Is Cognitive Function in Adults with Hearing Impairment Improved by the Use of Hearing Aids?

ObjectivesIn the present study, we investigated whether speech-related cognitive function and speech recognition ability under background noise in adults with hearing impairment are improved with the use of hearing aids.MethodsParticipants were recruited from the ENT Department of Eulji Hospital from September 2008 to July 2009. The study group comprised 18 participants (mean age, 69.5±8.3 years) with sensorineural hearing loss who were fitted with hearing aids, and the control group comprised 11 participants of equivalent age (mean age, 63.1±11.8 years) who were not fitted with hearing aids. All participants were assessed using the computerized Korean visual verbal learning test (VVLT) and words-in-noise (WIN) test prior to fitting of hearing aids for the study group and initially for the control group. Both groups were reassessed in both tests after 6 months. For each group, differences in the results between the two assessments were compared using the Friedman test.ResultsThere was no difference in mean age between the study group and control group. In the study group, total VVLT score (reflecting short-term memory) was significantly improved from before hearing aid use to 6 months after hearing aid use (P0.05).ConclusionThe speech-related cognitive function of individuals with hearing impairment improved after using hearing aids. This finding indicates that hearing aids may induce acclimatization of the central auditory system

STAT1 and Nmi are downstream targets of Ets-1 transcription factor in MCF-7 human breast cancer cell

AbstractEts-1 is a cellular homologue of the product of the viral ets oncogene of the E26 virus, and it functions as a tissue-specific transcription factor. It plays an important role in cell proliferation, differentiation, lymphoid cell development, transformation, angiogenesis, and apoptosis. Ets-1 controls the expression of critical genes involved in these processes by binding to ets binding sites present in the transcriptional regulatory regions. Here, we transiently overexpressed Ets-1 in MCF-7 and comprehensively searched for potential downstream targets of Ets-1 by cDNA microarray analysis. The expressions of several interferon-related genes including STAT1 and Nmi were augmented by the overexpression of Ets-1. RT-PCR and Western blotting confirmed the increase in the levels of STAT1 and Nmi mRNA and protein. In contrast, Ets-1 siRNA decreased the expression of STAT1 and Nmi proteins. As in our transient transfection experiments, stable overexpression of Ets-1, also increased the protein expression of STAT1 and Nmi in MCF-7 cells. Taken together, our results indicate that STAT1 and Nmi are downstream targets of Ets-1 in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells

Affects of "Age at Diagnosis" on Coronary Artery Lesions in Patients With Incomplete Kawasaki Disease

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES : Diagnosis of Kawasaki disease (KD) is based on 5 clinical features. Incomplete KD (IKD), which has fewer features, is more common in infants and older children, in whom the rate of coronary artery aneurysms is paradoxically higher. We conducted this study to evaluate risk factors associated with age-at-diagnosis on coronary arterial lesions (CAL) in patients with IKD. SUBJECTS AND METHODS : Retrospective data from 396 patients with KD in a single center were collected from January 2003 to July 2007. Patients were grouped according to their age at diagnosis; Group A (/=5 years of age). RESULTS : Among a total of 396 patients with KD, 87 (22.0%) were in Group A, 246 (62.1%) in Group B, and 63 (15.9%) in Group C. In groups A and C, lag times for starting intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) were longer than in Group B. There were no differences in the incidence of IKD, late CAL, or rates of IVIG retreatment among the three groups. Among 174 patients with IKD, there were no age-related differences in late CAL incidence or IVIG retreatment. Compared with typical KD, duration of fever and lag times to start IVIG were longer, and the rate of IVIG retreatment was higher in IKD, but there was no difference in the risk of CAL between typical KD and IKD. CONCLUSION : In the management of KD, especially the incomplete type, age-associated factors appear not to be significant for predicting the development of CAL.ope

Avelumab in paediatric patients with refractory or relapsed solid tumours: dose-escalation results from an open-label, single-arm, phase 1/2 trial

Background: We report dose-escalation results from an open-label, phase 1/2 trial evaluating avelumab (anti-PD-L1) in paediatric patients with refractory/relapsed solid tumours. Methods: In phase 1, patients aged \u3c 18 years with solid (including central nervous system [CNS]) tumours for which standard therapy did not exist or had failed were enrolled in sequential cohorts of 3–6 patients. Patients received avelumab 10 or 20 mg/kg intravenously every 2 weeks. Primary endpoints were dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs) and grade ≥ 3 treatment-emergent adverse events (AEs). Results: At data cut-off (27 July 2021), 21 patients aged 3–17 years had received avelumab 10 mg/kg (n = 6) or 20 mg/kg (n = 15). One patient had three events that were classified as a DLT (fatigue with hemiparesis and muscular weakness associated with pseudoprogression; 20 mg/kg cohort). Grade ≥ 3 AEs occurred in five (83%) and 11 (73%) patients in the 10 and 20 mg/kg cohorts, respectively, and were treatment-related in one patient (7%; grade 3 [DLT]) in the 20 mg/kg cohort. Avelumab exposure in paediatric patients receiving 20 mg/kg dosing, but not 10 mg/kg, was comparable or higher compared with approved adult dosing (10 mg/kg or 800 mg flat dose). No objective responses were observed. Four patients with CNS tumours (20 mg/kg cohort) achieved stable disease, which was ongoing in two patients with astrocytoma at cut-off (for 24.7 and 30.3 months). Conclusion: In paediatric patients with refractory/relapsed solid tumours, avelumab monotherapy showed a safety profile consistent with previous adult studies, but clinical benefits were limited

Complete genome sequence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus KOR/KNIH/002_05_2015, isolated in South Korea

The full genome sequence of a Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was identified from cultured and isolated in Vero cells. The viral genome sequence has high similarity to 53 human MERS-CoVs, ranging from 99.5% to 99.8% at the nucleotide level. © 2015 Kim et al.

Misdiagnosis of fetus-in-fetu as meconium peritonitis

Fetus-in-fetu (FIF) is a rare congenital condition in which a fetiform mass is detected in the host abdomen and also in other sites such as the intracranium, thorax, head, and neck. This condition has been rarely reported in the literature. Herein, we report the case of a fetus presenting with abdominal cystic mass and ascites and prenatally diagnosed as meconium pseudocyst. Explorative laparotomy revealed an irregular fetiform mass in the retroperitoneum within a fluid-filled cyst. The mass contained intestinal tract, liver, pancreas, and finger. Fetal abdominal cystic mass has been identified in a broad spectrum of diseases. However, as in our case, FIF is often overlooked during differential diagnosis. FIF should also be differentiated from other conditions associated with fetal abdominal masses

The First Very Long Baseline Interferometry Image of 44 GHz Methanol Maser with the KVN and VERA Array (KaVA)

We have carried out the first very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) imaging of 44 GHz class I methanol maser (7_{0}-6_{1}A^{+}) associated with a millimeter core MM2 in a massive star-forming region IRAS 18151-1208 with KaVA (KVN and VERA Array), which is a newly combined array of KVN (Korean VLBI Network) and VERA (VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry). We have succeeded in imaging compact maser features with a synthesized beam size of 2.7 milliarcseconds x 1.5 milliarcseconds (mas). These features are detected at a limited number of baselines within the length of shorter than approximately 650 km corresponding to 100 Mlambda in the uv-coverage. The central velocity and the velocity width of the 44 GHz methanol maser are consistent with those of the quiescent gas rather than the outflow traced by the SiO thermal line. The minimum component size among the maser features is ~ 5 mas x 2 mas, which corresponds to the linear size of ~ 15 AU x 6 AU assuming a distance of 3 kpc. The brightness temperatures of these features range from ~ 3.5 x 10^{8} to 1.0 x 10^{10} K, which are higher than estimated lower limit from a previous Very Large Array observation with the highest spatial resolution of ~ 50 mas. The 44 GHz class I methanol maser in IRAS 18151-1208 is found to be associated with the MM2 core, which is thought to be less evolved than another millimeter core MM1 associated with the 6.7 GHz class II methanol maser.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figure

Bifactor analysis of motivation for charity sport event participation

The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of the existing subscales of charity sport events (CSEs) participation motivation by adopting both a second-order modeling and a bifactor modeling approaches. The results with 488 college students revealed that the bifactor model provided a better interpretation of the data compared to second-order model. The five-factor CSE motivation significantly predict the intention to participate in CSEs along with two domain-specific motivations, namely ‘sport and event’ and ‘cause’ while other three domain-specific motivations including ‘philanthropic’, ‘social interaction’, and ‘reference group’ are not statistically significant predictors. The results suggest that the bifactor model is more useful in predicting this group’s participation in charity sport events. © 2015, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg