An attenuated classical swine fever virus (CSFV), Suri strain, is a va.iant derived from a vaccine virus, LOM strain. This study was performed to elucidate the molecular biologcal properties of CSFV Suri strain, and to obtain the basic data for molecular epidemiological approaches for the disease. The truncated form of gp55 gene without the C-terminal transmembrane domain, in size of 1,023bp, was amplified by RT-PCR and sequenced by dye terminator cyclic sequencing method, and inserted into BamHI site of pAcGP67B baculovirus vector, establishing a cloned pAcHEG plasmid. By the nucleotide sequences determined, 341 amino acid sequences were predicted. As compared the nucleotide and amino acid sequences of gp55 of Suri with the various CSFV, Suri strain showed the high homology over 99.1% with ALD and LOM strains, but comparably the lower homology with Alfort and Brescia. In comparison of amino acid sequence in variable domain of gp55 protein, the similar tendency of homology was observed. In hydrophobicity analysis, all of four CSFV strains revealed the analogous patterns of hydrophobicity. The numbers and locations of N-glycosylation site and cysteine residues in gp55 were analyzed, those of Suri strain being coincident with ALD and LOM strains. The results suggest that gp55 in Suri strain has the high similarity to those in ALD and LOM strains in terms of the nucleotide and amino acid sequences and the functional properties of gp55 protein..
Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Baculoviridae ; Base Sequence ; Classical swine fever virus ; Classical Swine Fever* ; Clone Cells ; Cysteine ; Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions ; Plasmids ; Sequence Analysis* ; Swine

Acute mountain sickness is an illness caused by climbing to a high altitude without prior acclimatization. Neurological consequences, like parkinsonism following acute mountain sickness without lesion of brain MRI have been reported rarely. A healthy 56-year-old man presented with dysarthria and gait disturbance. Neurological examination revealed tremor of hands, limb rigidity, and bradykinesia. The symptoms developed approximately 30 days following a 3,500 m climb of the Annapurna in the Himalayas. Brain MRI did not reveal any abnormalities including globus pallidus. The parkinsonism symptoms persisted for about 3 months before a complete recovered was made. We suggest that parkinsonism can develop after climbing to a high altitude but that the symptoms can be transient if a brain MRI detects no abnormalities.

An important challenge in Parkinson’s disease (PD) based neuroscience and neuroimaging is mapping the neuronal connectivity of the basal ganglia to understand how the disease affects brain circuitry. However, a majority of diffusion tractography studies have shown difficulties in revealing connections between distant anatomic brain regions and visualizing basal ganglia connectome. In this current study, we investigated the differences in basal ganglia connectivity between 6-OHDA induced ex-vivo PD mouse model and normal ex-vivo mouse model by using diffusion tensor imaging tractography from diffusion-weighted images obtained with a high resolution 9.4 T MR scanner. Connectivity pattern of the basal ganglia were compared between five 6-OHDA and five control ex-vivo mouse brains using results of probabilistic tractography generated with PROBTRACKX. When compared with control mouse, 6-OHDA mouse showed significant enhancements to motor territory-related subthalamopallidal and pallido-subthalamic connectivity. Multi-fiber tractography combined with diffusion MRI data has the potential to help recognize the abnormalities found in connectivity of psychiatric and neurologic disease models.

Cerebral ischemia exhibits a multiplicity of pathophysiological mechanisms. During ischemic stroke, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) concentration rises to a peak during reperfusion, possibly underlying neuronal death. Recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) supplementation is one method of treating neurodegenerative disease by reducing the generation of ROS. We investigated the therapeutic effect of PEGylated EPO (P-EPO) on ischemic stroke. Mice were administered P-EPO (5,000 U/kg) via intravenous injection, and middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) followed by reperfusion was performed to induce in vivo ischemic stroke. P-EPO ameliorated MCAO-induced neurological deficit and reduced behavioral disorder and the infarct area. Moreover, lipid peroxidation, expression of inflammatory proteins (cyclooxygenase-2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase), and cytokine levels in blood were reduced by the P-EPO treatment. In addition, higher activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) was found in the brain after MCAO, but NF-κB activation was reduced in the P-EPO-injected group. Treatment with the NF-κB inhibitor PS-1145 (5 mg/kg) abolished the P-EPO-induced reduction of infarct volume, neuronal death, neuroinflammation, and oxidative stress. Moreover, P-EPO was more effective than EPO (5,000 U/kg) and similar to a tissue plasminogen activator (10 mg/kg). An in vitro study revealed that P-EPO (25, 50, and 100 U/mL) treatment protected against rotenone (100 nM)-induced neuronal loss, neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and NF-κB activity. These results indicate that the administration of P-EPO exerted neuroprotective effects on cerebral ischemia damage through anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties by inhibiting NF-κB activation.

Hemodynamic depression (hypotension and bradycardia) can occur during or after carotid angioplasty and stenting (CAS) due to stretching of the baroreceptors in the carotid sinus. The predisposing factors of hemodynamic depression have not been reported previously. In general, hemodynamic depression after CAS may continue for up to 3-5 days, but disappears within 7 days. We report herein a 65-year-old man with severe hemodynamic depression after sequential CAS, and discuss the possible causes from an anatomical point of view.
Aged ; Angioplasty ; Carotid Sinus ; Depression ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Pressoreceptors ; Stents

As the National Health Insurance Law was established in 2000, the finances of workplace health insurance and regional health insurance were integrated. However, since employee health insurance (workplace insurance) and self-employed health insurance (community insurance) still use different contribution rating systems, the problem of inequity of premiums has caused ongoing controversy. Therefore, to examine the public's satisfaction with premiums calculation methods, and collect opinions on solving the problem of inequity of premiums, this survey was performed. A computer-assisted telephone interview with multi-stage stratified sampling of the population in Korea was performed. Responses were obtained from 1,016 people aged 25 to 64 years. The analyses showed that, to the question about the premiums calculation methods, more respondents answered that they were unsatisfied (41.4%) than satisfied (36.6%). The responses differed depending on the type of health insurance. The proportion of those who were satisfied with their insurance was relatively higher among those with employee health insurance. On the other hand, among those with self-employed health insurance, the proportion of those who were dissatisfied with insurance was 3 times more common than satisfaction with it, showing that those who belong to the self-employed health insurance group are less satisfied with the premiums calculation methods. It was also found that the majority people perceive that the current single payer health insurance system should be divided into mutually separate employee and self-employed health insurance systems or a multiple payer health insurance system (60.3%). To achieve premium equity in the future, the Health Insurance Corporation should make a greater effort to determine income levels correctly. In the institutional improvement process of the premiums contribution rating system in the future, it seems necessary to carry out further research on a multiple payer insurance system reflecting the attitudes and demands of the people.
Aged ; Hand ; Humans ; Insurance ; Insurance, Health ; Interviews as Topic ; Jurisprudence ; Korea ; National Health Programs ; Occupational Health ; Personal Satisfaction ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Aberrant internal carotid artery in the middle ear is a rare disease which, if unrecognized on radiological studies, can lead to serious complications during tissue biopsy. We report the imaging features of a case with aberrant internal carotid artery in the middle ear. A 60-year-old woman visited our hospital because of hearing difficulty on the right side. Temporal bone CT showed a well-defined mass of the right middle ear and lateral bony defect in the carotid canal adjacent to the mass. After arterial phase temporal bone CT with spiral CT andangiography, the mass could be diagnosed as aberrant internal carotid artery in the middle ear.
Biopsy ; Carotid Artery, Internal* ; Ear, Middle* ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Rare Diseases ; Temporal Bone ; Tomography, Spiral Computed

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the long-term effects of aripiprazole treatment during adolescence on behavior, cognitive function, and dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) expression in adult rats. METHODS: Adolescent male Sprague-Dawley rats were injected intraperitoneally with aripiprazole, risperidone, or vehicle control for 3 weeks (postnatal day 36–56). After a 2-week washout period, locomotion, anxiety, and spatial working memory were evaluated in adulthood (postnatal day 71–84), using an open field test, elevated plus maze, and Y-maze, respectively. In addition, we assessed D2R levels in the dorsolateral and medial prefrontal cortex (PFC), dorsal and ventral striatum, and hippocampus using western blot analysis. RESULTS: Spontaneous alternation performance (SAP) in the Y-maze, a measure of spatial working memory, differed significantly among the 3 groups (F = 3.89, p = 0.033). A post-hoc test confirmed that SAP in the aripiprazole group was significantly higher than that in the risperidone group (post-hoc test p = 0.013). D2R levels in the medial PFC (F = 8.72, p = 0.001) and hippocampus (F = 13.54, p < 0.001) were different among the 3 groups. D2R levels in the medial PFC and hippocampus were significantly lower in the aripiprazole-treated rats than that in the risperidone-treated rats (post-hoc test p = 0.025 and p < 0.001, respectively) and controls (post-hoc test p < 0.001, all). CONCLUSION: This study showed that aripiprazole treatment in adolescence could influence cognitive function and dopaminergic neurotransmission into early adulthood.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Animals ; Anxiety ; Aripiprazole ; Blotting, Western ; Cognition ; Dopamine ; Hippocampus ; Humans ; Locomotion ; Male ; Memory, Short-Term ; Models, Animal ; Prefrontal Cortex ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, Dopamine D2 ; Risperidone ; Synaptic Transmission ; Ventral Striatum

Objectives: ZZKetamine has been reported to have antidepressant effects or psychotomimetic effects. The aim of this study was to investigatethe behavioral effects of ketamine treatment at various sub-anesthetic doses in adolescent and adult naïve mice. Methods: ZZIn each experiment for adolescent and adult mice, a total of 60 male Institute of Cancer Research mice were randomly dividedinto 6 groups, which were intraperitoneally treated with physiological saline, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 mg/kg ketamine for consecutive3 days. At 1 day after last injection, the locomotor and depressive-like behaviors were evaluated in mice, using open field test (OFT)and forced swim test (FST), respectively. Results: ZZIn case of adolescent mice, ketamine dose was negatively correlated with total distance traveled in the OFT (Spearman’srho = -0.27, p = 0.039). In case of adult mice, we found significant positive correlation between ketamine dose and duration of immobilityin the FST (Spearman’s rho = 0.45, p < 0.001). Immobility time in the 50 mg/kg ketamine-treated mice was significantly higher comparedto the saline-treated mice (Dunnett’s post-hoc test, p = 0.012). Conclusions ZZWe found that the repeated treatment with ketamine could decrease the locomotor or prolong the duration of immobilityin mice as the dose of ketamine increased. Our findings suggest that sub-anesthetic doses of ketamine might induce schizophrenia-like negative symptoms but not antidepressant effects in naïve laboratory animals.

Recently, the efficacy of immuno-oncologic agents for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been proven in several trials. In particular, atezolizumab with bevacizumab (AteBeva), as a first-line therapy for advanced HCC, has shown tremendous advances in the IMBrave150 study. However, second or third-line therapy after treatment failure with AteBeva has not been firmly established. Moreover, clinicians have continued their attempts at multidisciplinary treatment that includes other systemic therapy and radiotherapy (RT). Here, we report a case that showed a near complete response (CR) of lung metastasis to nivolumab with ipilimumab therapy after achieving a near CR of intrahepatic tumor using sorafenib and RT in a patient with advanced HCC who had experienced treatment failure of AteBeva.