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To assess the clinical efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin G (IVIG) administration combined with low-dose aspirin in women with unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL).We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of patients who had been diagnosed with unexplained RPL and treated with IVIG and low-dose aspirin between January 2000 and March 2020 at Asan Medical Center. We analyzed pregnancy outcomes and their association with the percentage of natural killer (NK) cells.The study analyzed a total of 93 patients and 113 natural and assisted reproductive technology pregnancy cycles. The live birth rate per cycle was 73.5% (83/113), and the term delivery rate was 86.7% (72/83). The live birth rate was high regardless of the type of RPL, method of pregnancy, timing of IVIG treatment, and presence or absence of autoantibodies. In addition, the live birth rate was significantly higher in patients who received IVIG more than once, compared with patients who received IVIG only once (77.8% vs. 42.9%,IVIG combined with low-dose aspirin treatment showed favorable pregnancy outcomes regardless of the patient's NK cell counts (%).

Shape-based separation capabilities of a novel pinched flow fractionation device with a tilted sidewall and vertical focusing channels (t-PFF-v) were demonstrated for (1) spherical and disc-shaped polystyrene (PS) particles; (2) platelets (PLT) and red blood cells (RBC); and (3) singlet, doublet, and triplet clusters of disc-shaped PS particles. The tilted sidewalls and vertical focusing channels of the t-PFF-v device allowed us to perform enhanced separation of non-spherical particles. Using this t-PFF-v device with a W p (pinched segment width) of 20 μm and 15 μm, not only spherical (diameter of 2 μm) and disc-shaped (thickness of ∼2 μm, diameter of ∼5.0 μm) PS particles but also PLTs and RBCs from diluted blood were well separated with good separation resolutions (R disc,sphere = 1.40 and R PLT,RBC = 1.28). Additionally, time-lapse images of flowing particles indicated that both disc-shaped PS particles and RBCs are probably having type I orientation in the pinched segment (i.e., leaning against the tilted sidewalls at the pinched segment). Moreover, we observed streamlines of singlet, doublet, and triplet clustered disc-shaped PS particles, which suggested that these clustered particles could be well separated according to their aspect ratio. The doublet or triplet clustered PS particles are probably lay on the floor and rotated at the pinched segment (type II orientation). We believe that this shape-based separation capability achieved by the t-PFF-v device can be utilized for many application areas, such as medical, biological, material and colloidal sciences.

Objective The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of severe, definite depression symptoms, as measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and the association between high CES-D scores (i.e., ≥25) and sociodemographic and perioperative factors during perioperative period. Methods Among 1690 consecutive breast cancer patients who were admitted for definitive breast surgery during the study period, 1499 patients were included in this study. Patients with a past medical history of psychiatric medication or support, a plan for elective surgery due to locoregional recurrence, or any metastatic disease were excluded. The CES-D score was checked 1 day before definitive surgeries. The sociodemographic data and perioperative data were analyzed. Results The mean CES-D score was 18.5, with 24.1% (362/1499) and 56.7% (850/1499) having high CES-D scores of ≥25 and ≥16, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that the number of family members with any malignancy (≥2 vs. 0), sedative medication (yes vs. no), and postoperative numeric rating scale scores (persistent, severe pain vs. stably mild pain) were significantly associated factors for severe, definite depression symptoms [CES-D score of ≥25: adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.56, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.10–2.21, p = 0.013; adjusted OR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.00–2.71, p = 0.048; and adjusted OR = 2.14, 95% CI = 1.15–3.95, p = 0.016, respectively]. Conclusion Depression may increase the intensity of postoperative acute pain. Self-reporting of persistent postoperative pain intensity is potentially useful in detecting hidden depression symptoms in breast cancer patients during the perioperative period. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In this study, we have demonstrated feasibility of a semi-quantitative approach for the estimation of cellular SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs), which is based on the flow cytometry measurements of their normalized side scattering intensity. In order to improve our understanding on the quantitative aspects of cell-nanoparticle interactions, flow cytometry, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray fluorescence experiments were carefully performed for the HeLa cells exposed to SiO2 NPs with different core diameters, hydrodynamic sizes, and surface charges. Based on the observed relationships among the experimental data, a semi-quantitative cellular SiO2 NPs estimation method from their normalized side scattering and core diameters was proposed, which can be applied for the determination of cellular SiO2 NPs within their size-dependent linear ranges.

There has been a great deal of research regarding the cellular association of nanoparticles (NPs), although there are only a few methods available yet for the quantitative measurements of cellular NPs. In this study, we propose a simple and quantitative method to estimate the cellular uptake of Au NPs into cervical cancer cells (HeLa) based on their side scattering (SSC) intensities measured by flow cytometry (FCM). We have compared SSC intensities of HeLa cells exposed to eight different types of Au NPs (40-100 nm size, with positive or negative surface charge) with the amount of cellular Au NPs measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS). On the basis of these comparisons, we have found linear correlations between the cellular Au NPs and the SSC intensities and used them to estimate the amount of Au NPs associated with HeLa cells. Once the correlations were found for specific cell lines and types of nanoparticles, this approach is useful for simple and quantitative estimation of the cellular Au NPs, without performing labor-intensive and complicated sample preparation procedures required for the ICPMS approach.

The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of severe, definite depression symptoms, as measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and the association between high CES-D scores (i.e., ≥25) and sociodemographic and perioperative factors during perioperative period.Among 1690 consecutive breast cancer patients who were admitted for definitive breast surgery during the study period, 1499 patients were included in this study. Patients with a past medical history of psychiatric medication or support, a plan for elective surgery due to locoregional recurrence, or any metastatic disease were excluded. The CES-D score was checked 1 day before definitive surgeries. The sociodemographic data and perioperative data were analyzed.The mean CES-D score was 18.5, with 24.1% (362/1499) and 56.7% (850/1499) having high CES-D scores of ≥25 and ≥16, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that the number of family members with any malignancy (≥2 vs. 0), sedative medication (yes vs. no), and postoperative numeric rating scale scores (persistent, severe pain vs. stably mild pain) were significantly associated factors for severe, definite depression symptoms [CES-D score of ≥25: adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.56, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.10-2.21, p = 0.013; adjusted OR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.00-2.71, p = 0.048; and adjusted OR = 2.14, 95% CI = 1.15-3.95, p = 0.016, respectively].Depression may increase the intensity of postoperative acute pain. Self-reporting of persistent postoperative pain intensity is potentially useful in detecting hidden depression symptoms in breast cancer patients during the perioperative period.

In this study, we have demonstrated feasibility of a semi-quantitative approach for the estimation of cellular SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs), which is based on the flow cytometry measurements of their normalized side scattering intensity. In order to improve our understanding on the quantitative aspects of cell-nanoparticle interactions, flow cytometry, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray fluorescence experiments were carefully performed for the HeLa cells exposed to SiO2 NPs with different core diameters, hydrodynamic sizes, and surface charges. Based on the observed relationships among the experimental data, a semi-quantitative cellular SiO2 NPs estimation method from their normalized side scattering and core diameters was proposed, which can be applied for the determination of cellular SiO2 NPs within their size-dependent linear ranges.

Purpose: Streptococcus pyogenes is an important cause of invasive diseases in children. We aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of invasive infections due to S. pyogenes in children in Korea. Methods: A retrospective study of children under 18 years of age with invasive infections due to S. pyogenes at Seoul National University Children`s Hospital between March 1992 and December 2012, and Seoul National University Bundang Hospital between March 2003 and December 2012 was conducted. Demographic factors, clinical characteristics, laboratory findings, treatment, mortality and morbidity of all patients were reviewed. Results: A total of 30 among 36 cases identified as invasive disease due to S. pyogenes were available for review. There was a predominance for male subjects (male:female