BACKGROUND: The limitation of activities of daily living (ADL) is a critical problem in dementia patients in addition to cognitive dysfunction. In spite of many previous studies about the relationship between cognitive dysfunction, ADL and the nature of functional changes, there have not been any clear explanations about the liaisons between them due to various results from the diversity of objects and methods. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between ADL and clinical features in patients with Alzheimer's disease. METHODS: One hundred thirty-four patients with Alzheimer's disease were enrolled to participate in the study. The physical activity of daily living (P-ADL) and the Korean instrumental activity of daily living (K-IADL) were evaluated in the patients. In addition, all subjects were tested by a Korean version of the expanded clinical dementia rating scale (CDR), and a Korean version of the mini-mental state examination (K-MMSE) and a Korean version of the neuropsychiatric inventory (NPI). RESULTS: ADL was significantly correlated with cognitive functioning (r>-0.75, p<0.01). NPI was not significantly correlated with P-ADL and KIADL. The ability to use the telephone was the most highly correlated with CDR and K-MMSE (r>0.72, p<0.01). The ability to use the telephone was the most predictable item in K-IADL and bathing was the most predictable item in PADL. The deterioration of K-IADL showed rapid progression in the degree of CDR 2 and P-ADL showed rapid progression in the degree of CDR 4, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The ADL decline induced by dementia may progress and have a close correlation with clinical manifestations of dementia including cognitive dysfunction, behavioral symptoms and psychological symptoms.
Activities of Daily Living ; Alzheimer Disease* ; Baths ; Behavioral Symptoms ; Dementia ; Humans ; Motor Activity ; Telephone

Objective: To determine the incidence of anconeus epitrochlearis (AE) muscle and evaluate the correlation between AE muscle and ulnar motor nerve conduction velocity (NCV). Method: Forty healthy volunteers (80 arms) were evaluated. Ulnar motor nerve conduction study was performed. NCVs at the forearm and across the elbow were calculated. Ultrasonography (US) was used to obtain a transverse scan view of the cubital tunnel and confirm the presence of the AE muscle. Cross-sectional areas (CSAs) of following structures were obtained: ulnar nerve (UNCSA), cubital tunnel (CTCSA), and AE (AECSA). AECSA was divided by CTCSA to obtain the AE/CT ratio. Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) was calculated to evaluate the relationship between NCV across elbow and each variable obtained by US. Results: Sixty-three (78.75%) of eighty arms showed the presence of AE muscle. NCV had no significant correlations with sonographic variables. However, when 17 arms with a relatively low NCV value (≤ 60 m/s) were analyzed, NCV showed significant correlations with AECSA (PCC: r = −0.674, p=0.003) and AE/CT ratio (PCC: r = −0.516, p=0.034). Conclusion When all 63 cases with AE muscle were analyzed, ulnar NCV showed no significant correlations with sonographic variables. However, when those with NCV value of 60 m/s or less were analyzed, NCV showed significant negative correlations with AECSA and AE/CT ratio.

Molecular characterization technology in genetically modified organisms, in addition to how transgenic biotechnologies are developed now require full transparency to assess the risk to living modified and non-modified organisms. Next generation sequencing (NGS) methodology is suggested as an effective means in genome characterization and detection of transgenic insertion locations. In the present study, we applied NGS to insert transgenic loci, specifically the epidermal growth factor (EGF) in genetically modified rice cells. A total of 29.3 Gb (~72x coverage) was sequenced with a 2 x 150 bp paired end method by Illumina HiSeq2500, which was consecutively mapped to the rice genome and T-vector sequence. The compatible pairs of reads were successfully mapped to 10 loci on the rice chromosome and vector sequences were validated to the insertion location by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification. The EGF transgenic site was confirmed only on chromosome 4 by PCR. Results of this study demonstrated the success of NGS data to characterize the rice genome. Bioinformatics analyses must be developed in association with NGS data to identify highly accurate transgenic sites.
Biotechnology ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 4 ; Computational Biology ; Epidermal Growth Factor ; Genome* ; Organisms, Genetically Modified ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Risk Assessment