In the present study, culture conditions to secrete proteinases from C. albicans, C. tropicalis and C. parapsilosis were examined. All three Candida species were found to secrete proteinases from acceleration phase to stationary phase, although the proteinase activities in culture filtrate were maximal during late exponential or early stationary phase. The proteinase activity in the culture filtrate of C. albicans cells grown at 30'C, was much higher than those grown at either 20 or 37'C. In culture of C. tropicalis and C. parapsilosis, the highest activity was found in culture filtrate grown at 37C. C. albicans secreted proteinases well in medium at initial pH 4.0-7.0. The optimal initial pH of medium for proteinase secretion was 7.0 for C. tropicalis and 5.0-6.0 for C. parapsilosis. All three Candida species secreted proteinases to greater amount in aerobic state. The most effective carbon source for proteinase secretion was xylose, glucose, maltose and sucrose for C. albicans, xylose for C. tropicalis and trehalose for C. parapsilosis. The effects of proteins, hydrolyzed proteins, ammonium sulfate as a sole nitrogen source on proteinase secretion were examined. Bovine serum albumin was the most effective nitrogen source of those tested and a little proteinase activity was detected in the culture filtrates when yeast cells were incubated in the medium containing ammonium sulfate. C. parapsilosis secreted proteinases to greater amount than the other Candida species in all nitrogen sources under study, indicating that C. parapsilosis proteinase would not be a inducible but a constitutive enzyme.
Acceleration ; Ammonium Sulfate ; Candida albicans* ; Candida* ; Carbon ; Glucose ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Maltose ; Nitrogen ; Peptide Hydrolases* ; Serum Albumin, Bovine ; Sucrose ; Trehalose ; Xylose ; Yeasts

The present study was carried out to clarify the anatomical changes of lumbar intervertebral discs by aging. Anterior height, posterior height, anteroposterior diameter of intervertebral discs were measured on 512 normal plain lateral radiographs of lumbosacral spine. And the indices of disc wedging and relative disc height were calculated. There was a cephalocaudal gradient of increase in the indices of disc wedging in all age groups. The indices of relative disc height were constant at all lumbar levels. These suggest that the lower disc is more wedge shaped and the height of discs changes in the constant ratio with that of vertebral body.
Aging* ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc* ; Spine

In adults, it is known that tetastatic tumor to the eye and its adnexa is rare compared with other sites. Orbital tumors can be classified as primary, secondary, and metastatic. Secondary orbital tumors are those that extend to the orbit from a contiguous structure. Metastatic tumors are those that spread to the orbit from more distant site in the body. and their prognosis for life is poor because of widespread systemic malignancy. We experienced a case of metastatic uterine cervical carcinoma of the orbit in a 33-year-old female patient who came to us with a history of sudden proptosis and decreased vision. Eighteen months earlier, the patient had been diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix, and she had undergone chemotherapy, irradiation and surgical intervention. Lung and parametrium metastases were also found six months previously. We report a case of metastatic uterine cervical cancer of the orbit with a review of the literature.
Adult ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Cervix Uteri ; Drug Therapy ; Exophthalmos ; Female ; Humans ; Lung ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Orbit* ; Prognosis ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms

Lymphangiomas are congenital malformations that occur most commonly in the head, neck or axilla and 80-90% of lesions are detected by the age of two years. Cystic lymphangioma of the breast in a 37-year-old woman ; it showed typical well-defined tubular and nodular opacity on mammogram, a multilocular septated anechoic mass on ultrasonogram, and low and high signal intensity on T1- and T2-weighted MR images, respectively. These findings before surgery indicated cystic lymphangioma.
Adult ; Axilla ; Breast* ; Female ; Head ; Humans ; Lymphangioma ; Lymphangioma, Cystic* ; Mammography* ; Neck

The fibrillar coat of Candida albicans is of interest as its significance in antigenicity, antiphagocytosis, and adherence to host tissues. The partial biochemical properties and ultrastructure of fibrillar coat induced by rabbit sera were examined. The induced fibrillar layer was destroyed by treatments of lyticase, proteinase K and dithiothreitol. The total protein concentration of fibrillar cell wall lysate was higher than that of non-fibrillar cell wall lysate, but the total sugar concentration was similar. On SDS-PAGE analysis, the protein profiles between in fibrillar cells and in non-fibrillar cells were shown to be different. In fibrillar cells, the major bands of cell wall lysate were 83, 66, 54, 47, 33, and 26 kDa in dithiothreitol-treated lysate. The proteins of 26 and 19 kDa were predominant in lyticase-treated lysate. Although the fibrillar thickness and protein amount of cell wall lysate were increased in according to the incubation time, the protein profiles did not changed. These results suggest that the proteins of 83, 66, 54, 47, 33, 26, and 19 kDa may be major constituents of fibrillar coat in C. albicans.
Candida albicans* ; Candida* ; Cell Wall ; Dithiothreitol ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Endopeptidase K

To investigate whether anti-Candida proteinase antibody could be a diagnostic marker, we examined seroreactivity to proteinase in sera from 90 healthy controls and 8 of C. albicans culture-positive patients. Previously we purified proteinases of C. albicans, C. tropicalis, and C. parapsilosis using a series of chromatographic steps consisting of DEAE- Sepharose, Sephacryl S-200, and size-exclusion HPLC. ELISA and Western blot technique were adopted to examine seroreactivity of C. albicans proteinase with sera. On ELISA, the seroreactivities of healthy controls and C. albicans-cultured patients were 0.601 +- 0.014 (mean+SEM), and 0.695 +- 0.079, respectively (P=0.084, t-test). In C. albicans-cultured patients, the positive rate was 62.5% (5/8) and the positive rate of healthy controls was 39% (35/90). On Western blot analysis, C. albicans proteinase molecule was blotted by all sera tested. But the intensity of blotted band was different with the same dilution of sera; the intensity of C. albicans proteinase molecule band blotted by 2 sera of 3 healthy control's sera was distinctively lower than that by C. albicans-cultured patients sera. However, all sera including C. albicans-cultured patient's sera did not blot the proteinase secreted by C. tropicalis and C. parapsilosis. It is necessary to collect sequential sera of patients with candidiasis and to establish a cut-off value for ELISA or serum dilution for Western blot analysis that will give reliable test sensitivity and specificity.
Blotting, Western ; Candida albicans* ; Candida* ; Candidiasis ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Peptide Hydrolases ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Sepharose

Bosworth fracture, fracture-dislocation of ankle with entrapment of fibula behind the tibia, is a rare condition. Diagnosis of this fracture-dislocation may not he easy, and closed reduction of this injury is difficult because of entrapment of fibula by the tieht interosseous membrane. We report a case of Bosworth fracture treated with the anti-glide plate technique.
Ankle ; Diagnosis ; Fibula ; Membranes ; Tibia

PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to determine if game-based training with constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) is effective in improving the balance ability in female patients with a total knee replacement, and to provide clinical knowledge of CIMT game-based training that allows the application of total knee replacement. METHODS: Thirty-six patients who had undergone a total knee replacement were assigned randomly to CIMT game training (n=12), general game training (n=12), and self-exercise (n=12) groups. All interventions were conducted 3 times a week for 4 weeks. All patients used a continuous passive motion machine 5 times a week and 2 times a day for 4 weeks. The visual analog scale (VAS), muscle strength of knee flexion and extension, and range of motion (ROM) of knee flexion and extension were assessed, and the functional reach test (FRT), and timed up and go (TUG) test were performed to evaluate the balance ability. RESULTS: All 3 groups showed significant improvement in the VAS, knee flexion and extension muscle strength, FRT, and TUG test after the intervention (p < 0.05). Post hoc analysis revealed significant differences in FRT, and TUG of the CIMT game training group compared to the other group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Although the general game training and CIMT game training improved both the knee extension muscle strength and dynamic balance ability, CIMT game training had a larger effect on dynamic balance control.
Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee* ; Female* ; Humans ; Knee ; Muscle Strength ; Myalgia* ; Range of Motion, Articular* ; Visual Analog Scale

The purpose of this study was to evaluate effects of time on shear bond strengths of a light-cured glass ionomer cement and chemically cured resin cement to enamel, and to observe the failure patterns of bracket bondings. Shear bond strength of a light-cured glass ionomer cement were compared with that of a resin cement Metal brackets were bonded on the extracted human bicuspids. Specimens were subjected to a shear load(in an Instron machine) after storage at room temperature for 5 and 15 minutes, after storage in distilled water at 37degrees C for 1 and 35 days. The deboned specimens were measured m respect of adhesive remnant index. The data were evaluated and tested by ANOVA, Duncan's multiple range test, and t-test, and those results were as follows. 1. The shear bond strength of light-cured glass ionomer cement is higher than that of resin cement at 5 and 15 minutes. 2. The shear bond strengths of both light-cured glass ionomer cement and resin cement increase with time. There was no significant difference in those of both 1 day group and 35 day group. 3. LIght-cured glass ionomer cement is suitable as orthodontic bracket adhesives.
Adhesives ; Bicuspid ; Dental Enamel ; Glass Ionomer Cements* ; Glass* ; Humans ; Orthodontic Brackets ; Resin Cements ; Water

The treatment outcome of advanced squamous cell carcinoma involving the head and neck is well known to be dire and usually needs multimodality treatment even including optimal reconstruction after ablative surgery. When a significant area of the soft tissue is resected, reconstruction of oral cavity or pharynx needs to minimize morbidities while achieving adequate functional outcomes. For the better functional outcome, invasive approaching procedures such as lip and jaw splitting, or extensive floor of mouth or pharyngeal muscle ablation should be avoided. Without these surgical procedures, reconstructive surgeons may encounter technical difficulties in flap inset due to deep and narrow space after head and neck cancer resection. In a deep and narrow surgical defect, accurate approximation and suture is extremely difficult. Eventually, repeated flap manipulation and stretch might be inevitable, and even pedicle kinking or injury could happen. Herein, we suggested the “parachute” technique, which was generally used in blood vessels or aortic valve suturing in a narrow surgical field and for avoiding mismatched suture. We applied this “parachute” technique for free-flap inset to head and neck defect, and we herein report our successful outcomes.