An archaeoparasitological analysis of the soil samples from Nadym Gorodok site of Western Siberia has been carried out in this study. The archaeological site was dated as the 13 to 18th century, being characterized as permafrost region ensuring good preservation of ancient parasite eggs. Parasite eggs as Opisthorchis felineus, Alaria alata, and Diphyllobothrium sp. were found in the archaeological soil samples, which made clear about the detailed aspects of Nadym Gorodok people's life. We found the Diphyllobothrium sp. eggs throughout the 14 to 18th century specimens, allowing us to presume that raw or undercooked fish might have been commonly used for the foods of Nadym Gorodok inhabitants and their dogs for at least the past 400 years. Our study on Nadym Gorodok specimens also demonstrate that there might have been migratory interactions and strong economic ties between the people and society in Western Siberia, based on archaeoparasitological results of Opisthorchis felineus in Western Siberia.
Animals ; Archaeology ; Asia, Northern ; Diphyllobothrium ; Dogs ; Eggs ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Opisthorchis ; Ovum ; Parasites ; Permafrost ; Siberia ; Soil

BACKGROUND/AIMS: There are limited therapeutic options available for irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea (IBS-D). We tested the effects of Atractylodes japonica rhizome, a perennial plant native to North Asia, on both upper and lower gastrointestinal (GI) motility in guinea pigs. METHODS: The extract of A. japonica rhizome was administered orally at different doses to test its effects on upper GI motility as determined from charcoal transit in native guinea pigs and in guinea pigs pretreated with thyrotropin-releasing hormone or mustard oil. Regarding its effect on lower GI motility, the removed guinea pig colon was suspended in a chamber containing Krebs-Henseleit solution and the transit time of artificial feces was measured with various dilutions of the extract. As for in vivo assay, weight and number of fecal pellets expelled were determined under the same drug preparation used in upper GI motility experiment. RESULTS: The extract of A. japonica rhizome had no significant effect on upper GI motility in either normal or altered physiological states. However, the extract increased colonic transit time in the in vitro model. In the fecal expulsion study, the cumulative weight and number of pellets did not differ significantly between the control group and groups treated with the extracts. In the animals pretreated in vivo with thyrotropin-releasing hormone, however, the weight and number of fecal pellets were significantly decreased in animals treated with 300 mg/kg and 600 mg/kg doses of extract. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the extract of A. japonica rhizome can be a potential agent for IBS-D.
Animals ; Asia, Northern ; Atractylodes* ; Charcoal ; Colon ; Diarrhea ; Drug Compounding ; Feces ; Gastrointestinal Motility* ; Guinea Pigs* ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome ; Mustard Plant ; Plants ; Rhizome* ; Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone

Alnus sibirica (AS) geographically distributes in Korea, Japan, Northeast China and Russia. The bark of this plant had been used for antipyretic, expectorant, anti-phlogistic, antitussive, anti-asthmatic and as a health tea for alcoholism. Recently, we studied various biological activities of AS and the isolated diarylheptanoid. In present study, we conducted fermentation of AS (FAS) and isolated two diarylheptanoid (hirsutenone and muricarpone B). Moreover, we established the validation and contents determinations of the two compounds by HPLC on FAS.
Alcoholism ; Alnus* ; China ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Fermentation ; Japan ; Korea ; Plants ; Russia ; Tea

Mongolia is a huge, landlocked, middle-Asian country bordering Russia in the north, and China in the south. Mongolia was under socialism from 1921 to 1990, and its political system has started moving toward capitalistic democratism in 1990. The history of the Mongolian Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery can be divided into four periods; the incipient period(1956~1971), the period of early development(1971~1981), the period of active development(1981~1991), and the period of reformation(1991~). Mongolian Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery had been developed by the cooperation of Soviet Union and Eastern European countries before the 1990s, but the role of Korea, Japan, and western countries has been increasing from the 1990s. In Mongolia Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery is well recognized to the people and is considered as one of the specialized medical field. There are specialized departments of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery in State Central Hospital, Child & Maternal Research and Clinical Center, and Oncology Center in Ulaanbaatar. Now, the basic knowledge and surgical technique of the Mongolian Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons are satisfactory. But because of the difficult social and economic situation, there is a shortage of surgical instruments and materials, and acquirement of new knowledge is not easy. In 1998 the Mongolian Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons was established and its members want to have international relationship to keep up with the new medical information. Mongolia and Korea have ethnic, linguistic and cultural similarity, so the interchange and cooperation between Mongolian and Korean Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons are recommended to make a beautiful one-world.
Child ; China ; Humans ; Japan ; Korea ; Linguistics ; Mongolia ; Political Systems ; Russia ; Socialism ; Surgery, Oral* ; Surgical Instruments ; USSR

The objectives of this study were to analyze the operational characteristics and to explore the substantiality plan of inpatient diets for foreigners in hospitals. Questionnaires were mail-delivered to 128 hospitals, and a total of 62 questionnaires were usable with a response rate of 48.4 percent. Statistical data analysis was completed using SPSS Win 11.0 for descriptive analysis, independent t-test, and χ2 test. Results can be summarized as follows. The average number of inpatient meals for foreigners in the last 6 months were 405 and 53 for general therapeutic diets and special therapeutic diets, respectively. The rates of hospitals with an exclusive department and exclusive staff for foreign inpatients were 48.4% and 53.2%, respectively. Major nationalities of foreign inpatients were China (37.5%) and Russia (31.3%), and their major medical departments were internal medicine (43.9%) and surgery (39.0%). The number of hospitals that provided inpatient diet only for foreigners was 42 (72.4%) and influencing factors were number of permitted beds (P<0.05), an exclusive department (P<0.001), and exclusive staff (P<0.01). The main type of menu was USA·European style (61.1%), and the price of inpatient meals for foreigners was mostly \10,000~\25,000 (62.0%). As 75.9% of hospitals did not possess dietary slip manuals for foreigners, the case of preparing inpatient meals for foreigners in the form of a general therapeutic diet partially-modified according to disease was the majority (55.4%). Dietitians felt the need for nutrition management guidelines and dietary slip manuals (47.3%) as a substantiality plan of inpatient diets for foreigners. There is a need for exclusive foodservice standards for foreign inpatients in the changing medical environment.
China ; Data Interpretation, Statistical ; Diet* ; Emigrants and Immigrants* ; Ethnic Groups ; Humans ; Inpatients* ; Internal Medicine ; Meals ; Nutritionists ; Russia

OBJECTIVES: In order to study a cross-cultural epidemiology of the adolescent depressives with Korean ethnicity in Korea and Russia, we compared psychosocial characteristics and risk factors of depressive disorder between two school-based populations in different sociocultural environments. METHODS: We measured psychosocial variables of 838 subjects in Korea, and 652 in Russia (Uzbekitan) using Basic Questionnaires and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) RESULTS: The cut-off point of BDI for adolescent depression in Koreans was 19 points. Higher prevalence of depression was noted in Korean adolescents (26.5%)compared to Korean-Russian adolescents (7.4%) We found signicant risk factors of adolescent depression in two study samples: female, academic failure, meeting friends less frequently, presence of chronic physical illness, interpersonal problems with parents, and same-sex and opposite-sex friends. CONCLUSIONS: Our data will provide information on cross-cultural understanding of psychosocial characteristics and risk factors in adolescent depression compared between Koreans and Korean-Russians.
Adolescent* ; Depression* ; Depressive Disorder ; Epidemiology ; Female ; Friends ; Humans ; Korea ; Parents ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Risk Factors* ; Russia

In Korea, a total of 44 families, 217 genus, and 631 species of spiders are reported. However there are no spiders having noxious venom such as Latrodectus sp. or Loxoscles sp. Because of this, there have been no reported serious medical problems due to spider bites in Korea up to now. Paracoelotes spinivulva is a spider belonging to Family Amaurobiidae and Genus Paracoelotes. It is characteristically distributed in Korea and some regions of Japan, China, and Russia. A 46-year-old man presented with two painful, erythematous papules on the left index finger tip. He was bitten by a spider three days prior to the visit. Punch biopsy was done from the bite site. Although spider bites may be relatively common, there is only one official report of a spider bite in Korea. Herein, we report a case of a spider bite by a indigenous spider, Paracoelotes spinivulva.
Arachnidism ; Biopsy ; Bites and Stings ; China ; Fingers ; Humans ; Japan ; Korea ; Middle Aged ; Russia ; Spiders ; Venoms

Ancient bones have undergone natural decomposition and have been exposed to external environment for long period. Ancient DNA from old bone is usually fragmented. In addition, various kinds of inhibitors are co-extracted. All these may inhibit proper sequencing reaction. Cloning is regarded as the standard method when sequencing aDNA. When cloning, each clone from the same sample may not be of same sequence, and to exact consensus sequence may be difficult. Here we present our experience on 1200 year old bone from Russia, Primorsky Kray area. We have tried to sequence for HV I, II region of mtDNA using modified mini-primer set, which consisted of 7 set to cover the HV I, II. We cloned the PCR product and sequenced all the clones. Amplification efficiency and subsequent success rates were different for each mini primer set. Loci of variation that differ from consensus sequences were rather frequent, and the pattern were variable depending on sample. Except major polymorphic sites that are important when haplogroup designation, 16129 was the most frequent site that was discarded when extracting haplogroup designation.
Clone Cells ; Cloning, Organism ; Consensus Sequence ; DNA ; DNA, Mitochondrial ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Russia

PURPOSE: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a relatively new technology for an alternative modality in the treatment of colorectal cancers. This study was conducted to identify the appropriate dosage and energy level for the photosensitizer as well as effect of PDT on colon cancer cells. METHODS: Colon cancer cell line, COLO 205 (American Type Culture Collection, ATCC) was obtained from Korea Cell Line Bank (KCLB, Seoul, Korea). Cells were cultured on RPMI 1640 medium with 10% fetal calf serum, penicillin, and gentamicin. Cells were incubated at 37 C in a 5% CO2 air environment. Photosense (sulphonated aluminum phthalocyanine, AlPcS4, NIOPIK, State Research Center, Moscow, Russia) was used for the photosensitizer and Fireplace video-3 (Biospec, General Physics Institute, Moscow, Russia, 500 mW/cm2, 670 nm) was used for the light source. 1 104 cells were incubated in 96 well plates with different concentrations of aluminum phthalocyanine: 0.1, 0.3, 0.5 and 1micrometer for 24 hours then photoirradiation was performed at either 24 or 48 J/cm2. The time variations of the viabilities of cells of the four study groups and were measured by using MTT assay according to time were compared to those of the three control groups: control (no treatment), control (AlPcS4, no light), control (light, no AlPcS4), and the study groups (PDT) at one hour, 24 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours after PDT. RESULTS: At, one hour after PDT, the viability of the cells was not changed in the control groups. Viabilities of 117, 40, 35, and 23% in the 24 J group and 76, 31, 52, and 48% in 48 J group were observed, respectively in order of increasing concentration with the value of 87~103% for the control group. 24 hours later, viability of control groups were not changed, By 24 hour after PDT, the viabilities of the control groups had not changed, but those of the 24 J/cm2 and 48 J/cm2 PDT study groups had decreased significantly to 62, 17, 16, and 18% and 24, 15, 13, and 13%, respectively (P=0.00). By 48 hours viability of the 24 J/cm2 and 48 J/cm2 PDT study groups were also significantly decreased being 103, 26, 13, and 13% and 50, 8, 8, and 9%, respectively (P=0.00). By 72 hours, viabilities were 84, 21, 21, and 30 % and 33, 20, 33, and 15%, respectively (P=0.00). CONCLUSIONS: The PDT groups showed a marked cytotoxic effect compared to the control groups, and the effect appeared just after PDT and peaked in 48 hours. The minimum required concentration of the photosensitizer for effective cytotoxicity was at 0.3 micrometer either 24 or 48 J/cm2.
Aluminum ; Cell Line* ; Colon* ; Colonic Neoplasms* ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Gentamicins ; Korea ; Penicillins ; Photochemotherapy* ; Russia ; Seoul

A brief history and new developments of acupuncture moxibustion in the former Soviet Union is provided in this paper, as well as in Russia. Science of acupuncture-moxibustion was introduced into Russia after the 10th Century. After the foundation of People's Republic of China, acupuncture-moxibustion therapy has drawn widespread attention in the former Soviet Union and Russia since the 1950s. Notably, acupuncture moxibustion therapy was legalized and popularized in mid 1950s in the Soviet Union, which was gradually accepted as a part of the country's medical system. In the latest 20 years, Federal health departments have paid attention to acupuncture-moxibustion therapy and issued laws and regulations on acupuncture reflexotherapy. The number of books and journals about acupuncture-moxibustion has been increasing; clinical application of acupuncture-moxibustion has been spreading and is welcomed by people. Academic exchanges between China and Russia are more frequent, which promoted the development of science of acupuncture-moxibustion in Russia.
Acupuncture Therapy ; history ; History, 20th Century ; History, 21st Century ; Humans ; Moxibustion ; history ; Russia ; USSR