14-3-3 proteins are cytoplasmic proteins of about 29 kDa and have a minimum of seven isoforms. This protein is important in signal transduction with the ability of binding with phosphoserine of many signalling proteins. We expressed 14-3-3 protein tagged with 6 histidine residues in E. coli and purified the protein by nickel affinity chromatography. Using this purified protein as an antigen, we made rabbit antisera and mouse monoclonal antibodies to 14-3-3 zeta isoform. We subcloned cDNA of 14-3-3 zeta isoform derived from HeLa cell lamda gt 11 library into an E. coli expression vector which is designed to express heterologous protein with N- terminal 6 hidtidine tag. BALB/c mice were immunized with purified 14-3-3 protein and the hybridoma clones which produce monoclonal antibodies angainst 14-3-3 protein were selected. These monoclonal antibodies reacted with the recombinant protein expressed in E. coli as well as the 29-kDa native protein in various cell lines. However, they did not immunoprecipitate 14-3-3 protein. The monoclonal antibodies produced in this study can be valuable tools for the identification of the 14-3-3 in signal transduction study.
14-3-3 Proteins ; Animals ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; Cell Line ; Chromatography, Affinity ; Clone Cells ; Cytoplasm ; DNA, Complementary ; Escherichia coli* ; Escherichia* ; HeLa Cells ; Histidine ; Humans* ; Hybridomas ; Immune Sera ; Mice ; Nickel ; Phosphoserine ; Protein Isoforms ; Signal Transduction ; Staphylococcal Protein A

No abstract available.
Femur* ; Humans

No abstract available.
Humans ; Physicians, Family*

Purpose: Breastfeeding is the optimal method for feeding a newborn. But insufficient breast milk is the major reason why mothers give up breastfeeding. Herbal galactagogues have been used increasingly to treat postpartum hypogalactia. This study examined the effect of an herbal tea containing Chrysanthemum indicum, as the main ingredient, on milk production in lactating rats. Methods: The herbal tea contained C. indicum (27%), Foeniculum vulgare Mill (21%), Pimpinella anisum (18.2%), Carum carvi (16.1%), Urtica dioica (14.7%), and Gardenia jasminoides (3%). Sixteen lactating Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided randomly into 2 groups, the normal control group (NC; n = 8), and the galactagogue herbal tea group (GHT; n = 8) for 7 days. Lactating rats were administered the decoction of an herbal galactagogue mixture by oral gavage or the same amount of distilled water and milk production was assessed by measuring the pups' weights during the suckling period. The blood concentrations of prolactin, cortisol, oxytocin levels and mammary gland tissues were examined to assess the effects of the galactagogue. Results: Milk production was 9.2% higher in the GHT group given the herbal tea than in the NC group and the difference was statistically significant. The cortisol level in the GHT group was 17.2% higher than the NC group. The herbal tea containing C. indicum increased the size of the alveoli epithelium cells and the mammary lobe. Conclusion The present study revealed the potential of herbal tea containing C. indicum to enhance milk production in postpartum SD rats.

PURPOSE: We planned to determine the diagnostic capability of focused assessment with sonography for trauma (FAST) in cases of blunt abdominal injury (BAI). METHODS: A retrospective analysis of FAST sheets was performed from April 2002 to December 2004. During the study period, 135 BAI patients were evaluated with FAST at the Emergency Department of Bundang CHA Hospital. Of this group, twenty-eight patients were excluded, leaving 107 patients for analysis. Abdomen CT (computerized tomography) or exploratory laparotomy confirmed the presence of hemoperitoneum. At the secondary survey, patients underwent a three-view FAST examination (LogicQ; General Electric, Waukesha, USA) by an emergency physician, followed within 2 hours by an abdomen CT or exploratory laparotomy. The FAST examination was considered positive if it demonstrated evidence of free intra-abdominal fluid. RESULTS: There were 45 true-positive FAST examination, 57 true-negatives, 1 false-positive, and 4 false negatives (sensitivity 91.8%, specificity 98.3%, positive predictive value 97.8%, negative predictive value 93.4%). The area under the ROC curve was 0.951 for the FAST examination. CONCLUSION: FAST is a highly reliable method for screening patients suspected of having BAI for the presence or absence of hemoperitoneum.
Abdomen ; Abdominal Injuries ; Emergencies ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Hemoperitoneum ; Humans ; Laparotomy ; Mass Screening ; Retrospective Studies ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

PURPOSE: We planned to determine the diagnostic capability of focused assessment with sonography for trauma (FAST) in cases of blunt abdominal injury (BAI). METHODS: A retrospective analysis of FAST sheets was performed from April 2002 to December 2004. During the study period, 135 BAI patients were evaluated with FAST at the Emergency Department of Bundang CHA Hospital. Of this group, twenty-eight patients were excluded, leaving 107 patients for analysis. Abdomen CT (computerized tomography) or exploratory laparotomy confirmed the presence of hemoperitoneum. At the secondary survey, patients underwent a three-view FAST examination (LogicQ; General Electric, Waukesha, USA) by an emergency physician, followed within 2 hours by an abdomen CT or exploratory laparotomy. The FAST examination was considered positive if it demonstrated evidence of free intra-abdominal fluid. RESULTS: There were 45 true-positive FAST examination, 57 true-negatives, 1 false-positive, and 4 false negatives (sensitivity 91.8%, specificity 98.3%, positive predictive value 97.8%, negative predictive value 93.4%). The area under the ROC curve was 0.951 for the FAST examination. CONCLUSION: FAST is a highly reliable method for screening patients suspected of having BAI for the presence or absence of hemoperitoneum.
Abdomen ; Abdominal Injuries ; Emergencies ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Hemoperitoneum ; Humans ; Laparotomy ; Mass Screening ; Retrospective Studies ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Future cell-based therapies such as tissue engineering will benefit from a source of autogenous pluripotent stem cells. There are embryonic stem cells (ESC) and autologous adult stem cells, two general types of stem cells potentilally useful for these applications. But practical use of ESC is limited due to potential problems of cell regulation and ethical considerations. To get bone marrow stem cells is relatively burden to patients because of pain, anesthesia requirement. The ideal stem cells are required of such as the following advantages: easy to obtain, minimal patient discomfort and a capability of yielding enough cell numbers. Adipose autologus tissue taken from intraoral fatty pad or abdomen may represent such a source. Our study designed to demonstrate the ability of human adipose tissue-derived stromal cells (hATSC) from human abdominal adipose tissue diffentiating into osteocyte and adipocyte under culture in vitro conditions. As a result of experiment, we identified stromal cell derived adipose tissue has the multilineage potentiality under appropriate culture conditions. And the adipose stromal cells expressed several mesenchymal stem cell related antigen (CD29, CD44) reactions. Secondary, we compared the culture results of a group of hATSC stimulated with TGF-beta1, bFGF with a hATSC group without growth factors to confirm whether cytokines have a important role of the proliferation in osteogenic differentiation. The role of cytokines such as TGF-beta1, bFGF increased hATSC's osteogenic differentiation especially when TGF-beta1 and bFGF were used together. These results suggest that adipose stromal cells with growth factors could be efficiently available for cell-based bone regeneration.
Abdomen ; Abdominal Fat ; Adipocytes ; Adipose Tissue ; Adult Stem Cells ; Anesthesia ; Bone Marrow ; Bone Regeneration ; Cell Count ; Cytokines ; Embryonic Stem Cells ; Humans ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins* ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; Osteocytes ; Pluripotent Stem Cells ; Stem Cells ; Stromal Cells* ; Tissue Engineering ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1

The malignant schwannoma is the primary malignant tumor, which originating from the schwann cell. The incidence is markedly rare. This malignancy is not uncommonly accompanied by von Recklinghausen's disease with the worse prognosis. Although lung is the common site of the distant metastasis, bone metastasis is extremely rare. Histologically this malignancy is composed mainly of spindle cells, but occasionally the rare type, called malignant epitheloid schwannoma, which is composed of many epitheloid cells and scant spindle cells, is found as in this case. It is difficult to differentiate the malignant epitheloid schwannoma with the amelanotic melanoma histologically. The authors have experienced one case (16 years old female) of malignant epitheloid schwannoma originating from the scalp on the occipital area and metastasizing to the proximal part of the right humerus.
Humerus ; Incidence ; Lung ; Melanoma, Amelanotic ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neurilemmoma ; Neurofibromatosis 1 ; Prognosis ; Scalp

Fascioliasis is a zoonotic disease caused by Fasciola Hepatica that infects mainly cattle, sheep, and goats. Humans can be infected by water or aquatic plants contaminated with metacercariae. The authors encountered two cases of F. hepatica infection. One patient reported abdominal discomfort with marked eosinophilia. The other patient had chest discomfort with marked eosinophilia. The abdominal CT images revealed hypodense lesions in the liver. The ultrasonography-guided liver biopsy findings in both patients were indicative of parasitic infections. Serological tests confirmed the definite diagnoses. Both patients were treated with a single dose of triclabendazole, which is the treatment of choice for fascioliasis. These findings suggest that a diagnosis of fascioliasis, particularly in the acute phase, should be considered in patients with abdominal pain, marked eosinophilia, and hypodense hepatic lesions on CT.

Purpose: Surgery to create a stoma for decompression might be required for unresectable stage IV cancer patients with complete colonic obstruction. The aim of this study was to compare the results of blowhole colostomy with those of loop ostomy. Methods: Palliative ileostomy or colostomy procedures performed at a single center between January 2011 and October 2020, were analyzed retrospectively. Fifty-nine patients were identified during this period. The demographic characteristics and outcomes between the blowhole colostomy group (n=24) and the loop ostomy group (n=35) were compared. Results: The median operative time tended to be shorter in the blowhole colostomy group (52.5 minutes; interquartile range [IQR], 43–65) than in the loop ostomy group (60 minutes; IQR, 40–107), but the difference did not reach statistical significance (P=0.162). The median length of hospital stay was significantly shorter with blowhole colostomy (blowhole, 13 days [IQR, 9–23]; loop, 21 days [IQR, 14–37]; P=0.013). Mean cecum diameter was significantly larger in the blowhole group than in the loop group (8.83±1.91 cm vs. 6.78±2.36 cm, P=0.001), and the emergency operation rate was higher in the blowhole group than in the loop group (22 of 24 [91.7%] vs. 23 of 35 [65.7%], P=0.021). Conclusion In surgical emergencies, diverting a blowhole colostomy can be safe and effective for palliative management of colonic obstruction in patients with end-stage cancer and might reduce the operative time in emergent situations.