No abstract available.
Neurofibroma*

PURPOSE: Most men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) have bothersome lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). This study aimed to investigate the safety and efficacy of high-performance system (HPS) laser photoselective vaporization of the prostate (PVP) for the treatment of BPH in men with detrusor underactivity (DU). MATERIALS AND METHODS: From March 2009, 371 patients with BPH were divided into 2 groups according to the findings of preoperative urodynamic study: 239 (64.4%) patients with bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) and 132 (35.6%) patients with bladder outlet obstruction with detrusor underactivity (BOO+DU). 120 W HPS laser PVP was performed to resolve the BOO. The perioperative data and postoperative results at 1 month and 12 months, including the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), maximum urinary flow (Qmax), and postvoid residual urine (PVR) values, were evaluated. RESULTS: Compared with the preoperative parameters, significant improvements in IPSS, Qmax, and PVR were observed in each group at 1 and 12 months after the operation. In addition, IPSS, Qmax, and PVR were not significantly different between the BOO and BOO+DU groups at 1 and 12 months after the operation. CONCLUSIONS: Surgery to relieve BOO in the patients with BPH seems to be an appropriate treatment modality regardless of the existence of DU.
Humans ; Laser Therapy ; Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms ; Male ; Prostate ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; Urinary Bladder Neck Obstruction ; Urodynamics ; Volatilization

OBJECTIVE: We previously described that Diva is highly expressed in matured metaphase II (MII) oocytes compared to immature germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes in mouse.1 We report here that the expression of Diva transcript as well as protein is oocyte-specific. To elucidate its physiological role in oocyte, the binding partner(s) of Diva has been identified by using immunoprecipitation (IP) followed by Mass Spectrometry. METHODS: NIH/3T3 cells were transiently transfected for 24 h with either empty vector for control or FLAG-tagged mouse Diva construct, and IP was performed with anti-FLAG antibody. The immuno-isolated complexes were resolved by SDS-PAGE on a 12% gel followed by Coomassie Blue staining. For in-gel digestion, 15 bands of interest were excised manually and digested with trypsin. All mass spectra were acquired at a positive reflector mode by a 4700 Proteomics Analyzer (Applied Biosystems, Framingham, MA). Proteins were identified by searching the NCBI nonredundant database using MASCOT Peptide Mass Fingerprint software (Matrixscience, London). RESULTS: Diva-associated complexes were formed in FLAG-tagged mouse Diva-overexpressed NIH/3T3 cells via IP using anti-FLAG-conjugated beads. Among the excised 15 bands, actin and actin-binding proteins such as tropomyosin, tropomodulin 3, and alpha-actinin were identified. Binding between Diva and actin or tropomyosin was confirmed by IP followed by Western blot analysis. Both bindings were also detected endogenously in mouse ovaries, indicating that Diva works with actin and tropomyosin. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report that immuno-isolated Diva-associated complexes are related to actin filament of the cytoskeletal system. When we consider the association of Diva with actin and tropomyosin, oocyte-specific Diva may play a role in modulating the cytoskeletal system during oocyte maturation.
Actin Cytoskeleton ; Actinin ; Actins ; Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Dermatoglyphics ; Digestion ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Female ; Immunoprecipitation ; Mass Spectrometry* ; Metaphase ; Mice ; Microfilament Proteins ; Oocytes ; Ovary ; Proteomics ; Tropomodulin ; Tropomyosin ; Trypsin

The incidence of the cutaneous tuberculosis has shown a steady decline over the past decades. This parallels the decreasing incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis. We experienced 5 cases of cutaneous tuberculosis from January 1990 to February 1991. We present herein 4 cases of cutaneous tuberculosis. They were 3 cases of vulgaris and 1 case of tuberculosis verrucosa cutis. Mantoux tests were done except one case and were reactive in all cases. Culture for Mycobacterium tuberculosis were done but Mycobacterium tuberculosis were not cultivated in the all cases. Histopathological findings showed tuberculoid granulomas in the dermis except one case and no acid fast bacilli were demonstrated on AFB stains.
Coloring Agents ; Dermis ; Granuloma ; Incidence ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Cutaneous* ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

PURPOSE: The prognosis of non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL) in elderly patients seems to be poorer than that in patients aged less than 60 years. This may be due to the lower tolerance for combination chemotherapy in the elderly. Aggressive combination chemo-therapy, which is the treatment of choice in intermediate and high grade NHL of adulthood, may be associated with unpredictab1y severe and lethal toxicity and worsened quality of life in the elderly. We investigated the treatment responses, toxicities and prognostic factors of NHL in elderly patients treated with combination chemotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We treated 116 elderly (>60 yrs) patients with NHL between January 1986 and June 1996 with adriamycin-containing regimens, such as CHOP (cyclo- phosphamide, adriamycin, vincristine, prednisolone), BACOP (bleomycin, adriamycin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisolone), and mBACOP (methotrexate, bleomycin, adriamycin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisolone). Patients in this study ranged from 60 to 81 (median 67) years of age. Fifty-five percent of patients were in stage I or II and the rest (45%) were in stage III or IV. The histologic grade was predominantly (91%) of intermediate and high grade type. RESULTS: The treatment responses were complete (CR) in 55% and partial (PR) in 25%. The median durstion of CR was 32 (3-132) months. The CR rate was significantly higher in patients treated with RDI (relative dose intensity) > 75% than that in the patients treated with RDI < 75% (p 0.003), but there was no significant difference in CR rate between treatment regimens (p-0.38). At a median follow up of 48-months (range, 12 to 132 months), the estimated 5-year ovetall survival was 46%. Ann Arbor Stage (I, II vs III, IV), ECOG performance (0-1 vs 2-3), RDI (>75% vs <75%) and the treatment response were important prognostic factors in the univariate analysis, and the treament response (CR vs non-CR) was the only independent prognostic parameter in the multivariate analysis. The most frequent and severe toxicity associated with chemotherapy was infection with or without neutropenia. The rate of severe infection was significantly decreased in the patients supported with G/GM-CSF but not in the dose-reduction group (RDI<75% vs >75%). CONCLUSION: Our data suggests that achievement of the CR after combination chemotherpy is the most important prognostic factor in the elderly patients with NHL. Suboptimal chemotherapy (RDI<75%) reduced the complete remission rate without reducing the likelihood of developing severe toxicities. Optimal chemotherapy with supportive cares involving the use of hematopoietic growth factors may be needed to improve the treatment response and the survival in the elderly patients with aggressive NHL.
Aged ; Bleomycin ; Cyclophosphamide ; Dimethoate ; Doxorubicin ; Drug Therapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hodgkin Disease* ; Humans ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neutropenia ; Prognosis* ; Quality of Life ; Vincristine

No abstract available.
Pheochromocytoma* ; Pregnancy*

In the article, Methods of Hematoxylin and Erosin Image Information Acquisition and Optimization in Confocal Microscopy, there was a typographical error in the title.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies revealed that inhalational anesthetics (IA) attenuate NO production. But the hemodynamic changes produced by IA in septic syndrome patient are still sufficient to threaten patient, surgeon and anesthesiologist. So we examined which IA is proper to maintain vascular contractile force and evaluated the effects of NOS inhibitors on contractile force of septic rat aorta under IA. METHODS: Aortic ring preparation was obtained from LPS-treated (1.5 mg/kg, i.p. for 18h) rats. The development of sepsis was confirmed by iNOS activity and iNOS expression using RT-PCR. Contractile responses of aorta to phenylephrine admministation in the presence or absence of halothane, enflurane and isoflurane were evaluated. We also evaluated the effects of NOS inhibitors, one is NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) and the other is aminoguanidine. Statistical significances (p<0.05) were analyzed according to data characteristics by unpaired t-test and paired t-test. RESULTS: The contractile responses to phenylephrine admministration were attenuated in LPS-treated rings. Isoflurane, even at the dose of 2 MAC, didn't affect the contractile response while both halothane and enflurane decreased the contractile response even at the dose of 1 MAC. The potentiation of contractile responses by NOS inhibitors were not affected during administeration of IA. CONCLUSIONS: From these results, it is suggested that isoflurane is the safest inhalational anesthetic and NOS inhibitors, especially L-NAME, may be very useful in the therapy of septic shock patients during general anesthesia.
Anesthesia, General ; Anesthetics* ; Animals ; Aorta ; Enflurane ; Halothane ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Isoflurane ; NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester ; Nitric Oxide Synthase* ; Nitric Oxide* ; Phenylephrine ; Rats* ; Sepsis ; Shock, Septic

Hearing loss is the most frequent sensory disorder affecting newborns and children. About 1 newborn in every 500 suffer from congenital hearing loss, with approximately half of these having a genetic cause. In the last few decades, the study of genetic hearing loss and related mouse models has unveiled molecular, cellular, and physiological mechanisms of the disease. In addition, effective and safe viral vectors for gene delivery to the inner ear have been generated. A growing number of approaches, including gene replacement, gene silencing, and gene editing, have proved effective in mouse models. This article briefly introduces basic strategies of gene therapy, viral vectors used and surgical methods for gene delivery, and reviews the current works on mouse modes of genetic hearing loss.