No abstract available.
Neck*

No abstract available.
Extracorporeal Circulation* ; Plasma*

No abstract available.
Angiomyoma* ; Mucous Membrane*

BACKGROUND: The severity of several chronic inflammatory diseases was reported to be associated with polymorphism of the IL-1 receptor antagonist gene(IL-lrn). OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to study the polymorphism of the IL-1rn in vitiligo and in the normal Korean population. METHODS: Thirty one cases of vitiligo and seventy nine normal Koreans as control were studied for the polymorphism of IL-1 rn. RESULTS: The frequency of allele 2 of the IL- I rn in 31 patients with vitiligo was compared with that of the 79 healthy controls. The frequency of allele 2 was 1.6% in vitiligo patients and 3.8% in the normal controls. CONCLUSION: There was no significant difference in the frequency of allele 2 between the vitiligo patients and normal controls.
Alleles ; Humans ; Interleukin-1* ; Vitiligo*

The ankle, which at times bears up to five times the body weight, is the most congruous joint of the lower extremity. Recently, importance of early joint motion and weight bearing after anatomical reduction & rigid internal fixation of the displaced ankle fracture was emphasized. Therefore, we studied prospectively, fifty-two patients with displaced ankle fractures admitted to the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Severance hospital during a period of 4 years from January 1985 to December 1988. In fifty-two patients, group I (24 cases)were treated with early joint motion and weight bearing without cast immobilization and group II (28 cases) were treated with cast immobilization for long duration after open reduction and rigid internal fixation. The result of an average 15 months follow up of these patients were as follows. l. In displaced ankle fracture, early recovry of joint motion was obtained in early joint motion and weight bearing group after accurate anatomical reduction and rigid internal fixation. 2. In clincal evaluation, 95.8% resulted to satisfactory in group I, whereas 85.8% in group II. 3. In radiologic evaluation, 95.8% resulted to satisfactory in group I, whereas 82.1% in group II. 4. In lateral malleolar fracture, accurate reduction and fixation with plate and screws was important. 5. Syndesmotic ligament should be repaired and weight bearing was allowed without removal of transfixing screw. 6. Reduction of lateral malleolus made reduction and fixation of medial malleolus easy, and thus maintaining talar tilt angle. 7. Anatomical repair of deltoid ligament was needed for stability of ankle joint and prevention of local degenerative change.
Ankle Fractures ; Ankle Joint ; Ankle ; Body Weight ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Immobilization ; Joints ; Ligaments ; Lower Extremity ; Orthopedics ; Prospective Studies ; Weight-Bearing

In order to study the range of flight and feeding activity of Anopheles sinensis, the dispersal experiment was conducted in Paju city, located in the northern part of Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea, during the period of 7th to 28th September 1998. Unfed females An. sinensis were collected in cowshed and released after being marked with fluorescent dye at 23:00 hours on the same day. Released female mosquitoes were recaptured everyday during 21 days using light traps, which were set at 10 sites in the cowsheds located 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 km north-northwest and north-northeast and at 3 sites located 1, 6 and 9 km toward south-west from the release point. In addition, to study the longest flight distance in one night, we set the light traps at 16 and 20 km toward north-northeast from the release site. All the collected mosquitoes were placed on filter papers and observed on UV transilluminator after treatment with one drop of 100% ethanol. Out of 12,773 females of An. sinensis released, 194 marked females mosquitoes were recaptured, giving 1.52% recapture rate. Of 194, 72 mosquitoes (37.1%) were recaptured in light traps from three places set at 1 km from the release point, 57 mosquitoes (29.4%) from two places at 1-3 km, 41 mosquitoes (21.1%) from three places at 3-6 km, 20 mosquitoes (10.3%) from three places at 6-9 km, and 4 mosquitoes (2.1%) from two places at 9-12 km. Since 170 female mosquitoes (87.6%) out of 194 marked mosquitoes were captured within 6 km from the release point, this flight radius represents the main activity area. An sinensis was found to be able to fly at least 12 km during one night.
Animals ; Anopheles/*physiology ; Entomology/methods ; Feeding Behavior ; Female ; *Flight, Animal ; Fluorescent Dyes ; Korea ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Time Factors

No abstract available.
Aneurysm* ; Subclavian Artery*

BACKGROUND: Thymopentin(TP-5) is an immunomodulatory agent which may be a promising new drug in the treatment of patients with severe atopic dermatitis. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of thymopentin for treatment of severe atopic dermatitis. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Fifteen patients with severe atopic dermatitis received subcutaneous injections of 50mg thymopentin three times per week for 6 weeks. Clinical extent and severity parameters were assessed at baseline, at regular intervals during therapy and 4 weeks posttherapy. Use of antihistamine and topical steroid were permitted. RESULT: Significant reduction in severity scores and body surface area involvement was observed and no significant side effects were noted(p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Thymopentin may be considered to be an effective adjunctive therapeutic agent in the treatment of severe atopic dermatitis. Further studies will be needed to determine the action mechanism of thymopentin.
Body Surface Area ; Dermatitis, Atopic* ; Humans ; Injections, Subcutaneous ; Thymopentin*

OBJECTIVES: Neurotensin (NT), of which functions are evoked by its interaction with neurotensin receptors (NTR), coexists with mesolimbic dopamine and regulates endogenous dopamine release. Recent studies have shown that NT with NTR exerts neuroleptic-like activity within the central nervous system and may play an important role in the pathogenesis and in the treatment of schizophrenia. We have examined the genetic association between schizophrenia and tetranucleotide repeat polymorphism in the 3'-flanking region of the NTR gene to investigate the possible contribution of the NTR gene to the schizophrenia susceptibility. METHODS: Among 23 alleles identified, the subjects were 120 patients (male 91, female 29) with schizophrenia and 106 normal healthy controls (male 84, female 22). They were unrelated native Korean. PANSS was used to determine positive or negative subgroup in the schizophrenic patients.Using polymerase chain reaction and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, tetranucleotide repeat polymorphism (CCTT and CTTT) in the 3'-flanking region of NTR gene was observed. For a comparison of NTR gene's allelic frequencies between patients with schizophrenia and normal healthy controls, chi-square test and Bonferroni's correction was performed. RESULTS: The frequency of A10 allele (base pair size=399) was significantly higher in normal healthy controls than schizophrenia (x2=16.4902, df=1, p<.000). In the comparison between schizophrenic patients with negative symptoms and normal controls, the frequency of A10 allele was significantly higher in normal healthy control subjects than patients with schizophrenia (x2=21.33, df=1, p<0.001). In the case of male, the frequency of A10 allele of schizophrenia was significantly higher than normal controls (x2=13.71, df=1, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: NTR gene was negatively associated with schizophrenia. NTR gene's tetranucleotide repeat polymorphism may provide some protective function against schizophrenia.
Alleles ; Central Nervous System ; Dopamine ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Neurotensin* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Receptors, Neurotensin* ; Schizophrenia*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The optimal management of patients exhibiting a partial virologic response (PVR) to entecavir (ETV) has not been determined . The aim of this study was to determine the long-term efficacy of prolonged ETV monotherapy in treatment-naive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients exhibiting a PVR to ETV therapy. METHODS: This study included 364 treatment-naive CHB patients treated with ETV for > or =48 weeks and who received continuous ETV monotherapy for > or =96 weeks. PVR was defined as a decrease in serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA of more than 2 log10 IU/mL from baseline but with detectable HBV DNA by real-time PCR assay at week 48. RESULTS: Fifty-two of the 364 patients (14.3%) showed a PVR. Among them, 41 patients received continuous ETV monotherapy for > or =96 weeks (median duration 144 weeks, range 96-312 weeks), and 40 of these patients (95%) achieved a virologic response (VR, HBV DNA <20 IU/mL) during prolonged ETV monotherapy (median duration 78 weeks, range 60-288 weeks). The cumulative probabilities of a VR at weeks 96, 144, and 192 from treatment initiation were 78.0%, 92.7%, and 95.1%, respectively. The VR rate was 97.2% (35/36) in HBeAg-positive patients and 100% (5/5) in HBeAg-negative patients. In multivariate analysis, HBeAg positivity (odds ratio [OR], 9.231; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-82.91; P=0.047) and a high baseline HBV DNA level (OR, 0.170; 95% CI, 0.08-0.37; P=0.000) were independently associated with a delayed virologic response. No patient developed genotypic resistance to ETV during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term ETV monotherapy is effective for achieving a VR in treatment-naive CHB patients exhibiting a PVR to ETV. HBeAg positivity and high baseline HBV DNA level were independently associated with a delayed virologic response.
Adult ; Aged ; Antiviral Agents/*therapeutic use ; DNA, Viral/blood ; Drug Administration Schedule ; Female ; Genotype ; Guanine/*analogs & derivatives/therapeutic use ; Hepatitis B e Antigens/blood ; Hepatitis B virus/genetics ; Hepatitis B, Chronic/*drug therapy/pathology/virology ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis/etiology/radiography/ultrasonography ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Odds Ratio ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Treatment Outcome