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Purpose@#Smoking is a risk factor for the development of asthma and worsens the long-term prognosis of asthma. This study investigated the effect of cigarette smoke extract (CSE) on innate immune cells such as innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) and macrophages in a murine model of induced asthma. @*Methods@#Six-week-old female BALB/C mice were exposed to ovalbumin (OVA) via an intranasal route with or without CSE for 8 weeks to establish a chronic murine asthma model. Airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), airway inflammatory cells from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and the population of CD4 + T cells, ILCs, and macrophages in the lungs were studied to evaluate the effect of chronic CSE exposure on asthma. @*Results@#Mice intranasally exposed to CSE along with OVA treatment (CSE/OVA) had significantly enhanced AHR, eosinophilic inflammation, increased IL-13 and IL-17 producing CD4 + T cells compared to mice intranasally exposed to OVA only. On the contrary, the frequency of Foxp3 + in CD4 + T cells was reduced in the CSE/OVA group. CSE enhanced the dendritic cell (DC) population, especially MHCII + DC with antigen-presenting capacity. Among ILCs, the CSE/OVA group showed a significant increase of IL-13-producing type 2 ILCs, but not interferon-γ+ ILC1s and IL-17 + ILC3s. . Among macrophages, alveolar macrophage and Ym-1 and FIZZ1 positive M2 macrophage populations were significantly induced by CSE exposure alone and when combined with OVA treatment. @*Conclusion@#In this study, we showed that long-term exposure to cigarette smoke contributes to the inception and aggravation of asthmatic inflammation by enhancing DCs, ILC2, and M2 alveolar macrophage populations in the mouse model.
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Background@#Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) can be successfully performed using highly developed implantation techniques. However, anatomical barriers, such as epidural adhesion, may impede placing the electrode for SCS in an adequate position.Case: A 60-year-old woman who had SCS with an electrode at the T9-10 level removed because she had a wound infection at the back incision site. After the wound infection was completely resolved, we tried to re-insert the SCS electrode. However, it was difficult to advance it up to the T11 level due to epidural adhesion. We performed a combined epidural adhesiolysis using balloon decompression with an inflatable balloon catheter. After that, the SCS lead was successfully placed up to the T11 level, and implantation of SCS was performed. @*Conclusions@#When a patient has epidural adhesion, an epidural adhesiolysis with an inflatable balloon catheter may help the insertion of the SCS electrode in the epidural space.
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Objective@#This study aimed to investigate the association between positive marital quality and cognitive health over time and to examine gender differences in this association. @*Methods@#Drawing on 2006–2018 Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging data (n=7,427 respondents, 35,066 person-year observations), a series of hybrid mixed-effects models were used to estimate the effects of time-invariant (gender) and time-variant (marital quality) variables on within-person changes and on between-person differences in cognitive decline over the observation period. @*Results@#The results showed that individuals’ likelihood of having higher cognitive health grew when their spousal relationship became more positive and that, compared with those with lower levels of marital quality, people with higher levels of marital quality were more likely to have higher cognitive health. Interestingly, improvements in marital quality were more beneficial for men than for women, whereas level of marital quality had similar effects on men’s and women’s cognitive health. @*Conclusion@#Couple-based intervention programs aiming to improve marital quality should be encouraged, especially among older adults.
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Background@#Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) can be successfully performed using highly developed implantation techniques. However, anatomical barriers, such as epidural adhesion, may impede placing the electrode for SCS in an adequate position.Case: A 60-year-old woman who had SCS with an electrode at the T9-10 level removed because she had a wound infection at the back incision site. After the wound infection was completely resolved, we tried to re-insert the SCS electrode. However, it was difficult to advance it up to the T11 level due to epidural adhesion. We performed a combined epidural adhesiolysis using balloon decompression with an inflatable balloon catheter. After that, the SCS lead was successfully placed up to the T11 level, and implantation of SCS was performed. @*Conclusions@#When a patient has epidural adhesion, an epidural adhesiolysis with an inflatable balloon catheter may help the insertion of the SCS electrode in the epidural space.
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This paper describes a community effort to improve earlier versions of the full-text corpus of Genomics & Informatics by semi-automatically detecting and correcting PDF-to-text conversion errors and optical character recognition errors during the first hackathon of Genomics & Informatics Annotation Hackathon (GIAH) event. Extracting text from multi-column biomedical documents such as Genomics & Informatics is known to be notoriously difficult. The hackathon was piloted as part of a coding competition of the ELTEC College of Engineering at Ewha Womans University in order to enable researchers and students to create or annotate their own versions of the Genomics & Informatics corpus, to gain and create knowledge about corpus linguistics, and simultaneously to acquire tangible and transferable skills. The proposed projects during the hackathon harness an internal database containing different versions of the corpus and annotations.
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Currently, no vaccine or established therapeutic agents are available for coronavirus disease 2019. The sharp increase in demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) necessitates an improvement in the protective efficacy of PPE. We evaluated the potential antimicrobial and antiviral effects of a surface-coating disinfectant (3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyldimethyl octadecyl ammonium chloride, Si-QAC) when applied onto PPE. Si-QAC-pre-coated PPE was artificially contaminated with either influenza virus or Salmonella. The results showed significantly reduced influenza and Salmonella titers in Si-QAC-coated PPE; these antimicrobial effects lasted 7 days. This suggests that this surface-coating disinfectant effectively reduces pathogen contamination of PPE, enabling their safe and long-term use.
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This paper describes a community effort to improve earlier versions of the full-text corpus of Genomics & Informatics by semi-automatically detecting and correcting PDF-to-text conversion errors and optical character recognition errors during the first hackathon of Genomics & Informatics Annotation Hackathon (GIAH) event. Extracting text from multi-column biomedical documents such as Genomics & Informatics is known to be notoriously difficult. The hackathon was piloted as part of a coding competition of the ELTEC College of Engineering at Ewha Womans University in order to enable researchers and students to create or annotate their own versions of the Genomics & Informatics corpus, to gain and create knowledge about corpus linguistics, and simultaneously to acquire tangible and transferable skills. The proposed projects during the hackathon harness an internal database containing different versions of the corpus and annotations.
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Currently, no vaccine or established therapeutic agents are available for coronavirus disease 2019. The sharp increase in demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) necessitates an improvement in the protective efficacy of PPE. We evaluated the potential antimicrobial and antiviral effects of a surface-coating disinfectant (3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyldimethyl octadecyl ammonium chloride, Si-QAC) when applied onto PPE. Si-QAC-pre-coated PPE was artificially contaminated with either influenza virus or Salmonella. The results showed significantly reduced influenza and Salmonella titers in Si-QAC-coated PPE; these antimicrobial effects lasted 7 days. This suggests that this surface-coating disinfectant effectively reduces pathogen contamination of PPE, enabling their safe and long-term use.
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Objective@#This study aimed to examine the associations between multiple modifiable risk/protective factors and the onset of cognitive impairment, using nationally representative panel data spanning 10 years. @*Methods@#A total of 7,568 respondents who were cognitively normal at baseline were included and followed up for 10 years using data from the 2006–2016 Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing. The data were converted into 28,113 person-year observations, and a life table approach and a series of event history models were used to estimate the transition rates to cognitive impairment over time and to examine the influence of time-varying factors on the onset of cognitive impairment. Cognitive impairment was measured using the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Exam. @*Results@#About half of the respondents without cognitive impairment at baseline had experienced cognitive impairment by the end of the last interview, and women were more likely than men to experience cognitive impairment during the observation period. Vascular risk factors, hearing loss, socioeconomic status, regular exercise, participation in social activities, and frequent contact with close friends were significantly associated with the onset of cognitive impairment. @*Conclusion@#This investigation of modifiable factors for cognitive impairment using population-based data may lead to the identification of preventive strategies that people could integrate into their lifestyles.
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Background@#Information about the factors involved in the progress of both high distressed and low distressed victims in the early days after a sexual assault are needed to provide effective intervention for victims of sexual assault. In this study, we examined the relationship among posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, assault-related factors and trauma-related cognitions in Korean female victims of sexual assault. @*Methods@#For this study, we retrospectively investigated the records of 94 female victims from the Sunflower Center for Women and Children Victims of Violence at the Ajou University Hospital in Korea. Demographic characteristics and the features of the sexual assault, post-traumatic stress symptoms, and trauma-related cognition were obtained from data recorded at the initial assessment. One month after the initial assessment, victims were contacted by telephone and their PTSD symptom severity was re-evaluated. The sample of 94 participants were divided into two groups depending on the PTSD symptom scale scores at initial assessment: High-distress group and Low-distress group. @*Results@#Repeated-measured analyses of variance revealed that the high-distress group showed a decrease in PTSD symptom severity over the month, while the low-distress group did not show significant change of PTSD symptom severity. In correlation analysis, negative thoughts and beliefs about the assault were strongly correlated with PTSD symptom severity one month later in both the low-distress and high-distress groups. @*Conclusion@#Our results suggest that trauma-related cognitions seem to play an important role in the maintenance of PTSD both of high-distress and low-distress groups, and that effective intervention will need to address these cognitive factors.
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OBJECTIVES: Population aging has increased the burden of chronic diseases globally. mHealth is often cited as a viable solution to enhance the management of chronic conditions. In this study, we conducted a systematic review of mHealth interventions for the self-management of chronic diseases in Korea, a highly-connected country with a high chronic care burden. METHODS: Five databases were searched for relevant empirical studies that employed randomized controlled trial (RCT) or quasi-experimental methods published in English or Korean from the years 2008 to 2018. The selected studies were reviewed according to the PRISMA guidelines. The selected studies were classified using the Individual and Family Self-Management Theory conceptual framework. RESULTS: Sixteen studies met the inclusion criteria, 9 of which were targeted towards diabetes management, and 7 of which were RCTs. Other target diseases included hypertension, stroke, asthma, and others. mHealth interventions were primarily delivered through smartphone applications, mobile phones connected to a monitoring device, and short message services (SMS). Various self-management processes were applied, including providing social influence and support, and facilitating self-monitoring and goal setting. Eleven studies showed mHealth interventions to be effective in improving self-management behaviors, biomarkers, or patient-reported outcome measures associated with chronic diseases. CONCLUSIONS: While the number of identified studies was not large, none reported negative impacts of mHealth on selected outcomes. Future studies on mHealth should design interventions with a greater variety of targeted functions and should adopt more rigorous methodologies to strengthen the evidence for its effectiveness in chronic disease management.
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Humanos , Envelhecimento , Asma , Biomarcadores , Doença Crônica , Hipertensão , Coreia (Geográfico) , Informática Médica , Aplicativos Móveis , Avaliação de Resultados em Cuidados de Saúde , Autocuidado , Smartphone , Acidente Vascular Cerebral , TelemedicinaRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a relatively recently identified respiratory virus that induces respiratory symptoms similar to those of respiratory syncytial virus infection in children. The characteristics of hMPV-infected adults are unclear because few cases have been reported. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of hospitalized adult patients with a positive multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction assay result from 2012 to 2016 at a single tertiary referral hospital in South Korea. We analyzed clinical characteristics of the enrolled patients and divided patients into an acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) group and a non-ARDS group. RESULTS: In total, 110 adults were reviewed in this study. Their mean age was 61.4 years, and the majority (n = 105, 95.5%) had comorbidities or were immunocompromised. Most of the patients had pneumonia on chest X-ray (n = 88, 93.6%), 22 (20.0%) had ARDS, and 12 (10.9%) expired during hospitalization. The mortality rate for patients with ARDS was higher than that of the other patients (36.4% vs. 5.7%, P = 0.001). The risk factor for hMPV-associated ARDS was heart failure (odds ratio, 5.24; P = 0.044) and laboratory values were increased blood urea nitrogen and increased C-reactive protein. The acquisition site of infection was divided into community vs. nosocomial; 43 patients (39.1%) had a nosocomial infection. The risk factors for nosocomial infection were an immunocompromised state, malignancy and immunosuppressive treatment. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that hMPV is one of the important respiratory pathogens important respiratory pathogen that causes pneumonia/ARDS in elderly, immunocompromised individuals and that it may be transmitted via the nosocomial route.
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Adulto , Idoso , Criança , Humanos , Nitrogênio da Ureia Sanguínea , Proteína C-Reativa , Comorbidade , Infecção Hospitalar , Insuficiência Cardíaca , Hospitalização , Coreia (Geográfico) , Metapneumovirus , Mortalidade , Pneumonia , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase em Tempo Real , Síndrome do Desconforto Respiratório , Vírus Sinciciais Respiratórios , Estudos Retrospectivos , Fatores de Risco , Centros de Atenção Terciária , TóraxRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a relatively recently identified respiratory virus that induces respiratory symptoms similar to those of respiratory syncytial virus infection in children. The characteristics of hMPV-infected adults are unclear because few cases have been reported. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of hospitalized adult patients with a positive multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction assay result from 2012 to 2016 at a single tertiary referral hospital in South Korea. We analyzed clinical characteristics of the enrolled patients and divided patients into an acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) group and a non-ARDS group. RESULTS: In total, 110 adults were reviewed in this study. Their mean age was 61.4 years, and the majority (n = 105, 95.5%) had comorbidities or were immunocompromised. Most of the patients had pneumonia on chest X-ray (n = 88, 93.6%), 22 (20.0%) had ARDS, and 12 (10.9%) expired during hospitalization. The mortality rate for patients with ARDS was higher than that of the other patients (36.4% vs. 5.7%, P = 0.001). The risk factor for hMPV-associated ARDS was heart failure (odds ratio, 5.24; P = 0.044) and laboratory values were increased blood urea nitrogen and increased C-reactive protein. The acquisition site of infection was divided into community vs. nosocomial; 43 patients (39.1%) had a nosocomial infection. The risk factors for nosocomial infection were an immunocompromised state, malignancy and immunosuppressive treatment. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that hMPV is one of the important respiratory pathogens important respiratory pathogen that causes pneumonia/ARDS in elderly, immunocompromised individuals and that it may be transmitted via the nosocomial route.
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Adulto , Idoso , Criança , Humanos , Nitrogênio da Ureia Sanguínea , Proteína C-Reativa , Comorbidade , Infecção Hospitalar , Insuficiência Cardíaca , Hospitalização , Coreia (Geográfico) , Metapneumovirus , Mortalidade , Pneumonia , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase em Tempo Real , Síndrome do Desconforto Respiratório , Vírus Sinciciais Respiratórios , Estudos Retrospectivos , Fatores de Risco , Centros de Atenção Terciária , TóraxRESUMO
Intermediate filaments, including nestin and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), are important for the brain to accommodate neural activities and changes during development. The present study examined the temporal changes of nestin and GFAP protein levels in the postnatal development of the mouse hippocampus. Mouse hippocampi were sampled on postnatal day (PND) 1, 3, 6, 18, and 48. Western blot analysis showed that nestin expression was high at PND 1 and markedly decreased until PND 18. Conversely, GFAP expression was acutely increased in the early phase of postnatal development. Nestin immunoreactivity was localized mainly in the processes of ramified cells at PND 1, but expression subsequently decreased. In contrast, GFAP was evident mainly in the marginal cells of the hippocampus at PND 1, but immunoreactivity revealed satellite, radial, or ramified shapes of the cells from PND 6-48. This study demonstrates that the opposing pattern of nestin and GFAP expressions in mouse hippocampus during postnatal development occur in the early development stage (PND 1-18), suggesting that the opposing change of nestin and GFAP in early postnatal development is important for neural differentiation and positioning in the mouse hippocampus.
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Animais , Feminino , Masculino , Camundongos , Envelhecimento , Western Blotting , Encéfalo/citologia , Regulação da Expressão Gênica no Desenvolvimento , Proteína Glial Fibrilar Ácida/genética , Hipocampo/citologia , Imuno-Histoquímica , Proteínas de Filamentos Intermediários/genética , Camundongos Endogâmicos ICR , Proteínas do Tecido Nervoso/genética , Neurônios/metabolismoRESUMO
BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study examined the clinical characteristics of patients with lung cancer who were diagnosed at the Gachon University of Medicine and Science Gil Hospital from January 2006 to December 2008. METHODS: The lung cancer data were downloaded from the hospital medical information system using cancer registration information. The patient clinical characteristics were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: A total of 713 patients were diagnosed with lung cancer. Their median age was 69 years, 78.1% were over 60 years old, and 73.1% and 58.2% were men and smokers, respectively. Adenocarcinoma (32.7%) was the most common histologic type, followed by squamous carcinoma (25.9%), unclassifiable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (17.3%), and small-cell carcinoma (SCLC) (15.0%). In the NSCLC group, the stage at diagnosis was IA (1.5%), IB (5.6%), IIA (1.3%), IIB (4.3%), IIIA (5.4%), IIIB (23.1%), IV (47.7%), and unknown (11.1%). In the SCLC group, 20.6% of the patients were in the limited stage, 76.6% were in the extensive stage, and 2.8% were unknown. The patients were treated by surgery (9.8%), concurrent chemoradiotherapy (6.7%), radiotherapy only (5.9%), chemotherapy (32.4%), or best supportive care only (29.7%). The median overall survival was 15.3 months (95% CI, 11.5~19.1). The median survival based on histology was adenocarcinoma (35.0 months), squamous (13.5 months), NSCLC (14.2 months), and SCLC (11.8 months) (p=0.0445). CONCLUSIONS: Adenocarcinoma was the most common histologic type at our institute. Most patients were over 60 years of age (78.1%) and had stage III/IV (76.3%) cancer. The survival of patients with adenocarcinoma was longer than that for the other histological types.
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Humanos , Masculino , Adenocarcinoma , Carcinoma de Células Escamosas , Quimiorradioterapia , Sistemas de Informação , Pulmão , Neoplasias Pulmonares , Estudos RetrospectivosRESUMO
Inhibin, which is important for normal gonadal function, acts on the pituitary gonadotropins to suppress folliclestimulating hormone (FSH) secretion. The level and cellular localization of the inhibin isotypes, alpha, beta(A) and beta(B), in the testis of mice were examined during postnatal development in order to determine if inhibin expression is related to testicular maturation. Mouse testes were sampled on postnatal days (PNDs) 1, 3, 6, 18, 48 and 120, and analyzed by Western blotting and immunofluorescence. Western blot analysis showed very low levels of inhibin alpha, beta(A) and beta(B) expression in the testes at days 1 to 6 after birth. The levels then increased gradually from PND 18 to 48-120, and there were significant peaks at PND 48. Inhibin alpha, beta(A) and beta(B) were detected in testicular cells during postnatal development using immunohistochemistry. The immunoreactivity of inhibin alpha was rarely observed in testicular cells during PND 1 to 6, or in the cytoplasmic process of Sertoli cells surrounding the germ cells and interstitial cells during PND 18 to 120. Inhibin beta(A) and beta(B) immunoreactivity was rarely observed in the testis from PND 1 to 6. On the other hand, it was observed in some spermatogonial cells, as well as in the interstitial space between PND 48 and PND 120. We conclude that the expression of inhibin isotypes increases progressively in the testis of mice with increasing postnatal age, suggesting that inhibin is associated with a negative feedback signal for FSH in testicular maturation.