In this study, the pattern of bilateral asymmetry in the eye orbit and nose of the Joseon Dynasty skeletal group was analyzed using geometric morphometrics. For this, 38 adult males and 38 adult females from the Joseon Dynasty skeletal group belonging to the 15(th) to early 20(th) centuries were examined. For geometric morphometric analysis, Procrustes superimposition was performed on 10 landmarks in both eye orbits and 7 nasal landmarks. The data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance with partial least square scores. In results, the lateral landmarks had more impact on the bilateral asymmetry in the eye orbit and nose than the center landmarks. The eye orbit and nose on the right side of the face seemed bigger than those of the left side, while the direction of asymmetry in the eye orbit and nose was different. The correlation between asymmetry patterns in the eye orbit and nose were statistically significant (p<0.01). The results of this study will be useful for examining causes of bilateral asymmetry in the eye orbits and noses of the Korean population.
Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Multivariate Analysis ; Nose* ; Orbit*

OBJECTIVE & BACKGROUND: There have been reports on the lateralizing value of temporal lobe interictal epileptiform discharge(IED), yet it is a matter of debate till now. We studied our patients focusing on the degree of lateralization by which accurate lateralization was possible and also on the significance of bisynchronous IED(BIED) in the lateralization of temporal lobe epilepsy. METHOD: Fifty two patients were included in the study who were diagnosed as having medial temporal lobe epilepsy through video-EEG monitoring and brain MRI. Twenty four hour sleep-deprived interictal scalp EEG was checked for all of them. After that, we counted the number of independent IED(IIED) and BIED originating from anterior temporal areas. Then we tried to find a reasonable degree of IED above which correct lateralization of epileptogenic area was possible by using brain MRI as a standard. We also tried to find a significance of BIED in the lateralization of temporal lobe epilepsy by comparing the result excluding patients with BIED to that includig patients with BIED. RESULT: Lateralization of IED was over 80% accurate if the cutoff point was set at 70% and patients with BIED were included, but nearly 100% accurate of the cutoff point was set at 80% and patients with BIED were excluded. CONCLUSION: Influence of BIED on the accuracy of lateralization by IED is significant, and if the lateralization of IED is over 80% in patients with no BIED, the chance of true lateralization is very high.
Brain ; Electroencephalography ; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe* ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Scalp ; Temporal Lobe*

No abstract available.
Amnesia, Transient Global* ; Humans ; Writing*

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Chronic simulated snoring was induced in rabbits to determine the impact of snoring on the development of atherosclerosis. METHODS: The pressure wave of induced snoring at the carotid bifurcation of rabbits was acquired by gently pressing the airway. This wave was then simulated using custom-made mechanical devices. Twelve rabbits were used in this study, seven of which were assigned to the experimental group and the remaining five formed the control group. All of the rabbits were raised on a 1% high-cholesterol diet. Either working or sham devices were positioned at the ventral center of the neck in each rabbit. At the end of a 2-month observation period, all of the rabbits were sacrificed by perfusion fixation, the carotid arteries harvested, and the carotid atherosclerosis histology reviewed. RESULTS: All of the rabbits survived to the end of the experimental period. Blood sampling revealed the presence of hypercholesterolemia in both groups, with no significant difference between them. The presence and degree of atherosclerosis did not differ significantly between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study show the feasibility of making a chronic simulated snoring rabbit model. However, the causative role of snoring in carotid atherosclerosis was not detected in this animal study.
Animals ; Atherosclerosis ; Carotid Arteries ; Carotid Artery Diseases* ; Diet ; Hypercholesterolemia ; Neck ; Perfusion ; Rabbits* ; Snoring*

The present research aims to examine the cranial index in a modern people of Thai ancestry. Ultimately, this study will help to create a databank containing a cranial index for the classifications of the people from Asia. In this study, 185 modern crania of people of supposed Thai ancestry were examined. They were collected from the Department of Anatomy at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. The maximum cranial length and breadth were measured using standard anthropometric instruments based on Martin's methods. The cranial index was calculated using the equation ([maximum cranial breadth/maximum cranial length]×100). The mean cranial indices for the male and female skulls examined were 81.81±4.23 and 82.99±4.37, respectively. The most common type of skull in the modern Thai people in this study was the brachycranic type with a frequency of 42.7%, followed by the mesocranic (27.03%) and hyperbrachycranic types (25.59%). The rarest type observed in this study was the dolichocranic type (4.32%). The present study provides valuable data pertaining to the cranial index in a modern Thai population and reveals that modern Thai males and females belong to the brachycranic group. The results of this study will be of forensic anthropological importance to populations in close proximity to the location where the skulls studied here were sourced.
Asia ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; Classification ; Female ; Forensic Anthropology ; Humans ; Male ; Skull ; Thailand

Human papilloma virus (HPV) is known to be a major cause of cervical cancer. In Korea, although the mortality of cervical cancer has decreased, HPV infection rates are increasing rapidly in young women. One of the reasons for a high rate of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection appears to be associated with a low frequency to visit gynecology clinics because of the uncomfortable sampling process for HPV testing. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a non-invasive method, such as urine testing to diagnose cervical cancer rather than use of the existing invasive method. This study aimed to test validity of HPV DNA detection in urine specimens that can be easily collected from women. Paired vaginal discharge and urine samples were collected prospectively from 203 women who visited the local hospital between January and August 2018 in Busan, Korea. By using the Virocheck® assay kit (Optipharm), we found that 17.2% (35/203) of vaginal discharge samples were HPV positive and 82.8% (168/203) were HPV negative. In urine samples, 15.8% (32/203) were HPV positive and 84.2% (171/203) were HPV negative. The co-incident rate for HPV DNA detection was 84.8% in both vaginal discharge and urine samples. These results suggest that the HPV DNA detection using urine samples might be an alternative way to diagnose HPV infection in a non-invasive way. This analytical approach can be utilized as a screening test to identify HIV-infected patients who need a follow-up process by using urine samples.
Busan ; DNA ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gynecology ; HIV ; Humans ; Korea ; Mass Screening ; Methods ; Mortality ; Papillomaviridae ; Prospective Studies ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; Vaginal Discharge

In this study, the skeletal abnormalities associated with scurvy in subadults crania from three archaeological skeletal collections (Nukdo, Imdang, Yeanri), South Korea was analyzed to examine the prevalence and distribution of childhood scurvy of ancient Korea. For this, 30 subadults crania from the Nukdo, Imdang, Yeanri site were examined. Using criteria described by Ortner and Ericksen (1997) for identifying scurvy in skeletal material we evaluated the cranial skeleton of the subadults for evidence of abnormal porosity. All skeletal materials were macroscopically evaluated for pathological changes associated with scurvy. In results, lesions indicative of probable scurvy were observed in 22 individuals of 30 individuals. Based on the results, childhood disease relating to nutrition and metabolism in ancient Korea might have been widespread, along with scurvy. The results of the present study will be useful for understanding the health condition of the ancient Korean populations. Future work will add significantly to the larger picture of diet and disease within populations of ancient Korea.
Diet ; Korea* ; Malnutrition ; Metabolism ; Paleopathology ; Porosity ; Prevalence ; Scurvy* ; Skeleton ; Vitamins

Dental pathology has the potential to provide insight into the interpretation of the health and life style of past population. In particular, dental pathologies are strongly correlated to subsistence pattern, diet habits and food-preparation techniques. For this reason, my studies have focused on analyses of dental diseases (e.g., caries, abscesses, ante-mortem tooth loss, enamel hypoplasia, dental attrition, and periodontal diseases). The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence of dental pathologies of the Imdang population dating to between A.D. 3rd and A.D. 7th centuries (Three Kingdoms Period). In this study, through a macroscopic observation of dental remains from 138 individuals of the Imdang site, the prevalence of caries, abscess and ante-mortem tooth loss was examined. The association between sex, age and the frequencies of pathology was analyzed by the Chi-square tests. The results showed that the frequency of dental pathologies was consistently low level in Imdang population. Caries prevalence in the Imdang population was higher in females (6.15%) that in males (4.89). Among dental pathologies, abscess prevalence (0.7%) was lowest in Imdang population. Meanwhile, AMTL prevalence was 10.81% in males and 3.8% in females. There is a statistically significant difference between the anterior teeth of males and females (p<0.05). This study revealed that the rate of dental caries, abscess and AMTL in the Three Kingdoms Period population was relatively low level. This study is the first report of the patterns of dental pathologies in the Three Kingdoms Period population. It is necessary to investigate more number of pathologic markers that needed for deeper understanding of the multi-faceted nature of dental pathologies of ancient populations.
Abscess ; Dental Caries ; Dental Enamel Hypoplasia ; Female ; Food Habits ; Gyeongsangbuk-do* ; Humans ; Korea* ; Life Style ; Male ; Pathology* ; Prevalence ; Stomatognathic Diseases ; Tooth ; Tooth Loss

BACKGROUND: The differentiation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) from nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is of primary importance for infection control and choice of antimicrobial therapy. The diagnosis of diseases caused by NTM is difficult because NTM are prevalent in the environment and have fastidious properties. In this study, we evaluated the real-time PCR-based MTB/NTM detection kit for its usefulness in discrimination of MTB and NTM species. METHODS: A total of 155 sputum specimens whose AFB staining smear and culture were positive were used for this study. Among them, 59 and 96 samples had been identified as MTB and NTM, respectively. DNA obtained from sputum specimens was subjected to analysis with MolecuTech Real MTB-ID(R) (M&D, Korea) real-time PCR-based MTB/NTM detection kit. Subsequently, the results of MolecuTech Real MTB-ID(R) were compared with AFB staining smear and culture results. RESULTS: The positive rate of MolecuTech Real MTB-ID(R) to detect MTB and NTM was 98.3% (58/59) and 97.9 (94/96), respectively, using sputum specimens. CONCLUSION: For detection of MTB/NTM, the sensitivity and specificity of MolecuTech Real MTB-ID(R) were comparable to those of conventional methods. Therefore, this study suggests the usefulness of real-time PCR-based MolecuTech Real MTB-ID(R) for rapid detection of MTB/NTM from direct specimens.
Discrimination (Psychology) ; DNA ; Infection Control ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; Nontuberculous Mycobacteria ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Sputum

PURPOSE: The Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex comprises M. tuberculosis, M. bovis, M. bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) and M. africanum, and causes tuberculosis in humans and animals. Identification of Mycobacterium spp. and M. tuberculosis complex to the species level is important for practical use in microbiological laboratories, in addition to optimal treatment and public health. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A novel multiplex PCR assay targeting a conserved rpoB sequence in Mycobacteria spp., as well as regions of difference (RD) 1 and RD8, was developed and evaluated using 37 reference strains and 178 clinical isolates. RESULTS: All mycobacterial strains produced a 518-bp product (rpoB), while other bacteria produced no product. Virulent M. tuberculosis complex strains, M. tuberculosis, M. bovis and M. africanum, produced a 254-bp product (RD1), while M. bovis BCG, M. microti and nontuberculous mycobacteria produced no RD1 region product. Additionally, M. tuberculosis and M. africanum produced a 150-bp product (RD8), while M. bovis and M. bovis BCG produced a 360-bp product (deleted form of RD8). M. microti and nontuberculous mycobacteria produced no RD8 region product. This assay identified all Mycobacterium spp. and all M. tuberculosis complex strains to the species level. CONCLUSION: The multiplex PCR assay of the present study could be implemented as a routine test in microbiology laboratories, and may contribute to more effective treatment and surveillance of tuberculosis stemming from the M. tuberculosis complex.
Animals ; Cattle ; Classification/methods ; DNA Primers ; Genes, Bacterial ; Humans ; Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction/*methods ; Mycobacterium/classification/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis/classification/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Species Specificity