Funeral Experience in South Korea: A Phenomenological Study.

Few studies of death preparation in South Korea are available. This article describes South Koreans' experiences of death and a funeral in a hospital setting to improve health care providers' ability to care for dying patients and their family. Using Colaizzi's phenomenological method, we conducted semistructured interviews with 40 South Koreans who had lost a family member in a hospital setting. Participants' statements were classified into 12 themes, 5 theme clusters, and 3 categories: (a) vagueness of funeral culture, (b) distortion of meaning in funeral culture, and (c) the need to prepare for death and process grief. Our findings are relevant to hospital-based health care providers who care for dying patients and their family. Targeted educational information could help health care providers better serve patients and family. Policy changes could improve quality of care by allowing health care providers to transition with the family from hospital units to a hospital-based funeral setting.

Preserved Hippocampal Glucose Metabolism on 18F-FDG PET after Transplantation of Human Umbilical Cord Blood-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Chronic Epileptic Rats.

Human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUCB-MSCs) may be a promising modality for treating medial temporal lobe epilepsy. (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) is a noninvasive method for monitoring in vivo glucose metabolism. We evaluated the efficacy of hUCB-MSCs transplantation in chronic epileptic rats using FDG-PET. Rats with recurrent seizures were randomly assigned into three groups: the stem cell treatment (SCT) group received hUCB-MSCs transplantation into the right hippocampus, the sham control (ShC) group received same procedure with saline, and the positive control (PC) group consisted of treatment-negative epileptic rats. Normal rats received hUCB-MSCs transplantation acted as the negative control (NC). FDG-PET was performed at pre-treatment baseline and 1- and 8-week posttreatment. Hippocampal volume was evaluated and histological examination was done. In the SCT group, bilateral hippocampi at 8-week after transplantation showed significantly higher glucose metabolism (0.990 ± 0.032) than the ShC (0.873 ± 0.087; P < 0.001) and PC groups (0.858 ± 0.093; P < 0.001). Histological examination resulted that the transplanted hUCB-MSCs survived in the ipsilateral hippocampus and migrated to the contralateral hippocampus but did not differentiate. In spite of successful engraftment, seizure frequency among the groups was not significantly different. Transplanted hUCB-MSCs can engraft and migrate, thereby partially restoring bilateral hippocampal glucose metabolism. The results suggest encouraging effect of hUCB-MSCs on restoring epileptic networks.

Effects of condylar head surface changes on mandibular position in patients with temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis.

PURPOSE: This study evaluated condylar surface changes in patients after temporomandibular (TMJ) osteoarthritis (OA) treatment, and used cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) to investigate the relationship between condylar surface and mandibular position changes. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty-six patients diagnosed with TMJ OA and receiving non-surgical treatments for TMJ OA were enrolled in this study. Patients were assigned to study groups according to the affected side. Those in the unilateral osteoarthritis (OAU) group (n = 20; 8 males and 12 females; aged 22.0 ± 11.5 years) had a unilateral condyle with TMJ OA, and those in the OAB group had bilateral TMJ OA (n = 16; 1 male and 15 females; aged 25.7 ± 6.4 years). Condylar surface and mandibular position changes were investigated by the superimposition of three-dimensional reconstructed images and CBCT data, respectively. RESULTS: For condylar surface changes, the average absolute deviation was 0.32 ± 0.08 mm for the OA side and 0.18 ± 0.03 mm for the non-OA side, a significant difference between sides (p < 0.05). In the bilateral osteoarthritis (OAB) group, the average absolute deviation was 0.35 ± 0.08 mm for the left side and 0.33 ± 0.09 mm for the right side. For mandibular position changes, measurement points that moved more than 2 mm were Pog, Me, and Mental foramen in both groups. CONCLUSION: The study results show that the mandible with both condyles affected moved backward and downward after TMJ OA treatment. In the patient ngroup with unilateral TMJ OA, there was deviation on the affected side and downward movement (p < 0.05).

Therapeutic effects of human amniotic epithelial stem cells in Niemann-Pick type C1 mice.

BACKGROUND AIMS: Niemann-Pick disease type C1 (NPC) is an autosomal recessive cholesterol-storage disorder characterized by liver dysfunction, hepatosplenomegaly and progressive neurodegeneration. Thus far, studies of NPC mice have been performed mainly to study the brain and neurodegeneration, because degeneration in the brain was known as the primary cause of death in NPC mice. However, NPC is a systemic disease; therefore the purpose of this study was to find the possibility of a general therapeutic effect by applying and tracking transplanted human amniotic epithelial stem cells (hAESC) in NPC mice. METHODS: hAESC were administered to NPC homozygous (NPC(-/-)) mice via intravenous injection from 5 weeks of age; each recipient received 5 × 10(5) cells every other week. The body weight of each of the mice was measured every week, and the survival and state of each mouse was evaluated every day. The weight of the organs was measured, and serum chemistry, histology and the intensity of Filipin staining were evaluated. RESULTS: The effect of cell transplantation was to extend the life span and reduce the rapid loss of weight. Moreover, alleviation of tissue damage was observed more in hAESC-treated NPC(-/-) mice than in non-treated NPC(-/-) mice. Cholesterol deposition was reduced after transplantation, and the relative weight of the liver was also decreased. CONCLUSIONS: These data show that hAESC could delay the degeneration caused by fatal genetic disorders such as NPC. This study presents the prospect of relief of precipitous disease progression and the therapeutic possibility of applying hAESC to fatal genetic disorders.

The simplest method for in vitro ß-cell production from human adult stem cells.

Diabetes mellitus is a challenging autoimmune disease. Biomedical researchers are currently exploring efficient and effective ways to solve this challenge. The potential of stem cell therapies for treating diabetes represents one of the major focuses of current research on diabetes treatment. Here, we have attempted to differentiate adult stem cells from umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal cells (UCB-MSC), Wharton's jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells (WJ-MSC) and amniotic epithelial stem cells (AE-SC) into insulin-producing cells. The serum-free protocol developed in this study resulted in the differentiation of cells into definitive endoderm, pancreatic foregut, pancreatic endoderm and, finally, pancreatic endocrine cells, which expressed the marker genes SOX17, PDX1, NGN3, NKX6.1, INS, GCG, and PPY, respectively. Detection of the expression of the gap junction-related gene connexin-36 (CX36) using RT-PCR provided conclusive evidence for insulin-producing cell differentiation. In addition to this RT-PCR result, insulin and C-peptide protein were detected by immunohistochemistry and ELISA. Glucose stimulation test results showed that significantly greater amounts of C-peptide and insulin were released from differentiated cells than from undifferentiated cells. In conclusion, the methods investigated in this study can be considered an effective and efficient means of obtaining insulin-producing cells from adult stem cells within a week.

Changes of sleep or waking habits by age and sex in Japanese.

We analyzed the effects of age and sex on habitual sleep/wake rhythm and Morningness-Eveningness scores of 2,252 subjects (6-89 years) randomly selected in Shimonoseki, Japan. Subjects were divided into 21 age groups with a matching number of men and women in each age group. The most common sleep parameter patterns by age showed a v- or inverted v-pattern with a turning point in young adulthood or at the period of puberty. During the period between 6 yr. of age to puberty or young adulthood, the bedtimes on weekdays and weekends and the waking times on weekends were delayed, Morningness-Eveningness scores shifted to the evening type, and sleep length on weekdays decreased. After that period, across groups of increasing age, bedtime and waking time on weekdays and weekends became earlier, sleep length on weekdays and sleep latency increased, Morningness-Eveningness scores shifted to morning type, and the number of awakenings increased. The number of daytime naps increased in the 16-19 yr. group, decreased slightly after that age group, but increased again in older groups. The weekday bedtimes of women above 40 yr. of age was significantly later and their sleep lengths significantly shorter than those of men of the same age. Average sleep latency was longer for women than men. The number of awakenings was larger in women above 50 yr. of age than men of the same age group. The turning point of age, gained from the two linear regressions on data for subjects that have a minimum sum of squared error, was between 16 and 25 yr. of age. Average phase of sleep/wake rhythm shifted backward and sleep length decreased in groups from age 6 to puberty or young adulthood. After early adolescence, the average phase of the sleep/wake rhythm shifted forward, sleep latency became longer, and daytime napping increased. Number of awakenings increased rapidly for women's groups over 40 yr. of age and for men's groups after 50 yr. of age. Sex differences in our research are in apparent conflict with previous data and are discussed from the perspective of women's social and domestic roles in Japan.

Changes in sleep patterns during simulated nitrox saturation diving to 20 and 30 meters.

This study assessed the effect of a nitrogen-oxygen (N2-02) saturation diving environment on nocturnal sleep and the differences in sleep on diving depth. We measured and recorded the standard polysomnograph and heart rate for a total of 459 nights on 27 divers who performed the N2-O2 saturation simulation dive an 20- and 30-m equivalent depths as well as their subjective feelings of fatigue. From the last half of the period on the bottom to the postdive period of both saturation diving depths, our main findings included a prolongation of sleep latency, shortened total sleep time, a decreased sleep efficiency index, and increased feelings of fatigue. During the bottom period and decompression period, the total number of awakenings and the awakenings from rapid eyes movement (REM) sleep increased. This was slightly greater at the 30-m equivalent depth. From these facts, we assumed that the deterioration of sleep at the 20- and 30-m nitrox saturation dives was predominantly relative to being restricted in a closed environment for a long time and the lack of physical activity of the divers. No recovery of sleep was observed in the postdive period. A difference in the effects on sleep by the dive depth was not found.

Longitudinal study for sleep-wake behaviours of mothers from pre-partum to post-partum using actigraph and sleep logs.

To understand the sleep-wake behaviours from the fifth pre-partum week to the 15th post-partum week by the number of actigraphic activities and sleep logs were evaluated in 10 women. It was found that total sleep time shortened, sleep efficiency decreased, and wake after sleep onset (WASO) increased in the weeks immediately after delivery. Compared with late pregnancy, total sleep time and sleep efficiency deteriorated significantly from the delivery week to the 12th post-partum week and there was a longer period of WASO until the 11th postpartum week. The after-delivery sleep parameters estimated by the actigraph were worse than those estimated from sleep logs.