No abstract available.
Orbit*

The reservoir hosts of Thelazia callipaeda were examined. The eyes of the 76 dogs raised at farm, 78 military dogs (shepherds), 96 cattle, and 105 pigs were investigated for the presence of eyeworm. Among them, six worms of T. callipaeda were collected from two dogs raised at farm (2.7%), and 188 worms from 26 shepherds (33.5%). No worms were recovered from the cattle or pigs. These results suggest that the dogs, especially the military dogs are serving as a reservoir host of T. callipaeda. in Korea.
Animals ; Cattle ; Disease Reservoirs/*veterinary ; Dog Diseases/epidemiology/*parasitology ; Dogs ; Eye/parasitology ; Female ; *Host-Parasite Interactions ; Korea/epidemiology ; Male ; Prevalence ; Spirurida Infections/epidemiology/parasitology/*veterinary ; Swine ; Thelazioidea/*isolation & purification

We investigated the optimal culture conditions for Cryptosporidium muris in a human stomach adenocarcinoma (AGS) cell line by determining the effects of medium pH and of selected supplements on the development of C. muris. The optimum pH of the culture medium required for the development of C. muris was determined to be 6.6. The number of parasites significantly increased during cultivation for 72 hr (p < 0.05) at this level. On the other hand, numbers decreased linearly after 24 hr of incubation at pH 7.5. When cultured in different concentrations of serum, C. muris in media containing 5% FBS induced 4-7 times more parasites than in 1% or 10% serum. Of the six medium supplements examined, only 1 mM pyruvate enhanced the number of C. muris in vitro. Transmission electron microscopic observation showed the developmental stages of C. muris in the cytoplasm of the cells, not in an extracytoplasmic location. The growth of C. muris in AGS cells provides a means of investigating its biological characteristics and of testing its response to therapeutic agents. However, a more optimized culture system is needed for the recovery of oocysts on a large scale in vitro.
Adenocarcinoma ; Animals ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cryptosporidium/*growth & development ; Culture Media ; Human ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Stomach/*parasitology ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

No abstract available.
Cholesterol* ; Granuloma*

We exploited the serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) libraries and human genome database in silico to correlate the breadth of expression (BOE; housekeep-ing versus tissue-specific genes) and peak rate of expression (PRE; high versus low expressed genes) with the density distribution of the retroelements. The BOE status is linearly associated with the density of the sense Alus along the 100 kb nucleotides region upstream of a gene, whereas the PRE status is inversely correlated with the density of antisense L1s within a gene and in the up- and downstream regions of the 0-10 kb nucleotides. The radial distance of intranuclear position, which is known to serve as the global domain for transcription regulation, is reciprocally correlated with the fractions of Alu (toward the nuclear center) and L1 (toward the nuclear edge) elements in each chromosome. We propose that the BOE and PRE statuses are related to the reciprocal distribution of Alu and L1 elements that formulate local and global expression domains.
Alu Elements/*genetics ; Chromosome Mapping/*methods ; Comparative Study ; Databases, Genetic ; Gene Expression Profiling/*methods ; Gene Expression Regulation/*genetics ; Genome, Human ; Humans ; Long Interspersed Nucleotide Elements/*genetics ; Retroelements/genetics ; Sequence Analysis, DNA/*methods ; Statistics ; Tissue Distribution

Diabetic muscle infarction (DMI) is an uncommon complication in patients with diabetes and it tends to be underdiagnosed, or misdiagnosed, clinically. Recently, we experienced a case of recurrent diabetic muscle infarction that was unusual in that the patient was younger than other patients. The patient was a 21-year-old woman with a 9-year history of maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) who was referred to our department complaining of pain and edema in her right thigh. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed an increased T2-weighted signal and edema in the affected muscle. The final diagnosis was DMI. However, when the patient had partially recovered and was receiving supportive care, she had a second attack on the other side of the same leg during her hospitalization, in spite of her blood glucose level being strictly controlled. We report the clinical characteristics and imaging findings of this patient with recurrent DMI.
Blood Glucose ; Diabetes Complications ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; Edema ; Female ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Infarction ; Leg ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Muscles ; Recurrence ; Thigh

Pneumocystis carinii causes serious pulmonary infection in immunosuppressed patients. This study was undertaken to observe the cytoskeletal proteins of P. carinii by immuno-electron microscopy. P. carinii infection was experimentally induced by immunosuppression of Sprague-Dawley rats for seven weeks, and their lungs were used for the observations of this study. The gold particles localized actin, tropomyosin, and tubulin. The actin was irregularly scattered in the cytoplasm of the trophic forms but was much more concentrated in the inner space of the cell wall of the cystic forms called the inner electron-lucent layer. No significant amount of tropomyosin was observed in either trophic forms or cystic forms. The tubulin was distributed along the peripheral cytoplasm and filopodia of both the trophic and cystic forms rather than in the inner side of the cytoplasm. Particularly, in the cystic forms, the amount of tubulin was increased and located mainly in the inner electron-lucent layer of the cell wall where the actin was concentrated as well. The results of this study showed that the cell wall of P. carinii cystic forms is a structure whose inner side is rich in actin and tubulin. The location of the actin and tubulin in P. carinii suggests that the main role of these proteins is an involvement in the protection of cystic forms from the outside environment by maintaining rigidity of the cystic forms.
Actins/analysis ; Animals ; Cytoskeletal Proteins/*analysis ; Fungal Proteins/*analysis ; Histocytochemistry ; Microscopy, Immunoelectron ; Pneumocystis/*chemistry/cytology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Tropomyosin/analysis ; Tubulin/analysis

Issues related to the control of seizures and bleeding, as well as behavioral management due to mental retardation, render dental treatment less accessible or impossible for patients with Sturge-Weber syndrome (SWS). A 41-year-old man with SWS visited a dental clinic for rehabilitation of missing dentition. A bilateral port-wine facial nevus and intraoral hemangiomatous swollen lesion of the left maxillary and mandibular gingivae, mucosa, and lips were noted. The patient exhibited extreme anxiety immediately after injection of a local anesthetic and required various dental treatments to be performed over multiple visits. Therefore, full-mouth rehabilitation over two visits with general anesthesia and two visits with target-controlled intravenous infusion of a sedative anesthesia were planned. Despite concerns regarding seizure control, bleeding control, and airway management, no specific complications occurred during the treatments, and the patient was satisfied with the results.
Adult ; Airway Management ; Anesthesia* ; Anesthesia, General ; Anxiety ; Dental Clinics ; Dentition ; Gingiva ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Infusions, Intravenous ; Intellectual Disability ; Lip ; Mouth Rehabilitation* ; Mouth* ; Mucous Membrane ; Nevus ; Rehabilitation ; Seizures ; Sturge-Weber Syndrome*

Issues related to the control of seizures and bleeding, as well as behavioral management due to mental retardation, render dental treatment less accessible or impossible for patients with Sturge-Weber syndrome (SWS). A 41-year-old man with SWS visited a dental clinic for rehabilitation of missing dentition. A bilateral port-wine facial nevus and intraoral hemangiomatous swollen lesion of the left maxillary and mandibular gingivae, mucosa, and lips were noted. The patient exhibited extreme anxiety immediately after injection of a local anesthetic and required various dental treatments to be performed over multiple visits. Therefore, full-mouth rehabilitation over two visits with general anesthesia and two visits with target-controlled intravenous infusion of a sedative anesthesia were planned. Despite concerns regarding seizure control, bleeding control, and airway management, no specific complications occurred during the treatments, and the patient was satisfied with the results.
Adult ; Airway Management ; Anesthesia* ; Anesthesia, General ; Anxiety ; Dental Clinics ; Dentition ; Gingiva ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Infusions, Intravenous ; Intellectual Disability ; Lip ; Mouth Rehabilitation* ; Mouth* ; Mucous Membrane ; Nevus ; Rehabilitation ; Seizures ; Sturge-Weber Syndrome*

Background/Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between clinical risk factors of post-extubation dysphagia (PED) and the severity of impaired pharyngeal swallowing function assessed via videofluoroscopic swallowing studies (VFSSs). Methods: This study was a retrospective review of medical records. Of 116 patients who were admitted to the intensive care unit and underwent VFSS, 32 who had non-neurologic disorders and experienced prolonged intubation (for more than 48 hours) were diagnosed with PED. The severity of PED was evaluated by using a functional dysphagia scale (FDS) and a penetration aspiration scale (PAS), on the basis of VFSS. Results: The Simplified Acute Physiology Score 3 and total FDS score were positively correlated (r = 0.40, p = 0.02). Intubation duration was positively correlated with total PAS and FDS scores (r = 0.62, p < 0.001; r = 0.65, p < 0.001, respectively). The amounts of residue in the valleculae (RV) and pyriform sinuses (RP) were associated with intubation duration (r = 0.58, p < 0.001; r = 0.57, p < 0.001, respectively). Multivariate regression analysis revealed that intubation duration was significantly associated with the total FDS score, RV and RP subscales of the FDS, and total PAS score. Conclusions The severity of impaired swallowing function, particularly the amount of residue in the pharyngeal recesses assessed via VFSS, was strongly associated with both severity of medical illness and intubation duration. Intubation duration could be a prognostic factor for assessing impaired swallowing function on the basis of VFSS.