Effects of Progressive Muscle Relaxation Therapy in Colorectal Cancer Patients.

This study aimed to examine the effect of progressive muscle relaxation therapy (PMRT) on cortisol level, the Stress Arousal Checklist (SACL) score, blood pressure, and heart rate in colorectal cancer patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery. Forty-six patients were divided into control and experimental groups. Cortisol levels, blood pressure, and heart rate were measured before surgery and between 8:00 and 11:00 a.

Effect of alcohol consumption on peripheral blood Alu methylation in Korean men.

Alcohol use disorders (AUD) are defined as alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence, which create a substantial public health problem worldwide. To date, no therapeutic can effectively solve these problems. They are complex diseases characterized by both genetic and environmental factors.

[Effect and Path Analysis of Laughter Therapy on Serotonin, Depression and Quality of Life in Middle-aged Women].

Purpose: This study was done to examine how laughter therapy impacts serotonin levels, QOL and depression in middle-aged women and to perform a path analysis for verification of the effects.

Methods: A quasi-experimental study employing a nonequivalent control group and pre-post design was conducted. Participants were 64 middle-aged women (control=14 and experimental=50 in 3 groups according to level of depression).

Increased methylation of interleukin 6 gene is associated with obesity in Korean women.

Obesity is the fifth leading risk for death globally, and a significant challenge to global health. It is a common, complex, non-malignant disease and develops due to interactions between the genes and the environment. DNA methylation can act as a downstream effector of environmental signals; analysis of this process therefore holds substantial promise for identifying mechanisms through which genetic and environmental factors jointly contribute to disease risk.

[Predictors of hospitalization for alcohol use disorder in Korean men].

Purpose: This study was done to identify the patterns and significant predictors influencing hospitalization of Korean men for alcohol use disorder.

Methods: A descriptive study design was utilized. Data were collected using self-report questionnaires from 143 inpatients who met the DSM-5 alcohol use disorder criteria and were receiving treatment and 157 social drinkers living in the community.

[Implementation of ontology-based clinical decision support system for management of interactions between antihypertensive drugs and diet].

Purpose: The influence of dietary composition on blood pressure is an important subject in healthcare. Interactions between antihypertensive drugs and diet (IBADD) is the most important factor in the management of hypertension. It is therefore essential to support healthcare providers' decision making role in active and continuous interaction control in hypertension management.

Effect of body mass index on global DNA methylation in healthy Korean women.

Obesity is known to be strongly associated with cardiovascular disease and cancer, the leading causes of mortality worldwide, and develops owing to interactions between genes and the environment. DNA methylation can act as a downstream effector of environmental signals, and analysis of this process therefore holds substantial promise for identifying mechanisms through which genetic and environmental factors jointly contribute to disease risk. Global DNA methylation of peripheral blood cells has recently been proposed as a potential biomarker for disease risk.

An Effect of Optimism, Self-esteem and Depression on Laughter Therapy of Menopausal Women.

Purpose: This study examines the difference of optimism, self-esteem and depression to verify an effect of laughter therapy program for menopausal women.

Methods: A quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group pre / post-test design was used. The participants (n=57) were 28 in the experimental group and 29 in the control group.

Hypomethylation of the thymosin β(10) gene is not associated with its overexpression in non-small cell lung cancer.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide and is usually associated with a late diagnosis and a poor prognosis. Thymosin β(10) (TMSB10) is a monomeric actin sequestering protein that regulates actin cytoskeleton organization. The aberrant TMSB10 expression has been implicated in the pathogenesis of human cancers.

Hypermethylation of growth arrest DNA-damage-inducible gene 45 in non-small cell lung cancer and its relationship with clinicopathologic features.

The growth arrest DNA-damage-inducible protein 45 (GADD45) can serve as a key coordinator of the stress response by regulating cell cycle progression, genomic stability, DNA repair, and other stress-related responses. Although deregulation of GADD45 expression has been reported in several types of human tumors, its role in lung cancer is still unknown. DNA hypermethylation of promoter CpG islands is known to be a major mechanism for epigenetic inactivation of tumor suppressor genes.

An improved auto-generation system to obtain reference intervals for laboratory medicine.

Objectives: Reference values are highly required parameters for all tests in the clinical laboratory, and the supplementary provision of reliable reference intervals is an important task for both clinical laboratories and diagnostic test manufacturers. Despite the progress that has been made in the conceptual aspects of reference intervals, in practice their use is still not completely satisfactory. Most of the laboratories have used various methods to calculate statistic-based reference intervals, and they have mainly focused on extracted data, yet its use is considerably limited.

Adoption of a PDA-based home hospice care system for cancer patients.

This study describes a systematic and efficient point-of-care home hospice information system, which can effectively manage patient information and can easily be incorporated into a home hospice service using wired and/or wireless communications and mobile computing technology. To help with the design of a portable home hospice information system, we analyzed the services provided by visiting nurses and the opinions of users, based on the 2005 Guidelines for Cancer Patient Management Program of the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea. We performed a service trial with three experienced visiting nurses.

Epigenetic inactivation of Homeobox A5 gene in nonsmall cell lung cancer and its relationship with clinicopathological features.

Promoter methylation is an important mechanism in gene silencing and is a key epigenetic event in cancer development. Homeobox A5 (HOXA5) is a master regulator of the morphogenesis and cell differentiation to be implicated as a tumor suppressor gene in breast cancer, but its role in lung cancer is still unknown. In this study, we have investigated the methylation status of the promoter region of the HOXA5 gene in nonsmall cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) using nested and standard methylation-specific PCR (MSP) and correlated the methylation status with clinicopathological features.

Hypermethylation of the Ras association domain family 1A (RASSF1A) gene in gallbladder cancer.

The tumor suppressor gene Ras association domain family 1A (RASSF1A) is highly methylated in a wide range of human sporadic tumors. The current study investigated the hypermethylation of RASSF1A, the expression of RASSF1A protein, and the correlation between these and the clinicopathological features of gallbladder (GB) cancer in Korean patients. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumors and non-neoplastic GB tissues (22 carcinomas, 8 adenomas, 26 normal epithelia) were collected from patients who had undergone surgical resection.

[Transmission aspect of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the neurosurgical intensive care unit by analysing genotype].

Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify the present situation of hospital infection and route of infection by clarifying the transmission aspect of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) in a Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit by analysing genotype.

Methods: MRSA was cultured from twenty five patients with a tracheostomy, twenty five health care workers, and environments in the Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit of one hospital in D city. Data was collected from December 21, 2004 to November 5, 2005.

[The effects of the ulmus root-bark dressing in tissue regeneration of induced pressure ulcers in rats].

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the ulmus root-bark dressing on tissue regeneration in experimentally-induced pressure ulcers in rats.

Method: A randomized pretest/post-test control group time-series study design was used. Thirty-three male Sprague-Dawley rats were used in this study.

Imaging findings in a case of epidermal inclusion cyst arising within the breast parenchyma.

Epidermal inclusion cysts rarely occur in the breast, but when they do, the consequences can be severe. Here, we report the case of a 23-year-old woman who presented with a palpable mass in the right breast. The mass had persisted for 4 years and had been causing pain for 1 month at the time of the patient's presentation.