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The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a navigation program for patients with thyroid cancer. The navigation program was developed following an analysis of the unmet needs of patients who underwent surgery for thyroid cancer. Ninety-nine patients in the control group received usual care, and 95 in the navigation group were managed with a navigation program during the perioperative period. The effectiveness of the navigation program was assessed by administering a questionnaire to both groups. Overall satisfaction scores were significantly higher in the navigation than in the control group (p = .025), as were satisfaction scores on the continuity of information (p < .001), the continuity of management (p = .002), the continuity of relationships with healthcare providers (p<.001), and patient empowerment (p < .001). The newly developed navigation program for patients with thyroid cancer was effective in raising satisfaction levels and in actively managing the disease during the perioperative period., (© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objectives: To assess the effect of gender, age, and smoking habits on the in vivo activities of CYP1A2, flavin-containing monooxygenase (FMO), and xanthine oxidase in Korean subjects., Methods: One hundred thirty-three age- and gender-matched healthy Korean volunteers (age range, 21 to 78 years; mean age, 35.3 +/- 16.6 years) with and without smoking habits participated. After drinking a cup of coffee (200 mL) that contained 110 mg caffeine, a 1-hour urine sample (between 4 and 5 hours) was collected and caffeine metabolites were analyzed by HPLC., Results: There were marked individual variations in CYP1A2 [(1,7-dimethylurate + paraxanthine)/caffeine], FMO (theobromine/caffeine), and xanthine oxidase (1-methylurate/1-methylxanthine) activities (14-, 42-, and 9-fold, respectively). However, the mean values of these enzyme activities in the nonsmokers were not different between men and women. In the nonsmoking subjects in their 20s, the mean values of CYP1A2 and FMO activities (13.5 +/- 5.9 and 2.1 +/- 1.9, respectively) were higher than those (7.9 +/-1.8 and 0.95 +/- 0.22) of older decennial age groups. Xanthine oxidase activities were the same for all age groups (subjects in their 20s through their 70s). CYP1A2 activity of the smokers (20.0 +/- 9.6) was higher than that of the nonsmokers (10.8 +/- 5.8; P < .001). Similarly, the FMO activity in smokers (3.4 +/- 2.7) was higher than that of the nonsmokers (1.8 +/- 1.7; P < .001). The xanthine oxidase activity (1.3 +/- 0.5) was not increased in smokers (1.4 +/- 0.5; P = .46)., Conclusions: Results of this caffeine metabolism study conducted with age- and gender-matched healthy Korean volunteers with and without smoking habits provided the baseline and the widely varying interindividual activities of CYP1A2, FMO, and xanthine oxidase in a Korean population. The results also suggested that drugs metabolized by CYP1A2 and FMO may require individualized dose adjustment according to the age and smoking habits of the subjects.

The nar promoter of Escherichia coli, which is maximally induced under anaerobic conditions in the presence of nitrate, was characterized to see whether the nar promoter cloned onto pBR322 can be used as an inducible promoter. To increase the expression level, the nar promoter was expressed in E. coli where active nitrate reductase cannot be expressed from the nar operon on the chromosome. A plasmid with the lacZ gene expressing beta-galactosidase instead of the structural genes of the nar operon was used to simplify an assay of induction of the nar promoter. The following effects were investigated to find optimal conditions: methods of inducing the nar promoter, optimal nitrate and molybdate concentrations maximally inducing the nar promoter, the amount of expressed beta-galactosidase, and induction ratio (specific beta-galactosidase activity after maximal induction/specific beta-galactosidase activity before induction). The following results were obtained from the experiments: induction of the nar promoter was optimal when E. coli was grown in the presence of 1% nitrate at the beginning of culture; expression of beta-galactosidase was not affected by molybdate; the induction ratio was maximal, approximately 300, when the overnight culture was grown in the flask for 2.5 h (OD(600) is congruent to 1.3) before being transferred to the fermentor; the amount of beta-galactosidase per cell and per medium volume was maximal when E. coli was grown under aerobic conditions to OD(600) = 1.7; then the nar promoter was induced under microaerobic conditions made by lowering dissolved oxygen level (DO) to 1-2%. After approximately 6 h of induction, OD(600) became 3.2 and specific beta-galactosidase activity became 36,000 Miller units, equivalent to 35% of total cellular proteins, which was confirmed from sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

When a dissolved oxygen (DO) probe is submerged in an air-saturated cell culture medium the thickness of the liquid film that exists outside the membrane of a DO probe changes with hydrodynamic shear. The response of the DO probe thus varies with the hydrodynamic shear environment near the DO probe in cell culture reactors. The thickness of the liquid film was estimated by using a three-layer model, which describes the flow of DO molecules through the liquid layer, the membrane, and the electrolyte, to the cathode of a DO probe. According to the three-layer model, the current output of the DO probe was a strong function of thickness of the liquid film outside the membrane of the DO probe. A correlation between shear rates on the surface of the probe and the DO saturation reading was obtained by using two concentric cylinders with a rotating inner cylinder. This correlation was then used to characterize the local hydrodynamic shear environment in a cell culture reactor., ((c) 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)