Pilot study of radiofrequency thermal therapy performed twice on the entire vaginal wall for vaginal laxity.

Objective: Radiofrequency thermal (RFT) therapy is commonly performed to treat vaginal laxity (VL), but the optimal technique of RFT therapy is unclear. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of RFT therapy performed twice on the whole vaginal wall in women with VL.

Methods: This was a single-arm, open-label clinical trial conducted in a tertiary hospital in the Republic of Korea from July 2018 to January 2019.

Validation of the Korean version of visual analogue scale for irritable bowel syndrome questionnaire for assessment of defecation pattern changes.

Purpose: Patients often complain of change of defecation pattern and it is necessary to quantify their symptoms. To quantify symptoms, use of questionnaire is ideal, so we adopted a simple and easily writable visual analogue scale for irritable bowel syndrome questionnaire (VAS-IBS). The aim of this study was to develop and validate the Korean version of VAS-IBS questionnaire (Korean VAS-IBS) that can adequately reflect the defecation pattern.

Development and Validation of Ovarian Symptom Index-18 and Neurotoxicity-4 for Korean Patients with Ovarian, Fallopian Tube, or Primary Peritoneal Cancer.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop Korean versions of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network/Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (NCCN-FACT) Ovarian Symptom Index-18 (NFOSI-18) and FACT/Gynecologic Oncology Group (FACT-GOG) Neurotoxicity 4-item (NTX-4), evaluating their reliability and reproducibility.

Materials And Methods: In converting NFOSI-18 and NTX-4, the following steps were performed: forward translation, backward translation, expert review, pretest of preliminary format, and finalization of Korean versions (K-NFOSI-18 and K-NTX-4). Patients were enrolled from six institutions where each had completed chemotherapy for ovarian, tubal, or peritoneal cancer at least 1 month earlier.

Development and Validation of the Korean Version of Hand-Foot Skin Reaction and Quality of Life Questionnaire (HF-QoL-K).

Given the growing number of cancer patients and the resulting increase in the administration of chemotherapeutic agents, convenient and effective methods for measuring the symptoms and quality of life associated with the hand-foot syndrome (HFS) are needed. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop and validate the Korean version of the hand-foot skin reaction and quality of life questionnaire (HF-QoL-K), comprising a 20-item symptom domain and an 18-item daily activity domain. After we developed the HF-QoL-K, 209 Korean patients with gynecologic cancer who were undergoing chemotherapeutic agents relating the HFS were asked to fill in the questionnaire.

Development and evaluation of Korean version of Quality of Sexual Function (QSF-K) in healthy Korean women.

This study was done to develop a Korean version of the Quality of Sexual Function (QSF-K) and evaluate the validity and reliability of the QSF-K. The participants were 220 women who visited the Center for Uterine Cancer at the National Cancer Center in Korea. Participants completed the scale once and then again at a two to four week interval.

Nocardioides hwasunensis sp. nov.

Two novel actinomycete strains, designated HFW-18 and HFW-21(T), were isolated from a water sample around Hwasun Beach on the coast of Jeju Island, Republic of Korea. The cells of the organisms were aerobic, Gram-positive, non-motile rods. The temperature and initial pH ranges for growth were 4-37 degrees C and pH 5.

Functional characterization of a gene encoding a dual domain for uridine kinase and uracil phosphoribosyltransferase in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Uridine kinase (UK) and uracil phosphoribosyltransferase (UPRT) are enzymes catalyzing the formation of uridine 5'-monophosphate (UMP) from uridine and adenine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) and from uracil and phosphoribosyl-alpha-l-pyrophosphate (PRPP), respectively, in the pyrimidine salvage pathway. Here, we report the characterization and functional analysis of a gene AtUK/UPRT1 from Arabidopsis thaliana. Sequencing of an expressed sequence tag clone of this gene revealed that it contains a full-length open reading frame of 1461 nucleotides and encodes a protein with a molecular mass of approximately 53 kDa.

Prediction of glass transition temperature (T(g)) of some compounds in organic electroluminescent devices with their molecular properties.

We have studied the quantitative structure-property relationship between descriptors representing the molecular structure and glass transition temperature (T(g)) for 103 molecules including organic electroluminescent (EL) devices materials. Eighty-six descriptors were introduced and among them seven descriptors (one topological descriptor, one thermodynamic descriptor, one spatial descriptor, one structural descriptor, and three electrostatic descriptors) were selected by Genetic Algorithm (GA). The 81 molecules chosen randomly among 103 compounds were used as a training set, and the remaining 22 molecules were used as a prediction set.

Role of protein kinase C- or RhoA-induced Ca(2+) sensitization in stretch-induced myogenic tone.

Objective: It has been suggested that Ca(2+) sensitization mechanisms might contribute to myogenic tone. However, specific mechanisms have yet to be fully identified. Therefore, we investigated the role of protein kinase C (PKC)- or RhoA-induced Ca(2+) sensitization in myogenic tone of the rabbit basilar vessel.