The Associations between Gender-stereotypes and Academic and Employment Stress among Male and Female Nursing Students

PURPOSE: The numbers of male nurse were steadily increased. This study was to examine the effects of gender stereotypes (GS) on academic and employment stress among male and female nursing students. METHODS: Total 414 nursing students (109 male and 305 female) were sampled from two nursing college in Gwangju. Data collected from March 5th to 17th 2015 by self-reported questionnaires. Descriptive analyses, t-tests, one-way ANOVA, correlation analyses and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to reveal the association between GS and academic and employment stress. RESULTS: Overall GS score was 2.4±0.47. And GS scores of male students (2.6±0.48) were significantly higher than the score of female students (2.4±0.45). The average scores of academic stress were similar between male student (2.1±0.46) and female students (2.2±0.47). The average score of employment stress was similar between female students (2.4±0.49) and male students (2.3±0.52). In multiple linear regression analysis, domestic GS were positively associated with academic stress in male nursing students (β=0.125, p=.009). In the case of female students, total GS (β=0.122, p=.014) and occupational GS (β=0.145, p=.017) were positively associated with academic stress. And occupational GS were positively associated with employment stress in male students (β=0.206, p=.048). In the case of female students, social GS (β=0.147, p=.012) were positively associated with employment stress. CONCLUSIONS: GS were significantly associated with academic and employment stress in both male and female students. And the association GS and stress were varied by subcategory of GS and sex. Assessment and appropriate management of GS might be helpful to decrease of stress in nursing students.

Silent Colonic Malakoplakia in a Living-Donor Kidney Transplant Recipient Diagnosed during Annual Medical Examination

Malakoplakia is a characteristic inflammatory condition, which is usually seen in the urogenital tract, and less frequently in the gastrointestinal tract. We present a case of colonic malakoplakia in an immunocompromised patient. A 55-year-old female visited the outpatient clinic for routine cancer surveillance. Her past medical history was significant for kidney transplantation 11 years ago, and she had been taking immunosuppressants. A colonoscopy revealed several depressed flat lesions and elevated polyps, which were 0.3 to 0.4 cm in size and accompanied by whitish exudates. A biopsy revealed an infiltration of histiocytes with ample granular eosinophilic cytoplasm, with some lymphocytes and plasma cells. Many histiocytes had the characteristic morphology, described as Michaelis-Gutmann bodies: one or several round basophilic structures of approximately 1 to 10 microm in size with some being laminated, some appearing homogeneous, and others having a dense central core with a targetoid appearance. These Michaelis-Gutmann bodies were positively stained on von Kossa stain, and were diagnostic for malakoplakia.

The Role of Activation of MAP Kinase in Human Intestinal Epithelial Cells Stimulated with Bacteroides fragilis Enterotoxin

A ~20 kDa heat-labile toxin (BFT) produced by enterotoxigenic B. fragilis induces chemokine responses that are associated with mucosal inflammation. In the present study, we assessed whether the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) affects the levels of IL-8 and MCP-1 produced by BFT stimulation in human epithelial HT-29 cells. Human intestinal epithelial HT-29 cell lines were incubated with purified BFT. MAPK and AP-1 in HT-29 cells were measured by Western blot and luciferase assay, respectively. The expression of chemokines such as IL-8 and MCP-1 were determined by quantitative RT-PCR, ELISA, and luciferase assay. BFT stimulation activated MAPK such as ERK1/2 and p38 in HT-29 cells. Treatment with MAPK inhibitors attenuated BFT-induced expression of IL-8 and MCP-1. Transfection with mutant genes for Ras or c-Jun did not only suppressed AP-1 reporter genes, but also inhibited BFT-induced expression of IL-8 and MCP-1 reporter genes. These results suggest that Ras and MAPK cascade may act as the upstream signaling for the activation of AP-1, which induce chemokine expression in BFT-stimulated intestinal epithelial cells.