No abstract available.
Dementia* ; Humans ; Urinary Incontinence*

A culture of the Leptospira species and the microscopic agglutination test (MAT) are considered as the reference standard for the diagnosis of leptospirosis, but both tests are imperfect for early diagnosis. We describe 4 patients diagnosed with leptospirosis using nested polymerase chain reaction (N-PCR) that targeted the 16S rRNA gene and the passive hemagglutination assay (PHA). In our 4 cases, Leptospira DNA in the urine, plasma, or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), was detected by N-PCR in the early phase of leptospirosis, except in the sample from the buffy coat. Especially, case 3 showed that N-PCR with the urine and CSF was positive 8 days after symptom onset, but not for the plasma or buffy coat. We report 4 cases of leptospirosis that were diagnosed by N-PCR that targeted the 16S rRNA gene with urine, plasma, or CSF, but not the buffy coat. Three were cured by doxycycline but the case 4 was fatal. Detection of Leptospira DNA by PCR from the urine and CSF, in addition to plasma, may be helpful to confirm the diagnosis.

Sandhoff disease is a rare autosomal recessive metabolic disease presenting bilateral optic atrophy and a cherry red spot in the macula. This case report presents the characteristics of a patient with Sandhoff disease as assessed by ophthalmic, neuroimaging, and laboratory procedures. Ophthalmologic examination revealed that the patient could not fixate her eyes on objects nor follow moving targets. A pale optic disc and a cherry red spot in the macula were seen in both eyes. Low signal intensity at the thalamus and high signal intensity at the cerebral white matter were noted in a T2-weighted brain MR image. A lysosomal enzyme assay using fibroblasts showed the marked reduction of both total beta-hexosaminidases, A and B. Based on the above clinical manifestations and laboratory findings, we diagnosed the patient as having Sandhoff disease.
Atrophy ; Cerebral Cortex/*pathology ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Isoenzymes/deficiency ; Lipid Metabolism, Inborn Errors/*diagnosis/enzymology ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Ocular Motility Disorders/*diagnosis ; Optic Disk/*pathology ; Retinal Diseases/*diagnosis ; Sandhoff Disease/*diagnosis/enzymology ; Thalamus/pathology ; beta-N-Acetylhexosaminidase/deficiency

Vibrio vulnificus is a gram-negative bacterium that can cause serious, potentially fatal infections. V. vulnificus causes three distinct syndromes: an overwhelming primary septicemia caused by consuming contaminated seafood, wound infections acquired when an open wound is exposed to contaminated warm seawater, and gastrointestinal tract-limited infections. Case-fatality rates are higher than 50% for primary septicemia, and death typically occurs within 72 hours of hospitalization. Risk factors for V. vulnificus infection include chronic liver disease, alcoholism, and hematological disorders. When V. vulnificus infection is suspected, appropriate antibiotic treatment and surgical interventions should be performed immediately. Third-generation cephalosporin with doxycycline, or quinolone with or without third-generation cephalosporin, may be potential treatment options for patients with V. vulnificus infection.
Alcoholism ; Diagnosis ; Doxycycline ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Liver Diseases ; Prognosis ; Public Health* ; Risk Factors ; Seafood ; Seawater ; Sepsis ; Vibrio vulnificus* ; Vibrio* ; Wound Infection ; Wounds and Injuries

Astrocytes primarily maintain physiological brain homeostasis. However, under various pathological conditions, they can undergo morphological, transcriptomic, and functional transformations, collectively referred to as reactive astrogliosis.Recent studies have accumulated lines of evidence that reactive astrogliosis plays a crucial role in the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In particular, monoamine oxidase B, a mitochondrial enzyme mainly expressed in astrocytes, significantly contributes to neuronal dysfunction and neurodegeneration in AD brains. Moreover, it has been reported that reactive astrogliosis precedes other pathological hallmarks such as amyloid-beta plaque deposition and tau tangle formation in AD.Due to the early onset and profound impact of reactive astrocytes on pathology, there have been extensive efforts in the past decade to visualize these cells in the brains of AD patients using positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. In this review, we summarize the recent studies regarding the essential pathological importance of reactive astrocytes in AD and their application as a target for PET imaging.

Objective To study the effect of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) five elements music on cancer-related fatigue CRF of chemotherapy patients.Methods 80 patients were randomly divided into the experimental group and the control group equally.The experimental group was given the TCM five elements music intervention on the basis of routine care at the start of chemotherapy for 60 min,once a day for three cycles,each cycle and chemotherapy cycle were synchronic.The control group was given routine care with emphasis on psychological care.The two groups were given the CRF assessment of Brief Fatigue Inventory developed by the pain research team of the U.S.Adorson Cancer Center before and after the treatment,and the quality of life of patients was evaluated by Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC-QLQ-C30) by the European Cancer Treatment and Research Organization.Results CRF levels of the experimental group were markedly reduced after the intervention of TCM five elements music,among which slight fatigue accounted for 37.5％,moderate fatigue accounted for 10％ and serious fatigue accounted for 2.5％.There was significant difference between the two groups ( U =6.062 3,P ＜ 0.0 1 ).The proportion of moderate and serious fatigue was 12.5％ in the experimental group and 40％ in the control group after treatment,and there was significant difference between the two groups (U=3.282 8,P＜0.01 ).The total score of quality of life was (43.12±6.21) in the experimental group and (52.30 ± 7.28 ) in the control group after treatment.The difference was statistically significant (t =4.683 0,P＜0.05).Conclusions Application of TCM Five Elements music intervention on chemotherapy patients can eliminate or alleviate CRF and improve the quality of life of patients.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the correlation between oral health behaviors of workers by examining the oral health awareness and the need for oral health education. METHODS: After the institutional review board approval, we surveyed industrial workers in Seoul, Gwangju, Changwon, and Goksung, in Korea, from July 19 to August 29, 2016. The final questionnaires (287 in total) were assessed using the SPSS 24.0 software for Windows (SPSS Inc. Chicago, IL, USA). The data were analyzed using frequency analysis, average, standard deviation, t-test, and the Pearson's correlation coefficient. RESULTS: Through the response of “yes” for the question, “oral health education experience,” we can see the respondents have high level of interest (P<0.001). And through the response of “yes” for the question, “Periodic oral Examination” and “regular scaling” and “oral care product use” we can see the respondents have high level of interest (P<0.001) and high importance (P<0.001), there was a statistically significant difference. On analyzing the correlations between workers, there was positive correlation oral health ‘Interest’ and ‘Importance’ (r=0.598, P<0.001). Of the 287 participants, 80.1% indicated that they did not receive any previous oral health education, while 85.4% indicated a willingness to attend oral health education programs in the future. Of the 80.1% of participants with no prior oral health education, 60.0% indicated lack of oral health education because of few opportunities to participate in such programs. They most prefer “Oral Hygiene Management” 64.8% for education contents and choose “Direct-education by inviting Expert” as the best education method 75.6%. CONCLUSIONS: It is necessary to develop oral health education programs suitable for the industrial field characteristics for people in workplace, and to enhance and expand oral health education services in the workplace in order to maintain interest in oral health.
Education* ; Ethics Committees, Research ; Gwangju ; Gyeongsangnam-do ; Health Education ; Hygiene ; Korea ; Methods ; Oral Health* ; Seoul ; Surveys and Questionnaires

The mortality rate of the invasive pulmonary aspergillosis to be able to developed during chemotherapy induced myleosuppressionin is high in hematologic malignancy patients despite antifungal treatment. Effective antifungal treatment combined with operation can decrease the mortaligy rate of the invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. Recently, we experienced the successful management of the two cases of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in acute lymphoblastic leukemia through effective antifungal treatment and surgical resection. We report this cases with review of literature.
Drug Therapy ; Hematologic Neoplasms ; Hematology ; Humans ; Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis* ; Mortality ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; Pulmonary Aspergillosis

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-encoded small non-coding RNAs (EBERs) are abundantly expressed in various EBV-associated malignancies, and play critical roles in cell proliferation, tumorigenesis, and apoptosis resistance. However, the mechanism how EBERs regulate cell function awaits further clarification. In this study, we investigated the effect of EBERs on the expression of cellular microRNA (miRNA) and mRNA expression. To test the effect of EBERs while unaffected by other EBV genes, we used EBERs-deleted recombinant EBV infected Burkitt's lymphoma cell line (Akata(+)EBERs(-)) as well as EBV-infected (Akata(+)) and EBV uninfected (Akata(-)) cell lines. They all have the same genetic backgrounds. First, 15 different cellular miRNAs which have reverse complementary sequences to EBERs and have reported targets were selected by bioinformatics analysis. When RT-PCR was carried out for the 16 miRNAs using RNAs from Akata(+), Akata(-), and Akata(+)EBERs(-) cells, hsa-miR-7-5p was the only one showing down-regulated expression in Akata(+) than in Akata(-) and Akata(+)EBERs(-) cells. Bioinformatics and mRNA microarray analyses for Akata(+), Akata(-), and Akata(+)EBERs(-) cell lines were then carried out to predict putative targets of hsa-miR-7-5p. Among the 6 predicted targets of hsa-miR-7-5p, only low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 6 (LRP6) was up-regulated in EBERs-expressing cells when tested by RT-PCR and Western blot. However, luciferase reporter assay showed that the 3'-UTR of LRP6 was not directly targeted by hsa-miR-7-5p. Our data suggest that both hsa-miR-7-5p and LRP6 are regulated by EBERs in Akata cells, and these genes may partly mediate the tumorigenic function of EBERs in Burkitt's lymphoma.
Apoptosis ; Blotting, Western ; Burkitt Lymphoma* ; Carcinogenesis ; Cell Line* ; Cell Proliferation ; Computational Biology ; Herpesvirus 4, Human ; Low Density Lipoprotein Receptor-Related Protein-6 ; Luciferases ; MicroRNAs ; RNA* ; RNA, Messenger ; RNA, Small Untranslated