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The article reports on a study related to evaluation of influence of interval between conization and laparoscopic radical hysterectomy (LRH) on cervical cancer (CC) patients' morbidity. It mentions that retrospective study of CC patients undergoing LRH and pelvic lymphadenectomy was conducted to study the correlation between postoperative sequelae and the intervals between conization and LRH. The results suggest that LRH is feasible for the treatment of CC patients with previous conization.

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A model is developed to investigate the effect of radial grooves and waffle-shape grooves on the performance of a wet clutch. Three-dimensional formulation of the governing equations, boundary conditions, and numerical solution scheme are presented for modeling the thermal aspects of the engagement process in a wet clutch. The thermal model includes full consideration of the viscous heat dissipation in the fluid as well as heat transfer into the separator, the friction material, and the core disk. The convective terms in the energy equations for the oil as well as the heat conduction equations in the bounding solids are properly formulated to determine the temperature fields corresponding to the domains between grooves. Roughness, centrifugal force, deformability, and permeability of the friction material with grooves are taken into account. The effects of groove geometry such as groove depth, grooved area, and number of grooves on the engagement characteristic of a wet clutch are investigated. It is also shown that the thermal effects in a wet clutch influence the engagement time and the torque response and should be included in the analytical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Misalignment affects nearly all the bearing performance parameters including the cavitation, thermal field, leakage flow-rate, and moments. The present paper provides a comprehensive analysis of misaligned journal bearings based on a three-dimensional mass-conservative thermohydrodynamic model that appropriately takes into account the film rupture and reformation. An extensive set of numerical solutions are presented to closely examine the effects of misalignment in journal bearings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many natural anti-DNA antibodies (Abs) have the ability to translocate across the plasma membrane and localize in the nucleus of mammalian cells, frequently leading to cytotoxicity to cells. Herein, we report detailed intracellular trafficking routes and cytotoxicity in HeLa cells for a single chain variable fragment (scFv) Ab, 3D8, which is an anti-DNA Ab capable of hydrolyzing both DNA and RNA. The intracellular penetration of 3D8 scFv occurred by caveolae/lipid raft endocytosis. The time-course chasing experiments revealed that 3D8 scFv escaped directly from the caveosome into the cytosol and remained in the cytosol without further trafficking into endosomes, lysosomes, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi, or nucleus. The cytosolically localized 3D8 scFv maintained its nuclease activity to hydrolyze cellular RNAs, mainly mRNAs, eventually triggering apoptotic cell death. Our results demonstrate that 3D8 scFv has a unique intracellular trafficking route of localizing in the cytosol, thereby exhibiting cytotoxicity due to its nuclease activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laparoscopic surgery for pancreatic disease has gained increasing popularity. A laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy is technically simple and has been adopted as the preferred method in many centers. However, there is limited information on the outcomes of the laparoscopic surgery compared with open surgery. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the clinical outcomes of laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy and to evaluate its efficacy compared with open distal pancreatectomy. From February 1995 to March 2006, 31 patients underwent laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy, and 167 patients underwent open distal pancreatectomy at Seoul National University Hospital and Bundang Seoul National University Hospital. A case–control design was used with 2:1 matching to compare laparoscopic surgery with open surgery. Among 167 patients who underwent open distal pancreatectomy, 62 patients whose age, gender, and pathology were similar to those of patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery were selected for this study. The operation time, intraoperative transfusion requirements, duration of postoperative hospitalization, complications, mortality, recurrence, and hospital charges were analyzed. There were no significant differences in operation time, rate of intraoperative transfusions, complications, recurrence, or mortality between the two groups. Laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy was associated with a statistically significant shorter hospital stay (11.5 days vs 13.5 days; p = 0.049), but with more expensive hospital charges than open distal pancreatectomy ( p < 0.01). Laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy is a clinically safe and effective procedure for benign and borderline pancreatic tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Choledochal cyst is a rare benign disease of the biliary tract. However, once diagnosed, it must be excised with the gallbladder because of the risk for cancer developing in the biliary tree, including the gallbladder. This report introduces a new surgical technique for totally laparoscopic excision of choledochal cyst and hepaticojejunostomy using a four-hole method.Methods: Between October 2003 and May 2005, the authors performed totally laparoscopic choledochal cyst excision for 12 patients. All the patients except one were women, and the mean age was 37.3 years (range, 17-62 years). According to the Todani classification, there were five type Ia cases, four type Ic cases, and three type IV cases. Choledochal cyst excision and Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy were performed laparoscopically using the four-port technique.Results: The mean operation time was 228 min (range, 150-330 min). No operative or postoperative transfusion was required. An oral diet was started on postoperative day 3. The average length of hospital stay was 5.8 days. There was no major complication associated with anastomosis leakage or obstruction. No patient had an adverse response, as determined by clinical or laboratory evaluation during a 2- to 19-month follow-up period.Conclusions: Considering that choledochal cyst is common among young women, who are especially interested in cosmetic results in addition to complete resolution of medical problems, the laparoscopic management of choledochal cyst may be an attractive treatment option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Radiation induces many cellular events leading to radiodermatitis. Objectives The aim of this study was to establish a radiodermatitis model using experimental animals, and to examine the expression profile of radiation-induced genes. Methods Hairless mice were irradiated on the dorsal skin; then total RNAs were isolated and microarray hybridizations were performed. Results Irradiation with a total of 40 Gy (10 Gy day−1 for four consecutive days) provokes radiodermatitis in the hairless mouse. After microarray analysis, 130 genes that showed upregulation by radiation were selected and organized into four different clusters, depending on the time-kinetic pattern. Classification of these genes into several functional categories revealed that various biological processes were globally affected by radiation. These include transcription regulation, signal transduction, cell communication, cell death regulation and metabolism. Conclusions These results demonstrate the complexity of the transcriptional profile of the radiation response, providing important clues on which to base further investigations of the molecular events underlying radiodermatitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of endogenous gastrin on pancreatic regeneration after a partial pancreatectomy in the rat. Sixty rats were divided into 6 groups. Groups I and II received sham operation (splenectomy only), and groups III, IV, V, and VI received both 66% partial pancreatectomy (PPx) and splenectomy. Endogenous hypergastrinemia was induced in groups II, IV, and VI by gavage of Lansoprozole (LSP) for three weeks. In groups V and VI, gastrin receptor blocker, L365,260, was given continuously using an osmotic minipump. Following three weeks of treatment, PPx alone increased the pancreatic weight and protein content, but not RNA or DNA content (Group III). In the PPx groups, the pancreatic weight, and contents of protein, RNA, and DNA were significantly increased in the LSP treated rats (Group IV). This effect was abolished by L365,260 (Group VI). This results suggest that endogenous gastrin specifically stimulates regeneration of the remnant pancreas after partial pancreatectomy in rat. Induction of endogenous hypergastrinemia may be useful in patients following pancreatic resection for the prevention and treatment of pancreatic insufficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A nonlinear inverse problem utilizing the Conjugate Gradient Method (CGM) of minimization is used successfully to estimate the temporally and circumferentially varying thermal contact conductance of a plate finned-tube heat exchanger by reading the simulated transient temperature measurement data from the thermocouples located on the plate. The thermal properties of the fin and tube are assumed to be functions of temperature, and this makes the problem nonlinear. It is assumed that no prior information is available on the functional form of the unknown thermal contact conductance in the present study, thus, it is classified as the function estimation in the inverse calculation. The accuracy of the inverse analysis is examined by using the simulated temperature measurements. Finally the inverse solutions with and without the consideration of temperature-dependent thermal properties are compared. Results show that when the nonlinear inverse calculations are performed an excellent estimation on the thermal contact conductance can be obtained with any arbitrary initial guesses within a couple of minute's CPU time on a HP-730 workstation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Ethylbenzene is an important constituent of widely used solvent mixtures in industry. The objective of the present study was to provide information about biological monitoring of occupational exposure to ethylbenzene, and to review the biological limit values corresponding to the threshold limit value of ethylbenzene. Methods: A total of 20 male workers who had been exposed to a mixture of ethylbenzene and xylene, through painting and solvent mixing with commercial xylene in a metal industry, were recruited into this study. Environmental and biological monitoring were performed during an entire week. The urinary metabolites monitored were mandelic acid for ethylbenzene and methylhippuric acid for xylene. Correlations were analyzed between urinary metabolites and environmental exposure for ethylbenzene and xylene. The interaction effects of a binary exposure to ethylbenzene and xylene were also investigated using a physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model. Results: The average environmental concentration of organic solvents was 12.77 ppm for xylene, and 3.42 ppm for ethylbenzene. A significant correlation (R2=0.503) was found between environmental xylene and urinary methylhippuric acid. Urinary level of methylhippuric acid corresponding to 100 ppm of xylene was 1.96 g/g creatinine in the worker study, whereas it was calculated as 1.55 g/g creatinine by the PBPK model. Urinary level of mandelic acid corresponding to 100 ppm of ethylbenzene was found to be 0.7 g/g creatinine. PBPK results showed that the metabolism of ethylbenzene was highly depressed by co-exposure to high concentrations of xylene leading to a non-linear behavior. Conclusions: At low exposures, both methylhippuric acid and mandelic acid can be used as indicators of commercial xylene exposures. However at higher concentrations mandelic acid cannot be recommended as a biological indicator due to the saturation of mandelic acid produced by the co-exposure to xylene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: In order to improve the reliability of biological monitoring and the development of biological limit values, ethnic differences for several organic solvents were studied in Orientals and Caucasians. Methods: Six Caucasian and six Oriental volunteers were exposed to each organic solvent in an exposure chamber for 6 h. Exposure concentration to each organic solvent studied was 50 ppm for perchloroethylene, 50 ppm for styrene and 100 ppm for m-xylene, respectively. Biological monitoring was carried out for the parent organic solvents in exhaled air and in blood, and for the metabolites in urine during and after exposure. Results: Caucasians showed higher concentrations of perchloroethylene in exhaled air than Orientals after exposure. But Caucasians showed lower concentrations of styrene in the exhaled air than Orientals during the second half of exposure and after it. Orientals showed lower concentrations of urinary metabolites than Caucasians except for mandelic acid. There were no statistically significant differences in the concentrations of solvent in blood for all three solvents. Conclusions: Implications of these differences in biological levels, under identical exposure conditions, are discussed in the context of biological monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the case of a five-year-old male Maltese dog which was referred to the Haemaru Referral Animal Hospital for evaluation of generalized peripheral lymphnode enlargement. Depression, anorexia, vomiting and respiratory distress were among the clinical signs. The dog was diagnoses with disseminated histiocytic sarcoma (DHS) or malignant histiocytosis with peripheral lymph node involvement and was treated with 1-(2-chloroethyl)-3-cyclohexyl-1-nitrosourea (CCNU).

The article presents a case study of a 62-year old woman, who suffers from watery diarrhea and abdominal pain for 4 weeks. It mentions that endoscopic examinations revealed marked submucosal edema and hemorrhagic erosions in the deep part of the duodenum and ileum. Moreover, it notes that the patient was treated with anti-tumor necrosis factor antibody.

The article presents a case study of a patient who developed gastrointestinal bleeding due to acquired diverticulum at the ileocecal valve. Topics discussed include massive hematochezia presented by the patient, the results of colonoscopy and histologic examination, and therapeutic angiography to control the bleeding.

Background: Recent development of extracorporeal magnetic stimulation (ECMS) which uses current-changing magnetic fields allows the induction of electrical stimulation in the desired deep tissue. Recent study showed the sacral nerve stimulation reduces corticoanal excitability that may play a functional role in anal continence mechanisms. Preliminary study shows that ECMS of sacral nerve can modify pelvic floor function and expel rectal balloon in patients with pelvic floor dyssynergia (PFD). Aims: To evaluate the effect of ECMS compared with biofeedback therapy (BF) in patients with PFD. Methods and Materials: Thirty-eight patients who fulfilled Rome II criteria for PFD by colon transit time and anorectal function tests, were randomly treated with 8 sessions of ECMS (2/weeks; n = 19) at prone position or BF (2/weeks; n = 19) at sitting position. Stimulation parameters were set at 50–80% of maximum intensity, 10 and 50 Hz frequency, 3 s burst length with 3 and 6 s off using arm-typed stimulator (BioCom-1000, Mcube Co., Korea). Symptom scores for constipation with/without anorectal function test were repeatedly measured after each treatment. Response was defined as 50% or more decreased symptom score after treatment (partial response: 30–50%, poor: <30%). Results: Fifteen patients (age 49.1 ± 13.4 years, mean ± SD; 4 men) completed 8 session of BF and 14 patients (54.5 ± 17.6 years, 3 men) completed 8 session of ECMS. Four patients of BF group discontinued treatment due to unsatisfactory therapeutic effect ( n = 1) and withdrew consent ( n = 3) and 5 patients of ECMS group discontinued treatment because of same reasons ( n = 1, 4). Total symptom scores were significantly decreased after treatment of 8 session in both treatment groups (13.4 ± 6.6 vs. 4.3 ± 4.0 for BF, p = 0.009; 14.9 ± 5.6 vs. 3.4 ± 4.0 for ECMS, p < 0.001). Bowel movements per week were also significantly increased after treatment in both groups (median 2 vs. 7 for BF, p = 0.035; median 2 vs. 7 for ECMS, p = 0.008). Thirteen out of 15 patients showed response in BF group and 12 out of 14 showed good response in ECMS group. No adverse effects in both groups. Conclusions: ECMS is as effective as BF for the treatment of PFD. Long-term effect of ECMS for the patients with pelvic floor dyssynergia need to be evaluated in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]