BACKGROUND: Although postmenopausal estrogen replacement therapy is known to reduce cardiovascular mortality, the mechanism is not clear yet. Furthermore, the effect of estrogen on vascular tonus is reportedly variable according to the animal models, vascular beds and agonists used. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Bilateral ovariectomies were performed in 12 week-old, 18 spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and 18 normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY). Rats were divided into three groups according to the dose of 17beta-estradiol (E 2 ) pellets implanted subcutaneously two weeks after ovariectomy: control (no implantation), low-dose (0.5 mg) and high-dose (5 mg) E 2 replacement group. Two weeks after pellet implantation, organ bath experiments were performed using descending thoracic aortae. For endothelium-dependent relaxation, acetylcholine (10(-9) -3x10(-6) M) was cumulatively added into the vessels precontracted with 10(-7) M norepinephrine (NE). For vasoconstrictor responses, cumulative concentration-contraction curves were constructed in quiescent vessels using NE (10(-9) -10(-5) M), U46619 (10(-9) -3x10(-6) M), endothelin-1 (10(-10) -10(-7) M). In addition, contraction to angiotensin II (10(-7) M) was also obtained. Serum 17beta-estradiol levels were measured by radioimmunoassay. Blood pressure was measured by tail-cuff method in some SHRs before ovariectomy and after placebo/E 2 replacement. RESULTS: Endothelium-dependent relaxation to acetylcholine was impaired in WKY treated with 5 mg E 2 (pIC 50 : control vs 5mg E 2 : 7.75+/-0.13 vs 7.27+/-0.16: n=6: p<0.05). No significant effect was noted in SHR. Contraction to angiotensin II was inhibited by low-dose E 2 in WKY and high-dose E 2 in SHR (% of the contraction to 60 mM KCl: WKY: control vs 0.5 mg E 2 : 39+/-5 vs 25+/-2: SHR: control vs 5 mg E 2 : 34+/-4 vs 22+/-2: n=6 and p<0.05 in WKY and SHR). In contrast, NE-induced contraction was enhanced by E 2 replacement (both low- and high-dose) in WKY and SHR (WKY: control vs 0.5 mg E 2 vs 5 mg E 2 : AUC: 280+/-24 vs 387+/-26 vs 374+/-25: maximal contraction: 137+/-8 vs 166+/-8 vs 162+/-3: pD 2 : 7.63+/-0.11 vs 8.17+/-0.13 vs 8.13+/-0.13: SHR: control vs 0.5 mg E 2 vs 5 mg E 2 : AUC: 265+/-17 vs 349+/-16 vs 406+/-19: maximal contraction: 152+/-6 vs 181+/-9 vs 203+/-16: pD 2 : 7.45+/-0.13 vs 7.91+/-0.08 vs 8.04+/-0.04: n=6 and p<0.05 between control and treated groups in WKY and SHR for all parameters). Contraction to U46619 was enhanced by E 2 replacement in SHR (control vs 0.5 mg E 2 : AUC: 478+/-30 vs 574+/-23: maximal contraction: 181+/-9 vs 230+/-10: n=6: p<0.05 for both parameters). Maximal contractile response to endothelin-1 was also enhanced in SHR (control vs 0.5 mg E 2 vs 5 mg E 2 : maximal contraction: 165+/-7 vs 189+/-7 vs 199+/-8: n=6 and p<0.05 between control and treated groups) but not in WKY. Blood pressure was not different between placebo and E 2- treated SHR (171+/-2 vs 174+/-4 mmHg). CONCLUSION: In WKY, chronic high-dose estrogen replacement impairs endothelium-dependent relaxation to acetylcholine.: low-dose estrogen replacement does not affect endothelium-dependent relaxation in SHR and WKY. Estrogen replacement enhances the contraction to most of the contractile agonists tested except angiotensin II in both WKY and SHR. These results suggest that estrogen replacement affect the vascular tonus differently according to the vasoactive substances and/or hormones without significant effect on blood pressure.
15-Hydroxy-11 alpha,9 alpha-(epoxymethano)prosta-5,13-dienoic Acid ; Acetylcholine ; Angiotensin II ; Animals ; Aorta, Thoracic ; Area Under Curve ; Baths ; Blood Pressure ; Endothelin-1 ; Estrogen Replacement Therapy* ; Estrogens* ; Female ; Models, Animal ; Mortality ; Norepinephrine ; Ovariectomy ; Radioimmunoassay ; Rats ; Rats, Inbred SHR* ; Relaxation

In order to determine paternity by genetic testing, the Paternity Index (PI) and probability of paternity are calculated using likelihood ratio method. However, when it is necessary, additional testing can be performed to validate the genetic relationship. This research demonstrates autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) results of Jeju Island population in order to determine genetic relationship. Two notable cases showed that despite the acceptable PI value obtained from STR testing, average of 12 mismatches were found in total of 169 autosomal single nucleotide polymorphism typing. Such cases imply that cautious statistical approach is necessary when determining genetic relationship, especially within an isolated population group. Moreover, this would suggest that a further research and investigation are needed in order to understand the population structure of Korea.
Genetic Testing ; Humans ; Korea ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Paternity* ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Population Groups

No abstract available.
Mass Screening* ; Prospective Studies*

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with recurrent pneumothorax after wedge resection in primary spontaneous pneumothorax in our hospital. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Two hundred thirty-five consecutive patient (98% males; mean age, 23.9+/-4.5 years) who had undergone video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) were reviewed retrospectively. The two groups were divided as follows: group A, non-recurrent patients (225 patients [96%]); and group B, recurrent group (10 patients [4%]); the risk factors were compared between the two groups. The single and multiple factors that influenced the recurrence rate were analyzed using Cox's proportional hazard model. RESULT: There were no significant differences between the recurrent and non-recurrent groups in terms of gender, smoking, site of recurrence, degree of collapse, operative time, and number or weight of resected bullae. The recurrence rate was significantly more common in the following: younger ages, increased height/weight ratio, longer initial air leakage period, and shorter duration of chest drainage. Early aggressive exercise (<30 days) of patients after wedge resection increased the tendency for recurrence. CONCLUSION: Thoracoscopic wedge resection does not have a higher recurrence rate than open thoracotomy. However, young age, height/weight ratio, continuous air, and duration of chest tube placement were risk factors for a recurrent pneumothorax.
Blister ; Chest Tubes ; Drainage ; Humans ; Operative Time ; Pneumothorax ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted ; Thoracotomy ; Thorax

PURPOSE: To explore clinical features and neurologic complications of pediatric enteroviral meningitis, and to evaluate risk factors according to the presence of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pleocytosis and neurologic complications. METHODS: Retrospective review of medical records of patients aged between 1 month and 18 years who were found positive for CSF enterovirus reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction in Dankook University Hospital from March 2009 to February 2015. RESULTS: A total of 151 children was enrolled in the study. Ninety four patients were males and the age at diagnosis was 40.9±47.0 months. Most common season of admission was summer (n=99, 65.6%). Most frequent presenting symptom was fever followed by poor oral intake, decreased activity, and headache. Fifty five (36.4%) patients had no CSF pleocytosis. Complications were observed in 4 (2.6%). Mean blood white blood cell, CSF protein levels were higher, and CSF glucose levels were lower in group with pleocytosis (P < 0.05). There were more seizure development and mental changes, higher peak body temperature, longer fever duration, and longer duration from symptom onset to CSF tapping in group with complications (P < 0.05). All were boys and mean age at admission was younger in group with complications, without statistically significant difference. CONCLUSION: Relatively high proportion of children with enteroviral meningitis showed no pleocytosis. Complications such as meningoencephalitis, refractory status epilepticus, or recurrent seizure rarely occurred, although most had good clinical outcomes.
Body Temperature ; Cerebrospinal Fluid ; Child ; Diagnosis ; Enterovirus ; Fever ; Glucose ; Headache ; Humans ; Leukocytes ; Leukocytosis ; Male ; Medical Records ; Meningitis* ; Meningoencephalitis ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Retrospective Studies ; Reverse Transcription ; Risk Factors ; Seasons ; Seizures ; Status Epilepticus

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

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analysis the manuscripts rejected for publication in the Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration during the last three years six months (2012~2015 Jun). METHODS: Seventy eight rejected manuscripts were analyzed focusing on manuscripts characteristics, such as rejection rates, year of submission, occupation of first author and corresponding author, number of authors, funding, thesis or dissertation, article type, study participants, number of reviews prior to rejection, and 3rd reviewer. Also reviewers' quantitative evaluation scores and subjective comments were analyzed. Reviewers' subjective comments were analyzed using content analysis methodology. RESULTS: The mean rate for manuscript rejection was 28.9% and for quantitative research, qualitative research, and review papers the quantitative evaluation scores were 2.54+/-0.70, 2.39+/-0.69, and 2.39+/-0.69 out of 5 points, respectively. The most frequent subjective comment on rejected manuscripts was 'lack of rationale for research need'. CONCLUSION: In this study the characteristics and the reasons for rejecting manuscripts were identified. These findings can be used in developing effective strategies for researchers, reviewers and editors to improve the quality of research and research reviews of nursing administration research.
Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Financial Management ; Manuscripts as Topic ; Nursing Administration Research ; Nursing Research ; Nursing* ; Occupations ; Peer Review ; Publications ; Qualitative Research

BACKGROUND: Skin grafting is a commonly performed operation in plastic and reconstructive surgery. The tie-over dressing is an effective technique to secure the grafted skin by delivering persistent downward pressure. However, if an additional dressing is required due to incomplete graft healing, the process of re-implementing the tie-over dressing may be frustrating for both patients and surgeons. Therefore, we introduce the double tie-over dressing, which readily allows for an additional tie-over dressing after the first dressing, and we present a comparison of its effectiveness with that of the simpler bolster dressing. METHODS: Of 128 patients with a skin defect, 69 received a double tie-over dressing and 59 patients received a simple bolster dressing. Using the independent t-test, the mean healing time, which was defined as the mean time it took for the wound to heal completely so that no additional dressing was required and it was washable with tap water, was compared between the 2 groups in both the head and neck region and in other areas. RESULTS: The mean healing time for the head and neck region in the double tie-over dressing group was 9.19±1.78 days, while it was 11.05±3.85 days in the bolster dressing group. The comparison of the 2 groups by the independent t-test revealed a P-value of 0.003 for the mean healing time. CONCLUSIONS: In the head and neck area, the double tie-over dressing required less time to heal than the simple bolster dressing.
Bandages* ; Dermatologic Surgical Procedures ; Head ; Humans ; Neck ; Occlusive Dressings ; Plastics ; Skin ; Skin Transplantation ; Surgeons ; Transplants ; Water ; Wounds and Injuries

The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of provinol, which is a mixture of polyphenolic compounds from red wine, on the secretion of catecholamines (CA) from isolated perfused rat adrenal medulla, and to elucidate its mechanism of action. Provinol (0.3~3 microgram/ml) perfused into an adrenal vein for 90 min dose- and time-dependently inhibited the CA secretory responses evoked by ACh (5.32 mM), high K+ (a direct membrane-depolarizer, 56 mM), DMPP (a selective neuronal nicotinic NN receptor agonist, 100 micrometer) and McN-A-343 (a selective muscarinic M1 receptor agonist, 100 micrometer). Provinol itself did not affect basal CA secretion. Also, in the presence of provinol (1 microgram/ml), the secretory responses of CA evoked by Bay-K-8644 (a voltage-dependent L-type dihydropyridine Ca2+ channel activator, 10 microgram), cyclopiazonic acid (a cytoplasmic Ca2+-ATPase inhibitor, 10 microgram) and veratridine (an activator of voltage-dependent Na+ channels, 10 microgram) were significantly reduced. Interestingly, in the simultaneous presence of provinol (1 microgram/ml) plus L-NAME (a selective inhibitor of NO synthase, 30 micrometer), the CA secretory responses evoked by ACh, high K+, DMPP, McN-A-343, Bay-K-8644 and cyclpiazonic acid recovered to the considerable extent of the corresponding control secretion in comparison with the inhibition of provinol-treatment alone. Under the same condition, the level of NO released from adrenal medulla after the treatment of provinol (3 microgram/ml) was greatly elevated in comparison to its basal release. Taken together, these data demonstrate that provinol inhibits the CA secretory responses evoked by stimulation of cholinergic (both muscarinic and nicotinic) receptors as well as by direct membrane-depolarization from the perfused rat adrenal medulla. This inhibitory effect of provinol seems to be exerted by inhibiting the influx of both calcium and sodium into the rat adrenal medullary cells along with the blockade of Ca2+ release from the cytoplasmic calcium store at least partly through the increased NO production due to the activation of nitric oxide synthase.
(4-(m-Chlorophenylcarbamoyloxy)-2-butynyl)trimethylammonium Chloride ; 3-Pyridinecarboxylic acid, 1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-5-nitro-4-(2-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-, Methyl ester ; Adrenal Medulla ; Animals ; Calcium ; Catecholamines ; Cytoplasm ; Dihydropyridines ; Dimethylphenylpiperazinium Iodide ; Indoles ; Neurons ; NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester ; Nitric Oxide ; Nitric Oxide Synthase ; Rats ; Receptor, Muscarinic M1 ; Receptors, Cholinergic ; Sodium ; Veins ; Veratridine ; Wine

In the oral cavity, complex microbial community is shaped by various host and environmental factors. Extensive literature describing the oral microbiome in the context of oral health and disease is available. Advances in DNA sequencing technologies and data analysis have drastically improved the analysis of the oral microbiome. For microbiome study, bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplification and sequencing is often employed owing to the cost-effective and fast nature of the method. In this review, practical considerations for performing a microbiome study, including experimental design, molecular analysis technology, and general data analysis, will be discussed.