Remifentanil Prevents Tourniquet-Induced Arterial Pressure Increase in Elderly Orthopedic Patients under Sevoflurane/N2O General Anesthesia

Aims: Prolonged tourniquet inflation produces a hyperdynamic cardiovascular response. We investigated the effect of continuous remifentanil infusion on systemic arterial pressure, heart rate, and cardiac output changes during prolonged tourniquet use in elderly patients under sevoflurane/N2O general anesthesia

Systems Biology from Virus to Humans

Natural infection and then recovery are considered to be the most effective means for hosts to build protective immunity. Thus, mimicking natural infection of pathogens, many live attenuated vaccines such as influenza virus, and yellow fever vaccine 17D were developed and have been successfully used to induce protective immunity. However, humans fail to generate long-term protective immunity to some pathogens after natural infection such as influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) even if they survive initial infections. Many vaccines are suboptimal since much mortality is still occurring, which is exampled by influenza and tuberculosis. It is critically important to increase our understanding on protein components of pathogens and vaccines as well as cellular and host responses to infections and vaccinations. Here, we highlight recent advances in gene transcripts and protein analysis results in the systems biology to enhance our understanding of viral pathogens, vaccines, and host cell responses

Role of Transcription Factor Modifications in the Pathogenesis of Insulin Resistance

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is characterized by fat accumulation in the liver not due to alcohol abuse. NAFLD is accompanied by variety of symptoms related to metabolic syndrome. Although the metabolic link between NAFLD and insulin resistance is not fully understood, it is clear that NAFLD is one of the main cause of insulin resistance. NAFLD is shown to affect the functions of other organs, including pancreas, adipose tissue, muscle and inflammatory systems. Currently efforts are being made to understand molecular mechanism of interrelationship between NAFLD and insulin resistance at the transcriptional level with specific focus on post-translational modification (PTM) of transcription factors. PTM of transcription factors plays a key role in controlling numerous biological events, including cellular energy metabolism, cell-cycle progression, and organ development. Cell type- and tissue-specific reversible modifications include lysine acetylation, methylation, ubiquitination, and SUMOylation. Moreover, phosphorylation and O-GlcNAcylation on serine and threonine residues have been shown to affect protein stability, subcellular distribution, DNA-binding affinity, and transcriptional activity. PTMs of transcription factors involved in insulin-sensitive tissues confer specific adaptive mechanisms in response to internal or external stimuli. Our understanding of the interplay between these modifications and their effects on transcriptional regulation is growing. Here, we summarize the diverse roles of PTMs in insulin-sensitive tissues and their involvement in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance

Impact factor of Korean Journal of Pediatrics on Korean Medical Citation Index and Science Citation Index of Web of Science

PurposeThe total number of times a paper is cited, also known as the impact factor (IF) of a medical journal, is widely implied in evaluating the quality of a research paper. We evaluated the citation index data as an IF of Korean J Pediatr in Korean Medical Citation Index (KoMCI) and JCI of Web of Science.MethodsWe calculated the IF of Korean J Pediatr at KoMCI supervised by Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors. And we estimated the IF of Korean J Pediatr by the JCI of Web of Science although it was never officially reported.ResultsThe IF of Korean J Pediatr on KoMCI has increased from 0.100 in the year 2000, to 0.205 in 2008, and 0.326 in 2009. Although the IF of Korean J Pediatr was 0.006 in 2005, 0.018 in 2006, 0.028 in 2008, 0.066 in 2009, and 0.018 in 2010 according to the JCI of Web of Science, the number of citations are steadily increasing.ConclusionUnderstanding and realizing the current status will be a stepping stone for further improvement. The next objective of the Korean J Pediatr is to become registered in the SCI or SCIE. Increasing the IF according to the JCI of Web of Science is crucial in order to achieve this goal

The Clinical Usefulness of 18F-FDG PET/CT for the Evaluation of Lymph Node Metastasis in Periorbital Malignancies

PURPOSE: Surgical treatment of malignancies in the oral cavity and subsequent radiotherapy often result in an oral condition unfavorable for prosthodontic rehabilitation. This study assessed the quality of life related to oral function in edentulous head and neck cancer patients following oncology treatment of malignancies in the lower region of the oral cavity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients treated between 1990 and 2000 with surgery and radiotherapy for a squamous cell carcinoma in the oral cavity who were edentulous in the mandible and had been treated with a conventional, non-implant-retained denture received an invitation for a clinical check-up (clinical assessment, questionnaires regarding oral function and quality of life). RESULTS: Sixty-seven of the 84 patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were willing to participate in the study. The mean irradiation dosage that these patients had received in the oral region was 61.8 +/- 5.4 Gy. Half of the patients (n=33) were not very satisfied with their prostheses; they wore their mandibular prostheses at most a few hours per day. It was concluded from the clinical assessment that two thirds of the patients (n 4) could benefit from an implant-retained mandibular denture. Analyses of the questionnaires revealed no significant associations between functional assessments, quality of life, and parameters such as size of the primary tumor, location of the primary tumor, and different treatment regimes. Despite cancer treatment, the patients reported a rather good general quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Sequelae resulting from radiotherapy probably dominate oral function and quality of life after oncology treatment. In two thirds of the patients, improvement of oral function and related quality of life would be expected with the use of an implant-retained mandibular denture

Indoor formaldehyde removal over CMK-3

The removal of formaldehyde at low concentrations is important in indoor air pollution research. In this study, mesoporous carbon with a large specific surface area was used for the adsorption of low-concentration indoor formaldehyde. A mesoporous carbon material, CMK-3, was synthesized using the nano-replication method. SBA-15 was used as a mesoporous template. The surface of CMK-3 was activated using a 2N H2SO4 solution and NH3 gas to prepare CMK-3-H2SO4 and CMK-3-NH3, respectively. The activated samples were characterized by N2 adsorption-desorption, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The formaldehyde adsorption performance of the mesoporous carbons was in the order of CMK-3-NH3 > CMK-3-H2SO4 > CMK-3. The difference in the adsorption performance was explained by oxygen and nitrogen functional groups formed during the activation process and by the specific surface area and pore structure of mesoporous carbon

Leisure sedentary time is differentially associated with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hyperlipidemia depending on occupation

Abstract Background Sedentary behavior is considered an independent cause of cardio-metabolic diseases, regardless of physical activity level and obesity. Few studies have reported the association between leisure sedentary time and cardio-vascular diseases in terms of occupation. Methods We performed a cross-sectional study using data from the Korean Community Health Survey (KCHS) for 240,086 participants assessed in 2011 and 2013. Occupation was categorized into four groups: farmer or fisherman, laborer, and soldier (Group I); service worker, salesperson, technician, mechanic, production worker, and engineer (Group II); manager, expert, specialist, and clerk (Group III); and unemployed (Group IV). Leisure sedentary time was divided into five groups: 0 h, 1 h, 2 h, 3 h, and 4+ h. The association between leisure sedentary time on weekdays and hypertension/diabetes mellitus/hyperlipidemia for different occupations was analyzed using simple and multiple logistic regression analyses with complex sampling. Results In Groups I, II and III, no length of sedentary time was associated with hypertension, and only 3 h or 4+ h of sedentary time was associated with diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia. Group IV showed a significant association with hypertension and diabetes mellitus for the 2 h, 3 h, and 4+ h sedentary times. Conclusions The unemployed are more susceptible than other occupation groups to cardio-metabolic diseases when leisure time is sedentary

Chlorin e6 Prevents ADP-Induced Platelet Aggregation by Decreasing PI3K-Akt Phosphorylation and Promoting cAMP Production

A number of reagents that prevent thrombosis have been developed but were found to have serious side effects. Therefore, we sought to identify complementary and alternative medicinal materials that are safe and have long-term efficacy. In the present studies, we have assessed the ability of chlorine e6 (CE6) to inhibit ADP-induced aggregation of rat platelets and elucidated the underlying mechanism. CE6 inhibited platelet aggregation induced by 10 µM ADP in a concentration-dependent manner and decreased intracellular calcium mobilization and granule secretion (i.e., ATP and serotonin release). Western blotting revealed that CE6 strongly inhibited the phosphorylations of PI3K, Akt, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and different mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) including extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) as well as p38-MAPK. Our study also demonstrated that CE6 significantly elevated intracellular cAMP levels and decreased thromboxane A2 formation in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, we determined that CE6 initiated the activation of PKA, an effector of cAMP. Taken together, our findings indicate that CE6 may inhibit ADP-induced platelet activation by elevating cAMP levels and suppressing PI3K/Akt activity. Finally, these results suggest that CE6 could be developed as therapeutic agent that helps prevent thrombosis and ischemia

Chemical composition and anti-inflammatory effects of essential oil from Hallabong flower

A number of essential oils derived from plants are claimed to have several medicinal functions, including anti-cancer and anti-inflammation effects. However, the chemical composition and biological activities of flower-derived components have not been sufficiently characterized. Therefore, we investigated the composition of essential oils from Hallabong flower [(Citrus unshiu Marcov × Citrus sinensis Osbeck) × Citrus reticulata Blanco] and their anti-inflammatory effects. Hydro-dist illed essential oils (HEOs) were analyzed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). In total, 21 components were identified, representing more than 98 % of the oils, with sabinene (34.75 %), linalool (14.77 %), β-ocimene (11.07 %), 4-terpineol (9.63 %), L-limonene (5.88 %), and γ-terpinene (4.67 %) as the main components. In the present study, we also investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of HEOs on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 26 4.7 macrophage cells. HEOs were found to inhibit nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production and to suppress the LPS- induced expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) protein. In addition, HEOs downregulated the production of the inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-1 β(IC50 values are 0.05 %, 0.02 %, and 0.01 %, respectively). On the basis of these results, we suggest that HEOs can be consid ered potential anti-inflammatory candidates for therapeutic use in humans