This study was conducted to observe immunological abnormalities, vscular changes and abnormal maturation, pathway of keratinocyte in the psoriasis, by comparing drposits of IgG, fibrinogen(FG) and fibronectin(FN) in the invnlved and uninvolved skin of 19 psoriaics before treatment, the involved skin of 12 among the above patients after treatment, and the skin of 8 normal controls. The study was carried out by using direct immunofluorescence technique with anti-IpG, anti-FG, anti-FN antibodies. The results are summarized as follows: 1. In the uninvolved skin of 19 psoriatics before treatment, no depasition of IgG was observed while deposition of FG was present at the dermo-epidermal junction in 5.3% of the patients and dermis(10.5 %). Deposition of FN was found at the dermo-epidermal junction(52%), papillary dermis(57.9%) and dermal blood vessels(52.6%). 2. In the involved skin of 19 psoriatics before treatment, deposition of IgG was observed in the horny layer in 84.2% of the patients, upper epidermis(15.8%) and depositicin of FG was present in the horny layer(52.6%), upper epidermi(63.1%), dermo-epidermal junction(15.8%), upper dermis(15.8%) and dermal blood vessels(5.3%). Leposition of FN was found in the horny ayer(26.3%), upper epidermis (36.8%), dermo-epidermal junction(78.9%), upper dermis(89.5%) and ermal blood vessels(68.4%). 3. In the involved skin of 12 psoriatics after treatment, IgG was wealily deposited in the horny layer in 16.7% of the patients and deposition of FG was observed in the horny layer(8.3%), upper epidermis (16.7%), dermo-epidermal junction(8.3%) and dermis(8.3%). Deposition of FN was found in the upper epiderrnis(8.3%), dermo-epiderrnal junction(58.3%), dermis(66.%) and dermal blood vessels (33.3%) 4. In the normal skin of 8 control subjects, no deposition of IgG and, FG was observed while deposition of FN was found at the inummo-epidermal junction in 37.5% of the persons, upper dermis(25%) and dermal blood vessels(12.5%)
Antibodies ; Blood Vessels ; Epidermis ; Fibrinogen ; Fibronectins* ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Direct ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Immunoglobulins ; Keratinocytes ; Psoriasis ; Skin

A total of 135 strains of M canis, composed of 1R4 from the patients and 1 from an infected pet cat, were crossed with the 2 tester strains of eVannizzia otae VUT 77054 "/" and VUT 77055 "-" supplied by Dr. A. Hasegawa. These 134 human strains were originated from 77 casea of tinea capitis, 20 of tinea faciei and 37 of tinea corporis from Taegu city, Kyungpook and neighboring provinces during the period from December 1975 to August 1982. Out of 134 hurnan isolates, 112 (83. 6%) were of "-" mating type of N. otae and 22 (16.4%) were nonreactive. None were compatible with the + mating type. One strain from a pet cat proved also to be of type. The majority of the tested strains were revealed to be sexually degenerated.
Animals ; Cats ; Daegu ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Humans ; Korea* ; Microsporum* ; Tinea ; Tinea Capitis

The authors studied the plasma cholesterol levels in 39 rats (Sprague-Dawley) after 4 weeks administration of etretinate and/or fish oil. The study groups were as follows.'13 rats recieved etretinate only;13, fish oil only;13, both ertetinate and fish oil. Cholesterol levels were determined by standard enzymatic methodology. The results were as follows. Tot,al-cholesterol levels in rats following administration of ertetinate only were increased(p<0.05), but the levels in rats receiving fish oil only and both etretinate and fish oil were markedly decreased(p<0.01). HDL-cholesterol levels in rats following administration of fish oil and both etretinate and fish oil were decreased(p<0.01). The ratio of HDL-cholesterol to total-cholesterol in rats receiving fish oil only and both etretinate and fish oil were increased(p<0.05) because of markedly decreased total-cholesterol levels.
Acitretin* ; Animals ; Cholesterol* ; Etretinate* ; Plasma* ; Rats*

BACKGROUND: External ventricular drainage (EVD) is an important procedure for draining excessive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and monitoring intracranial pressure. Generally, EVD is performed in the operating room (OR) under aseptic conditions. However, in emergency circumstances, the operation may be performed in the intensive care unit (ICU) to save neuro-critical time and to avoid the unnecessary transfer of patients. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the risk of EVD-induced CNS infections and their outcomes according to the operating place (ICU versus OR). In addition, we compared mortalities as well as hospital and ICU days between the CNS infection and non-CNS infection groups. METHODS: We reviewed medical records, laboratory data and radiographic images of patients who had received EVD operations between January, 2013 and March, 2015. RESULTS: A total of 75 patients (45 men and 30 women, mean age: 58.7 +/- 15.6 years) were enrolled in this study. An average of 1.4 catheters were used for each patient and the mean period of the indwelling catheter was 7.5 +/- 5.0 days. Twenty-six patients were included in the ICU group, and EVD-induced CNS infection had occurred in 3 (11.5%) patients. For the OR group, forty-nine patients were included and EVD-induced CNS infection had occurred in 7 (14.3%) patients. The EVD-induced CNS infection of the ICU group did not increase above that of the OR group. The ICU days and mortality rate were higher in the CNS infection group compared to the non-CNS infection group. The period of the indwelling EVD catheter and the number of inserted EVD catheters were both higher in the CNS infection group. CONCLUSIONS: If the aseptic protocols and barrier precautions are strictly kept, EVD in the ICU does not have a higher risk of CNS infections compared to the OR. In addition, EVD in the ICU can decrease the hospital and ICU days by saving neuro-critical time and avoiding the unnecessary transfer of patients. Therefore, when neurosurgeons decide upon the operating place for EVD, they should consider the benefits of ICU operation and be cautious of EVD-induced CNS infection.
Catheter-Related Infections ; Catheters ; Catheters, Indwelling ; Cerebrospinal Fluid ; Drainage* ; Emergencies ; Female ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units* ; Critical Care* ; Intracranial Pressure ; Male ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Operating Rooms* ; Retrospective Studies ; Ventriculostomy

No abstract available.
Leiomyosarcoma*

BACKGROUND: The present study is undertaken to acquire normative data of health-related physical fitness(HRPF) of Republic of Korea Air Force(ROKAF) aircrews and to provide norm-referenced standard of HRPF. METHODS: From 15 May 1998 through 14 December 1999, 1284 KAF pilots are checked muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and body fat percentage. RESULTS: The grip strength was relatively maintained, but flexibility, back strength, and muscular endurance were declined according to promotion and aging. And the incidence of obesity determined by bioelectrical impedence analysis was higher than that assessed on the basis of height and weight. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that many pilots who were normal in BMI have abdominal or visceral obesity. Further studies must be made on the health promotion program for the pilots, on the changes in physical fitness, and on the criterion-referenced standard of HRPF of the pilots.
Adipose Tissue ; Aging ; Hand Strength ; Health Promotion ; Incidence ; Obesity ; Obesity, Abdominal ; Physical Fitness* ; Pliability ; Republic of Korea

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate whether embryonic stem (ES) cells can be established from isolated blastomeres of mouse embryos. METHODS: Blastomeres were separated from mouse (C57Bl/6J) 2- or 4-cell embryos. Isolated blastomeres or whole 4-cell embryos were co-cultured with mitosis-arrested STO feeder cells in DMEM supplemented with recombinant murine leukemia inhibitory factor and ES-qualified fetal bovine serum. After the tentative ES cell lines were maintained from isolated blastomeres or whole embryos, some of them were frozen and the others were sub-cultured continually. Characteristics of tentative ES cell lines as were evaluated for specific gene expressions with immunocytochemistry and RT-PCR. RESULTS: One ES cell line (3.0%) was established from isolated blastomere of 2-cell embryo and one cell line (4.0%) from isolated two blastomeres of 4-cell embryo. And five cell lines (16.7%) were established from whole 4-cell embryos. Both cell lines from isolated blastomere and whole embryo expressed mouse ES cells specific markers such as SSEA-1, Oct-4 and alkaline phosphatase. Marker genes of three germ layers were expressed from embryoid bodies of both cell lines. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that mouse ES cells could be established from isolated blastomeres, although the efficiency is lower than whole embryos. This animal model could be applied to establishment of autologous human ES cells from biopsied blastomeres of preimplantation embryos in human IVF-ET program.
Alkaline Phosphatase ; Animals ; Antigens, CD15 ; Blastocyst* ; Blastomeres* ; Cell Line ; Embryoid Bodies ; Embryonic Stem Cells* ; Embryonic Structures ; Feeder Cells ; Gene Expression ; Germ Layers ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Leukemia Inhibitory Factor ; Mice* ; Models, Animal

The traditional light microscopy has limitations for precise growth assays of malaria parasites in culture or for assessment of new compounds for antimalarial activity; the speed and high reproducibility of flow cytometry can overcome these limitations. A flow cytometric method using PicoGreen, a DNA-binding fluorochrome, was developed with optimal precision suitable for performing growth assays of low-parasitemia field isolates. In addition, intra- and inter-person reproducibility of the flow cytometric and the microscopic method were compared in order to quantitatively demonstrate the improved precision. RNase treatment contributed to the precision of the flow cytometric measurements by enhancing the signal-to-noise ratios. Coefficients of variation of the method were smaller than 10% for 0.1% or higher parasitemia samples. The intra- and inter-person coefficients of variation of the flow cytometric method were three to six times smaller than those of the microscopic method. The flow cytometric method developed in this study yielded substantially more precise results than the microscopic method, allowing determination of parasitemia levels of 0.1% or higher, with coefficients of variation smaller than 10%. Thus, the PicoGreen method could be a reliable high sensitivity assay for analysis of low parasitemia samples and might be applied to a high throughput system testing antimalarial drug activity.
*Flow Cytometry ; Fluorescent Dyes/chemistry ; Humans ; *Microscopy ; Organic Chemicals/chemistry ; Parasitemia/*diagnosis ; Plasmodium falciparum/*isolation & purification ; Reproducibility of Results ; Ribonucleases/metabolism ; Signal-To-Noise Ratio

No abstract available.

We report a patient with pachydermoperiostosis accompanied by hypertrophic gastritis. A 26-year-old man showed deep folds and furrows of the face and scalp, and terminal spade-like expansion of fingers and toes. Physical examination revealed no abnormalities except a grotesque appearance. Results of routine laboratory tests were unremarkable. Mild periosteal reactoins of both femurs and humeri were noted on long bone series, and hypertrophic gastritis on fibroscopic examination drew our attention. The relationship between pachydermoperiostosis and hypertrophic gastritis is uncertain. However it is probable that hypertrophic gastritis may be the endodermal counterpart of the ectodermal manifestations of pachydermoperiostosis.
Adult ; Ectoderm ; Endoderm ; Femur ; Fingers ; Gastritis, Hypertrophic* ; Humans ; Osteoarthropathy, Primary Hypertrophic* ; Physical Examination ; Scalp ; Toes