PURPOSE: This study was done to identify the degree that perceived social support effects the self esteem of the elderly. METHOD: A structured questionnaire was administered to 203 elderly subjects from April 2003 to June 2003. The data were analyzed with an SPSS program for descriptive statistics, Pearson`s correlation coefficients, t-test, ANOVA, and stepwise multiple regression. RESULTS: The level of social support was moderate; family support received the highest score among sources of support. In types of support, appraisal support was the highest score and material was the lowest. The level of self esteem was also moderate. The score of social support showed a slightly high positive correlation with self esteem. In general characteristics, several variables were significantly related to self esteem. The most powerful predictor of self esteem was material support by family and the variance explained was 19.6%. A combination of material support by family, informational support by relatives, perceived economic status, perceived health status, and having a subject to depend on accounted for 39.8% of the variance in self esteem of the elderly. CONCLUSION: To increase the self esteem of the elderly, it is necessary to consolidate material support by family.
Aged* ; Humans ; Self Concept* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: This study was done to identify the degree that perceived social support effects the self esteem of the elderly. METHOD: A structured questionnaire was administered to 203 elderly subjects from April 2003 to June 2003. The data were analyzed with an SPSS program for descriptive statistics, Pearson`s correlation coefficients, t-test, ANOVA, and stepwise multiple regression. RESULTS: The level of social support was moderate; family support received the highest score among sources of support. In types of support, appraisal support was the highest score and material was the lowest. The level of self esteem was also moderate. The score of social support showed a slightly high positive correlation with self esteem. In general characteristics, several variables were significantly related to self esteem. The most powerful predictor of self esteem was material support by family and the variance explained was 19.6%. A combination of material support by family, informational support by relatives, perceived economic status, perceived health status, and having a subject to depend on accounted for 39.8% of the variance in self esteem of the elderly. CONCLUSION: To increase the self esteem of the elderly, it is necessary to consolidate material support by family.
Aged* ; Humans ; Self Concept* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Cystic hepatocellular carcinoma is unusal, and visualization of the cystic components within hepatic mass lesion have suggested that the lesions were metastatic tumors, primary cystic tumors such as biliary cystadenocarcinoma or cystic papillary cholangiocarcinoma. Although hepatic lesions can be well characterized by noninvasive imaging modalities, findings are often nonspecific. Even for cystic hepatic lesions a considerable diagnostic differential exists. The diagnosis of cystic hepatocellular carcinoma was difficult before the microscopic examination of the biopsy speciemen because of very rare. Then we report an unusual of cystic hepatocellular carcinoma without liver cirrhosis.
Biopsy ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Cholangiocarcinoma ; Cystadenocarcinoma ; Diagnosis ; Liver Cirrhosis

Ethyl linoleate is an unsaturated fatty acid used in many cosmetics for its various attributes, such as antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties and clinically proven to be an effective anti-acne agent. In this study, we investigated the effect of ethyl linoleate on the melanogenesis and the mechanism underlying its action on melanogenesis in B16F10 murine melanoma cells. Our results revealed that ethyl linoleate significantly inhibited melanin content and intracellular tyrosinase activity in α-MSH-induced B16F10 cells, but it did not directly inhibit activity of mushroom tyrosinase. Ethyl linoleate inhibited the expression of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF), tyrosinase, and tyrosinase related protein 1 (TRP1) in governing melanin pigment synthesis. We observed that ethyl linoleate inhibited phosphorylation of Akt and glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) and reduced the level of β-catenin, suggesting that ethyl linoleate inhibits melanogenesis through Akt/GSK3β/β-catenin signal pathway. Therefore, we propose that ethyl linoleate may be useful as a safe whitening agent in cosmetic and a potential therapeutic agent for reducing skin hyperpigmentation in clinics.
Agaricales ; Glycogen Synthase Kinases ; Hyperpigmentation ; Linoleic Acid* ; Melanins ; Melanoma ; Microphthalmia-Associated Transcription Factor ; Monophenol Monooxygenase ; Phosphorylation ; Signal Transduction* ; Skin

Background: Respiratory specimens subjected to mycobacterial detection were initially pretreated with N-acetyl-L-cysteine-sodium hydroxide (NALC-NaOH) to remove the mucus and normal flora. Next, they were washed and neutralized with phosphate-buffered solution (PBS).The effectiveness of distilled water (DW) compared to PBS as a washing neutralizer during identification of mycobacteria was evaluated in this study. Methods: We analyzed the results of mycobacterial test conducted at a general hospital in Gwangju from October 2016 to September 2018. PBS and DW were used as a respiratory sample washing agent for one year each. Results: The positive culture rate for the culture of mycobacteria was 12.7% (1,843/14,532) and 14.7% (2,095/14,291), when PBS and DW were used, respectively. The recovery rate of the mycobacteria growth indicator tubes (MGIT) and the separation rates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) showed no significant change.However, in 2% Ogawa medium, as the NTM culture increased from 47.4% (399/841) to 56.1% (630/1,122), the recovery rate increased from 45.6% (841/1,843) to 53.6% (1,122/2,095). The MGIT contamination rate decreased from 6.5% to 4.1%. Conclusion DW as a washing agent for NALC-NaOH increased the recovery rate of Ogawa media and reduced the contamination rate of MGIT. Therefore, use of DW instead of PBS as a washing neutralizer during identification of mycobacteria might be useful.

Hypoxia can occur in pancreatic islets in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) are activated during hypoxia. Here we aimed to investigate whether PSCs within the islet are also activated in hypoxia, causing β-cell injury.

PURPOSE: Heptaplatin (SKI-2053 R) is a new platinum analogue, with a better toxicity profile than cisplatin, and has antitumor activity even in cisplatin resistant cell lines. 5-fluoruracil (5-FU) has shown synergy with platinum compounds. This phase II trial was designed to determine the efficacy and toxicities of heptaplatin/ 5-FU (5-fluorouracil) for treating stomach cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-two patients with advanced, measurable gastric adenocarcinomas were enrolled in this trial. The treatment consisted of heptaplatin, 400 mg/m2/day (1 hour IV infusion), on day 1 and 5-FU, 800 mg/m2/day (12 hours IV infusion), on days 1 to 5. The cycles were repeated every 3 weeks. RESULTS: Of the 26 evaluable patients, 9 had partial responses and 1a complete response (overall response rate, 38%; 95% confidence interval, 19~57%). The median response duration was 23 weeks (range: 4~60 weeks). The median time to progression was 26 weeks (range: 3~68 weeks). The grades III-IV toxicities were mostly hematological toxicities: leucopenia was observed in 11 patients (35%) and thrombocytopenia 4 (13%). No definite neuropathy was observed. Grade I-II nephropathy was also noted: grade I high BUN/creatinine levels occurred in 5 patients (16%), grade II proteinuria 2 (6%), grade I proteinuria 5 (16%). Neutropenic fever developed in 5 patients (16%) and 1 died of pneumonia in a neutropenic state. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the regimen of Heptaplatin/5-FU should be effective and have a favorable toxicity profile for the patients suffering with advanced stomach cancer.
Adenocarcinoma ; Cell Line ; Cisplatin ; Drug Therapy ; Fever ; Fluorouracil ; Humans ; Leucovorin* ; Platinum ; Platinum Compounds ; Pneumonia ; Proteinuria ; Stomach Neoplasms* ; Stomach* ; Thrombocytopenia

The occurrence of Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) during pregnancy is rare. The optimal management of NHL during pregnancy requires special considerations. Because of their rapid progression, women with aggressive NHL should receive standard chemotherapy despite the potential risk to the developing fetus. We experienced a case of 30-year-old pregnant woman diagnosed as a diffuse large B cell NHL at 28 weeks of gestation, who was taken 4 cycles of CHOP combination chemotherapy and delivered a male baby weighing 2660g at 39 weeks of gestation. Following delivery, she received additional 3 cycles of chemotherapy with 4500cGy of radiotherapy on the neck. While she has been in complete remission of NHL over 6 years, her baby have developed mild developmental retardation.
Adult ; Child* ; Drug Therapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Fetus ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Humans ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin* ; Male ; Mothers* ; Neck ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnant Women ; Radiotherapy

Thymidine phosphorylase (TP) has shown to be up-regulated in several cancers and to play a role in angiogenesis and invasion. Most studies regarding TP have focused on cancer cells. Recently, evidences suggest that TP in cancer-infiltrating inflammatory cells (CIICs) also affect the cancer cell behavior. To evaluate the significance of TP expression of CIICs in gastric cancer, we assessed TP expression of cancer cells and CIICs separately using immunohistochemical assay on 116 paraffin-embedded tissue samples from stomach cancer patients and investigated their clinical significance. When subjects were divided into 4 groups according to the TP expression: cancer/matrix (+/+), C/M (+/-), C/M (-/+), and C/M (-/-), intratumoral microvessel density scores were higher in the C/M (+/-) group than in the C/M (-/-) group (p=0.02). For lymph node metastasis and survival, there were no significant differences among the 4 groups. However, there were significant differences in survival (p=0.035) and LN metastasis (p=0.023) between the two groups divided by TP expression of CIICs alone irrespective of TP expression of cancer cells. Taken together, this study suggested the TP expression in CIICs could affect lymph node metastasis and patients' survival in gastric cancer.
Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Inflammation/*enzymology/pathology ; Kaplan-Meiers Estimate ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating/*enzymology/pathology ; Male ; Microcirculation/pathology ; Middle Aged ; Neovascularization, Pathologic ; Prognosis ; Stomach Neoplasms/blood supply/*enzymology/mortality/pathology ; Thymidine Phosphorylase/*metabolism

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), and primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) are chronic autoimmune liver diseases. Overlap syndrome is defined as a condition in which the clinical, biochemical, and histological features of these autoimmune diseases are overlapped. Thus, it is difficult to appreciate overlap syndrome as an actual diagnostic entity. Only a few cases of the overlap syndrome of AIH and PSC have been reported, especially in children. Moreover, PSC is known to be the most frequent liver disorder associated with inflammatory bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis. We report one case of AIH-PSC overlap syndrome in a child who was diagnosed as having ulcerative colitis.
Autoimmune Diseases ; Child ; Cholangitis, Sclerosing ; Colitis, Ulcerative ; Hepatitis, Autoimmune ; Humans ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases ; Liver ; Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary ; Liver Diseases ; Ulcer