Relationship of Burdened Work and Musculoskeletal Symptoms in Small-to-medium-sized Enterprises / 대한산업의학회지

OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to evaluate relationship of burdened work and musculoskeletal symptoms in small-to-medium sized enterprises. METHOD: After a questionnaire survey was administered to 9,950 workers in 122 workplace, 7,626 workers(76.6%) were finally selected for the study analysis. Industrial hygienists visited 122 small-to-medium sized enterprises to investigate the presence of burdened works within the workplace. The selection of jobs with significant burden was based on the Ministry of Labor's recent notification in 11 types of job description associated with musculoskeletal disorders. The subjects of this study were then divided into three categories. 1) non-burdened white collar workers, 2) non-burdened blue collar workers, and 3) burdened workers (include some VDT workers). Multiple logistic regression was used to evaluate the relationship between burdened work and musculoskeletal symptoms. RESULTS: The burdened workers reported significantly more musculoskeletal symptoms than non-burdened white collar workers and non-burdened blue collar workers(OR:1.57, 95% CI: 1.314-1.875). There was no significant difference in reports of musculoskeletal symptoms between non-burdened white and blue collar workers. CONCLUSION: To prevent or diminish musculoskeletal disorders in small-to-medium sized enterprises, we need to better manage burdened works.

c-kit and Ligand Expression in the Mouse Hippocampus after Kainate-induced Seizure / 대한해부학회지

In the present study, we have etamined the role of c-kit and KL ligand in the mouse brain after kainate-induced seizure. To investigate whether c-kit receptor and KL ligand might involved in kainate-induced apoptosis, the expression patterns of c-kit and KL mRNA and localization of immunoreactivity for c-Kit, SCF and Bcl-2 protein were examined by in situ hybridization technique and immunohistochemical method, respectively, in the mouse hippocampus after kainate treatment. This report is the first demonstration for the role of c-kit receptor and KL ligand in the kainate-induced apoptosis. Our conclusion is based on : 1] c-kit and KL mRNA expressions were increased in CA3 region of the hippocampus in 1h after kainate treatment, 2] immunoreactivities for c-Kit protein and SCF were detected higher level in the CA1 and CA3 sectors in 24h after kainate treatment, 3] expression level for Bcl-2 protein was increased in the CA3 region of the hippocampus 24h after kainate treatment. These results suggest that bcl-2 could promote cell survival of injured neurons in CA3 after kainate-induced seizure. And increased translations of c-kit receptor and KL ligand after kainate injection in this area susgest that c-kit receptor and KL ligand could have a role in the kainate-induced apoptosis.