Although abundant biology data have been accumulated in public biology databases, such as GenBank and PIR, few easy-interface services are provided for users to access or update them. We have developed a system, named BioStore, that is composed of several programs to aid users to not only access public data but also share their own data easily. The service can be used for maintaining a local database as a repository of raw data files of several public databases and distributing the data files to other users. Currently, BioStore manipulates major bio-databases and will expand to include more databases and more useful interfaces.
Biology ; Databases, Nucleic Acid ; Formycins ; Ribonucleotides ; Information Storage and Retrieval

PURPOSE: To compare postoperative recurrence rates between conjunctival autograft transplantation alone and conjunctival autograft transplantation with amniotic membrane transplantation in primary pterygium surgery. METHODS: The authors conducted a retrospective analysis of 66 eyes from 62 patients who underwent primary pterygium surgery from January 2001 to May 2009. Twenty three eyes underwent conjunctival autograft transplantation alone, 43 eyes underwent conjunctival autograft transplantation with amniotic membrane transplantation. RESULTS: Recurrence of pterygium was observed in 5 of 23 eyes that received conjunctival autograft transplantation alone. There were 2 cases of recurrence of 43 eyes that received conjunctival autograft transplantation and amniotic membrane transplantation. No major complications such as necrotizing scleritis, sclera ulcer, or corneal perforation were observed in either group after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that receiving both conjunctival autograft transplantation and amniotic membrane transplantation in pterygium surgery has a lower recurrence rate than conjunctival autograft transplantation alone.
Amnion ; Corneal Perforation ; Eye ; Humans ; Membranes ; Pterygium ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Sclera ; Scleritis ; Transplants ; Ulcer

PURPOSE: This study analyzes the factors influencing anatomical failure of the primary operation for simple rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. METHODS: The patients in this study were diagnosed with simple rhegmatogenous retinal detachment and operated on by a single physician. The success group comprised 251 eyes and the failure group comprised 29 eyes. The factors analyzed between the two groups were the type of primary procedure, the type of retinal defect; the numbers of retinal defects; the extent of retinal detachment; the duration of retinal detachment; the existence of peripheral degeneration; carrying out of subretinal fluid drainage; the type of tamponade material used and the position of retinal defects. RESULTS: The anatomical success rate of the primary operation for simple rhegmatogenous retinal detachment was 89.64%. Patient sex, the type of tamponade material used and the position of the retinal defect showed significant differences between the success and failure groups. There was a higher percentage of male patients in the failure group than in success group (p=0.034). Silicone oil used as the tamponade material resulted in a greater chance of failure than success (p=0.017). Analysis of the position of the retinal defect showed that, defects distributed in the inferior retina or through multiple area led to a greater likelihood of anatomical failure (p=0.036). CONCLUSIONS: Due ti the greater possibility of anatomical failure of the primary operation when retinal defects are distributed in the inferior retina or through multiple area, clinicians should consider intensive treatment for such cases.
Drainage ; Humans ; Male ; Retina ; Retinal Detachment* ; Retinaldehyde* ; Silicone Oils ; Subretinal Fluid

In this study, we found a new food additive as an natural herbal extracts against lipid digestion enzymes for the regulation of fatty acid absorption and weight control. The Water extracts of Platycodon grandiflorum and Solanum melongena. inhibited lipase activity and decresed serum total cholesterol and triglyceride concentration in mouse fed lipid emulsion. Twenty three volunteers were subjected to the intake of the herbal extracts plus the egg yolk IgY that inhibit carbohydrate digestion enzymes in gut for 50 days. In average, the treated subjects appeared to lose 1.96 kg of body weight and 3.4 kg of body fat mass during the treated period. Furthermore, Panniculus adiposus and breech size were significantly decreased during the experimental period. Above results suggested that the administration of the dietary additives composed of natural herbal extract and egg yolk IgY improve the obesity by the decrement of body weight and body fat mass.
Absorption* ; Adipose Tissue ; Animals ; Body Weight ; Cholesterol ; Dietary Supplements* ; Digestion ; Egg Yolk ; Food Additives ; Lipase ; Mice ; Obesity ; Platycodon ; Solanum melongena ; Triglycerides ; Volunteers ; Water

Aggressive angiomyxoma, a rare soft tissue benign neoplasm, predominantly occurs in the female pelvic peritoneum and perineum region during reproductive age. It is slow growing, locally infiltrative, and has a high risk of local recurrence and the neoplastic character of blood vessels. The standard treatment is surgery. We report three unusual aggressive angiomyxoma cases. The first case was a pedunculated mass of the left labium major; the second, a left perineal mass that infiltrated into the paravesical area via the obturator foramen; and the third, a big mass in the retroperitoneal cavity, found that growing aggressive angiomyxoma looked like lava expulsion in the pelvic area. After a thorough examination and full radiologic workup, we performed surgical excision in each patient via different approaches. Histopathologic findings were consistent with diagnosis of aggressive angiomyxoma. To date, no relapse has been observed.
Blood Vessels ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Gynecologic Surgical Procedures ; Humans ; Myxoma* ; Neoplasms, Connective Tissue ; Perineum ; Peritoneum ; Recurrence ; Retroperitoneal Neoplasms ; Vulvar Neoplasms

BACKGROUND: Friedewald equation is the most widely used method for estimating low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) level. However, due to potential over- or underestimation, many studies have used a modified equation. This study aimed to compare estimates by 4 different equations to directly measured LDL-C concentrations in order to propose the most appropriate method for LDL-C estimation in the Korean population. METHODS: We studied data of 4,350 subjects that included total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglyceride (TG), and LDL-C concentrations that had been measured at one university hospital in Seoul. We investigated 4 equations: LDL-C by Friedewald's original equation (LDL-C(F)) and its 3 modifications. Pearson correlation analysis was performed to compare these estimates to the direct measurement. RESULTS: Pearson correlation analysis revealed a good correlation among all 4 estimated LDL-C values and the directly measured LDL-C value. The Pearson coefficients were 0.951 for LDL-C(F), 0.917 for LDL-C by Hatta equation (LDL-C(H)), 0.968 for LDL-C by Puavilai equation (LDL-C(P)), and 0.983 for LDL-C by Martin equation (LDL-C(M)). Martin equation (LDL-C(M)) resulted in the best approximation (mean difference from the direct measurement, 5.5 mg/dL; mean percentage difference from the direct measurement, 5.1%) and the best agreement with the direct measurement (86.1%). LDL-C(P) resulted in the second-best approximation (mean difference, 7.0 mg/dL; mean percentage difference, 6.2%; concordance, 82.5%). LDL-C(M) was found to be less influenced by TG and HDL-C levels than by LDL-C(F). CONCLUSION: Estimates by Martin equation had the best agreement with direct LDL-C concentrations and both Martin and Puavilai equations were superior to Friedewald equation for estimating LDL-C concentrations in Korean adults.
Adult* ; Cholesterol* ; Dyslipidemias ; Humans ; Lipoproteins* ; Methods* ; Seoul ; Triglycerides

Adenovirus (AdV) can cause severe pneumonia in non-immunocompromised host, but limited data exist on the distinctive characteristics of AdV pneumonia in non-immunocompromised patients. We evaluated distinctive clinico-laboratory and radiological characteristics and outcomes of AdV pneumonia (n = 179), compared with non-AdV pneumonia (n = 188) in Korean military personnel between 2012 and 2016. AdV pneumonia patients had a higher rate of consolidation with ground-glass opacity (101/152) in lobar distribution (89/152) on computed tomography (CT) (P < 0.001). Laboratory findings showed a higher incidence of unusual blood profiles such as leukopenia (55/179, P < 0.001) or thrombocytopenia (100/179, P < 0.001). The patients had more systemic symptoms such as myalgia (82/179, P = 0.001) or diarrhea (23/179, P < 0.001), compared with non-AdV pneumonia patients. Bacterial co-infection was identified in 28.5% of AdV pneumonia. Most of the AdV isolates typed (69/72, 95.8%) were AdV-55. Patients with a pneumonia severity index ≥ class III were more commonly observed in AdV pneumonia patients compared with non-AdV pneumonia patients (11.2% vs. 2.1%, P < 0.001), and time to clinical stabilization from admission was longer in the AdV pneumonia patients compared with the non-AdV pneumonia patients (3.8 vs. 2.6 days, P < 0.001). Mechanical ventilation (n = 6) was only required in AdV pneumonia patients, one of whom died due to AdV-55. Our data showed that AdV pneumonia in non-immunocompromised patients had distinct characteristics and most of the isolates typed in our study were AdV-55. It is suggested that AdV-55 is an important pathogen of pneumonia in Korean military personnel.
Adenoviridae* ; Coinfection ; Diarrhea ; Humans ; Incidence ; Leukopenia ; Military Personnel* ; Myalgia ; Pneumonia* ; Respiration, Artificial ; Thrombocytopenia

PURPOSE: To analyze stereoacuity in patients with strabismus using various stereotests. METHODS: Stereoacuity was assessed in children who were diagnosed with intermittent exotropia or refractive accommodative esotropia using the Titmus stereotest, TNO stereotest, and the Lang II stereotest. Patients with amblyopia or previous ocular surgery were excluded. RESULTS: Ninety-four patients with intermittent exotropia and 36 patients with refractive accommodative esotropia were included; the mean age was 7.2 years. The mean stereoacuity in intermittent exotropia was 143.1+/-207.9 seconds of arc with the Titmus stereotest, 130.2+/-103.7 seconds of arc with the TNO stereotest, and 200.0+/-0.0 seconds of arc with the Lang II stereotest. The mean stereoacuity in refractive accommodative esotropia was 430.3+/-288.6 seconds of arc, 232.5+/-90.0 seconds of arc, and 230.0+/-97.9 seconds of arc, respectively. The absence of stereoacuity was more frequent in patients with refractive accommodative esotropia than in patients with intermittent exotropia, and both groups of patients showed the largest proportion of absent stereopsis with the TNO stereotest. No factor was significant for stereopsis in patients with intermittent exotropia and patients with refractive accommodative esotropia. CONCLUSIONS: Stereoacuity showed various seconds of arc according to the type of stereotest in the same patient. Patients with refractive accommodative esotropia showed lower stereoacuity in all stereotests than patients with intermittent exotropia. TNO stereotests are sensitive enough to detect the absence of stereopsis in patients with strabismus.
Amblyopia ; Child ; Depth Perception ; Esotropia ; Exotropia ; Humans ; Strabismus

Methylation of cytosine is a post-synthesis modification that does not affect the primary DNA sequence but greatly influences gene expression level and phenotypes of an organism. As high-throughput sequencing of bisulfite-treated DNA is the most efficient method to identify methylated sites, several tools to map sequencing reads on a reference are available. But tools to visualize and to interpret the methylation level of methylation sites are currently insufficient. Herein, we present a novel tool to visualize the methylation level of CpG sites.
Base Sequence ; Cytosine ; DNA ; DNA Methylation ; Epigenomics ; Gene Expression ; Methylation ; Phenotype ; Sulfites

Many bioinformatics sites have managed local bio-databases, including major databases such as GenBank and PIR with update load. We have developed several programs to monitor the update status of these databases and to FTP them automatically. These programs can be used for maintaining local bio-databases as recent versions and providing up-to-date databases through FTP sites. Currently, the program serves major bio-databases and will extend to accommodate many more bio-databases.
Computational Biology ; Databases, Nucleic Acid ; Formycins ; Organothiophosphorus Compounds ; Ribonucleotides