Validation Study of the Korean Version of the Brief Clinical Form of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory.

Aim: This study aims to provide a brief questionnaire form of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI-Q) in Korean translated from the original NPI-Q that is intended for the evaluation of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in routine clinical practice.

Patients And Methods: We developed a Korean version of the NPI-Q (KNPI-Q) and compared subitems with those of the Korean version of the NPI (KNPI) in 63 dementia patients; 47 patients had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease with dementia, 8 with vascular dementia, and 8 with dementia with Lewy body disease. The diagnosis was based on the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke - Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association criteria for possible and probable Alzheimer's disease and the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision, criteria for vascular dementia and other dementing diseases.

Effects of combined radiofrequency field exposure on amyloid-beta-induced cytotoxicity in HT22 mouse hippocampal neurones.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common progressive and irreversible neurodegenerative disease and it is caused by neuronal death in the brain. Recent studies have shown that non-ionizing radiofrequency (RF) radiation has some beneficial cognitive effects in animal models of AD. In this study, we examined the effect of combined RF radiation on amyloid-beta (Aβ)-induced cytotoxicity in HT22 rat hippocampal neurons.

A Novel Hemoglobin Variant Associated with Congenital Erythrocytosis: Hb Seoul [β86(F2)Ala→Thr] (HBB:c.259G>A).

We report the identification of a novel hemoglobin (Hb) variant [β86(F2)Ala→Thr; HBB: c.259G>A], Hb Seoul, causing congenital erythrocytosis due to high oxygen affinity. The patient was a 33-year-old Korean man with isolated erythrocytosis.

Reduced Venous Blood Basophil Count and Anxious Depression in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder.

Objective: Anxious depression has a distinct neurobiology, clinical course and treatment response from non-anxious depression. Role of inflammation in anxious depression has not been examined. As an exploratory study to characterize the role of inflammation on a development of anxious depression, we aimed to determine the relationship between white blood cell (WBC) subset counts and anxiety in individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD).

Possible Role of a Missense Mutation of p.P167S on Gene Associated with Cerebral Autosomal Dominant Arteriopathy with Subcortical Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy.

Background: Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is a single-gene disorder caused by mutations in the gene, located on chromosome 19p13. encodes a transmembrane receptor which plays a role in cellular differentiation and cell cycle regulation.

Case Report: A 71-year-old female showing headache and memory impairment, familial history of stroke and having a missense mutation from proline to serine at codon 167 in the exon 4 on gene.

Intramuscular nerve distribution of the hamstring muscles: Application to treating spasticity.

The aim of this article is to elucidate the ideal sites for botulinum toxin injection by examining the intramuscular nerve distributions in the hamstring muscles. The hamstring muscles, biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus (10 specimens each) were stained by the modified Sihler method. The locations of the muscle origins, nerve entry points, and intramuscular arborized areas were recorded as percentages of the total distance from the line crossing the medial and lateral tibial condyles (0%) to the ischial tuberosity (100%).

Neuromuscular structure of the tibialis anterior muscle for functional electrical stimulation.

Purpose: This study describes the nerve entry points and intramuscular nerve branching of the tibialis anterior, providing essential information for therapeutic functional electrical stimulation and botulinum toxin injection.

Methods: One hundred and ten legs from Korean and Thai cadavers were dissected. Ten specimens were harvested and subjected to modified Sihler's staining.

High frequency of JAK2 exon 12 mutations in Korean patients with polycythaemia vera: novel mutations and clinical significance.

Gain-of-function mutations in JAK2 are the molecular hallmarks of polycythaemia vera (PV), one of the myeloproliferative neoplasms. Most (∼95%) patients harbour V617F mutation in exon 15, while the rest have small insertion/deletion mutations in exon 12. We investigated JAK2 mutations in 42 Korean patients with PV.

Submillisecond organic synthesis: Outpacing Fries rearrangement through microfluidic rapid mixing.

In chemical synthesis, rapid intramolecular rearrangements often foil attempts at site-selective bimolecular functionalization. We developed a microfluidic technique that outpaces the very rapid anionic Fries rearrangement to chemoselectively functionalize iodophenyl carbamates at the ortho position. Central to the technique is a chip microreactor of our design, which can deliver a reaction time in the submillisecond range even at cryogenic temperatures.

Defect-Controlled Formation of Triclinic Na2 CoP2 O7 for 4 V Sodium-Ion Batteries.

Simple defects such as sodium deficiencies can induce the selective synthesis of triclinic Na2 CoP2 O7 , providing an increase in energy density of more than 40 % compared to the stoichiometric polymorph that is preferentially formed under the commonly used synthesis conditions. Such a significant improvement, which was achieved just by changing the crystal structure, suggests that controlling the polymorphism could be an effective and facile method for developing high-performance electrode materials and that defects can play a remarkable role in this process.

A MALDI-MS-based quantitative analytical method for endogenous estrone in human breast cancer cells.

The level of endogenous estrone, one of the three major naturally occurring estrogens, has a significant correlation with the incidence of post-menopausal breast cancer. However, it is challenging to quantitatively monitor it owing to its low abundance. Here, we develop a robust and highly sensitive mass-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS)-based quantitative platform to identify the absolute quantities of endogenous estrones in a variety of clinical specimens.

Effect of Octreotide Injection on Postoperative Drainage After Neck Dissection: A Preliminary Report of a Prospective, Matched Case-Control Study.

Objectives: Somatostatin inhibits lymph production and reduces lymph flow into the lymphatic duct. We hypothesized that octreotide, a long-acting somatostatin analog, would reduce drainage after neck dissection (ND) by reducing the overall lymphatic flow in the neck as well as thoracic duct flow.

Methods: From 2012 to 2014, total 123 patients who had undergone left-sided comprehensive ND, were divided into an octreotide group (49 patients) and a control group (74 patients).

Clinical Implications of the Extension of Platysmal Fibers on the Middle and Lower Face.

Background: Despite the area of insertion of the facial portion of the platysma being broad and highly variable, the details of its pattern of extension and morphology are not well described in the medical literature. The aim of this study was to clarify the extension patterns of the platysma on the middle and lower face by topographic examination and detailed dissection.

Methods: A detailed dissection was performed in the cheek region of 34 cadaveric specimens.

Brain Atrophy of Secondary REM-Sleep Behavior Disorder in Neurodegenerative Disease.

Background: Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) may present as an early manifestation of an evolving neurodegenerative disorder with alpha-synucleinopathy.

Objective: We investigated that dementia with RBD might show distinctive cortical atrophic patterns.

Methods: A total of 31 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD), 23 with clinically probable Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 36 healthy controls participated in this study.

Novel Anatomic Description of the Course of the Inferior Palpebral Vein for Minimally Invasive Aesthetic Treatments.

Background: The inferior palpebral vein (IPV) receives tributaries from the inferior palpebral part of the orbicularis oculi muscle (OOc). The aim of this study was to elucidate the venous distribution pattern of the IPV for dermal filler injection.

Material And Methods: Fifty hemifaces from 34 cadavers were used in this study.

Revisiting the Topographic Anatomy of the Marginal Mandibular Branch of Facial Nerve Relating to the Surgical Approach.

Background: The marginal mandibular branch (Mbr) of the facial nerve is vulnerable to damage during rhytidoplasty, surgical reduction of the mandibular angle, parotidectomy, and excision of the submandibular gland.

Objectives: The authors sought to map the Mbr and determine the relationship between the number of Mbr offshoots and the course of the Mbr.

Methods: The Mbr was examined in 29 hemifaces from 12 embalmed and 4 fresh cadavers (10 males, 6 females; mean age, 73.

Integrated epigenomic analyses of enhancer as well as promoter regions in gastric cancer.

Abnormal DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism that promotes gastric carcinogenesis. While the abnormal methylation at promoter regions has been characterized for many genes, the function of DNA methylation marks at distal regulatory regions in gastric cancer remains poorly described. Here, we performed RNA-seq, MBD-seq, and H3K27ac ChIP-seq on gastric tissues and cell lines to understand the epigenetic changes in the distal as well as the proximal regulatory regions.

Macrophage inflammatory protein 1 alpha (MIP-1α) may be associated with poor outcome in patients with extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma.

The macrophage inflammatory protein 1α (MIP-1α) is anticipated to have a role in extranodal natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTL) because the expression of MIP-1α is related to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latency in EBV-related non-Hodgkin lymphoma cells. Thus, we measured the serum level of MIP-1α in 69 patients with ENKTL using frozen serum samples that were archived at diagnosis. As serum level of MIP-1α was not detectable in 19 patients (range: 0-24.

Familiarization Effects on Consonant Intelligibility in Dysarthric Speech.

Background/aims: This study investigates the effects of familiarization on naïve listeners' ability to identify consonants in dysarthric speech.

Methods: A total of 120 listeners (30 listeners/speaker) participated in experiments over a 6-week period. Listeners were randomly assigned to one of the three familiarization conditions: a passive condition in which listeners heard audio recordings of words, an active condition in which listeners heard audio recordings of words while viewing the written material of words, and a control condition in which listeners had no exposure to the audio signal prior to identification tasks.

Multilayered film microreactors fabricated by a one-step thermal bonding technique with high reproducibility and their applications.

We report the versatile uses of multilayered polyimide (PI) film microreactors with various functions including pressure tolerance, three-dimensional mixing and multistep membrane emulsification. Such PI film microreactors were fabricated by a simple one-step thermal bonding technique with high reproducibility. Upon bonding at 300 °C for 1 hour, the thin and flexible film microdevices could withstand pressure up to 8.

Metabolic Engineering of Probiotic Saccharomyces boulardii.

Saccharomyces boulardiiis a probiotic yeast that has been used for promoting gut health as well as preventing diarrheal diseases. This yeast not only exhibits beneficial phenotypes for gut health but also can stay longer in the gut than Saccharomyces cerevisiae Therefore, S. boulardiiis an attractive host for metabolic engineering to produce biomolecules of interest in the gut.

In vivo photothermal treatment by the peritumoral injection of macrophages loaded with gold nanoshells.

Photothermal treatment methods have been widely studied for their target specificity and potential for supplementing the limitations of conventional surgical treatments. In this study, we conducted in vivo photothermal treatments using macrophages containing nanoshells as live vectors. We injected macrophages at the peritumoral sites and observed that they had penetrated into the tumor approximately 48 hours after injection.

miR-204 downregulates EphB2 in aging mouse hippocampal neurons.

Hippocampal synaptic function and plasticity deteriorate with age, often resulting in learning and memory deficits. As MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of neuronal protein expression, we examined whether miRNAs may contribute to this age-associated decline in hippocampal function. We first compared the small RNA transcriptome of hippocampal tissues from young and old mice.