The aim of this study is to analyze the current status and performance evaluation systems of faculty in Korean medical colleges and professional graduate medical schools (called medical schools). We developed a research tool based on previous studies and distributed it to 40 medical schools from July to October 2017. The response rate was 100%. We calculated the number of faculty members and analyzed the faculty evaluation systems and awareness according to national and private medical schools. As of 2017, the number of medical faculty in Korea was 11,111 (4,973 faculty were employed by their alma mater, which is 44.76% of the total), with non-medical doctor faculty accounting for 754 of the total. The medical schools reflect research achievements as most important for re-appointment and screening to promote faculty, and the area of education is secondary excepting clinical faculty of private medical schools. However, important issues in the faculty evaluation deal with the relevance of research achievement and the need for qualitative assessment. Some medical schools revised or have been revising the faculty evaluation system in areas such as minimum standards of education for promotion and separation of promotion and tenure review. Opening non-tenure track lines for faculty show positive effects such as increasing the number of positions for hire and easing the financial burdens of medical schools. Downfalls include inconsistencies between the responsibilities and actual practices of tenure not being available and the instability of faculty's status. In conclusion, medical schools need to prepare a faculty evaluation system that fits the position of faculty members and attempt to establish a reasonable compensation system.
Compensation and Redress ; Education ; Faculty, Medical ; Health Personnel ; Humans ; Korea ; Mass Screening ; Reward ; Schools, Medical ; Social Responsibility

Metaplastic thymoma (MT), accepted in the World Health Organization 2004 scheme, is a circumscribed tumor of the thymus exhibiting biphasic morphology. We herein describe the clinicopathologic features of four MTs and the differential diagnoses of this unusual tumor. There were three women and one man with mean age of 49.5 years. The patients were found to have mediastinal masses, and underwent surgical excision. One exhibited symptoms of myasthenia gravis, and the serum titer for anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody was positive. Grossly, the tumors were encapsulated, and showed vaguely multinodular, solid, tan-white to yellow cut surfaces. Histologically, they comprised epithelial islands intertwining with bundles of delicate spindle cells. The patients remained well after surgical excision at 5-55 months. Because of the distinctive histological appearance and benign clinical course, MT should be distinguished from other more aggressive mediastinal neoplasms displaying biphasic feature.
Carcinosarcoma ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Islands ; Mediastinal Neoplasms ; Metaplasia ; Myasthenia Gravis ; Thymoma ; Thymus Gland ; World Health Organization

Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy is one of the promising anticancer treatments. It shows a high overall response rate with complete response to blood cancer. However, there is a limitation to solid tumor treatment. Additionally, this currently approved therapy exhibits side effects such as cytokine release syndrome and neurotoxicity. Alternatively, bispecific antibody is an innovative therapeutic tool that simultaneously engages specific immune cells to disease-related target cells. Since programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) is an immune checkpoint molecule highly expressed in some cancer cells, in the current study, we generated αCD3xαPD-L1 bispecific antibody (BiTE) which can engage T cells to PD-L1+ cancer cells. We observed that the BiTE-bound OT-1 T cells effectively killed cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. They substantially increased the recruitment of effector memory CD8+ T cells having CD8+CD44+CD62Llow phenotype in tumor. Interestingly, we also observed that BiTE-bound polyclonal T cells showed highly efficacious tumor killing activity in vivo in comparison with the direct intravenous treatment of bispecific antibody, suggesting that PD-L1-directed migration and engagement of activated T cells might increase cancer cell killing. Additionally, BiTE-bound CAR-T cells which targets human Her-2eu exhibited enhanced killing effect on Her-2-expressing cancer cells in vivo, suggesting that this could be a novel therapeutic regimen. Collectively, our results suggested that engaging activated T cells with cancer cells using αCD3xαPD-L1 BiTE could be an innovative next generation anticancer therapy which exerts simultaneous inhibitory functions on PD-L1 as well as increasing the infiltration of activated T cells having effector memory phenotype in tumor site.

In the era of immunotherapeutic control of cancers, many advances in biotechnology, especially in Ab engineering, have provided multiple new candidates as therapeutic immunooncology modalities. Bispecific Abs (BsAbs) that recognize 2 different antigens in one molecule are promising drug candidates and have inspired an upsurge in research in both academia and the pharmaceutical industry. Among several BsAbs, T cell engaging BsAb (TCEB), a new class of therapeutic agents designed to simultaneously bind to T cells and tumor cells via tumor cell specific antigens in immunotherapy, is the most promising BsAb.Herein, we are providing an overview of the current status of the development of TCEBs. The diverse formats and characteristics of TCEBs, in addition to the functional mechanisms of BsAbs are discussed. Several aspects of a new TCEB-Blinatumomab-are reviewed, including the current clinical data, challenges of patient treatment, drawbacks regarding toxicities, and resistance of TCEB therapy. Development of the next generation of TCEBs is also discussed in addition to the comparison of TCEB with current chimeric antigen receptor-T therapy.

Extracellular amylase properties were examined with the mycelium of Tricholoma matsutake isolated from ectomycorrhizal roots of Pinus densiflora. The molecular weights of alpha-amylase and glucoamylase were estimated as 34.2 kD and 11.5 kD, respectively, after eluted through Superdex 75 column. The optimum pH of the purified enzyme was found in a range of pH 5.0~6.0, with a peak at pH 5.0. The activities of these enzymes were stable from 4degrees C to 30degrees C. The alpha-amylase of T. matsutake readily hydrolyzed soluble starch and amylose-B, while it weakly hydrolyzed glycogen, dextrin, amylose and amylose-A. The main products of hydrolysis were confirmed to be glucose, maltose and maltotriose on the basis of the similarities in the thin layer chromatographic mobility.
alpha-Amylases ; Amylases* ; Amylose ; Fungi* ; Glucan 1,4-alpha-Glucosidase ; Glucose ; Glycogen ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Hydrolysis ; Maltose ; Molecular Weight ; Mycelium ; Pinus ; Starch ; Tricholoma*

Background: With the increasing number of internet users, search engines have become a widely used source of health-related information. However, evaluating the quality of medical information obtained through search engines can be challenging. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of search results related to breast implants obtained from major domestic websites in Korea using systematic evaluation standards. Methods: Two main primary search terms (“gaseum” [breast] implant and “yubang” [breast] implant), along with 15 adjunct search terms, were combined and searched in Google, Naver, and Daum. The top 20 websites were evaluated and classified according to their type and provider. They were scored using the Korean Medical Association’s Internet Health Information Certification Standards. The proportion of significant websites, their categorical distribution, and the quality of information scores were then compared. Results: Google yielded the highest number of appropriate results, with statistical significance. Blogs (36.4%) and news (34.8%) were the most common types of search results, while healthcare provider groups (49.5%) constituted the most common provider subgroup. Only 1.9% of the search results were from public organizations. Google had a significantly higher average quality score (14.04) than Naver (13.22), and Daum (12.45) (P<0.05). Conclusions Although almost half of the search results were provided by medical personnel, their average quality score (13.16) was below the overall average (13.36) and far below the 21 points of the journal/abstract category. The findings highlight the need for healthcare providers to provide high-quality medical information, and for users to develop high-level digital health literacy.

BACKGROUND: Molecular mechanisms of natural killer (NK) cell development from hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have not been clearly elucidated, although the roles of some genes in NK cell development have been reported previously. Thus, searching for molecules and genes related NK cell developmental stage is important to understand the molecular events of NK cell development. METHODS: From our previous SAGE data-base, Gpnmb (Glycoprotein non-metastatic melanoma protein B) was selected for further analysis. We confirmed the level of mRNA and protein of Gpnmb through RT-PCR, quantitative PCR, and FACS analysis. Then we performed cell-based ELISA and FACS analysis, to know whether there are some molecules which can bind to Gpnmb. Using neutralizing antibody, we blocked the interaction between NK cells and OP9 cells, and checked IFN-gamma production by ELISA kit. RESULTS: Gpnmb expression was elevated during in vitro developmental stage and bound to OP9 cells, but not to NK precursor cells. In addition, we confirmed that the levels of Gpnmb were increased at NK precursor stage in vivo. We confirmed syndecan4 as a candidate of Gpnmb's binding molecule. When the interaction between NK cells and OP9 cells were inhibited in vitro, IFN-gamma production from NK cells were reduced. CONCLUSION: Based on these observations, it is concluded that Gpnmb has a potential role in NK cell development from HSCs.
Antibodies, Neutralizing ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; Killer Cells, Natural ; Melanoma ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Messenger ; Syndecan-4