Environmental Health Studies in the Korean National Industrial Complexes (EHSNIC): Focus-Group Interviews

This study investigated the social outcomes of the Environmental Health Studies of National Industrial Complex (EHSNIC), which have been conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) in eight National Industrial Complex Areas (NICAs) since 2003. Eighteen sessions of focus-group interviews with 85 people were conducted from October 2016 to January 2017. Interviewees were stakeholders from eight NICAs and included resident representatives, environmental nongovernment organizations, local government officials, and environmental health and safety officers from companies. Interview results were divided into six categories: EHSNIC awareness, EHSNIC outcomes, EHSNIC limitations, EHSNIC continuation, EHSNIC improvement directions, and EHSNIC results use. They were then further indexed into 23 divisions. EHSNIC awareness varied across stakeholders. A major EHSNIC outcome is that a continued result database was established, which was used as a reference for environmental improvements. EHSNIC limitations included no proper healthcare actions taken during the EHSNIC study period, a lack of EHSNIC results disclosure, a failure to reflect local specificity, and a lack of validity in the results. Regarding EHSNIC continuation, all stakeholders said EHSNIC should be conducted continuously. EHSNIC improvement directions included conducting studies tailored to each NICA, identifying correlations between pollutant exposure and disease, increasing the sample size, and performing repeated studies. Regarding EHSNIC results use, respondents wanted to use the results as a reference to relocate residents, ensure distance between NICAs and residential areas, provide healthcare support, develop local government policies, and implement firms’ environmental controls. Since EHSNIC aims to identify the health effects of NICAs on residents and take appropriate actions, it should be continued in the future. Even during the study period, it is important to take steps to preventively protect residents’ health. EHSNIC also needs to reflect each NICA’s characteristics and conduct reliable research based on stakeholder participation and communication

Performance of the tuberculin skin test and interferon-γ release assay for detection of tuberculosis infection in immunocompromised patients in a BCG-vaccinated population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Interferon-γ release assay (IGRA) may improve diagnostic accuracy for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). This study compared the performance of the tuberculin skin test (TST) with that of IGRA for the diagnosis of LTBI in immunocompromised patients in an intermediate TB burden country where BCG vaccination is mandatory.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a retrospective observational study of patients given the TST and an IGRA, the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-IT), at Severance Hospital, a tertiary hospital in South Korea, from December 2006 to May 2009.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 211 patients who underwent TST and QFT-IT testing, 117 (55%) were classified as immunocompromised. Significantly fewer immunocompromised than immunocompetent patients had positive TST results (10.3% vs. 27.7%, p 0.001), whereas the percentage of positive QFT-IT results was comparable for both groups (21.4% vs. 25.5%). However, indeterminate QFT-IT results were more frequent in immunocompromised than immunocompetent patients (21.4% vs. 9.6%, p 0.021). Agreement between the TST and QFT-IT was fair for the immunocompromised group (κ = 0.38), but moderate agreement was observed for the immunocompetent group (κ = 0.57). Indeterminate QFT-IT results were associated with anaemia, lymphocytopenia, hypoproteinemia, and hypoalbuminemia.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In immunocompromised patients, the QFT-IT may be more sensitive than the TST for detection of LTBI, but it resulted in a considerable proportion of indeterminate results. Therefore, both tests may maximise the efficacy of screening for LTBI in immunocompromised patients.</p

Dynamic left ventricular outflow tract obstruction in living donor liver transplantation recipients -A report of two cases-

We present two cases of dynamic left ventricular outflow tract obstruction in 2 patients who were undergoing living donor liver transplantation. On the preoperative transthoracic echocardiography, the first patient showed normal ventricular function and a normal wall thickness, but severe hemodynamic deterioration developed during the anhepatic period and this was further aggravated after reperfusion in spite of volume resuscitation and catecholamine therapy. Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography revealed the systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve leaflet together with left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. The second patient showed left ventricular hypertrophy with left ventricular outflow tract obstruction on the preoperative echocardiography. Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography was used to guide fluid administration and the hemodynamic management throughout the procedure and a temporary portocaval shunt was established to mitigate the venous pooling during the anhepatic period. The purpose of this report is to emphasize the clinical significance of dynamic left ventricular outflow tract obstruction in patients who are undergoing living donor liver transplantation and the role of intraoperative echocardiography to detect and manage it

Medial canthoplasty for epiphora in dogs: A retrospective study of 23 cases

The medical records of 23 dogs that underwent medial canthoplasty for treatment of epiphora were reviewed. The most prevalent breed encountered was the shih tzu. Other affected breeds included the Pekingese, Maltese, toy poodle, and pug. All dogs had epiphora associated with medial canthal trichiasis and/or entropion. Other ocular abnormalities included conjunctivitis, keratitis, pigmentary keratitis, corneal ulceration, globe prolapse, and nasal fold trichiasis. After medial canthoplasty, the epiphora resolved in all dogs.The authors thank the veterinarians who referred the dogs, and illustrator Un Gyu Lim for his drawing in the preparation of the illustration

Effect of chitinase- 3- like protein 1 on glucose metabolism: In vitro skeletal muscle and human genetic association study

We investigated the effect of chitinase- 3- like protein 1 (CHI3L1) on glucose metabolism and its underlying mechanisms in skeletal muscle cells, and evaluated whether the observed effects are relevant in humans. CHI3L1 was associated with increased glucose uptake in skeletal muscles in an AMP- activated protein kinase (AMPK)- dependent manner, and with increased intracellular calcium levels via PAR2. The improvement in glucose metabolism observed in an intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test on male C57BL/6J mice supported this association. Inhibition of the CaMKK was associated with suppression of CHI3L1- mediated glucose uptake. Additionally, CHI3L1 was found to influence glucose uptake through the PI3K/AKT pathway. Results suggested that CHI3L1 stimulated the phosphorylation of AS160 and p38 MAPK downstream of AMPK and AKT, and the resultant GLUT4 translocation. In primary myoblast cells, stimulation of AMPK and AKT was observed in response to CHI3L1, underscoring the biological relevance of CHI3L1. CHI3L1 levels were elevated in cells under conditions that mimic exercise in vitro and in exercised mice in vivo, indicating that CHI3L1 is secreted during muscle contraction. Finally, similar associations between CHI3L1 and metabolic parameters were observed in humans alongside genotype associations between CHI3L1 and diabetes at the population level. CHI3L1 may be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of diabetes.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162777/2/fsb220907.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162777/1/fsb220907_am.pd

Refined prefrontal working memory network as a neuromarker for Alzheimer’s disease

Detecting Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an important step in preventing pathological brain damage. Working memory (WM)-related network modulation can be a pathological feature of AD, but is usually modulated by untargeted cognitive processes and individual variance, resulting in the concealment of this key information. Therefore, in this study, we comprehensively investigated a new neuromarker, named “refined network,” in a prefrontal cortex (PFC) that revealed the pathological features of AD. A refined network was acquired by removing unnecessary variance from the WM-related network. By using a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) device, we evaluated the reliability of the refined network, which was identified from the three groups classified by AD progression: healthy people (N=31), mild cognitive impairment (N=11), and patients with AD (N=18). As a result, we identified edges with significant correlations between cognitive functions and groups in the dorsolateral PFC. Moreover, the refined network achieved a significantly correlating metric with neuropsychological test scores, and a remarkable three-class classification accuracy (95.0%). These results implicate the refined PFC WM-related network as a powerful neuromarker for AD screening. © 2021 Optical Society of America1

Significance of p27kip1 as potential biomarker for intracellular oxidative status

Our previous proteomic study demonstrated that oxidative stress and antioxidant delphinidin regulated the cellular level of p27kip1 (referred to as p27) as well as some heat shock proteins in human colon cancer HT 29 cells. Current study was conducted to validate and confirm the regulation of these proteins using both in vitro and in vivo systems. The level of p27 was decreased by hydrogen peroxide in a dose-dependent manner in human colon carcinoma HCT 116 (p53-positive) cells while it was increased upon exposure to hydrogen peroxide in HT 29 (p53-negative) cells. However, high concentration of hydrogen peroxide (100 µM) downregulated p27 in both cell lines, but delphindin, one of antioxidative anthocyanins, enhanced the level of p27 suppressed by 100 µM hydrogen peroxide. ICR mice were injected with varying concentrations of hydrogen peroxide, delphinidin and both. Western blot analysis for the mouse large intestinal tissue showed that the expression of p27 was upregulated by 25 mg/kg BW hydrogen peroxide. To investigate the association of p27 regulation with hypoxia-inducible factor 1-beta (HIF-1β), the level of p27 was analyzed in wild-type mouse hepatoma hepa1c1c7 and Aryl Hydrocarbon Nuclear Translocator (arnt, HIF-1β)-defective mutant BPRc1 cells in the absence and presence of hydrogen peroxide and delphinidin. While the level of p27 was responsive to hydrogen peroxide and delphinidin, it remained unchanged in BPRc1, suggesting that the regulation of p27 requires functional HIF-1β. We also found that hydrogen peroxide and delphinidin affected PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway which is one of upstream regulators of HIFs. In conclusion, hydrogen peroxide and antioxidant delphinidin seem to regulate intracellular level of p27 through regulating HIF-1 level which is, in turn, governed by its upstream regulators comprising of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. The results should also encourage further study for the potential of p27 as a biomarker for intracellular oxidative or antioxidant status