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This study examined the relationships among halitosis, stress and psychological status using a cross-sectional survey of 3,689 adolescents (1,805 male 1,884 female) from the 2010 Korean Survey on the Health of Youth and Children. The related factors of halitosis were checked and the path model was also examined using AMOS 19.0 programs. The prevalence of halitosis was 27.4%. Based on path analysis, the significant coefficients paths were as follows: , , , , . Halitosis had an indirect effect on the psychological status linked to depression, anxiety, tension, and hostility via stress. Overall, the results provide stronger support for the halitosis impact of stress and psychological health. Moreover, the effective prevention of halitosis may be important for understanding the specific psychological factors.

Spinal nerve-ligated neuropathy and chemotherapy-induced neuropathy produce a persistent tactile allodynia in mice. Tianeptine is an antidepressant that exhibits structural similarities to tricyclic antidepressants but has distinct neurochemical properties.Here we examined the effects of intraperitoneal (i.p.) tianeptine on allodynia in spinal nerve-ligated and chemotherapy-induced neuropathic mice.A randomized, experimental trial.Laboratory animal study.Spinal nerve-ligated neuropathy was induced in a Chung model made by ligating the L5 spinal nerve. Chemotherapy-induced neuropathy was induced by injecting vincristine (0.1 mg/kg/day; i.p.) on the following schedule: 5 days on, 2 days off, for14 days. Tianeptine (10, 30, and 50 mg/kg) and saline were administered, respectively, to both groups of neuropathic mice (n = 5 for each group). We evaluated mechanical allodynia using von Frey hairs prior to drug injections and at 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, and 240 minutes, and 24 hours after injections. We also measured the changes in activate transcription factor 3 (ATF3) level in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) in each group in order to understand the analgesic mechanism of tianeptine.Both spinal nerve-ligated and chemotherapy-induced neuropathic mice showed prominent allodynia. The control group showed no differences in mechanically induced allodynia compared to the experimental groups. For the tianeptine groups, paw-withdrawal thresholds in response to mechanical stimuli were significantly lower than the pre-administration values and values from the control group (P0.05). The increase in DRG ATF3 in neuropathic mice was reduced by tianeptine (P0.05).Less is known about the transcription factors that affect inflammation signaling.Tianeptine administered i.p. reduces mechanical allodynia in spinal nerve-ligated and chemotherapy-induced neuropathic mice models. These effects were confirmed by attenuation of previously increased DRG ATF3.

Since domestic and foreign platform companies and mobile carriers adopt and use different kinds of smart platforms, developers should develop or convert contents according to each smart platform to provide a single smart content for customers. It takes long time and a lot of money to convert the conventional smart contents in order to serve other smart platforms. For the reason, more attention has been paid on Smart Cross Platform or Hybrid Platform, the core technologies of OSMU(One Source Multi Use) in which, once a program is coded, it can be executed in any platforms regardless of development languages. As a result, PhoneGap and HTML5 based Sencha Touch have been introduced. In this paper, we developed the smart virtual machine, which is built in smart cross platform based smart devices, unlike Android, iOS, Windows Phone devices being dependent of platforms, and helps to download and execute applications, being independent of platforms. the smart virtual machine supports C/C++, and Java language, being differentiated from JVM by sun microsystems that supports only Java language and .NET framework by microsoft that supports only C, C++ and C#. Therefore, it provides contents developers with the environment where they can get a wide range of options in choosing a language and develop smart contents.

Background: Maternal thyroid dysfunction during pregnancy has been associated with adverse outcomes for both the mother and child. For this reason, it is important to understand thyroid status in pregnant women. However, there are relatively few published studies that examine thyroid function tests (TFT) and thyroid autoimmunity in non-Western pregnant women. Methods: Serum samples were longitudinally collected throughout pregnancy from 108 Korean women. TFT, thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPO-Ab), and thyroglobulin antibodies (Tg-Ab) testing was performed. The impact of gestational age on TPO-Ab and Tg-Ab levels was evaluated and gestational age-specific reference intervals for TFT were established in antibody negative women. Results: In the first trimester, TPO-Ab and Tg-Ab were positive in 13.9% and 16.7% of women, respectively. For antibody positive women, median autoantibody levels for TPO-Ab and Tg-Ab dropped from first trimester to near term (133.7–10.5 IU/mL, and 162.1–21.9 IU/mL, respectively). Antibody status influenced thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) during the first trimester, and TSH, free T4 (FT4) and total T4 (TT4) in the early second trimester. Later in gestation, no significant differences in TFT were found based on antibody status. Gestational age-specific reference intervals for TFT were calculated in antibody negative women. Conclusions: Laboratory evidence of autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) is common in this population of pregnant Korean women. Antibody status influences TFT values in the first and early second trimester. Thyroid autoantibody status and titer change in an individual-specific manner throughout pregnancy. Gestational age-specific reference intervals should be utilized for interpretation of TFT results in pregnant women.

Summary objective We prospectively screened consecutive patients with Graves’ hyperthyroidism by ultrasonography (USG), regardless of presence of palpable nodules, and evaluated patients with nodule(s) by fine-needle aspiration (FNA) and by resulting surgery to define the prevalence of thyroid cancer in patients with Graves’ disease. methods Two hundred and forty-five consecutive Graves’ disease patients without prior thyroid surgery or radio-iodine treatment were enrolled at Asan Medical Centre endocrinology clinic. All patients with nodule(s) of 5 mm or greater were reviewed for evaluation by FNA, and of these 90·0% (n = 62) underwent FNA. All patients with suspicious/malignant cytology or those with positive immunostaining with GAL-3 antibody underwent surgery. results Among 245 patients, thyroid nodule(s) were detected in 35·1% (86/245) by USG. Nodule prevalence significantly increased according to age, which was the only significant variable predicting the presence of nodule(s) in logistic regression analysis. Among patients with thyroid nodule(s), 69 patients had nodule(s) of 5 mm or greater in size, and 62 cases of them (90·0%) underwent FNA. In eight patients, thyroid cancers were histologically confirmed (all papillary thyroid cancers), so the prevalence of thyroid cancer was at least 3·3% (8/245) in Graves’ patients. Of eight patients with thyroid cancer, only one case was detected by palpation and the other seven patients were detected only by USG. In pathologic examination, mean size of tumour was 10·0 ± 6·7 mm (5–25 mm), three cases had extrathyroidal extension (37·5%), four cases had cervical node metastasis (50·0%) and one case had multifocal tumour (12·5%). Thus, five of eight patients had locally advanced cancers (pT4 or pN1 lesion), but none had distant metastasis. Prevalence of thyroid cancers in Graves’ disease tended to be higher in patients of 45 years or greater than younger patients (6·7%vs. 1·3%, P = 0·05), and that of the locally advanced cancers was significantly higher in older patients (5·6%vs. 0%, P

The purpose of this study was to confirm the feasibility of imaging of therapy region from the boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) using the measurement of the prompt gamma ray depending on the neutron flux. Through the Monte Carlo simulation, we performed the verification of physical phenomena from the BNCT; (1) the effects of neutron according to the existence of boron uptake region (BUR), (2) the internal and external measurement of prompt gamma ray dose, (3) the energy spectrum by the prompt gamma ray. All simulation results were deducted using the Monte Carlo n-particle extended (MCNPX, Ver.2.6.0, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA) simulation tool. The virtual water phantom, th ermal neutron source, and BURs were simulated using the MCNPX. The energy of the thermal neutron source was defined as below 1 eV with 2,000,000 n/sec flux. The prompt gamma ray was measured with the direction of beam path in the water phantom. The detector material was defined as the lutetium-yttrium oxyorthosilicate (Lu0,6Y1,4Si0,5:Ce; LYSO) scintillator with lead shielding for the collimation. The BUR's height was 5 cm with t he 28 frames (bin: 0.18 cm) for the dose calculation. The neutron flux was decreased dramatically at the shallow region of BUR. In addition, the dose of prompt gamma ray was confirmed at the 9 cm depth from water surface, which is the start point of the BUR. In the energy spectrum, the prompt gamma ray peak of the 4 78 keV was appeared clearly with full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the 41 keV (energy resolution: 8.5%). In conclusion, the therapy region can be monitored by the gamma camera and single photon emission comput ed tomography (SPECT) using the measurement of the prompt gamma ray during the BNCT.

Fiberoptic intubation is an important method of tracheal intubation, especially in patients with difficult airway. As fiberoptic bronchoscopy relies on clear airspace ahead of the fiberscope tip, increasing airway obstruction may cause increasing difficulty. A clear airway that allows the passage of the fiberscope is usually present in awake patients, whereas in anesthetized patients the airspace in the oropharynx is reduced; the soft palate, base of tongue and epiglottis may be applied to the posterior pharyngeal wall due to the reduction in muscle tone. Hence, fiberoptic intubation may be difficult in anesthetized patients, and maneuvers to open the airway may be required. We report a simple and useful two-person intubation technique that uses the fiberoptic bronchoscope and conventional laryngoscope, which facilitated tracheal intubation in patients who had unanticipated difficult intubation.

The Effect of Spinal Cord Stimulation in Patients with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Won Young Kim, M.D., Dong Eon Moon, M.D., Jin Hwan Choi, M.D.,Chong Min Park, M.D., Seong Min Han, M.D., and Shi Hyeon Kim, M.D.

The present study in angulated coronary stenosis used human in vivo hemodynamic parameters and computed simulation, both qualitatively and qualitatively, to evaluate the influence of flow velocity and wall shear stress (WSS) on coronary atherosclerosis, the changes of hemodynamic indices following coronary stenting, and their effect on evolving in-stent restenosis. Initial and follow-up coronary angiographies in patients with angulated coronary stenosis were performed (n=60). The optimal degree of coronary stenting for angulated coronary stenosis had two models, the less than 50% angle changed group (model 1, n=33) and the more than 50% angle changed group (model 2, n=27). This angle change was based on the percentage change of vascular angle between pre- and post-intracoronary stenting. The flow-velocity wave obtained from in vivo intracoronary Doppler study data was used for in vitro numerical simulation. Spatial and temporal patterns of the flow-velocity vector and recirculation area were drawn throughout the selected segment of coronary models. WSS of pre- and post-intracoronary stenting was calculated from three-dimensional computer simulation. As results, follow-up coronary angiogram demonstrated significant difference in the percentage of diameter stenosis between the two groups (group 1: 40.3 +/- 30.2 vs. group 2: 25.5 +/- 22.5%, p < 0.05). Negative shear area on 3D simulation, which is consistent with the re-circulation area of flow vector, was noted on the inner wall of the post-stenotic area before stenting. The negative WSS disappeared after stenting. High spatial and temporal WSS before stenting fell within the range of physiologic WSS after stenting. This finding was more prominent in model 2 (p < 0.01). The present study suggests that hemodynamic forces exerted by pulsatile coronary circulation, termed WSS, might affect the evolution of atherosclerosis within the angulated vascular curvature. Moreover, geometric characteristics, such as the angular difference between pre- and post- intracoronary stenting might define optimal rheologic properties for vascular repair after stenting.