No abstract available.
Endometriosis* ; Female ; Pregnancy*

No abstract available.
Pre-Eclampsia* ; Proteinuria*

PURPOSE: This study was designed to investigate the feasibility of a hydroxyapatite/chitosan (HAp/chitosan) composite, seeded with autologous muscle-derived stem cells, as a partial bladder substitute in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Muscle-derived stem cells were isolated from the gastrocnemius muscle of 6 female Sprague-Dawley rats, using the preplate technique, and cultured on HAp/chitosan composite sheets. Sheets with 10mm diameters were implanted into the urinary bladder of rats following a hemicystectomy in an autologous fashion. Three rats were sacrificed 4 and 8 weeks postoperatively, and the morphological changes subsequently assessed by H&E and immunofluorescence staining using DAPI, myogenin and alpha-smooth muscle actin (SMA). RESULTS: All rats survived the scheduled duration. Adequate epithelialization was observed to be completed after postoperative week 4. Abundant muscle bundles, showing positive alpha-SMA staining, were observed after the 4th week. The bladder shape was well preserved after the 8th week. Ingrowing smooth muscles were observed on the periphery of the composite and muscular bundles, with positive myogenin immunostaining in the middle of the composite. CONCLUSIONS: A HAp/chitosan composite sheet, seeded with autologous muscle-derived stem cells, showed a degree of skeletal muscle differentiation 8 weeks after augmentation cystoplasty, in an autologous fashion. This new material seeded with muscle-derived stem cells may, in the future, prove to be a viable option as a partial bladder substitute.
Actins ; Animals ; Atrophy ; Female ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique ; Humans ; Muscle, Skeletal ; Muscle, Smooth ; Myogenin ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Regeneration ; Stem Cells* ; Urinary Bladder

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Thrombopoietin (TPO) is an important cytokine for megakaryocyte maturation and platelet production. Because the main site of its production is liver, the failing liver may have a role in thrombocytopenia in chronic liver disease. The aims of this study were to determine the serum TPO levels in cirrhotic patients with thrombocytopenia and clarify the relation between the serum TPO levels and liver function impairment. METHOD: Cirrhotic paitents with thrombocytopenia (LC, n=57, Child class A/B/C; 20/13/24), chronic hepatitis patients (CH, n=24), oncologic patients with thrombocytopenia induced by chemotherapy (HO, n=7), acute viral hepatitis patients (AVH, n=5) and healthy controls (HC, n=5) were enrolled. Serum TPO was measured by an ELISA method. RESULTS: Although the mean platelets counts of LC (69+/-32, x103/ul: mean+/-SD) were lower than those of HC (229+/-29, x103/ul), serum TPO levels in LC (108+/-63 pg/ml: mean+/-SD) were not significantly different from HC (122+/-24 pg/ml). In HO, serum TPO was significantly higher than LC (623+/-746 vs 108+/-63 pg/ml, p<0.05) inspite of comparable platelets counts. In LC, serum TPO level was not significantly different among Child class groups. It was not correlated with serum ALT, serum albumin levels, prothrombin time, serum bile acid, Child class, Child score and partial thromboplastin time, but weakly correlated with serum total bilirubin (p=0.038, r=0.288) and platelet counts (p=0.041, r=0.287). CONCLUSIONS: Although impaired hepatic production of TPO seems to be the main cause of low serum TPO levels in thrombocytopenic cirrhotic patients, there was no correlation between serum TPO level and the severity of liver dysfunction. The role of other factors such as megakaryocyte mass in bone marrow, portal hypertension and hypersplenism may be necessary to explain the putative mechanism between TPO and platelet numbers in liver cirrhosis with thrombocytopenia.
Bile ; Bilirubin ; Blood Platelets ; Bone Marrow ; Child ; Drug Therapy ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Hepatitis ; Hepatitis, Chronic ; Humans ; Hypersplenism ; Hypertension, Portal ; Liver ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Liver Diseases ; Megakaryocytes ; Partial Thromboplastin Time ; Platelet Count ; Prothrombin Time ; Serum Albumin ; Thrombocytopenia* ; Thrombopoietin*

PURPOSE: This study was to explore adaptation experience to family among women who immigrated for marriage. Specific aims were to identify problems immigrant women face as family members and how they interact with other family members. METHODS: Grounded theory methodology was utilized. Data were collected from iterative fieldwork with individual in-depth interviews from 6 immigrant women as key informants, and 2 of their husbands and 2 of their mothers-in-law as general informants. RESULTS: Through constant comparative analysis, a core category emerged as "tearing down the wall in communicating". Causal conditions were feeling frustrated in one's expectations, differences in language and life style, differences in recognition, and perceptions of discrimination and prejudice. Strategies were learning the Korean language, learning Korean culture, managing stress, mediating differences between family members, and introspecting. Intervening factors were support systems, burdens of child-rearing, and the condition of one's health. Consequences were rooting oneself in one's family and accepting one's life as it is. CONCLUSION: Results of the study indicate that there is a need for nurses to understand differences in communication with family members among immigrant women and to provide information and emotional support to improve the adaptation of these women to their Korean families.
*Adaptation, Psychological ; Adult ; Emigrants and Immigrants/*psychology ; Family/ethnology/psychology ; Female ; Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; Marriage ; Parenting ; Social Support ; Women

Uterine leiomyosarcoma is a rare malignant tumor, and distant metastasis to skull bone is very uncommon. We experienced a case of parietal skull bone metastasis from uterine leiomyosarcoma in a 52-year-old woman who had undergone simple total hysterectomy and bilateral salpingoophorectomy with the diagnosis of uterine myoma. We treated this patient with combination chemotherapy using cisplatin and adriamycin and radiotherapy after craniectomy. She is alive now without particular symptoms. We report this case with a brief review of some literatures.
Cisplatin ; Diagnosis ; Doxorubicin ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Leiomyoma ; Leiomyosarcoma* ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Rabeprazole ; Radiotherapy ; Skull*

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to develop the Korean version of the Social Adjustment Scale II-Revised Version (KSAS II-RV) in the schizophrenics. METHODS: KSAS II-RV was administered to 67 schizophrenic patients and 78 matched normal controls for examining the reliability and validity. RESULTS: Data analysis showed statistically significant reliabilities and validities of KSAS II-RV. The test-retest reliability, inter-rater reliability, and internal consistency for total scores of KSAS II-RV were 0.85, 0.89. and 0.87, respectively. Evidence for discriminant validity of KSAS II-RV comes from the results that the mean scores of schizophrenic patients were significantly high than those of normal controls. Construct validity was assessed by calculating the 10 inter-subareas correlations of the KSAS II-RV, and all except the sexual adjustment area were statistically significant. Significant correlations between the global area scores of KSAS II-RV and those of Global Assessment of Functioning Scale lend support for the concurrent validity of this instrument indirectly. CONCLUSION: KSAS II-RV was found to be a valid and reliable instrument which can be used to evaluate the degree of social adjustment in the schizophrenic patients.
Humans ; Reproducibility of Results* ; Schizophrenia ; Social Adjustment* ; Statistics as Topic

No abstract available.

Fexofenadine (Allegra(R) 180) is a second-generation antihistamine. It is widely used as anti-allergic drug, which suppresses various allergic reactions mediated by histamines. A few cases of H1-antihistamine-induced urticaria have been reported. Herein, we report a rare case of fexofenadine-induced urticaria which was confirmed by a prick test, oral provocation test, and flow cytometry assisted-basophil activation test.
Basophil Degranulation Test ; Flow Cytometry ; Hypersensitivity ; Terfenadine ; Urticaria

Periumbilical perforating pseudoxanthoma elasticum is a rare acquired disorder of connective tissue. It has been suggested that repeated traumas of pregnancy, obesity, or abdominal surgery promote localized degeneration of elastic fibers. Most cases reported in the English literature occurred in obese, middle aged, multiparous women. We describe a 29-year-old male who had two hyperpigmented plaques on the periumbilical area. He had angioid streaks, but was not obese and did not have hypertension. A skin biopsy revealed transepidermal elimination of degenerated and calcified elastic fibers, which was consistent with periumbilical perforating pseudoxanthoma elasticum. We report an interesting case of periumbilical perforating pseudoxanthoma elasticum that occurred in a young man with no known predisposing risk factors.
Adult ; Angioid Streaks ; Biopsy ; Connective Tissue ; Elastic Tissue ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Obesity ; Pregnancy ; Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum ; Risk Factors ; Skin