The HUMACTBP2 locus was investigated to collect population genetic data in the Korean population and to evaluate the applicability for the forensic field. An Automatic fluorescent-based sequencer (377 automatic DNA sequencer, ABI) was used to detect amplified fragments of the HUMACTBP2 locus electrophoresed on 4% denaturing polyacrylamide sequencing gels. ACTBP2 allelic ladder consisting of different sizes of 18 alleles was constructed and employed as an internal size standard in combination with a GS-350 size standard for precision of allele-band sizing. By utilizing different fluorescent dyes, both the allelic ladders and samples were able to be analyzed in the same lane by 99% orecision of allele-band sizing. Among the Korean population (n=224), 26 alleles in the range of 239-313 bp are determined. allele No. 6 is found 45 times (0.100) which is mostly frequent, and the rest of allele is distributed with their relative frequency of 0.002-0.100. The comparison between observed and expected numbers of homozygous and heterozygous individuals confirms that ACTBP2 locus is in the state of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium among the Korean population. The heterozygosity is 0.9389+/-0.0034(93.89%), and the power of discrimination(PD) and power of exclusion(PEX) are calculated to be 0.991(99.1%)and 0.890(89.0%), respectively, showing the high informativeness for individual identification. Thus, these results mean that the HUMACTBP2 locus can effectively be used for the forensic application.
Alleles ; DNA ; Fluorescent Dyes ; Gels ; Genetic Variation*

PURPOSE: To investigate how the effect of bilateral rectus muscle recession changed by analyzing the effect/dose ratio of surgery according to the preoperative angle deviation.METHODS: We retrospectively studied the medical records of patients from January 2007 to March 2014 who underwent bilateral lateral rectus muscle recession and who visited our hospital for at least 2 years after surgery. We classified the patients into two groups: the preoperative large angle deviation group (35 prism diopters [PD] or more) and the small angle deviation group (20 PD or less). We observed exodrift patterns by measuring distant and near angle deviation according to the preoperative and postoperative times. The effect/dose ratio of recession was calculated at each visit. Surgical success was defined as an alignment between 10 PD of exodeviation and 5 PD of esodeviation, both at distance and at near.RESULTS: Among 165 patients, 84 patients were in the large angle deviation group and 81 patients were in the small angle deviation group. Preoperative angle deviation of the large angle deviation group was 39.34 ± 5.13 PD (range: 35–55 PD) and the small angle deviation group was 19.49 ± 1.62 PD (range: 18-20 PD) (p < 0.001). At postoperative 1 day, the alignments of eyes of the two groups were −8.32 ± 9.31 PD and −13.11 ± 6.94 PD; p < 0.001, respectively. At the date of the final follow-up, the alignments of eyes of the two groups were 4.63 ± 8.94 PD and 1.22 ± 8.01 PD; p = 0.011, respectively, and the effect/dose ratios were 2.25 ± 0.62 PD/mm and 1.94 ± 0.78 PD/mm, respectively, which meant that the effect of correction for the large angle deviation group was larger than that of the small angle deviation group (p = 0.005). Both groups showed postoperative exodrift patterns and similar success rates (75.0% and 80.2%, respectively), which showed no significant difference (p = 0.268).CONCLUSIONS: The small angle deviation group showed a larger effect of correction and high exodrift pattern at the postoperative initial time and the large angle deviation group showed a smaller effect of correction and low exodrift pattern at the postoperative initial time. The preoperative angles of deviation and the operative success rates were not related.

Purpose: Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) is a safe and effective therapy used to treat central precocious puberty (CPP). Although most studies have reported no significant difference in body mass index (BMI) in girls during and after GnRHa therapy, few studies have investigated changes in BMI in boys with CPP. This study evaluated the effects of GnRHa therapy on BMI in boys with CPP. Methods: This study included 75 boys with CPP at Ajou University Hospital between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2016, who treated with leuprorelin acetate or triptorelin acetate every 4 weeks for at least 2 years. The subjects were divided into 3 groups according to BMI: normal weight, overweight, and obese. We analyzed the BMI standard deviation score (SDS) in each group before therapy and after 1 year and 2 years of therapy. Results: Of the 75 boys, 37 were in the normal weight group, 21 were in the overweight group, and 17 were in the obese group. Magnetic resonance imaging that was performed before treatment showed abnormal findings in 9 boys. The mean BMI SDS for all participants at initiation was 1.0±0.8, and that in the normal weight, overweight, and obese groups was 0.3±0.4, 1.3±0.1, and 1.9±0.3, respectively. There were no significant differences in BMI SDS in any group after 1 or 2 years of treatment. Conclusion The BMI SDS in boys with CPP did not significantly change over 2 years of GnRHa therapy.

BACKGROUND: Pleural eosinophilia is rare and commonly considered to be an indicator of good prognosis. The diagnostic significance of eosinophilic pleural effusions remains controversial despite a century of observation and discussion. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of eosinophilia in 446 consecutive samples of pleural fluid, to review the cause of eosinophilic pleural effusion and to determine whether the presence of eosinophils increases the likehood of benign conditions. METHOD: A retrospective analysis was performed upon patients that underwent first thoracentesis due to pleural effusion between January 1999 and December 1999. RESULTS: Eosinophilic pleural effusions were identified in 24 of the 446 patients (5.4%). Malignancy, parapneumonic effusion and tuberculosis were determined the major causes of pleural effusion (80.6%). Malignancy was diagnosed as frequently in eosinophilic effusions as in non-eosinophilic effusions (54.2% vs 50.5%, p=0.725). No difference was found in the prevalence of eosinophilic and non-eosinophilic effusion according to the etiology. The mean blood eosinophil ratio in patients with eosinophilic pleural effusion was 5.4% and no significant correlation existed between the blood and pleural eosinophilic count. CONCLUSION: Pleural eosinophilia is not helpful for differentiating benign and malignant etiology and is not related with blood eosinophilia or repeated tapping.
Eosinophilia ; Eosinophils* ; Humans ; Pleural Effusion* ; Prevalence ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Tuberculosis

OBJECTIVE: We have developed breast tumor image retrieval system using content-based retrieval method. It compares the breast tumor image with Fibrocystic Change images, Ductal Carcinoma in Situ images and Invasive Ductal Carcinoma images and find most similar one. Since the final diagnosis for breast tumor image is done only by pathologist manually, this system can provide the objectivity and the reproducibility for determining and diagnosing the breast tumor. METHODS: The breast tumor image features used in the content-based image retrieval are color feature, texture feature and texture features of wavelet transformed images. And the system can be accessed through the internet. We used Windows 2003 as an operating system, Internet Information Server 6.0 as Web a server and ms-sql server 2000 as a database server. Also we use ActiveX Data Object to connect database easily. RESULT: We evaluated the recall and precision performance of the system according to the combinations of feature types and usage of partial or whole image. Results showed that the use of multiple features and whole image gave consistently higher rates compared to the use of single feature and partial image. CONCLUSION: This retrieval system can help pathologist determine the type of breast tumor more efficiently. Also it is working based on the internet, we can use it for researching and teaching in pathology later.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Carcinoma, Ductal ; Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating ; Diagnosis ; Internet* ; Pathology ; Wavelet Analysis

PURPOSE: To report the surgical outcomes and changes in types of recurrent exotropia after surgical correction of basic type intermittent exotropia. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 91 patients who underwent reoperations for recurrent exotropia after primary surgical correction, and who visited our hospital for a period of at least one year after the reoperation. When distant deviation was >30 prism diopters (PD), we defined convergence insufficiency type (CI type) if the difference of the deviation angle was >10 PD and basic type exotropia if the difference was <10 PD. When distant deviation was <30 PD, we defined basic type exotropia if the difference of the deviation angle between at distant and near was <33% of the distant deviation angle, and CI type exotropia if the difference was >33% of the distant deviation angle. RESULTS: The types of recurrent exotropia were similar to those of the preoperative condition in 68 patients (74.7%), and newly emergent CI type was observed in 23 patients (25.3%). With regard to the incidence of CI type, bilateral lateral rectus recession was more common than unilateral lateral rectus recession after primary surgery and medial rectus resection and unilateral lateral rectus recession, but the difference was not significant (p = 0.615). Recurrent CI type exotropia was observed 6 months after primary surgery (p < 0.001), but there was no significant difference in the timing of the reoperation between the two groups (p > 0.05). There was no significant difference in the success of reoperations between the two groups (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The types of recurrent exotropia after surgical correction of primary basic type intermittent exotropia differed from those of preoperative exotropia, which was not related to various factors before surgery. Recurrent exotropia was successfully treated by appropriately selected reoperations, regardless of the type of exotropia.
Exotropia ; Humans ; Incidence ; Medical Records ; Ocular Motility Disorders ; Reoperation ; Retrospective Studies

Alagille syndrome is characterized by chronic cholestasis, posterior embryotoxon, skeletal abnormalities, cardiovascular abnormalities, and a typical face with prominent forehead and pointed chin. Its histological feature includes paucity of interlobular bile ducts. We experienced a 49-day-old female infant presenting with frequent upper respiratory tract infection and persistent jaundice. She had a typical face and chronic cholestasis. Echocardiograms revealed peripheral pulmonary stenosis. The histological examination of liver revealed paucity of interlobular bile ducts.
Alagille Syndrome* ; Cardiovascular Abnormalities ; Chin ; Cholestasis ; Female ; Forehead ; Humans ; Infant ; Jaundice ; Liver ; Pulmonary Valve Stenosis ; Respiratory Tract Infections

Allele-and genotype frequencies of the two short tandem repeat (STR) loci, HumFGA and D21S11, were determined in Korean population(n=196). DNA typing was accomplished by applying fluorescence-labeled PCR products and a differently labeled sequenced allelic ladders, followed by automated analysis using ABI 377 automatic sequencer and GeneScan 2.02 software. Prior to typing, allelic ladder of each locus was constructed with a combination of all alleles occuring from the population sample. A total of 15 alleles and 48 genotypes with the heterozygosity of 0.854 for HumFGA, and 12 alleles and 33 genotypes with the heterozygosity of 0.787 for D21S11 are observed in a population of 196 genetically unrelated individuals. No deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were observed(p=0.753 for HumFGA, p=0.262 for D21S11). The data presented here (power of discrimination and average power of exclusion) show that both STR Loci, HumFGA and D21S11, are very informative for individualization from criminal evidences, and are also useful for parentage testing.
Alleles* ; Criminals ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; DNA Fingerprinting ; Gene Frequency* ; Genotype ; Humans ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

Pulmonary mucormycosis is an opportunistic infection in patients with severe underlying illness such as immunocompromised diseases or uncontrolled diabetes mellitus. While patients with leukemia and lymphoma usually resent with diffuse parenchymal disease, diabetic patients usually have a localized endobronchial disease involving central airways. We report upon a case of pulmonary mucormycosis in diabetes mellitus patient presenting as an endobronchial mass, which was cured with antifungal therapy, rigid bronchoscopic mass removal and right pneumonectomy.
Diabetes Mellitus ; Humans ; Leukemia ; Lymphoma ; Mucormycosis* ; Opportunistic Infections ; Pneumonectomy

BACKGROUNDS/AIMS: Standard liver volume (SLV) is an important parameter that has been used as a reference value to estimate the graft matching in living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). This study aimed to determine a reliable SLV formula for Korean adult patients as compared with the 15 SLV formulae from other studies and further estimate SLV formula by gender and body mass index (BMI). METHODS: Computed tomography liver volumetry was performed in 1,000 living donors for LDLT and regression formulae for SLV was calculated. Individual donor data were applied to the 15 previously published SLV formulae, as compared with the SLV formula derived in this study. Analysis for confounding variables of BMI and gender was also performed. RESULTS: Two formulae, "SLV (ml)=908.204xBSA-464.728" with DuBois body surface area (BSA) formula and "SLV (ml)=893.485xBSA-439.169" with Monsteller BSA formula, were derived by using the profiles of the 1,000 living donors included in the study. Comparison with other 15 other formulae, all except for Chouker formula showed the mean volume percentage errors of 4.8-5.4%. The gender showed no significant effect on total liver volume (TLV), but there was a significant increase in TLV as BMI increased. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggested that most SLV formulae showed a crudely applicable range of SLV estimation for Korean adults. Considering the volume error in estimating SLV, further SLV studies with larger population from multiple centers should be performed to enhance its predictability. Our results suggested that classifying SLV formulae by BMI and gender is unnecessary.
Adult* ; Body Mass Index ; Body Surface Area ; Confounding Factors (Epidemiology)* ; Humans ; Liver Transplantation ; Liver* ; Living Donors ; Reference Values ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants