Active smoking is a major cause of lung cancer. The dose-response relation between exposure to tobacco smoke and risk of lung cancer is almost linear. No threshold level is apparent below which the risk of lung cancer is not increased. Environmental tobacco smoke(ETS) inhaled by passive smokers contains most of the carcinogenic compounds inhaled directly by smokers. Carcinogens specific to tobacco smoke and carcinogen-DNA adducts are found in urine and blood samples of passive smokers. Animal experiments also suggest the carcinogenic effect of ETS. So the existence of association of passive smoking and lung cancer is biologically plausible. There are convincing epidemiologic evidences that ETS is causally related to the development of lung cancer. The studies of household exposure by spouse and workplace exposure have been found that passive smoking increased the risk of lung cancer. There are controversies about the relationship between exposure to ETS in childhood and the risk of lung cancer. However, some reports showed the causal relationship between childhood ETS exposure and lung cancer. It is necessary that non-smokers and smokers have a knowledge of the harmful effect of passive smoking to protect their health.
Animal Experimentation ; Carcinogens ; Family Characteristics ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung* ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Spouses ; Tobacco ; Tobacco Smoke Pollution*

Pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis (PLCH) is a rare, multi-systemic disease primarily affecting young male adults with a history of smoking. The two patients with PLCH in our report showed relatively early and atypical radiologic presentations at initial evaluation. On chest CT, PLCH presents variable radiologic features depending on the evolutional stage of the disease. Atypical CT features of PLCH may render precise radiologic diagnosis difficult and usually require lung biopsy for a confirmation of the diagnosis. Our case review is aimed at raising the awareness of radiologists on the atypical CT features of PLCH, to help make accurate radiologic diagnosis and prevent unnecessary and invasive diagnostic procedures.

Pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis (PLCH) is a rare, multi-systemic disease primarily affecting young male adults with a history of smoking. The two patients with PLCH in our report showed relatively early and atypical radiologic presentations at initial evaluation. On chest CT, PLCH presents variable radiologic features depending on the evolutional stage of the disease. Atypical CT features of PLCH may render precise radiologic diagnosis difficult and usually require lung biopsy for a confirmation of the diagnosis. Our case review is aimed at raising the awareness of radiologists on the atypical CT features of PLCH, to help make accurate radiologic diagnosis and prevent unnecessary and invasive diagnostic procedures.

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection is common in HIV seropositive patients, but disseminated VZV infection with pneumonia is rare in adult HIV seropositive patients. We report a case of disseminated VZV infection in a 28 year-old female patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The patient presented with dyspnea and disseminated cutaneous lesions. Chest radiograph showed multiple patchy lesions on the whole lung field. VZV was isolated from vesicular fluid of the cutaneous lesions. The patient was successfully treated with intravenous acyclovir.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; Acyclovir ; Adult ; Dyspnea ; Female ; Herpesvirus 3, Human* ; HIV ; Humans ; Lung ; Pneumonia* ; Radiography, Thoracic

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of light-curing on the translucency change and color-stability of amine(tertiary)-free dual-cured resin cements after accelerated aging. Two curing modes (dual-curing and self-curing) were applied on three dual-cured resin cements (Duo-Link Universal [DLU], Nexus Third Generation [NX3] and RelyX Ultimate [RXU]) in this study. Ten specimens were fabricated for each group. In dual-cured groups only, light-activation was performed with polywave-LED curing unit (Bluphase, Ivoclar Vivadent, Schaan, Liechtenstein), where each sides of the samples were photo-polymerized for 60 seconds. Self-cured groups were kept in the dark storage for 24 hours. The color of the specimens was measured with spectrocolorimeter (NF999, Nippon Denshoku, Japan) after 24 hours of making samples. After the initial color measurements, the specimens were subjected to accelerated aging procedure. Spectrophotometric analysis was carried out on day 7, day 14, day 21 and day 28 of accelerated aging in 60 ℃ of distilled water. The color characteristics, color difference (ΔE*), and translucency parameter (TP) of specimens were calculated according to the CIE L*a*b* color system before and after aging. All the ΔE* values and TP values were analyzed by 2-way analysis of variance. After aging, all groups revealed clinically perceptible color differences (ΔE*>3.3). Differences in ΔE* values of self-cured groups were significantly higher than those of dual-cured groups in NX3 and RXU. But there were no significant differences in ΔE* between dual-cured mode and self-cured mode of DLU. All mean b* values increased after aging. All mean L* values decreased after aging except for self-cured RXU cement. TP values also decreased with aging. TP values of self-cured groups were significantly lower than those of dual-cured groups in NX3 and RXU. Hence, in conclusion, despite the absence of tertiary amine in the dual-cured resin cements, such resin cements should be polymerized with the dual-cure modes to ensure long-term color-stability.
Aging ; Polymers ; Resin Cements ; Water

BACKGROUND: Autoimmune cytopenia (AIC) is a rare complication of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). In this study, we reviewed the diagnosis, treatment and response to therapy for pediatric patients with post-HCT AIC at our institution. METHODS: Of the 292 allogeneic HCTs performed from January, 2011 to December, 2015 at the Department of Pediatrics, The Catholic University of Korea, seven were complicated by post-HCT AIC, resulting in an incidence of 2.4%. RESULTS: All seven patients with post-HCT AIC had received unrelated donor transplant. Six of seven patients had a major donor-recipient blood type mismatch. The subtypes of AIC were as follows: immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) 2, autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) 2, Evans syndrome 3. Median time from HCT to AIC diagnosis was 3.6 months. All but one patient responded to first line therapy of steroid±intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), but none achieved complete response (CR) with this treatment. After a median duration of treatment of 15.3 months, two patients with ITP achieved CR and five had partial response (PR) of AIC. Five patients were treated with rituximab, resulting in the following response: 2 CR, 2 PR, 1 no response (NR). Median time to response to rituximab was 26 days from first infusion. All patients are alive without event. CONCLUSION: Post-HCT AIC is a rare complication that may not resolve despite prolonged therapy. Rapid initiation of second line agents including but not limited to B cell depleting treatment should be considered for those that fail to achieve CR with first line therapy.
Anemia, Hemolytic, Autoimmune ; Cell Transplantation* ; Child* ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; Incidence ; Korea ; Pediatrics ; Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic ; Rituximab ; Transplants* ; Unrelated Donors

The Urachus lies between the peritoneum and transversalis fascia and extends from the anterior dome of the bladder toward the umbilicus. During the 4th and 5th months of gestation, the urachus narrows to a small-calibered epitherial tube. During fetal development, as the bladder descends into the pelvis, its apical portion narrows progressively into a fibromuscular strand of urachus. Recently, we reviewed three cases of urachal anomalies with literatures.
Fascia ; Fetal Development ; Pelvis ; Peritoneum ; Pregnancy ; Umbilicus ; Urachus ; Urinary Bladder

Mini-implant has been reported as an alternative method to conventional diameter implants in the treatment of mandibular anterior region with narrow ridge. However, one-piece type mini-implant showed biological and technical complications, such as peri-implantitis by residual cement and prosthetic detachment. Recently, one-piece type mini-implant with additional retentive structure has been introduced to increase the retention and stability of the mini-implant. The mini-implant is based on spreading the upper retentive structure with a spreader and connected it with the inner surface of the zirconia prosthesis. In two cases, we tried to reduce these complications through the mini-implant on the narrow mandibular anterior region, and it was possible to reduce the overall treatment period through a digital system. In this case report, restoration using the digital mini-implant system showed improvement of patient satisfaction on the aspect of function and esthetic in the narrow mandibular anterior region.

One of the authors' names was misprinted.

A correlation between endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and laxative effects was first reported in a constipation model treated with an aqueous extract of Liriope platyphylla (AEtLP) roots. To investigate the correlation between the laxative effect of uridine (Urd) and ER stress response, alterations in the key parameters for ER stress were measured in loperamide (Lop) induced constipation Sprague Dawley (SD) rats treated with Urd. The efficacy of the laxative effect of Urd was notable on the symptoms of chronic constipation, including alteration of stool parameters and structure of the transverse colon, in Lop induced constipated SD rats. In the PERK/eIF2-ATF4 pathway of ER stress response, the levels of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 alpha (eIF2α) phosphorylation and DNA damage-inducible protein (GADD34) transcripts were significantly enhanced in the Lop+Vehicle treated group. However, the levels were restored in the Lop+Urd treated group, although few differences were detected in the decrease rate. Similar changes were observed for levels of inositol-requiring enzyme 1 beta (IRE1β) phosphorylation and X-box binding protein 1 (XBP-1) transcript in the IRE1α/XBP pathway. Furthermore, the number of ER stress-induced apoptotic cells and Bax and Bcl-2 expression were recovered in the Lop+Urd treated group compared to the Lop+Vehicle treated group. The results of the present study therefore provide first evidence that the laxative effects of Urd may be tightly correlated with the recovery of ER stress response in constipation models.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Carrier Proteins ; Colon, Transverse ; Constipation ; DNA ; Endoplasmic Reticulum ; Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-2 ; Loperamide* ; Phosphorylation ; Rats* ; Uridine*