No abstract available.
Humans ; Infant, Newborn*

OBJECTIVES: Objective: Cellular immortality is believed to be a critical step in tumorigenesis. As an important component of the telomere maintenance mechanism, the activation of the enzyme telomerase is tightly associated with cellular immortality and cancer. However, little is known about the status of telomerase during human cervical cancer development. To assess the role of telomerase in the development of malignant transformation of the uterine cervix, this investigation was performed. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Telomerase activity was measured by telomeric repeat amplification protocol(TRAP) assay in 8 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia(CIN) and 24 cervical cancers. The tissue adjacent to the lesions from the same patients was also examined for the presence of telomerase activity. RESULTS: Thirty one of the 32(96.9%) lesions were positive for telomerase activity. In the CIN patients, four of the 8(50.0%) lesions showed moderately to strongly positive activities. In the cervical cancer Ia lesions, five of the 9(55.6%), and beyond the stage Ib lesions, fourteen of the 15(93.3%) showed moderately to strongly positive activities. There was a positive correlation between the grade of the lesion and the telomerase activity(P=0.023). Patient's gravida and telomerase activity also had a positive correlation(P=0.022). CONCLUSION: Relatively weak telomerase activity was detected in the low grade cervical lesion and strong activity was detected in the high grade lesion. There was a progressive increase of telomerase activity in association with an increased degree of cervical lesion. Patient's gravida also had an association with telomerase activity. These results suggest that the expression of telomerase activity may play a crucial role in cervical carcinogenesis.
Carcinogenesis ; Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia* ; Cervix Uteri ; Female ; Humans ; Telomerase* ; Telomere ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms

PURPOSE: To evaluate and compare the difference of predictive post-operative refraction preoperatively and real post-operative refraction among five types of intraocular lens. METHODS: We reviewed retrospectively 567 cataractous eyes that had undergone phacoemulsification or ECCE with posterior chamber intraocular lens (IOL) implantation by the same surgeon. Applied IOLs were AMO(R) Phacoflex(R) II SI40NB, Acrysof(R) MA60BM, Sensar(TM) AR40e, CeeOn(TM) 811B and CeeOn(TM) 720A. Prediction of post-operative refraction (predictive refraction) was calculated by the SRK/T formula with manufactured A constant. Post-operative manifest refraction (real refraction) was done at least 2 months postoperatively. We compared the difference between the predictive refraction and the real refraction by paired t-test. RESULTS: Total studied eyes were 390 eyes. In all groups, more myopic shift were observed than predicted. In AMO(R) Phacoflex(R) II SI40NB group, statistically significant difference was seen in postoperative manifest refraction over the predictive refraction as much as mean 0.46 diopter myopically (p<0.05, paired t-test), but others were not. In the AR40e implanted group, the error of predictive refraction was the smallest among groups. CONCLUSIONS: Prediction of postoperative refractive state was influenced by various clinical factors. Using a revised A constant, predictive error would be decreased. We recommend that every cataract surgeon had better have one's original A constant over each IOL and A constant may be revised when major surgical or biomedical measurement settings were changed.
Cataract ; Lenses, Intraocular* ; Phacoemulsification ; Refractive Errors ; Retrospective Studies

No abstract available.
Ileum*

Background & Objective: The number of ischemic stroke is increasing steadily. The recent stroke prevention strategies have targeted risk factors for preventing ischemic stroke. Community-based data that quantify the prevalence of these risk factors are needed to develop effective stroke prevention strategies. This study was performed aiming to establish customized prevention strategies by investigating vascular risk factors of ischemic stroke among the healthy adults in an urban population in Korea. Methods: The Prevention of Stroke and Dementia (PRESENT) survey collected data associated with stroke risk factors between 2007 and 2009 in Ansan city, Korea. Of 46,537 people, 2,843 were selected by random sampling, and final population included 358 men and 422 women over 50 years old. We checked modifiable risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, hyperlipidemia, atrial fibrillation, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and physical inactivity. Results: The mean age of study subjects was 60.1±8.2 years; 55.5% had hypertension, 18.6% had diabetes mellitus, 17.7% were current smoker, 44.9% had hyperlipidemia, 1.7% had atrial fibrillation, and 4.5% had cardiovascular disease. Men had more risk factors for stroke, and higher rates of diabetes mellitus and current smoking. However, women had higher cholesterol and obesity rates and lower physical activity. The proportion of individuals with >1 risk factor for stroke increased with age. Hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular diseases also increased with age, but low-density lipoprotein levels and current smoking decreased. Conclusions: This study provides valuable information to develop customized strategic policies for primary and secondary stroke prevention.
Stroke

The upper gastrointestinal bleeding is to be controlled and prevented for recurrent bleeding with several endoscopic methods. The sapphire contact probe in Nd: YAG laser photocoagulation was compared to conventional non-contact probe in hemostatic efficacy. (continue...)
Aluminum Oxide ; Arteries* ; Hemorrhage ; Lasers, Solid-State* ; Light Coagulation* ; Rabbits*

One of the purposes of this experiment is to observe the structure of crystalline lens with cataract, which is formed artificially, using the light microscope and electron microscope. The other is to observe the differences of structural variations in the cataract developed inside body. Twelve eyes of six pigs were used for this experiment. Two of them are normal crystalline lens, five are cystalline lens in distilled water, and the rest are in balanced salt solution through intact or ruptured capsule. We examined the time of cataract formation and compared the ultrastructural changes. Ruptured capsule and high osmotic pressure difference induced more rapid opacity. In case of distilled water, the capsule is maintained but it is very difficult to distinguish between epithelium and lens fibers. Also, there is a severe crack in the lens fibers. In electron microscopic, as the cataract progresses, the osmotic swelling becomes more prominent. One of the striking changes was a marked intercellular cyst formation. Lens cells became irregular in size and density and were extensively vacuolated. The swelling of the lens cells continuously induced large intracellular vacuoles and liquefied the cytoplasmic protein. In conclusion, the structural change of cataract, which was seen by an electron microscope, resulted from change in osmolarity from previously announced in vivo experiment and structural change resulted from this experiment are similar.
Cataract* ; Crystallins* ; Cytoplasm ; Epithelium ; Lens, Crystalline* ; Microscopy, Electron ; Osmolar Concentration ; Osmotic Pressure ; Strikes, Employee ; Swine ; Vacuoles ; Water

Clinical manifestations of hypothyroidism are very various and these degree are related to the severity and duration of the disease. Pericardial effusions, one of the manifestations of hypothy-roidism, were relatively common in the past. However, recently they may not be so frequent representative of hypothyroid subjects. The higher frequency of Hashimotos thyroiditis in Turners syndrome, especially those with an X-isochromosome, compared with the general population is well known. The pathophysiological process of autoimmunity is thought to be linked with the presence of an abnormal X-chromosome. Recently we experienced a case of X-isochromosome Turners syndrome with hypothyroidism and pericardial effusion and report it with reviews of the literatures.
Autoimmunity ; Hypothyroidism* ; Pericardial Effusion* ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroiditis ; Turner Syndrome*

Objective: To assess the incidence of urinary tract infection (UTI) with post-urodynamic study (post-UDS) in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) and study its relationship with pre-UDS pyuria. Methods: Patients with SCI who were hospitalized and underwent UDS during a 4-year period were reviewed. Patients with pre-test lower urinary tract symptoms were excluded. Urinalysis and urine culture were performed before and 24 hours after UDS. Prophylactic antibiotics were administered for 5 days starting from the morning of the UDS. UTI was defined as bacteriuria with accompanying symptoms. Results: Of 399 patients reviewed, 209 (52.4%) had pyuria in pre-UDS urinalysis, and 257 (64.4%) had bacteriuria in pre-UDS culture. Post-UDS UTI occurred in 6 (1.5%) individuals who all complained of fever: 5 (2.4%) of the post-UDS UTI cases occurred in patients with pre-UDS pyuria, and 1 (0.5%) in a person without. The differences between groups were not statistically significant (p=0.218). Of 221 patients with bacteriuria (gram-negative isolates) on pre-UDS culture, resistance to ciprofloxacin, cephalosporin, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMT) was noted in 52.9% (117 cases), 57.0% (126 cases), and 38.9% (86 cases), respectively. Conclusion No difference was found in the prevalence of post-UDS UTI based on the presence of pyuria in pre-UDS urinalysis. UDS may be performed even in SCI cases of pre-UDS pyuria without increasing the prevalence of post-UDS UTI if prophylactic antibiotics are administered. TMP/SMT could be used as a first-line antibiotic for the prevention of post-UDS UTI in Korea.

Objective: To assess the incidence of urinary tract infection (UTI) with post-urodynamic study (post-UDS) in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) and study its relationship with pre-UDS pyuria. Methods: Patients with SCI who were hospitalized and underwent UDS during a 4-year period were reviewed. Patients with pre-test lower urinary tract symptoms were excluded. Urinalysis and urine culture were performed before and 24 hours after UDS. Prophylactic antibiotics were administered for 5 days starting from the morning of the UDS. UTI was defined as bacteriuria with accompanying symptoms. Results: Of 399 patients reviewed, 209 (52.4%) had pyuria in pre-UDS urinalysis, and 257 (64.4%) had bacteriuria in pre-UDS culture. Post-UDS UTI occurred in 6 (1.5%) individuals who all complained of fever: 5 (2.4%) of the post-UDS UTI cases occurred in patients with pre-UDS pyuria, and 1 (0.5%) in a person without. The differences between groups were not statistically significant (p=0.218). Of 221 patients with bacteriuria (gram-negative isolates) on pre-UDS culture, resistance to ciprofloxacin, cephalosporin, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMT) was noted in 52.9% (117 cases), 57.0% (126 cases), and 38.9% (86 cases), respectively. Conclusion No difference was found in the prevalence of post-UDS UTI based on the presence of pyuria in pre-UDS urinalysis. UDS may be performed even in SCI cases of pre-UDS pyuria without increasing the prevalence of post-UDS UTI if prophylactic antibiotics are administered. TMP/SMT could be used as a first-line antibiotic for the prevention of post-UDS UTI in Korea.