• Molecules and Cells
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.429-441
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• 2009

We have determined the complete mitochondrial genome of the yellow-spotted long horned beetle, Psacothea hilaris (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), an endangered insect species in Korea. The 15,856-bp long P. hilaris mitogenome harbors gene content typical of the animal mitogenome and a gene arrangement identical to the most common type found in insect mitogenomes. As with all other sequenced coleopteran species, the 5-bp long TAGTA motif was also detected in the intergenic space sequence located between $tRNA^{Ser}$(UCN) and ND1 of P. hilaris. The 1,190-bp long non-coding A+T-rich region harbors an unusual series of seven identical repeat sequences of 57-bp in length and several stretches of sequences with the potential to form stem-and-loop structures. Furthermore, it contains one $tRNA^{Arg}$-like sequence and one $tRNA^{Lys}$-like sequence. Phylogenetic analysis among available coleopteran mitogenomes using the concatenated amino acid sequences of PCGs appear to support the sister group relationship of the suborder Polyphaga to all remaining suborders, including Adephaga, Myxophaga, and Archostemata. Among the two available infraorders in Polyphaga, a monophyletic Cucujiformia was confirmed, with the placement of Cleroidea as the basal lineage for Cucujiformia. On the other hand, the infraorder Elateriformia was not identified as monophyletic, thereby indicating that Scirtoidea and Buprestoidea are the basal lineages for Cucujiformia and the remaining Elateriformia.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.183-187
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• 2006

Objective : Hemifacial spasm has characteristic and specific electrophysiological finding, lateral spread response[LSR]. We study the correlation between change of lateral spread response during microvascular decompression[MVD] and clinical outcome after MVD. Methods : Sixty two patients with hemifacial spasm who were treated with microvascular decompression from March 2000 to February 2003 were included in this study. The monitoring of intraoperative facial electromyography[EMG] and brain stem auditory evoked potential were performed. Results : In 28 [44.7%] patients, there was persistence of lateral spread response after vascular decompression in root exit zone of facial nerve. Among these 28 patients, 9 had mild hemifacial spasm at discharge. Three out of 34 patients who had intraoperative disappearance of lateral spread response after MVD had mild hemifacial spasm. But Both groups, disappearance of LSR [Group I], and persistence [Group II] had only 2 patients with mild hemifacial spasm, and 5 patients at 3 months, respectively. Conclusion : Although intraoperative EMG monitoring is very useful in assessing the efficacy of MVD, the clinical outcome of MVD in patient with hemifacial spasm does not always correlate with EMG finding. The prognostic value of intraoperative LSR monitoring in the long-term results is questionable.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.sup1
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• pp.20-24
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• 2001

Object : We intended to investigate the relationship between the degree of injury on MRI and the outcome of the patients with diffuse axonal inury. Method : From january, 1995 to march, 1999, 22 patients were supposed to have diffuse axonal injuries by means of their neurologic signs and MRI. We investigated their prognosis according to CT, MRI and initial neurologic findings. Result : 1) The lesions were mainly located at white matter of cerebrum, corpus callosum, brainstem, and basal ganglia. 2) The lesions of white matter were most commonly in the frontal lobe and temporal lobe. 3) The majority of corpus callosal lesions were located in the posterior body and splenium, but anterior corpus callosal lesions combined with posterior lesions were not found. 4) Brainstem lesions, all non-hemorrhagic, were mostly located in the dorsolateral aspect, not be found on CT. 5) The brainstem lesions were found in 10 cases among total 22 cases, and corpus callosal lesions were accompanied with 8 cases of brainstem lesions. 6) The patients with brainstem lesions had worse prognosis. Conclusion : It is important and reasonable to take brain MRI to identify the brainstem lesions in any cases of suspicious diffuse axonal injury, and we should remind that the diffuse axonal injury with stem lesion has worse prognosis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.5303-5307
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• 2016

Objective: Brain tumors cause great mortality and morbidity worldwide, and success rates with surgical treatment remain very low. Several recent studies have focused on introduction of novel effective medical therapeutic approaches. Genistein is a member of the isoflavonoid family which has proved to exert anticancer effects. Here we assessed the effects of genistein on the expression of MMP-2 and VEGF in low and high grade gliomas in vitro. Materials and Methods: High and low grade glioma tumor tissue samples were obtained from a total of 16 patients, washed with PBS, cut into small pieces, digested with collagenase type I and cultured in DMEM containing 10% FBS. When cells reached passage 3, they were exposed to genistein and MMP-2 and VEGF gene transcripts were determined by quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR). Results: Expression of MMP-2 demonstrated 580-fold reduction in expression in low grade glioma cells post treatment with genistein compared to untreated cells (P value= 0.05). In cells derived from high grade lesions, expression of MMP-2 was 2-fold lower than in controls (P value> 0.05). Genistein caused a 4.7-fold reduction in VEGF transcript in high grade glioma cells (P value> 0.05) but no effects were evident in low grade glioma cells. Conclusion. Based on the data of the present study, low grade glioma cells appear much more sensitive to genistein and this isoflavone might offer an appropriate therapeutic intervention in these patients. Further investigation of this possibility is clearly warranted.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.64 no.6
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• pp.975-982
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• 2021

Objective : The occurrence of posterior fossa teratomas in adulthood is extremely rare. In this study, we aimed to report our experience with two cases of posterior fossa mature teratoma in adults who underwent surgical resection. We also performed a systematic review of published papers available to date. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed the electronic medical records of patients who had onset of posterior fossa teratomas in adulthood at our institute between 1995 and 2020. We evaluated the clinical, radiographic, and pathological features of mature teratomas at the posterior fossa in adulthood. Furthermore, we searched the PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science database and reviewed published articles. Results : We found 507 articles on database review; of them, 102 were duplicates and 389 were excluded based on the inclusion criteria. Finally, 16 cases of posterior fossa from the web search and related articles. Subsequently, we added two cases that underwent surgery at our institute. We analyzed a total of 18 cases of mature teratomas. Headache was the most common (55.6%) symptom. The teratomas showed heterogeneous signals on magnetic resonance imaging. Thirteen patients (72.2%) had lesion at midline, five patients (27.8%) had calcification. Surgical resection was performed in all patients. No studies reported recurrence after resection. Conclusion : The occurrence of posterior fossa teratomas in adulthood is difficult to diagnose at the initial stage. Radiographic diagnosis alone can lead to misdiagnosis. Pathological confirmation is essential. Surgical resection is a curative option for posterior fossa teratomas in adulthood.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.157-163
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• 2018

Plans converted using dose-volume-histogram-based plan conversion (DPC) were evaluated by comparing them to the original plans. Changes in the dose volumetric (DV) parameters of five volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans for head and neck (HN) cancer and five VMAT plans for prostate cancer were analyzed. For the HN plans, the homogeneity indices (HIs) of the three planning target volumes (PTV) increased by 0.03, 0.02, and 0.03, respectively, after DPC. The maximum doses to the PTVs increased by 1.20, 1.87, and 0.92 Gy, respectively, after DPC. The maximum doses to the optic chiasm, optic nerves, spinal cord, brain stem, lenses, and parotid glands increased after DPC by approximately 4.39, 3.62, 7.55, 7.96, 1.77, and 6.40 Gy, respectively. For the prostate plans after DPC, the HIs for the primary and boost PTVs increased by 0.05 and 0.03, respectively, and the maximum doses to each PTV increased by 1.84 and 0.19 Gy, respectively. After DPC, the mean doses to the rectum and femoral heads increased by approximately 6.19 and 2.79 Gy, respectively, and those to the bladder decreased by 0.20 Gy when summing the primary and boost plans. Because clinically unacceptable changes were sometimes observed after DPC, plans converted by DPC should be carefully reviewed before actual patient treatment.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.581-586
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• 2021

The high fatality of COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease 2019) is closely related to acute pneumonia and severe blood clot formation in brain, heart, kidney and lung. The use of low-molecular weight heparins has been shown to reduce the risk of thrombosis and reduce fatality rates among COVID-19 patients. In this study, we investigated the antithrombotic activity of different parts of C. sativa extracts to determine its potential in preventing blood clots in patients with thromboprophylaxis. The extracts of leaf, stem, root, immature flower and seed of C. sativa showed strong inhibitory activities on blood clot formation. In particular, the flower extract showed the strongest inhibitions against blood coagulation factors and thrombin. Strong hemolysis activities were observed in flower extract and seed extract, suggested that removal of the hemolysis active compounds in th extracts is necessary. This is a first report of anti-thrombosis activities of different parts of C. sativa extracts, and our results suggest that C. sativa extract has potential has a valuable bioresource for high-value products.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.239-246
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• 2023

In this study, we assessed the effect of reduction of tumor volume in the head and neck cancer by using RANDO phantom in Static Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (S-IMRT) and Volumetric-Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) planning. RANDO phantom's body and protruding volumes were delineated by using Contour menu of Eclipse™ (Varian Medical System, Inc., Version 15.6, USA) treatment planning system. Inner margins of 2 mm to 10 mm from protruding volumes of the reference were applied to generate the parameters of reduced volume. In addition, target volume and Organ at Risk (OAR) volumes were delineated. S-IMRT plan and VMAT plan were designed in reference. These plans were assigned in the reduced volumes and dose was calculated in reduced volumes using preset Monitor unit (MU). Dose Volume Histogram (DVH) was generated to evaluate treatment planning. Conformity Index (CI) and R² in reference S-IMRT were 0.983 and 0.015, respectively. There was no significant relationship between CI and the reduced volume. Homogeneity Index (HI) and R² were 0.092 and 0.960, respectively. The HI increased when volume reduced. In reference VMAT, CI and R² were 0.992 and 0.259, respectively. There was no relationship between the volume reduction and CI. On the other hand, HI and R² were 0.078 and 0.895, respectively. The value of HI increased when the volume reduced. There was significant difference (p<0.05) between parameters (D_mean and D_max) of normal organs of S-IMRT and VMAT except brain stem. Volume reduction affected the CI, HI and OAR dose. In the future, additional studies are necessary to incorporate the reduction of the volume in the clinical setting.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.67 no.2
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• pp.249-256
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• 2024

The Leksell frame-based transcerebellar approach was proposed with the arc support frame attached upside down to the Z coordinate. This study presented practical tips and considerations for obtaining adequate tissue samples for deep-seated cerebellar lesions or lower brainstem lesions specifically those accessible via the cerebellar peduncle. For practical insights, the Leksell coordinate frame G was fixed to prevent the anterior screw implantation within the temporalis muscle, to avoid interference with the magnetic resonance (MR)-adapter, and taking into account the magnetic field of MR in close proximity to the tentorium. After mounting of indicator box, the MR imaging evaluation should cover both the indicator box and the infratentorial region that deviated from it. The coordinates [X, Y, Za, Arc⁰, Ringa⁰] obtained from Leksell SurgiPlan^® software (Elekta, Stockholm, Sweden) with arc 0⁰ located on the patient's right side were converted to [X, Y, Zb=360-Za, Arc⁰, Ringb⁰=Ringa⁰-180⁰]. The operation was performed in the prone position under general anesthesia in four patients with deep cerebellar (n=3) and brainstem (n=1) tumors. The biopsy results showed two cases of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, one metastatic braintumor and one glioblastoma. One patient required frame repositioning as a complication. Drawing upon the methodology outlined in existing literature, we anticipate that imparting supplementary expertise could render the stereotactic biopsy of infratentorial tumors more consistent and manageable for the practitioner, thereby facilitating adequate tissue samples and minimizing patient complications.

• Anatomy and Cell Biology
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.219-227
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• 2023

Adult neurogenesis has been reported in the hypothalamus, subventricular zone and subgranular zone in the hippocamp. Recent studies indicated that new cells in the hypothalamus are affected by diet. We previously showed beneficial effects of safflower seed oil (SSO), a rich source of linoleic acid (LA; 74%), on proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) in vitro. In this study, the effect of SSO on hypothalamic neurogenesis was investigated in vivo, in comparison to synthetic LA. Adult mice were treated with SSO (400 mg/kg) and pure synthetic LA (300 mg/kg), at similar concentrations of LA, for 8 weeks and then hypothalamic NSCs were cultured and subsequently used for Neurosphere-forming assay. In addition, serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BNDF) were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Administration of SSO for 8 weeks in adult mice promoted the proliferation of NSCs isolated from SSO-treated mice. Immunofluorescence staining of the hypothalamus showed that the frequency of astrocytes (glial fibrillary acidic protein⁺ cells) are not affected by LA or SSO. However, the frequency of immature (doublecortin⁺ cells) and mature (neuronal nuclei⁺ cells) neurons significantly increased in LA- and SSO-treated mice, compared to vehicle. Furthermore, both LA and SSO caused a significant increase in the serum levels of BDNF. Importantly, SSO acted more potently than LA in all experiments. The presence of other fatty acids in SSO, such as oleic acid and palmitic acid, suggests that they could be responsible for SSO positive effect on hypothalamic proliferation and neurogenesis, compared to synthetic LA at similar concentrations.