Antimicrobial Susceptibility-and-Serotypes-of Salmonella Organisms Recovered from Korean Swine

The present study was carried out to investigate serotype prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility of Salmonella organisms isolated from slaughter pigs in the republic during 3 years periods from 1998 to 2000. A total of 226 cultures of Salmonella spp. were isolated from ileocecal lymph nodes of 1,403 slaughter pigs from 50 farms, of which 42 farms were infected with the organisms. Among 17 serotypes identified the most prevalent serotypes in order of prevalence were S. Typhimurium, S. Reading, S. Derby, S. Agona, S. Enteritidis, S. Schwarzengrund. Other minor serotypes identified were S. Worthington, S. Senftenberg, S. Saintpaul, S. Bolton and S. Mealegridis

Efficacy of imatinib mesylate-based front-line therapy in pediatric chronic myelogenous leukemia

PurposeDespite the established role of imatinib (IM) in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in adults, there are few reports on its efficacy in children. In this study, we compared the outcomes of children with CML before and after the advent of IM-based treatment.MethodsThe study cohort consisted of 52 patients treated for CML at the Department of Pediatrics, The Catholic University of Korea from January 1995 to October 2010. Patients were divided and analyzed according to the preImatinib group (pre-IMG) and imatinib group (IMG).ResultsMedian age at diagnosis for the overall cohort (pre-IMG, n=27; IMG, n=25) was 9 years, with a median follow-up duration of survivors of 84 months. Except for 5 patients in the IMG, all were diagnosed in chronic phase (CP). The overall survival (OS) of patients diagnosed in CP was 45.7% and 89.7% for pre-IMG and IMG, respectively (P=0.025). The OS of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients in the 2 groups was similar, but the OS of patients diagnosed in CP who did not receive HSCT was superior in IMG (91.7% vs. 16.7%, P=0.014). Of the 12 patients in IMG who remained on IM without HSCT, 2 showed disease progression, compared to 11 of 12 in pre-IMG. No difference was observed in the progression free survival (PFS) of matched donor HSCT recipients and IM-based treatment recipients.ConclusionSimilar PFS of patients treated with IM and those who received matched donor HSCT underscore the potential of IM as effective first-line treatment in childhood CML

Immune reconstitution after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in children: a single institution study of 59 patients

PurposeLymphocyte subset recovery is an important factor that determines the success of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Temporal differences in the recovery of lymphocyte subsets and the factors influencing this recovery are important variables that affect a patient's post-transplant immune reconstitution, and therefore require investigation.MethodsThe time taken to achieve lymphocyte subset recovery and the factors influencing this recovery were investigated in 59 children who had undergone HSCT at the Department of Pediatrics, The Catholic University of Korea Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, and who had an uneventful follow-up period of at least 1 year. Analyses were carried out at 3 and 12 months post-transplant. An additional study was performed 1 month post-transplant to evaluate natural killer (NK) cell recovery. The impact of pre- and post-transplant variables, including diagnosis of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNAemia posttransplant, on lymphocyte recovery was evaluated.ResultsThe lymphocyte subsets recovered in the following order: NK cells, cytotoxic T cells, B cells, and helper T cells. At 1 month post-transplant, acute graft-versus-host disease was found to contribute significantly to the delay of CD16+/56+ cell recovery. Younger patients showed delayed recovery of both CD3+/CD8+ and CD19+ cells. EBV DNAemia had a deleterious impact on the recovery of both CD3+ and CD3+/CD4+ lymphocytes at 1 year post-transplant.ConclusionIn our pediatric allogeneic HSCT cohort, helper T cells were the last subset to recover. Younger age and EBV DNAemia had a negative impact on the post-transplant recovery of T cells and B cells

Scleroderma-like Manifestation in a Patient with Primary Systemic Amyloidosis: Response to High-dose Intravenous Immunoglobulin and Plasma Exchange

A 54-year-old Korean male with scleroderma-like manifestation of primary systemic amyloidosis presented with firm cutaneous induration of face and distal extremities, subcutaneous induration of the trunk and proximal extremities, limited range of motion in all joints, hoarseness, and dysphagia. Monthly high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (hdIVIg) was given (three treatments, each time administering 0.4 g/kg per day for five days), and both signs and symptoms began to improve. However, the quantitative analyses of serum protein did not improve. Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) was performed monthly to clear the elevated serum immunoglobulin, and after several treatments, their levels normalized and symptoms were maintained in the improved state for more than two years. To summarize, hdIVIg and TPE combination therapy may be used as a safe first-line treatment for patients with primary systemic amyloidosis presenting with symptomatic monoclonal gammopathy

Detection of multiresistant Salmonella typhimurium DT104 by multiplex PCR

Phage typing was almost the only way to confirm DT104, but it is so expensive and complicate to perform that it is available in just a few laboratories. Therefore, other rapid and accurate method becomes necessary. PCR has been programmed to detect DTl 04 and known to be very useful. There have been many different PCR programs to identify DT104, but in this study,InvA, Mdh, Pse-1 and ClmA/l\u27etR genes were used to amplify the specific regions of DTl 04 by multiplex PCR, which produce 393, 943, 468 and 602 bp PCR product, respectively. All DT104 were positive to these four genes, and ACSSuT type S. Typhimurium, other Salmonella spec. and other bacteria are negative to the specific genes

Comparison of spin-echo echo-planar imaging magnetic resonance elastography with gradient-recalled echo magnetic resonance elastography and their correlation with transient elastography

PURPOSEThis study aimed to assess the agreement between liver stiffness (LS) values obtained by the gradient-recalled echo (GRE) magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) and spin-echo echo-planar imaging (SE-EPI) MRE with those of transient elastography (TE), respectively.METHODSWe retrospectively included 48 participants who underwent liver MRE with both GRE and SE-EPI sequences in the same session and also TE within 1 year. We obtained LS values for MRE by drawing free-hand region of interest, and TE was performed using a FibroScan device. We assessed the relationship between the mean LS values obtained by each MRE sequence and TE using the correlation coefficients and Bland–Altman plots, respectively. We also compared LS values and technical failure rates of measured values from MRE between SE-EPI and GRE sequences using the paired t-test and McNemar’s test. The MRE failure was defined as the absence of pixel value with a confidence index above 95%.RESULTSThe LS values from SE-EPI and GRE sequences strongly correlated with those from TE (GRE; r = 0.73, P < .001 vs. SE-EPI; r = 0.79, P < .001). In addition, the LS values from the 2 MRE sequences showed excellent relationship (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.94 [0.89-0.97], P < .001). The LS values from SE-EPI and GRE MRE were not significantly different (4.14 kPa vs. 3.88 kPa, P = .19). Furthermore, the technical success rate of SE-EPI MRE was superior to that of GRE (100% vs. 83.8%, P = .031).CONCLUSIONThe measured LS values obtained using TE correlated strongly with those obtained using GRE and SE-EPI MRE techniques, even though SE-EPI-MRE resulted a higher technical success rate than GRE-MRE. Therefore, we believe that TE, GRE, and SE-EPI MR elastography techniques may complement each other according to the appropriate individual situation

In vitro photodynamic therapy of methylene blue-loaded acetyl resistant starch nanoparticles

Background : Combination therapies comprising multiple methods, such as photodynamic therapy have been applied to be complements chemotherapy as they increase the therapeutic efficiency by enabling the intelligent drug delivery to target sites by exposing the photosensitizer to light and activating it in the tumor tissue. This study evaluated in vitro photodynamic therapy of methylene blue (MB)-loaded acetyl resistant starch (ARS) nanoparticles (NPs). Methods : ARS was synthesized by the reaction between resistant starch (RS) and acetic anhydride. MB-loaded ARS NPs and ARS NPs were prepared by a single emulsion method. Synthesized ARS was measured by NMR. Prepared ARS NPs and MB-loaded ARS NPs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), X-ray diffraction, UV/Vis, and circular dichroism (CD). MB-loaded ARS NPs were treated in mouse colon cancer cells (CT-26) and they were treated under near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation. Results : Synthesis of ARS was confirmed by NMR and the degree of substitutions in the ARS was 7.1. The morphologies of ARS NPs observed by TEM were spherical shapes and the particle sizes of ARS NPs were 173.4 nm with a surface charge of − 17.24 mV. The d-spacing of ARS NPs was smaller than those of RS and the conformational changes of RS occurred by the formation of self-assembled polymeric NPs with induction of CD of the MB by chiral ARS NPs. The phototoxicity of CT-26 cells treated by MB-loaded ARS NPs dramatically decreased in a dose-dependent manner under NIR laser irradiation compared to free MB. Conclusion : This study demonstrated the ordered nanosized structures in the ARS NPs and conformational change from random coil structure of RS to alpha-helices one of ARS occurred and CD of the achiral MB was induced. The MB-loaded ARS NPs showed a higher generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the CT-26 cells than free MB with the NIR laser irradiation and resulting in phototoxicity under irradiation.This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2020R111A1A01053275)

A Patient With Dysphagia due to an Aortic Aneurysm

Dysphagia aortica is difficulty in swallowing caused by extrinsic compression of the esophagus due to an ectatic, tortuous, or aneurysmatic atherosclerotic thoracic aorta. This condition is very uncommon, and it is usually associated with old age, women with short stature, hypertension, and kyphosis. We report herein a case involving a patient with dysphagia who had an aortic aneurysm

Ion-selective and chemical-protective elastic block copolymer interphase for durable zinc metal anode

Aqueous rechargeable batteries based on zinc anodes are among the most promising systems to replace conventional lithium-ion batteries owing to their intrinsic safety, high ionic conductivity, and economic benefits. However, inferior reversibility of zinc anode resulting from zinc dendrites and surface side reactions limits the practical realization of zinc-ion batteries. Herein, we develop a thin but robust polymeric artificial interphase to enhance reversibility of zinc anode. The grafted maleic anhydride groups in the polymer structure restrain the detrimental reactions through selective zinc-ion penetration and homogenize ion distribution, leading to a smooth electrode surface after plating-stripping processes. Consequently, the coated zinc anode shows excellent stability with a long-term symmetric cell lifespan (&gt;3,000 h at 3 mA??cm???2) and maintains capacity retention of 80% after 2,500 cycles, paired with a manganese oxide cathode. This study provides a facile fabrication process and accessible analysis methods to rationalize the development of high-performance zinc-ion batteries