The natural relics excavated from the archeological site reveal the life, hunting, fishing, and gathering of mankind at the time, and the animal bones excavated from the remains become valuable data for the study of geography and bone diseases at the time. This study investigated the morphological structure, size, and osteometry of Sus scrofa bones excavated from the well area of the Gasan-Ri archaeological site in Jinju, presumed to be a relic of the Three Kingdoms period. The total weight of identified animal bones was 975.30 g and the number of bone fragments was 447. Among these 447 animal bones identified, the bone weight of Sus scrofa was 468.00 g (47.99%) and the number of bone fragments was 204 (45.64%). These 204 bone fragments of Sus scrofa consisted of 35 skulls (17.16%), 94 vertebrate axial skeletons (46.08%), 28 forelimb bones (13.73%), and 47 hindlimb bones (23.04%). The bones of Sus scrofa have been identified as those of two animals. The estimated age of these bones of Sus scrofa was 5-7 weeks. There was a fracture presumably caused by an artificial blow to the parietal bone located near the bregma in the skull.

Declined salivary gland function is commonly observed in patients with diabetes. Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are believed to contribute to the pathogenesis of diabetes-induces hypofunction of the salivary glands. Polydatin (resveratrol-3-O-β-mono-D-glucoside) is a polyphenol that can be easily accessed from peanut, grape, and red wines. Although polydatin is known to have anti-glycation, anti-oxidation, and anti-inflammation effects, its effect in the salivary gland is not known. In the present study, we evaluated the AGEs burden in the salivary gland in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats and the protective effect of polydatin on diabetes-related salivary hypofunction. Polydatin (50 and 100 mg/kg/day) was orally administered in the STZ-induced diabetic rats for 4 weeks. The results showed that the salivary flow rate of the STZ-induced diabetic rats was reduced compared with that in the normoglycemic control rats. The circulating AGEs in serum and secreted AGEs in saliva increased in the STZ-induced diabetic rats. The reactive oxygen specises (ROS) were highly generated in the salivary gland in these diabetic rats. The salivary gland from the diabetic rats showed increased acinar cell apoptosis compared to normoglycemic control mice. However, polydatin suppressed all of these diabetes-related salivary changes. Overall, polydatin could provide a beneficial option for diabetes-related salivary hypofunction.

Patient-controlled sedation systems, in which the patient has control of sedative administration, have been shown to be effective and safe for patients undergoing minor procedures. Safety depends on the adequacy of the step-wise increase in dose of the sedative, the lockout time and patient’s ability to adjust the effective activation of the handset. While there is no patient-controlled sedation (PCS) system available domestically, we have developed a new purpose-built PCS pump, and determined its degree of precision using a microweight measuring scale. The PCS system was designed to be applied to most intravenous sedatives and work through a newly developed operating software algorithm that titrates the doses and lockout times. Our system titrates the doses through software modification, and for experimental purposes, the number of steps for handset activation by the patient was set to four, and the lockout time was set to 30 s. The degree of precision of the PCS system was tested using an electronic weighing scale. The comparison of the amount infused via the PCS system with weight on the scale showed nearly same patterns at the four infusion stages, and the difference was minimal (3% on average at each infusion step). We designed and manufactured a pilot button-type PCS pump capable of use by the patient for optimal sedation, and confirmed the precise working mechanism of the pump, thereby reducing the margin of error for infusion accuracy to 3% or less on average

We conducted diagnostic investigations to analyze the causes of abortions (46 cases, 65.7%), deaths (22 cases, 31.4%) and muscular lesions (2 cases, 2.9%) occurred after foot and mouth disease (FMD) vaccination in livestock farms in Korea. Bacterial culture, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were performed to detect the causative agents of abortion in bovine and caprine. The diagnostic results showed that 36 (51.4%) cases, referring as “Identified”, were occurred by influence of underlying disease including bovine viral diarrhea (12 cases, 17.1%), neosporosis (7 cases, 10.0%), septicemic colibacillosis (5 cases, 7.1%), Q fever (4 cases, 5.7%) and other abnormal conditions (8 cases, 11.4%) not by vaccination. Other 2 (3.0%) cases were suspected to be vaccine-associated adverse reaction on the basis of pathological findings (shock lung, oil-component-induced granuloma) and clinical symptoms (dyspnea with pulmonary edema). The other 32 (45.7%) cases were determined “Unknown” because any pathogens and pathological changes were not identified. However, many of the “Unknown” cases were presumptive to be the vaccine-related adverse reaction based on epidemiological investigation, especially, the cases which showed the clinical signs within 2 days after the vaccination. It is important to conduct pathological, microbilogical and epidemiological investigation to diagnose whether the cases are from vaccine-associated adverse reaction or not.

Colorectal cancer causes the most cancer-associated death worldwide, having a high cancer incidence. Pectin is a complex polysaccharide present in various fruits, emerging as an anti-carcinogenic candidate. Although pectin has a suppressive capacity for colon carcinogenesis, the effect of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and colonic aberrant foci formation in the colon carcinogenesis mouse model remains unclear. Therefore, this study investigates the regulatory effect of pectin supplementation on colon carcinogenesis induced by azoxymethane (AOM) and dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) in mice. In an animal experiment, thirty male institute for cancer research (ICR) mice were divided into two experimental groups; AOM/DSS (control group) and AOM/DSS + pectin (5% in drinking water). Furthermore, the number of aberrant crypt foci (ACF) and aberrant crypt (AC) on colonic mucosa were counted, and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) assay was performed to estimate lipid peroxidation in feces. Pectin treatment significantly decreased the number of ACF and AC per colon compared with the control. Additionally, fecal TBARS level in the pectin group was significantly lower than those in the control group. Conclusively, these findings indicate that pectin-inhibited hyperplastic alteration and oxidative stress suppress colitis-associated colon carcinogenesis.

Leiomyosarcoma is malignant mesenchymal tumor of smooth muscle and commonly encountered in the gastrointestinal tract of dogs. However, primary canine leiomyosarcoma in oral cavity is rare due to lack of smooth muscle in the oral tissue. A 13-year-old, neutered male Poodle presented a hard and immobile mass on the left maxilla. Imprinting cytology from the mass as well as fine-needle aspirated cytology from the left scapular lymph node revealed predominant spindle cells met malignancy criteria of the tumors, including coarse chromatin, high N/C ratio, nuclear molding, macro/multi-nucleoli with cigar-shaped nucleus. Radiography of the skull showed lysis of the nasopalatine bone, and mineral radiopacity in the mass. Computed tomography showed soft tissue attenuating mass from the left incisor teeth to the left retrobulbar space with loss of nasopalatine bone and medial wall of orbit. The histopathological examination showed irregularly arranged malignant spindle-shaped cells with oval or elongated nuclei. The nucleolus is distinct and moderate cellular polymorphism is observed. Mitotic figures are occasionally observed. The tumor cells are positive to vimentin, desmin, α-smooth muscle actin when immunohistochemistry was performed, and in Masson’s trichrome stain, tumor cells are stained as red. Overall, histopathologic exam and immunohistochemistry confirmed canine oral leiomyosarcoma. Because of the poor prognosis, the owner did not consent further treatment.

Testicular germ cell tumors (GCT) arise from embryonic or extraembryonic differentiated totipotential germ cells. The tumor cells can differentiate into germ cells as well as, other lineages including yolk sac tumors, choriocarcinomas, and teratomas. Mixed GCT is composed of more than one GCT component including one or more nonseminomatous elements in a tumor, accounting for one-third of GCT. Herein we report the case of a collision tumor with two distinct and separated GCTs in the testis, adjacent to each other. A 48-year-old, previously healthy man showed the hard swelling and heterogeneous enhancing mass in the right scrotum, and right orchiectomy was performed. Grossly, the lesion was two distinct and well-circumscribed masses in the testis. Microscopically, a larger tumor was immature teratoma (prepubertal type) and another smaller tumor was seminoma. These two tumors can be from a common precursor, germ cell neoplasia in situ (GCNIS); however, they are two distinct pathological entities. Given that teratomas can evolve from seminomas by additional genetic alterations, seminomas are also a precursor for postpubertal-type teratomas. Two distinct GCNISs may occur at different times. Because GCNIS is patchy distributed, a close gross examination must be performed in GCNIS or GCT to miss other GCTs with poor prognosis and to prevent under-treatment.

A 5-year-old female fennec fox weighing 1 kg presented to the Veterinary Medical Center, Chungbuk National University with swelling of the mammary glands and hematuria. There were no significant complete blood count (CBC) or serum chemistry findings. The uterus obtained by ovariohysterectomy was filled with blood-clot-like material. The uterine fluid contained erythrocytes, a few leukocytes, and bilirubin crystals without bacteria. The progesterone concentration in the blood serum the day before ovariohysterectomy was 7.3 ng/ mL, which is higher than anestrus and lower than a true pregnant condition in a fennec fox. Despite the low blood progesterone concentration and absence of a fetus in the uterus, the histopathological zonary placental findings indicated that the fennec fox had been pregnant. This is the first case report of hematometra associated with fetal death in a captive fennec fox.