PURPOSE Although various strategies have been reported, there are no defined criteria for cosmetic evaluation methods after breast-conserving surgery (BCS). Since Asians tend to have smaller breasts, indistinct inframammary folds, and conspicuous scars, differences in the cosmetic results are expected. So we examined two subjective methods and one objective method to determine the differences, ...

BACKGROUND Atopic eczema is a common childhood disease associated with high IgE and eosinophilia. We characterized the clinical features associated with hyper-IgE (defined as IgE > 2000 IU/L) in eczema. METHODS Nottingham Eczema Severity Score (NESS), family and personal history of atopy, skin prick test (SPT) for common food and aeroallergens, highest serum IgE ever and eosinophil counts wer...

PURPOSE This study investigated the connection among HER-2 gene amplification, HER-2 protein expression, and markers of tumor angiogenesis and oxygenation in patients with operable, invasive breast tumors. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN From 1988 to 1995, 425 patients with metastatic breast cancer were enrolled in a study of high-dose chemotherapy with autologous transplant. Primary tumor blocks were ob...

BACKGROUND The Neck Disability Index (NDI) is the most commonly used outcome measure for neck pain. This study aimed to determine the psychometric properties of a German version of the NDI. Cross-cultural translation and psychometric testing of the NDI were performed. METHODS The 10-item NDI was translated into German and administered to 558 patients with chronic unspecific neck pain (Mean ag...

Purpose:MUC4 shows aberrant expression in early pancreatic lesions and ahigh specificity for pancreatic cancer. It thushas ahighpotential tobe a sensitive and specific biomarker.Unfortunately, its low serum level limits its diagnostic/prognostic potential.We here report that amultifaceted acute phase protein lipocalin 2, regulated by MUC4, could be a potential diagnostic/prognostic marker for p...

BACKGROUND The preservation of microRNAs in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue makes them particularly useful for biomarker studies. The utility of small RNA sequencing for microRNA expression profiling of FFPE samples has yet to be determined. METHODS Total RNA was extracted from de-paraffinized and proteinase K-treated FFPE specimens (15-20 years old) of 8 human lung adenoca...

PURPOSE To determine the feasibility and accuracy of spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) based grading of anterior chamber cell, using aqueous sampling as a standard, in a rabbit model of anterior uveitis. METHODS Adult Dutch-belted rabbits were preimmunized with M. tuberculosis (Tb) H37RA antigen, 1 week prior to induction of anterior uveitis with an intracameral injection ...

What is non-parametric correlation? A non-parametric (or ordinal) correlation coefficient for two variables quantifies the extent to which there is, in the study sample, a consistent relationship between the values for the two variables. The correlation coefficient indexes the strength of the relationship found, from zero (no discernible relationship) to a maximum value of 1 (denoting a perfect...

Bronchial colonization by potentially pathogenic microorganisms (PPMs) is often demonstrated in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but culture-based techniques identify only a portion of the bacteria in mucosal surfaces. The aim of the study was to determine changes in the bronchial microbiome of COPD associated with the severity of the disease. The bronchial microbiome of COPD patie...

Objective Although 18-fluorine fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET) is thought to be useful for predicting the histological grade of thymic epithelial tumors (TETs), it remains controversial. To date, just a few of many previous studies have included only resected cases. Therefore, we investigated 18F-FDG PET findings only in patients with resected TETs. Patients and ...