No abstract available.
Chromosome Aberrations* ; Ethylene Oxide* ; Lymphocytes* ; Transferases*

PURPOSE: This study investigated the effects that music therapy by self-selected music listening has on the affect and stress relief in adult patients who have been diagnosed with terminal cancer by pain level. METHODS: Participants were 20 terminally ill cancer patients who were over 18 years old and were admitted to the hospice and palliative care unit of a local hospital. At the beginning of each session, participants selected music of their choice. Each participant had a total of six 30-minute music listening sessions. Participants were grouped into two according to their self-rated perceived pain scores on the visual analogue scale and numeric rated score: 5 and above and less than 5. Each participant completed a questionnaire on their affect state before and after each session and a questionnaire on their stress level before the first session and after the last session. Further analysis was performed to compare differences between the two groups according to pain level. RESULTS: There were significant differences in patients' affect before and after each session (P<0.001) and stress level before and after the therapy (P=0.001). CONCLUSION: In this study, self-selected music listening had positive effects on terminal cancer patients' affect and stress regardless of perceived pain level. Therefore, self-selected music listening can be used as an appropriate intervention to improve affect and reduce stress in terminal cancer patients in the hospice and palliative care unit.
Adult ; Hospices ; Humans ; Music ; Music Therapy ; Palliative Care ; Terminally Ill

BACKGROUND: When used to reverse the anticoagulant effect of heparin, protamine administration after cardiovascular bypass often can lead to systemic hypotension. During the reversal of heparin-induced anticoagulation, the effects of protamine on both a heparin-protamine complex and free protamine on the cardiovascular system should be considered. METHOD: To determine whether the hypotensive effect of heparin-protamine and/or protamine could be caused by endothelium-dependent and-independent component, we studied rings of the arotic arteries in rats suspended in organ chambers containing Tris Tyrode solution at 37oC and 100% O2. Arterial rings with or without endothelium were contracted with 40 mM KCl or 3 +/- 10-6M phenylephrine and then exposed to increasing concentrations of protamine (final organ bath concentration, 40~400 g/ml) both in the absence and presence of heparin (200 U/ml). RESULTS: Protamine induced concentration-dependent relaxation in arterial rings with endothelium, which were significantly greater than in rings without endothelium. The endothelium-dependent relaxation induced by protamine was inhibited by NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) (10-5M) pretreatment, but was not inhibited by indomethacin (3x10-6M) pretreatment on rings with endothelium. Furthermore, the contractile inhibition was enhanced by superoxide dismutase (100 U/ml). Also, such vasodilating actions were not influenced in the presence of heparin (200 U/ml). In endothelium-denuded strips, protamine (400ug/ml) inhibited Ca++ induced contraction, which was evoked in Ca++-free solution containing 40 mM K+, and also inhibited the norepinephrine (NE)-induced contraction. Protamine inhibited on the NE-induced contraction, but not the caffein-induced contration in Ca++ free, 2 mM EGTA solution. Also, such inhibition of contracions were not inluenced in the presence of heparin (40 U/ml). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that protamine (in the presence or absence of heparin) acts on endothelial cell receptors to stimulate the production of nitric oxide and inhibits both Ca++-influx and the NE-induced Ca++ release from intracellular stores.
Animals ; Arteries* ; Baths ; Cardiovascular System ; Egtazic Acid ; Endothelial Cells ; Endothelium ; Heparin* ; Hypotension ; Indomethacin ; Nitric Oxide ; Norepinephrine ; omega-N-Methylarginine ; Phenylephrine ; Rats* ; Relaxation ; Superoxide Dismutase ; Vasodilation*

OBJECTIVES: Deficit schizophrenia (DS) constitutes a disease separate from non-deficit schizophrenia (NDS). The aim of the current study was to compare the quantitative EEG and low resolution electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) imaging between DS and NDS. METHODS: This study was performed by 32 channels EEG for 42 schizophrenia patients who we categorized into DS and NDS using proxy instrument deficit syndrome (PDS). We performed the absolute power spectral analyses for delta, theta, alpha, low beta and high beta activities. We compared power spectrum between two groups using Independent t-test. Partial correlation test was performed with clinical parameters. Standardized LORETA (sLORETA) was used for comparison of cortical activity, and statistical nonparametric mapping (SnPM) was applied for the statistical analysis. RESULTS: DS showed significantly increased delta and theta absolute power in fontal and parietal region compared with NDS (p<0.05). Power spectrum showed significant correlation with 'anergia' and 'hostility/suspiciousness' subscale of brief psychiatric rating scale (BPRS)(p<0.05). sLORETA found out the source region (anterior cingulate cortex/limbic part) that delta activity was significantly increased in DS (p=0.042). CONCLUSIONS: DS showed different cortical activity compared with NDS. Our results may suggest QEEG and LORETA could be the marker in differentiating between DS and NDS.
Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale ; Electroencephalography ; Humans ; Magnets ; Naphthalenesulfonates ; Proxy ; Schizophrenia

Invasive diseases caused by Trichosporon beigelii are rare, usually fatal, opportunistic infections that occur exclusively in immunocompromised patients. This fungus has been known to produce cutaneous involvement in immunocompetent hosts, and is rarely reported to cause systemic disease in patients with cardiac valve replacement. In this report, we described a case of invasive Trichosporon beigelii pneumonia in a 9-year-old boy who presented with persistent cough and dyspnea for 1 week. He showed no abnormality in immunologic function tests and had no predisposing factors. Trichosporon beigelii was isolated from the bronchoalveolar lavage culture.
Bronchoalveolar Lavage ; Causality ; Child ; Cough ; Dyspnea ; Fungi ; Heart Valves ; Humans ; Immunocompromised Host ; Male* ; Opportunistic Infections ; Pneumonia* ; Trichosporon*

PURPOSE: Hypoxic-ischemic brain injuries influence the mechanisms of signal transduction, including mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) that regulates gene expression through transcription factor activity. Several attempts have been made to use bee venom (BV) to treat neurological diseases. However, limited data are available for brain injuries such as neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and neurodegenerative disorders. The purpose of this study was to investigate the neuroprotective effects of BV by determining the expression of activated MAPK pathways. METHODS: We examined activation and cell viability in hypoxia (1% O2, 5% CO2, 94% N2) in low glucose-treated (H+low G) neuronal cells and astrocytes in the presence and absence of BV. After they were subjected to hypoxic conditions and treated with low glucose, the cells were maintained for 0, 6, 15, and 24 h under normoxic conditions. RESULTS: Extracellular-signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2), p38 MAPK, and stress-activated protein kinases (SAPK)/Jun amino-terminal kinases (JNK) were activated in H+low G conditions. Particularly, phosphorylation of ERK1/2 was maximized 6 h after exposure to H+low G condition. BV specifically inhibited the phosphorylation of ERK1/2. However, BV had no effect on p38 MAPK or SAPK/JNK. In addition, BV improved neuronal cell and astrocytes viability following exposure to H+low G. CONCLUSION: ERK inactivation is known to mediate protective effects in hypoxic brain injury. Taken together, these results suggest that treatment with BV may be helpful in reducing hypoxic injury in neonatal HIE through the ERK signaling pathway.
Anoxia ; Astrocytes* ; Bee Venoms* ; Bees* ; Brain Injuries ; Cell Survival ; Gene Expression ; Glucose ; Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; Neurons* ; Neuroprotective Agents* ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; Phosphorylation ; Phosphotransferases ; Protein Kinases ; Signal Transduction ; Transcription Factors

PURPOSE: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1), and platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) are known to be involved in the pathogenesis of inflammation and remodeling in asthmatic airways. YKL-40, a chitinase-like protein, and clusterin have been reported to be biomarkers for severe asthma. We examined the serum levels of growth factors, YKL-40, and clusterin in children with acute asthma or stable asthma, and investigated their correlation with clinical findings and lung function parameters. METHODS: Forty-one children (> or =6 years of age) with asthma were enrolled, and 2 groups were defined: 23 patients admitted with acute asthma (acute asthma group) and 18 patients with stable asthma (stable asthma group). The serum levels of VEGF, TGF-beta1, PDGF-BB, YKL-40, and clusterin were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and assessed in relation to clinical manifestations and spirometric parameters. Fifteen age-matched controls were also studied. RESULTS: The serum levels of VEGF, TGF-beta1, and YKL-40 were significantly elevated in children with acute asthma compared to controls. The serum levels of VEGF and YKL-40 were higher in the stable asthma group than in controls. The serum levels of VEGF, TGF-beta1, and YKL-40 were not different between the acute asthma and stable asthma groups. The serum VEGF levels in the acute asthma group correlated significantly with asthma severity. The serum TGF-beta1 levels in stable asthma group showed a significant inverse correlation with (FEV1) forced expiratory volume in one second and FEF(25%-75%) (forced expiratory flow between 25 and 75 percent of expired vital capacity). Serum YKL-40 had no significant relationship with clinical manifestations and spirometric parameters. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that increased serum levels of VEGF and YKL-40 might affect asthmatic airways not only during acute exacerbation but also in stable state and that serum TGF-beta1 might be a biomarker for airway obstruction in children with asthma.
Airway Obstruction ; Asthma* ; Biomarkers ; Child* ; Clusterin ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; Lung ; Platelet-Derived Growth Factor ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A*

PURPOSE: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most common cause of bronchiolitis in infants and also responsible for the production of asthma syndrome which can persist after the acute infection. This study evaluated the role of chemokine RANTES in airway inflammation in RSV bronchiolitis. METHODS: RANTES in nasal secretion examined in 20 infants with RSV bronchiolitis (RSV group) and 22 infants with non-RSV bronchiolitis (non-RSV group) and 10 age-matched controls. Eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) was determined to evaluate the RANTES-induced eosinophil activation. The severity of disease in RSV group was investigated by the presence of hypoxemia and the duration of wheezing. RESULTS: RANTES in RSV group (131+/-77 pg/mL) was significantly higher than those in non-RSV group (55+/-41 pg/mL) and controls (16+/-13 pg/mL) (P=0.0002, P= 0.0001, respectively). ECP in RSV group (49+/-57 ng/mL) was significantly higher than in controls (6.4+/-12.3 ng/mL) (P<0.05). RANTES and ECP concentrations showed significant correlation in both RSV and non-RSV groups (r=0.59, P<0.01 and r=0.64, P<0.01, respectively). Concentration of RANTES in RSV group was not significantly higher in infants with severe symptoms than in those with mild symptoms. CONCLUSION: RANTES, an effective eosinophil chemoattractant and activator, may play a role in the pathogenesis of airway inflammation and later airway hyperreactivity induced by RSV bronchiolitis in infants.
Anoxia ; Asthma ; Bronchiolitis* ; Chemokine CCL5* ; Eosinophil Cationic Protein ; Eosinophils* ; Humans ; Infant ; Inflammation ; Respiratory Sounds ; Respiratory Syncytial Viruses*

The structure and function of short-length amino terminal PTH analogues were studied. The substitution of Leu7 with Phe in [Ala3, 10Leu7Arg11]rPTH (1-11) NH2 analogue peptides did not show any reduction in cAMP formation. Replacement of the 1st, 7th and 8th residues revealed different activities, depending upon the residue type. The substitution of Ala1 by Ser in [Ala3, 10Leu7Arg11]rPTH (1-11) NH2 caused nearly a complete loss of cAMP formation. Meanwhile, NMR analysis of [ (Ala1/ Ser1) Ala3, 10 (Leu7/Phe7) Arg11]rPTH (1-11) NH2 revealed an alpha- helical backbone structure with a flexible conformation at the carboxyl-terminus. The overall results suggest that 11-residue short oligopeptide analogues of PTH tend to form an alpha-helical structure and the different activities of those analogues could be associated with residue specificity rather than the secondary conformational structure.
Amino Acid Substitution ; Animals ; Circular Dichroism ; Cyclic AMP/metabolism ; Human ; LLC-PK1 Cells ; Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular ; Parathyroid Hormone/*chemistry/*metabolism ; Protein Structure, Secondary ; Protein Structure, Tertiary ; Receptor, Parathyroid Hormone, Type 1/genetics ; Structure-Activity Relationship ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Swine

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a genetically heterogeneous disease affecting motile cilia. A female neonate was hospitalized with respiratory distress 72 hours after birth and showed concurrent situs inversus. She was identified to have compound heterozygous mutations in DNAH5: c.5647C>T, p.Arg1883Ter (nonsense mutation) and c.10810dupA, p.Ile3604AsnfsTer2 (frameshift mutation). Sanger sequencing confirmed that they were inherited from her father and mother, respectively, and she was diagnosed with PCD. The c.10810dupA is a novel DNAH5 mutation that has never been reported. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing DNAH5 mutations in a Korean patient with PCD.
Cilia ; Fathers ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Kartagener Syndrome ; Mothers ; Parturition ; Situs Inversus