This study examined ways of promoting research in the medical sciences by evaluating trends in research funding, and the present status of research funding by the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF). This study analyzed statistics from KOSEF from 1978 to 2003 to examine support for research. In medical science field, group-based programs receive more funding than do individual-based programs. The proportion of research funds allocated to the medical sciences has increased markedly each year. Researchers in the medical sciences have submitted more articles to Science Citation Index (SCI) journals than to non-SCI journals, relative to other fields. Researchers supported by the Mission-Oriented Basic Grants program have published the majority of these papers, followed by those supported by the Programs for Leading Scientists, Regional Scientists, Leading Women Scientists, Young Scientists, and Promising Women Scientists, in that order. Funding by KOSEF reflects many decades of government support for research and development, the development and maintenance of necessary infrastructure, and the education and training of medical scientists.
Biomedical Research/*economics ; Foundations/*economics/statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Korea ; Research Support/*economics/trends ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Science

No abstract available.
Animals ; Humans ; *Organ Transplantation ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; T-Lymphocytes/*immunology ; *Transplantation Immunology

Missing data such as appropriateness ratings in clinical research are a common problem and this often yields a biased result. This paper aims to introduce the multiple imputation method to handle missing data in clinical research and to suggest that the multiple imputation technique can give more accurate estimates than those of a complete-case analysis. The idea of multiple imputation is that each missing value is replaced with more than one plausible value. The appropriateness method was developed as a pragmatic solution to problem of trying to assess "appropriate" surgical and medical procedures for patients. Cataract surgery was selected as one of four procedures that were evaluated as a part of the Clinical Appropriateness Initiative. We created mild to high missing rates of 10%, 30% and 50% and compared the performance of logistic regression in cataract surgery. We treated the coefficients in the original data as true parameters and compared them with the other results. In the mild missing rate (10%), the deviation from the true coefficients was quite small and ignorable. After removing the missing data, the complete-case analysis did not reveal any serious bias. However, as the missing rate increased, the bias was not ignorable and it distorted the result. This simulation study suggests that a multiple imputation technique can give more accurate estimates than those of a complete-case analysis, especially for moderate to high missing rates (30 - 50%). In addition, the multiple imputation technique yields better accuracy than a single imputation technique. Therefore, multiple imputation is useful and efficient for a situation in clinical research where there is large amounts of missing data.
Cataract Extraction/*methods ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) has been established as an important genetic mechanism giving rise to malignant neoplasia. The mechanism of LOH has been shown to cause basal cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma as well as other types of skin cancer. A few studies on LOH in sporadic keratoacanthomas have been reported. The purpose of this study was to investigate the significance of LOH in the pathogenesis of sporadic keratoacanthomas developed in 10 Korean patients. The presents of LOH at 7 microsatellite markers (D2S286, D3S1317, D5S346, D9S160, D9S171, D10S185, and D17S261) were evaluated in sporadic keratoacanthomas. LOH was found in only 1 of 10 cases at D10S185. The low frequency of LOH detected in this study suggests that LOH may not be significant in the induction of sporadic keratoacanthomas.
Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Keratoacanthoma/*genetics ; *Loss of Heterozygosity ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Proteomics is one of the most important issues in the post-genomic area, because it can greatly contribute to identifying protein biomarkers for disease diagnosis and drug screening. Protein array is a key technology for proteome researches and has been analyzed by various methods including fluorescence, mass spectrometry, atomic force microscopy and surface plasmon resonance (SPR). SPR biosensor is a promising technology in proteomics, since it has various advantages including real-time measurement of biomolecular interactions without labeling and the simple optical system for the device. SPR biosensors have a strong potential for analyzing proteomes by SPR imaging and SPR spectroscopic imaging, even though the challenge is to produce proteins on a proteomic scale.
Animals ; *Biosensing Techniques ; Humans ; Protein Array Analysis ; *Proteomics ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; *Surface Plasmon Resonance/instrumentation/methods

One of the main reasons for the soaring interest in acute ischemic stroke among radiologists is the advent of new magnetic resonance techniques such as diffusion-weighted imaging. This new modality has prompted us to seek a better understanding of the pathophysiologic mechanisms of cerebral ischemia/infarction. The ischemic penumbra is an important concept and tissue region because this is the target of various recanalization treatments during the acute phase of stroke. In this context, it is high time for a thorough review of the concept, especially from the imaging point of view.
Brain/radiography ; Cerebrovascular Accident/*diagnosis ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Each diastereomer of 10-thiophenyl- and 10-benzenesulfonyl-dihydroartemisinin was synthesized from artemisinin in three steps, and screened against chloroquine-resistance and chloroquine-sensitive Plasmodium falciparum. Three of the four tested compounds were found to be effective. Especially, 10 beta-benzenesulfonyl-dihydroartemisinin showed stronger antimalarial activity than artemisinin.
Animals ; Antimalarials/chemistry/*pharmacology ; Artemisinins/chemistry/*pharmacology ; Chloroquine/pharmacology ; Drug Resistance ; Plasmodium falciparum/*drug effects ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Maintenance of healthy endothelium is essential to vascular homeostasis, and preservation of endothelial cell function is critical for transplant allograft function. Damage of microvascular endothelial cells is now regarded as a characteristic feature of acute vascular rejection and chronic allograft nephropathy, which is an important predictor of graft loss and is often associated with transplant vasculopathy. In this review, we will discuss the role of microvascular endothelium, in renal allograft dysfunction, particularly as it relates to markers of endothelial dysfunction and endothelial repair mechanisms. We also discuss the potential for therapies targeting endothelial dysfunction and transplant graft vasculopathy.
Humans ; Kidney/*blood supply ; *Kidney Transplantation ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Transplantation, Homologous ; Vascular Diseases/*prevention & control/*therapy

Oxidative stress defined as outbalanced generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) than the existing antioxidative defense mechanisms plays an important role in tissue injury. Ischemia/reperfusion accompanied during organ transplantation is well- established oxidative stress-induced tissue injury. We hypothesized that oxidative stress may also play a role in the development and progression of chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN), since that ROS are major signaling molecules of growth factors and cytokines [platelet-derived growth factors, transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) ] upregulated in the kidney of CAN, that ROS in turn upregulate TGF-beta1, and that mycophenolic acid may inhibit features of CAN [proliferation and extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation in vascular smooth muscle cells and glomerular mesangial cells] through inhibiting cellular ROS. Cellular ROS activate signal transduction cascade (protein kinase C, mitogen-activated protein kinases, and janus kinases) and transcription factors (nuclear factor-kappa B, activated protein-1, specificity protein 1, and signal transducers and activators of transcription) leading to regulation of genes and proteins involved in cellular proliferation, ECM remodeling, and apoptosis accompanied in CAN. This review is intended to provide an overview of oxidative stress in renal allograft nephropathy.
Chronic Disease ; Humans ; Kidney Diseases/*etiology ; Kidney Transplantation/*adverse effects ; *Oxidative Stress ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

With time after transplantation, the recurrence of IgA nephropathy (IgAN) becomes a relevant cause of graft dysfunction and failure. However, only limited information has been published regarding the related clinical and histological features. In this article, we review studies on recurrent IgAN in the English literature and describe our own clinical experience. The clinical and histological features related to recurrence are still indeterminate, but features associated with graft dysfunction include proteinuria, glomerulosclerosis, mesangial proliferation, glomerular crescents and interstitial fibrosis.
Glomerulonephritis, IGA/*physiopathology/*surgery ; Humans ; Kidney/*physiopathology ; *Kidney Transplantation ; Recurrence ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Transplantation, Homologous