BACKGROUND: Hydroquinone (HQ) is frequently combined with retinoic acid (RA) to enhance lightening efficacy, which may also affect skin irritancy. Although skin irritation leads to postinflammatory hyperpigmentation, little research has been performed to compare skin irritancy between each component and the combination. OBJECTIVE: This study was done to examine whether HQ-RA combination increased skin irritation induced by HQ or RA alone. METHODS: Patch testing was performed using maximum therapeutic and higher concentrations of HQ and RA in 10 volunteers, and then, it was performed using their popular therapeutic concentrations and combination in the other 20 volunteers. In vitro irritation was also assessed in primary cultured normal human keratinocytes treated with 80% and 50% cell survival doses of HQ, 80% cell survival dose of RA, and their combination. RESULTS: The combination in patch testing induced stronger erythema than the corresponding concentrations of HQ and RA, which was remarkable with use of combination of higher concentrations. In cultured keratinocytes, the RA combination significantly decreased cell viability, but increased cytotoxicity and extracellular interleukin 1 alpha release with corresponding doses of HQ. CONCLUSION: The results of patch tests and in vitro irritation assessment tests suggested that HQ and RA increased skin irritation when used in combination.
Cell Survival ; Erythema ; Humans ; Hyperpigmentation ; In Vitro Techniques ; Interleukin-1alpha ; Keratinocytes ; Patch Tests ; Skin* ; Tretinoin ; Volunteers

BACKGROUND: Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most potent stimulators of immune response including antitumor response. DCs are currently being pursued clinically in the development of cancer vaccines; therefore there are demands for large-scale and clinical-grade generation of DCs. In the present study, to find out the most efficient separation method of DC precursors, we compared two separation methods, namely, based on magnetic based selection and plastic adherence selection. METHODS: MNCs were collected by leukapheresis from healthful donors and separated by CD14 + immunomagnetic adsorption or plastic adherence. DC precursors separated using the two methods were differenciated in the same condition. Matured DCs were compared in terms of yield, viability, the expression of surface markers and ability to induce immune reaction. RESULTS: This study demonstrated that mature DCs from CD14 + monocytes separated using CD14 + immunomagnetic adsorption had higher expression of surface markers of DCs, yield (1.9 +/-0.5% vs. 0.5 +/-0.2%), viability (94.7 +/-2.5% vs. 72.8 +/-7.5%) and better functionality in inducing immune reaction than those from plastic adherent cells. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrated that CD14 + immunomagnetic adsorption was found to be more effective than the adherent selection for the generation of DCs. This study will allow researcher to facilitate choosing the appropriate protocol to obtain DCs.
Adsorption* ; Cancer Vaccines ; Dendritic Cells* ; Humans ; Leukapheresis ; Monocytes* ; Plastics ; Tissue Donors

Purpose: This study evaluated the impact of auricular acupressure on depression among nurses. Methods: This study used a randomized control group pretest-posttest design. Shift-work nurses with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) score over 5 points were randomized to the experimental group(n=20) or the control group(n=20). For the experimental group, auricular acupressure was conducted at the corresponding points of depression (TGI, AH1) weekly for seven days as well as for two weeks. The PHQ-9 was completed before intervention, as well as two weeks after intervention. Results: The mean difference in the PHQ-9 score before and after auricular acupressure in the experimental group (-4.11±2.27), was more significant than in the control group (-1.72±3.82) (t=2.28, p=.03). Conclusion Result showed that nurses who received auricular acupressure had a decrease in depression, compared to those who did not receive auricular acupressure. Further research is required, to apply the other auricular acupressure points, to evaluate the impact on depressive symptoms.

The human heart is a complex organ in which many complicated congenital defects may happen and some of them require surgical intervention. Due to the vast complexity of varied anatomical presentations, establishing an accurate and consistent nomenclature system is utmost important to facilitate effective communication among pediatric cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons and radiologists. The Van Praagh segmental approach to the complex congenital heart disease (CHD) was developed in the 1960s and has been used widely as the language for describing complex anatomy of CHD over the decades. It utilizes a systematic and sequential method to describe the cardiac segments and connections which in turn allows accurate, comprehensive and unambiguous description of CHD. It can also be applied to multiple imaging modalities such as echocardiogram, cardiac CT and MRI. The Van Praagh notation demonstrates a group of three letters, with each letter representative for a key embryologic region of cardiac anatomy: the atria, ventricles and great vessels. By using a 3-steps approach, we can evaluate complex CHD precisely and have no difficulties in communicating with other medial colleague. This pictorial essay revisits the logical steps of segmental approach, followed by a pictorial illustration of its application.
Congenital Abnormalities ; Heart ; Heart Defects, Congenital* ; Humans ; Logic ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Genetic susceptibility is involved in the pathogenesis of vitiligo. Association studies with a whole genome-based approach instead of a single or a few candidate genes may be useful for discovering new susceptible genes. Although the etiology of non-segmental and segmental types is different, the association between gene polymorphisms and vitiligo has been reported, without defining types or in non-segmental type. Whole genome-based single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were examined in patients with non-segmental and segmental types of vitiligo using the Affymetrix GeneChip 500K mapping array, and 10 functional classes of significant SNPs were selected. Genotyping and data analysis of selected 10 SNPs was performed using real-time PCR. Genotype and allele frequencies were significantly different between both types of vitiligo and three of the target SNPs, DNAH5 (rs2277046), STRN3 (rs2273171), and KIAA1005 (rs3213758). A stronger association was suggested between the mutation in KIAA1005 (rs3213758) and the segmental type compared to the non-segmental type of vitiligo. DNAH5 (rs2277046), STRN3 (rs2273171), and KIAA1005 (rs3213758) may be new vitiligo-related SNPs in Korean patients, either non-segmental or segmental type.
Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing/*genetics ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group/*genetics ; Autoantigens/*genetics ; Axonemal Dyneins/*genetics ; Calmodulin-Binding Proteins/*genetics ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; *Genome, Human ; Genome-Wide Association Study ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Republic of Korea ; Vitiligo/*genetics ; Young Adult

We found an error in our published article.

Objective: To compare the lumen parameters measured by the location-adaptive threshold method (LATM), in which the inter- and intra-scan attenuation variabilities of coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) were corrected, and the scan-adaptive threshold method (SATM), in which only the inter-scan variability was corrected, with the reference standard measurement by intravascular ultrasonography (IVUS). Materials and Methods: The Hounsfield unit (HU) values of whole voxels and the centerline in each of the cross-sections of the 22 target coronary artery segments were obtained from 15 patients between March 2009 and June 2010, in addition to the corresponding voxel size. Lumen volume was calculated mathematically as the voxel volume multiplied by the number of voxels with HU within a given range, defined as the lumen for each method, and compared with the IVUS-derived reference standard. Subgroup analysis of the lumen area was performed to investigate the effect of lumen size on the studied methods.Bland-Altman plots were used to evaluate the agreement between the measurements. Results: Lumen volumes measured by SATM was significantly smaller than that measured by IVUS (mean difference, 14.6 ㎣ ; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.9–24.3 ㎣ ); the lumen volumes measured by LATM and IVUS were not significantly different (mean difference, -0.7 ㎣ ; 95% CI, -9.1–7.7 ㎣ ). The lumen area measured by SATM was significantly smaller than that measured by LATM in the smaller lumen area group (mean of difference, 1.07 ㎟ ; 95% CI, 0.89–1.25 ㎟ ) but not in the larger lumen area group (mean of difference, -0.07 ㎟ ; 95% CI, -0.22–0.08 ㎟ ). In the smaller lumen group, the mean difference was lower in the Bland-Altman plot of IVUS and LATM (0.46 ㎟ ; 95% CI, 0.27–0.65 ㎟ ) than in that of IVUS and SATM (1.53 ㎟ ; 95% CI, 1.27–1.79㎟ ). Conclusion SATM underestimated the lumen parameters for computed lumen segmentation in CCTA, and this may be overcome by using LATM.

Objective: To compare the lumen parameters measured by the location-adaptive threshold method (LATM), in which the inter- and intra-scan attenuation variabilities of coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) were corrected, and the scan-adaptive threshold method (SATM), in which only the inter-scan variability was corrected, with the reference standard measurement by intravascular ultrasonography (IVUS). Materials and Methods: The Hounsfield unit (HU) values of whole voxels and the centerline in each of the cross-sections of the 22 target coronary artery segments were obtained from 15 patients between March 2009 and June 2010, in addition to the corresponding voxel size. Lumen volume was calculated mathematically as the voxel volume multiplied by the number of voxels with HU within a given range, defined as the lumen for each method, and compared with the IVUS-derived reference standard. Subgroup analysis of the lumen area was performed to investigate the effect of lumen size on the studied methods.Bland-Altman plots were used to evaluate the agreement between the measurements. Results: Lumen volumes measured by SATM was significantly smaller than that measured by IVUS (mean difference, 14.6 ㎣ ; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.9–24.3 ㎣ ); the lumen volumes measured by LATM and IVUS were not significantly different (mean difference, -0.7 ㎣ ; 95% CI, -9.1–7.7 ㎣ ). The lumen area measured by SATM was significantly smaller than that measured by LATM in the smaller lumen area group (mean of difference, 1.07 ㎟ ; 95% CI, 0.89–1.25 ㎟ ) but not in the larger lumen area group (mean of difference, -0.07 ㎟ ; 95% CI, -0.22–0.08 ㎟ ). In the smaller lumen group, the mean difference was lower in the Bland-Altman plot of IVUS and LATM (0.46 ㎟ ; 95% CI, 0.27–0.65 ㎟ ) than in that of IVUS and SATM (1.53 ㎟ ; 95% CI, 1.27–1.79㎟ ). Conclusion SATM underestimated the lumen parameters for computed lumen segmentation in CCTA, and this may be overcome by using LATM.

Background and Objectives: Many patients with thyroid cancer are participating in the online community. Thyroid cancer patients write and read a variety of posts in the online community, and there is a great deal of data generated in the digital environment. However, few studies have analyzed the online community of thyroid cancer patients. The purpose of this study is to analyze the online community to understand the interests and information seeking behavior of thyroid cancer patients. Materials and Methods: Data were collected from August 2017 to September 2019 using statistics from an online community of thyroid cancer patients. The frequency analysis was performed by collecting the members’ gender, age, average usage time, time-of-day views, average monthly visits, device distribution, online community inflow query, query within online community, and content of a post with more than 1000 views per month. Results: Analyzing the online community of thyroid cancer patients, women accounted for 80.4% of the total, and the age group of people in their 30s and 40s accounted for 77.5%. Online community subscribers averaged 0.7 visits a day using mobile, with the most frequent use time between 10pm and 12pm. Frequently used queries are medical staff names, surgery, recurrence and scar. Posts showed informational and emotional exchanges. Conclusion Patients with thyroid cancer have searched for a lot of information about surgery and recurrence. Analyzing the online community will help to understand the experience of thyroid cancer patients and contribute to the development of online community intervention.

PURPOSE: Extremely-low-birth-weight infants (ELBWIs), especially those < or =24 gestational weeks (GW), presented extremes in IWL and changes of water balance. The purpose of the present study was to retrospectively investigate fluid and electrolyte balance in infants of < or =24-GW during the first postnatal week under high humidification. METHODS: Medical records of extremely-low-birth-weight infants (ELBWIs) who were born and admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Samsung Medical Center during March 2004-September 2010 were reviewed. Fluid intake, urine output, insensible water loss (IWL), and electrolyte balance of 22-GW (n=14), 23-GW (n=40), and 24-GW (n=67) infants nursed in high humidity (95%) were compared with > or =26-GW (n=65) infants nursed in 60% humidity. RESULTS: Survival rate until discharge was 33%, 82%, 75%, and 89.3% in 22-GW, 23-GW, 24-GW, and > or =26-GW infants, respectively. Fluid intake and IWL was higher in 22-GW and 23-WG, but not different in 24-GW, than in > or =26-GW infants. At postnatal days (P) 3-5, the urine output was significantly lower in > or =26-GW infants than in the other age groups. Serum sodium level was significantly higher in 22-, 23-, and 24-GW (P1-2) than in > or =26-GW infants. Hypernatremia (>150 mEq/dl sodium) was more frequent in 22-GW (71%), 23-GW (41%), and 24-GW (21%) than in > or =26-GW infants (14%). CONCLUSION: High-humidity environments significantly decreased fluid intake and improved electrolyte imbalance in 24-GW, but not 22- and 23-GW, infants. Increased IWL in the latter might be related to more immature skin, and implicates the need for additional nurturing conditions.
Apnea ; Electrolytes ; Humans ; Humidity ; Hypernatremia ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Medical Records ; Retrospective Studies ; Seizures ; Skin ; Sodium ; Survival Rate ; Water Loss, Insensible ; Water-Electrolyte Balance