Adult stem cells from skeletal muscle cells were induced to differentiate into cardiocytes to see if stem cells from another different but histologically-comparable tissues can differentiate to the target cells. Skeletal muscles-derived stem cells (MDSCs) were isolated from adult skeleton muscle tissues by differential adhesion, and immunocytochemically identified by using Sca-1. In order to induce the proliferation but not differentiation of MDSCs, the cells were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium/F12 (DMEM/F12) supplemented with 1:50 B27, 20 ng/mL basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), 20 ng/mL epidermal growth factor (EGF) in a suspension for 6 days. Then these stem cells were treated with 5 mumol/L 5-azacytidine for 24 h in an adherence culture. The characteristics of induced cells were examined by immunocytochemistry, quantitative real time RT-PCR and morphological observation of cell phenotype. Our results showed that the appearance of some cells gradually changed from spindle-shape into polygonal or short-column-shape. Some of these post-treated cells could contract spontaneously and rhythmically. The expression of GATA-4 and cTnT was increased 1 and 2 week(s) after the treatment. And about 16.6% of post-treated cells were cTnT-positive. Therefore, we are led to conclude that skeletal muscle-derived stem cells could differentiate into cardiocyte-like cells, which exhibited some characteristics of cardiocytes.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the general deterrence effect of the Korean government's fraud and abuse enforcement program on medical clinics in the country. The effects were evaluated by analyzing the association between the fear of penalty from a potential onsite investigation and the costliness index (CI). METHOD: Using a stratified proportional systematic sampling method, 800 out of the 15,443 clinics in Korea that had not had an onsite investigation before June 2007 were selected. Perceived deterrence was measured via face-to-face interviews with the chief doctor of each clinic; these were conducted in July and August 2007. CI was calculated by dividing observed costs by expected costs based on National Health Insurance Claims from January to October 2007. RESULTS: Clinics with a high fear of penalty had a significantly lower CI than did other clinics after adjusting for factors related to the provider's perception of onsite investigation, the provider's service experiences, and general characteristics such as provider's sex and age. CONCLUSION: Designing effective fraud and abuse control programs can improve the efficiency of providing services to patients.

Mesoporous silica nanofibers and Ag-doped composite nanoribbons were synthesized by a facile combination of an electrospinning technique and the sol-gel method. Tetraethyl orthosilicate, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), triblock poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(propylene oxide)-b-poly(ethylene oxide), copolymer Pluronic P123, and silver nitrate (AgNO(3)) were the components of sol for the production of Ag-doped hybrid silica ribbons. Heat removal of structure-directing agent P123 in the hybrid fibers at high temperatures resulted in a mesoporous morphology, and the degradation of PVP caused AgNO(3) to convert into silver in the form of nanoparticles. The size and content of the particles in the hybrid ribbons could be controlled by the concentration of AgNO(3) and thermal treatment conditions. Scanning electron microscopy, N(2) adsorption-desorption isotherm, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and UV-Vis spectroscopy were used to characterize the composite ribbons. The catalytic activity of the ribbons was evaluated by reduction of methylene blue dye and found to be better than in previous studies.

OBJECTIVE:: The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of the risk factors for anorexia nervosa (AN) in Korean women. METHOD:: Two sets of case-control comparisons were conducted, in which 52 women with lifetime AN from Seoul, S. Korea, were compared with 108 Korean healthy controls and also with 42 women with lifetime AN from the UK in terms of their childhood risk factors. A questionnaire designed to conduct a retrospective assessment of the childhood risk factors was administered to all participants. RESULTS:: The Korean AN women were more likely to report premorbid anxiety, perfectionism, and emotional undereating and were less likely to report having supportive figures in their childhood than the Korean healthy controls. There were no overall differences in the childhood risk factors between the Korean and British women with AN. DISCUSSION:: Premorbid anxiety, perfectionism, less social support, and emotional undereating merit attention as risk factors in Korean AN. The current results are informative, but an epidemiologically robust prospective case-control study would be needed to validate these findings.(c) 2009 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 2009.

We present high resolution photoelectron energy spectra of noble gas atoms from high intensity above-threshold ionization (ATI) at midinfrared wavelengths. An unexpected structure at the very low-energy portion of the spectra, in striking contrast to the prediction of the simple-man theory, has been revealed. A semiclassical model calculation is able to reproduce the experimental feature and suggests the prominent role of the Coulomb interaction of the outgoing electron with the parent ion in producing the peculiar structure in long wavelength ATI spectra.

Deactivation pathways of electronically excited states have been investigated in three protonated aromatic amino acids: tryptophan (Trp), tyrosine (Tyr) and phenylalanine (Phe). The protonated amino acids were generated by electrospray and excited with a 266 nm femtosecond laser, the subsequent decay of the excited states being monitored through fragmentation of the ions induced and/or enhanced by another femtosecond pulse at 800 nm. The excited state of TrpH+ decays in 380 fs and gives rise to two channels: hydrogen atom dissociation or internal conversion (IC). In TyrH, the decay is slowed down to 22.3 ps and the fragmentation efficiency of PheH+ is so low that the decay cannot be measured with the available laser. The variation of the excited state lifetime between TrpH+ and TyrH+ can be ascribed to energy differences between the dissociative pi sigma* state and the initially excited pi pi* state.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this project was to compare neuropsychologic performance and quality of life in a population-based sample of deployed Gulf War (GW) veterans with and without multisymptom complaints. BACKGROUND/METHODS: The study participants were obtained from the 30,000 member population-based National Health Survey of GW-era veterans conducted in 1995. Cases (N=25) were deployed to the year 1990 and 1991 GW and met Center for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for multisymptom GW illness (GWI). Controls (N=16) were deployed to the 1990 and 1991 GW but did not meet Center for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for GWI. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in composite scores on the traditional and computerized neuropsychologic battery (automated neuropsychologic assessment metrics) between GW cases and controls using bivariate techniques. Multiple linear regression analyses controlling for demographic and clinical variables revealed composite automated neuropsychologic assessment metrics scores were associated with age (b=-7.8; P=0.084), and education (b=22.9; P=0.0012), but not GW case or control status (b=-63.9; P=0.22). Compared with controls, GW cases had significantly more impairment on the Personality Assessment Inventory and the short form-36. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with GW controls, GW cases meeting criteria for GWI had preserved cognition function but had significant psychiatric symptoms and lower quality of life.

Bacterial pili are cell-surface organelles that are critically involved in adhesion to host cells, leading to the colonization of host tissues and the establishment of infections. Whereas the pili of Gram-negative bacteria have been extensively studied, those of Gram-positive bacteria came to light only recently after the discovery and characterization of Corynebacterium diphtheriae pili. These newly discovered pili are formed by the covalent polymerization of pilin subunits catalyzed by sortase enzymes, making them fundamentally different from the noncovalent pilin assemblies of Gram-negative bacteria. Here, the expression, crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of SpaA, which forms the shaft of one of the three types of pili expressed by C. diphtheriae, are reported. SpaA(53-486) crystals diffracted to 1.6 A resolution and belonged to space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 34.9, b = 64.1, c = 198.7 A, alpha = beta = gamma = 90 degrees .

BACKGROUND: Early gastric cancer (EGC) with undifferentiated histology has not been generally accepted as an indication for endoscopic treatment. This study was designed to evaluate the outcomes and clinicopathological factors associated with the complete resection of undifferentiated EGC using endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). METHODS: A retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data was performed on consecutive patients who underwent ESD. Among the 456 EGCs treated using ESD at the Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea, between April 2005 and June 2008, 60 lesions (13.2%) were diagnosed as undifferentiated gastric cancer (poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma or signet ring cell carcinoma). RESULTS: En bloc resection was performed in all lesions without significant complications. The size discrepancy between the pretreatment endoscopy and the resected specimen was significantly higher in undifferentiated EGCs than differentiated EGCs (p = 0.002). The complete resection rate was significantly lower for undifferentiated EGC (55%) cases than differentiated EGC cases (84.1%; p < 0.001). Independent risk factors for incomplete resection of undifferentiated EGC included tumor size >20 mm, submucosal invasion, and presence of ulceration. During a mean observation time of 16 months, no recurrence developed in any of the patients with undifferentiated EGCs thought to be completely resected by ESD. CONCLUSIONS: ESD might be considered an alternative treatment modality in carefully selected cases of undifferentiated EGC.