ABSTRACT
Purpose@#To identify the importance and performance levels of health management duties, work-related and general attributes of health managers in medical institutions and analyze their impact on the performance of managing health-care related tasks. @*Methods@#This research identified the performance levels of 150 health managers who have been executing industrial health-related duties for more than six months as nurses in medical institutions with more than 30 hospital beds. The variables which affect their performances were then analyzed. @*Results@#The average importance of health care duties was 8.1 out of 10 and 5.5 for performance levels.Multi-regression analysis on the variables affecting performance levels of health managers in medical institutions showed that health managers exhibit higher numbers under the following conditions: over 300 full-time employees, more than 1 year but less than 3 years of experience, positions above section chief level, affiliation to the safety and health department, and high perception of duty importance. @*Conclusion@#Improved cognizance of health manager importance should occur initially; then, health-care center setup, assigning of exclusive occupational health managers, and organizational efforts to improve the working environment in tandem with the provision of educational training programs to improve work quality are necessary.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Osteoclasts (OCs) are bone-resorbing multinucleated cells derived from hematopoietic progenitors of the monocyte-macrophage lineage. OC precursors, such as bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMMs), are formed in the presence of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) and differentiate into OCs in response to M-CSF and receptor activator of nuclear factor kappaB ligand (RANKL). In this study, we investigated the role of mixed lineage kinases (MLKs)-c-Jun amino-terminal kinase (JNK) pathways in OC formation. METHODS: We performed an OC formation assay and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. RESULTS: We first explored the role of JNK on osteoclst formation using mouse bone marrow (BM) culture system. We found that OC formation was impaired when the JNK inhibitor was added either in early or late stage, suggesting the requirement for JNK activation during OC formation. MLKs are serine/threonine kinases that regulate signaling by the JNK. Since the JNK activity is specifically required for osteoclastogenesis, we examined the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) levels of MLKs in BMs, BMMs and OCs by RT-PCR. Among MLKs, the level of MLK3 mRNA expression is highest in BMs, BMMs and OCs. Moreover, we found that the mRNA expression of MLK2 and MLK3 is increased with the differentiation of BMs to BMMs, and is sustained in OCs. Finally we investigated the role of MLK3 in OC differentiation using gene knock-down techniques. The silencing of MLK3 in BMMs partly attenuated RANKL-induced OC differentiation. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that JNK and MLK3 may positively regulate OC formation.
Subject(s)
Animals , Mice , Bone Marrow , Gene Knockdown Techniques , Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor , Macrophages , Osteoclasts , Phosphotransferases , Polymerase Chain Reaction , RANK Ligand , Reverse Transcription , RNA , RNA, MessengerABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Osteoclasts (OCs) are bone-resorbing multinucleated cells derived from hematopoietic progenitors of the monocyte-macrophage lineage. OC precursors, such as bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMMs), are formed in the presence of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) and differentiate into OCs in response to M-CSF and receptor activator of nuclear factor kappaB ligand (RANKL). In this study, we investigated the role of mixed lineage kinases (MLKs)-c-Jun amino-terminal kinase (JNK) pathways in OC formation. METHODS: We performed an OC formation assay and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. RESULTS: We first explored the role of JNK on osteoclst formation using mouse bone marrow (BM) culture system. We found that OC formation was impaired when the JNK inhibitor was added either in early or late stage, suggesting the requirement for JNK activation during OC formation. MLKs are serine/threonine kinases that regulate signaling by the JNK. Since the JNK activity is specifically required for osteoclastogenesis, we examined the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) levels of MLKs in BMs, BMMs and OCs by RT-PCR. Among MLKs, the level of MLK3 mRNA expression is highest in BMs, BMMs and OCs. Moreover, we found that the mRNA expression of MLK2 and MLK3 is increased with the differentiation of BMs to BMMs, and is sustained in OCs. Finally we investigated the role of MLK3 in OC differentiation using gene knock-down techniques. The silencing of MLK3 in BMMs partly attenuated RANKL-induced OC differentiation. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that JNK and MLK3 may positively regulate OC formation.