Eighty-two strains of Escherichia coli isolated from urine specimens in Pusan University Hospital, were serotyped and analyzed for plasmid DNA profiles, PFGE profiles, MRHA of human blood cells, HEp-2 cell adherence ability and reactivity to bfpA, LT, STh and STp DNA probes. The following results were obtained. Fifty-three of the eighty-two strains belonged to thirteen different 0 serotypes, twenty-nine strains could not be typed with the antisera used. Thirty strains (43.9%) were hemolysin producer. MRHA is present on twenty-nine strains (35.37%) of eighty-two strains. MRHA positive strains carry a plasmid of 60MDa, a putative factor involved in adherence. This plasmid might be specific for MRHA positive strains. MRHA positive strains were observed in serotype 01, 018, 055, 086a, 0119, 0126, and 0142. Twenty-six strains of E. coli showed three patterns of adherence to HEp-2 cells namely, localized, diffuse, and aggregative adhesion. Twenty-two strains hybridized with the bfpA probe, while all eighty-two strains did not hybridize with the probes, LT, STh, STp. The restriction fragment patterns of chromosomal DNA digested with AotI analysed by PFGE of hemolysin-producing E. coli ten strains were compared with eight different types. Three of E. coli serotype 01, 08 and 0126 showed the same chromosomal DNA fragment patterns.
Blood Cells ; Busan ; DNA ; DNA Probes ; Escherichia coli* ; Escherichia* ; Humans ; Immune Sera ; Plasmids ; Serotyping*

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis is an important health concern among the postmenopausal women. Therefore, it is necessary to find out acceptable screening tools for osteoporotic patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Risk Index by OSTA as a screening test for osteoporosis. METHODS: The study population was 322 naturally caused menopausal women in Korea. Their was of femoral neck and lumbar spine BMD measured by DEXA. Risk Index by OSTA, based on weight and age, was calculated and the sensitivity and specificity for osteoporosis and osteopenia were evaluated. To find out the proper cut-off point for osteoporosis and osteopenia among the postmenopausal women in Korea, we also compared the sensitivity and specificity of each Risk Index value. RESULTS: The mean age and ages at menopause were 59.1(+/-6.2) and 50.7 (+/-2.7) years, respectively. The prevalence of osteoporosis was 9.6% with femoral neck BMD. For oeteoporosis, using a cut-off point of -1 yielded a sensitivity of 74.3% and a specificity of 52.2% with femoral neck BMD. Using a cut-off of -2 yielded a sensitivity of 87.3% and a specificity of 70.9%. The ROC curve showed an AUROC 0.88 for Risk Index in identifying osteoporosis. CONCLUSION: The Risk Index is an acceptable, simple and useful method in the diagnosis of osteoporosis with a Risk Index of -2 in Korean postmenopausal women.
Bone Diseases, Metabolic* ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Femur Neck ; Humans ; Korea ; Mass Screening* ; Menopause ; Osteoporosis* ; Prevalence ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Spine

No Abstract Available.
Chondrocytes* ; Phenotype*

A 51-year-old female had disseminated, symmetrically distributed, brownish black pigmentation and papillary hypertrophy on the intertriginous and flexural areas for 6 months, and gastric adenocarcinoma was confirmed during the evaluation of internal malignancy, The cutaneous finding of acanthosis nigricans was a significant cutaneous marker of internal malignancy in this case.
Acanthosis Nigricans* ; Adenocarcinoma* ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertrophy ; Middle Aged ; Pigmentation

No abstract available.
Appendicitis* ; Child* ; Humans

PURPOSE: To compare the efficacy of the transconjunctival releasable suture technique for pars plana vitrectomy using 23-gauge (23G) instruments versus the conventional 20-gauge (20G) technique. METHODS: A retrospective and interventional case series was consecutively performed for 199 eyes of the 192 patients that were a part of this study. Clinical data were reviewed retrospectively regarding the operation time, preoperative and postoperative intraocular pressure, visual acuity and astigmatism for 54 consecutive patients who received a 23G releasable suture vitrectomy and for 98 consecutive patients who received a 20G conventional vitrectomy during the period between April 2007 and September 2010. RESULTS: Mean operation time based on the operation record was 88.5 +/- 20.1 minutes in the 23G releasable suture vitrectomy group and 102.1 +/- 23.1 minutes in the 20G conventional vitrectomy group, respectively (p = 0.01). The last best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was significantly better than the preoperative BCVA in both patient groups (p = 0.01, p = 0.01). The 23G releasable suture group showed less surgically induced astigmatism than the 20G conventional vitrectomy group. Vitreous bleeding was observed to be in 6 eyes (5.9%) in the 23G group, and in 8 eyes (8.2%) in the 20G group. In addition, ocular hypertension was noted to be in 3 eyes (3.0%) in the 23G group, and 6 eyes (6.1%) in the 20G group. No serious complications such as postoperative hypotony or endophthalmitis were observed in either group. CONCLUSIONS: The 23G releasable suture technique is as effective as the 20G conventional technique and offers several advantages.
Adult ; Aged ; Equipment Design ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Suture Techniques/*instrumentation ; *Sutures ; Treatment Outcome ; Visual Acuity ; Vitrectomy/*methods ; Vitreous Hemorrhage/physiopathology/*surgery

Protein energy malnutrition occurs when inadequate protein and calories are ingested. PEM is not confined to children and is common in hospitalized patients. PEM is diagnosed by a weight loss and hypoalbuminemia. We report a case of PEM in a 27-year-old man after Whipple's operation. He had brittle hair, loss on the scalp and brownish colored papules with desquamation on extremities. Also he had erosion and fissuring on the perioral area and beef tongue. Treatment with zinc sulfate, albumin and vitamin resulted in a good response.
Adult ; Child ; Extremities ; Hair ; Humans ; Hypoalbuminemia ; Protein-Energy Malnutrition* ; Scalp ; Tongue ; Vitamins ; Weight Loss ; Zinc Sulfate

PURPOSE: To evaluate factors associated with the direction of horizontal deviation in the sensory strabismus of patients with unilateral organic amblyopia. METHODS: The medical charts of 53 patients who had been diagnosed with sensory strabismus between 2000 and 2009 were reviewed retrospectively. The underlying ocular disease, time of onset and the duration of vision impairment, refractive error and axial length of the fixing eye, and the direction and angle of deviation were analyzed to determine the distribution of underlying diseases and any factors relevant to determining the direction of the horizontal deviation. RESULTS: Congenital cataracts were the most common underlying disease, found in 33 patients, followed by acquired cataracts, optic nerve disorders, retinal detachment, glaucoma and lens subluxation. Among the 50 patients with horizontal strabismus, 11 had esotropia and 39 had exotropia. The incidence of esotropia was significantly higher when the fixing eye had hyperopia or emmetropia, than when the eye was myopic. Age of onset of vision deterioration and at diagnosis of sensory strabismus, and the axial length of the fixing eye had no relationship to the direction of horizontal deviation. In addition, the duration of visual impairment had no significant relationship with the direction or extent of horizontal deviation. CONCLUSIONS: The most common cause of sensory strabismus was congenital cataracts and the most frequent type of strabismus was exotropia. With respect to the direction of horizontal strabismus, esotropia occurred significantly more often when the refractive error of the fixing eye was hyperopia or emmetropia than when the fixing eye was myopic.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Amblyopia/*complications/physiopathology ; Cataract/complications/congenital/physiopathology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Eye Movements/*physiology ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Oculomotor Muscles/*physiopathology ; Refractive Errors ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Strabismus/etiology/*physiopathology ; Visual Acuity ; Young Adult

No abstract available.
Free Tissue Flaps* ; Maxilla*

The recent hypothesis about the pathophysiology of schizophrenia has been centered mainly on two theories, i.e. dopamine hypothesis and serotonin hypothesis. We investigate the correlations between plasma metabolite concentrations and clinical symptoms in schizophrenic patients. The purpose of our study was to examine whether the plasma levels of HVA(homovanillic acid) and 5-HIAA(hydroxyindoleacetic acid) are significantly different in schizophrenics, compared to normal controls. And, with the intention of clarifying the interaction between dopaminergic system and serotoninergic system, the ratio of HVA/5-HIAA also was measured. The second purpose was whether the basal(pre-treatment) levels of these metabolites show the correlation with clinical symptoms. Finally, third purpose was whether basal HVA and 5-HIAA levels can be held as a predictor of treatment response. We used scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms(SAPS) and Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms(SANS) as the clinical symptom rating scales. Our results were as followed, 1) only the level of basal plasma HVA was significantly differ in schizophrenics. 5-HIAA and HVA/5-HIAA were not. 2) basal HVA showed significant correlation with SAPS score, especially delusion subscale. 3) the higher was the basal HVA level, the more improvement in clinical symptoms was observed. The basal 5-HIAA level and the HVA/5-HIAA ratio did not show any significant findings. These results support the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia, but fail to examine on the possible involvement of serotonin in schizophrenia.
Delusions ; Dopamine ; Homovanillic Acid* ; Humans ; Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid ; Intention ; Plasma* ; Psychopathology* ; Schizophrenia ; Serotonin ; Weights and Measures