Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Korean fibromyalgia impact questionnaire in women patients with fibromyalgia for clinical research

Our aim was to translate and cross-culturally adapt the fibromyalgia impact questionnaire into Korean (KFIQ), and then evaluate its reliability and validity. The FIQ was translated into Korean by three translators and then independently translated back into English by three different translators. A total of 62 women patients with fibromyalgia (FM) were studied for the psychometric properties of the KFIQ. The mean age of the patients was 47.1 (25-73) years, and all were female. The mean KFIQ score was 48.3 (17-91), and the mean Korean health assessment questionnaire (KHAQ) score was 0.4 (0-1.7). The test-retest reliability of the KFIQ yielded an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.85 (0.53-0.96). For the construct validity, the Spearman rank correlations of KFIQ with patient global assessments using visual analog scale (pain, 0.58; morning stiffness, 0.45; fatigue, 0.48; depression, 0.43; anxiety, 0.56; global well-being, 0.46; disease severity, 0.49; impact on life, 0.51), KHAQ (0.44), and tender points (0.60) were high and statistically significant. The KFIQ might be a reliable and valid instrument for measuring health status and physical functioning in Korean women patients with FM, but needs further study.