No abstract available.
Electrolytes* ; Lung*

Hypokalemia causes metabolic alkalosis and morphological changes of the kidney. K⁺ balance is regulated not only by ion channels or pump gene, but also by various genes including NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2). Previous study suggested the possibility that Akt and ERK kinase may be involved in Nrf2 transcriptional gene activation. In present study, we investigate the alterations of Akt, p-Akt, ERK, p-ERK protein in both normal kidney and K⁺-deficient diet kidney using Western blot analysis, and immunohistochemisrty. Our western blot data showed that the expression of Akt and p-Akt was increased gradually in K⁺-depleted diet (from 1W-3W) compared to normal group. The expression of ERK and p-ERK was markedly increased in K⁺-depleted diet 2W in comparison with normal group. Based on our immunostaining results, Akt protein immunoreactivity was prominently increased in outer medullary collecting duct, especially in K⁺-depleted diet 2 weeks. The localization of p-Akt proteins in K⁺-depleted groups was not different from normal group, but the immunoreactivity was significantly increased in distal convoluted tubule, macula densa and outer medullary thick ascending limb in K⁺-depleted diet 1 and 2 weeks groups. ERK protein immunoreactivity was prominently increased in outer medullary collecting duct, especially in K⁺-depleted diet 2 and 3 weeks. The localization of p-ERK proteins in K⁺-depleted groups was not different from normal group, but the immunoreactivity was prominently increased in the nucleus of outer medullary collecting duct especially in K⁺-depleted diet 2 weeks. Taken together, we suggest that the expression of p-Akt was gradually increased in K⁺-depleted groups of kidney, but the expression of p-ERK was markedly increased in K⁺-depleted diet 2 week group. Hence, the promotion of AKT and ERK phosphorylation in hypokalemic condition may be involved in the regulation of ion channels, ion transporters and subsequent intracellular signal transduction.
Alkalosis ; Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Diet ; Extremities ; Hypokalemia ; Ion Channels ; Ion Transport ; Kidney* ; NF-E2-Related Factor 2 ; Phosphorylation ; Phosphotransferases ; Rats* ; Signal Transduction ; Transcriptional Activation

No abstract available.
Female ; Fetomaternal Transfusion* ; Pregnancy

This research was conducted to investigate the responses of the patients and the therapists who attend the community meeting, to evaluate the therapeutic effects of community meeting as a group psychotherapy by applying short form scale of Yalom's Q-sort, to diagnose and complement the problems of the community meeting and to aim at activating the therapeutic function as the group psychotherapy The community meeting was held by 10 times during the stage of oscillation of the community and 26.7 patients group(+/-2.95) and 8.5 therapists group(+/-1.43) attended the every meeting. Consequently, both patients group and therapists group evaluate the community meeting as positive, and on the item which is helpful to them, while patient group responds it is 'mutual understanding and love' and 'self-understanding', therapist group does it is 'frank self-expression' and 'conversation'. On all items of group psychotherapy factors in the community meeting, the patients group evaluates it is more therapeutic in comparison with the therapists group, especially there is a significant difference in nine items such as 'altruism', 'group cohesiveness', 'interpersonal input', 'interpersonal output', 'identification', 'instillation of hope', 'family reenactment', 'self-understanding' and 'existential awareness'. In addition, on the therapeutic factor which is activated group psychotherapy factor in the community meeting, both patients and therapists respond that it is 'existential awareness' and 'universality', and they evaluate 'interpersonal output' as an non-activated therapeutic factor.
Complement System Proteins ; Humans ; Psychotherapy, Group ; Q-Sort

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to identify factors influencing the willingness of healthcare consumers to use personal health records (PHR) and to investigate the requirements for PHR services. METHODS: A face-to-face interview was conducted with 400 healthcare consumers from the 3rd-18th of July 2008 using a structured questionnaire. To identity factors affecting the willingness to use PHR and to pay for PHR services, logistic regression analysis was performed. To investigate the requirements for PHR services according to the willingness of the consumers to use PHR and to pay for PHR services, t-test analysis was conducted. RESULTS: Of the 400 healthcare consumers, 239 (59.8%) were willing to use PHR and 111 (27.8%) were willing to pay for PHR services. The willingness to use PHR was higher in the elderly, those with a disease, and those with experience to use health information on the Internet, and the willingness to pay for PHR services was higher in those with a relatively high income (p<0.05). The willingness to use PHR was approximately 13.5 (95% CI=1.43-126.55) and 3 times (95% CI=1.18-8.74) higher in those with average monthly household incomes >6,000,000 won and 4,500,000-6,000,000 won, respectively, than in those earning <1,500,000 won, and approximately 1.96 times (95% CI=1.18-3.27) higher in those with experience using health information on the Internet than in those without experience. The willingness to pay for PHR services was approximately 5.9 times (95% CI=1.84-19.06) higher in those with an income of 4,500,000-6,000,000 won than in those with an income <1,500,000 won (p<0.05). Demands for test results, medication history, family history, problem list, genetic information, clinical trial information, and social history were significantly higher in those with a willingness to use PHR and those with a willingness to pay for PHR services than in those without willingness to use PHR and those without a willingness to pay for PHR services (p<0.05). Compared to those without a willingness to pay for PHR services, those with a willingness to pay for PHR services showed a significantly higher demand for all the functions (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that healthcare consumers potentially have a considerable demand for PHR services, and although it is not recognized and used widely yet, PHR is an essential service. In order to enhance people's awareness of PHR and to promote people to use PHR services, we need efforts and initiatives to execute campaigns and education for people to ease access to the service, and to reduce the gap in service utilization skills.
Aged ; Delivery of Health Care ; Electronic Health Records ; Family Characteristics ; Health Records, Personal ; Humans ; Internet ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Maspin is a recently described gene with tumor suppressor activity. The gene product is a 42 kD protein with homology to the serpin family of protease inhibitors and may play a role as an inhibitor of tumor cell invasion. The prior observation that invasive breast cancers and their metastases showed decreased maspin protein expression by immunostaining supports this speculation. However, the role of maspin in breast cancer progression has not been studied in detail. We, therefore, studied maspin protein expression in a series of hyperplasia, atypical ductal hyperplasia, intraductal carcinoma and invasive carcinomas. Immunohistochemical staining (IHC) for maspin was performed on paraffin sections of 136 breast specimens using a commercially available monoclonal antibody. Among the 106 cases studied were 36 moderate/florid ductal hyperplasia, 11 atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH), 29 intraductal carcinoma (IDC) (4 low grade, 13 intermediate grade, 12 high grade) and 30 invasive ductal carcinomas. Thirty cases of normal breast were also studied as control group. IHC stains were scored using a semiquantitative scoring system. The mean IHC scores for maspin for normal, moderate/florid hyperplasia, atypical ductal hyperplasia, intraductal carcinoma, and invasive carcinoma were 5.51 1.30, 7.36 0.72, 3.82 1.60, 4.48 2.69, 3.97 3.30, respectively. These scores for each category were statistically significant (p<0.05), except between ADH and IDC. Maspin protein expression was increased in most cases of moderate/florid hyperplasia, while maspin expression was more heterogeneous in ADH and IDC. In high grade IDC, maspin protein expression was stronger than low and intermediate grade IDC, and this suggests the possibility of a compensatory cellular response against the forces driving further tumor progression. Two thirds of invasive ductal carcinomas expressed maspin protein weakly and focally. All metastatic carcinomas of lymph nodes were negative for maspin. It is possible that high grade IDC with strong maspin expression may represent a subset less likely to progress to invasive cancer. This speculation merits investigation in clinical outcome studies.
Breast Neoplasms ; Breast* ; Carcinoma, Ductal* ; Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating* ; Coloring Agents ; Humans ; Hyperplasia* ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care) ; Paraffin ; Protease Inhibitors

Cancer metastasis to the skin, especially epidermotropic metastasis, is uncommon. Sometimes it is difficult to find the primary lesion; immunohistochemical (IHC) staining of cutaneous metastasis is used to determine the origin, but diagnosis may occasionally prove difficult. A 77-year-old man visited our hospital with a 1-month diagnostic history of multiple nodules in the right axilla. The patient had undergone surgery for gastric adenocarcinoma (T3N3M0) 21 years ago, and was diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma 1 year previously; however, no treatment was ongoing. Biopsy of the lesions revealed atypical cells surrounding the papillary projections of the epidermis and tumor nests of the upper dermis. IHC staining was positive for CK7 and CEA and negative for CK5/6, CK20, napsin A, TTF-1, GCDFP 15, and p63. The tissues revealed glandular structures and tested negative for p63 and CK5/6 on IHC staining. The patient was diagnosed with epidermotropic metastasis of lung adenocarcinoma.

PURPOSE: To investigate the clinical characteristics and treatment methods for pediatric thyroid-associated orbitopathy in pediatric patients with thyroid disorders. METHODS: To determine the prevalence and clinical characteristics of pediatric thyroid-associated orbitopathy, we retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 34 patients admitted to the Pediatrics Department of our institution between September 2010 and September 2012. The patients had been diagnosed with autoimmune thyroid disorder and were admitted for treatment of thyroid-associated orbitopathy. RESULTS: In the 24.1 months of follow-up observation, 14 patients were diagnosed with Graves' disease (41.2%) and 20 patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (58.8%). Of the 34 patients, 15 (44.1%) developed eye symptoms. Among the eye symptoms, lid swelling was the most prevalent in 41.2% of patients, followed by eyelid retraction in 23.5%, lid lag in 17.6%, conjunctival injection in 14.7%, proptosis in 8.8%, and extraocular muscle hypertrophy in 17.6%. Severe impairment of visual acuity, visual field, and ocular motility were not observed in our study. Although eyelid surgery was performed in 3 cases, most patients were treated conservatively. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric thyroid-associated orbitopathy was frequently observed in patients with Graves' disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Compared to adults, children showed milder disease manifestation and progression, and the disease could be managed with conservative treatment.
Adult ; Child ; Exophthalmos ; Eye ; Eyelids ; Follow-Up Studies ; Graves Disease ; Humans ; Hypertrophy ; Medical Records ; Muscles ; Pediatrics ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroiditis ; Visual Acuity ; Visual Fields

PURPOSE: Circulating tumor cells (CTC) clearly correlate with unfavorable outcomes for patients with metastatic breast cancer, but the long-term prognostic implications of CTC for molecular subtypes of operable breast cancer are not yet known. We explored the relationships between previously established prognostic factors and CTC in operable breast cancer, and the significance of CTC by breast cancer molecular subtype. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 166 patients with operable breast cancer (stage I-IIIA) diagnosed from April 1997 to May 2003. CTC were detected using cytokeratin-20 (CK-20) mRNA expression in peripheral blood samples that were collected just prior to surgery under general anesthesia. Clinicopathological characteristics of the cancer were analyzed according to CTC status. Metastasis-free survival (MFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed according to CTC status and breast cancer molecular subtype. RESULTS: CK-20 mRNA-positive CTC was detected in 37 of 166 patients (22.3%) and was not correlated with any previous clinical factors in univariate analysis (p>0.05). After a median follow-up of 100 months, the patients with CK-20 mRNA-positive CTC had less favorable outcomes in terms of MFS and OS than those without detectable CTC (log-rank p<0.05). Among molecular subtypes of operable breast cancer, the patients with CK-20 mRNA-positive CTC had shorter MFS and OS in triple negative and human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) breast cancer subtype (log-rank, p<0.05). CONCLUSION: CK-20 mRNA-positive CTC may lend insight into tumor progression as a prognostic indicator especially in the triple negative and HER2 subtypes of operable breast cancer.
Anesthesia, General ; Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Epidermal Growth Factor ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Keratin-20 ; Neoplastic Cells, Circulating ; Retrospective Studies ; RNA, Messenger

PURPOSE: Circulating tumor cells (CTC) clearly correlate with unfavorable outcomes for patients with metastatic breast cancer, but the long-term prognostic implications of CTC for molecular subtypes of operable breast cancer are not yet known. We explored the relationships between previously established prognostic factors and CTC in operable breast cancer, and the significance of CTC by breast cancer molecular subtype. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 166 patients with operable breast cancer (stage I-IIIA) diagnosed from April 1997 to May 2003. CTC were detected using cytokeratin-20 (CK-20) mRNA expression in peripheral blood samples that were collected just prior to surgery under general anesthesia. Clinicopathological characteristics of the cancer were analyzed according to CTC status. Metastasis-free survival (MFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed according to CTC status and breast cancer molecular subtype. RESULTS: CK-20 mRNA-positive CTC was detected in 37 of 166 patients (22.3%) and was not correlated with any previous clinical factors in univariate analysis (p>0.05). After a median follow-up of 100 months, the patients with CK-20 mRNA-positive CTC had less favorable outcomes in terms of MFS and OS than those without detectable CTC (log-rank p<0.05). Among molecular subtypes of operable breast cancer, the patients with CK-20 mRNA-positive CTC had shorter MFS and OS in triple negative and human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) breast cancer subtype (log-rank, p<0.05). CONCLUSION: CK-20 mRNA-positive CTC may lend insight into tumor progression as a prognostic indicator especially in the triple negative and HER2 subtypes of operable breast cancer.
Anesthesia, General ; Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Epidermal Growth Factor ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Keratin-20 ; Neoplastic Cells, Circulating ; Retrospective Studies ; RNA, Messenger