Buckwheat has been considered as a potential source of nutraceutical components on the world market of probiotic foodstuffs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum) sprouts on oxidation and pro-inflammatory mediators.

Eosinophilic myenteric ganglionitis is a disorder characterized by infiltration of the Auerbach myenteric plexus by eosinophils. As a cause of chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIPO), eosinophilic myenteric ganglionitis has been rarely reported and the majority of the reported cases in the literature were children. We experienced a case of eosinophilic myenteric ganglionitis associated with CIPO in a 53-year-old female patient. Histologic examination of the resected descending colon showed moderate eosinophilic infiltrates with hypogangliosis in the myenteric plexus. Immunohistochemical study revealed increased number of CD4-positive lymphocytes and stronger but scantier glial fibillary acid protein expression in the inflamed myenteric plexus.
CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes ; Child ; Colon, Descending ; Eosinophils* ; Female ; Ganglion Cysts* ; Humans ; Intestinal Pseudo-Obstruction ; Middle Aged ; Myenteric Plexus

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Previous studies have suggested a decreased cancer risk among patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). There remains a lack of data on the specific types of cancer and risk factors for developing cancer in AD. We evaluated the association between AD and cancer risk, and we examined specific types of cancer. METHODS: A population-based longitudinal study was conducted using the National Health Insurance Service-Senior cohort for 2002–2013. A total of 4,408 AD patients were included in the study, as were 19,150 matched controls. Potential associations between the risk of cancer and AD were analyzed using Cox proportional hazard regressions. RESULTS: Cancer developed in 12.3% of the AD group patients and in 18.5% of control group subjects. AD was associated with a reduced risk of cancer (hazard ratio [HR], 0.70; 95% confidence intervals, 0.64–0.78). The risk of head and neck cancers was significantly reduced (HR, 0.49), as were risks for cancers of the digestive tract, including stomach cancer (HR, 0.42), colorectal cancer (HR, 0.61), liver and biliary tract cancers (HR, 0.68), and pancreatic cancer (HR, 0.55). Lung and prostate cancer risks were also significantly lower for the AD group (HR, 0.52 and HR, 0.72, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed an inverse association between AD and cancer. Further research involving a large number of patients in a hospital based-study is needed to address the biological associations between cancer development and dementia, including AD.
Alzheimer Disease* ; Biliary Tract Neoplasms ; Cohort Studies ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Dementia ; Epidemiology ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Head ; Humans ; Korea* ; Liver ; Longitudinal Studies ; Lung ; National Health Programs ; Neck ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; Risk Factors ; Stomach Neoplasms

This is the first case report to describe the tumor regressive effect of systemic human neural stem cell (NSC)/5-fluorocytosine (5-FC) therapy on canine metastatic lung tumor. The therapeutic effects appeared approximately two weeks after 5-FC administration. Thoracic radiographs revealed a reduced number of lung nodules and decreased nodule size. However, there were no significant antitumor effects on primary lesions in abdominal organs. In conclusion, human NSC/5-FC prodrug therapy can secure patient quality of life with the same or more therapeutic effects and fewer side effects than other recommended chemotherapies.
Drug Therapy ; Flucytosine* ; Genetic Therapy ; Humans ; Lung* ; Neural Stem Cells* ; Quality of Life ; Therapeutic Uses

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Listeners with sensorineural hearing loss want to compensate for their narrow dynamic range from appropriate compression functions of hearing aids. The present study aimed to determine which compression threshold and release time of nonlinear hearing aids might affect speech recognition and speech quality judgments. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Ten elderly listeners with symmetrical moderate-to-severe sensorineural hearing loss participated in the study. To compare two compression threshold (31 dB SPL vs. 61 dB SPL) and two release time (50 ms vs. 500 ms) conditions, subjects’ speech recognition was measured using the Korean version of the Hearing in Noise Test in both quiet and noisy situations. All subjects were also asked to rate the degree of speech quality in terms of loudness, sharpness, clarity, and background noise immediately after completing the speech recognition test. RESULTS: Although no significant difference emerged in speech recognition thresholds between the two compression thresholds in the quiet situation, the compression threshold of 31 dB SPL showed a lower (or better) signal-to-noise ratio of speech recognition compared to that of 61 dB SPL. The release times of 50 and 500 ms did not statistically differ in both quiet and noisy situations. Subjective categories were found to be louder and clearer in the 50 ms release time for quiet and noisy, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We expect that these patterns of current results will apply for better-fitting protocol of elderly Korean hearing aid users.
Aged* ; Hearing Aids* ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; Hearing* ; Humans ; Judgment ; Noise ; Signal-To-Noise Ratio

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Listeners with sensorineural hearing loss want to compensate for their narrow dynamic range from appropriate compression functions of hearing aids. The present study aimed to determine which compression threshold and release time of nonlinear hearing aids might affect speech recognition and speech quality judgments. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Ten elderly listeners with symmetrical moderate-to-severe sensorineural hearing loss participated in the study. To compare two compression threshold (31 dB SPL vs. 61 dB SPL) and two release time (50 ms vs. 500 ms) conditions, subjects’ speech recognition was measured using the Korean version of the Hearing in Noise Test in both quiet and noisy situations. All subjects were also asked to rate the degree of speech quality in terms of loudness, sharpness, clarity, and background noise immediately after completing the speech recognition test. RESULTS: Although no significant difference emerged in speech recognition thresholds between the two compression thresholds in the quiet situation, the compression threshold of 31 dB SPL showed a lower (or better) signal-to-noise ratio of speech recognition compared to that of 61 dB SPL. The release times of 50 and 500 ms did not statistically differ in both quiet and noisy situations. Subjective categories were found to be louder and clearer in the 50 ms release time for quiet and noisy, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We expect that these patterns of current results will apply for better-fitting protocol of elderly Korean hearing aid users.
Aged* ; Hearing Aids* ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; Hearing* ; Humans ; Judgment ; Noise ; Signal-To-Noise Ratio

Objective: Pesticide poisoning is one of the leading causes of death, and it is important to classify high-risk patients. Lactate measurement could be used to assess the triage level and decide and prioritize treatment even within the same triage group. This study investigates whether point-of-care lactate measurement helps to triage pesticide poisoning patients in the emergency department (ED). Methods: This retrospective study was done for pesticide poisoning patients between January 2018 to December 2021. Demographic data and laboratory results were collected by reviewing medical records. Statistical analysis was performed by dividing patients into death and survival groups. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were done. Receiver operating characteristic curves were obtained for variables with significant differences, and area under the curves (AUC) were calculated and compared. Results: Among the 288 patients evaluated, there were 24 (8.33%) mortalities and 264 (91.67%) survivals during hospitalization. Age, the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE-II) score, pH and base excess, and lactate levels were analyzed via univariable and multivariable logistic regression tests. We found that old age and high lactate were independent factors in predicting mortality for pesticide poisoning patients. AUCs with 95% confidence interval for age and lactate were 0.784 (0.653-0.915) and 0.803 (0.674-0.932), respectively. Conclusion Lactate measurement may be useful during triage of alert and consciousness patients presenting with pesticide poisoning and having stable vital signs in ED. This study has several limitations, and it is necessary to reconfirm the results through a well-designed prospective study.

Purpose: Fluid therapy for diarrhea-induced dehydration inadvertently increases emergency department length of stay (EDLOS). To prevent this delay, we investigated the usefulness of triage using point-of-care (POC) lactate in infants with diarrhea. Methods: This study was performed on infants with diarrhea who visited the emergency department from January 2019 through December 2020. According to the POC lactate concentration and the Korean Triage and Acuity Scale (KTAS) level, the infants were separately divided into the low (< 2 mmol/L), moderate (2-3.9), and high (≥ 4) lactate groups and the mild (KTAS 4-5) and severe (1-3) groups, respectively. Using these 2 group designations, we compared variables regarding the emergency medicine resource use and outcomes. To predict the prolonged EDLOS (≥ median value) we performed logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic analyses. Results: A total of 540 infants were included. The median of EDLOS was 169 minutes (interquartile range, 103-220). Fluid therapy was more frequently performed in the high lactate group than in the low-moderate lactate groups (85.0% vs. 60.4%-73.6%; P = 0.025). The high lactate and severe groups respectively showed higher rates of hospitalization (40.0% vs. 3.8%-7.6% [P < 0.001] and 10.9% vs. 1.4% [P = 0.015]), and longer median EDLOS (259 minutes vs. 147-178 [P < 0.001] and 185 vs. 131 [P = 0.001]) compared to the low-moderate lactate and mild groups. Compared to the KTAS, lactate is more strongly associated with the prolonged EDLOS (lactate, adjusted odds ratio, 4.80 [95% confidence interval, 1.87-15.34] vs. KTAS, 3.52 [1.90-6.54]). The areas under curve for lactate and for the KTAS were 0.66 (0.60-0.73) and 0.62 (0.55-0.69), respectively (P = 0.058). Conclusion In infants with diarrhea, POC lactate can be a predictor of emergency medicine resource use and outcomes.

BACKGROUND: According to US-EPA report, the use of pyrethrins and pyrethroids has increased during the past decade, and their area of use included not only in agricultural settings, but in commerce, and individual household. It is known that urinary 3-PBA, major metabolite of pyrethroid, have some associations with health effect in nervous and endocrine system, however, there’s no known evidence that urinary 3-PBA have associations with obesity. METHOD: We used data of 3671 participants aged above 19 from the Korean National Environmental Health Survey in 2009–2011. In our analysis, multivariate piece-wise regression and logistic regression analysis were used to investigate the association between urinary 3-PBA (3-Phenoxybenzoic Acid) and BMI. RESULT: Log-transformed level of urinary 3-PBA had significantly positive association with BMI at the low-level range of exposure (p < 0.0001), and opposite associations were observed at the high level exposure (p = 0.04) after adjusting covariates. In piece-wise regression analysis, the flexion point that changes direction of the associations was at around 4 ug/g creatinine of urinary 3-PBA. As quintiles based on concentration of urinary 3-PBA increased to Q4, the ORs for prevalence of overweight (BMI ≥ 23 kg/m2) were increased, and the OR of Q5 was lower than that of Q4 (OR = 1.810 for Q4; OR = 1.483 for Q5). In the analysis using obesity (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) as outcome variable, significant associations were observed between obesity and quintiles of 3-PBA, however, there were no differences between the OR of Q5 and that of Q4 (OR = 1.659 for Q4; OR = 1.666 for Q5). CONCLUSION: Our analysis suggested that low-level of pyrethroid exposure has positive association with BMI, however, there is an inverse relationship above the urinary 3-PBA level at 4 ug/g creatinine. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40557-015-0079-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Adult* ; Body Mass Index* ; Commerce ; Creatinine ; Endocrine System ; Environmental Health* ; Family Characteristics ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Methods ; Multivariate Analysis ; Obesity ; Overweight ; Prevalence ; Pyrethrins