• Journal of Embryo Transfer
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.177-181
• /
• 2008

This study was performed to investigate the effects of hCG treatment on pregnancy and delivery rates in the Hanwoo recipients. There were significantly higher pregnancy and delivery rates in the recipients treated with hCG at 7 days after artificial insemination (p<0.05), respectively. The SCNT embryos from bovine fetal fibroblast cells were transferred into the synchronized recipients. The recipients were administered saline (n=89) or hCG (1,500 IU) (n=48) at 7 days after heat, respectively. The pregnancy rate was significantly higher in the recipients treated with hCG compared to that of saline treated group (p<0.01), however, the delivery rate was not different in both treated groups. The concentration of plasma progesterone (P4) was not different in both groups before hCG treatment, but the P4 level was increased significantly in hCG treated group after hCG injection (p<0.05). Although the pregnancy rate was very high in early stage of pregnancy, it was decreased dramatically after 50 days of pregnancy and maintained basal level. Taken together, the treatment of hCG in the SCNT recipients after day 7 of heat was effective method to increase the P4 concentration and to increase the pregnancy rate. But it did not affect directly to delivery.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• /
• v.28 no.3
• /
• pp.183-189
• /
• 2017

Objectives: The study aimed to identify the characteristics of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) that was not diagnosed in childhood or adolescence, but only in adulthood. Methods: The characteristics of patients diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood were compared with those of patients diagnosed in childhood were assessed via a retrospective review of the medical records at one university hospital from 2005 to 2013. If the age at which they were confirmed as having ADHD was less than 19 years old, they were grouped as childhood-diagnosed group (CD); if they were 19 years old or more, they were grouped as adulthood-diagnosed group (AD). Results: The CD and AD included 50 (46.3%) and 58 (53.7%) patients, respectively. Inattention was the most common symptom in both groups. Behavioral and emotional problems were the second most frequent symptoms in the CD and AD, respectively. The intelligent quotient was significantly higher in the AD than in the CD. The most common comorbidity was depression in the CD and personality disorder in the AD. The most common reason for visiting the hospital was referral by acquaintances in the CD and media coverage in the AD. Conclusion: Clinicians should put ADHD on the index of suspicion when they examine adults with various psychiatric symptoms, because the diagnosis of ADHD might have been missed in childhood and the symptoms of ADHD might have changed as they grew up.

• Dementia and Neurocognitive Disorders
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.126-137
• /
• 2022

Background and Purpose: Early detection of subjective cognitive decline (SCD) due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) is important for clinical research and effective prevention and management. This study examined if quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) could be used for early detection of AD in SCD. Methods: Participants with SCD from 6 dementia clinics in Korea were enrolled. ¹⁸F-florbetaben brain amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) was conducted for all the participants. qEEG was performed to measure power spectrum and source cortical activity. Results: The present study included 95 participants aged over 65 years, including 26 amyloid PET (+) and 69 amyloid PET (-). In participants with amyloid PET (+), relative power at delta band was higher in frontal (p=0.025), parietal (p=0.005), and occipital (p=0.022) areas even after adjusting for age, sex, and education. Source activities of alpha 1 band were significantly decreased in the bilateral fusiform and inferior temporal areas, whereas those of delta band were increased in the bilateral cuneus, pericalcarine, lingual, lateral occipital, precuneus, posterior cingulate, and isthmus areas. There were increased connections between bilateral precuneus areas but decreased connections between left rostral middle frontal area and bilateral frontal poles at delta band in participants with amyloid PET (+) showed. At alpha 1 band, there were decreased connections between bilateral entorhinal areas after adjusting for covariates. Conclusions: SCD participants with amyloid PET (+) showed increased delta and decreased alpha 1 activity. qEEG is a potential means for predicting amyloid pathology in SCD. Further longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these findings.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.29-34
• /
• 2013

The tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a member of the tumor necrosis factor family of cytokines. TRAIL selectively induces apoptotic cell death in various tumors and cancer cells, but it has little or no toxicity in normal cells. Agonism of TRAIL receptors has been considered to be a valuable cancer-therapeutic strategy. However, more than 85% of primary tumors are resistant to TRAIL, emphasizing the importance of investigating how to overcome TRAIL resistance. In this report, we have found that nemadipine-A, a cell-permeable L-type calcium channel inhibitor, sensitizes TRAIL-resistant cancer cells to this ligand. Combination treatments using TRAIL with nemadipine-A synergistically induced both the caspase cascade and apoptotic cell death, which were blocked by a pan caspase inhibitor (zVAD) but not by autophagy or a necrosis inhibitor. We further found that nemadipine-A, either alone or in combination with TRAIL, notably reduced the expression of survivin, an inhibitor of the apoptosis protein (IAP) family of proteins. Depletion of survivin by small RNA interference (siRNA) resulted in increased cell death and caspase activation by TRAIL treatment. These results suggest that nemadipine-A potentiates TRAIL-induced apoptosis by down-regulation of survivin expression in TRAIL resistant cells. Thus, combination of TRAIL with nemadipine-A may serve a new therapeutic scheme for the treatment of TRAIL resistant cancer cells, suggesting that a detailed study of this combination would be useful.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.229-238
• /
• 2014

Background: A toxic dose of bupivacaine produces vasodilation in isolated aortas. The goal of this in vitro study was to investigate the cellular mechanism associated with bupivacaine-induced vasodilation in isolated endothelium-denuded rat aortas precontracted with phenylephrine. Methods: Isolated endothelium-denuded rat aortas were suspended for isometric tension recordings. The effects of nifedipine, verapamil, iberiotoxin, 4-aminopyridine, barium chloride, and glibenclamide on bupivacaine concentration-response curves were assessed in endothelium-denuded aortas precontracted with phenylephrine. The effect of phenylephrine and KCl used for precontraction on bupivacaine-induced concentration-response curves was assessed. The effects of verapamil on phenylephrine concentration-response curves were assessed. The effects of bupivacaine on the intracellular calcium concentration ($[Ca^{2+}]_i$) and tension in aortas precontracted with phenylephrine were measured simultaneously with the acetoxymethyl ester of a fura-2-loaded aortic strip. Results: Pretreatment with potassium channel inhibitors had no effect on bupivacaine-induced relaxation in the endothelium-denuded aortas precontracted with phenylephrine, whereas verapamil or nifedipine attenuated bupivacaine-induced relaxation. The magnitude of the bupivacaine-induced relaxation was enhanced in the 100mM KCl-induced precontracted aortas compared with the phenylephrine-induced precontracted aortas. Verapamil attenuated the phenylephrine-induced contraction. The magnitude of the bupivacaine-induced relaxation was higher than that of the bupivacaine-induced $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ decrease in the aortas precontracted with phenylephrine. Conclusions: Taken together, these results suggest that toxic-dose bupivacaine-induced vasodilation appears to be mediated by decreased calcium sensitization in endothelium-denuded aortas precontracted with phenylephrine. In addition, potassium channel inhibitors had no effect on bupivacaine-induced relaxation. Toxic-dose bupivacaine-induced vasodilation may be partially associated with the inhibitory effect of voltage-operated calcium channels.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.45 no.12
• /
• pp.896-910
• /
• 2022

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a highly transmissible and potentially fatal virus. So far, most comprehensive analyses encompassing clinical and transcriptional manifestation have concentrated on the lungs. Here, we confirmed evident signs of viral infection in the lungs and spleen of SARS-CoV-2-infected K18-hACE2 mice, which replicate the phenotype and infection symptoms in hospitalized humans. Seven days post viral detection in organs, infected mice showed decreased vital signs, leading to death. Bronchopneumonia due to infiltration of leukocytes in the lungs and reduction in the spleen lymphocyte region were observed. Transcriptome profiling implicated the meticulous regulation of distress and recovery from cytokine-mediated immunity by distinct immune cell types in a time-dependent manner. In lungs, the chemokine-driven response to viral invasion was highly elevated at 2 days post infection (dpi). In late infection, diseased lungs, post the innate immune process, showed recovery signs. The spleen established an even more immediate line of defense than the lungs, and the cytokine expression profile dropped at 7 dpi. At 5 dpi, spleen samples diverged into two distinct groups with different transcriptome profile and pathophysiology. Inhibition of consecutive host cell viral entry and massive immunoglobulin production and proteolysis inhibition seemed that one group endeavored to survive, while the other group struggled with developmental regeneration against consistent viral intrusion through the replication cycle. Our results may contribute to improved understanding of the longitudinal response to viral infection and development of potential therapeutics for hospitalized patients affected by SARS-CoV-2.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.66-69
• /
• 2008

Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), the third most common inherited muscular dystrophy, is an autosomal dominant disease characterized by progressive weakness and wasting of the facial, shoulder-girdle, upper arm, foot extensor, and pelvic girdle muscles. FSHD is caused by contraction of the polymorphic D4Z4 repeat in the subtelomere of chromosome 4q. However, there has been no report of genetically confirmed FSHD in Korea. We report a patient with FSHD who was found to have a deletion of D4Z4 repeat on chromosome 4q35.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
• /
• v.32 no.6
• /
• pp.559-565
• /
• 2006

The aim of this study was to evaluate the amount and interrelationship of the soft and hard tissue changes after simultaneous maxillary clockwise rotation and mandibular setback surgery in skeletal class III malocclusion. The sample comprised of 16 adult patients who had anteroposterior skeletal discrepancy. These patients had received presurgical orthodontic treatment and surgical treatment which consisted of Le fort I Osteotomy and bilateral saggital split ramus osteotomy. The presurgical (T1) and postsurgical (T2) lateral cephalograms were evaluated. The computerized statistical analysis was carried out with SPSS/PC program. The results demonstrated a decrease in the vertical dimension in the soft and hard tissue. The nasolabial angle was increased and the mentolabial angle was decreased. The results showed also many statistically significant correlations(p<0.05). The lower lip closely followed the skeletal movement of the B- point in the horizontal plane. The double jaw rotation surgery can afford a good solution to solve the problems of class III malocclusion cases.

• Macromolecular Research
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.39-44
• /
• 2005

Ion-exchange polymeric stationary phases presenting amino acid and amino groups were prepared by the surface grafting of glycidyl methacrylate onto a silica gel surface and subsequent amination. Three kinds of amino acids-L-arginine (Arg), D-lysine (Lys), and D-histine (His)-were used in this study. An ion-exchange polymeric stationary phase presenting ethylene diamine (EDA) was also prepared by surface graft polymerization. Separation of the model proteins bovine serum albumin (BSA), chick egg albumin (CEA), and hemoglobin (Hb) was performed using the amino acid- and amine-derived columns. In separating the CEA/BSA mixture, the resolution time of BSA was longer than that of CEA when using the EDA column, whereas the resolution time of BSA was shorter than that of CEA when using the Arg, Lys, and His columns. In the separation of the Hb/BSA mixture, the resolution time of BSA was longer than that of Hb in the EDA column, whereas the resolution time of BSA was shorter than that of Hb in the amino acid columns (D-Lys, L-Arg, and D-His).

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
• /
• v.18 no.12
• /
• pp.1025-1032
• /
• 2006

This is to characterize the fluid mechanics of surfactant water solutions, which exhibit drag reduction in the turbulent flow as compared to pure water. The emphasis is placed on those fluid characteristic aspects of drag reducing solutions which are relevant for application in closed circulation loops for the purpose of pumping power savings, like hydronic cooling and heating systems in buildings. The experiments are carried out with the solutions of the surfactant Beraid DR-IW 616 in concentration of $100{\sim}3,000ppm$. The following key parameters are focused in this study: surfactant concentration, solution temperature and pipe diameter.