Wave Reflection from Partially-Perforated-Wall Caisson Breakwater

In 1995, Suh and Park developed a numerical model that computes the reflection of regular waves from a fully-perforated-wall caisson breakwater. This paper describes how to apply this model to a partially-perforated-wall caisson and irregular waves. To examine the performance of the model, existing experimental data are used for regular waves, while a laboratory experiment is conducted in this study for irregular waves. The numerical model based on a linear wave theory tends to over-predict the reflection coefficient of regular waves as the wave nonlinearity increases, but such an over-prediction is not observed in the case of irregular waves. For both regular and irregular waves, the numerical model slightly over- and under-predicts the reflection coefficients at larger and smaller values, respectively, because the model neglects the evanescent waves near the breakwater.author's final versio

Diffuse Alveolar Hemorrhage in a 39-year-old Woman: Unusual Initial Presentation of Microscopic Polyangiitis

Microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) is a necrotizing vasculitis involving the small vessels without granulomatous inflammation. Most MPA initially presents with renal involvement without pulmonary involvement. Isolated and initially presenting alveolar hemorrhage is very rare. The patient was a 39-year-old female with a progressive cough, dyspnea, and blood-tinged sputum for the previous 5 days. We determined that her condition was MPA though VATS lung biopsy and renal biopsy. After 2 months of steroid therapy, the chest lesions had improved. We report here a rare case of MPA with isolated and initial involvement of the lung with a review of the literature

Total Gastrectomy in Gastric Conduit Cancer

We report a very rare case of surgery on gastric conduit cancer. A 67-year-old male patient underwent esophagectomy and intrathoracic esophagogastrostomy for squamous cell carcinoma of the lower thoracic esophagus 27 months ago. Upon follow-up, a gastric carcinoma at the intra-abdominal part of the gastric conduit was found on an esophagogastroduodenoscopy. We performed total gastrectomy and esophagocolonojejunostomy in the manner of Roux-en-Y anastomosis. The postoperative course was not eventful and an esophagogram on the 10th postoperative day showed no leakage or stenosis of the passage. The patient was discharged on the 17th day with no complications

Elevation of serum lactate dehydrogenase in patients with pectus excavatum

INTRODUCTION: Pectus excavatum is the most common congenital chest wall deformity and the depression of the anterior chest wall, which compresses the internal organs. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of pectus excavatum on blood laboratory findings. MATERIAL AND METHODS: From March 2011 to December 2011, 71 patients with pectus excavatum who visited Seoul Saint Mary Hospital for Nuss procedure were reviewed and analyzed. The blood samples were routinely taken at the day before surgery and pectus bar removal was usually performed in 2 to 3 years after Nuss procedure. To investigate the effects on blood laboratory findings, preoperative routine blood laboratory data and postoperative changes of abnormal laboratory data were analyzed. RESULTS: Only lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), one of 26 separate routine laboratory tests, was abnormal and significantly elevated than normal value (age <10, p = 0.008; age ≥10, p < 0.001). However, there was no significant correlation between LDH levels and severities of pectus excavatum. The symmetric subgroup had significantly higher LDH level than the asymmetric subgroup (p <0.001) and there was a significant decrease of LDH level after correction of deformity (p = 0.017). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, only LDH, one of the routine laboratory tests, was significantly elevated than normal value, which was thought to be caused by etiologies of pectus excavatum and the compression of the internal organs. Further studies on LDH including isoenzyme studies in patients with pectus excavatum will be needed, and these studies will provide a deeper and wider comprehension of pectus excavatum

Coprinus comatus Cap Inhibits Adipocyte Differentiation via Regulation of PPARγ and Akt Signaling Pathway

This study assessed the effects of Coprinus comatus cap (CCC) on adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and the effects of CCC on the development of diet-induced obesity in rats. Here, we showed that the CCC has an inhibitory effect on the adipocyte differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells, resulting in a significant decrease in lipid accumulation through the downregulation of several adipocyte specific-transcription factors, including CCAAT/enhancer binding protein β, C/EBPδ, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ). Moreover, treatment with CCC during adipocyte differentiation induced a significant down-regulation of PPARγ and adipogenic target genes, including adipocyte protein 2, lipoprotein lipase, and adiponectin. Interestingly, the CCC treatment of the 3T3-L1 adipocytes suppressed the insulin-stimulated Akt and GSK3β phosphorylation, and these effects were stronger in the presence of an inhibitor of Akt phosphorylation, LY294002, suggesting that CCC inhibited adipocyte differentiation through the down-regulation of Akt signaling. In the animal study, CCC administration significantly reduced the body weight and adipose tissue weight of rats fed a high fat diet (HFD) and attenuated lipid accumulation in the adipose tissues of the HFD-induced obese rats. The size of the adipocyte in the epididymal fat of the CCC fed rats was significantly smaller than in the HFD rats. CCC treatment significantly reduced the total cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the serum of HFD rats. These results strongly indicated that the CCC-mediated decrease in body weight was due to a reduction in adipose tissue mass. The expression level of PPARγ and phospho-Akt was significantly lower in the CCC-treated HFD rats than that in the HFD obesity rats. These results suggested that CCC inhibited adipocyte differentiation by the down-regulation of major transcription factor involved in the adipogenesis pathway including PPARγ through the regulation of the Akt pathway in 3T3-L1 cells and HFD adipose tissue

Recurrent Infective Endocarditis Associated With Pyogenic Spondylodiskitis

Infective endocarditis is a life-threatening condition caused by microbial infection of the heart's endocardial surface. This condition can also be associated with bacterial infections of other organs. We experienced an unusual case of recurrent infective endocarditis associated with pyogenic spondylodiskitis. A 70-year-old man presented with persistent fever and lower back pain visited our hospital. The patient had a past history of recurrent infective endocarditis. He was diagnosed with infective endocarditis again based on clinical symptoms and echocardiographic findings. Magnetic resonance imaging was used to evaluate lower back pain, which showed acute spondylodiskitis on L3 and L4 vertebrae. The patient completely recovered following four weeks of antibiotic therapy

Helicobacter pylori infection combined with DENA revealed altered expression of p53 and 14-3-3 isoforms in Gulo−/− mice

AbstractUnlike most other mammals, human bodies do not have the ability to synthesize vitamin C inside of their own bodies. Therefore, humans must obtain vitamin C through daily diet. Gulo−/− mice strain is known with deficiency, in which vitamin C intake can be controlled by diet like human, and would be valuable for investigating the molecular mechanism of various diseases. In the present study, we established Gulo−/− mice model and investigated the differentially expressed proteins in stomach tissue of Gulo−/− mice after Helicobacter pylori-infected, and followed by DENA, using immunohistochemistry and proteomic approach. The results of immunohistochemistry analysis of stomach tissue showed that the tumor suppressor, p53 protein, expression was significantly decreased (p<0.05) but not messenger RNA (mRNA) transcriptional level, and 14-3-3ε, 14-3-3δ, Ki-67 and cleaved caspase 3 expressions were significantly increased (p<0.05) by H. Pylori infection, and followed by DENA treatment in Gulo−/− mice. Moreover, knockdown of 14-3-3 isoforms (14-3-3ε, 14-3-3σ, 14-3-3ζ and 14-3-3η) were significantly increased sub-G1 phase (characteristics of apoptosis) in AGS cells and, phenotypic changes like cell shrinkage, density and cleaved nuclei were also observed. Proteome analyses showed that 14-3-3σ, 14-3-3η, and tropomyosin alpha-1 chain were down-regulated, and Hspd1 protein and HSC70 were up-regulated after H. Pylori-infection, and followed by DENA. The combined results of immunohistochemistry and proteomic analysis suggest that H. pylori altered the p53 and 14-3-3 isoforms expression and DENA further enhanced the H. pylori effect, which might be involved in carcinogenesis and metastasis of gastric cancer on Gulo−/− mice

Progression of Prostate Cancer Despite an Extremely Low Serum Level of Prostate-Specific Antigen

A 61-year-old man who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer 9 years ago and had been treated with pelvic irradiation and intermittent androgen deprivation therapy visited the emergency room because of back pain and weakness in both legs. Spine magnetic resonance imaging showed a lumbar epidural mass and spine metastasis. The whole-body workup revealed multiple metastases to the lymph nodes, bone, liver, and lung. The serum prostate-specific antigen was 0.02 ng/ml. He underwent laminectomy, posterior fixation, and epidural mass excision, and metastatic adenocarcinoma from the prostate was diagnosed. The patient underwent 1 cycle of docetaxel-based chemotherapy. More chemotherapy could not be done because of his general weakness. The patient died one month later of multiple organ failure