This research was conducted to investigate the responses of the patients and the therapists who attend the community meeting, to evaluate the therapeutic effects of community meeting as a group psychotherapy by applying short form scale of Yalom's Q-sort, to diagnose and complement the problems of the community meeting and to aim at activating the therapeutic function as the group psychotherapy The community meeting was held by 10 times during the stage of oscillation of the community and 26.7 patients group(+/-2.95) and 8.5 therapists group(+/-1.43) attended the every meeting. Consequently, both patients group and therapists group evaluate the community meeting as positive, and on the item which is helpful to them, while patient group responds it is 'mutual understanding and love' and 'self-understanding', therapist group does it is 'frank self-expression' and 'conversation'. On all items of group psychotherapy factors in the community meeting, the patients group evaluates it is more therapeutic in comparison with the therapists group, especially there is a significant difference in nine items such as 'altruism', 'group cohesiveness', 'interpersonal input', 'interpersonal output', 'identification', 'instillation of hope', 'family reenactment', 'self-understanding' and 'existential awareness'. In addition, on the therapeutic factor which is activated group psychotherapy factor in the community meeting, both patients and therapists respond that it is 'existential awareness' and 'universality', and they evaluate 'interpersonal output' as an non-activated therapeutic factor.
Complement System Proteins ; Humans ; Psychotherapy, Group ; Q-Sort

No abstract available.
Canada* ; Gastrointestinal Tract*

PURPOSE: Because of the unavailability of marrow transplantation, umbilical cord blood (CB) is increasingly being used. We evaluated the potential of ex vivo expansion and clonality in CD34+ cells separated from cord blood source and mobilized peripheral blood (PB) in a serum-free media. METHODS: The CD34+ cells, selected from CB and mobilized PB, were expanded with hematopoietic growth factors. They were then cultured for burst-forming units of erythrocytes (BFU-E), colony-forming units of granulocytes and monocytes (CFU-GM) and colony-forming units of megakaryocytes (CFU-Mk) at culture days 0, day 4, day 7, and day 14 with various growth factors. RESULTS: The CB-selected CD34+ cells showed significantly higher total cell expansion than those from the PB at day 7 (2 fold increase than PB). The CB-selected CD34+ cells produced more BFU-E colonies than did the PB on culture at days 7 and at day 14. Also, the CB-selected CD34+ cells produced more CFU-Mk colonies than did the PB on culture at day 4 and at day 7. CONCLUSION: The ex vivo expansion of the CB cells may be promising in producing total cellular expansion, CFU-Mk and BFU-E compared with PB for 7 to 14 days. The growth factors combination including megakaryocyte growth and development, flt3-ligand and interleukin-3 showed more expansion in the view of total cells and clonal maintenance compared with less combination.
Bone Marrow ; Culture Media, Serum-Free ; Erythrocytes ; Erythroid Precursor Cells ; Fetal Blood* ; Granulocytes ; Growth and Development ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; Interleukin-3 ; Megakaryocytes ; Monocytes ; Stem Cells

Mycobacterium abscessus, a rapidly growing mycobacterium, is an opportunistic pathogen which causes a wide variety of clinical symptoms. Recently non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections are increasing among immunocompromised patients and made 4% of total cases of mycobacterial infection. To our knowledge, there has been no report of systemic infection caused by rapidly growing mycobacterium in Korea. We experienced a case of M. abscessus septicemia due to chemoport infection in a 47-year old female who was diagnosed as ovarian cancer stage IIIc and was in the immunocompromised state after systemic chemotherapy. The patient manifested with fever, chilling, headache, and nausea, though, there were no abnormalities on physical examination. When the patient was receiving empirical antibiotic therapy, a rapidly growing mycobacterium was detected in repeated blood cultures. She was improved with not only systemic an-tibiotic treatment but also removing the chemoport. But short course (4 weeks) of antibiotic therapy caused incomplete treatment and made multiple skin abscess. After incision and drainage of the lesions and administration of prolonged antibiotic therapy, no additional infection was observed. Based on our experience and the review of the literatures, catheter-related bacteremia due to rapidly growing mycobacterium, including M. abscessus, should be treated with catheter removal and appropriate antibiotic therapy for at least 3 to 6 months based on in vitro susceptibility testing. When a patient in neutropenic state presents sustained fever after treatment with conventional antibiotics, non-tuberculous mycobacterial infection should be considered.
Abscess ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Bacteremia ; Catheters ; Drainage ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Fever ; Headache ; Humans ; Immunocompromised Host ; Korea ; Middle Aged ; Mycobacterium* ; Nausea ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; Physical Examination ; Sepsis* ; Skin

PURPOSE: The pathophysiological role of detrusor overactivity (DO) in the bladder, which is commonly observed in various bladder diseases, is not well understood. DO appears in bladder outlet obstruction (BOO), and may continue even after subsequent deobstruction. DO therefore provides an excellent opportunity to observe molecular biological changes. METHODS: In this study, to understand the molecular effects of persistent DO after BOO induction and deobstruction, we performed awake cystometry on female Sprague-Dawley rats divided into 4 groups: a sham group, a BOO group, a deobstructed group with DO after BOO (DDO), and a deobstructed group without DO after BOO (non-DDO). Total RNA was extracted from the bladder samples, and gene expression profiles were compared between the sham and model groups. RESULTS: DO was observed in 5 of the 6 rats (83%) in the BOO group, and in 6 of the 13 rats (46%) in the deobstructed group. The non-DDO group showed a significantly greater residual volume than the DDO group. Through a clustering analysis of gene expression profiles, we identified 7,532 common upregulated and downregulated genes, the expression of which changed by more than 2 fold. In the BOO group, 898 upregulated and 2,911 downregulated genes were identified. The non-DDO group showed 3,472 upregulated and 4,025 downregulated genes, whereas in the DDO group, only 145 and 72 genes were upregulated and downregulated, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Abnormal function and gene expression profiles in bladders after BOO were normalized in the BOO rats with DO after deobstruction, whereas in those without DO, abnormal function persisted and the gene expression profile became more abnormal. DO may play a protective role against the stress to the bladder induced by BOO and deobstruction as a form of adaptive neuroplasticity.
Animals ; DNA ; Female ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression* ; Humans ; Microarray Analysis ; Neuronal Plasticity ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Residual Volume ; RNA ; Transcriptome* ; Urethral Obstruction ; Urinary Bladder Diseases ; Urinary Bladder Neck Obstruction* ; Urinary Bladder* ; Urinary Bladder, Overactive

AIMTo evaluate the plasma TGF-beta1 level in erectile dysfunction (ED) patients of various causes.

METHODSSixty-two patients with ED and 26 potent men were subjected to the study. Based on multidisciplinary work-ups, including medical history, physical examinations, blood tests with lipid profile and hormones, penile duplex Doppler ultrasonogram and neurophysiological tests, causes for ED were classified as psychogenic (n=15), neurogenic (n=16) and vasculogenic (n=31). The plasma TGF-beta1 level was measured by the ELISA method.

RESULTSThe plasma TGF-beta1 level was significantly increased in the ED group (6.7+/-4.9 ng/mL), compared to the control (4.0 +/-2.1 ng/mL) (P<0.01). In the ED groups, there was a significant increase in the vasculogenic group (9.0 +/-5.5 ng/mL), compared to the psychogenic (3.8 +/-1.8 ng/mL) and neurogenic groups (4.8+/-3.2 ng/mL) (P<0.01). Of the vascular risk factors, both the smoking (7.5 +/-4.7 ng/mL) and dyslipidemia groups (7.4+/-4.4 ng/mL) showed significantly increased plasma TGF-beta1 levels, compared to the non-smokers (5.5+/-2.8 ng/mL), and those without dyslipidemia (4.8+/-2.8 ng/mL) (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONVascular risk factors are associated with an elevated plasma TGF-beta1 level, which may contribute to cavernous fibrosis and ED.

Adult ; Aged ; Arteriosclerosis ; complications ; physiopathology ; Diabetes Mellitus ; physiopathology ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Erectile Dysfunction ; blood ; etiology ; psychology ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; complications ; physiopathology ; Hypertension ; complications ; physiopathology ; Impotence, Vasculogenic ; blood ; psychology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Penis ; diagnostic imaging ; Risk Factors ; Smoking ; physiopathology ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; blood ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; Ultrasonography

Hypoxia, a common consequence of solid tumor growth in breast cancer or other cancers, serves to propagate a cascade of molecular pathways which include angiogenesis, glycolysis, and various cellcycle control proteins. As we have shown previously, hypoxia activates STAT5 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 5) and increases its binding activity to the GAS element in mammary epithelial cells. In this study we attempted to elucidate the mechanism by which cyclin D1 is regulated by the STAT5 protein under hypoxic conditions. Our data demonstrate that hypoxia (2% O2) or desferrioxamine (DFO) induces tyrosine and serine phosphorylation of STAT5 in human breast cancer cells (MCF-7) and mammary epithelial cells (HC11). Imunoprecipitation and subsequent Western analysis showed that Jak2 leads to the tyrosine phosphorylation and activation of STAT5a or STAT5b under hypoxic conditions. Using a transfected COS-7 cell model system, we demonstrate that the activity of a cyclin D1 promoter-luciferase construct increased under hypoxic conditions or DFO treatment. The activity of the STAT5b/cyclin D1 promoter increased significantly by 12 h of hypoxia, whereas the activity of the STAT5a/cyclin D1 promoter was unaffected under hypoxic conditions. These increases in promoter activity are predominantly mediated by the Jak2/ STAT5b signaling pathway. We have shown by EMSA that hypoxia induces STAT5 to bind to the cyclin D1 promoter (GAS-1) in MCF-7 and HC11 cells. These data suggest that STAT5b may mediate the transcriptional activation of cyclin D1 after hypoxic stimulation.
Anaerobiosis/genetics ; Animals ; Breast Neoplasms/*genetics/metabolism ; COS Cells ; Cell Hypoxia/genetics ; Cercopithecus aethiops ; Cyclin D1/*genetics ; Deferoxamine/pharmacology ; Female ; *Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Phosphorylation/drug effects ; Promoter Regions (Genetics) ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinase/*metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins/*metabolism ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Serine/metabolism ; Tumor Cells, Cultured ; Tyrosine/metabolism

Endovascular recanalization therapy (ERT) has been a standard of care for patients with acute ischemic stroke due to large artery occlusion (LAO) within 6 hours after onset, since five landmark ERT trials conducted by 2015 demonstrated its clinical benefit. Recently, two randomized clinical trials demonstrated that ERT, even in the late time window of up to 16 hours or 24 hours after last known normal time, improved the outcome of patients who had a target mismatch, defined as either clinical-core mismatch or perfusion-core mismatch, which prompted the update of national guidelines in several countries. Accordingly, to provide evidence-based and up-to-date recommendations for ERT in patients with acute LAO in Korea, the Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee of the Korean Stroke Society decided to revise the previous Korean Clinical Practice Guidelines of Stroke for ERT. For this update, the members of the writing group were appointed by the Korean Stroke Society and the Korean Society of Interventional Neuroradiology. After thoroughly reviewing the updated evidence from two recent trials and relevant literature, the writing members revised recommendations, for which formal consensus was achieved by convening an expert panel composed of 45 experts from the participating academic societies. The current guidelines are intended to help healthcare providers, patients, and their caregivers make well-informed decisions and to improve the quality of care regarding ERT. The ultimate decision for ERT in a particular patient must be made in light of circumstances specific to that patient.
Arteries ; Caregivers ; Cerebral Infarction ; Consensus ; Health Personnel ; Humans ; Korea ; Mechanical Thrombolysis ; Reperfusion ; Standard of Care ; Stroke ; Writing

Endovascular recanalization therapy (ERT) has been a standard of care for patients with acute ischemic stroke due to large artery occlusion (LAO) within 6 hours after onset since the five landmark ERT trials up to 2015 demonstrated its clinical benefit. Recently, two randomized clinical trials demonstrated that ERT, even in the late time window up to 16 hours or 24 hours after last known normal time, improved the outcome of patients who had a target mismatch defined as either clinical-core mismatch or perfusion-core mismatch, which prompted the update of national guidelines in several countries. Accordingly, to provide evidence-based and up-to-date recommendations for ERT in patients with acute LAO in Korea, the Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee of the Korean Stroke Society decided to revise the previous Korean Clinical Practice Guidelines of Stroke for ERT. For this update, the members of the writing group were appointed by the Korean Stroke Society and the Korean Society of Interventional Neuroradiology. After thorough reviewing the updated evidence from two recent trials and relevant literature, the writing members revised recommendations, for which formal consensus was achieved by convening an expert panel composed of 45 experts from the participating academic societies. The current guidelines are intended to help healthcare providers, patients, and their caregivers make their well-informed decisions and to improve the quality of care regarding ERT. The ultimate decision for ERT in a particular patient must be made in light of circumstances specific to that patient.

Endovascular recanalization therapy (ERT) has been a standard of care for patients with acute ischemic stroke due to large artery occlusion (LAO) within 6 hours after onset, since five landmark ERT trials conducted by 2015 demonstrated its clinical benefit. Recently, two randomized clinical trials demonstrated that ERT, even in the late time window of up to 16 hours or 24 hours after last known normal time, improved the outcome of patients who had a target mismatch, defined as either clinical-core mismatch or perfusion-core mismatch, which prompted the update of national guidelines in several countries. Accordingly, to provide evidence-based and up-to-date recommendations for ERT in patients with acute LAO in Korea, the Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee of the Korean Stroke Society decided to revise the previous Korean Clinical Practice Guidelines of Stroke for ERT. For this update, the members of the writing group were appointed by the Korean Stroke Society and the Korean Society of Interventional Neuroradiology. After thoroughly reviewing the updated evidence from two recent trials and relevant literature, the writing members revised recommendations, for which formal consensus was achieved by convening an expert panel composed of 45 experts from the participating academic societies. The current guidelines are intended to help healthcare providers, patients, and their caregivers make well-informed decisions and to improve the quality of care regarding ERT. The ultimate decision for ERT in a particular patient must be made in light of circumstances specific to that patient.
Arteries ; Caregivers ; Cerebral Infarction ; Consensus ; Health Personnel ; Humans ; Korea ; Mechanical Thrombolysis ; Reperfusion ; Standard of Care ; Stroke ; Writing