Effect of renal impairment on the pharmacokinetics of memantine.

The effect of renal impairment on the pharmacokinetics of a single oral dose of memantine (10 mg) was determined in Japanese subjects. Subjects were assigned to four groups based on baseline creatinine clearance (CL(CR)): normal renal function (> 80 mL/min, n = 6), and mild (50 to ≤ 80 mL/min, n = 6), moderate (30 to < 50 mL/min, n = 6), and severe renal impairment (5 to < 30 mL/min, n = 7). Mean memantine maximum plasma concentration (C(max)) was similar in the groups (12.

MicroRNA-125b promotes apoptosis by regulating the expression of Mcl-1, Bcl-w and IL-6R.

The microRNA miR-125b is multi-faceted, with the ability to function as a tumor suppressor or an oncogene, depending on the cellular context. To date, the pro-apoptotic role of miR-125b and its underlying mechanisms are unexplored. In this study, both gain- and loss-of-function experiments revealed that miR-125b expression not only induced spontaneous apoptosis in various cell lines derived from the liver, lung and colorectal cancers, but also sensitized cancer cells to diverse apoptotic stimuli, including nutrient starvation and chemotherapeutic treatment.

[Study on wavelength locking technology in trace gases detection system based on laser techniques].

In the trace gases detection system with tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) technology, the measurement of trace gases concentration was influenced by the laser wavelength drift resulting from the change in ambient temperature and noise of laser control electronics. With open-path TDLAS ammonia concentration detection system as an example, in the present paper the scanning law of laser center wavelength with current was analyzed, and the adaptive locking method of scanning laser center wavelength was presented based on controlling laser current. The aligning algorithm of measurement spectroscopy with calibration reference spectroscopy was studied.

Protein tyrosine phosphatase profiling analysis of HIB-1B cells during brown adipogenesis.

A number of evidence have been accumulated that the regulation of reversible tyrosine phosphorylation, which can be regulated by the combinatorial activity of protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) and protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs), plays crucial roles in various biological processes including differentiation. There are a total of 107 PTP genes in the human genome, collectively referred to as the "PTPome." In this study, we performed PTP profiling analysis of the HIB-1B cell line, a brown preadipocyte cell line, during brown adipogenesis.

Hyperoxia disrupts pulmonary epithelial barrier in newborn rats via the deterioration of occludin and ZO-1.

Background: Prolonged exposure to hyperoxia in neonates can cause hyperoxic acute lung injury (HALI), which is characterized by increased pulmonary permeability and diffuse infiltration of various inflammatory cells. Disruption of the epithelial barrier may lead to altered pulmonary permeability and maintenance of barrier properties requires intact epithelial tight junctions (TJs). However, in neonatal animals, relatively little is known about how the TJ proteins are expressed in the pulmonary epithelium, including whether expression of TJ proteins is regulated in response to hyperoxia exposure.

The value of a laparoscopic interval appendectomy for treatment of a periappendiceal abscess: experience of a single medical center.

Background: Interval appendectomy has been known to be an effective and safe treatment for a periappendiceal abscess, but there is no study on a laparoscopic approach for the treatment of a periappendiceal abscess. The aim of this study is to investigate the value of laparoscopic interval appendectomy.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively studied 56 patients who had been admitted due to a periappendiceal abscess to Chungbuk National University Hospital from July 2005 to June 2010.

Treatment of ankylosed maxillary central incisors by segmental osteotomy with autogenous bone graft.

This case report describes the treatment of a 16-year-old girl with ankylosed maxillary central incisors that were noticeably infraoccluded and labially displaced. We performed a segmental osteotomy with an autogenous bone graft in a single-stage surgery to align and level the ankylosed teeth. The dento-osseous segment was successfully repositioned with satisfactory periodontal results.

Quantification of choline concentration following liver cell apoptosis using 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Aim: To evaluate the feasibility of quantifying liver choline concentrations in both normal and apoptotic rabbit livers in vivo, using 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS).

Methods: 1H-MRS was performed in 18 rabbits using a 1.5T GE MR system with an eight-channel head/neck receiving coil.

Cutoff probe using Fourier analysis for electron density measurement.

This paper proposes a new method for cutoff probe using a nanosecond impulse generator and an oscilloscope, instead of a network analyzer. The nanosecond impulse generator supplies a radiating signal of broadband frequency spectrum simultaneously without frequency sweeping, while frequency sweeping method is used by a network analyzer in a previous method. The transmission spectrum (S21) was obtained through a Fourier analysis of the transmitted impulse signal detected by the oscilloscope and was used to measure the electron density.

Highly photoactive, low bandgap TiO2 nanoparticles wrapped by graphene.

Highly photoactive, graphene-wrapped anatase TiO(2) nanoparticles are synthesized through one-step hydrothermal reduction of graphene oxide (GO) and TiO(2) crystallization from GO-wrapped amorphous TiO(2) NPs. Graphene-TiO(2) nanoparticles exhibit a red-shift of the band-edge and a significant reduction of the bandgap (2.80 eV).

Management of perioperative endoleaks during endovascular treatment of juxta-renal aneurysms.

Background: Evolution of stentgraft and vascular imaging technologies allows endovascular treatment (ET) of juxta-renal aneurysms (JRA). However, endoleaks rates and implants stability are not well documented. The aim of this study was to report the incidence and the perioperative treatment of the endoleaks occurring during ET for JRA.

[Case of fanconi syndrome positive for anti-M2 antibodies revealed by severe hypokalemia and multiple bone fracture].

A 38-year-old female developed pain in the right leg in 2006. In 2007, the diagnosis of femoral head necrosis was made based on MR images, and femoral head prosthetic replacement was performed. In April 2009, she visited a local hospital for low back pain, and was referred to our department due to electrolyte abnormalities on hemanalysis.

Quantitative multivoxel proton MR spectroscopy study of brain metabolites in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment: a pilot study.

Introduction: The purpose of this study is to investigate brain metabolic changes in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) using multivoxel proton MR spectroscopy ((1)H-MVS).

Methods: Fourteen aMCI patients and fifteen healthy control subjects participated in this experiment. All MR measurements were acquired using a 1.

Cardiac displacement-induced hemodynamic instability during off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery and its predictors.

Background: Emergent conversion to an on-pump procedure during an off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery (OPCAB) due to hemodynamic instability is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictors of hemodynamic instability associated with mechanical heart displacement during OPCAB and the fate of these patients.

Methods: Data of 494 patients who underwent elective, isolated OPCAB between December 2006 and April 2010 were reviewed.

TRIM32 protein sensitizes cells to tumor necrosis factor (TNFα)-induced apoptosis via its RING domain-dependent E3 ligase activity against X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP).

TRIM32, which belongs to the tripartite motif (TRIM) protein family, has the RING finger, B-box, and coiled-coil domain structures common to this protein family, along with an additional NHL domain at the C terminus. TRIM32 reportedly functions as an E3 ligase for actin, a protein inhibitor of activated STAT y (PIASy), dysbindin, and c-Myc, and it has been associated with diseases such as muscular dystrophy and epithelial carcinogenesis. Here, we identify a new substrate of TRIM32 and propose a mechanism through which TRIM32 might regulate apoptosis.

Twelve-month follow-up detection of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA for 93 cases with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or 3 (CIN 2-3) after a loop electrosurgical excisional procedure (LEEP).

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to follow-up cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grades 2 or 3 (CIN2/3) cases after a loop electrosurgical excisional procedure (LEEP) by liquid-based cytology (LBC) and detection of HPV DNA.

Methods: LEEP was performed for the first diagnosed CIN2/3 cases. Six and 12 months after LEEP, LBC and HPV DNA detection were performed.

Orthopedic and orthodontic treatment of Parry-Romberg syndrome.

Parry-Romberg syndrome (PRS) is a degenerative disease characterized by progressive hemifacial atrophy of soft and hard tissues. A 10-year-old girl who had been treated for linear scleroderma at the dermatologic department since the age of 9 years visited the orthodontic department. The frontal facial photograph showed mild facial asymmetry.

Tudor domain-containing protein 4 as a potential cancer/testis antigen in liver cancer.

The poor prognosis of liver cancer demands the development of new diagnostic markers and therapeutic strategies. Cancer/testis (CT) antigens are expressed in the testis and cancerous tissues, but not in adult somatic cells. Given their tumor-specific expression, CT antigens are potential molecular markers for tumor diagnosis and targets for cancer immunotherapy.

Neuron-specific expression of scratch genes during early zebrafish development.

Scratch (scrt) genes are neural-specific in mammals, but their homologues have not been well studied in non-mammalian vertebrates. In this report, we isolated three zebrafish scrt genes, scratch1a (scrt1a), scratch1b (scrt1b), and scratch2 (scrt2), which belong to the Snail superfamily of zinc finger transcription factors. Spatiotemporal expression analysis revealed that scrt1a and scrt2 were initially detected in the central nervous system (CNS) during early somitogenesis while scrt1b was first detectable in neuronal clusters in the brain during late somitogenesis.

Odor discrimination using neural decoding of the main olfactory bulb in rats.

This paper presents a novel method for inferring the odor based on neural activities observed from rats' main olfactory bulbs. Multichannel extracellular single unit recordings were done by microwire electrodes (tungsten, 50 μm, 32 channels) implanted in the mitral/tufted cell layers of the main olfactory bulb of anesthetized rats to obtain neural responses to various odors. Neural response as a key feature was measured by subtraction of neural firing rate before stimulus from after.

Cloning, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis of the N-terminal domain of DEAD-box RNA helicase from Staphylococcus aureus strain Mu50.

DEAD-box helicases are enzymes with an ATP-dependent RNA-unwinding function that are involved in a variety of cellular processes including RNA splicing, ribosome biogenesis and RNA degradation. In this study, the N-terminal domain of DEAD-box RNA helicase from Staphylococcus aureus strain Mu50 was overexpressed in Escherichia coli, purified and crystallized. Diffraction data were collected to 2.

Three-dimensional computed tomography analysis of mandibular morphology in patients with facial asymmetry and mandibular prognathism.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to investigate the dimensional changes in each skeletal unit in the mandibles of patients with facial asymmetry and mandibular prognathism.

Methods: The patients consisted of 50 adults with mandibular prognathism, divided into the symmetry group (n = 20) and the asymmetry group (n = 30) according to the degree of menton deviation. Three-dimensional computed tomography scans were obtained with a spiral computed tomography scanner.

Identification of frequently mutated genes with relevance to nonsense mediated mRNA decay in the high microsatellite instability cancers.

Frameshift mutations at coding mononucleotide repeats (cMNR) are frequent in high-microsatellite instability (MSI-H) cancers. Frameshift mutations in cMNR result in the formation of a premature termination codon (PTC) in the transcribed mRNA, and these abnormal mRNAs are generally degraded by nonsense mediated mRNA decay (NMD). We have identified novel genes that are frequently mutated at their cMNR by blocking NMD in two MSI-H cancer cell lines.

Finger Motion Decoding Using EMG Signals Corresponding Various Arm Postures.

We provide a novel method to infer finger flexing motions using a four-channel surface electromyogram (EMG). Surface EMG signals can be recorded from the human body non-invasively and easily. Surface EMG signals in this study were obtained from four channel electrodes placed around the forearm.

[Treatment of thoracolumbar fractures by rehabilitation exercise using knee pads on the orthopedic traction bed].

Objective: To discuss the clinical effectiveness in treating thoracolumbar fractures adopting the rehabilitation exercise utilizing knee pads on the orthopedic traction bed.

Methods: From June 1996 to June 2006, we studied the clinical effectiveness of thoracolumbar fractures utilizing knee pads on the orthopedic traction bed for rehabilitation exercise. The cases surveyed total 209, 163 of which had full data.