The gene ftsH encodes a membrane-bound and ATP-dependent protease that is involved in a variety of cellular functions including heat-shock and stress response. Streptococcus pneumoniae DNA encompassing most part of the ftsH gene was cloned in Escherichia coli and sequenced. Due to the unsuccessful cloning as seen in other pneumococcal promoters, the 5'-end of the gene including the upstream promoter region was amplified by inverse polymerase chain reaction and then sequenced by cyclic sequencing. The amino acid sequence that is deduced from the 1,959 bp-long ftsH gene is very similar to FtsH of several gram-positive bacteria and E. coli within the region responsible for the AAA (ATPase associated with diverse cellular activities) function. Except for the N-terminal domain that contains a short extracellular region between two mernbrane-spanning segments, pneumococcal FtsH shows striking sequence similarity to that of a closely related species Lactococcus lactis within the conserved cytoplasmic domain where two ATP-binding motifs, the AAA Signature motif, and a zinc-binding motif are found.
Amino Acid Sequence ; ATP-Dependent Proteases ; Base Sequence* ; Clone Cells* ; Cloning, Organism* ; Cytoplasm ; DNA ; Escherichia coli ; Gram-Positive Bacteria ; Lactococcus lactis ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Streptococcus pneumoniae* ; Streptococcus* ; Strikes, Employee

We treated a case of extramammary Paget's disease that affected the scalp of a 45-year-old female. It is extremely rare that the disease arises in areas other than the anogenital region and the axillae. The lesion was a round erythematous oozing crusted hairless patch. Histopathologically, many pagetoid cells were found within the epidermis and dermis. The cytoplasms of these cells stained with alcian blue at pH 2.5, CEA, EMA and low-molecular-weight-cytokeratin. The patient underwent a wide local excision. We used a mapping technique to reveal the distribution of microscopically involved lesions.
Alcian Blue ; Axilla ; Cytoplasm ; Dermis ; Epidermis ; Female ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Middle Aged ; Paget Disease, Extramammary* ; Scalp*

The fruit body of Ramaria botrytis DGUM 29001 was used to determine enzyme activities of fruit body. The specific activity of laccase was the highest(6.5 unit/mg.protein) and that of alpha-amylase and xylanase was relatively high. However, little or no enzyme activity of beta-glucosidase, CMCase, exo-beta-1,4-glucanase, chitinase, lipase and protease was found.
alpha-Amylases ; beta-Glucosidase ; Botrytis* ; Chitinase ; Fruit* ; Glucan 1,4-beta-Glucosidase ; Laccase ; Lipase

The culture conditions for the enhanced mycelial growth of Ramaria botrytis was investigated. The optimal temperature and pH for the mycelial growth were 24degrees C and 5.0, respectively. It was shown that starch was best of several carbon sources in Czapek-Dox medium as a minimal medium for the enhanced mycelial growth. Organic nitrogen sources were better than inorganic ones for mycelial growth. The appropriate vitamin and mineral salt were biotin and FeCl3, respectively. When this strain was cultured with FeCl3 for 30 days, 19.23 g/l of dry mycelium of R. botrytis was obtained.
Biotin ; Botrytis* ; Carbon ; Cultural Characteristics* ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Mycelium ; Nitrogen ; Starch ; Vitamins

In this study, in an effort to develop a method for the molecular detection of Tricholoma matsutake in Korea from other closely related Tricholomataceae, a species-specific PCR primer pair, TmF and TmR, was designed using nuclear ribosomal intertranscribed spacer (ITS) sequences. The DTmF and DTmR sequences were 5'-CCTGACGCCAATCTTTTCA-3' and 5'-GGAGAGCAGACTTGTGAGCA-3', respectively. The PCR primers reliably amplified only the ITS sequences of T. matsutake, and not those of other species used in this study.
Korea ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Tricholoma

BACKGROUND: Dizziness due to brain lesions manifests mainly in infratentorial lesions, with few cases related to supratentorial lesions having been reported. This study aimed to elucidate the clinical characteristics and demographic factors of patients with dizziness caused by cerebral infarction and to determine the site of the brain where supratentorial lesions are most prevalent. METHODS: Patients with prominent dizziness who visited the emergency room of Gachon University Gil Hospital between July 2006 and July 2007 were included. Among them, 101 patients with acute cerebral infarction were categorized into supratentorial (n=51) and infratentorial (n=50) groups based on brain MRI. Demographics and clinical characteristics of dizziness in each group were compared, and common brain sites of the supratentorial group were assessed. RESULTS: The nature of the dizziness differed between the supratentorial group (vertigo, 27.4%; presyncope, 5.9%; disequilibrium, 29.4%; ocular, 11.8%; and nonspecific, 25.5%) and the infratentorial group (vertigo, 50.0%; presyncope, 6.0%; disequilibrium, 32.0%; ocular, 0%; and nonspecific, 12.0%; p=0.02). The duration of dizziness was shorter in the supratentorial than the infratentorial group (p<0.01). In the supratentorial group, common sites of the lesion were the thalamus (19.6%) and frontoparietal lobe (15.7%). The lesion usually appeared in the left hemisphere (60.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Dizziness from supratentorial lesions manifests in different ways, and its duration is shorter than that from infratentorial lesions. The central vestibular pathway may be located in the thalamus and frontoparietal lobe.
Brain ; Cerebral Infarction ; Demography ; Dizziness ; Emergencies ; Humans ; Infarction ; Syncope ; Thalamus

INTRODUCTION: Several methods, including loss of eye lash (eyelash) reflex and loss of verbal contact, have heen used as criteria for estimating the optimal hypnosis for anesthesia induction. However, these methods are too objective. We examined the hypnotic dose response of etomidate, using a bispectral index as a more subjective criterion for anesthesia induction. METHODS: Fourty-Five ASA I or II adult patients scheduled for elective orthopedic surgery were randomly allocated to three groups according to induction dose of etomidate. They were Group 1: 0.1 mg/kg ; Group 2: 0.15 mg/kg; Group 3: 0.2 mg/kg (n = 15 for each group), respectively. Etomidate diluted as 10 ml in a syringe injected through an 18G forearm intravenous catheter, using a syringe pump at the rate of 20 ml/min. Observer's Assessment of Alertness/sedation (OAA/S) scale of 1 was considered optimal for hypnosis. Bispectral index, OAA/S scale, and vital signs were checked every minute until spontaneous eye opening after end of drug infusion. Also, the correlation coefficient between BIS and OAA/S scale was checked for evaluating the bispectral index; this was a useful tool for estimating the degree of hypnosis. RESULTS: BIS and OAA/S showed their lowest scores around 60 sec. after the etomidate injection, which was very different from time to peak effect known to be the 2 min. The correlation coefficient (r) between BIS and OAA/S was 0.84 on average, suggesting the BIS as an good subjective indicator of optimal hypnosis for anesthesia induction. Vital signs were stable in all groups. Hypnotic ED50 and ED95 were 0.12 and 0.19 mg/kg, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Bispectral index can be a useful tool for estimating the optimal hypnosis for anesthesia induction. Hypnotic ED50 of etomidate was 0.12 mg/kg.
Adult ; Anesthesia* ; Catheters ; Etomidate* ; Forearm ; Humans ; Hypnosis ; Orthopedics ; Reflex ; Syringes ; Vital Signs

INTRODUCTION: Several methods, including loss of eye lash (eyelash) reflex and loss of verbal contact, have heen used as criteria for estimating the optimal hypnosis for anesthesia induction. However, these methods are too objective. We examined the hypnotic dose response of etomidate, using a bispectral index as a more subjective criterion for anesthesia induction. METHODS: Fourty-Five ASA I or II adult patients scheduled for elective orthopedic surgery were randomly allocated to three groups according to induction dose of etomidate. They were Group 1: 0.1 mg/kg ; Group 2: 0.15 mg/kg; Group 3: 0.2 mg/kg (n = 15 for each group), respectively. Etomidate diluted as 10 ml in a syringe injected through an 18G forearm intravenous catheter, using a syringe pump at the rate of 20 ml/min. Observer's Assessment of Alertness/sedation (OAA/S) scale of 1 was considered optimal for hypnosis. Bispectral index, OAA/S scale, and vital signs were checked every minute until spontaneous eye opening after end of drug infusion. Also, the correlation coefficient between BIS and OAA/S scale was checked for evaluating the bispectral index; this was a useful tool for estimating the degree of hypnosis. RESULTS: BIS and OAA/S showed their lowest scores around 60 sec. after the etomidate injection, which was very different from time to peak effect known to be the 2 min. The correlation coefficient (r) between BIS and OAA/S was 0.84 on average, suggesting the BIS as an good subjective indicator of optimal hypnosis for anesthesia induction. Vital signs were stable in all groups. Hypnotic ED50 and ED95 were 0.12 and 0.19 mg/kg, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Bispectral index can be a useful tool for estimating the optimal hypnosis for anesthesia induction. Hypnotic ED50 of etomidate was 0.12 mg/kg.
Adult ; Anesthesia* ; Catheters ; Etomidate* ; Forearm ; Humans ; Hypnosis ; Orthopedics ; Reflex ; Syringes ; Vital Signs

In effort to determine whether aircraft noise can have health effects such as hearing loss, hypertension and psychological stress, a total of 111 male professors and administrative officers working a college near a military airport in Korea(exposed group) and a total of 168 males and 112 females matched by age groups(control groups) were analyzed. Personal noise exposure and indoor and outdoor sound level of jet aircraft noise were measured at the exposed area. And pure tone, air conduction test and measurement of blood pressure were given to the exposed(males) and matched control groups(males and females). BEPSI(Brief Encounter Psychological Instrument) and psychological response to aircraft noise were examined for the exposed group. The noise dosimetry results revealed time-weighted averages(TWAs) that ranged from 61 to 68 dBA. However the levels encountered during taking off jet airplanes reached 126 dBA for two half minutes time period. The audiometric test showed that mean values of HTL(hearing threshold level) in exposed group at every frequency(500, 1,000, 2,000, 4,000, and 8,000 Hz were much lower than them of male and female control groups. And in old age groups, interaction of age and noise was observed at 8,000 Hz in both ears(p< 0.05). Conclusively, aircraft noise does not appear to induce hearing loss directly, but may decreased hearing threshold level by interaction of aging process and noise exposure. However, difference of mean values of exposed and control groups on blood pressure was not significantly. In psychological test, annoyance was the most severe psychological response to noise in exposed group, but mean value of BEPSI was not correlated with job duration in exposed group
Aging ; Aircraft* ; Airports ; Blood Pressure* ; Female ; Hearing Loss* ; Hearing* ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Male ; Military Personnel ; Noise* ; Presbycusis ; Psychological Tests ; Stress, Psychological*

Benign bone tumors can be found in the following clinical situations: 1) incidental findings on chest radiograph for health screening without symptoms or radiographs after traffic accident; 2) radiographs for other orthopedic problems, such as osteoarthritis; and 3) pain caused by the tumor. Knowledge of various diseases and their clinical characteristics is required for diagnosis of benign bone tumors. In addition, one should consider carefully whether or not the lesion has the characteristics of benign bone tumor or possibility of malignancy so that proper treatment can be decided. In case the diagnosis cannot be confirmed, even though benign bone tumor is suspected on radiography, follow-up radiographs should be taken to rule-out malignant bone tumors.
Accidents, Traffic ; Diagnosis ; Incidental Findings ; Mass Screening ; Orthopedics ; Osteoarthritis ; Radiography ; Radiography, Thoracic