BACKGROUND: A forceps-biopsy is performed to acquire tissue from patients with an endobronchial carcinoma using a flexible bronchoscope. Recently, a cryo-biopsy has also been used to acquire tissue samples. Cryo-biopsy is the diagnostic application of extreme cold for the local destruction of abnormal living tissue. This technique is safe, with no radiation danger, no risk of electrical accidents, and a little risk of bleeding. This study compared a forceps-biopsy with a cryo-biopsy using a flexible bronchoscope, and examined the chemosensitivity and level of VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) in the specimens obtained from the cryo-biopsy. METHODS: We present a prospective study of 30 consecutive patients who underwent a forceps-biopsy between January 2007 and October 2007 with a mean age of 62.1 years and a male:female ratio of 5 : 1. A flexible bronchoscope was inserted to the area of the abnormal lesions, and a cryo-probe was then applied through the working channel of the flexible bronchoscope. A temperature of approximately -80 was delivered to the tumor site for 8 seconds. The cryo-biopsy was performed after destroying the tumor mass. RESULTS: The mean size of the tissue from the forceps-biopsy and cryo-biopsy were 2.0+/-1.2 mm and 6.0+/-3.0 mm. A chemosensitivity test was performed on 5 specimens obtained using cryo-biopsy and the level of VEGF was examined in 2 specimens obtained from a cryo-biopsy. There were no side effects in either group. CONCLUSION: Cryo-biopsy using a flexible bronchoscope is a safe and effective technique for acquiring tissue samples.
Bronchoscopes ; Bronchoscopy ; Extreme Cold ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Prospective Studies ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A

Insect antifreeze protein (AFP) has high antifreeze activity. Antifreeze proteins can be used in cryopreservation of biological tissues and cells. We expressed an antifreeze protein from the desert beetle Microdera punctipennis in yeast and determined the function of the protein at low temperatures. Yeast expression vector, pPIC9K-Mpafp698, was constructed and transformed into Pichia pastoris GS115. The expression of MpAFP698 was induced by methanol, and identified by tricine SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. Mpafp698 gene was inserted into the genome of the host yeast strain GS115, and correctly expressed. Hardly any yeast's own protein was secreted into the media. Cryoprotective experiments showed that MpAFP698 can significantly protect mouse liver as well as other mouse organs from cold damage compared with those in the control of Bovine serum albumin (BSA) addition. Besides, the hemolysis of blood cells protected by MpAFP698 at 4 degrees C was reduced and the survival rate of SF9 cells protected by MpAFP698 after freezing and thawing was increased compared to those of the control with BSA addition. Our results showed that MpAFP698 can be expressed in yeast, which allows a convenient purification of the MpAFP protein that has the cryoprotective effect.
Animals ; Antifreeze Proteins ; biosynthesis ; Blotting, Western ; Cold Temperature ; Coleoptera ; Cryoprotective Agents ; chemistry ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Freezing ; Insect Proteins ; biosynthesis ; Mice ; Pichia ; metabolism ; Sf9 Cells

Wild Angelica sinensis is almost endangered, studying the biological characteristics of wild A. sinensis seeds is helpful for varietal improvement and its conservation. This paper systematically studied the morphological structure, thousand seed weight, viability, storage and other basic biological characteristics of wild A. sinensis fruits and seeds, and focused on the germination of excised embryos,the development of embryo, the effects of the temperature,light and hormones on seed germination.The study found that:①The embryos are not fully developed when harvested, the initial germination rate was low, the embryos can develop. After 15 days of low temperature storage, the embryos can develop completely and the germination rate is significantly increased. These results show that wild A. sinensis seeds have no dormancy, and the low germination rate is due to the low maturity of wild A. sinensis seeds. ②The sui-table germination temperature of wild A. sinensis is 15-25 ℃,and the optimal temperature is 20 ℃. Light does not affect the germination of A. sinensis seeds.③The applicable concentration of GA_3 can promote seeds germination, IAA and 6-BA has no significant effect on germination.④The optimum storage condition is dry storage at 4 ℃. Wild A. sinensis seeds can be stored for 1.5 years and cultivated seeds can be stored for 1 year.During the introduction and conservation, the best treatment conditions were dry storage at 4 ℃ for 30 d and soaking seeds with 200 mg·L~(-1) GA_3, the germination rate can reach 86.7%.
Angelica sinensis ; Cold Temperature ; Germination ; Seeds ; Temperature

DNA profiles have been increasingly used as the most reliable means to identify remains from war or mass disaster. To establish the identity with such a large set of victims, special care should be taken to correlate remains with correct family references while avoiding coincidental match between non-relatives. Therefore we address here relevant statistical and combinatorial issues in the DNA identification of mass victims. A simple and general formula for the likelihood ratio governing any potential kinship between two DNA profiles was presented, and for that purpose, the probabilities that a given relative and an individual share autosomal identical-bydescent alleles were calculated. In addition, a method dealing with the allele drop-out in kinship analysis and the estimation of a cold hit were discussed.
Alleles ; Cold Temperature ; Disasters ; DNA ; Humans

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to fabricate the new zirconia block (CNU block) and to evaluate fit of core and porcelain veneered zirconia crown. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The experimental blocks were fabricated from the commercial ytrria-stabilized zirconia powder (KZ-3YE Type A). The powder was uniaxial pressing and the green bodies were conducted using the Cold Isostatic Pressing. The zirconia blocks were presintered at 1040degrees C and the final sintering was performed at 1450degrees C. The Kavo Everest ZS blank(R) (KaVo, Biberach/Ri beta.) was used as a control group. The linear shrinkage of CNU block and Kavo block were compared. Twenty-one cores for porcelain veneered crowns were fabricated with CAD/CAM system (Everest(R), Biberach/Ribeta.). Group I: seven cores fabricated from Kavo blocks, Group II: seven cores fabricated from CNU blocks, Group III: seven cores from CNU blocks and porcelain veneering for crowns. All specimens were cemented and sectioned into two planes: diagonal and bucco-lingual. The measurement of the marginal, internal, and occlusal fit was carried out using SEM (S-4800(R)) at 30 x. The results were analyzed by one-way ANOVA test. RESULTS: The linear shrinkage of the CNU block and the KaVo block was 19.00% and 20.09%. The marginal gap of cores (29.67 +/- 6.58 micrometer) fabricated from CNU blocks showed significantly smaller than that of the cores of Kavo blocks (36.84 +/- 7.18 micrometer) (P < .05). The internal gaps of the porcelain veneered crowns (32.23 +/- 6.33 micrometer) were larger than those of the other two groups (37.57 +/- 6.81 micrometer and 38.14 +/- 6.81 micrometer). CONCLUSION: No statistically significant difference was found in between experimental groups and control group. The experimental groups in marginal gap showed significantly smaller than the control group.
Cold Temperature ; Crowns ; Dental Porcelain ; Ethylnitrosourea ; Zirconium

Coronal discoloration is a common sequela to traumatic injuries. In subluxation cases, although the injury is not strong enough to rupture the apical vessels, discoloration may appear by tearing thin walls or occluding small capillaries. In absence of infection pulpal regeneration can occur, and as a result discoloration may completely or partially subside. But judging pulpal status by coronal discoloration can be dangerous and it may lead to unnecessary treatment. This case presents coronal discoloration and recovery following traumatic injury of maxillary anterior teeth. In diagnosing traumatized teeth routine cold tests or electric pulp tests are known to be unreliable, but with the aid of ultrasound doppler imaging, assessing pulp vitality of traumatized teeth can be more accurate.
Capillaries ; Cold Temperature ; Regeneration ; Rupture ; Tooth

Glomus tumors are benign tumors that account for 1% to 5% of all soft tissue tumors of the hand and are characterized by a triad of sensitivity to cold, localized tenderness and severe paroxysmal pain. Paroxysmal pain is a symptom common not only in glomus tumors but also in CRPS, and the hand is one of the commonly affected sites in patients with both glomus tumors and CRPS. Therefore, it is not easy to clinically diagnose glomus tumors superimposed on already affected region of CRPS patients. We report a case of glomus tumor concomitantly originating with CRPS at the hand.
Cold Temperature ; Glomus Tumor ; Hand ; Humans

The fire broke out in the cold storage warehouse in Icheon, Gyeonggi-do, Korea on January 7th, 2008 and forty workers were died from the fire. Dental identification was carried out to the 25 victims among the 40 ones. The five remains were identified through dental approaches. The public ignorance about the importance of forensic odontology and the difficulty procuring antemortem dental records from the families of the victims were kind of hardships to use the victim's previous dental information. The availability of antemortem data was 12.5%. The public realization about the importance of dental identification and building-up an appropriate co-work system between relevant organizations are required to collect antemortem data more efficiently without wasting time.
Cold Temperature ; Dental Records ; Fires ; Humans ; Korea

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the two warm gutta-percha filling techniques by measuring the weight changes of resin blocks before and after canal filling in ribbon shaped canal. Simulated ribbon shaped root canals in 30 transparent resin blocks were instrumented to #40 using .06 taper Profile. 15 resin blocks were obturated with gutta-percha using cold lateral condensation. Warm lateral condensation using the Endotec II was then accomplished on the same 15 blocks. Another 15 resin blocks were obturated using the System B. All canals were obturated without sealer. The resin blocks were weighed after canal preparation and after each subsequent obturation, and then weight changes of the resin blocks were calculated. The results were as follows. 1. Warm lateral condensation using Endotec II and continuous wave of condensation using System B produced a denser obturation of gutta-percha compared with conventional cold lateral condensation (p<0.01). 2. There was no significant difference between warm lateral condensation and continuous wave condensation. In conclusion, the warm gutta-percha condensation techniques like warm lateral condensation and continuous wave condensation can be expected to bring favorable canal obturation results in ribbon shaped canals.
Cold Temperature ; Dental Pulp Cavity ; Gutta-Percha

Frostbite is a common disease in winter, and systemic or local injury caused by low temperature invasion. Frostbite sites are commonly face, ears, nose, hands, feet and other peripheral blood circulation parts. The main symptoms are pale skin, cold, pain and numbness, skin itching in high temperature, and severe cases may suffer from skin erosions and ulcers. Frostbite model is a pathological model mainly based on Western medicine index. Based on the analysis of clinical symptoms of frostbite in traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine, and a large number of experimental studies on the existing animal models, the animal model preparation of specifications (draft) was formulated as follows.
Animals ; Cold Temperature ; Frostbite ; Models, Animal