OBJECTIVES: To develop a bioactive membrane for guided bone regeneration (GBR), the biocompatibility and bone regenerating capacity of the cellulose membrane obtained from the Ascidians squirt skin were evaluated. MATARIALS AND METHODS: After processing the pure cellulose membrane from the squirt skin, the morphological study, amino acid analysis and the immunoreactivity of the cellulose membrane were tested. Total eighteen male Spraque-Dawley rats (12 weeks, weighing 250 to 300g) were divided into two control (n=8) and another two experimental groups (n=10). In the first experimental group (n=5), the cellulose membrane was applicated to the 8.0 mm sized calvarial bone defect and the same sized defect was left without cellulose membrane in the first control group (n=4). In the another experimental group (n=5), the cellulose membrane was applicated to the same sized calvarial bone defect after femoral bone graft and the same sized defect with bone graft was left without cellulose membrane in the another control group (n=4). Each group was sacrificed after 6 weeks, the histological study with HandE and Masson trichrome stain was done, and immunohistochemical stainings of angiogenin and VEGF were also carried out. RESULTS: The squirt skin cellulose showed the bio-inductive effect on the bone and mesenchymal tissues in the periosteum of rat calvarial bone. This phenomenon was found only in the inner surface of the cellulose membrane after 6 weeks contrast to the outer surface. Bone defect covered with the bioactive cellulose membrane showed significantly greater bone formation compared with control groups. Mesenchymal cells beneath the inner surface of the bioactive cellulose membrane were positive to the angiogenin and VEGF antibodies. CONCLUSION: We suppose that there still remains extremely little amount of peptide fragment derived from the basement membrane matrix proteins of squirt skin, which is a kind of anchoring protein composed of glycocalyx. This composition could prevent the adverse immunological hypersensitivity and also induce bioactive properties of cellulose membrane. These properties induced the effective angiogenesis with rapid osteogenesis beneath the inner surface of cellulose membrane, and so the possibilities of clinical application in dental field as a GBR material will be able to be suggested.
Animals ; Antibodies ; Basement Membrane ; Bone Regeneration* ; Cellulose* ; Glycocalyx ; Hand ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Male ; Membranes* ; Osteoblasts ; Osteogenesis ; Periosteum ; Rats ; Skin* ; Transplants ; Urochordata ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A

BACKGROUNDS: Recent studies of population trends demonstrate massive increases in both absolute numbers and percentage of our aging population. A large proportion of the population older than 65 years has age-related sensory losses that impair food intakes, overall health, self-sufficiency, and quality of life. Thus, this study was performed investigate the subjective and objective changes of taste perception in Korean elderly. METHODS: The subjects were 22 male and 109 female normal elderly persons aged 55 to 81(mean: 70+4.5) years without diabetes mellitus. They were recruited from senior citizen centers in Northern area of Seoul. The agents used for taste measurements are; sodium chloride for salt taste ; sucrose, for sweet; Glacial acetic acid, for sour; and Quinine hemisulfate for buffer. Taste threshold was measured by determining detection and recognition thresholds for all 4 taste qualities by a forced-choice, three-stimulus drop technique. Taste threshold was obtained by dropping solutions on the right sides of the tip of the tongue for salt taste, anterior lateral side for sweet, posterior lateral side, for sour taste, and back of the tongue for buffer taste. RESULTS: Among subjects, 52(40%) had hypertension, 12(9%) heart disease, and 18(14%) hypercholesterolemia. Male subjects had lower detection threshold for salt taste compared to that of females. The subjects with hypercholestrolemia had higher detection threshold for buffer taste(p<0.05). Male subjects had higher recognition threshold for buffer taste compared to that of females(p<0.05). The subjects with hypertension, heart problems, history of smoking, drinking, or medication had no significant changes in detection and recognition taste threshold of 4 different taste. Twenty one(16%) subjects experienced symptoms of dysgeusia, thirty(23%) hypogeusia. None of them reported symptoms of phantogeusia, cacogeusia, or heterogeusia. The subjects with dysgeusia had higher detection threshold for sweet taste(p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Male subjects had lower detection threshold for salt taste and higher recognition threshold for buffer taste compared to those of females in Korean elderly(p<0.05). The subjects with hypercholesterolemia had higher detection threshold for buffer taste(p<0.05), and the subjects with dysgeusia had higher detection threshold for sweet taste(p<0.05). Thus, sex-related salty and buffer taste perception were observed in the elderly and dysgeusia had an effect on sweet taste. These results suggest that these taste perception changes seem to have an influence on nutritional and health status of the elderly and we should consider these taste perception changes to prepare the dietary guidelines for healthy life of the elderly.
Acetic Acid ; Aged* ; Ageusia ; Aging ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Drinking ; Dysgeusia ; Female ; Heart ; Heart Diseases ; Humans ; Hypercholesterolemia ; Hypertension ; Male ; Nutrition Policy ; Quality of Life ; Quinine ; Seoul ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Sodium Chloride ; Sucrose ; Taste Perception* ; Taste Threshold ; Tongue

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship among family stress, family meaning and family adaptation of families with high risk neonates. METHOD: The date was collected on the basis of self- report questionnaires (August 2004 to March 2005); Tow-hundred twelve parents, who had high risk neonates in C hospital's neonatal intensive care unit, participated on request. RESULTS: Family sense of coherence, family meaning, social support, family stress, marital communication and patient condition had a significant, direct effect on family adaptation. Family cohesion, religion, confidence in the health professional, and length of stay had a significant, direct effect on family meaning. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest the consequences associated with high risk neonates may be alleviated by a family support intervention designed to improve parental communication skills as well as to maintain family cohesiveness. Medical care could also encourage more emotional support of parents towards their neonate.
*Adaptation, Psychological ; Adult ; Family/*psychology ; Family Relations ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Intensive Care, Neonatal/*psychology ; Male ; Parents/*psychology ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Questionnaires ; Social Support ; *Stress, Psychological

Blood liquid biopsy has emerged as a way of overcoming the clinical limitations of repeat biopsy by testing for the presence of acquired resistance mutations to therapeutic agents. Despite its merits of repeatability and non-invasiveness, this method is currently only used as a supplemental test due to a relatively low sensitivity rate of 50%–60%, and cannot replace tissue biopsy. The circulating tumor DNAs used in blood liquid biopsies are passive products of fragmented DNA with a short half-life released following tumor cell death; the low sensitivity seen with liquid blood biopsy results from this instability, which makes increasing the sensitivity of this test fundamentally difficult. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are ideal carriers of cancer biomarkers, as cancer cells secret an abundance of EVs, and the contents of tumor cell-originated EVs reflect the molecular and genetic composition of parental cells. In addition, EV-derived DNAs (EV DNAs) consist of large-sized genomic DNAs and tumor-specific oncogenic mutant DNAs. For these reasons, liquid biopsy using EV DNA has the potential to overcome issues arising from tissue shortages associated with small biopsies, which are often seen in lung cancer patients, and the biopsy product can be used in other diagnostic methods, such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation testing and next-generation sequencing (NGS). A higher sensitivity can be achieved when EV DNAs obtained from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) are used rather than those from blood. BALF, when obtained close to the tumor site, is a promising liquid biopsy tool, as it enables the gathering of both cellular and non-cellular fractions of the tumor microenvironment, and provides increased diagnostic sensitivity when compared to blood.

No abstract available.
Adenocarcinoma ; Cervix Uteri* ; Cystadenocarcinoma, Mucinous ; Female

No abstract available.
Leiomyosarcoma ; Mouth

We report on a 64-year-old man with leptomeningeal metastasis (LM) from an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated adenocarcinoma of the lung. He was treated with paclitaxel, cisplatin. After completion of chemotherapy, he complained of headache, nausea, and vomiting. EGFR-mutated tumor cells were identified from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Second-line therapy with gefitinib, methotrexate was started. After receiving gefitinib for 4 weeks, he had no more headaches or vomiting. Eleven months after initiation of gefitinib, he developed headache and nausea. Chest computed tomography showed aggravation of bone metastasis. Third-line therapy was started with gemcitabine and carboplatin. Two weeks later, he experienced disorientation. After a fourth relapse within the central nervous system, the therapy was switched to erlotinib and significant improvement of LM was achieved. This case shows that LM can be diagnosed by detecting EGFR mutation in CSF and EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors are effective for LM from EGFR mutant non-small cell lung cancer.
Adenocarcinoma ; Carboplatin ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Central Nervous System ; Cerebrospinal Fluid ; Cisplatin ; Drug Therapy ; Epidermal Growth Factor* ; Erlotinib Hydrochloride ; Headache ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung* ; Methotrexate ; Middle Aged ; Nausea ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Paclitaxel ; Phosphotransferases* ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor* ; Recurrence ; Thorax ; Vomiting

This study was aimed to evaluate renal dysfunction during three weeks after the burn injuries in 12 patients admitted to the Hallym University Hankang Medical Center with flame burn injuries (total body surface area, 20-40%). Parameters assessed included 24-hr urine volume, blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, creatinine clearance, total urinary protein, urinary microalbumin, 24-hr urinary N-acetyl--D-glucosaminidase (NAG) activity, and urinary malondialdehyde (MDA). Statistical analysis was performed using repeated measures ANOVA test. The 24-hr urine volume, creatinine clearance, and urinary protein significantly increased on day 3 post-burn and fell thereafter. The urine microalbumin excretion showed two peak levels on day 0 post-burn and day 3. The 24-hr urinary NAG activity significantly increased to its maximal level on day 7 post-burn and gradually fell thereafter. The urinary MDA progressively increased during 3 weeks after the burn injury. Despite recovery of general renal function through an intensive care of burn injury, renal tubular damage and lipid peroxidation of the renal tissue suggested to persist during three weeks after the burn. Therefore, a close monitoring and intensive management of renal dysfunction is necessary to prevent burn-induced acute renal failure as well as to lower mortality in patients with major burns.
Acetylglucosaminidase/*urine ; Adult ; Aged ; Albuminuria/etiology ; Biological Markers ; Burns/*complications ; Female ; Human ; Kidney Diseases/*diagnosis/urine ; Kidney Failure, Acute/diagnosis ; Lipid Peroxidation ; Male ; Malondialdehyde/*urine ; Middle Age

The purpose of this study is to develop an internet based hospice information service system as a solution to the problems identified in our previous studies. Databases and homepage were designed and developed for the information needed for the hospice care and these services were available through the Internet. The hospice information service system has three subsystems. Frrst subsystem, which is training and education for the hospice care personnel includes general hospice information, pain and symptom management, the role of hospice care program information, and hospice care standard. Second subsystem which is patient management includes patient's general information, medical record, nursing record, major symptoms and nursing care plan, statistical data management, and hospice care facilities. Third subsystem includes Q and A for patient, family members, and hospice care team members. The system was tested through providing hospice care to the terminally ill patients and their family members by home visiting nurses. Through this study, it was found that hospice information system is very effective for those who need hospice care at home. But in order for the system to be more effective, system needs to be upgraded with more information on spiritual and social welfare and specialists who provided spiritual care and social welfare need to be included in the hospice care team.
Education ; Home Care Services ; Hospice Care ; Hospices* ; House Calls ; Humans ; Information Services* ; Information Systems ; Internet* ; Medical Records ; Nursing Records ; Patient Care Planning ; Social Welfare ; Specialization ; Terminally Ill