No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Heart Neoplasms*

BACKGROUND: Prolonged extracorporeal circulation entails tremendous threats of red cell lysis, severe bleeding problems due to platelet injury and activation, and endothelial damages by sequestered leukocytes. In consideration of these problems, a new centrifugal pump was developed and tested clinically to evaluate its effectiveness. METHODS: We compared the effects of a centrifugal pump with those of a roller pump on hematological responses during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) in 20 coronary artery bypass surgery patients. The patients were divided into two groups of 10 each. The studied parameters included WBC counts, platelet counts, plasma Hb and D-dimer. Blood samples were taken after sternotomy, at 60 min, 120 min and 180 min after CPB start, and at 2 hr after CPB stop. RESULTS: No differences between the groups were found in bypass time, aortic cross clamp time, extracorporeal circulation flow and hematocrit. The centrifugal pump group demonstrated less platelet depletion (p<0.05), hemolysis (plasma Hb, p<0.05) and fibrinolysis (D-dimer, p<0.05). These differences were CPB time dependent and became statistically significant after 120 min bypass. CONCLUSION: We conclude that roller pump still can be safely used for standard cardiac procedures with bypass time less than 120 minutes and the centrifugal pump has significant potential to be safely applied to CPB for long ypass time in order to avoid postperfusion syndrome.
Blood Platelets ; Cardiopulmonary Bypass* ; Coronary Artery Bypass ; Extracorporeal Circulation ; Fibrinolysis ; Hematocrit ; Hemolysis ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Leukocytes ; Plasma ; Platelet Count ; Sternotomy

Owing to the generation of vast amounts of sequencing data by using cost-effective, high-throughput sequencing technologies with improved computational approaches, many putative proteins have been discovered after assembly and structural annotation. Putative proteins are typically annotated using a functional annotation system that uses extant databases, but the expansive size of these databases often causes a bottleneck for rapid functional annotation. We developed SFannotation, a simple and fast functional annotation system that rapidly annotates putative proteins against four extant databases, Swiss-Prot, TIGRFAMs, Pfam, and the non-redundant sequence database, by using a best-hit approach with BLASTP and HMMSEARCH.
Computational Biology ; Databases, Protein ; Molecular Sequence Annotation

OBJECTIVE: Fragile X syndrome is the most common form of familial mental retardation, attributable to (CGG)n expansion in the FMR1 gene. This study was undertaken to ascertain the distribution of FMR1 CGG repeat in the general Korean women and to identify ethnic difference in FMR1 CGG repeat number. Material and METHOD: Between January 1999 and December 1999, we evaluated 1,000 low risk women who visited Gachon Medical School Hospital. DNA samples were extracted from the venous bloods by routine methods, and G-C specific Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)s were performed to evaluate FMR1 CGG repeat number. RESULTS: Mean FMR1 CGG repeat number was 26.9 (6-50), single PCR bands were detected in 776 cases (77.7%). There were two more bands in 22.3% of the cases. Most of the cases are located between 21 and 35 repeats, especially 21-25 repeats. The pattern of distribution of CGG repeat is dispersed. In 13 cases, we could not obtain the PCR results. CONCLUSION: Low risk of transmission rate of the FRX in Korea can be expected.
Alleles* ; Blotting, Southern ; DNA ; Female ; Fragile X Syndrome ; Humans ; Intellectual Disability ; Korea ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Schools, Medical

PURPOSE: Benign lymphoid hyperplasia of the conjunctiva occurs infrequently in children. We report a case of benign lymphoid hyperplasia, accompanied by ptosis and conjunctival injection. METHODS: A nine-year-old girl showing ptosis and conjunctival injection underwent examination. RESULTS: There was ptosis of the right eye. Ophthalmologic findings included nodules which seemed like salmon's patch in the conjunctiva. The function of the levator muscle and the Neostigmine test were normal. There was no specific finding in fundus and orbital CT. Biopsy of the nodules was done under local anesthesia, and the pathologic result was benign reactive lymphoid hyperplasia. Ofloxacin and fluorometholone eye drops were used for 6 weeks, and oral prednisolone was used for 2 weeks. The ptosis was improved 3 weeks after surgery and follow-up survey was continuing at 10 months after surgery at the time of writing. CONCLUSIONS: We report one case of a child with benign lymphoid hyperplasia of the conjunctiva who showed ptosis and conjunctival injection, and present a literature.
Anesthesia, Local ; Biopsy ; Child* ; Conjunctiva ; Eyelids* ; Female ; Fluorometholone ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hyperplasia* ; Neostigmine ; Ofloxacin ; Ophthalmic Solutions ; Orbit ; Prednisolone ; Pseudolymphoma ; Writing

PURPOSE: To evaluate clinical manifestations and effects of botulinum toxin in eyelid myokymia patients. METHODS: Between March 2001 and March 2005, botulinum toxin injection therapy was performed in 12 eyelid myokymia patients. We evaluated duration of disease, systemic disease, drug history, and range, grade, frequency of myokymia at the first visit. Botulinum injections were performed in patients with normal results of blood tests and neuroimaging tests. Improvement of symptoms, duration of effectiveness, and complications were evaluated after the botulinum toxin injection therapies. Data was analyzed with the Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: Improvement of symptoms was noticed in 10 patients (83.3%). Among the 10 patients, 5 patients were decided as cured patients because they did not require any retreatment. Range and grade of myokymia didn't affect on effect of treatment. Pain, edema, excessive tearing, and unnatural face were noticed as complications of treatment, but all complications disappeared 2 weeks after the treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Botulinum toxin injection therapy is noninvasive and effective treatment in benign eyelid myokymia patients without causal neurologic disease.
Botulinum Toxins* ; Edema ; Eyelids* ; Hematologic Tests ; Humans ; Myokymia* ; Neuroimaging ; Retreatment

PURPOSE: To compare myopia progression in patients with astigmatism over 3.0 dipoters and in patients with astigmatism with less than 1.0 diopter. METHODS: Between March 2001 and March 2006, regular refraction was performed in patients without amblyopia or strabismus. Patients with astigmatism over 3.0 diopter were classified into subject group, and patients with astigmatism less than 1.0 diopter were classified into control group. We performed cycloplegic refraction at the first visit, and manifest refraction at follow-up examination. Minimal follow-up period was 12 months. Data analysis was performed with T-test and ANOVA. RESULTS: There was no difference in myopia progression in patients with astigmatism over 3.0 dipoters and in patients with astigmatism with less than 1.0 diopter. Age, sex, type of astigmatism, spherical equivalent, age to start wearing glasses, and time to watch television and computer didn't show significant influence on myopic progression in subject group and control group. Patients with astigmatism over 3.0 diopters in one eye and astigmatism less than 3.0 diopters in the other eye were evaluated and there was no difference in myopia progression between both eyes. Eyes with non-progressive astigmatism over 3.0 diopters showed similar myopia progression with eyes with progressive astigmatism over 3.0 diopters. CONCLUSIONS: There was no difference in myopia progression between patients with astigmatism over 3.0 dipoters and patients with astigmatism with less than 1.0 diopter.
Amblyopia ; Astigmatism* ; Eyeglasses ; Follow-Up Studies ; Glass ; Humans ; Myopia* ; Statistics as Topic ; Strabismus ; Television

PURPOSE: This study investigated the surgical result of intermittent exotropia according to the difference between primary gaze and lateral gaze, where the extent of surgical treatment was decided by the angle of deviation in primary gaze. METHODS: The subjects of this study were 128 patients who had intermittent exotropia and were operated on by the same surgeon. Deviation angle of strabismus was checked at near and distance and primary and 30-degree lateral directions of gaze. The Worth 4 dot test and Titmus test were performed. Refixation time and axial length were measured. Either the cycloplegic refraction test or manifest refraction test was done depending on the patient's age. The extent of surgery was decided by the criteria recommended by Parks. Patients were classified into 2 groups. Group 1 included patients with 5-PD or smaller differences in the angle of deviation in the primary and lateral gaze. Patients who had differences greater than 5-PD in the angle of deviation according to the direction of gaze were classified as group 2. Clinical data were verified by Pearson Chi-square test. RESULTS: Age, sex, angle of deviation at near and distance, oblique muscle function, spherical equivalent, astigmatism, axial length, stereopsis, and refixation time did not affect the difference in the angle of deviation according to the direction of gaze. The non-fusion group showed a large difference in the angle of deviation according to the direction of gaze. The extent of surgery was determined by the deviation angle in primary gaze. Both group showed similar surgical results. CONCLUSIONS: To determine the degree of surgery needed, it is reasonable to measure the deviation angle in primary gaze for patients with intermittent exotropia.
Astigmatism ; Depth Perception ; Exotropia* ; Humans ; Strabismus

β-carotene is present in carrots, pumpkins, and sweet potatoes. It suppresses many types of cancers by regulating cellular proliferation and apoptosis through a variety of mechanisms. However, the effects of β -carotene on oral cancer cells have not been clearly established. The main goal of this study was to investigate the effects of β-carotene on cell growth and apoptosis in oral cancer cells. Our results demonstrate that treatment with β-carotene induced inhibition of cell growth, and that the effect was dependent on β-carotene treatment time and concentration in KB cells. Furthermore, treatment with β-carotene induced nuclear condensation and fragmentation in KB cells. β-carotene promoted proteolytic cleavage of procaspase-3, -7, -8 and -9 with associated increases in the concentration of cleaved caspase-3, -7, -8 and -9. In addition, the level of cleaved PARP was increased by β-carotene treatment in KB cells. These results suggest that β-carotene can suppress cell growth and induce apoptosis in KB human oral cancer cells, and that it may have potential usefulness in anti-cancer drug discovery efforts.
Apoptosis ; Caspase 3 ; Cell Death ; Cell Proliferation ; Cucurbita ; Daucus carota ; Drug Discovery ; Humans* ; Ipomoea batatas ; KB Cells ; Mouth Neoplasms*