Therapeutic hypothermia after cardiac arrest caused by self-inflicted intoxication: a multicenter retrospective cohort study.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology and outcomes of patients with therapeutic hypothermia after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) caused by self-inflicted intoxication.

Methods: We performed a multicenter retrospective registry-based study of adult OHCA patients presenting to 24 hospitals over 6 years across South Korea. Data included demographics, resuscitation variables, postresuscitation variables, and self-inflicted intoxicants.

Detailed analysis of the density change on chest CT of COPD using non-rigid registration of inspiration/expiration CT scans.

Objectives: One objective was to evaluate the air trapping index (ATI), measured by inspiration/expiration CT, in COPD patients and nonsmokers. Another objective was to assess the association between the pulmonary function test (PFT) and CT parameters such as ATI or other indices, separately in the whole lung, in emphysema, and in hyperinflated and normal lung areas.

Methods: One hundred and thirty-eight COPD patients and 29 nonsmokers were included in our study.

Optical activity enhanced by strong inter-molecular coupling in planar chiral metamaterials.

The polarization of light can be rotated in materials with an absence of molecular or structural mirror symmetry. While this rotating ability is normally rather weak in naturally occurring chiral materials, artificial chiral metamaterials have demonstrated extraordinary rotational ability by engineering intra-molecular couplings. However, while in general, chiral metamaterials can exhibit strong rotatory power at or around resonances, they convert linearly polarized waves into elliptically polarized ones.

Efficient photoelectrochemical hydrogen production from bismuth vanadate-decorated tungsten trioxide helix nanostructures.

Tungsten trioxide/bismuth vanadate heterojunction is one of the best pairs for solar water splitting, but its photocurrent densities are insufficient. Here we investigate the advantages of using helical nanostructures in photoelectrochemical solar water splitting. A helical tungsten trioxide array is fabricated on a fluorine-doped tin oxide substrate, followed by subsequent coating with bismuth vanadate/catalyst.

Comparison of Two Types of Double-J Ureteral Stents that Differ in Diameter and the Existence of Multiple Side Holes along the Straight Portion in Malignant Ureteral Strictures.

Purpose: This study was decided to evaluate the impact of diameter and the existences of multiple side holes along the straight portion of double-J ureteral stents (DJUS) on early dysfunction of stents placed for malignant ureteral strictures.

Methods: Between April 2007 and December 2011, 141 DJUSs were placed via a percutaneous nephrostomy (PCN) tract in 110 consecutive patients with malignant ureteral strictures. 7F DJUSs with multiple side holes in the straight portion were placed in 58 ureters of 43 patients (Group 1).

The effects of sonic hedgehog signaling pathway components on non-small-cell lung cancer progression and clinical outcome.

Background: Researchers in recent studies have reported that the sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling pathway plays a crucial role during tumorigenesis, angiogenesis and cellular differentiation. We investigated the clinical and pathological significances of the Shh pathway and of its lymphangiogenic components in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), namely, Shh, glioma-associated oncogene homolog zinc finger protein 1 (Gli1), lymphatic vessel endothelial hyaluronan receptor 1 (LYVE-1) and vascular endothelial growth factor D (VEGF-D).

Methods: The expression of Shh, Gli1, LYVE-1 and VEGF-D in primary NSCLC tissue from 40 patients was examined using immunohistochemical assays, and relationships between expression and clinicopathological data, such as age, gender, histology, tumor size, nodal stage, visceral pleural invasion, lymphatic thromboembolism, recurrence and overall survival were investigated.

Loss of Miro1-directed mitochondrial movement results in a novel murine model for neuron disease.

Defective mitochondrial distribution in neurons is proposed to cause ATP depletion and calcium-buffering deficiencies that compromise cell function. However, it is unclear whether aberrant mitochondrial motility and distribution alone are sufficient to cause neurological disease. Calcium-binding mitochondrial Rho (Miro) GTPases attach mitochondria to motor proteins for anterograde and retrograde transport in neurons.

Plasma clusterin (ApoJ) levels are associated with adiposity and systemic inflammation.

Obesity and insulin resistance are hallmarks of the metabolic syndrome, which is associated with low-grade chronic inflammation. Clusterin/apolipoprotein J is an abundant plasma chaperone protein that has recently been suggested as a potential biomarker that reflects the inflammatory process in Alzheimer's disease. In the present study, we investigated anthropometric and clinical factors affecting the plasma levels of clusterin in healthy Korean subjects.

Incidence and risk factors of infectious complications related to implantable venous-access ports.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence and risk factors of infections associated with implantable venous access ports (IVAPs).

Materials And Methods: From August 2003 through November 2011, 1747 IVAPs were placed in our interventional radiology suite. One hundred forty four IVAPs were inserted in patients with hematologic malignancy and 1603 IVAPs in patients with solid tumors.

Case Report of Pulmonary Sarcoidosis Suspected to be Pulmonary Metastasis in a Patient with Breast Cancer.

Standard endocrine therapy and chemotherapy can induce long-term remission in breast cancer patients; however, breast cancer can recur at any site. Pulmonary nodules with lymphadenopathy in advanced cancer patients are likely to be assumed as metastases. A 44-year-old woman with a history of breast cancer was presented to our institution with abnormal findings on 18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography imaging, which suggested lung metastasis.

Hematogenous metastasis of ovarian cancer: rethinking mode of spread.

Ovarian cancer has a clear predilection for metastasis to the omentum, but the underlying mechanisms involved in ovarian cancer spread are not well understood. Here, we used a parabiosis model that demonstrates preferential hematogenous metastasis of ovarian cancer to the omentum. Our studies revealed that the ErbB3-neuregulin 1 (NRG1) axis is a dominant pathway responsible for hematogenous omental metastasis.

Orbital Floor Restoration Using the Transnasal Balloon Technique for Inferior Orbital Wall Fracture.

Background: Restoring the volume of orbital fracture is a challenge to the surgeons. We combined the transnasal balloon technique and the transorbital approach during orbital floor reconstruction, and compared the outcomes of this technique with those of the conventional transorbital approach.

Methods: Patients with unilateral pure orbital floor fracture were divided according to the surgical method: the direct transconjunctival approach (group A, 20 patients, control group) or the combination approach with the transnasal balloon technique (group B, 20 patients, experimental group).

A Multicenter Collaborative Study by the Korean Society of Vitiligo about Patients' Occupations and the Provoking Factors of Vitiligo.

Background: It was previously thought that persons with genetic predispositions to vitiligo develop the condition after exposure to various precipitating environmental factors. However, in many cases, the aggravating factors of vitiligo have not been clearly identified.

Objective: To identify the aggravating factors of vitiligo in the working environment and daily life.

Effect of Achyranthes bidentata Blume on 3T3-L1 Adipogenesis and Rats Fed with a High-Fat Diet.

The present study investigated the antiobesity effect of Achyranthes bidentata Blume root water extract in a 3T3-L1 adipocyte differentiation model and rats fed with a high-fat diet. To investigate the effect of Achyranthes bidentata Blume on adipogenesis in vitro, differentiating 3T3-L1 cells in adipocyte-induction media were treated every two days with Achyranthes bidentata Blume at various concentrations (1 to 25  μ g/mL) for eight days. We found that Achyranthes bidentata Blume root inhibited 3T3-L1 adipocyte differentiation without affecting cell viability, and Western blot analysis revealed that phospho-Akt expression was markedly decreased, whereas there was no significant change in perilipin expression.

Relationship between 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase and gastric adenocarcinoma.

Purpose: Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is a contributory carcinogen in gastric adenocarcinoma. 15-Hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (15-PGDH) catabolizes PGE2 by oxidizing its 15(s)-hydroxy group. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of 15-PGDH in gastric adenocarcinoma tissue and the relationship between 15-PGDH expression and clinicopathologic features of gastric adenocarcinoma.

Enhanced power conversion efficiency of quantum dot sensitized solar cells with near single-crystalline TiO₂ nanohelixes used as photoanodes.

Photo-electrodes with tailored three-dimensional nanostructures offer a large enhancement in light harvesting capability for various optoelectronic devices enabled by strong light scattering in the nanostructures as well as improved charge transport. Here we present an array of three-dimensional titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanohelixes fabricated by the oblique angle deposition method as a multifunctional photoanode for CdSe quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs). The CdSe QDSSC with a TiO₂ nanohelix photoanode shows a 100% higher power conversion efficiency despite less light being absorbed in CdSe QDs when compared with a conventional TiO₂ nanoparticle photoanode.

A case of huge retroperitoneal liposarcoma in pregnancy.

A 39-year-old woman was referred to our hospital at 28+2 week gestation. Routine obstetric examination revealed a palpable pelvic mass. Initial investigation by magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a huge solid mass with heterogeneous enhancement that completely filled the right side of the abdomen.

Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the stomach: A case report.

Neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) is a rare tumor, comprising < 1% of stomach cancers. A 55-year-old woman was referred to our hospital with biopsy-proven gastric cancer. A shallow ulcerative lesion was detected in the lesser curvature of the lower body.

Recurrence of gastric cancer in the jejunal stump after radical total gastrectomy.

This is a very rare case of the recurrence of gastric cancer in the jejunal stump after radical total gastrectomy with Roux-en-Y reconstruction. In January 2008, a 65-year-old man underwent radical total gastrectomy with Roux-en-Y reconstruction for stage IB gastric cancer of the upper body. At a follow-up in December 2011, the patient had a recurrence of gastric cancer on gastroduodenal fibroscopy.

Loss of function of endothelin-2 leads to reduced ovulation and CL formation.

Endothelin-2 (EDN2), a potent vasoconstrictive peptide, is transiently produced by periovulatory follicles at the time of ovulation when corpus luteum (CL) formation begins. EDN2 induces contraction of ovarian smooth muscles ex vivo via an endothelin receptor A-mediated pathway. In this study, we aimed to determine if EDN2 is required for normal ovulation and subsequent CL formation in?vivo.

Enhancement of organic solar cells efficiency with acetic acid modulated poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(styrenesulfonate) buffer layers.

Bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells (OSCs) based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) as a donor material and (6.6) phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester as an acceptor material were investigated using a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) buffer layer that was modulated with acetic acid. The 1.

Weight misperception and its association with dieting methods and eating behaviors in South Korean adolescents.

Background/objectives: There is little information on the association between weight misperception and eating behavior in Korean adolescents. Therefore, we investigated the association of food intake habits and dieting method and disturbed eating behavior (DEB) in relation to weight misperception.

Subjects/methods: Data was collected by using a nationwide online panel survey from 6,943 adolescents enrolled in middle/high school.

Netrin-1 induces MMP-12-dependent E-cadherin degradation via the distinct activation of PKCα and FAK/Fyn in promoting mesenchymal stem cell motility.

Netrin-1 (Ntn-1) is a potent inducer of neuronal cell migration; however, its molecular mechanism that guides the migratory behavior of stem cells has not been characterized. In this study, we investigate the role of Ntn-1 in promoting the motility of human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UCB-MSCs) and its related signaling pathways. Ntn-1 (50 ng/mL) significantly increased motility of UCB-MSCs, which was inhibited by blocking antibodies for deleted in colorectal cancer (DCC) and integrin (IN) α6β4.