A systematic review of occupational therapy intervention for handwriting skills in 4-6 year old children.

Introduction: Handwriting skills play a significant role in all stages of an individual's life. Writing interventions should be considered at a younger age to ensure proper development of writing skills. Hence, the aims of this study is to evaluate the current evidence of occupational therapy interventions in handwriting skills for 4-6 year old children.

Genetic Characteristics of Polycythemia Vera and Essential Thrombocythemia in Korean Patients.

Background: Despite recent advances in the investigation of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN), the impact of genetic heterogeneity on its molecular pathogenesis has not been fully elucidated. Thus, in this study, we aim to characterize the genetic complexity in Korean patients with polycythemia vera (PV) and essential thrombocythemia (ET).

Methods: We conducted association studies using 84 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 229 patients (96 with PV and 133 with ET) and 170 controls.

Generating mESC-derived insulin-producing cell lines through an intermediate lineage-restricted progenitor line.

Generating surrogate insulin-producing cells from embryonic stem cells (ESCs) through in vitro replication of successive steps during pancreatic development has been challenging . Here we describe a novel reproducible protocol to establish homogeneous and scalable insulin-producing cell lines from mouse (m) ESCs via differentiation of the previously described lineage-restricted clonal mESC-derived E-RoSH cells. Unlike their parental mESCs, E-RoSH cells expressed high levels of mesodermal and endodermal genes.

Photodynamic therapy with 20% aminolevulinic acid for the treatment of recalcitrant viral warts in an Asian population.

Background: Topical photodynamic therapy (PDT) is based on the principle of targeted tissue destruction using selective photosensitization via a topical porphyrin precursor, followed by light exposure. It is well established for the treatment of actinic keratoses and superficial nonmelanoma skin cancers. Some studies have reported good efficacy when using PDT to treat viral warts in the Western population.

A randomized bilateral vehicle-controlled study of eflornithine cream combined with laser treatment versus laser treatment alone for facial hirsutism in women.

Background And Objective: Although there are a multitude of therapeutic modalities for removing unwanted facial hair in women, there is very little information on using the newer medical treatment approaches in combination. This study was designed to determine whether topical eflornithine can enhance the efficacy of laser hair removal.

Design: This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, right-left comparison study of eflornithine cream combined with laser treatment versus laser alone for treating unwanted hair on the upper lip in women.

Establishing clonal cell lines with endothelial-like potential from CD9(hi), SSEA-1(-) cells in embryonic stem cell-derived embryoid bodies.

Background: Differentiation of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) into specific cell types with minimal risk of teratoma formation could be efficiently directed by first reducing the differentiation potential of ESCs through the generation of clonal, self-renewing lineage-restricted stem cell lines. Efforts to isolate these stem cells are, however, mired in an impasse where the lack of purified lineage-restricted stem cells has hindered the identification of defining markers for these rare stem cells and, in turn, their isolation.

Methodology/principal Findings: We describe here a method for the isolation of clonal lineage-restricted cell lines with endothelial potential from ESCs through a combination of empirical and rational evidence-based methods.

Cutaneous melanin exhibiting fluorescence emission under near-infrared light excitation.

Under ultraviolet and visible light excitation, melanin is essentially a nonfluorescent substance. This work reports our study on near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence properties of melanins, and explores potential applications of NIR fluorescence techniques for evaluating skin disorders involving melanin. The NIR fluorescence spectrum is obtained using a fiber optic NIR spectrometer under 785-nm laser excitation.

Non-ablative 1,450-nm diode laser treatment of striae distensae.

Background And Objectives: Striae distensae are dermal scars with flattening and atrophy of the epidermis. Successful treatment of these stretch marks has been disappointing. The non-ablative 1,450-nm diode laser has been shown to improve atrophic scars and may be expected to improve striae.

Treatment of Kimura's disease with cyclosporine.

Kimura's disease is a rare, chronic inflammatory disease of unknown cause. It is characterized by painless subcutaneous swellings and lymphadenopathy, commonly affecting the head and neck region. This is associated with peripheral blood eosinophilia and raised serum IgE.

Update on primary cicatricial alopecias.

Unlabelled: The cicatricial alopecias encompass a diverse group of disorders characterized by permanent destruction of the hair follicle and irreversible hair loss. Destruction of the hair follicle can result from primary, folliculocentric disease or as a secondary result. This article focuses on the former, or primary cicatricial alopecias.

Long pulsed dye laser treatment of facial wrinkles.

Background: The flashlamp pulsed dye laser has been used in the treatment of rhytids.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of the long pulsed dye laser in the treatment of mild to moderate wrinkles in Asian patients.

Methods: Wrinkles on one half of the face in 10 subjects were treated with the long pulsed dye laser (595 nm, 10 mm spot size, 10 ms, 7 J/cm2, 40 ms spray, 40 ms delay, single-pass, 30% overlap) with the other side serving as a control.

Primary cicatricial alopecias: clinicopathology of 112 cases.

Background: Cicatricial alopecias represent a diverse group of diseases characterized by a lack of follicular ostia and irreversible alopecia. There is limited literature on the epidemiology and therapeutics of cicatricial alopecias.

Objective: The aim of this study was to review the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and treatment of inflammatory cicatricial alopecias in a mixed ethnic population referred to a university hair clinic.

CpG methylation of human papillomavirus type 16 DNA in cervical cancer cell lines and in clinical specimens: genomic hypomethylation correlates with carcinogenic progression.

Infection with genital human papillomaviruses (HPVs) is the primary cause of cervical cancer. The infection is widespread, and little is known about the secondary factors associated with progression from subclinical infection to invasive carcinoma. Here we report that HPV genomes are efficiently targeted in vivo by CpG methylation, a well-known mechanism of transcriptional repression.

Cutaneous mucinosis in dermatomyositis associated with a malignant tumor.

We report a case of dermatomyositis presenting with cutaneous mucinosis as the sole manifestation. A malignancy screen revealed an underlying nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Eosinophilic pustular folliculitis (Ofuji's disease) in Singapore: a review of 23 adult cases.

The case records of 23 patients with classic eosinophilic pustular folliculitis (EPF), or Ofuji's disease, seen at the National Skin Centre in Singapore, from 1990 to 2001 were reviewed. All patients had clinical and histopathological findings consistent with EPF. There were eight men and 15 women (ratio 1:1.

The pattern and profile of alopecia areata in Singapore--a study of 219 Asians.

Background: Alopecia areata is believed to be an autoimmune condition with a worldwide occurrence. It usually presents as patchy, nonscarring hair loss. There is a paucity of clinical data in Asians.

A clinical study of childhood alopecia areata in Singapore.

Alopecia areata (AA) is a common cause of nonscarring alopecia. The aim of this epidemiologic study is to review the clinical characteristics and treatment of childhood alopecia areata in a mixed ethnic population. The study population consisted of a total of 392 children seen over a 4-year period with AA diagnosed before the age of 16 years.

Temporal triangular alopecia: report of five cases in Asian children.

Temporal triangular alopecia (TTA) is a nonscarring alopecia first described in 1905. We report five cases of TTA in Asian children and review the literature.

Selective depletion of human DNA-methyltransferase DNMT1 proteins by sulfonate-derived methylating agents.

5-Methylcytosine residues in the DNA (DNA methylation) are formed from the transfer of the methyl group from S-adenosylmethionine to the C-5 position of cytosine by the DNA-(cytosine-5) methyltransferases (DNMTs). Although regional hypermethylation and global hypomethylation of the genome are commonly observed in neoplastic cells, how these aberrant methylation patterns occur remains unestablished. We report here that sulfonate-derived methylating agents, unlike N-methylnitrosourea or iodomethane, are potent in depleting DNMT1 proteins in human cells, in addition to their DNA-damaging properties.