Differentially Expressed Gene Profile of Acanthamoeba castellanii Induced by an Endosymbiont Legionella pneumophila

Legionella pneumophila is an opportunistic pathogen that survives and proliferates within protists such as Acanthamoeba spp. in environment. However, intracellular pathogenic endosymbiosis and its implications within Acanthamoeba spp. remain poorly understood. In this study, RNA sequencing analysis was used to investigate transcriptional changes in A. castellanii in response to L. pneumophila infection. Based on RNA sequencing data, we identified 1,211 upregulated genes and 1,131 downregulated genes in A. castellanii infected with L. pneumophila for 12 hr. After 24 hr, 1,321 upregulated genes and 1,379 downregulated genes were identified. Gene ontology (GO) analysis revealed that L. pneumophila endosymbiosis enhanced hydrolase activity, catalytic activity, and DNA binding while reducing oxidoreductase activity in the molecular function (MF) domain. In particular, multiple genes associated with the GO term ‘integral component of membrane’ were downregulated during endosymbiosis. The endosymbiont also induced differential expression of various methyltransferases and acetyltransferases in A. castellanii. Findings herein are may significantly contribute to understanding endosymbiosis of L. pneumophila within A. castellanii.

Inflammatory Endobronchial Myofibroblastic Tumor: A Case Report

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor is a rare benign lesion that accounts for 0.04–1% of all lung tumors and usually appears as a solitary pulmonary nodule or mass. Here, we report the case of an endobronchial inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor in a 21-year-old man with a focus on the imaging findings and a review of previous literature.

A Rare Case of Tracheal Leiomyoma: Role of Digital Tomosynthesis in Diagnosis and Treatment

Tracheal leiomyoma is a rare benign tumor, which is composed of transformed cells of mesenchymal origin. We describe a case in which digital tomosynthesis was useful to evaluate a tracheal tumor that was overlooked on initial chest radiographs.

Soft Tissue Metastasis in Patients with Primary Malignancies; Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Clinical Evaluations

PURPOSE@#The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of soft tissue metastases distinct from benign soft tissue lesions.@*MATERIALS AND METHODS@#We retrospectively analyzed the MRI findings of soft tissue lesions found incidentally in patients with primary carcinoma and those without primary carcinoma from 2002–2015. To evaluate the features of soft tissue metastases distinct from benign soft tissue lesions, patients with benign soft tissue lesions were randomly selected and statistically analyzed for the distinctive features of the two groups.@*RESULTS@#A total of 47 patients (mean age 46.2 years) and 36 controls (mean age 46.2 years) were enrolled. Thirty six of the 47 patients were diagnosed with soft tissue metastasis, most commonly as the primary cancer (31%). The most common site of soft tissue metastasis was the lower extremities (36%) followed by the upper extremities (31%). Soft tissue metastasis was statistically significantly different from benign soft tissue lesions according to patient age, lesion size, margin, presence of degenerative changes in lesions, and presence of edema around the mass.@*CONCLUSION@#If the incident soft tissue lesion shows malignant features on MRI in patients with primary carcinoma or in patients over 40 years of age, the radiologist should consider the possibility of metastatic cancer.

Comparison of Proteins Secreted into Extracellular Space of Pathogenic and Non-pathogenic Acanthamoeba castellanii

Pathogenic Acanthamoeba spp. cause granulomatous amoebic encephalitis and keratitis. Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) is a rare but serious ocular infection that can result in permanent visual impairment or blindness. However, pathogenic factors of AK remain unclear and treatment for AK is arduous. Expression levels of proteins secreted into extracellular space were compared between A. castellanii pathogenic (ACP) and non-pathogenic strains. Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed 123 differentially expressed proteins, including 34 increased proteins, 7 qualitative increased proteins, 65 decreased proteins, and 17 qualitative decreased proteins in ACP strain. Twenty protein spots with greater than 5-fold increase in ACP strain were analyzed by liquid chromatography triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. These proteins showed similarity each to inosine-uridine preferring nucleoside hydrolase, carboxylesterase, oxygen-dependent choline dehydrogenase, periplasmic-binding protein proteinases and hypothetical proteins. These proteins expressed higher in ACP may provide some information to understand pathogenicity of Acanthamoeba.

Comparison of the Effects of Ultrasound-Guided Interfascial Pulsed Radiofrequency and Ultrasound-Guided Interfascial Injection on Myofascial Pain Syndrome of the Gastrocnemius

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the comparative treatment effects of ultrasound-guided pulsed radiofrequency treatment (UG-PRF) in the gastrocnemius interfascial space and ultrasound-guided interfascial injection (UG-INJ) on myofascial pain syndrome. METHODS: Forty consecutive patients with myofascial pain syndrome of the gastrocnemius were enrolled and were allocated to one of the two groups. Twenty patients were treated by UG-PRF delivered to the gastrocnemius interfascial space (UG-PRF group) and the other 20 patients were treated by interfascial injection (UG-INJ group). The primary outcome measure was the numeric rating score (NRS) for pain on pressing the tender point in the gastrocnemius, and the secondary outcome measure was health-related quality of life as determined by the Short Form-36 questionnaire (SF-36). NRSs were obtained at the first visit, immediately after treatment, and at 2 and 4 weeks post-treatment, and physical component summary scores (PCS) and mental component summary scores (MCS) of the SF-36 questionnaire were measured at the first visit and at 4 weeks post-treatment. RESULTS: Immediately after treatments, mean NRS in the UG-PRF group was significantly higher than that in the UG-INJ group (p<0.0001). However, at 2 and 4 weeks post-treatment, the mean NRS was significantly lower in the UG-PRF group (both p<0.0001). Similarly, at 4 weeks post-treatment, mean PCS and MCS were significantly higher in the UG-PRF group (p<0.0001 and p=0.002, respectively). CONCLUSION: Based on these results, the authors conclude that ultrasound-guided gastrocnemius interfascial PRF provides an attractive treatment for myofascial pain syndrome of the gastrocnemius.

Conformance Analysis of Clinical Pathway Using Electronic Health Record Data / 대한의료정보학회지

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to confirm the conformance rate of the actual usage of the clinical pathway (CP) using Electronic Health Record (EHR) log data in a tertiary general university hospital to improve the CP by reflecting real-world care processes. METHODS: We analyzed the application and matching rates of clinicians' orders with predefined CP order sets based on data from 164 inpatients who received appendectomies out of all patients who were hospitalized from August 2013 to June 2014. We collected EHR log data on patient information, medication orders, operation performed, diagnosis, transfer, and CP order sets. The data were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: The average value of the actual application rate of the prescribed CP order ranged from 0.75 to 0.89. The application rate decreased when the order date was factored in along with the order code and type. Among CP pre-operation, intra-operation, post-operation, routine, and discharge orders, orders pertaining to operations had higher application rates than other types of orders. Routine orders and discharge orders had lower application rates. CONCLUSIONS: This analysis of the application and matching rates of CP orders suggests that it is possible to improve these rates by updating the existing CP order sets for routine discharge orders to reflect data-driven evidence. This study shows that it is possible to improve the application and matching rates of the CP using EHR log data. However, further research should be performed to analyze the effects of these rates on care outcomes.

A study on the smile according to age and esthetic evaluation by the degree of dental knowledge / 대한치과보철학회지

PURPOSE: This study was designed to help to provide the criteria of the esthetic smile in oromaxillary region on twenties, fifties and sixties. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The facial straight photographs of 33 adults (male 15, female 18, mean age 27.2 years old) and 20 seniors (male 7, female 13, mean age 55.6 years old) in resting and smile position were taken. The measurements and proportion of lip-teeth relation during smile were statistically analyzed, and survey of freshmen and seniors who belong to School of Dentistry, Chonnam National University were taken to select the best esthetic smile among the photographs. RESULTS: In the relationship between the upper lip and the teeth, average smile was the most frequent, and mean of smile line ratio was 1.090 in young group and 0.90 in old group. The correlation between the buccal corridor ratio and exposed teeth count was inversed. At smile, most frequently exposed tooth was the second premolar (63.64%) in young gourp and the first premolar (35.00%) in old group. The correlation between the upper lip change ratio and exposed clinical crown length of maxillary central incisor was inverse, but there was no correlation between the lower lip change ratio and exposed clinical crown length of maxillarycentral incisor. CONCLUSION: In the result of survey, the students selected the case exposed to the first premolar as the most esthetic smile. The most esthetic smile between full facial photograph and the lip only photograph by the freshmen was different, but that by seniors was identical.