Predialysis Urea Nitrogen Is a Nutritional Marker of Hemodialysis Patients.

End-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients on hemodialysis have poor nutritional status and associated problems such as inflammation and sarcopenia. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) is an important measure of uremic toxins, and urea reduction is a marker of hemodialysis efficacy. However, a low protein diet for lower BUN could aggravate malnutrition in patients, and optimal pre-dialysis BUN is not defined.

The Associations Between Vitamin D Receptor BsmI and ApaI Polymorphisms and Obesity in Korean Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Background: Vitamin D receptor () polymorphisms are associated with osteoporosis, diabetes, immunological diseases, and cancers. However, the association of obesity with polymorphisms has shown inconsistent results, and perhaps it depends upon the characteristics of a population. Therefore, we evaluated the association between BsmI (rs1544410) and ApaI (rs7975232) polymorphisms of and obesity in Korean patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Discovery of novel DUSP16 phosphatase inhibitors through virtual screening with homology modeled protein structure.

Recently, dual-specificity phosphatase 16 (DUSP16) emerged as a promising therapeutic target protein for the development of anti-atherosclerosis and anticancer medicines. The present study was undertaken to identify the novel inhibitors of DUSP16 based on the structure-based virtual screening. We have been able to find seven novel inhibitors of DUSP16 through the drug design protocol involving homology modeling of the target protein, docking simulations between DUSP16 and its putative inhibitors with the modified scoring function, and in vitro enzyme assay.

Clinical observation on acute low-frequency hearing loss without vertigo: the role of cochlear hydrops analysis masking procedure as initial prognostic parameter.

Objectives: Even though it is currently not possible to prove a pathological diagnosis for inner ear disease, acute low-frequency hearing loss (ALFHL) without vertigo could be caused by inner ear hydrops because progression into the clinical spectrum of endolymphatic hydrops (EH) frequently occur among patients with the initial clinical presentation. Therefore, audiological measures representative of inner ear hydrops, such as the cochlear hydrops analysis masking procedure (CHAMP) test, may be used to predict the prognosis of ALFHL without vertigo. To test this hypothesis, we prospectively investigated patients with ALFHL unaccompanied by vertigo and examined whether the CHAMP test generated more useful information for prediction of progression into clinical spectrum of EH compared with other neurotologic parameters.

Virtual environment training system for rehabilitation of stroke patients with unilateral neglect: crossing the virtual street.

In this paper, we propose a system for training of stroke patients with unilateral neglect by using technology of virtual reality (VR). The proposed system is designed to compensate for unilateral neglect. This system contains the calibration of unilateral neglect and the training of this disease.

Pilot study for assessing the behaviors of patients with schizophrenia towards a virtual avatar.

This study examined whether a virtual avatar could be perceived as a real human by patients with mental disease, especially schizophrenia, as well as whether a virtual avatar could be applied to acquiring patients' behavior characteristics in a short conversation situation. The virtual avatar has been used for various applications which need to communicate with other person or to train or educate by showing humanlike behavior. Recently, many researches have shown that the virtual avatar technology has been enhanced and the avatar could be perceived like real human.

Directional disorder of ciliary metachronal waves using two-dimensional correlation map.

The interrelationship of cilia and the order of wave directions are important factors that determine the effectiveness of cilia to transport materials in mucociliary systems of the respiratory tract. The interrelationship of cilia and the directional disorder of ciliary metachronal wave were analyzed using digital microscopic images. The degree of synchronization between ciliary beats was determined by the correlation factor between two different spots.