No abstract available.
Child* ; Heel* ; Humans

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare titanium and cobalt alloy clip induced artifacts in 16- and 64-row multislice computed tomography angiograms. METHODS: A total of 40 intracranial aneurysms in 37 patients treated using titanium or cobalt-alloy clips were enrolled in this study. Computed tomography angiography (CTA) was performed using a 16-row (12 aneurysms; cobalt-alloy clips in 8 and titanium clips in 4) or 64-row (28 aneurysms; cobalt-alloy clips in 14 and titanium clips in 14) multislice CT machine after surgical clipping. Clip-induced artifacts were divided into white and black components, and artifact sizes were quantified by measuring the areas of these components. RESULTS: The titanium clips (634.9 +/- 308.44 mm2) produced smaller artifacts than cobalt alloy clips (2,797.4 +/- 3,121.98 mm2) by CTA (p=0.006), but the mean size of titanium clip induced artifacts was smaller for 64-row (544.0 +/- 68.77 mm2) than for 16-row (953.3 +/- 279.95 mm2) multislice CTA (p=0.026). On the other hand, cobalt alloy clip related artifacts were similarly sized (64-row, 2,191.5 +/- 2,072.86 mm2 versus 16-row, 3,857.6 +/- 4,386.56 mm2, p=0.246). CONCLUSION: Titanium clips produce smaller artifacts than cobalt-alloy clips and 64-row multislice CTA reduced titanium clip-induced artifacts as compared with 16-row multislice CTA. However, cobalt-alloy clip artifacts were huge and were not reduced by the higher row CTA unit.
Alloys ; Aneurysm ; Angiography ; Artifacts ; Cobalt ; Hand ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; Multidetector Computed Tomography ; Surgical Instruments ; Titanium

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare titanium and cobalt alloy clip induced artifacts in 16- and 64-row multislice computed tomography angiograms. METHODS: A total of 40 intracranial aneurysms in 37 patients treated using titanium or cobalt-alloy clips were enrolled in this study. Computed tomography angiography (CTA) was performed using a 16-row (12 aneurysms; cobalt-alloy clips in 8 and titanium clips in 4) or 64-row (28 aneurysms; cobalt-alloy clips in 14 and titanium clips in 14) multislice CT machine after surgical clipping. Clip-induced artifacts were divided into white and black components, and artifact sizes were quantified by measuring the areas of these components. RESULTS: The titanium clips (634.9 +/- 308.44 mm2) produced smaller artifacts than cobalt alloy clips (2,797.4 +/- 3,121.98 mm2) by CTA (p=0.006), but the mean size of titanium clip induced artifacts was smaller for 64-row (544.0 +/- 68.77 mm2) than for 16-row (953.3 +/- 279.95 mm2) multislice CTA (p=0.026). On the other hand, cobalt alloy clip related artifacts were similarly sized (64-row, 2,191.5 +/- 2,072.86 mm2 versus 16-row, 3,857.6 +/- 4,386.56 mm2, p=0.246). CONCLUSION: Titanium clips produce smaller artifacts than cobalt-alloy clips and 64-row multislice CTA reduced titanium clip-induced artifacts as compared with 16-row multislice CTA. However, cobalt-alloy clip artifacts were huge and were not reduced by the higher row CTA unit.
Alloys ; Aneurysm ; Angiography ; Artifacts ; Cobalt ; Hand ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; Multidetector Computed Tomography ; Surgical Instruments ; Titanium

No abstract available.
Granuloma* ; Sea Urchins* ; Sports*

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the association between high risk of Internet gaming disorder (IGD) and online game genres used by adolescents. METHODS: The data derived from the baseline data of the Internet user Cohort for Unbiased Recognition of gaming disorder in Early Adolescence. A total 1,532 middle school students who use online games included. The participants reported the names of the online games they used during the past year. Game genres were categorized into role playing games (RPGs), shooting, multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), simulation, arcade, sports and action games. The risk of IGD was measured using the Internet Gaming Use-Elicited symptom Screen. The relationship between the experience of online game genre and high risk of IGD was analyzed using multiple logistic regression model. RESULTS: The game time of a student was longer if he or she had an experience of RPGs, shooting games, MOBA games, simulation games, and action games. The direct and independent association between high risk of IGD in adolescents and the genres of RPGs, simulation games and MOBA were found to be odds ratios 1.52 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03 to 2.26); 1.59 (95% CI, 1.03 to 2.45); and 1.51 (95% CI, 1.03 to 2.21), respectively after adjusted the potential confounding variables and the use of other online game genres. CONCLUSIONS The present cross-sectional study has found an association between online game genres and the risk of IGD in adolescents attending a school. A cohort study should verify the causal association in future.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Markers of inflammation have been associated with outcomes in various cancers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether systemic inf lammatory markers and their f luctuations can predict survival and chemotherapy response in patients with metastatic gastric cancer (mGC). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 502 patients who received first-line palliative chemotherapy for mGC between 2007 and 2013. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and modified Glasgow prognostic score (mGPS) were assessed before and after chemotherapy to evaluate their association with survival. The NLR values were categorized into two groups based on a cut-off value of 3; mGPS values were classified as high versus low. RESULTS: High prechemotherapy NLR was significantly associated with poor overall survival on univariate analysis (p = 0.002). On multivariate analysis, high prechemotherapy NLR (hazard ratio, 1.43; p < 0.001) was an independent prognostic factor for poor overall survival. However, the prechemotherapy mGPS was not significantly associated with survival. Continuously high NLR or a shift to high NLR postchemotherapy was associated with poor chemotherapy response as well as survival, while NLR reduction was associated with a good response (linear by linear association, p < 0.001) and a favorable prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: Prechemotherapy NLR can be used as a prognostic factor in mGC, while the postchemotherapy NLR value may predict the chemotherapeutic response and prognosis. In contrast, mGPS has limited prognostic utility in mGC.
Biomarkers ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neutrophils ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms*

BACKGROUND: Vasoplegic syndrome is an increasingly recognized disease in perioperative medicine and is characterized by severe hypotension, normal or elevated cardiac output, and decreased systemic vascular resistance. It occurs commonly after cardiopulmonary bypass but may also occur after other types of surgery.CASE: Vasoplegic syndrome developed in our patient during posterior lumbar interbody fusion because of administering nicardipine after phenylephrine. However, the blood pressure did not increase as expected despite simultaneous use of norepinephrine and vasopressin to increase the reduced systemic vascular resistance.CONCLUSIONS: We present a case of vasoplegic syndrome that developed during posterior lumbar interbody fusion and was treated successfully with methylene blue.
Blood Pressure ; Cardiac Output ; Cardiopulmonary Bypass ; Humans ; Hypotension ; Methylene Blue ; Nicardipine ; Norepinephrine ; Phenylephrine ; Vascular Resistance ; Vasoplegia ; Vasopressins

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the association between high risk of Internet gaming disorder (IGD) and online game genres used by adolescents. METHODS: The data derived from the baseline data of the Internet user Cohort for Unbiased Recognition of gaming disorder in Early Adolescence. A total 1,532 middle school students who use online games included. The participants reported the names of the online games they used during the past year. Game genres were categorized into role playing games (RPGs), shooting, multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), simulation, arcade, sports and action games. The risk of IGD was measured using the Internet Gaming Use-Elicited symptom Screen. The relationship between the experience of online game genre and high risk of IGD was analyzed using multiple logistic regression model. RESULTS: The game time of a student was longer if he or she had an experience of RPGs, shooting games, MOBA games, simulation games, and action games. The direct and independent association between high risk of IGD in adolescents and the genres of RPGs, simulation games and MOBA were found to be odds ratios 1.52 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03 to 2.26); 1.59 (95% CI, 1.03 to 2.45); and 1.51 (95% CI, 1.03 to 2.21), respectively after adjusted the potential confounding variables and the use of other online game genres. CONCLUSIONS The present cross-sectional study has found an association between online game genres and the risk of IGD in adolescents attending a school. A cohort study should verify the causal association in future.

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), a malignant tumor derived from the intrahepatic bile duct epithelium, has a poor prognosis and is refractory to conventional chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop new effective therapeutic strategies for this disease. We previously found that L1 cell adhesion molecule (L1CAM) plays an important role in tumor progression of ICC, and we generated a murine mAb, A10-A3 (IgG1), that binds to the Ig1 domain of L1CAM. In the present study, we further characterized A10-A3, constructed a chimeric A10-A3 antibody (cA10-A3) containing the constant regions of human IgG1, and evaluated the therapeutic potential in a human ICC xenograft nude mice model. The affinities (K D) of A10-A3 and cA10-A3 for soluble L1CAM were 1.8 nM and 1.9 nM, respectively, as determined by competition ELISA. A10-A3 inhibited L1CAM homophilic binding and was slowly internalized into the tumor cells, but it did not significantly inhibit proliferation of ICC cells in vitro. cA10-A3 mediated antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity in vitro and displayed anti-tumor activity in the ICC animal model. These results suggest that the humanized A10-A3 antibody may have potential as an anticancer agent for the treatment of ICC.
Animals ; Antibodies, Monoclonal/genetics/*immunology ; Antibody-Dependent Cell Cytotoxicity ; Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic/drug effects/immunology/pathology ; CHO Cells ; Cell Adhesion/drug effects ; Cell Proliferation/drug effects ; Cholangiocarcinoma/*drug therapy/immunology/pathology ; Cricetinae ; Disease Models, Animal ; Endocytosis/drug effects ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G/genetics/*immunology ; Liver Neoplasms/*drug therapy/immunology/pathology ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule L1/genetics/*immunology/metabolism ; Protein Binding ; Protein Structure, Tertiary ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins/immunology/metabolism/*therapeutic use

Precise allergy diagnosis and effective allergen specific immunotherapy are largely dependent on the quality of allergen extract. A new extract of Dermatophagoides farinae was commercially developed by Prolagen. The allergenic properties of the new extract were compared with those of other commercial products. The allergenic properties of the new extract were compared according to protein concentration, protein profiles, major allergen (Der f 1) contents, and allergenic potency to those for three commercially available extracts imported in Korea (Jubilant HollisterStier Allergy, Lofarma S.p.A., and Stallergenes Greer). Protein concentrations varied up to 2.62-fold (0.404 to 1.057 mg/mL), and Der f 1 contents varied up to 11.3-fold (3.597 to 40.688 μg/mL). Protein profiles of the extracts showed no major discrepancies, although there were some differences in SDS-PAGE band intensities, reflecting protein concentrations. Allergen potency ranged from 37038 to 60491 PAU/mL. The Prolagen product was highest in terms of protein concentration and allergen potency. The Lofarma product displayed Der f 1 content similar to that in Prolagen (19.4 μg/mg vs. 19.3 μg/mg). Endotoxin levels varied 8.9-fold (1020 to 8985 EU/mL). The newly developed house dust mite extract showed equal or better allergenic properties than available commercial extracts. This new product may be useful for better diagnostics and allergen-specific immunotherapeutics.