Background: This study aimed to determine the effect of ramen sauce on tooth tone changes over time, after selecting three different ramen colors from the ramens sold in the market, and applying the sauce to bovine teeth. Methods: Healthy bovine teeth were selected, and cutting discs were used to produce 60 specimens (5×5×3 mm), with 15 specimens distributed per county. Three types of ramen (buldak, chacharoni black bean sauce, and ottogi curry noodle) were used as the experimental group, and water was used as the negative control group. Tooth tone measurement was performed using a spectrophotometer (CM-700d) to measure the color before and after 1 (3 h 44 min), 2 (7 h 28 min), 3 (11 h 12 min), and 4 weeks (14 h 56 min). Analysis of the color tone change was performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 28. Results: In the experimental group, there was a significant color tone change before and after immersion. L* indicated the largest change in black bean sauce ramen, a* indicated buldak ramen, and b* indicated the largest change in curry ramen. The amount of color change (ΔE*) was the largest in curry ramen, followed by buldak and black bean sauce ramens. The results of the post-hoc analysis showed significant differences between all groups except buldak and black bean sauce ramens. Conclusion All three types of ramen revealed significant color change before and after immersion, and curry ramen showed the largest amount of color change among them.

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to verify the hypothesis that the suppression of lipid peroxidation with the antioxidant, U-74389G, could improve the survivability of paraquat intoxicated rats. METHODS: First, we obtained the 24-h mortality by using several paraquat dosages and calculated the 24-h LD50 in 24 male Wistar rats(250~350g). To examine the effect of U-74389G, we divided the rats in 4 groups: a control group and U-74389G only group, a paraquat only group, and a paraquat plus U-74389G group(n=10 each). Paraquat, 35mg/kg, was injected intraperitoneally at 0 h. U-74389G, 10mg/kg, was administered intraperitoneally at 0, 12 h or at 1, 12 h in the respective groups. The rats were observed for 24 hours. At 24 h, plasma and lung, liver, and kidney tissues were obtained after sacrificing the surviving rats to determine the degree of lipid peroxidation by using a thiobarbituric acid reactive substances(TBARS) quantitative analysis. RESULTS: The 24-h LD50 of paraquat was calculated as 40mg/kg in our rats. The 24-h mortality was as follows: control group and U-74389G group 0%, paraquat group 30%, and paraquat plus U-74389G group 10%. The TBARS analysis showed no differences between the U-74389G and the control groups. The paraquat group showed significantly increased TBARS levels in the serum and in the kidney and lung tissue compared to the control group(p<0.05). With U-74389G, the increased TBARS levels were significantly decreased in the plasma, kidney, and lung tissues compared to the paraquat group(p<0.05). However, in the liver tissue, there were no significant differences among the groups. CONCLUSION: A 21-aminosteroid antioxidant, U-74389G, improved the survivablity of paraquat-intoxicated rats through the suppression of lipid peroxidation. Our result suggests the possibility of clinical application of this drug as an antidote for paraquat poisoning.
Animals ; Humans ; Kidney ; Lethal Dose 50 ; Lipid Peroxidation ; Liver ; Lung ; Male ; Mortality ; Paraquat ; Plasma ; Poisoning ; Rats* ; Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances

This study was performed to observe the changes of glucose-related hormones and the morphological change including ultrastructure of the pancreatic islets in the male Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty rat. Area under the curve (AUC) of glucose at the 30th (709 +/- 73 mg.h/dL) and at the 40th week (746 +/- 87 mg.h/ dL) of age were significantly higher than that at the 10th week (360 +/- 25 mg.h/ dL). AUC of insulin of the 10th week was 2.4 +/- 0.9 ng.h/mL, increased gradually to 10.8 +/- 8.3 ng.h/mL at the 30th week, and decreased to 1.8 +/- 1.2 ng.h/mL at the 40th week. The size of islet was increased at 20th week of age and the distribution of peripheral alpha cells and central beta cells at the 10th and 20th weeks was changed to a mixed pattern at the 40th week. On electron microscopic examination, beta cells at the 20th week showed many immature secretory granules, increased mitochondria, and hypertrophied Golgi complex and endoplasmic reticulum. At the 40th week, beta cell contained scanty intracellular organelles and secretory granules and apoptosis of acinar cell was observed. In conclusion, as diabetes progressed, increased secretion of insulin was accompanied by increases in size of islets and number of beta-cells in male OLETF rats showing obese type 2 diabetes. However, these compensatory changes could not overcome the requirement of insulin according to the continuous hyperglycemia after development of diabetes.
Animals ; Body Weight ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/*metabolism/pathology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Glucagon/*metabolism ; Insulin/*metabolism ; Islets of Langerhans/*metabolism/pathology/ultrastructure ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Inbred OLETF

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate characteristic computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging findings of granulocytic sarcomas of the head and neck. METHODS: The CT (n=11) and MR (n=1) images obtained from 11 patients (7 males and 4 females; mean age, 23.5 yr; age range, 1 to 69 yr) with histologically-proven granulocytic sarcomas of the head and neck were retrospectively reviewed. Histological confirmation was done by bone marrow biopsy in 9 patients, and/or local biopsy in 4 patients. The imaging findings were analyzed with particular attention to location, size, shape, margin, bone destruction, internal architecture, pattern and degree of enhancement, and multiplicity of the lesions. RESULTS: The masses were most commonly located in the orbital cavity (n=8); other locations included lymph nodes (n=5) and palatine/pharyngeal/lingual tonsils (n=3). The mass sizes varied from a mean diameter of 1.3 to 5.8 cm (average, 2.6 cm). Multiple lesions were found in 6 patients. The shapes of the tumors were ovoid in 12 patients and irregular in 4 patients. Most lesions had poorly-defined margins (13/16) and invaded adjacent bony structures (5/16). On the pre-contrast CT images, the masses were iso- (5/8) or low-density (3/8) in comparison with muscle. The MRI, which was obtained in one patient in this study, showed that the mass was iso-signal intensity on T1-weighted images and iso-signal intensity on T2-weighted images compared to the gray matter of the brain. On the post-contrast CT images, there was homogenesous (n=12) or heterogeneous (n=4) enhancement, with mild (n=10), moderate (n=4), and marked (n=2) enhancement in the solid portions of the lesions. CONCLUSION: Although rare, granulocytic sarcomas arise in various locations in the head and neck area (most commonly in the orbit) in the form of well-demarcated, and mildly- and homogenously-enhancing masses with adjacent bony invasion.
Biopsy ; Bone Marrow ; Brain ; Head ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Male ; Muscles ; Neck ; Orbit ; Palatine Tonsil ; Retrospective Studies ; Sarcoma, Myeloid

Purpose: Gait evaluation in patients with dizziness is essential during both initial evaluation and vestibular rehabilitation. Inertial measurement unit (IMU)-based gait analysis systems are clinically applicable in patients with dizziness. Since dizzy patients can utilize visual inputs to compensate for vestibular deficits, it is more difficult for them to walk with their eyes closed (EC). In this study, we compared gait characteristics during forward walking with both eyes open (EO) and EC between healthy subjects and dizzy patients. Materials and Methods: Forty-nine healthy controls (mean age 37.18±10.71 years) and 23 patients with dizziness (mean age 49.25± 15.16 years) were subjected to vestibular and gait analyses. Medical histories, physical examinations, and vestibular function tests ruled out possible vestibular deficits in the controls. Subjects were instructed to walk at a comfortable pace for 10 m under two conditions (EO or EC). Spatiotemporal parameters, kinematics, and simulated kinetics of each gait recording were recorded using a shoe-type IMU system and analyzed. Results: Although gait speeds were slower, stride lengths were smaller, and double support times were increased under the EC, compared to the EO condition, in both healthy subjects and dizzy patients, the difference was more prominent in dizzy patients.Phase coordination index values did not differ significantly in either group. Gait asymmetry (GA) increased significantly under the EC condition, compared to the EO condition, in dizzy patients. Conclusion GA during forward walking was greater in dizzy patients under an EC condition than under an EO condition.

Paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis is a rare disorder that is characterized by personality changes, irritability, depression, seizures, memory loss and dementia, and is commonly associated with small cell lung cancer. The cause is unknown but it is believed to be an autoimmune disorder that develops secondary to a carcinomatous process. We report a patient with the clinical feature consistent with limbic encephalitis. A 64-year-old women developed disorientation, memory loss and general weakness. She was diagnosed with NSCLC (adenocarcinoma) with a brain metastasis 1 year earlier and was treated with radiation and chemotherapy. Although the lung mass and brain metastatic lesions had improved, the brain T2-weighted MRI showed high signal intensity in the right temporal region. This lesion consisted of with limbic encephalitis and was negative to the other viral and immune markers. The patient's symptoms did not improve after steroid treatment. Our case demonstrated that a NSCLC (adenocarcinoma) also can be associated with paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis.
Adenocarcinoma* ; Biomarkers ; Brain ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Dementia ; Depression ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Limbic Encephalitis* ; Lung* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Memory Disorders ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Seizures ; Small Cell Lung Carcinoma

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Milrinone is often used in children to treat acute heart failure and prevent low cardiac output syndrome after cardiac surgery. Due to the lack of studies on the long-term milrinone use in children, the objective of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of the current patterns of milrinone use for > or =3 days in infants and children with heart diseases. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients aged <13 years who received milrinone for > or =3 days from January 2005 to December 2012. Patients' characteristics including age, sex, height, weight, and body surface area were recorded. The following parameters were analyzed to identify the clinical application of milrinone: initial infusion rate, maintenance continuous infusion rate, total duration of milrinone therapy, and concomitantly infused inotropes. The safety of milrinone was determined based on the occurrence of adverse events such as hypotension, arrhythmia, chest pain, headache, hypokalemia, and thrombocytopenia. RESULTS: We assessed 730 admissions (684 patients) during this period. Ventricular septal defects were the most common diagnosis (42.4%) in these patients. Milrinone was primarily used after cardiac surgery in 715 admissions (97.9%). The duration of milrinone treatment varied from 3 to 64.4 days (> or =7 days in 149 admissions). Ejection fraction and fractional shortening of the left ventricle improved in patients receiving milrinone after cardiac surgery. Dose reduction of milrinone due to hypotension occurred in only 4 admissions (0.5%). Although diverse arrhythmias occurred in 75 admissions (10.3%), modification of milrinone infusion to manage arrhythmia occurred in only 3 admissions (0.4%). Multivariate analysis indicated that the development of arrhythmia was not influenced by the pattern of milrinone use. CONCLUSION: Milrinone was generally administered for > or =3 days in children with heart diseases. The use of milrinone for > or =3 days was effective in preventing low cardiac output after cardiac surgery when combined with other inotropes, suggesting that milrinone could be safely employed in pediatric patients with heart diseases.
Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Body Surface Area ; Cardiac Output, Low ; Chest Pain ; Child ; Diagnosis ; Headache ; Heart Diseases* ; Heart Failure ; Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Hypokalemia ; Hypotension ; Infant ; Medical Records ; Milrinone* ; Multivariate Analysis ; Off-Label Use* ; Retrospective Studies ; Thoracic Surgery ; Thrombocytopenia

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is recognized as a significant food-borne pathogen, so rapid identification is important for food hygiene management and prompt epidemiological investigations. The limited prevalence data on Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) and E. coli O157:H7 in foods and animals in Korea made an assessment of the risks difficult, and the options for management and control unclear. The prevalence of the organisms was examined by newly developed kit-E. coli O157:H7 Rapid kit. For the isolation of E. coli O157:H7, conventional culture, immunomagnetic separation, and E. coli O157:H7 Rapid kit were applied, and multiplex PCR and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) were performed for the molecular determination. There was high molecular relatedness among 11 Korean isolates and 17 U.S. strains at 63% level. Additionally, distinct differentiation between pig and cattle isolates was determined. It implied that RAPD had a capacity to distinguish strains with different sources, however it could not discriminate among isolates according to their differences in the degree of virulence. In antimicrobial susceptibility tests, 45.5% of isolates showed antibiotic resistance to two or more antibiotics. Unlike the isolates from other countries, domestic isolates of E. coli O157:H7 was mainly resistant to ampicillin and tetracylines. In summary, the application of E. coli O157:H7 Rapid kit may be useful to detect E. coli O157:H7 due to its sensitivity and convenience. Moreover, combinational analysis of multiplex PCR together with RAPD can aid to survey the characteristics of isolates.
Abattoirs ; Adhesins, Bacterial/genetics ; Animals ; Cattle ; Cercopithecus aethiops ; Chickens ; Escherichia coli O157/genetics/*isolation&purification ; Escherichia coli Proteins/genetics ; Feces/microbiology ; Food Microbiology ; Hemolysin Proteins/genetics ; Korea ; Meat/*microbiology ; Phylogeny ; Polymerase Chain Reaction/*methods ; Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique/*methods ; *Reagent Kits, Diagnostic ; Shiga-Like Toxin I/genetics ; Shiga-Like Toxin II/genetics ; Swine ; United States ; Vero Cells

BACKGROUND: To this date, efforts to develop effective methods for the education of diabetic patients have been limited. The important goal of self-management and weight control for diabetic treatment can not be attained without long and intensive period of education. This study was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of an intensive educational program, of behavior and diet control, which was carried out on subjects with type 2 diabetes, on an out-patient basis. We compared the effectiveness of an intensive education programme with that of a conventional education programme for the self-management of type 2 diabetic patients. METHODS: Subjects with type 2 diabetes were randomly selected, and allocated to one of two groups. One group received a conventional education programme of self-management(the CE group), and the second group received an intensive education programmes for three months, after which the effectiveness of the programmes were evaluated. RESULTS: 1) The levels of fasting blood sugar(FBS), postprandial 2 hour blood sugar(PP2h) and HbA1c were significantly lowered in both groups following the intervention(p<0.05). In the IE group, the FBS declined from 12.4nmol/L to 7.7nmol/L, PP2h declined from 20.3nmol/L to 10.9nmol/L, and the HbA1c showed a similar decline from 9.4 to 7.0% after intervention(p<0.05). In the CE group, the FBS declined from 10.9 to 9.4nmol/l, the PP2h decreased from 17.1 to 14.6 nmol/l, and the HbA1c also decreased from 8.5 to 7.3% after intervention(p<0.05). The decrease in the FBS and HbA1c following the educational intervention was more pronounced in the IE group than the CE group (p<0.05). 2) The effectiveness of the education programmes in promoting appropriate dietary behavior in the diabetic subjects was assessed by a scoring system in three parts: a regularity score, a balance score and an attitude score. From a comparative study of the three scores, the patients attitudes were observed to be much improved in both the groups following the intervention compared to before the programmes, but the balance and total scores were significantly higher in the IE group than the CE group(p<0.05). CONCLUSION: We can conclude that the intensive diabetic education programme is more effective than a conventional programme, not only in improving the patients' levels of glucose, HbAlc, and dietary score, but also the diabetic patients self-control abilities, promoting behavioral change, and prompting problem solving capabilities in respect to the everyday problems that they have to face throughout their lives.
Diet ; Education* ; Fasting ; Glucose ; Humans ; Outpatients ; Problem Solving ; Self Care

BACKGROUND: Leptin has been reported to be correlated with the amount of adipose tissue in humans. The plasma leptin concentrations were not different between diabetics and non-diabetics in Mexican-Americans; however, the leptin might stimulate or diminish insulin secretion and induce insulin resistance. Then, it can be postulated that leptin may one of the key factors in the development of insulin resistance. Therefore we were to note any differences in FPL (fasting plasma leptin levels) between diabetics and normal subjects, and to investigate variables such as PBF (percentage body fat), BMI (body mass index), FPI (fasting plasma insulin) to determine their effects on the variation of FPL. We also were to investigate whether FPL influenced the GUR (glucose utilization rate). METHODS: The subjects were 116 type 2 diabetics and 45 normal subjects in Korean. PBF, BMI, WHR (waist hip ratio) were measured. Fasting plasma insulin and leptin levels were measured by radioimmunoassay. Euglycemic and/or hyperglycemic clamp tests were performed in 19 diabetics and 16 normal subjects. RESULTS: 1. There was no difference in FPL between diabetics and normal subjects. 2. A significant difference was found in FPL between female and male subjects. 3. Gender and body composition such as PBF, BMI contributed plasma leptin levels. 4. FPL was associated with GUR (Insulin resiatance) only in male subjects. 5. During 2h clamp tests, the acute increments of insulin or glucose did not change the leptin levels. CONCLUSION: These data suggested that there was no difference in FPL between diabetics and normal subjects, whereas gender, body composition such as PBF, BMI contributed leptin levels.
Adipose Tissue ; Body Composition ; Fasting ; Female ; Glucose ; Hip ; Humans ; Insulin Resistance* ; Insulin* ; Leptin* ; Male ; Obesity* ; Plasma* ; Radioimmunoassay