Genetic diversity of 21 Korean Phytophthora capsici isolates was analyzed by using several molecular markers such as random amplified polymorphic DNA(RAPD), M-13, microsatellite and random amplified microsatellite sequences(RAMS). The overall average similarity coefficient among the isolates was 86% based on the combined data obtained by the molecular markers. No molecular markers were found to be associated with hosts or geographic regions. In addition to RAPD, analysis based on repeated sequences such as (GTG)5, M-13 and RAMS could be used to assess population structure of P. capsici.
Genetic Variation* ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Phytophthora*

In April 2002 and 2003, soft rot on fruit of eggplant (Solanum melongena) caused by Choanephora cucurbitarum was observed in the experimental fields at Gyeongnam Agricultural Research and Extension Services in Korea. The disease began with water-soaking and dark-green lesions, and then the infected tissues were rapidly rotten. Sporangium was subglobose in shape and sized 40~130 microm. Monosporous sporangiola were elliptic, fusiform or ovoid, brown in color, and measured as 12~20 x 6~14 microm. Sporangiospores having three or more appendages were elliptic, fusiform or ovoid in shape, dark brown or brown in color, and sized 14~20 x 7~16 microm. The fungus grew well on potato dextrose agar between 15 and 40degrees C and its optimum growth temperature was 30degrees C. Based on morphological characteristics, the causal fungus of the fruit soft rot of eggplant was identified as C. cucurbitarum. This is the first report on the soft rot of S. melongena caused by C. cucurbitarum in Korea.
Agar ; Fruit ; Fungi ; Glucose ; Korea* ; Solanum melongena* ; Solanum tuberosum ; Sporangia

Pelvic visceral pain associated with both cancer and chronic benign conditions may be alleviated by superior hypogastric plexus block (SHPB). The complications of SHPB include infection, bleeding, or intravascular injection because of the adjacent location of the iliac vessel to the route of needle insertion, and pelvic visceral damage. However, acute ureteral obstruction leading to acute renal failure (ARF) as a complication of SHPB has not been reported to date in the literature. We report a patient with ARF that resulted from acute ureteral obstruction following SHPB performed for the relief of lower abdominal pain and tenesmus in metastatic ureter cancer.
Abdominal Pain ; Acute Kidney Injury ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hypogastric Plexus* ; Needles ; Ureteral Neoplasms ; Ureteral Obstruction* ; Visceral Pain

Objectives: To determine whether the clinical aspect of aplastic anemia is influenced by pregnancy. METHODS: We reviewed 37 cases of pregnant aplastic anemia patients during Jan. 1989 to Dec. 1998, and examined age, parity, progress of pregnancy, termination methods, obstetrics & neonatal complications, hematologic change, and treatment modality by medical records. RESULTS: According to onset of disease, patients were divided into pre-pregnant diagnosed group(n=12) and during-pregnancy diagnosed group(n=25). Mean age of diagnosis was 29.4yr, 89.2% were nulliparous, and 51.4% were severe aplastic anemic patients. All patients underwent 50 pregnancy. Mean gestational period was 37wks, birth weight was 2569gram, and, except in 7 cases of abortion, 43 cases were delivered transvaginally or transabdominally(51.2% vs. 48.8%). Preeclampsia, eclampsia, preterm labor, restricted growth, and distress were complicated and decreased hemoglobin, hematocrit, reticulocyte, platelet were reversed after termination in pregnancy associated group. Treatment modality during pregnancy included transfusion, steroid, anti-lymphocytic globulin, anti-thymocytic globulin and IVGV, and remission rate was 45.5% in pregnancy associated group. CONCLUSION: We concluded that pregnancy is associated with aplastic anemia as a high risk factor, and intensive treatment is needed.
Anemia, Aplastic* ; Birth Weight ; Blood Platelets ; Diagnosis ; Eclampsia ; Female ; Hematocrit ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Obstetric Labor, Premature ; Obstetrics ; Parity ; Pre-Eclampsia ; Pregnancy* ; Reticulocytes ; Risk Factors

A rare case of vaginal tuberculosis is reported. A 42-year-old woman referred to our hospital for surgical treatment of a cystocele presented with vaginal mass for 2 months. Pelvic examination revealed a cystic mass at anterior vagianl wall. Her initial diagnosis was urethral diverticulum. Surgical excision was performed and pathological analysis of the specimen revealed tuberculosis. She was treated with antituberculous drugs. We emphasize the need to maintain a high index of suspicion and to biopsy any suspicious vaginal lesion in the diagnosis of vaginal tuberculosis.
Adult ; Biopsy ; Cystocele ; Diagnosis ; Diverticulum ; Female ; Gynecological Examination ; Humans ; Tuberculosis*

This study aimed to investigate whether the demographic variable-adjustment and supplementation of Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) score can improve the screening ability of Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) for dementia and its subtypes. Five hundred forty-one non-demented comparison (NC) and 474 dementia (320 Alzheimer's disease [AD]; 139 non-Alzheimer's disease dementia [NAD]; and 15 mixed AD-NAD dementia) individuals living in the community were included. Education-adjusted MMSE (MMSE-edu) score showed significantly better screening accuracy for overall dementia, AD, and NAD than MMSE raw score. FAB-supplemented MMSE (MMSE-FAB) score had significantly better screening ability for NAD, but not for overall dementia and AD, than MMSE raw score alone. Additional supplementation of FAB to MMSE-edu further increased the ability for overall dementia or NAD screening, but not for AD screening. Further education adjustment of MMSE-FAB also improved its ability for overall dementia, AD, and NAD screening. These results strongly support the usefulness of education-adjustment and supplementation of frontal function assessment to improve screening performance of MMSE for dementia and its subtypes, NAD in particular.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Alzheimer Disease/complications/diagnosis ; Area Under Curve ; Dementia/complications/*diagnosis ; Demography ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neuropsychological Tests ; ROC Curve

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to explore the effect of the Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) expressed in plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) that respond to antigen to Th2 immune deviation in allergic patients. METHODS: Subjects consisted of 19 allergic patients and 17 healthy volunteers. Skin prick tests and nasal provocation tests were performed for the two groups. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were collected from subjects and analyzed for the Lineage Cocktail (CD3, CD14, CD16, CD19, CD20, CD56) (-), HLA-DR (+), and CD123 (+) using flow cytometry. In addition, we analyzed TLR9 mRNA by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. The level of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) of the PBMCs following stimulation with the TLR9 ligand CpG-ODN 2216 was also evaluated. RESULTS: Analyses of CD123 (+) revealed a nearly similar distribution for the classical pDC markers in the allergic group (0.1%+/-0.04%) and in the controls (0.25%+/-0.23%). The mRNA levels of TLR9 on PBMCs were not different between the allergic group and the controls (1.29+/-0.41 vs. 1.25+/-0.23, respectively). Additionally, the level of IFN-alpha in PBMCs exposed to stimuli of the TLR9 ligand CpG-ODN 2216 was not significantly different between the two groups (911+/-829 vs. 1,095+/-888 pg/mL, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: We found no evidence that TLR9-dependent immune responses in human pDCs are associated with allergic status.
Dendritic Cells ; Flow Cytometry ; HLA-DR Antigens ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Interferon-alpha ; Nasal Provocation Tests ; Oligodeoxyribonucleotides ; RNA, Messenger ; Skin ; Toll-Like Receptor 9 ; Toll-Like Receptors

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to explore the effect of the Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) expressed in plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) that respond to antigen to Th2 immune deviation in allergic patients. METHODS: Subjects consisted of 19 allergic patients and 17 healthy volunteers. Skin prick tests and nasal provocation tests were performed for the two groups. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were collected from subjects and analyzed for the Lineage Cocktail (CD3, CD14, CD16, CD19, CD20, CD56) (-), HLA-DR (+), and CD123 (+) using flow cytometry. In addition, we analyzed TLR9 mRNA by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. The level of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) of the PBMCs following stimulation with the TLR9 ligand CpG-ODN 2216 was also evaluated. RESULTS: Analyses of CD123 (+) revealed a nearly similar distribution for the classical pDC markers in the allergic group (0.1%+/-0.04%) and in the controls (0.25%+/-0.23%). The mRNA levels of TLR9 on PBMCs were not different between the allergic group and the controls (1.29+/-0.41 vs. 1.25+/-0.23, respectively). Additionally, the level of IFN-alpha in PBMCs exposed to stimuli of the TLR9 ligand CpG-ODN 2216 was not significantly different between the two groups (911+/-829 vs. 1,095+/-888 pg/mL, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: We found no evidence that TLR9-dependent immune responses in human pDCs are associated with allergic status.
Dendritic Cells ; Flow Cytometry ; HLA-DR Antigens ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Interferon-alpha ; Nasal Provocation Tests ; Oligodeoxyribonucleotides ; RNA, Messenger ; Skin ; Toll-Like Receptor 9 ; Toll-Like Receptors

No abstract available.
Lymphatic Diseases* ; Pericardial Effusion*

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate whether the observed changes over time in the survival rates vary according to the intrinsic subtypes of breast cancer diagnosed. METHODS: Data from 46,320 breast cancer patients in the Korean Breast Cancer Registry who underwent surgery between 1999 and 2006 were reviewed. Among them, results from 25,887 patients with available data about the status of estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) were analyzed. Patients were classified into two cohorts according to the year in which they underwent surgery: 1999-2002 and 2003-2006. RESULTS: The patients treated in the latter time period showed significantly better overall survival (OS) compared with those in the former period when adjusted for follow-up duration. The proportion of hormone receptor+/HER2-subtype and stage I breast cancer were significantly higher in the latter period (47.4% vs. 54.6%, p<0.001; 31.0% vs. 39.6%, p<0.001, respectively). Improvement in OS between the former and latter periods was seen in all subtypes of breast cancer, including triple-negative cancers (all p-values <0.001 in univariate and multivariate analyses). CONCLUSION: Improvement in survival in Korean breast cancer patients over the study years is being observed in all subtypes of breast cancer, implying that increases in both early-stage detection and the proportion of less aggressive cancers contribute to this improvement.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Cohort Studies ; Estrogens ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Korea ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; Receptors, Progesterone ; Registries ; Survival Rate