Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the potential role of copine-1 (CPNE1), a calcium-dependent membrane-binding protein encoded by the CPNE1 gene, in colorectal cancer (CRC). Despite previous research on the involvement of copine family members in various solid tumors, the specific role of CPNE1 in CRC remains poorly understood. Methods: We conducted clinicopathological analysis and functional studies to explore the impact of CPNE1 in human CRC.We examined the expression levels of CPNE1 in CRC patients and correlated it with invasive depth, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, lymphatic invasion, and TNM stage. Additionally, we performed experiments to assess the functional consequences of CPNE1 knockdown in CRC cells, including proliferation, colony formation, migration, invasion, and the expression of key regulators involved in the cell cycle and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Furthermore, we evaluated the effects of CPNE1 knockdown on tumor growth using a xenograft mouse model. Results: High expression of CPNE1 was significantly associated with advanced tumor features in CRC patients. CPNE1 knockdown in CRC cells led to impaired abilities in proliferation, colony formation, migration, and invasion. Furthermore, CPNE1 silencing resulted in the suppression of protein expression related to the cell cycle and EMT. In the xenograft mouse model, CPNE1 knockdown inhibited tumor growth. Conclusion CPNE1 plays a crucial role in promoting tumorigenesis and metastasis in human CRC. By regulating the cell cycle and EMT, CPNE1 influences critical cellular processes at the membrane-cytoplasm interface. These results provide valuable insights into the potential development of novel therapeutic strategies for CRC targeting CPNE1.

Semisulcospira libertina, a species of freshwater snail, is widespread in East Asia. It is important as a food source. Additionally, it is a vector of clonorchiasis, paragonimiasis, metagonimiasis, and other parasites. Although S. libertina has ecological, commercial, and clinical importance, its whole-genome has not been reported yet. Here, we revealed the genome of S. libertina through de novo assembly. We assembled the whole-genome of S. libertina and determined its transcriptome for the first time using Illumina NovaSeq 6000 platform. According to the k-mer analysis, the genome size of S. libertina was estimated to be 3.04 Gb. Using RepeatMasker, a total of 53.68% of repeats were identified in the genome assembly. Genome data of S. libertina reported in this study will be useful for identification and conservation of S. libertina in East Asia.

OBJECTIVE: Patients are often transported within the hospital, especially in cases of critical illness for which computed tomography (CT) is performed. Since increased transport time increases the risks of complications, reducing transport time is important for patient safety. This study aimed to evaluate the ability of our newly invented device, the Easy Tube Arrange Device (ETAD), to reduce transport time for CT evaluation in cases of critical illness. METHODS: This prospective randomized control study included 60 volunteers. Each participant arranged five or six intravenous fluid lines, monitoring lines (noninvasive blood pressure, electrocardiography, central venous pressure, arterial catheter), and therapeutic equipment (O2 supply device, Foley catheter) on a Resusci Anne mannequin. We measured transport time for the CT evaluation by using conventional and ETAD method. RESULTS: The median transport time for CT evaluation was 488.50 seconds (95% confidence interval [CI], 462.75 to 514.75) and, 503.50 seconds (95% CI, 489.50 to 526.75) with 5 and 6 fluid lines using the conventional method and 364.50 seconds (95% CI, 335.00 to 388.75), and 363.50 seconds (95% CI, 331.75 to 377.75) with ETAD (all P < 0.001). The time differences were 131.50 (95% CI, 89.25 to 174.50) and 148.00 (95% CI, 116.00 to 177.75) (all P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The transport time for CT evaluation was reduced using the ETAD, which would be expected to reduce the complications that may occur during transport in cases of critical illness.
Blood Pressure ; Central Venous Pressure ; Critical Illness* ; Electrocardiography ; Humans ; Manikins ; Methods ; Patient Safety ; Prospective Studies ; Transportation ; Volunteers

PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to increase the performance of the AIMS65 score in the prediction of outcomes in upper gastrointestinal bleeding by modifying the AIMS65 score. METHODS: Data were collected retrospectively between January 2015 and June 2015. A total of 212 adult patients, who visited the emergency department with an upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage during this period were included for analysis. High risk patients were defined as follows: those who needed an endoscopic or surgical hemostasis, suffered rebleeding, hospitalized in an intensive care unit, and those who were deceased within 30 days or required a blood transfusion. The seven parameters of the modified AIMS65 score were as follows: Albumin levels, international normalized ratio (prothrombin time), altered mental status, systolic blood pressure, age>65 years, hemoglobin levels, and heart rate. RESULTS: The high-risk group was comprised of 163 patients, while the low risk group was comprised of 49 patients. The areas under the curve for AIMS65 and modified AIMS65 scores were 0.727 (95% confidence interval, 0.662-0.786) and 0.847 (95% confidence interval, 0.791-0.892), respectively, which were significantly different (p<0.001). The AIMS65 score had a sensitivity of 53.0% and a specificity of 78.5% at a score of 0. The modified AIMS65 score had a sensitivity of 22.4% and a specificity of 99.3% at a score of 0. For the modified AIMS65 score of 3 or lower, the sensitivity was 97.9% with a specificity of 21.4%. CONCLUSION: The modified AIMS65 score was effective in distinguishing between the low-risk group and the high-risk group among patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding.
Adult ; Blood Pressure ; Blood Transfusion ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage ; Heart Rate ; Hemorrhage* ; Hemostasis, Surgical ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; International Normalized Ratio ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Triage

PURPOSE: Enolase is a cytoplasmic enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of 2-phosphoglycerate to phosphoenolpyruvate in the glycolytic pathway. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the overexpression of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) can serve as a prognostic factor in patients with gastric cancer (GC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: To assess its prognostic value in GC, NSE expression was measured by immunohistochemistry in a clinically annotated tissue microarray comprising of 327 human GC specimens. Cytoplasmic NSE expression was scored from 0 to 4, reflecting the percentage of NSE-positive cells. RESULTS: In terms of histology as per the World Health Organization criteria (P=0.340), there were no differences between the NSE overexpression (NSE-OE) and NSE underexpression (NSE-UE) groups. The NSE-OE group showed a significantly lower rate of advanced GC (P<0.010), lymph node metastasis (P=0.010), advanced stage group (P<0.010), cancer-related death (P<0.010), and cancer recurrence (P<0.010). Additionally, a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that the NSE-OE group had longer cumulative survival times than the NSE-UE group (log-rank test, P<0.010). However, there were no significant differences in the serum levels of NSE expression in patients with GC and healthy volunteers (P=0.280). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with NSE overexpressing GC tissues showed better prognostic results, implying that NSE could be a candidate biomarker of GC.
Cytoplasm ; Healthy Volunteers ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Phosphoenolpyruvate ; Phosphopyruvate Hydratase* ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; Stomach Neoplasms* ; World Health Organization

OBJECTIVE: Critically ill patients sometimes require transport to another location. Longer intra-hospital transport time increases the risk of hemodynamic instability and associated complications. Therefore, reducing intra-hospital transport time is critical. Our objective was to evaluate whether or not a new device the easy tube arrange device (ETAD) has the potential to reduce intra-hospital transport time of critically ill patients. METHODS: We enrolled volunteers for this prospective randomized controlled study. Each participant arranged four, five, and six fluid tubings, monitoring lines, and therapeutic equipment on a cardiopulmonary resuscitation training mannequin (Resusci Anne). The time required to arrange the fluid tubings for intra-hospital transport using two different methods was evaluated. RESULTS: The median time to arrange four, five, and six fluid tubings was 86.00 (76.50 to 98.50), 96.00 (86.00 to 113.00), and 115.50 (93.00 to 130.75) seconds, respectively, using the conventional method and 60.50 (52.50 to 72.75), 69.00 (57.75 to 80.80), and 72.50 (64.75 to 90.50) seconds using the ETAD (all P<0.001). The total duration (for preparing the basic setting and organizing before and after the transport) was 280.00 (268.75 to 293.00), 315.50 (304.75 to 330.75), and 338.00 (319.50 to 360.25) seconds for four, five, and six fluid tubings, respectively, using the conventional method and 274.50 (261.75 to 289.25), 288.00 (271.75 to 298.25), and 301.00 (284.50 to 310.75) seconds, respectively, using the new method (P=0.024, P<0.001, and P<0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: The ETAD was convenient to use, reduced the time to arrange medical tubings, and is expected to assist medical staff during intra-hospital transport.
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation ; Critical Illness ; Equipment and Supplies ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Manikins ; Medical Staff ; Methods ; Prospective Studies ; Transportation of Patients ; Volunteers

BACKGROUND: We hypothesized that the direction of the J-tip of the guidewire during insertion into the internal jugular vein (IJV) might determine its ultimate location. METHODS: In this study, 300 patients between the ages of 18 and 99 years who required central venous catheterization via IJV in the emergency department enrolled for randomization. IVJ catheterization was successful in 285 of 300 patients. An independent operator randomly prefixed the direction of the J-tip of the guidewire to one of three directions. Based on the direction of the J-tip, patients were allocated into three groups: the J-tip medial-directed group (Group A), the lateral-directed group (Group B), or the downward-directed group (Group C). Postoperative chest radiography was performed on all patients in order to visualize the location of the catheter tip. A catheter is considered malpositioned if it is not located in the superior vena cava or right atrium. RESULTS: Of the total malpositioned catheter tips (8 of 285; 2.8%), the majority (5 of 8; 62.5%) entered the contralateral subclavian vein, 2 (25.0%) were complicated by looping, and 1 (12.5%) entered the ipsilateral subclavian vein. According to the direction of the J-tip of the guidewire, the incidence of malpositioning of the catheter tip was 4 of 92 in Group A (4.3%), 4 of 96 in Group B (4.2%), and there were no malpositions in Group C. There were no significant differences among the three groups (p = 0.114). CONCLUSIONS: The direction of the J-tip of the guidewire had no statistically significant effect on incidence of malpositioned tips.
Catheterization ; Catheterization, Central Venous ; Catheters* ; Central Venous Catheters ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Heart Atria ; Humans ; Incidence ; Jugular Veins* ; Radiography ; Random Allocation ; Subclavian Vein ; Thorax ; Vena Cava, Superior

BACKGROUND: We hypothesized that the direction of the J-tip of the guidewire during insertion into the internal jugular vein (IJV) might determine its ultimate location. METHODS: In this study, 300 patients between the ages of 18 and 99 years who required central venous catheterization via IJV in the emergency department enrolled for randomization. IVJ catheterization was successful in 285 of 300 patients. An independent operator randomly prefixed the direction of the J-tip of the guidewire to one of three directions. Based on the direction of the J-tip, patients were allocated into three groups: the J-tip medial-directed group (Group A), the lateral-directed group (Group B), or the downward-directed group (Group C). Postoperative chest radiography was performed on all patients in order to visualize the location of the catheter tip. A catheter is considered malpositioned if it is not located in the superior vena cava or right atrium. RESULTS: Of the total malpositioned catheter tips (8 of 285; 2.8%), the majority (5 of 8; 62.5%) entered the contralateral subclavian vein, 2 (25.0%) were complicated by looping, and 1 (12.5%) entered the ipsilateral subclavian vein. According to the direction of the J-tip of the guidewire, the incidence of malpositioning of the catheter tip was 4 of 92 in Group A (4.3%), 4 of 96 in Group B (4.2%), and there were no malpositions in Group C. There were no significant differences among the three groups (p = 0.114). CONCLUSIONS: The direction of the J-tip of the guidewire had no statistically significant effect on incidence of malpositioned tips.
Catheterization ; Catheterization, Central Venous ; Catheters ; Central Venous Catheters ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Heart Atria ; Humans ; Incidence ; Jugular Veins ; Radiography ; Random Allocation ; Subclavian Vein ; Thorax ; Vena Cava, Superior

PURPOSE: We examined the question of whether one-hand chest compression for a small child could compress intraabdominal organs. METHODS: We retrospectively examined medical charts and multidirectional computed tomography (MDCT) images obtained from children aged 1 to 18 years who presented to the hospital from March 2002 to March 2012. We measured the length of the sternum (Stotal) and the length of the lower half of the sternum (Stotal/2~X). We also measured the distance from the diaphragm to the midpoint of the sternum (Stotal/2~D) and half the width of an adult hand (Wtotal/2). Finally, we counted the number of instances at each age in which Stotal/2~X and Stotal/2~D were less than Wtotal/2. RESULTS: This study included records and MDCT images for 301 children with a mean age of 12.05+/-5.59 years. We also enrolled 47 adult rescuers (25 men, 53.2%) with a mean age of 23.20+/-2.13 years. The mean Wtotal/2 was 4.62+/-0.46 cm. All 1-year-old children had Stotal/2~X and Stotal/2~D less than Wtotal/2. Among children aged 2 years, six (60.0%) had Stotal/2~X and Stotal/2~D less than Wtotal/2. Among children aged 3 years, four (26.7%) had Stotal/2~X and Stotal/2~D less than Wtotal/2, and among those aged 4 years, two (13.3%) had Stotal/2~X and Stotal/2~D less than Wtotal/2. However, Stotal/2~X and Stotal/2~D were greater than Wtotal/2 in children aged 5 years or more. CONCLUSION: Our measurements indicate that one-hand chest compression for a small child could cause intraabdominal organ injury.
Adult ; Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation ; Child* ; Diaphragm ; Hand ; Humans ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Sternum ; Thorax

PURPOSE: This study was conducted in order to determine the characteristics and risk factors of pediatric eye injury patients in the emergency department and to offer strategies for prevention of pediatric eye injury. METHODS: This prospective study was conducted by use of a standardized eye injury survey of patients under the age of 16 years who were treated for ocular injury at nine emergency medical centers, from March to September of 2010. The following data were collected; general characteristics of the study population, type and location of injury, causative activities, and materials of injury. Risk factors associated with open-globe injury were analyzed by logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 1,151 patients were enrolled in the study; 75% were male. The highest incidence was observed between the age of 11 and 16 years (34.5%); 79.2% of patients had closed globe injury. The most common type of injury was contusion (65.4%) in closed globe injury and penetration (5.1%) in open-globe injury. Eye injury occurred most commonly at home (48.6%), followed by school/institution (19.4%). The most common causative activity and material were play (42.4%) and person/animal/plant (17%). Application of eye protective equipment (odds ratio: 24.33; 95% CI: 11.32~52.29) was found to be a statistically significant factor for occurrence of an open-globe injury. CONCLUSION: Establishment of safety measures considering gender and age is important since characteristics of pediatric eye injury differ based on such risk factors. The risk of open-globe eye injury increased with application of personal protective equipment, therefore, public education and promotion to use protective equipment of adequate level would be considered important.
Contusions ; Cross-Sectional Studies* ; Education ; Emergencies ; Emergency Service, Hospital* ; Eye Injuries* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Pediatrics ; Prospective Studies ; Risk Factors*