• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 1997

Eucalyptus is a rich source of biologically active compounds. Among these, phloroglucinol compounds such as sideroxylonals, macrocarpals, euglobals, and robustadials are unique to Eucalyptus species. Sideroxylonal A is a very potent attachment-inhibitor. Macrocarpals show very strong antibacterial activity against gram positive bacteria. Macrocarpals also show HIV-RTase inhibitory activity. Euglobals are potent inhibitors of Epstein-Barr virus activation and are developed as skin and antitumor agents. They also show granulation inhibitory activity. In this review we aim to remove the existing confusion in literature on macrocarpals and discuss the biological activities and structure-activity relationships of phloroglucinol compounds.

• The Journal of Korean Society of Virology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.359-368
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• 1998

Cytomegalovirus is the most common cause of life-threatening viral infection in HIV-infected patients. This study was done prospectively to investigate the incidence of CMV infection according to the decrease of CD4+ T cell count (CD4+) in Korean AIDS patients. Thirty-nine HIV-infected patients diagnosed before 1994 were followed for regular immunological monitoring. We have used urine shell vial method for the CMV detection from 1994 and have also checked clinical findings. Positive urine culture rate definitely depended on the CD4+ as follows; 45%, 22%, 17%, 11% and 0%, CD4+ <50, 50-100, 100-200, 200-500 and >500, respectively. Except culture positive 2 patients with CD4+ of $200{\sim}300/{\mu}l$, all eight culture positive patients with CD4+ less than $200/{\mu}l$ showed CMV related diseases on or before urine culture. But, we could not get a positive culture for a late AIDS patient with vision loss. With ganciclovir therapy, all culture results were at least negative just after or on late of first 14 days-ganciclovir infusion-course. These data suggest that the incidence of CMV disease in Korean AIDS patients is very high, and early diagnosis and treatment for CMV diseases is required for the prevention of life threatening results.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.68 no.4
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• pp.218-225
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• 2010

Background: Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is a useful technique to recover lower airway fluid and cells involved in many respiratory diseases. Miliary tuberculosis is potentially lethal, but the clinical manifestations are nonspecific and typical radiologic findings may not be seen until late in the course of disease. In addition, invasive procedures are often needed to confirm disease diagnosis. This study analyzed the cells and the T-lymphocyte subset in BAL fluid from patients with miliary tuberculosis to determine specific characteristics of BAL fluid that may help in the diagnosis of miliary tuberculosis, using a less invasive procedure. Methods: On a retrospective basis, we enrolled 20 miliary tuberculosis patients; 12 patients were male and the mean patient age was $40.5{\pm}16.2$ years. We analyzed differential cell counts of BAL fluid and the T-lymphocyte subset of BAL fluid. Results: Total cells and lymphocytes were increased in number in the BAL fluid. The percentage of CD4+ Tlymphocytes and the CD4/CD8 ratio in BAL fluid were significantly decreased and the percentage of CD8+ T-lymphocytes was relatively higher. These findings were more prominent in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In the HIV-infected patients, the proportion of lymphocytes was significantly higher in BAL fluid than in peripheral blood. There were no significant differences between the BAL fluid and the peripheral blood T-lymphocytes subpopulation. Conclusion: BAL fluid in patients with miliary tuberculosis demonstrated lymphocytosis, a lower percentage of CD4+ T-lymphocytes, a higher percentage of CD8+ T-lymphocytes, and a decreased CD4/CD8 ratio. These findings were more significant in HIV-infected subjects.

• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.63-83
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• 2008

Objectives: This study was to examine HIV/AIDS knowledge of transmission, attitudes toward homosexuals on stigma of HIV/AIDS and discriminatory attitudes towards person with HIV/AIDS (PWHAs) by middle and high school students in Seoul, Korea. Methods: The population of this study is middle and high school students in Seoul, Korea. Eight junior high schools and eight senior high schools were selected randomly. Three thousand and one hundred thirty-one students (1704 males and 1397 males) from 16 schools participated in the survey, and 2.977 cases were analyzed. A self-administered questionnaire measuring socio-demographic variables, HIV/AIDS knowledge of transmission, sigma of HIV/AIDS (3 items, 5-point Likert-type scale) and discriminatory attitudes PWHAs (5 items, 5-point Likert-type scale) was utilized. The Structural Equation Modeling was employed to investigate the research Model. Results: The empirical study shows that a number of statistical hypotheses are significant. The stigma and discriminatory attitudes PWHAs were significantly different by middle and high school students. The attitudes toward homosexuals and HIV/AIDS knowledge of transmission were important factors on stigma and discriminatory attitudes PWHAs. Socio-demographical variables such as sex was related to the stigma and discriminatory attitudes PWHAs. Conclusion: Therefore, it is important to design HIV prevention strategies that increase in positive attitudes towards PWHAs.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.221-227
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• 2013

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV) cause viral infections that lead to chronic diseases. When they invade human body, virus specific T cells play an important role in antiviral effector functions including killing virus-infected cells and helping B cells to produce specific antibodies against viral proteins. The antiviral activity of T cells is usually affected by immune-regulatory factors that express on surface of T cells. Recently, many researchers have investigated the relationship between effector functions of virus specific T cells and characteristics of immune regulatory factors (e.g., CD28, CD25, CD45RO, FoxP3, PD-1, CTLA-4). In particular, Immune inhibitory molecules such as forkhead box P3 (FoxP3), programmed death-1 (PD-1), and cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) are associated with T-cell dysfunction. They are shown to be up-regulated in chronic viral diseases such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C or human immunodeficiency virus infection. Therefore, the positive correlation between viral persistence and expression of immune regulatory factors (FoxP3, PD-1, and CTLA-4) has been suggested. In this review, the roles of immune regulatory factors FoxP3, PD-1, and CTLA-4 were discussed in chronic viral diseases such as HIV, HBV, or HCV.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.394-405
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• 2016

Objectives: The survival outcomes of antiretroviral treatment (ART) programs have not been systematically evaluated at the state level in India. This retrospective study assessed the survival rates and factors associated with survival among adult human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients in Andhra Pradesh, India. Methods: The present study used data from 139 679 HIV patients aged ${\geq}15$ years on ART who were registered from 2007 to 2011 and were followed up through December 2013. The primary end point was death of the patient. Mortality densities (per 1000 person-years) were calculated. Kaplan-Meier and Cox-regression models were used to estimate survival and explore the factors associated with survival. Results: The overall median follow-up time was 16.0 months (2.0 months for the deceased and 14.0 months for those lost to follow-up). Approximately 13.2% of those newly initiated on ART died during follow-up. Of those deaths, 56% occurred in the first three months. The crude mortality rate was 80.9 per 1000 person-years at risk. The CD4 count (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR],4.88; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.36 to 5.46 for < $100cells/mm^3$ vs. > $350cells/mm^3$), functional status (aHR, 3.05; 95% CI, 2.82 to 3.30 for bedridden vs. normal), and body weight (aHR, 3.69; 95% CI, 3.42 to 3.97 for <45 kg vs. >60 kg) were strongly associated with the survival of HIV patients. Conclusions: The study findings revealed that high mortality was observed within the first three months of ART initiation. Patients with poor baseline clinical characteristics had a higher risk of mortality. Expanded testing and counseling should be encouraged, with the goal of ensuring early enrollment into the program followed by the initiation of ART in HIV-infected patients.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.201-211
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• 1997

This study was an evaluation study of AIDS education program. The purpose of this study was to clarify the education effects on AIDS for health care workers to develop a better next education program. This study was done by self reporting with a 67 items of structured questionnaire by 431 health care workers included doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians, and health educators. Data were collected at the time of completion of each AIDS education with the help of education program manager. Both the AIDS related knowledge score and the acceptance attitudes score were significantly higher in the male group, in the medical institution employer group, in the group who have met the HIV infected person, who has known the HIV positive person, and the group of laboratory technician, but the AIDS prevention intention score was statistically higher in the group of female and laboratory technician group. The post education scores of AIDS related knowledge. acceptance attitudes, and preventive intention were statistically higher than those of the preeducation. The most increased item among AIDS prevention intention list was 'I will provide the meeting between the HIV infected persons and the public (+21.9%)'. But even the decreased item among AIDS prevention intention list was 'I will advice to female not to have extra marital sexual contact to avoid AIDS(-3.1%)'. It could be concluded that the health care workers were ignorant of vertical transmission of AIDS, they were afraid of disclosing the infection status, and have less AIDS prevention intention. Therefore it is needed to take an assessment process before each new education trategy to increase AIDS related the effect of the education on AIDS.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.43 no.3 s.135
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• pp.111-114
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• 2005

The present study investigated the prevalence rate of Cryptosporidium parvum as a cause of diarrhea. We examined 942 stools of unidentified reasons occurring in patients in whom no immunosuppression had been detected. We examined the stools for Cryptosporidium parvum via modified acid-fast staining. The clinical records of all of the positive patients were then analyzed. Nine ($1\%$) of the stools among the 942 diarrheal patients were positive for C. parvum. The positive rate in the males was $1.1\%$ (6/522) and the positive rate of the females was $0.7\%$ (3/420). Age distribution revealed that the highest positive rates were in patients in their sixties, with a positive rate of $2.5\%$ (4/158). In the clinical tests, levels of c-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rates, and neutrophil proportions were normally increased in the peripheral blood, whereas the lymphocyte proportion exhibited a tendency towards decrease. The pathological findings were compatible with an inflammatory reaction in the host.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.64 no.8
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• pp.415-421
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• 2021

Background: Antibiotic resistance is associated with longer hospitalizations, higher treatment costs, and increased morbidity and mortality rates. Purpose: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Iranian children. Methods: International databases, including Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, and Scopus, and Iranian databases, including Scientific Information Database (www.sid.ir), Magiran, and Iranian Database for Medical Literature (idml.research.ac.ir), were systematically searched for articles published between January 2000 and August 2019. Sources of heterogeneity were determined using subgroup analysis and meta-regression. Results: Overall, 343 studies were identified; of them, 20 were included in the meta-analysis to estimate the pooled prevalence. The pooled prevalence of MRSA was 42% (95% confidence interval [CI], 29-55) among culture-positive cases of S. aureus, 51% (95% CI, 39-62) in hospitalized children, and 14% (95% CI, 0.05-27) in healthy children. Conclusion: The overall pooled prevalence of MRSA in children was 42%. Appropriate infection control measures and effective antibiotic therapy are needed.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.14-22
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine the knowledge, attitudes and prevention behavior to AIDS of nurses. Method: The subject of this study were 217 nurses in Busan. Data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation, and Scheffe's test. Results: Total knowledge of AIDS(mean score was 6.71 out of 12) was average. Total attitudes of AIDS(mean score was 13.16 out of 25)was average. Prevention behaviors were above average(mean score was 57.63 out of 75). According to the results of analyzing the difference between general characteristics of the subject and AIDS related knowledge, attitudes and prevention behaviors, a significant difference was present with religion(p<.05) in attitudes score; with age(p<.001), marital status(p<.001), education level(p<.05), position(p<.05) and clinical experience(p<.05) in prevention behaviors. According to the results of analyzing the difference between AIDS related characteristics of the subject and AIDS related knowledge, attitudes and perceived behaviors, a significant difference was present with experience in taking care of HIV/AIDS patients(t=2.19, p<.05) in attitudes score; and experience in HIV positive after care(t=-2.64, p<.01) and general nursing training about AIDS(t=2.23, p<.01). There was a positive correlation among knowledge score and attitudes score(r=.170, p<.05). Conclusion: These findings suggested that AIDS education and training programs should be developed and run for nurses. Expecially, health education related with AIDS is needed in young and less experienced nurses. In following such a program, there will be greater compliance with prevention behaviors. Furthermore, it is necessary to provide work-related guidelines regarding AIDS for nurses.