Prognostic factors associated with the success rates of posterior orthodontic miniscrew implants: A subgroup meta-analysis / 대한치과교정학회지

OBJECTIVE: To systematically review previous studies and to assess, via a subgroup meta-analysis, the combined odds ratio (OR) of prognostic factors affecting the success of miniscrew implants (MIs) inserted into the buccal posterior region. METHODS: Three electronic searches that were limited to articles on clinical human studies using MIs that were published in English prior to March 2015 were conducted. The outcome measure was the success of MIs. Patient factors included age, sex, and jaw of insertion (maxilla vs. mandible), while the MI factors included length and diameter. A meta-analysis was performed on 17 individual studies. The quality of each study was assessed for non-randomized studies and quantified using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. The meta-analysis outcome was a combined OR. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses based on the study design, study quality, and sample size of miniscrews implanted were performed. RESULTS: Significantly higher success rates were revealed for MIs inserted in the maxilla, for patients ≥ 20 years of age, and for long MIs (≥ 8 mm) and MIs with a large diameter (> 1.4 mm). All subgroups acquired homogeneity, and the combined OR of the prospective studies (OR, 3.67; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.10-6.44) was significantly higher in the maxilla than that in the retrospective studies (OR, 2.10; 95% CI, 1.60-2.74). CONCLUSIONS: When a treatment plan is made, these risk factors, i.e. jaw of insertion, age, MI length, and MI diameter, should be taken into account, while sex is not critical to the success of MIs.

A Vision-Based System for Detecting and Analyzing the Freezing Response of Rats in Fearful Situations / 대한정신약물학회지

OBJECTIVE: The freezing response in rats has been used widely as an index of fear in threatening or stressful situations. Considering its importance in basic studies of affective disorders and in drug testing, it is necessary to develop a reliable, automated system for measuring the freezing response accurately. METHODS: We developed the Vision-Based Analysis for Freezing (V-BAFF) system to analyze the freezing response in rats, based on several image-processing modules and motion classification schemes generated from our own experience. We compared the performance of V-BAFF with that of experienced human observers. RESULTS: The level of freezing measured with V-BAFF was highly correlated with that measured by human observers. CONCLUSION: We demonstrated that V-BAFF could yield a bias-free, accurate, and efficient measurement of freezing in rats.

Effects of a New Antipsychotic Drug (YKP1447) on Impaired Prepulse Inhibition Induced by Apomorphine and Phencyclidine in Rats / 대한정신약물학회지

OBJECTIVE: Schizophrenia, a devastating mental disorder, displays a wide range of cognitive impairments including attentional impairment. Prepulse inhibition (PPI), in which a startle response to a loud acoustic noise is reduced by a preceding auditory stimulus of a lower intensity, is impaired in schizophrenic patients and rats injected with apomorphine (APO) or phencyclidine (PCP) mimicking attentional deficits in schizophrenics. Here we examined therapeutic efficacy of a newly developed atypical antipsychotic compound (YKP1447;YKP) on PPI impairment induced by various doses of APO and PCP. METHODS: This study was composed of 3 experiments. YKP (0.5-15 mg/kg) or vehicle (VEH) was administered 15 min before the injection of APO (0.5 mg/kg, Exp1) or PCP (2.0 mg/kg, Exp2:1.5 mg/kg, Exp3). They were then tested for PPI in which a mix of startle stimulus and prepulse was presented. RESULTS: APO or PCP treatment effectively impaired PPI in tested animals (VEH/APO or VEH/PCP). Impaired PPI in APO group was reversed in animals that were pretreated with YKP (5-10 mg/kg) (Exp1). However YKP treatment was not effective in PCP group (Exp2-3). CONCLUSION: High concentration of YKP pretreatment had antipsychotic effect on APO-induced impairment in attentional function suggesting that the compound could potentially be used to treat cognitive impairment due to increased dopaminergic receptorbinding.

A Case of Hyponatremin Encephalopathy Developed after Transsphenoidal Pituitary Sergery in Menstruant Woman / 대한내분비학회지

A 41-year-old female complaining of easy fatigue, headache, thickened extremities and deepened facial folds was admitted to the hospital. As early as 6 years ago, she had been told by family members that her voice was changed and both hands was thickened. Cranial plain radiography indicated ballooning of sella turcica. Sella MRI disclosed 2.2cm sized pituitary tumor with suprasellar extension. The pituitary tumor with hypothalamic extension was removed via a transsphenoidal approach. The postoperative course was uneventful until hyponatremia with sudden headache and respiratory arrest was developed. The case was due to hyponatremic encephalopathy on the basis of the clinical course and symptoms, and 3% hypertonic saline was infused for 12 hours until the hyponatremia was corrected. We have experienced a mortality case of hyponatremic encephalopathy in which surgieal removal of a pituitary tumor from a female acromegalic patient in menstruant period was followed by the sudden occurrence of hyponatremia, which in turn was later associated with marked brain edema.