OBJECTIVE: Identification of the regulatory mechanism for arrest and initiation of primordial follicular growth is crucial for female fertility. Previously, we found 15 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) that were specifically abundant in the day-5-subtracted cDNA library and that the B357 clone was novel. The present study was conducted to obtain the whole sequence of the novel gene including B357 and to characterize its mRNA and protein expression in mouse ovary and testis. METHODS: The extended sequence of the 2,965-bp cDNA fragment for the clone B357 was named 5-day-ovary-specific gene-1 (5DOS1) and submitted to GenBank (accession number AY751521). Expression of 5DOS1 was characterized in both female and male gonads at various developmental stages by Northern blotting, real-time RT-PCR, in situ hybridization, Western blotting, and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The 5DOS1 transcript was highly expressed in the adult testis, brain, and muscle as compared to the other tissues. In the ovary, the 5DOS1 transcript was detected in all oocytes from primordial to antral follicles, and highly expressed at day 5 after birth and decreased thereafter. In contrast, expression of 5DOS1 showed a gradual increase during testicular development and its expression was limited to various stages of male germ cells except spermatogonia. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report on the expression and characterization of the 5DOS1 gene in the mouse gonads. Further functional analysis of the 5DOS1 protein will be required to predict its role in gametogenesis.
Adult ; Animals ; Blotting, Northern ; Blotting, Western ; Brain ; Clone Cells ; Cluster Analysis* ; Databases, Nucleic Acid ; DNA, Complementary ; Expressed Sequence Tags ; Female ; Fertility ; Gametogenesis ; Gene Library ; Germ Cells ; Gonads ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; In Situ Hybridization ; Male ; Mice* ; Oocytes ; Ovary* ; Parturition ; RNA, Messenger ; Spermatogonia ; Testis*

OBJECTIVE: Sperm must be properly prepared in in vitro fertilization (IVF)-embryo transfer (ET) programs in order to control the fertilization rate and ensure that embryos are of high quality and have appropriate developmental abilities. The objective of this study was to determine the most optimal sperm preparation method for IVF. METHODS: Patients less than 40 years of age who participated in a fresh IVF-ET cycle from November 2012 to March 2013 were included in this study. Poor responders with less than three mature oocytes were excluded. Ham's F-10 medium or sperm-washing medium (SWM) was used in combination with the density-gradient centrifugation/swim-up (DGC-SUP) or SUP methods for sperm preparation. A total of 429 fresh IVF-ET cycles were grouped according to the media and methods used for sperm preparation and retrospectively analyzed (DGC-SUP/Ham's F-10, n=82; DGC-SUP/SWM, n=43; SUP/Ham's F-10, n=181; SUP/SWM, n=123). RESULTS: There were no significant differences among these four groups with respect to the mean age of the female partners, duration of infertility, number of previous IVF cycles, and retrieved oocytes. We determined that both the DGC-SUP and SUP methods for sperm preparation from whole semen, using either Ham's F-10 or SWM media, result in comparable clinical outcomes, including fertilization and pregnancy rates. CONCLUSION: We suggest that both media and both methods for sperm preparation can be used for selecting high-quality sperm for assistive reproductive technology programs.
Centrifugation, Density Gradient ; Embryonic Structures ; Female ; Fertilization ; Fertilization in Vitro ; Humans ; Infertility ; Oocytes ; Pregnancy Rate ; Reproductive Techniques ; Reproductive Techniques, Assisted ; Retrospective Studies ; Semen ; Spermatozoa

PURPOSE: This descriptive study was conducted to identify the level of knowledge of stroke symptoms and risk factors among older adults. METHODS: A total of 200 older adults over 65 years of age were conveniently recruited from out patient departments of two hospitals and a health care center from October to November 2008. The level of knowledge was assessed using both open-ended questions and a structured questionnaire based on semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed by t-tests and ANOVA using the SPSS program. RESULTS: 52.5% of the sample had hypertension and 30% had diabetes. The mean knowledge scores for symptoms and risk factors were 8.4 +/- 3.1(out of 15) and 9.5 +/- 3.9 (out of 16), respectively. The older adults who had lower education, lower family income, and who lived in rural areas were more likely to have less knowledge of stroke symptom and risk factors(p < .05). There was no significant knowledge difference between the older adults who had at least one risk factor and those who had no risk factor for stroke. CONCLUSIONS: Educational intervention should be focused on informing older adults who are at risk for stroke about the early symptoms and management of risk factors, especially those who have low education and low social status.
Adult ; Delivery of Health Care ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Risk Factors ; Stroke ; Surveys and Questionnaires

This paper presents the corrective surgical methods of lop ear deformities based on the degree of helical constriction. The deformities were corrected by antihelical tubing procedure and/or cartilage graft. The additional skin coverage, if required, was obtained by postauricular V-Y advancement flap or Grotting flap. Total 22 lop ear deformities were corrected including nine tubing procedures, three cartilage grafts and ten cartilage grafts combined with tubing procedure. All patients were followed up more than one year and most of them maintained natural auricular appearances.
Cartilage* ; Congenital Abnormalities* ; Constriction ; Ear* ; Humans ; Skin ; Transplants*

The reconstruction of defects after the resection of oropharyngeal tumors must not only cover the defect area but also be able to recover its functional structure enabling speech and mastication. To achieve a functional reconstruction, the volume and the length of the pedicle must be suitably designed and a donor site fit for the location and size of the defect must be chosen. However, in reality, the structures in oropharyngeal tumor patients who underwent resection to classify the different defect shapes according to the resection site. Bases on the classification of oropharyngeal defects, we tried to standardize a flap design method for the different defects. We investigated 44 patients who underwent tumor resection and reconstruction surgery for oropharyngeal tumor during the past 3 years at Severance hospital. The defects were divided into 6 zones and 4 types of design methods of radial forearm free flap were standardized. Surgery was performed on 25 patients during September of 1998 to September of 1999 with modified design methods based on the standardized ones. A faster and more efficient flap design was possible due to the standardized method. It was also possible to enable a functional reconstruction in cases where the soft palate was involved without any nasal escape.
Classification ; Forearm* ; Free Tissue Flaps* ; Humans ; Mastication ; Palate, Soft ; Tissue Donors ; Tongue Neoplasms ; United Nations

Human papilloma virus 16 E6 and E7 oncoproteins are well known to change cell functions, especially through p53 and pRb expression, so we studied their effects on molecular mechanisms and on the cell death associated with hypoxia and ionizing radiation. These treatments both caused cell death and increased p53 protein expression in HepG2 cells. This increased p53 expression by gamma-irradiation under hypoxia induced G1 cell cycle arrest and led to apoptosis even though HepG2 cells have a relatively reduced ability to induce p21 and pRb expression levels. Ablation of p53 expression by the HPV 16 E6 gene induced E2F-1 expression, which plays a role in cellular survival, especially under hypoxia or gamma-irradiation. The steady-state level of p53 action produced by HPV 16 E7 did not induce apoptotic cell death or the production of the apoptotic regulators, the bcl-2 family and caspase-3, so it did not appear to participate in apoptotic signaling in response to hypoxia and ionizing radiation. Thus, the HPV 16 E7 oncoprotein did not increase the rate of cell death induced by p53, although p53 might play a role in apoptosis in HepG2 cells.
Anoxia* ; Apoptosis* ; Caspase 3 ; Cell Death ; G1 Phase Cell Cycle Checkpoints ; Hep G2 Cells* ; Human papillomavirus 16 ; Humans* ; Oncogene Proteins ; Papilloma* ; Radiation, Ionizing

PURPOSE: As life expectancy increases, elderly colorectal cancer patients are also increasing. Compared to younger patients, the elderly manifest higher co-morbidity with more advanced and emergent disease. However, recent studies have reported similar surgical approaches irrespective of age distribution. We evaluated the outcome and propriety of surgical treatment of colorectal cancer in the elderly. METHODS: The medial records of 464 colorectal patients, who underwent surgery during 2003 to 2007 in Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital were reviewed retrospectively. The patients were divided into three groups according to age: I (younger than 70), II (71~80), III (older than 81). Clinical and histological characteristics, surgical outcomes and survival rates were analyzed. RESULTS: Three hundred and thirty-eight patients belonged to group I, and 104 patients to group II, and group III included 22 patients. Although, male patients were more prevalent in all three groups, female distribution was slightly higher in group III. Clinical characteristics among the three groups did not reveal specific differences except TNM stage distribution. In group I and II, patients with stage II were more common compared to group III, whereas the latter showed most frequently stage III. Histological characteristics and postoperative morbidity rates did not show any difference among the three groups. The survival rate was lowest in group III. However, emergency operation was more frequent in group III, in accordance with increased postoperative complications. CONCLUSION: The elderly demonstrated comparable operative morbidity and mortality to the younger patients. Emergency operation was the only significantly influencing factor in the surgical outcome. Therefore, in colorectal cancer patients, surgical treatment in the elderly should be no longer contraindicated.
Age Distribution ; Aged ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Emergencies ; Female ; Humans ; Life Expectancy ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

No abstract available.

BACKGOUND: On-line hemodiafiltration (HDF) is a technique that relies on the re-injection of pyrogen-free substitution fluid obtained by cold filtration of dialysate. Therefore, safety of this therapy depends on the quality of dialysate and, mainly, on the integrity of the ultrafilters employed. Paired hemodiafiltration (PHF) is a new technique where re-infusion takes place inside the dialyzer by means of dialysate backfiltration. METHODS: To assess safety and feasibility, we carried out prospective cross-over trial comparing PHF with hemodialysis (HD) in five stable HD patients RESULTS: All PHF sessions were well tolerated. No pyrogenic reactions were observed during the study period. No significant difference was found in the incidence of intradialytic hypotension. PHF led to significantly higher small and middle molecule clearance than HD. The reduction rates of urea, creatinine and beta2-M were significantly higher in PHF than in HD, while no difference was found for phosphate. The serum beta2-M levels fell progressively from the HD value of 29 mg/L to 17 mg/L at the end of 3 months's PHF treatment. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, PHF is a feasible and safe convective therapy to increase beta2-M removal compared with HD. Long-term, prospective multicenter clinical studies are mandatory to assess the clinical outcome of this new on-line technique of HDF.
Creatinine ; Filtration ; Hemodiafiltration* ; Humans ; Hypotension ; Incidence ; Prospective Studies ; Renal Dialysis ; Urea

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) remains an important pathogen in organ transplant recipients, and ganciclovir has been the antiviral agent of choice both for prevention and treatment of CMV disease. Recently ganciclovir-resistant cytomegalovirus has been reported with increasing frequency in organ transplant recipient and is an emerging clinical problem in transplant recipients. Ganciclovir-resistant CMV infection has been associated with clinical progression of CMV disease and high mortality even with foscarnet therapy. We report here a case of disseminated ganciclovir-resistant CMV disease in a 34-year-old renal transplant recipient, who died of multiorgan failure despite treatment with both ganciclovir and foscarnet.
Adult ; Cytomegalovirus Infections* ; Cytomegalovirus* ; Foscarnet ; Ganciclovir ; Humans ; Kidney Transplantation* ; Mortality ; Transplantation ; Transplants