This study was carried out to obtain the basic data for artificial culture of veiled lady mushroom (Dictyophora spp). The optimal conditions for the mycelial growth were 25degrees C and pH 5.0 for all isolates except the optimal temperature of 30degrees C for D. echinovolvata ASI 32002 and Phallus rugulosus . The optimal medium for Dictyophora spp. was PBA (potato bamboo sawdust extract agar) medium. The strain ASI 32002, D. echinovolvata , grew faster than. D. indusiata ASI 32003 and Phallus rugulosus ASI 25007 on the medium. Carbon sources such as glucose, maltose and inuline were favorable for stimulating a mycelial growth of the two strains of ASI 32002 and ASI 32003. Asparagine and glutamine appeared to be favorable to the strain ASI 32002 and ASI 32003, where as alanine, one of nitrogen source also favorable to the strain ASI 32002. The optimum C/N ratio of the two isolates of ASI 32002 and ASI 32003 was about 25 : 1 when 2% glucose as carbon source was mixed with the basal medium. While, in the case of 4% as carbon source, the optimum C/N ratio was about 30 : 1.
Agaricales* ; Alanine ; Asparagine ; Carbon ; Cultural Characteristics* ; Glucose ; Glutamine ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Inulin ; Maltose ; Nitrogen

The effects of hind-limb immobilization by skeletal fixation of bilateral ankle and knee joints. for sither one or five weeks on glycogen concentrations, glycogen resynthetic activities and insulin responses to glucose uptake of hind-limb muscles were studied on male Splague-Dawley rats. There were significant drops in muscle wet weight to body weight ratio of immobilized soleus and plataris. In the group immobilized for one week, the ratios of sleous and plantaris were decreased by 11% and 38% respectively; and in the group immobilized for five weeks, the ratios were decreased by 42% in both muscles equally. The glycogen concentration and glycogen resynthetic activities of soleus and plantaris muscles in immobilized rats were decreased significantly in the one week group. However, in the five week group, these values were increased significantly compared to the values of those muscles of the one week group. The increased values of the five week group did not exceed those of the control group. The glucose uptake rate of the soleus muscle of the hind-limbs immobilized for one week and for five weeks were studied in vitro. The basal glucose uptake rate of the muscle of the control group was 8.4 ± 0.77Mol/gm/20min. The values of basal rate and insulin responses to the glucose uptake rates in the doses of physiological and supramaximal on the soleus muscles immobilized for one week was significantly decreased, but after immobilization for five weeks, these values were not significantly different statistically those from of the control group statistically.
Animals ; Ankle ; Body Weight ; Extremities ; Fracture Fixation ; Glucose ; Glycogen ; Humans ; Immobilization ; In Vitro Techniques ; Insulin ; Knee Joint ; Male ; Metabolism ; Muscle, Skeletal ; Muscles ; Rats

Two case of primary intracranial teratomas are presented. One case is right cerebellopontine angle malignant teratoma of 3years old female and the other case is left frontal benign teratoma of 40 years old male. We reviewed the literatures and discussed these cases in the point of the rare sites and pathological characteristic of teratoma.
Adult ; Cerebellopontine Angle ; Female ; Frontal Lobe ; Humans ; Male ; Pathology ; Teratoma*

Calyptella capula is reported for the first time in Korea. It was found in spring in Chungcheongbuk-do, central Korea, growing in a dead stalk of Sesamum indicum. A description and molecular phylogenetic analyses are reported.
Korea ; Sesamum

PURPOSE: The surgical treatment of burn patient is associated with substantial blood loss. Therefore, multiple hemostatic techniques have been proposed for this problem. Unfortunately, a clear conclusion as to the best hemostatic agent cannot be made. Then, we present our experience of using Fibrin sealant (TISSEEL(TM)) in extremity operation. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of 10 patients treated in our burn center who conducted the extremity operation using Fibrin sealant from January 2010 to December 2010. RESULTS: The mean tourniquet time is within 60 minutes and no need of transfusion during the operation in all patients. The average take rate for skin graft is over the 98%. No one has nerve injury and other problems. CONCLUSION: Fibrin sealant is a human derived factors that are designed to reproduce the final step of the physiologic coagulation cascade of a stable fibrin clot. In addition, Fibrin sealant has the advantage of being biocompatible and biodegradable, without inducing inflammation, foreign body reaction, and tissue necrosis. Fibrin sealant is shown to be effective methods to achieve hemostasis for the extremity burn surgery.
Burn Units ; Burns ; Extremities ; Fibrin ; Fibrin Tissue Adhesive ; Foreign-Body Reaction ; Hemostasis ; Hemostatic Techniques ; Humans ; Imidazoles ; Inflammation ; Medical Records ; Necrosis ; Nitro Compounds ; Skin ; Tourniquets ; Transplants

OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the efficacy of the balance control trainer (BCT), developed for training patients with balance problems, as a balance assessment tool in subacute stroke patients. METHODS: A prospective cross-sectional study was carried out on 38 subacute stroke patients in their first episode of a stroke, and having the ability to maintain a standing position without aid for at least 5 minutes. Patients were assessed using the BCT (BalPro) 43.7±35.7 days after stroke. The balance was assessed using the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), the Timed Up and Go Test (TUG), a 10-meter walking test (10mWT), a 6-minute walking test (6MWT), and the Korean version of the Modified Barthel Index. The correlation and validity between the BCT and various balance assessments were analyzed. RESULTS: Statistically significant linear correlations were observed between the BCT score and the BBS (r=0.698, p<0.001). A moderate to excellent correlation was seen between the BCT score and 11 of the 14 BBS items. The BCT scores and other secondary outcome parameters (6MWT r=0.392, p=0.048; TUG r=–0.471, p=0.006; 10mWT r=–0.437, p=0.012) had a moderate correlation. CONCLUSION: Balance control training using the BCT (BalPro) showed significant statistical correlation with the BBS, and could therefore be a useful additional balance assessment tool in subacute stroke patients.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Humans ; Postural Balance ; Posture ; Prospective Studies ; Stroke* ; Walking

OBJECTIVE: There are some evidences that some epithelial ovarian cancer cells respond to hormonal therapy. And in vitro studies have revealed that treatment of various human cancer cell lines with selective cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) inhibitors induces apoptotic cell death. The goal of this article is to evaluate the effects of tamoxifen and celecoxib, a selective COX-2 inhibitor, on the ovarian cancer cells and the benefits of combining these agents in the management of ovarian cancer. METHODS: SK-OV-3 epithelial ovarian cancer cells were exposed to increasing concentration of tamoxifen (10(-8) M, 10(-7) M, 10(-6) M, 10(-5) M and 10(-4) M) and celecoxib (10(-8) M, 10(-7) M, 10(-6) M, 10(-5) M and 10(-4) M) as well as a combination of both drugs. The activity of apoptosis was evaluated by the morphologic examination and the MTT assay. The pattern of apoptosis was also assessed by the caspase-3 activity and the fraction of cleaved PARP (poly ADP-ribose polymerase) protein. RESULTS: Single application of both drugs could significantly increase the rate of apoptosis after 24 h of continuous exposure. Concomitant treatment of SK-OV-3 cells with tamoxifen and celecoxib induced significant increase in apoptosis, comparing with single drug exposure. The pattern of apoptosis induced by these agents on SK-OV-3 cells seemed to be caspase-3 dependent. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that combining tamoxifen with selective COX-2 inhibitor seems to have at least an additive tumoricidal effect. A more definitive role for this combination therapy in clinical settings in ovarian cancer will need to be defined through the conduct of clinical trials.
Adenosine Diphosphate Ribose ; Apoptosis ; Caspase 3 ; Cell Death ; Cell Line* ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; Humans ; Ovarian Neoplasms* ; Tamoxifen* ; Celecoxib

PURPOSE: Flexible bronchoscopy is effectively used in the diagnosis and treatment of respiratory diseases in children. This report attempted to analyze the indication, effectiveness, and complications of bronchoscopy in children who visited a single tertiary care, university-based hospital in Korea. METHODS: A retrospective review was conducted of the medical records of a total of 100 cases of flexible bronchoscopy that were performed at the Department of Pediatrics of the Catholic University of Korea Seoul St. Mary's Hospital from April 8, 2007 to June 16, 2010. RESULTS: A total of 85 patients (48 males and 37 females) were involved in the study. The range in age was 5 days old to 18 years old. Eighty cases were for diagnosis, 7 cases for treatment, and 13 cases for both. The purpose of flexible bronchoscopy was accomplished in 67 of 100 cases. In 60 cases where bronchoalveolar lavage was provided, microbial organisms were identified in 38 cases. Minor complications were observed in 12 cases. CONCLUSION: Pediatric flexible bronchoscopy is shown to be an effective and safe diagnostic and interventional tool, even in young or immunocompromised hosts. This study also found that children under one year of age were more frequently treated with bronchoscopy and that the detection rate in microbiological diagnosis was improved due to the introduction of the virus polymerase chain reaction method.
Bronchoalveolar Lavage ; Bronchoscopy ; Child ; Humans ; Immunocompromised Host ; Korea ; Male ; Medical Records ; Pediatrics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Retrospective Studies ; Tertiary Healthcare ; Viruses

This study was performed to develop the basic technique for standardization that will be used in the medical environment. The following paper describes the design and implementation of a software framework that could be used to construct an HL7 message server. HL7 message server is combined with existing HIS and generates the corresponding HL7 messages automatically whenever the predefined events occur. We developed HL7 message server modules which can automatically link patient data to the appropriate message component in order to populate ADT and ORU messages. The key modules are UIT monitor, message generator and TCP/IP connection module. UIT is designed to integrate all data items needed to create a message in this HIS database table. The UIT monitor module checks regularly the occurrences of predefined events in HIS. The message generator module links the UIT data to the appropriate message generating functions to create a message. And the TCP/IP connection module works as a socket module for the stable network connection. The prototype of HL7 message server showed the performance of creating 100 messages in a second. This evaluation result confirmed that our HL7 message server presents a promising model for the incorporation of HL7 standard into existing Korean HIS.
Humans ; Information Dissemination*

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety of nasogastric tube (NGT) removal and change to oral feeding with a food thickener for acute stroke patients in whom a videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSS) confirmed thin liquid aspiration. METHODS: We retrospectively examined data of 199 patients with first stroke who were diagnosed with dysphagia from 2011 to 2015. Swallowing function was evaluated using VFSS. Patients included in this study were monitored for 4 weeks to identify the occurrence of aspiration pneumonia. The penetration-aspiration scale (PAS) was used to assess VFSS findings. The patients were divided into thin-liquid aspiration group (group 1, n=104) and no thin-liquid aspiration group (group 2, n=95). RESULTS: The feeding method was changed from NGT feeding to oral feeding with food thickener (group 1) and without food thickener (group 2). The PAS scores of thin and thick liquids were 6.46±0.65 and 1.92±0.73, respectively, in group 1 and 2.65±0.74 and 1.53±0.58, respectively, in group 2. Aspiration pneumonia developed in 1.9% of group 1 and 3.2% of group 2 (p=0.578), with no significant difference between the groups. CONCLUSION: We concluded that removing the NGT and changing to oral feeding with a food thickener is a safe food modification for acute stroke patients with thin liquid aspiration. Therefore, we recommend that VFSS should be conducted promptly in acute stroke patients to avoid unnecessary prolonged NGT feeding.
Deglutition ; Deglutition Disorders ; Feeding Methods ; Humans ; Pneumonia, Aspiration ; Retrospective Studies ; Stroke*