Research use only and cell population data items obtained from the Beckman Coulter DxH800 automated hematology analyzer are useful in discriminating MDS patients from those with cytopenia without MDS.

We investigated the performance of research use only/cell population data (RUO/CPD) items obtained from the Beckman Coulter DxH800 automated hematologic analyzer in discriminating MDS patients from cytopenic patients without MDS.Total of 14 routine CBC, 18 research use only (RUO) items, and 70 CPD items were obtained retrospectively at diagnosis. The results were then compared between 94 MDS patients and 100 cytopenic patients without MDS.

Performance Validation of Three Scoring Systems for the Prediction of Thrombotic Microangiopathy Due to Severe ADAMTS13 Deficiency and the Response to Therapeutic Plasma Exchange: First Study in Korea.

Background: The BENTLEY score (B-S), French thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) Reference Center score (FTMA-S), and PLASMIC score (PLASMIC-S) have been developed for TMA diagnostic prediction. We retrospectively validated their predictive performances in patients with severe (<10%) disintegrin and metalloprotease with thrombospondin type 1 motif, member 13 (ADAMTS13) deficiency in terms of the risk of TMA and response to therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE).

Methods: The predictive performances of the three scoring systems were compared in 145 patients with suspected TMA who underwent ADAMTS13 activity tests between January 2014 and September 2022.

Effect of β-resin of binderless coke on mechanical properties of high-density carbon blocks at high molding pressure.

High-density carbon blocks have excellent mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties. In particular, these blocks are applied in various fields while maintaining excellent physical properties even in harsh environments. In this study, binderless coke manufactured under certain conditions was used to form green bodies (GBs) under various pressure conditions of 50 to 250 MPa, and the bodies were carbonized to form a high-density carbon block (CB).

Preparation of Isotropic Carbon Fibers from Kerosene-Purified Coal Tar Pitch by Co-Carbonization with Pyrolysis Fuel Oil.

An inexpensive and general-purpose carbon fiber was prepared using coal tar pitch. In contrast to the solvent extraction process employing expensive solvents, a low-cost centrifugal separation method facilitated the reduction of loss due to the pitch purification and an overall yield increase. The coal tar pitch purified by centrifugation and subsequently co-carbonized with pyrolysis fuel oil improved in spinnability.

The Effect of Oxygen Content in Binderless Cokes for High-Density Carbon Blocks from Coal Tar Pitch.

High-density carbon blocks are much lighter than metals and have excellent mechanical properties and are one of the materials garnering attention to replace existing metal parts. In this study, a binderless coke was produced by changing the flow rates of nitrogen and air as a carrier gas during heat treatment of coal tar pitch and using this, a green body was formed at 150 MPa and carbonized to produce a high-density carbon block. We express the binderless coke produced in this way by N10A0, N7A3, N5A5, N3A7, N0A10 according to the ratio of nitrogen and air, and in the case of carbon block, we have added CB in front of it.

Surface oxidation of petroleum pitch to improve mesopore ratio and specific surface area of activated carbon.

In this study, surface oxidation of petroleum pitch was performed to enhance the thermal stability, specific surface area, and mesopore ratio of activated carbon. The oxygen uptake of the pitch by surface oxidation has a strong influence on the formation of the specific surface area and pore size of activated carbon. It was confirmed that the oxygen uptake from the surface to the inner side of the surface oxidized pitch was the highest at the temperature of 330 °C (IP330-AC), with a mesopore ratio of 63.

Performance Evaluation of Automated Immunohematology Analyzer IH-500 for Blood Bank Testing.

The automated immunohematology analyzer IH-500 (Bio-rad, Cressier FR, Switzerland) was developed recently for blood bank tests and this study evaluated performance of IH-500. 200 blood samples for ABO/Rh typing were collected. ABO/Rh typing results measured by IH-500 was compared with conventional manual methods.

Distinct Clinical Features of Plasma Cell Myeloma Patients Exhibiting Dysmorphic Plasma Cells: Association with More Plasma Cells at Diagnosis.

Dysmorphic plasma cells are occasionally found in bone marrow (BM) aspirates of plasma cell myeloma (PCM) patients. We retrospectively analyzed the incidences of significant dysmorphic plasma cells (SDPC) presentations and their associations with clinical features in PCM patients. Total 91 PCM patients diagnosed from January 2013 to December 2017 at author's institution were enrolled.

Description of Mycobacterium chelonae subsp. bovis subsp. nov., isolated from cattle (Bos taurus coreanae), emended description of Mycobacterium chelonae and creation of Mycobacterium chelonae subsp. chelonae subsp. nov.

Three rapidly growing mycobacterial strains, QIA-37, QIA-40 and QIA-41, were isolated from the lymph nodes of three separate Korean native cattle, Hanwoo (Bos taurus coreanae). These strains were previously shown to be phylogenetically distinct but closely related to Mycobacterium chelonae ATCC 35752 by taxonomic approaches targeting three genes (16S rRNA, hsp6 and rpoB) and were further characterized using a polyphasic approach in this study. The 16S rRNA gene sequences of all three strains showed 99.

Changes in ginsenoside patterns of red ginseng extracts according to manufacturing and storage conditions.

Although the pharmacological action of red ginseng is mostly generated by ginsenosides, contents of ginsenosides in manufactured extracts are still varying according to processing and storage conditions. Rg1, Rb1, and Rh1 levels significantly decreased overtime under pH adjustment and thermal treatment during storage, and these changes were exacerbated at lower pH and higher storage temperature. However, Rg3 level showed the opposite pattern compared to other ginsenosides.

Mycobacterium paraintracellulare sp. nov., for the genotype INT-1 of Mycobacterium intracellulare.

Three mycobacterial strains, isolated from independent Korean patients with pulmonary infections, belonging to the Mycobacterium intracellulare genotype 1 (INT-1) were characterized using a polyphasic approach. The sequences of the 16S rRNA gene and internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) of the INT-1 strains were identical to those of Mycobacterium intracellulare ATCC 13950T. However, multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis targeting five housekeeping genes (hsp65, rpoB, argG, gnd and pgm) revealed the phylogenetic separation of these strains from M.

Ligularia fischeri extract attenuates liver damage induced by chronic alcohol intake.

Context Ligularia fischeri (Ledebour) Turcz. (Compositae) has been used as a leafy vegetable and in traditional medicine to treat hepatic disorder in East Asia. Objective The present study explores the antioxidant activity of LF aqueous extract on EtOH-induced oxidative stress accompanied by hepatotoxicity both in vitro and in vivo.

Mycobacterium anyangense sp. nov., a rapidly growing species isolated from blood of Korean native cattle, Hanwoo (Bos taurus coreanae).

From the whole blood of Korean native cattle, Hanwoo (Bos taurus coreanae), a previously undescribed, rapidly growing, scotochromogenic isolate of the genus Mycobacterium is reported. Its 16S rRNA gene sequence, and the sequences of three other genes (hsp65, recA and rpoB) were unique and phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence (1420 bp) placed the organism into the rapidly growing Mycobacterium group close to Mycobacterium smegmatis (98.5% sequence similarity).

Modified transtibial versus anteromedial portal technique in anatomic single-bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: comparison of femoral tunnel position and clinical results.

Background: Although several studies have compared a conventional transtibial technique with an anteromedial (AM) portal technique for single-bundle (SB) anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, no study to date has investigated whether the modified transtibial technique results in the femoral tunnel being in a similar anatomic position and produces similar clinical outcomes with those of the AM portal technique.

Purpose: To compare the clinical outcomes and femoral tunnel position of SB ACL reconstruction using a modified transtibial technique (creating a femoral tunnel with varus and internal rotation of the tibia as well as modification of the tibial tunnel orientation) with those of SB ACL reconstruction using an AM portal technique.

Study Design: Randomized controlled trial; Level of evidence, 1.

Total Knee Arthroplasty Using a Posterior Cruciate Ligament Sacrificing Medial Pivot Knee: Minimum 5-year Follow-up Results.

Purpose: To evaluate minimum 5-year follow-up clinical and radiological results of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) using a posterior cruciate ligament sacrificing (PS), non-substituting Advance Medial Pivot Knee.

Materials And Methods: One hundred and twenty knees in 80 patients who could be followed up for more than 5 years after TKA using the PS Advance Medial Pivot Knee were evaluated retrospectively. The evaluations included the preoperative and postoperative range of motion (ROM), tibiofemoral angle, Knee Society (KS) knee and function scores, and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) score.

Relationship between prenatal and postnatal exposures to folate and risks of allergic and respiratory diseases in early childhood.

Background: It is uncertain whether folate is risk or preventive factor for allergic and respiratory diseases.

Objective: To determine the relationship between maternal or offspring folate status and subsequent development of allergic and respiratory diseases in early childhood.

Methods: In total, 917 mother-child pairs from a prospective birth cohort in South Korea were studied.

Targeted theranostic nanoparticles: receptor-mediated entry into cells, pH-induced signal generation and cytosolic delivery.

Virus-like theranostic nanoparticles: virus-like poly(amino acid) nanoparticles are synthesized that can be internalized via receptor-mediated endocytosis, resulting in encapsulated pH-activatable fluorescence probes that can be turned on in acidic environments but otherwise remain undetectable. The encapsulated anticancer drugs are also released into cytosol by endosome disruption.

The combination of real-time PCR and HPLC for the identification of non-tuberculous mycobacteria.

We used HPLC and AdvanSure real-time PCR (LG Life Sciences, Korea) to retrospectively analyze non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) in 133 clinical specimens. The specimens were culture-positive for NTM and the HPLC method identified 130 strains of mycobacteria from the cultures (97.7%) at the species level.

Mycobacterium parakoreense sp. nov., a slowly growing non-chromogenic species related to Mycobacterium koreense, isolated from a human clinical specimen.

A previously undescribed, slowly growing, non-chromogenic Mycobacterium strain (299(T)) was isolated from the sputum sample of a patient with a symptomatic pulmonary infection. Phenotypically, strain 299(T) was generally similar to Mycobacterium koreense DSM 45576(T) and Mycobacterium triviale ATCC 23292(T). The 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain 299(T) was similar to that of M.