Extraskeletal chondroma of the fallopian tube.

Extraskeletal chondroma can occur in the hands, feet, head and neck. This tumor usually presents as a small solitary nodule. The histogenesis of the tumor is controversial, but some have suggested a metaplastic origin. Chondroma of the fallopian tube is very rare. There is only one report in English literature. The origin of this tumor can be subcoelomic mesenchyme of the tubal serosa or mesenchyme of the myosalpinx. We describe a case of chondroma arising from the serosal surface of the fallopian tube with a review of literature. A 30-yr-old woman visited hospital due to left adnexal mass. On operating finding, 2 x 3 cm sized nodular mass was noted on the left tubal serosal area. The excised mass showed multilobulated appearance covered with thin fibrous membrane. The cut surface was solid, grayish yellow, and myxoid with a focal gelatinous area. The microscopic finding showed islands and elongated lobules of mature benign cartilage without cytologic atypia

The Dual Process of Korean Labor Market Transformation: Decomposing the Size-Wage Gap, 1982~2004

Translated from an article published in the Korean Journal of Sociology 42(7): 111- 145, 2008 with permission from The Korean Sociological Association.This study aims to understand the nature of the structural change in the Korean labor market by analyzing the wage gap between large firms and small to medium-sized firms between 1982 and 2004. The result reveals that Korea experienced two historical moments in which the size-wage gap surged: one in 1987, the year of mass labor strikes spurred by the democratization movement, and the other in 1997, the year the Asian financial crisis began. Whereas the first moment was a temporary phenomenon lasting only until the early 1990s, the second moment led to a continuous wage-gap increase. The result of an Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition of the wage gap shows that the factors contributing to the widening of the wage gap since the economic crisis were different between the manual sector and the nonmanual sector. For manual workers, the increase of the size-wage gap was mostly induced by compositional effects, specifically the increased share of long-tenured workers in large firms. For non-manual workers, however, it was a price effect. In light of the current debate on the transformation of the internal labor market, we conclude that a corporate internal labor market exists persistently, although reduced in size, in the manual sector, whereas the corporate boundary is significantly weakened in the non-manual sector. This dual process of labor market transformation, however, results in an increased size-wage gap in both sectors, although for differing reasons

Genotypic Characterization of Vibrio vulnificus Clinical Isolates in Korea

AbstractObjectivesVibrio vunificus is known to cause septicemia and severe wound infections in patients with chronic liver diseases or an immuno-compromised condition. We carried out the molecular characterization of V. vulnificus isolates from human Vibrio septicemia cases based on pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) using NotI and SfiI.Methods and ResultsPFGE was used to characterize a total of 78 strains from clinical cases after NotI or SfiI digestion. The geographical distribution of PFGE patterns for the strains from the southern part of Korea, a high-risk region for Vibrio septicemia, indicated that the isolates from southeastern Korea showed a comparatively higher degree of homology than those from southwestern Korea.ConclusionsWe report the genetic distribution of V. vulnficus isolated from Vibrio septicemia cases during 2000–2004 in Korea. This method has potential use as a subspecies-typing tool for V. vulnificus strains isolated from distant geographic regions

A case of reactive arthritis after Salmonella enteritis in in a 12-year-old boy

Reactive arthritis comprises a subgroup within infection-associated arthritides in genetically susceptible hosts. Researchers and clinicians recognize two clinical forms of reactive arthritis which occurs after genitourinary tract infection and after gastrointestinal tract infection. Chlamydia infection has been implicated as the most common agent associated with post-venereal reactive arthritis. Studies have proposed Shigella infection, Salmonella infection, or Yersinia infection as the microorganisms responsible for the post-dysenteric form. The human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27 antigen is the best-known predisposing factor. We report a case of HLA-B27-associated reactive arthritis after Salmonella enteritis at Pusan National University hospital

Notch signaling is required for maintaining stem-cell features of neuroprogenitor cells derived from human embryonic stem cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Studies have provided important findings about the roles of Notch signaling in neural development. Unfortunately, however, most of these studies have investigated the neural stem cells (NSCs) of mice or other laboratory animals rather than humans, mainly owing to the difficulties associated with obtaining human brain samples. It prompted us to focus on neuroectodermal spheres (NESs) which are derived from human embryonic stem cell (hESC) and densely inhabited by NSCs. We here investigated the role of Notch signaling with the hESC-derived NESs.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>From hESCs, we derived NESs, the <it>in-vitro </it>version of brain-derived neurospheres. NES formation was confirmed by increased levels of various NSC marker genes and the emergence of rosette structures in which neuroprogenitors are known to reside. We found that Notch signaling, which maintains stem cell characteristics of <it>in-vivo</it>-derived neuroprogenitors, is active in these hESC-derived NESs, similar to their <it>in-vivo </it>counterpart. Expression levels of Notch signaling molecules such as NICD, DLLs, JAG1, HES1 and HES5 were increased in the NESs. Inhibition of the Notch signaling by a γ-secretase inhibitor reduced rosette structures, expression levels of NSC marker genes and proliferation potential in the NESs, and, if combined with withdrawal of growth factors, triggered differentiation toward neurons.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results indicate that the hESC-derived NESs, which share biochemical features with brain-derived neurospheres, maintain stem cell characteristics mainly through Notch signaling, which suggests that the hESC-derived NESs could be an <it>in-vitro </it>model for <it>in-vivo </it>neurogenesis.</p

Anti-obesity effects of Yerba Mate (Ilex Paraguariensis): a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial

Dietary assessment parameters of the Yerba Mate and placebo groups measured at 0, 6 and 12 weeks. (DOC 37.5 kb

Changes in brain activity in response to problem solving during the abstinence from online game play

Background and aims: Several studies have suggested that addictive disorders including substance abuse and pathologic gambling might be associated with dysfunction on working memory and prefrontal activity. We hypothesized that excessive online game playing is associated with deficits in prefrontal cortex function and that recovery from excessive online game playing might improve prefrontal cortical activation in response to working memory stimulation. Methods: Thirteen adolescents with excessive online game playing (AEOP) and ten healthy adolescents (HC) agreed to participate in this study. The severity of online game play and playing time were evaluated for a baseline measurement and again following four weeks of treatment. Brain activation in response to working memory tasks (simple and complex calculations) at baseline and subsequent measurements was assessed using BOLD functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Results: Compared to the HC subjects, the AEOP participants exhibited significantly greater activity in the right middle occipital gyrus, left cerebellum posterior lobe, left premotor cortex and left middle temporal gyrus in response to working memory tasks during baseline measurements. After four weeks of treatment, the AEOP subjects showed increased activity within the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and left occipital fusiform gyrus. After four weeks of treatment, changes in the severity of online game playing were negatively correlated with changes in the mean β value of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in response to complex stimulation. Conclusions: We suggest that the effects of online game addiction on working memory may be similar to those observed in patients with substance dependence