Moderating effect of synthesized docosahexaenoic acid-enriched phosphatidylcholine on production of Th1 and Th2 cytokine in lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation

Objective: To evaluate effects of docosahexaenoic acid-enriched phosphatidylcholine (DHA-PC) on cytokine production induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Methods: The culture supernatants of splenocytes exposed to DHA-PC along with LPS were harvested to determine the production of Th 1 (IFN-γ and IL-2) and Th2 [IL-4, IL-5, IL-6 and IL-12/IL-23(p40)] cytokines. Cytokines were measured using ELISA. Results: Co-administration of DHA-PC with LPS resulted in significantly lower IL-2 expression compared to that observed with administration of only LPS (P<0.01). Treatment with DHA-PC and LPS significantly increased IL-5 expression (P<0.01). Moreover, co-administration of DHA-PC with LPS significantly decreased IL-6 and IL-12/IL-23(p40) expressions compared to that observed with administration of only LPS (P<0.01). Conclusions: Our results suggest that DHA-PC inhibits pro-inflammatory cytokines [IL-2, IL-6 and IL-12/IL-23(p40)] expression on induction of inflammation.

Noise Reduction Using Wavelet Thresholding of Multitaper Estimators and Geometric Approach to Spectral Subtraction for Speech Coding Strategy

OBJECTIVES: Noise reduction using wavelet thresholding of multitaper estimators (WTME) and geometric approach to spectral subtraction (GASS) can improve speech quality of noisy sound for speech coding strategy. This study used Perceptual Evaluation of Speech Quality (PESQ) to assess the performance of the WTME and GASS for speech coding strategy. METHODS: This study included 25 Mandarin sentences as test materials. Environmental noises including the air-conditioner, cafeteria and multi-talker were artificially added to test materials at signal to noise ratio (SNR) of -5, 0, 5, and 10 dB. HiRes 120 vocoder WTME and GASS noise reduction process were used in this study to generate sound outputs. The sound outputs were measured by the PESQ to evaluate sound quality. RESULTS: Two figures and three tables were used to assess the speech quality of the sound output of the WTME and GASS. CONCLUSION: There is no significant difference between the overall performance of sound quality in both methods, but the geometric approach to spectral subtraction method is slightly better than the wavelet thresholding of multitaper estimators.

Common Misconceptions in People With Epilepsy

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study was undertaken to determine the knowledge that people with epilepsy (PWE) have regarding the nature of epilepsy and its management, and also to identify the factors contributing to their knowledge of epilepsy. METHODS: We studied 79 consecutive PWE who visited the outpatient clinic of Seoul National University Hospital using a structured questionnaire consisting of 27 questions in 3 categories. The mean correct response rate was 61%, with 81% believing that brain cells die during a seizure, 29% considering it dangerous to take a bath or shower alone, and more than 70% believing that taking antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) will impair memory and damage the liver and kidneys. RESULTS: The mean overall correct-answer rate was significantly related to gender, length of education, type of seizures, and regularity of hospital visits (all p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The level of knowledge deviated significantly from the scientific data, especially in the causes of epilepsy, safety issues, and side effects of AEDs. A large-scale study should identify those PWE with the lowest knowledge of epilepsy, and then develop and implement suitable educational intervention programs to improve their knowledge.

Factors that Affect the Quality of Life at 3 Years Post-Stroke

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Elucidating the factors that predict the quality of life (QOL) in stroke patients is important. However, the residual sensory symptoms that are common in stroke patients have not usually been included as factors that influence the QOL. The purpose of the present study was to elucidate the factors that predict the QOL of chronic-stage patients with special attention to residual sensory symptoms. METHODS: We examined 214 patients who had experienced a first-time stroke during the subacute (i.e., approximately 3 months poststroke) stage; 151 patients from this group were followed up by telephone interview during the chronic (i.e., approximately 3 years poststroke) stage. Physical disabilities, including motor dysfunction, sensory symptoms that included central poststroke pain (CPSP, described using a standardized questionnaire with a visual analogue scale), activities of daily living (ADL, measured by the Barthel index score), as well as the presence of depression (using the DSM IV criteria), were assessed during both the subacute and chronic stages. Economic and job statuses during the chronic stage were also assessed. QOL ratings were determined by the World Health Organization QOL scale. RESULTS: The following factors at 3 months poststroke were related to low QOL at 3 years poststroke: dependency in ADL, motor dysfunction, depression, and CPSP. At 3 years poststroke, dependency in ADL, depression, CPSP, poor economic status, and unemployment were all factors that were related to low QOL. Multiple regression analysis showed that dependency in ADL (19%), presence of CPSP (12%), and poor economic status (10%) were important explanatory factors for overall QOL. In the analysis of QOL subdomains, the most important explanatory factors were CPSP for both physical and psychological domains, dependency in ADL for both independence and social-relationships domains, economic status for the environmental domain, and female sex for the spiritual domain. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that dependency in ADL, depression, low socioeconomic status, and the presence of CPSP either at 3 months or 3 years poststroke are factors that are related to a low QOL at 3 years poststroke. The recognition of these factors may allow strategies to be developed to improve the QOL for stroke patients.