OBJECTIVE To evaluate the quality of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for otorhinolaryngology in China. MATERIALS AND METHODS A systematic search of relevant literature databases (CBM, WANFANG, VIP, CNKI, China Guideline Clearinghouse) published between 1978 and March 2012 was undertaken to identify and select CPGs related to otorhinolaryngology. Four independent reviewers assessed the eli...

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is an aggressive cancer. Vitamin D, a pro-hormone, is getting popular due to its hormone-like functions after converted to its active form, 1α,25(OH)2D3. Here, we show that dietary supplementation with 6 IU/g of vitamin D greatly suppressed ICC initiation and progression without apparent toxicity in a chemically induced rat model. Microarray analysis of rat...

BACKGROUND Airway occlusion pressure 0.1 s after the start of inspiratory flow (P0.1) is used as an index of respiratory motor output; however, the reliability of P0.1 in this capacity has not been sufficiently investigated. Therefore, the aim of our study was to examine the reliability of P0.1. METHODS Eleven healthy subjects (7 men and 4 women) participated in our study. Subjects were place...

OBJECTIVES This study evaluated and validated the reliability of smartphones as measuring equipment for the dorsi-plantar flexion of ankle joint position sense (JPS) ability. METHODS The subjects were 20 healthy young students in their 20s. We confirmed the concurrent validity by comparison with existing electrogoniometer data. The reliability of the smartphone was confirmed using the test-re...

Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) are considered to be pacemaker cells in gastrointestinal tracts. ICC generate electrical rhythmicity (dihydropyridine-insensitive) as slow waves and drive spontaneous contraction of smooth muscles. Although cytosolic Ca(2+) has been assumed to play a key role in pacemaking, Ca(2+) movements in ICC have not yet been examined in detail. In the present study, usin...

INTRODUCTION Intercultural communication (ICC) between doctors and patients is often associated with misunderstandings and dissatisfaction. To develop ICC-specific medical education, it is important to find out which ICC skills medical specialists currently apply in daily clinical consultations. METHODS Doctor-patient consultations of Dutch doctors with non-Dutch patients were videotaped in a...

OBJECTIVE This study evaluates the validity, inter-rater reliability, and stability over 3 months of a semi-structured telephone interview measuring adherence to stimulant treatment, the Stimulant Adherence Measure, against the Medication Event Monitoring System (MEMS). METHODS Clinic-referred children (N=22, age 11.85 +/- 2.1 yrs) using psychostimulants for DSM-IV attention-deficit/hyperacti...

Marinobacter sp. strain CAB was cultivated with or without porous glass beads as solid support. Two substrates were used: the hydrophilic sodium lactate and a hydrophobic C(18)-isoprenoid ketone (6,10,14-trimethylpentadecan-2-one (TMP)). The substrate adsorption onto the beads was measured. Bacterial adhesion was determined by a direct count technique and amounted to 70% of total cells. In the ...

BACKGROUND The incidence, prevalence, and mortality of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) are increasing worldwide. Protein tyrosine kinase-7 (PTK7) is upregulated in many common human cancers. However, its expression in ICC has not been studied. The present study aimed to explore the underlying mechanism of PTK7 in ICC. MATERIALS AND METHODS The role of PTK7 was studied in vitro by suppre...