No abstract available.
Craniocerebral Trauma* ; Head*

BACKGROUND: Plant extracts have been widely used as important therapeutic drugs for many centuries all over the world. There have been many reports that natural products have various kinds of biological activities such as anti-allergy, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities. Recently, the screening for the efficacy and safety of natural products has been extensively performed. OBJECTIVE: This study was carried out to find a beneficial plant extract possessing excellent antioxidative and anti-melanogenic activities. We have found that the leaf of Robinia pseudo-acacia L. has active substances which are involved in those activities. METHODS: To confirm the antioxidative activity of the extract obtained from the leaves of Robinia pseudo-acacia L., scavenging ability of the extract on DPPH free radicals and its inhibitory effects on lipid autoxidation and peroxidation were investigated. In addition, inhibitory effects of the extract on mushroom tyrosinase as well as melanin biosynthesis in cultured B16 melanoma cells were evaluated. RESULTS: The acacia extract showed not only powerful antioxidative activity but also antimelanogenic acitivity as strong as that of arbutin which is a well known inhibitor of melanogenesis. CONCLUSION: These resulis suggest that the extract from the leaves of Robinia pseudo-acacia L. could be used as a 4ghtening and antioxidative agent for the skin.
Acacia ; Agaricales ; Arbutin ; Biological Products ; Free Radicals ; Mass Screening ; Melanins ; Melanoma, Experimental ; Monophenol Monooxygenase ; Plant Extracts ; Plants ; Robinia* ; Skin

Eleven patients underwent posterior sagittal anorectoplasty(PSARP) as a secondary procedure. Two of them had rectovaginal fistula and another two had rectocutaneous fistula. Six of the rest complained of frequent fecal soiling and the last one had severe anorectal stricture after perineal anoplasty. Five patients had lived with colostomy until the second operations were carried out. The ages at the time of the secondary PSARP were between 7 months and 29 years. Distal colostogram and MRI were taken to evaluate distal colon, position of the rectum and voluntary muscle. All patients had normal sacrum except one who had anorectal stricture. Seven patients, six with fecal incontinence and the other one with rectovaginal fistula had mislocated anorectums. Three patients, two with rectocutaneous fistula, the other one with anorectal stricture, had abdominal approach to obtain enough length of colon for pull-through procedure. With the posterior midsagittal approach, we could manage all the problems, rectovaginal fistulas, rectocutaneous fistulas, strictures and malpositioned rectums, without difficulty. No patients had serious complications except wound infection in one. All patients were satisfied with the results after redo-PSARPs even though normal continence has been achieved in only one patient. Seven patients who had continuous soiling or rectocutaneous fistula, needed no more diapers even though four of them showed fecal staining under stressful condition and the other three showed intermittent fecal leaking less than once a day. The rest three of the patients maintained their continence with support of drugs and/or enemas because of constipation. The PSARP is a popular procedure as a primary operation; however, our results suggested that this procedure also gave us a good opportunity for management of serious complication developed after primary anoplasties.
Colon ; Colostomy ; Constipation ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Enema ; Fecal Incontinence ; Fistula ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Muscle, Skeletal ; Rectovaginal Fistula ; Rectum ; Sacrum ; Soil ; Wound Infection

Aneurysm of the splenic artery are the third most common intra-abdominal aneurysm, following aneurysms of the infrarenal aorta and iliac arteries. Splenic artery aneurysms (SAA) are the most frequent visceral artery aneurysms and account for more than two thirds of all lesions. Incidence of SAA are rare clinical entities(0.01-0.2%) that carry risk of rupture and fatal hemorrhage(35-100%). Fibroblastic dysplasia and atherosclerosis is fecund in the majority, and the fact that these aneurysms developes more commonly in female. Most patients are asymptomatic and the diagnosis is generally made incidentally. The treatment of patient with known SAA is dictated by several factors, including location, age, sex, present of symptom, size, pregnancy. We report ruptured splenic artery aneurysm with hemoperitoneum and review of the literature.
Aneurysm* ; Aorta ; Arteries ; Atherosclerosis ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Fibroblasts ; Hemoperitoneum ; Humans ; Iliac Artery ; Incidence ; Pregnancy ; Rupture ; Splenic Artery*

BACKGROUND: Dizziness is a common complaint in patients presenting at emergency departments. Dizziness is difficult to assess because it is a subjective complaint that cannot be measured. We report a clinical analysis of patients with acute dizziness: type, duration, symptom, incidence, etc. METHODS: We reviewed the clinical details and the results of vestibular function tests for 106 acutely dizzy patients who visited the Emergency Department of Wonkwang University Hospital during the period of Jul. 1999 through Dec. 1999. RESULTS: The most common etiology of acute dizziness was the peripheral vestibular system(66%). The most common disease of the peripheral vestibular system was benign paroxysmal positional vertigo(52.9%), and the second most one was vestibular neuronitis(42.9%). In the central nervous system, cerebrovascular accident(63.6%) was the most common cause. All of the patients had experienced a previous vertigo attack, and 42.4% of them had frequent attacks. Dizziness of the cochlear systems were usual in peripheral vertigo. The usual underlying diseases related with vertigo were hypertension, cerebral infarction and diabetes mellitus. CONCLUSION: Dizziness is a complex and frustrating symptom with numerous possible causes. In case with suspected central disorders, CT and MRI have a great diagnostic significance.
Central Nervous System ; Cerebral Infarction ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Dizziness* ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Incidence ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Vertigo ; Vestibular Function Tests

No abstract available.
Female ; Labor, Induced* ; Pregnancy*

No abstract available.
Foreign Bodies* ; Granuloma, Foreign-Body* ; Lipectomy*

No abstract available.
Asthma* ; Child* ; Dermatitis, Atopic* ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E* ; Rhinitis*

No abstract available.

Mitochondrial DNA (mt DNA) and the non-recombining region of the Y chromosome are passed down, unaltered, from generation to generation, matrilineally and patrilineally, respectively. Therefore, the Y-chromosome DNA and mtDNA are known as lineage markers, and they play important roles in studies based on human migration and evolutionary history. Y-chromosome DNA is used in forensic analysis to identify individuals involved in cases of sexual assault. In this paper, we review the methods of statistical evaluation of lineage markers used in forensic identification. We also review the combined approach of autosomal and lineage marker evidence.
DNA ; DNA, Mitochondrial ; Human Migration ; Y Chromosome