Lentigo maligna, a precancerous tumor arising from abnormal melanocytes, is a chronic, slowly progressive, pigmented lesion with a range of colors from pale tan to black and an irregular shape, The commonest location of lentigo maligna is the face during the sixth and seventh decades of life. Less frequently, the lesion occurs on an extrafacial area such as the hand or lower leg. In the late stage, lentigo maligna transforms into invasive malignant melanoma. A 50-year-old male patient had a well-defined, black pigmented patch on the right sole for 30 years. The histopathologic examination revealed numerous vacuolated melanocytes clusters at the dermo-epidermal junction with invasion of the epidermis. There was no evidence of dermal invasion by atypical melanocytes.
Epidermis ; Hand ; Humans ; Hutchinson's Melanotic Freckle* ; Leg ; Lentigo* ; Male ; Melanocytes ; Melanoma ; Middle Aged ; Triacetoneamine-N-Oxyl

No abstract available.
Nocardia Infections*

PURPOSE: This study was to examine the effectiveness of exercise for bone mineral density (BMD). METHODS: Four investigators reviewed English articles from Pub Med and CINAHL, selecting randomized controlled trials on exercise programs for middle-aged and older women. Out of 25 studies identified, 14 that satisfied with the inclusion criteria were included in the meta-analysis. The quality of the studies was assessed using recognized methods and the effect size was calculated as a Hedges' g using Comprehensive Meta-analysis Version 2.0. Primary outcomes were changes in BMD at femoral neck, trochanter, and lumbar spine. Subgroup analysis included changes in BMD according to exercise style. RESULTS: Weight bearing exercise was effective (Q = 20.1, p > .05, ES = 0.32), and resistance exercise was effective in case of comparing to pre and post intervention (Q = 4.15, p = .98, ES = 0.14). At the femoral neck, 9 study groups were homogeneous and the experimental groups demonstrated a positive effect on BMD (Q = 19.5, p > .05, ES = 0.33). In contrast, marked heterogeneity (Q = 33.3, p < 0.01) was apparent in 7 study groups evaluating trochanter. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that weight bearing is effective for BMD of the femoral neck, and is relevant to the non-pharmacological treatment of bone loss for middle-aged and older women.
Bone Density* ; Female ; Femur ; Femur Neck ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Osteoporosis ; Population Characteristics ; Research Personnel ; Spine ; Weight-Bearing

BACKGROUND: Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) is known to mediate ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced skin inflammation However, there is still ambiguity as to which NOS isotype mediates the process in vivo. Furthermore, contradictory results have been reported on which cell types respond to UVB irradiation in vitro. OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to evaluate the change of inducible NOS (iNOS) expression in vivo as a result of UVB radiation on the skin of a rat. METHOD: To examine the time-course change in iNOS expression in the rat skin, the rats were exposed to 400 ml/cm2 of UVB radiation, and skin samples were taken at various time intervals up to 48 h. iNOS expression on the skin of a rat was evaluated by both Western blot analysis and immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS: From Western blot analysis, UVB irradiation induced inducible NOS (iNOS) expression in the epidermis at 12-48 h postirradiation with a peak expression at 24 h. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that UVB-induced iNOS expression was localized to the epidermis and infiltrating inflammatory cells in the upper dermis of the rat. CONCLUSION: iNOS was induced by UVB irradiation on the skin of a rat, mainly in the epidermis. Therefore, iNOS is supposed to be one of the major mediators with regard to inducing an inflammatory response in UVB-irradiated rat skin in vivo.
Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Dermis ; Epidermis ; Inflammation ; Nitric Oxide Synthase ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II* ; Rats* ; Skin*

No abstract available.
Leiomyoma*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationships among critical thinking disposition, general self-efficacy, leadership and clinical competence, and identify the factors influencing clinical competence in nursing students. METHODS: In this descriptive study, 153 nursing students (from 2nd to 4th school year) of a university in South Korea were enrolled in December 2010. The instruments for this study were the Korean versions of the Critical Thinking Disposition Scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale, Leadership Inventory, and Clinical Competence Scale. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, MANOVA, Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression with PASW 18.0 software. RESULTS: The mean scores (ranging from 1 to 5) in nursing students for critical thinking disposition, general self-efficacy, leadership, and clinical competence were 3.44, 3.51, 3.55, and 3.42, respectively. Positive correlations were found for clinical competence with critical thinking disposition, general self-efficacy, and leadership. The strongest predictor of clinical competence was leadership. In addition, leadership, nursing school year, and subjective academic achievement accounted for 34.5% of variance in clinical competence. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that developing leadership, critical thinking disposition, and self-efficacy in undergraduate nursing education is important to improve clinical competence of nursing students.
Achievement ; Clinical Competence ; Education, Nursing ; Humans ; Leadership ; Linear Models ; Republic of Korea ; Schools, Nursing ; Students, Nursing ; Thinking

PURPOSE: Clusterin is a heterodimeric glycoprotein and its expression is related with tissue injury and apotosis. Angitensisn II(ANG II) is known to be associated with the progression of renal disease by inducing renal fibrosis and cell proliferation. This study was designed to investigate the relationship between ANG II and clusterin expression in the kindey and the heart. We also attempted to discriminate the effect of ANG II-mediated hypertension by experimenting with two doses of ANG II-one is high enough to cause hypertension, and the other is not. METHODS: Three groups of Sprague-Dawley rats received ANG II infusion by osmotic minipump at a dose of 50ng/min, 100ng/min and placebo infusion, respectively. After 7 days, their kidneys and hearts were harvested and underwent immunohistochemical staining, RT-PCR, and Western blotting of clusterin. RESULTS: There were no differences in body weight nor organ weight/body weight among the three groups. Blood pressures of control and low-dose ANG group were not changed throughout the study, but that of high-dose ANG group was increased significantly at day 3 and 7. Staining for renal clusterin was diffusely distributed over the cortex and medulla in all 3 groups, but the intensity of staining was different notably in the medulla of control group which showed stronger staining than the ANG II infused groups. Staining intensity was not significantly different between the low and high ANG groups in the heart and kidney. In the kidney, expression of clusterin mRNA and protein were decreased in low-and high-dose ANG groups compared with control. In the heart, expression of clusterin mRNA was decreased in the low- and high-dose ANG groups compared with control. CONCLUSION: We conclude that ANG II decreases clusterin expression in the kidney and heart regardless of systemic hypertension induced by ANG II.
Angiotensin II* ; Angiotensins* ; Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Body Weight ; Cell Proliferation ; Clusterin* ; Fibrosis ; Glycoproteins ; Heart* ; Hypertension ; Kidney* ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; RNA, Messenger

BACKGROUND: Diffusion-weighted MR imaging (DWI) was designed to detect the random molecular otion of water in tissue. DWI has gained increasing interest recently because it can demonstrate yperacute stroke earlier than any other imaging methods so far. The purpose of our study was to etermine the clinical usefulness and significance of DWI compared with those of Fast Spin Echo T2-weighted image (SE T2WI) and Fluid Attenuated Inversion Recovery (FLAIR) image in acute and subacute ischemic stroke. METHOD: Twenty-five adult patients with clinical diagnoses of acute or subacute cerebral infarctions were imaged with fast SE T2WI, FLAIR and DWI using a 1.5-T image. RESULTS:All the patients had areas of high signal intensity indicating acute or subacute lesions on DWI and these lesions provide an excellent clinicoanatomic correlation. CONCLUSIONS: DWI is most useful in the diagnosis and localization of acute or subacute lacuna or subcortical infarction in patients with preexisting chronic infarctions or white matter hyperintensity showing high signal intensity similar to acute or subacute infarctions on T2WI or FLAIR image.
Adult ; Brain ; Cerebral Infarction ; Diagnosis ; Diffusion* ; Humans ; Infarction ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Stroke*

No abstract available.
Necrosis* ; Purpura, Schoenlein-Henoch*

BACKGROUND: An association between diabetes and tuberculosis has long ken implied. The severity of diabetes appears to correlate with the degree of tuberculous activity. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of 82 patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis in diabetics(DMTB) and 83 patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis in nondiabetios (Non-DMTB) admitted to the Kyung Hee Medical Center between January 1995 and December 1996 was undertaken. RESULTS: The sex ratio of DMTB was 58 : 24, and that of Non-DMTB was 62 : 21. Male patients predominated in both groups. The highest incidence of DMIB was 6th and 7th decades and that of Non-DMTB was 3rd and 4th decades. In case which the tuberculosis developed after diagnosis of diabetes, the prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis was the highest in diabetes for 5 -10 years. On chest X-ray findings, the moderate advanced tuberculosis cases were the most common (60.9% in DMTB and 50.6% in Non-DMTB). There was no relation between the degree of tuberculosis activity on chest x-ray(minimal, moderata awl far advanced tuberculosis) and presence of diabetes. The incidence of lower lung field tuberculosis in DMTB was significantly higher than Non-DMTB(p<0.05). The multiple lobe involvement was the predominant chest roentgenograpflc finding in both groups. There was no significant difference of treatment response between DMTB and Non-DMTB. There was no relationship between initial HbA1c and the stverity of pulmonary tuberculosis on chest X-ray. During treatmenu of pulmonary tuberculosis in excellently and well controlled diabetes, the cure rate of pulmonary tuberculosis was sigrificantly higher than the pcorly controlled diabetes and the rate of treatment failure was significantly lower than poorly controlled diabetes. (p<0.05). CONCLUISON: Poor control of blood glucose is related with increased rate of treatment failure in pulmonary tuberculosis with diabetes mellitus. Further investigation will be needed to study the mechanisms of treatment failure in poorly controlled diabetics with pulmonaiy tuberculosis.
Blood Glucose ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lung ; Male ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies ; Sex Ratio ; Thorax ; Treatment Failure ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary*