A few cases of reticulate acropigmentary disorders have been reported in Korea. Most of them were reticulate acropigmentation of Kitamura, but not acropigmentation symmetrica of Dohi. A 21 year-old male patient diagnosed as acropigmentation symmetrica of Dohi had been previously treated with various treatment methods unsuccessfully. Re-treatment with the Q-switched alexandrite laser(755 nm, 100nsec) showed a temporary improvement but a relapse of the lesion was experienced again. We describe a case of acropigmentation symmetrica of hi treated with the Q-switched alexandrite laser.
Humans ; Korea ; Lasers, Solid-State* ; Male ; Recurrence

Nitric oxide (NO) induces apoptotic cell death in murine RAW 264.7 macrophages. To elucidate the roles of SEK1/MKK4, a upstream kinase for both c-Jun N-terminal kinase/stress-activated protein kinase (JNK/SAPK) and p38 kinase, on NO-induced apoptosis, we generated clones of RAW 264.7 cells which stably overexpressd kinase inactive SEK1 (RAW/SEK1-Kl) or wild type SEK1 (RAW/SEK1-WT). Treatment of kinase inactive SEK1 transfected RAW 264.7 cells (RAW/SEK1-Kl) with sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a NO generating agent, significantly decreased the cell viability up to 20% of RAW control cells which were treated with the same amount of SNP. However, RAW/SEK1-WT cells were less susceptible to NO induced apoptosis. For a while, caspase-3 like activity in NO treated RAW/SEK1-Kl cells was significantly increased with parallell to apoptotic death rate. However, caspase1 like activity was not affected by NO in any transfectants. The NO induced apoptosis in RAW/SEK1-Kl cells was significantly prevented by the addition of caspase-3 like inhibitor (N-Ac- DEVD-CHO). In addition, the phosphotransferase activity of JNK1 in NO-treated RAW/SEK1-WT is significantly increased, but not in RAW/SEK1-Kl cells. These results suggest that SEK1 may play anti-apoptotic role in RAW cells from NO-induced apoptosis.
Apoptosis ; Caspase 3 ; Cell Death ; Cell Survival ; Clone Cells ; Macrophages ; Mortality ; Nitric Oxide* ; Nitroprusside ; Phosphotransferases ; Protein Kinases

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of pelvic floor muscle exercise using electric stimulation and biofeedback on maximum pressure of vaginal contraction, vaginal contraction duration and sexual function in women who have had vaginal rejuvenation. METHODS: The research design was a non-equivalent control group non-synchronized design study. Participants in this study were women who had vaginal rejuvenation at C obstetrics and gynecology hospital. The 15 participants in the experimental group were given pelvic floor muscle exercise using electric stimulation and biofeedback and the 15 participants in the control group received self pelvic floor muscle exercise. RESULTS: For maximum pressure of vaginal contraction, the experimental group showed a statistically significant increase compared to than the control group (t=5.96, p<.001). For vaginal contraction duration, the experimental group also showed a statistically significant increase compared to the control group (t=3.23, p=.003). For women's sexual function, the experimental group showed a significant increase when compared to the control group in total sexual function scores (t=3.41, p=.002). CONCLUSION: The results indicate that pelvic floor muscle exercise with electric stimulation and biofeedback after vaginal rejuvenation is effective in strengthening vaginal contraction pressure, vaginal contraction and that it also positively functions to increase women's sexual function.
Adult ; Biofeedback, Psychology ; *Electric Stimulation ; *Exercise ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Muscle Contraction/physiology ; Pelvic Floor/*physiology ; Rejuvenation/*physiology ; Sexual Behavior/psychology ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Vagina/*physiology/surgery

Both spindle cell variant of squamous cell carcinoma and atypical fibroxanthoma are most commonly presented as a solitary, often ulcerated nodule, occurring on sun-exposed skin of the elderly. These lesions also share the histologic features of diffuse or indistinct fascicular arrangement of polygonal or pulmp spindle cells. Therefore it is not easy to differentiate immunohistochemistry is done. A case of 73 year old woman with squamous cell carcinoma of the skin resembling atypical fibroxanthoma is presented.
Female ; Humans

This report presents an unusual case of primary malignant melanoma in the midesophagus. The patient was a 36-year-old woman presenting with dysphagia and odynophagia. The resected esophagus and proximal stomach showed a dark purple large polypoid mass, measuring 6.0 3.3 2.0 cm, with a diffuse tan pigmentation of surrounding mucosa in the mid-esophagus and two small daughter nodules, up to 1.2 0.3 cm, in the lower esophagus near the gastro-esophageal junction. A microscopic examination revealed a malignant melanoma of epithelioid cell type confined to mucosa and submucosa with a diffuse melanosis. Cytoplasmic immunoreactivity for HMB 45 and S-100 protein were noted. An electron microscopic examination revealed large, loosely cohesive variable shaped cells with a few cytoplasmic premelanosomes.
Adult ; Cytoplasm ; Deglutition Disorders ; Epithelioid Cells ; Esophagus* ; Female ; Humans ; Melanoma* ; Melanosis ; Mucous Membrane ; Nuclear Family ; Pigmentation ; S100 Proteins ; Stomach ; Triacetoneamine-N-Oxyl

CD44, an integral membrane glycoprotein expressed by many cell types, serves as the principal transmembrane hyaluronate receptor and may be a determinant of metastatic and invasive behavior in carcinomas. This study was performed to investigate the relationship between CD44 splicing variants v4/5 and v6 expression and histopathologic prognostic factors (depth of tumor invasion, histologic classification, vascular and lymphatic invasion, and lymph node metastasis) in 107 gastric adenocarcinomas. In 107 cases of gastric carcinoma, the immunohistochemical stainining for CD44 v4/5 and CD44 v6 gave the following results. CD44 v4/5 was expressed in 40.2% and CD44 v6 in 67.3% of gastric carcinomas. The expression of CD44 v4/5 was correlated with histologic classification by Lauren (p<0.05), lymphatic invasion (p<0.05), and lymph node metastasis (p<0.004). In contrast, expression of CD44 v6 had no impact on prognostic markers. This study suggests the role of CD44 v4/5 in invasion, metastasis, and its prognostic significance in gastric adenocarcinoma.
Adenocarcinoma* ; Classification ; Immunohistochemistry ; Lymph Nodes ; Membrane Glycoproteins ; Neoplasm Metastasis

The concept of bipolar disorder is an ongoing process, still in evolution, although its roots can be found from ancient Greek. Until recently, it was believed that no more than 1% of the general population has bipolar disorder. But literature on the lifetime prevalence of the bipolar spectrum disorder suggests rates of 4-5%. Bipolar spectrum disorder is a longitudinal diagnosis characterized by abnormal mood swings comprising some of the following cross-sectional clinical states: mania, hypomania, mixed states, hyperthymic temperament, major depressive episode, and depressive mixed state. Failure to recognize subthreshold expressions of mania, such as hypomania, cyclothymia, and hyperthymia, contributes to the frequent under-diagnosis of bipolar disorder. There are several reasons for the lower rate of recognition of subthreshold manic symptoms, when compared to the analogous pure depressive one. These include the lack of subjective suffering, enhanced productivity, egosyntonicity, diurnal and seasonal rhythmicity associated with many of the manic and hypomanic symptoms, and the psychiatrists' difficulty in differentiating with personality disorders. In addition, most patients with bipolar spectrum disorder seek treatment for depression, rather than mania or hypomania. Therefore clinicians often miss the diagnosis of bipolar spectrum disorder. The recent 10 years of researches have suggested that 30-55% of patients with major depressive disorder are actually identified with broader spectrum of bipolar disorders. However, 48% of patients of bipolar disorder consulted 3 or more professionals before receiving a correct diagnosis, and 10% consulted 7 or more for their first diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Several studies have documented that patients often wait as long as 10 years for the correct diagnosis of bipolar spectrum disorder. This delay in diagnosis often has substantial adverse results. Patients do not get the appropriate treatment to alleviate their symptoms. They may even get treatments that exacerbate their symptoms, such as prescription of antidepressants precipitating mania and producing rapid cycling. The concepts of hypomania, cyclothymia, mixed state, depressive mixed states, hyperthymic temperament are the new areas of studying mood disorders in recent 20 years. The authors will review the studies on various subtypes of bipolar spectrum disorder with their historic aspects, and introduce the suggested screening tests for bipolar spectrum disorder in clinical practice.
Antidepressive Agents ; Bipolar Disorder ; Classification ; Depression ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; Diagnosis ; Efficiency ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Mood Disorders ; Periodicity ; Personality Disorders ; Prescriptions ; Prevalence ; Seasons ; Temperament

Our research consisted of a qualitative study investigating the quality attributes of university foodservices through focus group interviews and a quantitative study evaluating service quality of university foodservices through a survey. Sixteen quality attributes were derived and customer satisfaction questionnaires included these 16 quality attributes with a five-point Likert scale. An Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) model was applied in order to identify operational strategies necessary to improve service quality. The survey questionnaires were distributed to 600 university students enrolled in a university located in Kwangju and statistical analysis was performed on 555 surveys using an SPSS package. Overall customer satisfaction with the quality of university foodservices was relatively low (under 3.0) while the expectation was inclined to be high (over 4.0). The main reasons for using the university foodservice were given as inexpensive price (67.6%) and time saving (22.9%). A factor analysis of 16 quality attributes revealed two separate factors: food quality (Cronbach's alpha=0.911) and service quality (Cronbach's alpha=0.934). Variety of menu, convenient location, and sanitation of utensils and facilities were identified by an IPA model as factors needing improvement in operational strategies.
Focus Groups ; Food Quality ; Humans ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Sanitation

No abstract available.
Angiomyoma* ; Mucous Membrane*

No abstract available.
Cellulitis* ; Child* ; Eosinophils* ; Humans