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We investigated the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms of solute carrier family 6 member 11 (SLC6A11) (rs2304725, rs2272400, and rs2245532), SLC6A12 (rs216250 and rs557881) and SLC6A13 (rs2289954) with schizophrenia and its clinical symptoms. We found that rs216250 of SLC6A12 was correlated with the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) scores.

OBJECTIVE The authors investigated the current practice of intensive psychotherapy by residents in the department of psychiatry. METHODS We mailed a questionnaire to 126 fourth-year psychiatry residents in order to obtain data on their clients' sociodemographic characteristics, the settings in which psychotherapy is being conducted, the effects of psychotherapy, the difficulties associated with psychotherapy, the state of supervision and the level of clients' satisfaction. RESULTS Approximately 51.5% of the residents completed the questionnaires. The average number of clients was 4.9+/-3.8, the average number of psychotherapy sessions was 26.2+/-20.1, and 69.4% of the residents had performed insight-oriented psychotherapy. Approximately 69.8% of the fourth-year residents had received some form of supervision, and 58.7% agreed to increase the frequency of supervision. Approximately 74.2% of the cases were supervised. The average number of supervisions per case was 9.2+/-10.5. CONCLUSION The setting in which psychotherapy is conducted, number of clients, and type of supervision varied greatly among the training institutes surveyed. Based on these findings, we expect to create better psychotherapy training programs for psychiatric residents.

Recently, Sun et al (2008) reported that the IL6R polymorphism is associated with schizophrenia. Therefore, to detect the association between polymorphisms of interleukin 31 receptor A (IL31RA) and schizophrenia, we genotyped 9 SNPs [rs9292101 (intron 1), rs1009639 (exon 2, Pro43Pro), rs2161582 (intron 2), rs68761890 (intron 5), rs16884629 (intron 6), rs11956465 (intron 12), rs12153724 (intron 12), and rs16884641 (intron 14)] using the Golden Gate assay on Illumina BeadStation 500 GX. Two hundred eighteen patients with schizophrenia and 379 normal subjects were recruited. Patients with schizophrenia were diagnosed according to DSM-IV, and control subjects without history of psychiatric disorders were selected. We used SNPStats, Haploview, HapAnalyzer, SNPAnalyzer, and Helixtree programs for the evaluation of genetic data. Of nine polymorphisms, three SNPs (rs9292101, rs1009639, and rs11956465) were associated with schizophrenia. The rs9292101 and rs11956465 showed significant associations with the risk of schizophrenia in the codominant [rs9292101, odds ratio (OR)=0.74, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.58~0.95, p=0.017] and recessive (rs11956465, OR=0.64, 95% CI=0.42~0.96, p=0.034) models, respectively. The rs1009639 also was statistically related to schizophrenia in both codominant (OR=0.76, 95% CI=0.60~0.97, p=0.025) and dominant (OR=0.66, 95% CI=0.44~0.98, p=0.035) models. Two linkage disequilibrium (LD) blocks were made. In the analysis of haplotypes, a haplotype (GCT) in block 1 and a haplotype (CCACAG) in block 2 showed significant associations between schizophrenia and control groups (haplotype GCT, frequency=0.509, chi square=4.199, p=0.040; haplotype CCACAG, frequency=0.289, chi square=5.691, p=0.017). The results suggest that IL31RA may be associated with risk of schizophrenia in Korean population.

The purpose of this study is to suggest direction for future study of the energy-IT industry that will be used for framework to increase IT utilization in the energy industry. Recently, Green IT is a becoming global issue because of global environmental pollution. Also, IT roles in energy industry are becoming more important. However, the related studies were IT industry oriented that is not sufficient to make plan for Green energy. Therefore, after analyzing existing studies related to Green energy and Green IT, re-categorization for Green energy-IT industry was suggested. Direction of framework is based on energy industry that enable to link between energy and IT. The results of this study suggest comprehensive insight to Green energy-IT industry. Thus it is able to provide useful implications and guidelines to increase IT utilization in the energy industry., {"references":["KDB Research Institute, \"Environment and implications of eco-friendly Green IT: case of IT service industry,\" 2008.","Danish Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation, \"Green IT\naction plan,\" 2008.","Japan ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, \"Green IT initiative,\"\n2008.","S. Murugesan, \"Harnessing green IT: principles and practices,\" IT\nprofessional, vol. 10, pp. 24-29, 2008.","Gartner, \"Green IT: the new industry shock wave,\" Gartner Group, 2007.","Korea Ministry of Knowledge Economy, \"Development of strategy of\nGreen energy industry,\" 2008.","Korea Ministry of Knowledge Economy, \"National energy master plan\n2030,\" 2008.","Y. H. Kim, Y. J. Kim, M. Shon, and J. S. Jung, \"Reconceptualizing the\nconcept of edutainment,\" The Journal of Educational Information and\nMedia, vol. 14, pp. 173-192, 2008.","H. J. Lee, \"Green management and green IT,\" Journal of Electronics\nEngineers, vol. 35, pp. 43-55, 2008.\n[10] E. M. Lee and S. O. Lim, \"Regulation and response for promoting green\nIT,\" Information and Communications Policy, Korea Information Society\nDevelopment Institute, vol. 20, pp. 1-21, 2008.\n[11] IBM Korea, \"Strategy and plan for promoting green IT,\" 2008.\n[12] K. B. Lee, C. K. Park, and T. S. Yong, \"A comparative study on energy\nefficiency policies of EU and Korea by using Information Technology,\"\nInformation Policy, vol. 15, pp. 21-41, 2008.\n[13] New & Renewable Energy Center, (2009, 8, 1). Available:\nhttp://www.energy.or.kr/.\n[14] W. W. Lee, \"Direction of energy policy for green growth,\" Korea Research Institute for Human settlement, vol. 327, pp. 40-51, 2009.\n[15] S. Jacobsson and A. Johnson, \"The diffusion of renewable energy\ntechnology: an analytical framework and key issues for research,\" Energy\nPolicy, vol. 28, pp. 625-640, 2000.\n[16] KT Economic management Institute, \"Vision and strategy of green IT,\"\n2009."]}

Oral cholera vaccines consisting of killed whole cells have been available for many years, but they have not been used extensively in populations with endemic disease. An inexpensive, locally produced oral killed-whole-cell vaccine has been used in high-risk areas in Vietnam. To expand the use of this vaccine, it was modified to comply with WHO standards. We assessed the efficacy and safety of this modified vaccine in a population with endemic cholera.In this double-blind trial, 107 774 non-pregnant residents of Kolkata, India, aged 1 year or older, were cluster-randomised by dwelling to receive two doses of either modified killed-whole-cell cholera vaccine (n=52 212; 1966 clusters) or heat-killed Escherichia coli K12 placebo (n=55 562; 1967 clusters), both delivered orally. Randomisation was done by computer-generated sequence in blocks of four. The primary endpoint was prevention of episodes of culture-confirmed Vibrio cholerae O1 diarrhoea severe enough for the patient to seek treatment in a health-care facility. We undertook an interim, per-protocol analysis at 2 years of follow-up that included individuals who received two completely ingested doses of vaccine or placebo. We assessed first episodes of cholera that occurred between 14 days and 730 days after receipt of the second dose. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00289224.31 932 participants assigned to vaccine (1721 clusters) and 34 968 assigned to placebo (1757 clusters) received two doses of study treatment. There were 20 episodes of cholera in the vaccine group and 68 episodes in the placebo group (protective efficacy 67%; one-tailed 99% CI, lower bound 35%, p0.0001). The vaccine protected individuals in age-groups 1.0-4.9 years, 5.0-14.9 years, and 15 years and older, and protective efficacy did not differ significantly between age-groups (p=0.28). We recorded no vaccine-related serious adverse events.This modified killed-whole-cell oral vaccine, compliant with WHO standards, is safe, provides protection against clinically significant cholera in an endemic setting, and can be used in children aged 1.0-4.9 years, who are at highest risk of developing cholera in endemic settings.BillMelinda Gates Foundation, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Governments of South Korea, Sweden, and Kuwait.

The effect of methanol extract of gromwell in inducing weight loss in obese mice was assayed. DIO mice were induced with a high fat diet (45%) for 10 weeks. After 10 weeks of dietary manipulation, ...

PDGFRB is located on chromosome 5q31-q32, a chromosomal region identified by linkage analyses to contain a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia (SCZ). Recent research has focused on the role of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor in the pathogenesis of SCZ. D4 dopamine receptor-mediated transactivation of the gene encoding platelet-derived growth factor receptor beta (PDGFRB) has immediate effects on synaptic neurotransmission via calcium-dependent inactivation of NMDA receptors. In this study, we investigate the association between the PDGFRB gene and SCZ in a Korean population. We screened 6 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the 5'-upstream region of PDGFRB and conducted a case-control study of 381 SCZ patients and 752 controls. The genotype and haplotype frequencies of 3 of the 6 SNPs [SNP1 (g.-1924T>C, rs3756314), SNP3 (g.-1772A>G, rs3756312) and SNP4 (rs3756311, g.-1658G>A)] were significantly associated with SCZ [SNP1, corrected p=0.012 (co-dominant model), 0.002 (Dominant model), and 0.506 (Recessive model); SNP3 and 4, corrected p=0.003, 0.009, and 0.049]. Haplotype analysis also revealed that ht1 (CGG) and ht2 (TAA) were significantly associated with SCZ (ht1, corrected p=0.018, 0.340, and 0.010; ht2, corrected p=0.002, 0.009, and 0.016). Transient transfection in neuronal cells revealed that ht1 had higher luciferase activity than the vector alone. Furthermore, Pdgfrb expression was increased in the frontal cortex and hippocampus in a mouse model of SCZ induced by MK801. We conclude that SNPs of the 5'-upstream region of PDGFRB are associated with SCZ in a Korean population. These are weak positives that require future studies to confirm these results.

To further clarify schizophrenia (SCZ), disrupted in schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) is a promising candidate gene expressed predominantly within the hippocampus. Several lines of evidence suggest that DISC1 may be involved in susceptibility to SCZ. In this study, we investigated whether genetic polymorphisms in the coding region of DISC1 were associated with several SCZ clinical phenotypes in a Korean population. To examine any association between DISC1 and SCZ, we genotyped three clinical single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs3738401, R264Q; rs3738402, L465L; rs821616, S704C) in the coding region of the DISC1 gene using the Illumina Sentrix Array Matrix chip and direct sequencing in 303 patients with SCZ and 300 healthy controls. Our case-control analysis showed that none of these SNPs was associated with SCZ. In further endophenotype stratification, however, we found a significant association between rs821616 and the poor concentration subgroup of SCZ, determined using the Operational Criteria Checklist (codominant model, p = 0.015). Our results suggest that DISC1 may be a susceptibility gene for poor concentration among Korean patients with SCZ.

Background Although economic reforms have brought significant benefits, including improved health care to many Chinese people, accessibility to improved care has not been distributed evenly throughout Chinese society. Also, the effects of the uneven distribution of improved healthcare are not clearly understood. Evidence suggests that mortality is an indicator for evaluating accessibility to improved health care services. We constructed spatially smoothed risk maps for gender-specific adult mortality in an area of southern China comprising both urban and rural areas and identified ecological factors of gender-specific mortality across societies. Results The study analyzed the data of the Hechi Prefecture in southern in China. An average of 124,204 people lived in the area during the study period (2002–2004). Individual level data for 2002–2004 were grouped using identical rectangular cells (regular lattice) of 0.25 km2. Poisson regression was fitted to the group level data to identify gender-specific ecological factors of adult (ages 15– Conclusion We found a disparity in mortality rates between rural and urban areas in the study area in southern China, especially for adult men. There were also differences in mortality rates between poorer and wealthy populations in both rural and urban areas, which may in part reflect differences in health care quality. Spatial influences upon adult male versus adult female mortality difference underscore the need for more research on gender-related influences on adult mortality in China.

We aimed to evaluate the health effects of precarious employment based on a counterfactual framework, using the Korea Labor and Income Panel Survey data. At the 4th wave (2001), information was obtained on 1991 male and 1378 female waged workers. Precarious work was defined on the basis of workers employed on a temporary or daily basis, part-time, or in a contingent (fixed short-term) job. The outcome was self-rated health with five response categories. Confounding factors included age, marital status, education, industry and occupation of current employment, household income, residential area, and prior health status. Propensity scores for each individual to be a precarious worker were calculated from logistic models including those covariates, and based on them, precarious workers were matched to non-precarious workers. Then, we examined the effects of precarious employment on health and explored the potential intermediary variables, using ordered logistic Generalized Estimating Equations models. All analyses were performed separately by gender. Precarious workers were found to be in a lower socioeconomic position and to have worse health status. Univariate matched analyses showed that precarious employment was associated with worse health in both men and women. By further controlling for socio-demographic covariates, the odds ratios were attenuated but remained significant. Job satisfaction, especially as related to job insecurity, and monthly wage further attenuated the effects. This suggests that to improve health status of precarious workers in Korea, policy strategies need to tackle the channeling of the socially disadvantaged into precarious jobs. Also, regulations to eliminate discrimination against precarious workers in working conditions or material reward should be introduced and enforced. There is no doubt that job insecurity, which is pervasive among workers in Korea, should be minimized by suspending market-oriented labor policies which rely on quantitative flexibility.

In the IEEE 802.16 Wireless MAN standard, the best effort service class is ranked on the lowest position in priority and is assisted by a MAC scheme based on reservation ALOHA. The details of the MAC scheme, however, are not specified in the standard. In this paper, we present the rules for deciding the amount of resource to demand as well as the rules for deciding the amount of resource to grant. Combining these rules, we then construct candidate MAC schemes for the best effort service. In designing a MAC scheme for the best effort service, the throughput and delay performance must be considered since only scarce resource may be available after resource is preferably granted to other service classes. For the performance evaluation, we thus develop a numerical method to approximately calculate the throughput in the saturated environment. Using the approximation and simulation methods, we then investigate the throughput and delay performance exhibited by each candidate MAC scheme. From the numerical results, we observe that the exhaustive demand rule paired with the full grant rule shows superior performance.

Phase-III vaccine efficacy trials typically employ individually randomized designs intended to ensure that measurements of vaccine protective efficacy reflect only direct vaccine effects. As a result, decisions about introducing newly licensed vaccines into public health programmes often fail to consider the substantially greater protection that may occur when a vaccine is deployed in public health programmes, due to the combination of direct plus indirect vaccine protective effects. Vaccine total protection can be better evaluated with cluster randomized trials. Such a design was considered to generate policy relevant data to accelerate the rationale introduction of the licensed typhoid fever Vi polysaccharide (PS) vaccine in Asia by the Diseases of the Most Impoverished (DOMI) typhoid fever programme. The DOMI's programme multi-country study is one of the largest cluster randomized vaccine trials ever mounted in Asia, which includes approximately 200,000 individuals. Its main objective is to determine the effectiveness of a licensed Vi PS vaccine. The rationale and design of this study are discussed. Preliminary results are presented that determined the final planning of the trial before immunization. Important methodological and practical issues regarding vaccine cluster randomized designs are illustrated.

Background In the conduct of epidemiological studies in less developed countries, while great emphasis is placed on study design, data collection, and analysis, often little attention is paid to data management. As a consequence, investigators working in these countries frequently face challenges in cleaning, analyzing and interpreting data. In most research settings, the data management team is formed with temporary and unskilled persons. A proper working environment and training or guidance in constructing a reliable database is rarely available. There is little information available that describes data management problems and solutions to those problems. Usually a line or two can be obtained in the methods section of research papers stating that the data are doubly-entered and that outliers and inconsistencies were removed from the data. Such information provides little assurance that the data are reliable. There are several issues in data management that if not properly practiced may create an unreliable database, and outcomes of this database will be spurious. Results We have outlined the data management practices for epidemiological studies that we have modeled for our research sites in seven Asian countries and one African country. Conclusion Information from this model data management structure may help others construct reliable databases for large-scale epidemiological studies in less developed countries.

We assessed the long-term protection afforded by a killed whole-cell oral cholera vaccine produced in Vietnam. A mass immunization of children and adults with the killed whole-cell oral cholera vaccine was undertaken in half of the communes of Hue, Vietnam, in 1998; the remaining communes were immunized in 2000. No cholera was observed in Hue until 2003, when an outbreak of El Tor cholera made it possible to conduct a case-control study. The overall vaccine effectiveness 3-5 years after vaccination was 50% (9-63%). This low-cost, easily administered vaccine should be considered as a tool for the control of cholera.

This paper identifies spatial patterns and predictors of vaccine uptake in a cluster-randomized controlled trial in Hue, Vietnam. Data for this study result from the integration of demographic surveillance, vaccine record, and geographic data of the study area. A multi-level cross-classified (non-hierarchical) model was used for analyzing the non-nested nature of individual's ecological data. Vaccine uptake was unevenly distributed in space and there was spatial variability among predictors of vaccine uptake. Vaccine uptake was higher among students with younger, male, or not literate family heads. Students from households with higher per-capita income were less likely to participate in the trial. Residency south of the river or further from a hospital/polyclinic was associated with higher vaccine uptake. Younger students were more likely to be vaccinated than older students in high- or low-risk areas, but not in the entire study area. The findings are important for the management of vaccine campaigns during a trial and for interpretation of disease patterns during vaccine-efficacy evaluation.

Background Spatial filtering using a geographic information system (GIS) is often used to smooth health and ecological data. Smoothing disease data can help us understand local (neighborhood) geographic variation and ecological risk of diseases. Analyses that use small neighborhood sizes yield individualistic patterns and large sizes reveal the global structure of data where local variation is obscured. Therefore, choosing an optimal neighborhood size is important for understanding ecological associations with diseases. This paper uses Hartley's test of homogeneity of variance (Fmax) as a methodological solution for selecting optimal neighborhood sizes. The data from a study area in Vietnam are used to test the suitability of this method. Results The Hartley's Fmax test was applied to spatial variables for two enteric diseases and two socioeconomic determinants. Various neighbourhood sizes were tested by using a two step process to implement the Fmaxtest. First the variance of each neighborhood was compared to the highest neighborhood variance (upper, Fmax1) and then they were compared with the lowest neighborhood variance (lower, Fmax2). A significant value of Fmax1 indicates that the neighborhood does not reveal the global structure of data, and in contrast, a significant value in Fmax2 implies that the neighborhood data are not individualistic. The neighborhoods that are between the lower and the upper limits are the optimal neighbourhood sizes. Conclusion The results of tests provide different neighbourhood sizes for different variables suggesting that optimal neighbourhood size is data dependent. In ecology, it is well known that observation scales may influence ecological inference. Therefore, selecting optimal neigborhood size is essential for understanding disease ecologies. The optimal neighbourhood selection method that is tested in this paper can be useful in health and ecological studies.

PURPOSE: In South Korea, as growing the need of psychological support in disaster situation psychological assessment on stress after disaster is important to find out the factors affecting coping, and to plan intervention in the community. METHOD: The volunteers of Korea Redcross who live around K city, and the research team visited all homes at Jirye town, one of the high-impact area, 4 month after the typhoon. One of the family members who is over 18 years old, answered the self-report questionnaire composed of disaster experience, damage, exposure to traumatic event, and posttraumatic stress with IES-K (Impact of Event Scale-korea) He also, described his family members symptom related to re-experiencing, hyper-arousal, and avoidance. Six hundreds households were surveyed. RESULT: The prevalence of moderate to severe PTSD symptom was 36% of the subjects. The severity of PTSD was affected by gender, economic status and affected by damaged property, physical injury, worsening existing disease, getting infectious disease, amount of experienced traumatic event before disaster, warning, taking shelter, and subjects revealed differences in somatization as severity of PTSD. According to the description, community members had re-experiencing, hyper-arousal and avoidance. CONCLUSION: At a rural area, South Korea, community members have suffered from psychological distress after disaster. So psychological interventions are required as affecting factors and also to plan for warning and shelter in disaster situation is needed for preventing PTSD. Language: ko

In provisioning packet data service on wireless cellular networks, a scheme of altering connection status between mobile and base stations appeared intending to efficiently utilize resource during idle periods. In such a scheme, connection components are sequentially released as an idle period persists, while a transmission activity is resumed as a prescribed amount of traffic load is accumulated at the transmitting station. Before a transmission resume, however, latency depending on previous idle period is unavoidable to retrieve the lost connection components, which also produces a chain reaction in forthcoming idle period and connection retrieval time. An issue arising in design of the scheme is to determine a threshold value for load accumulation in conjunction with packet delay properties. A high threshold apparently incurs along stand-by to gather the prescribed traffic load before resuming transmission. On the other hand, such high threshold may shorten the length of upcoming idle period and reduce the consequent connection retrieval time by suppressing the release of connection components. In this paper, we thus investigate the antithetical effects of load threshold on packet delay performance. First, we generalize the connection retrieval time in consideration of the number of states and maximum sojourn times. Secondly, for general packet arrivals, we estimate average length of idle period and mean packet delay. In addition, we present an approximation method to calculate the moments of packet delay time for Poisson arrivals. Finally, we construct and solve a problem to find an optimal value for load threshold minimizing mean packet delay. From numerical examples, we find non-trivial optimal thresholds in the environments characterized by relatively long connection retrieval time and heavy traffic load.

The reduced incidence of cancer observed in schizophrenia patients may be related to differences in genetic background. It has been suggested that genetic predisposition towards schizophrenia is associated with reduced vulnerability to lung cancer, and p53 gene is one of the candidate genes. We tested the genetic association between schizophrenia and lung cancer by analyzing polymorphic sites in the p53 gene. Genotype and allele frequencies at two polymorphic sites in the p53 gene (BstUI and MspI restriction sites in exon 4 and intron 6, respectively) were studied in Korean schizophrenia (n=179) and lung cancer patients (n=104). Comparisons of the genotype and allele frequencies of the MspI polymorphism revealed significant differences between schizophrenia and lung cancer patients. The results suggest that the p53 polymorphism specifically found in schizophrenia patients may be associated with reduced vulnerability to lung cancer.

In provisioning packet data service on wireless cellular networks, a scheme of altering connection status between mobile and base stations appeared with an effort to utilize resource during idle periods. A critical issue in such scheme of sojourn and transition on the connection states is to determine a maximum time to sojourn at each state. An excessive sojourn time leads to resource invasion by inactive stations, while a high cost of re-establishing connection components is imposed by an insufficient sojourn. Thus, the maximum sojourn times must be optimized in consideration of the two conflicting arguments. In this paper, we consider a generic scheme of connection status transitions and formulate a decision problem to determine maximum sojourn times by introducing a loss function which reflects the conflicting arguments. From the decision problem, we derive an optimal value for maximum sojourn time, identified as Bayes rule, by observing the delay time of last packet to have posterior information about the length of upcoming idle period. From the analytical results, we show the optimal sojourn time is trivial under a constraint on loss coefficients when packet arrivals follow a Poisson process.

Real, perceived and unknown adverse events secondary to vaccinations are a source of concern for care providers of children. In the USA large linked databases have provided helpful information regarding the safety of vaccines. Very little prospectively collected data on vaccine safety is available from resource poor countries, but safety concerns may be even more relevant in such settings. Vaccine manufacturers do not have to pass the same rigorous safety standards as vaccine manufacturers in rich countries. Vaccines, which protect against cholera, Japanese encephalitis, rabies or typhoid fever are predominantly used in resource poor, tropical countries and frequently do not undergo vigorous post marketing surveillance. New vaccines specifically suited for resource poor countries are sometimes marketed without the scrutiny of vigilant, independent regulatory authorities. We describe here the design and implementation of a large linked database for a semi-rural province in central Vietnam. The design overcomes several problems inherent in data bases of medical events and vaccinations in developing countries. Assigning a permanent identification (ID) number to each resident avoids the ambiguities of ID numbers based on the address. The distribution and use of medical identification cards with a permanent ID number assists in the unambiguous identification of vaccinees and patients. Medical records of all admissions are coded according to International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) and transcribed into a computer system. Because these processes are novel the data collected by the study will be validated. Project staff will check records on vaccinations and hospital admissions through household visits at regular intervals. Data describing vaccinations and medical events are linked to the data collected by the project staff in a computer system. Based on the validation of the data we hope to optimize this model. Once we find the model working it is planned export this vaccine data safety link to other settings of similar economic status.

In the analysis of repeated measurements, multivariate methods which account for the correlations among the observations from the same experimental unit are widely used. Two commonly-used multivariate methods are the unstructured multivariate approach and the mixed model approach. The unstructured multivariate approach uses MANOVA types of models and does not require assumptions on the covariance structure. The mixed model approach uses multivariate linear models with random effects and requires covariance structure assumptions. In this paper, we describe the characteristics of tests based on these two methods of analysis and investigate the performance of these tests. We focus particularly on tests for group effects and parallelism of response profiles.

To determine whether the p53 expression might be a predictor for treatment response and overall survival in nodal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), we analyzed the expression of p53 in 69 NHL patients. p53 protein expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry with long-term follow up (1-148 months: median 12.2). p53 expression was noted in 23/69 (33.3%) patients. Complete response (CR) rate to systemic chemotherapy was correlated with stage (I/II) (p=0.038), but not with p53 expression (p=0.2856). Poor overall survival was associated with stage (p=0.0010) or IPI score (p=0.0076), but not with p53 expression (p=0.8601). From stratification analysis by stage, in stage III/IV patients, the p53 positive group had a trend to be associated with poor overall survival than the p53 negative group. Multivariate analysis revealed that p53 positive group was associated with less CR rate compared to the p53 negative group (p=0.046), whereas overall survival was correlated with stage (p=0.0320), not with p53 status. p53 expression was associated with less CR rate in patients with DLBL. Further studies with large numbers of samples and homogenous group of NHL are needed to determine the prognostic value of cell cycle regulator, p53 in NHL.

Background: The current health promotion programs lack education on nutrition. This study was conducted to assess the effect of exercise and nutrition education program on physical fitness, dietary habits and nutrition intake status of adolescents. Methods: This intervention program was composed of exercise (twice a week) and 10 educational sessions on nutrition (once every three weeks) for 40 weeks, except for during summer vacation. Seventy three male students from 2 middle schools located in Seoul and Bucheon were enrolled. Anthropometric measurements, physical fitness, dietary habits and nutritional intake status were measured before and after the intervention. Results: Mean height, weight and lean body mass were increased but waist circumference was reduced at post-intervention compared with pre-intervention. Cardiorespiratory endurance, flexibility, muscular endurance, muscular strength and power were significantly increased after the program. Also, continuous and systematic educational program on nutrition contributed to improved dietary habits among participants. Conclusion: The exercise and education on nutrition had a positive effect on physical fitness and dietary habits of participants.

Bisphosphonate generally seems to be safe, but hypocalcemia may occasionally develop in the course of bisphosphonate treatment. Hypocalcemia induced by bisphosphonate is usually mild and asymptomatic, but unrecognized or poorly treated hypocalcemia can lead to life-threatening state. A 78-year-old woman who had a history of hip arthroplasty and intravenous zoledronate treatment for femur neck fracture was presented to emergency department with altered mental status. It turned out that her symptom was due to severe hypocalcemia which was caused by intravenous zoledronate treatment. She also had renal dysfunction. She was treated by intravenous calcium gluconate and calcitriol administration. This case supports the need for evaluation of renal dysfunction, vitamin D deficiency and parathyroid gland dysfunction before bisphosphonate treatment and accurate monitoring of plasma calcium and creatinine levels. In addition, vitamin D and calcium supply during treatment with bisphosphonate is mandatory.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether a water extract of L. cladonioides (LC) has an anti-obesity effect in 3T3-L1 cells and obese mice. Treatment of differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes with LC caused a significant increase in glycerol release and reduced the protein expression of the adipogenic transcription factors, PPARγ and C/EBPα. In an animal model, obese mice were artificially induced by a high fat diet for 10 weeks. Experimental groups were treated with LC (100 mg/kg/day) by gavage for the next 10 weeks. At the end of experiment, the body weight of the LC group mice was reduced by 14.2% compared to the high fat diet (HFD) group. The treatment also decreased liver (31.0%), epididymal (18.0%) and retroperitoneal (19.3%) adipose tissue, and kidney (6.7%) weights, respectively, compared with those of the HFD group. LC prevented diet-induced increases in the serum level of TC (22.6%), TG (11.6%), and glucose (35.0%), respectively, compared with the HFD group. However, the HDL-C level was higher in the LC group (26.1%) than the HFD group. The results of this study thus suggest that LC suppressed lipid accumulation and expression of adipogenic transcription factors, and increased the amount of glycerol release. LC also indicated an anti-obese and anti-hyperlipidemic effect.

Arachidonic acid (AA), an essential polyunsaturated fatty acid, is one of the major components of neural membranes, which show an altered phospholipid composition in schizophrenia. Arachidonate 12-lipoxygenase (ALOX12), an important enzyme, metabolizes AA to 12-HPETE, which affects catecholamine synthesis. However, research has yet to show the genetic association between ALOX12 and schizophrenia. Therefore, we investigated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of the ALOX12 gene in schizophrenia, recruiting patients with schizophrenia (n = 289) and normal controls (n = 306) from a Korean population. We selected three SNPs (rs1126667, rs434473, and rs1042357) of the ALOX12 gene and genotyped them by direct sequencing. We reviewed the schizophrenic patients' medical records and assessed them clinically using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS), and the Operational Criteria Checklist (OPCRIT). Then we statistically analyzed the genetic associations between the SNPs and schizophrenia, finding a genetic association between both rs1126667 and rs1042357 and schizophrenia, in the recessive model (p = 0.015 and 0.015, respectively). We also found an association between rs434473 and negative symptoms, defined through a factor analysis of the OPCRIT data (p = 0.040). Consequently, we suggest that SNPs of the ALOX12 gene might be associated with schizophrenia and negative symptoms in this Korean population. These weak positives require additional study.

Background Wingless-type MMTV integration site family member 2 (WNT2) has a potentially important role in neuronal development; however, there has yet to be an investigation into the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of WNT2 and schizophrenia. This study aimed to determine whether certain SNPs of WNT2 were associated with schizophrenia in a Korean population. Methods e genotyped 7 selected SNPs in the WNT2 gene region (approximately 46 Kb) using direct sequencing in 288 patients with schizophrenia and 305 healthy controls. Results Of the SNPs examined, one SNP showed a weak association with schizophrenia (p = 0.017 in the recessive model). However, this association did not remain statistically significant after Bonferroni correction. Conclusion The present study does not support a major role for WNT2 in schizophrenia. This could be due to the size of the population. Therefore, additional studies would be needed to definitively rule out the gene's minor effects.

Household-level geographic information systems (GIS) database are usually constructed using the geographic positioning system (GPS). In some research settings, GPS receivers may fail to capture accurate readings due to structural barriers such as tall buildings. We faced this problem when constructing a household GIS database for research sites in Karachi, Pakistan because the sites are comprised of congested groups of multi-storied building and narrow lanes. In order to overcome this problem, we used high resolution satellite imagery (IKONOS) to extract relevant geographic information. The use of IKONOS satellite imagery allowed us to construct an accurate household GIS database, which included the size and orientation of the houses. The GIS database was then merged with health data, and spatial analysis of health was possible. The methodological issues introduced in this paper provide solutions to the technical barriers in constructing household GIS database in a heavily populated urban setting.