No abstract available.
Animals ; Flowmeters* ; Magnets* ; Male ; Models, Animal* ; Penile Erection* ; Rats*

For the previous century, the humans have created an unintended and unwanted problem of endocrine disruptors as a potential threat to our public health. By the name of industrialization, endocrine disruptors are smuggling in the everyday life of people today. Although there are much debate on the reality of their emerging health threat, it is no doubt that there are certain classes of compounds that have the potential to affect hormonal status adversely, leading to abnormal development, reproductive dysfunction, and some cancers. The classes of endocrine disruptors are extensively diverse and even more increasing, such as, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, dieldrin, bisphenol A and toxaphene. Although these endocrine disruptors have been prohibited or tightly regulated, many of them are still unrecognized and still used without knowing their potential threat to the biological world. Once they are released into the environment, they usually persist without degradation and even undergo bioaccumulation and bioconcentration in food chain. Comparing with the great concern over the public health, we do not have enough information for these issues. It is now clear that we need further extensive studies for the risk assessment and the protection of human and ecological health from the potential hazards of endocrine disruptors. This article introduces a breif overview of the current status of our knowledge and research on endocrine disruptors.
Dieldrin ; Dioxins ; Endocrine Disruptors* ; Food Chain ; Humans ; Polychlorinated Biphenyls ; Public Health ; Risk Assessment ; Toxaphene

The Acknowledgements was published incorrectly.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether patterns of dysphagia were associated with the location of the brain lesion and clinical factors in subacute stroke patients. METHOD: One hundred and seventy-eight first-ever subacute stroke patients who underwent videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) from January 2006 to April 2012 were enrolled in the present study. Swallowing-related parameters were assessed by VFSS. The location of brain lesions were classified into the cortical, subcortical, and brain stem. The degree of cognitive impairment and the independency of activities of daily living were assessed by the Korean version of mini-mental status examination and Korean version of modified Barthel index (K-MBI). Aphasia and hemineglect were assessed by Korean version of Western aphasia battery and line bisection test. These data were collected via retrospective chart review. RESULTS: A reduced laryngeal elevation and prolonged pharyngeal delay time were associated with brain stem lesion. Other swallowing parameters were not associated with lesion topology. Pyriform sinus residue was associated with the presence of aphasia and low K-MBI scores. Prolonged pharyngeal delay time was associated with the patient's age, type of stroke and brain stem lesion. CONCLUSION: Pyriform sinus residue was associated with clinical factors such as aphasia and K-MBI scores rather than with the location of brain lesion. However, reduced laryngeal elevation and prolonged pharyngeal delay time were predominant in brain stem lesions.
Activities of Daily Living ; Aphasia ; Brain Stem ; Brain* ; Deglutition Disorders ; Deglutition* ; Humans ; Pyriform Sinus ; Retrospective Studies ; Stroke*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in stroke patients, and to assess the difference in swallowing function between stroke patients with COPD (COPD group) and stroke patients without COPD (control group). METHODS: The subjects included 103 stroke patients. They underwent the pulmonary function test and were assigned to either the COPD group or the control group. Their penetration-aspiration scale (PAS) scores and functional dysphagia scale scores were compared by performing a videofluoroscopic swallowing study. The intergroup differences in lip closure, bolus formation, mastication, and the oral transit time, laryngeal elevation, cricopharyngeal dysfunction, oronasal regurgitation, residue in pyriform sinus and vallecula, pharyngeal transit time, aspiration, and esophageal relaxation were also compared. RESULTS: Thirty patients were diagnosed with COPD. The COPD group showed statistically higher PAS scores (4.67+/-2.15) compared to the control group (2.89+/-1.71). Moreover, aspiration occurred more frequently in the COPD group with statistical significance (p<0.05). The COPD group also showed higher occurrence of cricopharyngeal dysfunction, albeit without statistical significance. CONCLUSION: This study shows that a considerable number of stroke patients had COPD, and stroke patients with COPD had higher risk of aspiration than stroke patients without COPD.
Deglutition Disorders ; Deglutition* ; Humans ; Lip ; Mastication ; Prevalence ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive* ; Pyriform Sinus ; Relaxation ; Respiratory Aspiration ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Stroke*

No abstract available.
Humans* ; Leukemia*

OBJECTIVE: Circulating cell-free tumor DNA (cfDNA) is the DNA released by apoptotic and necrotic cells of the primary tumor into the blood during the period of tumor development. The cfDNA reflects the genetic and epigenetic alterations of the original tumor. TP53 mutations are a defining feature of high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma. We optimized the methods for detecting TP53 mutations in cfDNA from blood samples. We confirmed the correlation of TP53 mutation in primary ovarian cancer tissue and it in cfDNA using digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR). METHODS: We found 12 frequent mutation sites in TP53 using The Cancer Genome Atlas and Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer data and manufactured 12 primers. The mutations in tissues were evaluated in fresh-frozen tissue (FFT) and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue (FFPET). We performed a prospective analysis of serial plasma samples collected from 4 patients before debulking surgery. We extracted cfDNA and calculated its concentration in blood. dPCR was used to analyze TP53 mutations in cfDNA, and we compared TP53 mutations in ovarian cancer tissue with those in cfDNA. RESULTS: Ten primers out of 12 detected the presence of TP53 mutations in FFT, FFPET, and cfDNA. In FFT and FFPET tissue, there were no significant differences. The average cfDNA concentration was 2.12±0.59 ng/mL. We also confirmed that mutations of cfDNA and those of FFT were all in R282W site. CONCLUSION: This study developed detection methods for TP53 mutations in cfDNA in ovarian cancer patients using dPCR. The results demonstrated that there are the same TP53 mutations in both ovarian cancer tissue and cfDNA.
Biomarkers ; DNA* ; Epigenomics ; Genome ; Humans ; Ovarian Neoplasms* ; Plasma ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prospective Studies

Colonoscopy is a relatively safe tool for diagnosis and treatment of colorectal disease. But colonic perforation during colonoscopy is a severe complication and sometimes becomes a life-threatening condition. It occurs with a frequency of 0.07% among patients having diagnostic colonoscopy and in up to 0.40% of patients having therapeutic colonoscopy. In these cases, surgical treatment is needed but endoscopic repair and conservative management could reduce the need for immediate operations. Endoscopic clipping has been the principal method for non-operative treatment of iatrogenic colonic perforation, but it has important limitations. One of them is that it is technically difficult to clip when the angle of approach is tangential. Here we report a case of an iatrogenic colonic perforation treated with endoscopic band ligation rather than endoscopic clipping, because of approach difficulties.
Colon ; Colonoscopy ; Humans ; Intestinal Perforation ; Ligation

Lymphomatoid granulomatosis usually presents as a primary lung affliction with secondary metastatic spread to the central nervous system(CNS), and its initial manifestation purely as a CNS disease is rare. A 57-year-old man with histologically proven lymphomatoid granulomatosis of the brain as the sole manifestation of the disease is presented.
Brain Neoplasms/*pathology ; Frontal Lobe ; Humans ; Lymphomatoid Granulomatosis/*pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged

Metastatic mucinous adenocarcinoma of appendix origin and mimicking a gastric subepithelial tumor (SET) is very rare. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided sampling is a useful diagnostic method for SETs. However, the cytologic findings of metastatic mucinous adenocarcinoma are unfamiliar to many pathologists and gastroenterologists. These findings present a diagnostic challenge because the introduction of gastric epithelium and mucin into the specimen during the procedure can be misleading. This is the first reported experience of an EUS-guided sampling of a gastric SET in a patient with suspected appendiceal tumor, to make the diagnosis of a mucinous adenocarcinoma.
Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous* ; Appendix ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Diagnosis ; Endosonography ; Epithelium ; Humans ; Mucins ; Stomach ; Ultrasonography