A study on postpartum symptoms and their related factors in Korea

AbstractObjectiveThis study was aimed to identify the physical and mental state of women after delivery, to investigate the factors that influence those, and to examine the effects of postpartum care performance, which is traditionally believed to be appropriate care in Korea, on women's physical and mental status.Materials and MethodsA total of 148 women who visited our hospital for postpartum check-up on the 2nd week or 6th week after delivery were selected. We researched postpartum care methods using a questionnaire and had the women self-evaluate their postpartum symptoms. Depression was evaluated using the Beck Depression Inventory.ResultsThe average points of the 27 postpartum symptoms was 2.70 points (from 1 = very good to 5 = very bad). Seventy-two women had depression. Factors related to postpartum symptoms and depression were smoking before pregnancy, low marital satisfaction, bad mood during and after pregnancy, lack of support from husbands, and bad quality of sleep during puerperium. Treating the joints of hands carefully when milking breasts, and avoiding squatting down, demonstrated a negative correlation with the average points of postpartum symptoms. Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that mood during puerperium and Beck Depression Inventory points were significant factors related to the average points of postpartum symptoms and that the degree of support from husbands and mood during pregnancy were statistically related with depression.ConclusionMany women complained of postpartum discomfort. Although, while some postpartum care methods which are traditionally believed to be appropriate care in Korea can be helpful to women's recovery, most of them are not. We confirmed that physical symptoms and depression are closely related to each other

Estimation of HIV Seroprevalence in Colorectal Hospitals by Questionnaire Survey in Korea, 2002–2007

AbstractObjectivesThe incidence of anal disease is higher among persons with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection than among the general population. We surveyed the status of seroprevalence in colorectal hospitals in Korea.MethodsThe survey was conducted in colorectal hospitals in Korea from November to December 2008. The questionnaire was comprised of six topics about the status of HIV testing in colorectal hospitals. We gathered the data by website (http://hivqa.nih.go.kr/risk) or fax.ResultsAmong 774 colorectal hospitals contacted, 109 (14%) hospitals participated in the survey. Among these, 48 hospitals (44%) performed HIV tests in their own hospitals and 11 (23%) took HIV testing by rapid method. The main reason for recommending an HIV test was surgical operation (54%) followed by endoscope (11%) and health checkup (9%). The annual number of HIV tests increased from 58,647 (at 21 hospitals) in 2002 to 246,709 (at 58 hospitals) in 2007. HIV seroprevalence was >3.0 per 10,000 individuals during 2002–2005, decreased to 2.2 per 10,000 individuals in 2006 and rose to 2.8 per 10,000 individuals in 2007.ConclusionsHIV seroprevalence of colorectal hospitals was more than twice that of general hospitals in Korea. HIV surveillance systems based on colorectal hospitals for HIV/AIDS transmission prevention by early HIV diagnosis are needed

Effects of feeding ethanol on growth performances, carcass characteristics, and lipid metabolism of finishing Korean cattle (Hanwoo) steers

Objective The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of feeding ethanol on growth performances, carcass characteristics, and lipid metabolism of finishing Korean cattle (Hanwoo) steers. Methods Thirty (30) Hanwoo steers (average 25.1 months of age, body weight 660.1 kg) were assigned to three treatments: control (0% ethanol), E-3 (1.44% ethanol for 3 months), or E-5 (0.72% ethanol for 2 months followed by 1.44% ethanol for 3 months). The animals were allotted by treatment group into six pens and fed concentrate and perennial ryegrass. Ethanol (30%, v/v) was supplemented into drinking water twice a day to meet final concentrations based on average water consumption of finishing Hanwoo steers. Results There were no statistical differences among the groups in final body weight, average daily gain, or carcass yield grade indices such as cold carcass weight, fat thickness, and loin area. The marbling score tended (p = 0.228) to increase with the highest score (6.7) in the E-5 group followed by 6.3 and 6.0 in E-3 and control groups, respectively. The appearance frequencies of quality grades of 1++ (the best), 1+, 1, and 2, were; 30%, 50%, 0%, and 20% for control, 10%, 80%, 10%, and 0% for E-3, and 10%, 80%, 0%, and 10% for E-5 groups, respectively, indicating improvements of quality grades by feeding ethanol. Concentrations of serum glucose tended to decrease whereas those of insulin and non-esterified fatty acid to increase by feeding ethanol (E-3 and E-5; p>0.05). Conclusion Feeding ethanol directly into drinking water of finishing Hanwoo steers stimulated lipogenesis in intramuscular adipose tissue (marbling) and thereby improved carcass quality grade. The serum metabolites results supported the hypothesis of lipolysis of existing adipose tissue, such as abdominal fats, and lipogenesis in intramuscular adipocytes

Differences in the Fatty Acid Profile, Morphology, and Tetraacetylphytosphingosine-Forming Capability Between Wild-Type and Mutant Wickerhamomyces ciferrii

One tetraacetylphytosphingosine (TAPS)-producing Wickerhamomyces ciferrii mutant was obtained by exposing wild-type W. ciferrii to γ-ray irradiation. The mutant named 736 produced up to 9.1 g/L of TAPS (218.7 mg-TAPS/g-DCW) during batch fermentation in comparison with 1.7 g/L of TAPS (52.2 mg-TAPS/g-DCW) for the wild type. The highest production, 17.7 g/L of TAPS (259.6 mg-TAPS/g-DCW), was obtained during fed-batch fermentation by mutant 736. Fatty acid (FA) analysis revealed an altered cellular FA profile of mutant 736: decrease in C16:0 and C16:1 FA levels, and increase in C18:1 and C18:2 FA levels. Although a significant change in the cellular FA profile was observed, scanning electron micrographs showed that morphology of wild-type and mutant 736 cells was similar. Genetic alteration analysis of eight TAPS biosynthesis-related genes revealed that there are no mutations in these genes in mutant 736; however, mRNA expression analysis indicated 30% higher mRNA expression of TCS10 among the eight genes in mutant 736 than that in the wild-type. Collectively, these results imply that the enhancement of TAPS biosynthesis in mutant 736 may be a consequence of system-level genetic and physiological alterations of a complicated metabolic network. Reverse metabolic engineering based on system-level omics analysis of mutant 736 can make the mutant more suitable for commercial production of TAPS

Plant growth promotion and Penicillium citrinum

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Endophytic fungi are known plant symbionts. They produce a variety of beneficial metabolites for plant growth and survival, as well as defend their hosts from attack of certain pathogens. Coastal dunes are nutrient deficient and offer harsh, saline environment for the existing flora and fauna. Endophytic fungi may play an important role in plant survival by enhancing nutrient uptake and producing growth-promoting metabolites such as gibberellins and auxins. We screened roots of <it>Ixeris repenes </it>(L.) A. Gray, a common dune plant, for the isolation of gibberellin secreting endophytic fungi.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We isolated 15 endophytic fungi from the roots of <it>Ixeris repenes </it>and screened them for growth promoting secondary metabolites. The fungal isolate IR-3-3 gave maximum plant growth when applied to waito-c rice and <it>Atriplex gemelinii </it>seedlings. Analysis of the culture filtrate of IR-3-3 showed the presence of physiologically active gibberellins, GA₁, GA₃, GA₄and GA₇(1.95 ng/ml, 3.83 ng/ml, 6.03 ng/ml and 2.35 ng/ml, respectively) along with other physiologically inactive GA₅, GA₉, GA₁₂, GA₁₅, GA₁₉, GA₂₀and, GA₂₄. The plant growth promotion and gibberellin producing capacity of IR-3-3 was much higher than the wild type <it>Gibberella fujikuroi</it>, which was taken as control during present study. GA₅, a precursor of bioactive GA₃was reported for the first time in fungi. The fungal isolate IR-3-3 was identified as a new strain of <it>Penicillium citrinum </it>(named as <it>P. citrinum </it>KACC43900) through phylogenetic analysis of 18S rDNA sequence.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Isolation of new strain of <it>Penicillium citrinum </it>from the sand dune flora is interesting as information on the presence of <it>Pencillium </it>species in coastal sand dunes is limited. The plant growth promoting ability of this fungal strain may help in conservation and revegetation of the rapidly eroding sand dune flora. <it>Penicillium citrinum </it>is already known for producing mycotoxin citrinin and cellulose digesting enzymes like cellulase and endoglucanase, as well as xylulase. Gibberellins producing ability of this fungus and the discovery about the presence of GA₅will open new aspects of research and investigations.</p